Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Garrison Keillor: A great task lies before us, but first we sleep
Meanwhile the great sorrow, the troubled state of our democracy, hangs in the air, the beloved country riven by dishonesty and invincible ignorance. So I'm taking a vacation from the news. There's a red tide of it daily and a person needs to think his own thoughts and partake in the joys of every day, so I don't click on the news icons on my toolbar. It's very satisfying, like looking at the gin bottle on the shelf and not putting it to your lips and draining it, but living your life instead.
Kevin Alexander: I Found the Best Burger Place in America. And Then I Killed It. (Thrillist)
\ The mug was given to me by Steve Stanich on the day I told him that, after eating 330 burgers during a 30-city search, I was naming Stanich's cheeseburger the best burger in America. That same day, we filmed a short video to announce my pick. On camera, Stanich cried as he talked about how proud his parents would be. After the shoot, he handed me the mug, visibly moved. "My parents are thanking you from the grave," he said, shaking my hand vigorously. When I left, I felt light and happy. I'd done a good thing. Five months later, in a story in The Oregonian, restaurant critic Michael Russell detailed how Stanich's had been forced to shut down. In the article, Steve Stanich called my burger award a curse, "the worst thing that's ever happened to us."
BRADY MCCOMBS: "Another Flip: Democrat Has Triumphed Over GOP Incumbent Mia Love In Utah" (AP)
Love finished about 20 votes short of being able to request a recount in a race where about 269,000 votes were cast.
Andrew Tobias: Dick Clarke - Not American Bandstand
That one - here interviewing the Beach boys in 1964 - had no E at the end of his name and no national security credentials.
This one - Clarke, not Clark - is an American hero whose podcast, FUTURE STATE, may qualify for your queue. Two recent ones I commend: The Constitution at Risk [and] Cyber War and Defending Democracy.
Dominique Mosbergen: "JUDGE BLOCKS 'UNEQUIVOCALLY' ILLEGAL ABORTION BAN" (Huffington Post)
"The Mississippi Legislature's professed interest in 'women's health' is pure gaslighting," the judge wrote, noting that Mississippi "ranks as the state with the most [medical] challenges for women, infants and children" and yet is "silent on expanding Medicaid. [The state's] leaders are proud to challenge Roe but choose not to lift a finger to address the tragedies lurking on the other side of the delivery room: our alarming infant and maternal mortality rates," he added.
Ben Marks: "Giving Thanks: Jefferson Airplane Guitarist Sheds the Rock-Star Mask to Tell His Truth" (Collectors weekly)
"If you remember the '60s, you weren't there." So goes the stoner cliché. Despite this paradoxical measure of authenticity, Jorma Kaukonen's "Been So Long: My Life and Music" (St. Martin's Press) is filled with richly detailed recollections of that landmark decade, although Kaukonen does confess to forgetting big chunks of the 1970s and '80s. "That's true," the lead guitarist of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna confirmed when we spoke recently about his memoir and memory lapses, "for better or worse."
Jonathan Jones: "'If only we all took selfies like Warhol' - Andy Warhol/Eduardo Paolozzi review" (The Guardian)
But if only we took selfies like this, the world would look itself in the eye. It takes the honesty of Warhol to show the difference between a selfie and a self-portrait. These are not pictures in which someone poses proudly, comically or sexily. They are relentlessly self-observant studies that ask, again and again, who Warhol really is. It doesn't matter if he is wearing drag or meditating on his own deathly shadow. In every self-portrait he drew, painted or photographed (and for him these processes were interchangeable), what we see is someone's intense critical focus on his own raw reality. This is me. Is that me?
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Presenting
Michael Egan
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, tells a story about authors Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Joseph Heller. They attended a party together-a party hosted by a billionaire who could easily appear on one of the television programs dedicated to the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Mr. Vonnegut talked to Mr. Heller about their host, pointing out that their host had made more money that day than Mr. Heller had made from all of the many, many copies of the vastly successful book Catch-22 that had ever been sold. Mr. Heller replied that that was OK with him because he had one thing that their host would never have: "Enough."
• Many college students end up being broke, including flat broke. Peter Strupp of Boston ran into that situation when he was a senior at the University of Washington. He frequented a campus Christian fellowship house, even sneaking into the kitchen to steal other people's food. Eventually, he was so broke that he could not afford to pay his rent. He says, "The night before I was going to tell my housemates I was leaving, one of them stopped me in the kitchen. We were alone …. He reached into his pocket and handed me a month's rent, in cash. Before I could say anything, he said, 'Don't pay me back.'"
• Comedians have various reasons for going on tour, including needing the money to buy a house. For example, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders decided to go on one final tour as French and Saunders because Ms. French had seen a house in Cornwall that she wanted to buy, but she knew that she didn't have the money to buy it. Sometimes, the house is not for the comedian's personal use. Peter Kay went on a "Mum Wants a Bungalow" tour to raise money to buy his mother a house.
• Frank Cottrell Boyce met the singer Nico at Eric's, a punk nightclub in 1970s Liverpool, but maybe that wasn't a good thing. He told her that he loved her, and she replied, "Really? Do you have any money? I seem to be a little short." He had two 50-pence pieces, and he gave her one of them, but he could tell that she wanted the other one, too, so he gave her that one as well. That night, he walked 11 miles home, due to lack of train fare.
• Frank Frisch, manager of the St. Louis Gas House Gang, frequently was fined by umpires. The fines kept mounting up, as did a stack of umpire reports against Mr. Frisch. As more and more of his money kept pouring into National League President Ford Frick's office, Mr. Frisch eventually sent Mr. Frick his electric bill and a letter. The letter said, "Dear Mr. Frick: Since you have all my money, suppose you pay my bills."
• The Raconteurs have a reputation for producing rock 'n' roll alchemy. Although they were selling records in 2008, they also made money in other ways than playing music. During their tours, they both played live music and sold their own homemade elixirs. What kind of elixirs? One elixir is intended to put hair on your chest; another elixir is intended to remove the hair on your chest.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"SAUDI ARABIA'S BITCH."
SUE THEM UNTIL THEIR TEETH FALL OUT!
LITTLE BY LITTLE! STEP BY STEP!
YELLOW BELLY GUTLESS BAG OF SHIT!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Nice gentle rain most of the night.
One-Liner Response
Michelle Wolf
Michelle Wolf won't be making any jokes from the podium at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, but last year's host was ready with a one-liner after the president attacked her on Twitter.
Donald Trump (R-Fabulist), who bashed Wolf relentlessly for her performance at last year's dinner, returned to the theme on Tuesday night after it was reported the annual event would ditch the tradition of having a comedian next year.
"So-called comedian Michelle Wolf bombed so badly last year at the White House Correspondents' Dinner that this year, for the first time in decades, they will have an author instead of a comedian," Trump tweeted. "Good first step in comeback of a dying evening and tradition! Maybe I will go?"
The comedian fired back on Twitter, "I bet you'd be on my side if I had killed a journalist. #BeBest," she wrote, in a nod to Trump's support of the Saudi explanation for the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Michelle Wolf
Highest-Paid Woman In Music
Katy Perry
Katy Perry has been unveiled as the highest-paid woman in music. Forbes's annual list saw the musician claim the No. 1 spot with an accumulated $83m between June 2017 and June 2018, with much of the earnings coming from her 80-date Witness tour, which grossed over $1m per night. She also served as a judge on ABC's American Idol, reportedly earning over $20m for the gig.
Perry also topped the list in 2015 thanks to her Prismatic tour. Taylor Swift came in second with $80m, thanks to her album Reputation, which sold two million copies worldwide on its opening week.
Beyoncé ranked third, with $60m, after her Coachella performance and joint album with Jay-Z.
Both Lady Gaga and Rihanna had income from movie roles added to their total, with Gaga taking the lead in the critically acclaimed A Star is Born, and Rihanna featuring in this summer's Ocean's 8.
Katy Perry
Marked 78th Birthday A Year Early
Dr. John
Turns out it really was the "Right Place, Wrong Time" for Dr. John.
The New Orleans-born musician, whose discography includes that 1973 hit, celebrated his 78th birthday Wednesday. But he was apparently a year early.
Publicist Karen Beninato said she looked into it after talking to friends and relatives of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.
Music writer John Wirt, at Nola.com|The Times-Picayune , found a 1941 newspaper birth announcement for the musician, whose real name is Malcolm John Rebennack. And it's not just the year: The local musicians union confirms the correct day in its records is Nov. 20 - not Nov. 21.
Beninato said Rebennack began adding a year to his age so he could play in New Orleans clubs as a teen in the 1950s.
Dr. John
Paid Disney $4,000
Dick Van Dyke
It's hard to imagine the original Mary Poppins without Dick Van Dyke.
Yet, while the actor famously played the charismatic cockney chimney sweep Bert, many people do not realise that Van Dyke played a secondary role in the children's classic; Mr Dawes Sr, the old director of the bank where Mr Banks works.
During a conversation with Lin-Manuel Miranda promoting the upcoming sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, set up by ABC, the 92-year-old discussed how he came to play Mr Dawes, admitting that Walt Disney initially didn't want him for the role.
"I said, 'I'll do it for nothing.' Actually, I had to give him $4,000 dollars. I had to pay him to do the part," the actor said.
Pressed by Miranda, who plays a former apprentice of Bert's in the new film, about whether he actually paid the money, Van Dyke answered: "And I'd do it again."
Dick Van Dyke
Copyright Battle Ends "Amicably"
'Sabrina'
It sounds like a Devil's bargain was not struck but that Warner Bros and the Satanic Temple have "amicably settled" the $50 million and an injunction seeking copyright suit the true believers brought on November 8 against the producers of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
A spokesperson for the studio declined to add more details of the confidential deal.
However, the Satanists did have a bit more to say.
"The unique elements of the Satanic Temple's Baphomet with Children statue have been acknowledged in the credits of episodes which have already been filmed," co-founder Lucien Greaves said in a statement Wednesday of the Netflix shown series starring Kiernan Shipka. "The remaining terms of the settlement are subject to a confidentiality agreement," he added.
Online this afternoon, Greaves also tweeted: "So ends one of the most overpublicized of copyright claims."
'Sabrina'
Rotting In Fields
Crops
American farmers are struggling to find storage for crops that would usually be sold overseas, with some being forced to leave produce rotting in fields as a last resort, as the trade conflict between the US and China continues.
Farmers in some US states are being forced into plowing their crops under - effectively burying them under soil in fields - as there is not enough room to store them in storage facilities, and they are unable to sell their products thanks to Chinese tariffs, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
All grain depots and silos are almost full, meaning farmers have to find their own storage solutions or allow their crops to rot. Neither option is particularly palatable.
The problem is most acute for soybean farmers. China is the largest importer of soybeans in the world, but since the start of the trade war it has slapped US soybeans with a 25% tariff and turned to Brazil in an attempt to meet domestic demand.
Chinese purchases generally make up about 60% of all US soybean exports, but those exports have practically stopped since the tariffs were introduced.
Crops
Leaning a Little Less
Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is leaning just a little bit less thanks to years of remedial engineering works, experts have disclosed.
The monument's distinctive tilt has been corrected by four centimetres (1.5 inches) over the last 20 years, they said.
The 183ft-tall tower is now more stable than could have been hoped for, according to a surveillance group of experts who monitor one of Italy's most famous symbols.
It inclines away from the perpendicular by about half a degree less compared to the turn of the century, according to the monitoring team.
The monument was stabilised by an international team of experts between 1993 and 2001 under the leadership of Prof Michele Jamiolkowski, a Polish expert.
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Songs Change
Humpback Whales
Like any fad, the songs of humpback whales don't stick around for long. Every few years, males swap their chorus of squeaks and groans for a brand new one. Now, scientists have figured out how these "cultural revolutions" take place.
All male humpbacks in a population sing the same song, and they appear to learn new ones somewhat like people do. Males in the eastern Australian population of humpbacks, for example, pick up a new song every few years from the western Australian population at shared feeding grounds or while migrating. Over the next few years, the songs spread to all South Pacific populations.
To understand how the whales learn the novel ballads, scientists analyzed eastern Australian whale songs over 13 consecutive years. Using spectrograms of 412 song cycles from 95 singers, the scientists scored each tune's complexity for the number of sounds and themes, and studied the subtle variations individual males can add to stand out. Complexity increased as the songs evolved (as heard in the video below), the team reports today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. But after a song revolution, the ballads became shorter with fewer sounds and themes.
The revolutionary songs may be less complex than the old ones because the whales can only learn a certain amount of new material at a time, the scientists conclude. That could mean that although humpback whales are still the crooners of the sea, their learning skills are a bit limited.
Humpback Whales
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