My lack of worldliness and poor political acumen are leaving me perplexed. Why would the Russians consider this woman to be a good candidate for training as an alleged spy? What made them think she could possibly be able to gain access to the private quarters of influential men? Here’s another picture of her I found, training in Russia.
Historian and genealogist Denro sets us straight on the United State Census:
The countdown to the release of the 1940 Census on April 2, 2012 has begun! Genealogists are salivating already! You posted some concerns about the 2010 Census. There’s nothing new under the sun — detailed questions have always been asked, especially in the 20th Century. The Census is the Genealogist’s friend!
Just watch these films. They are actually on the Archives.gov site, but they have also been posted to YouTube. The 1st is a Patriotic Infomercial, 1940s style – “Cooperate” with a Census-taking Uncle Sam! “Census of Housing” is hilariously bad on the acting front — and filled with detail upon hilarious detail. I believe that David Lynch watched this one continually for 24 hrs. straight, and then made “Eraserhead.”
Thanks, Denro! The Census of Population and Agriculture films likewise have some deliciously stilted acting.
The new ATM that Bank of America is using doesn’t “eat” your card. All you have to do is insert and pull, and that’s good in a way, but it’s easier than it used to be to walk away from the machine while your account is still open, giving access to the next person in line. Twice now I’ve had to close out another customer’s account, and today when I was in a hurry I almost turned away from a BOA ATM myself before answering no to, “Would you like to make another transaction?”
Novelist Monte Schulz’s follow-up to his dark, yet rollicking This Side of Jordan is The Last Rose of Summer, which should be out in December.
Monte has had a long association with the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. His father attended the conference for many years, as did Ray Bradbury. The conference ran into financial trouble and ended up in bankruptcy court. Monte made an offer and now he owns the conference, presumably along with all of the headaches that go with it.
WRITERS CONFERENCE SOLD: Monte Schulz, son of the late Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz, has purchased the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robin Riblet, on Tuesday, June 8, approved the $27,000 sale. Monte plans to hold the next conference next June. There was no conference this year or last due to prior owner Marcia Meier’s bankruptcy.
And with apologies to Stephen Colbert, I think the title of this post qualifies for greatest pun of all time.
For ages I’ve been trying to piece together a 3-part post about something Beatles-related, but I keep getting stalled. Being stuck for other ideas at the moment, I’ll follow up on my Colbert post about bullfighting. In 1952, animator Chuck Jones directed Bully for Bugs (released 1953).
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Jones discusses this cartoon in Chuck Reducks (1996), his second volume of memoirs. He comments that, “Before I went to the Mexico City bullfight, my sympathies were with the bull, but then I saw a slender little man saunter out into the ring, and [after seeing the bull] immediately changed my opinion.” I wonder if Jones stayed through to the gory end of the bull? When I was in Saudi Arabia on business 20 years ago, I was invited to witness a public beheading. I declined, and I would do the same if invited to see a bullfight, for the same reason — it’s a blood sport.
Disney won a 1938 Oscar for Ferdinand the Bull. This cartoon makes the case that bullfighting might come to an end, but only if the bulls stopped charging the matadors, and instead stopped to smell the flowers.
The video player has the original American version of the cartoon, and one in Spanish.
