July 9, 2012 · 7:31 PM

Pictures of the Day

When students at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, learned that members of the Westboro Baptist Church planned a protest at the funeral of a soldier who was killed in active duty, they formed a “maroon wall” around the church to shelter the family and friends of the fallen soldier.  The university’s colors are maroon and white.  Lt. Col. Roy Tisdale, a Texas A&M alumnus, passed away on June 28, after being shot during a training exercise at Fort Bragg, NC.  The Westboro gang has made it a habit of protesting at military funerals, claiming that troop deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are God’s retribution for America’s tolerance of abortion, homosexuality and other sins.  In the end, though, they didn’t show up at A&M.  One of these days, however, they’re going to protest at the wrong funeral and end up leaving in body bags.  Then, we’ll all know that there is a God!

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July 8, 2012 · 9:17 PM

July 8, 2012 – 165 Days Until Baktun 12

I mentioned previously that you should keep pictures of your parents, or parental figures, as you head into the next Baktun.  But, you also should retain some mementoes of all deceased relatives or loved ones – whether they’re photographs, pieces of clothing, or locks of hair.  I emphasize deceased because it’s appropriate to honor the dead, especially those who were close to you.  The Mayan people have a long history of showing respect for their ancestors, but those people you once knew and have since passed away form a significant part of your life.  It’s from these people – relatives and close friends – that you learned some of life’s most valuable lessons, such as being kind to those in need; looking out for the most vulnerable in your community; and beating the crap out of those who try to steal your chocolate, while making it look like they had a bad accident.  Anyone who didn’t learn from those around them will not survive the apocalypse, which would actually be a good thing.  There’s only so much compassion.  Giving reverence to those who’ve gone before you often has mystical connotations, which is so Christian or Jewish.  Among the Mayans and other Indigenous Americans, it’s simply a factor of life.  Maintaining this level of respect will ensure a successful life for you and your family once you enter the next Baktun.  And, you can enjoy all the chocolate and freedom that life has to offer.

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July 8, 2012 · 8:52 PM

July 8 Notable Birthdays

If today is your birthday, “Happy Birthday!”

 

Author Shirley Ann Grau (The Keepers of the House [1965 Pulitzer Prize]; The Black Prince and Other Stories) is 83.

 

Singer – songwriter Steve Lawrence (Sidney Leibowitz; Go Away Little Girl, Party Doll, Pretty Blue Eyes, Footsteps, Portrait of My Love) is 77.

 

Actor Jeffrey Tambor (Big Bully, Radioland Murders, City Slickers, A Perfect Little Murder, Brenda Starr, Mr. Mom, A Gun in the House, Pals, The Larry Sanders Show, Hill Street Blues) is 68.

 

Actress Kim Darby (Deborah Zerby; Rich Man, Poor Man, True Grit, The Grissom Gang, The Streets of San Francisco) is 65.

 

Singer – songwriter Raffi Cavoukian is 64.

 

Chef Wolfgang Puck, formerly of Spagos in Los Angeles, is 63.

 

Actress Anjelica Huston (Prizzi’s Honor, The Witches, The Grifters, The Addams Family) is 61.

 

Actor Kevin Bacon (Apollo 13, JFK, A Few Good Men, The River Wild, Footloose, Murder in the First, The Air Up There, The Guiding Light, Wild Things) is 54.

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July 8, 2012 · 8:30 PM

On July 8…

1795 – Martin Academy in Washington, TN changed its name to Washington College, the first college to be named after President George Washington.

1907 – Florenz Ziegfeld staged the first Ziegfeld Follies at the roof garden of the New York Theatre.

1908 – Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York (1958 – 1973), Vice-President under Gerald Ford (1974 – 1977), was born in Bar Harbor, ME.

1958 – The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded the first gold record album to the soundtrack LP, Oklahoma!  The honor signifies that the album has reached one million dollars in sales.  The first gold single issued by the RIAA was Catch a Falling Star, by Perry Como, in March of 1958.

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July 8, 2012 · 8:01 PM

Cartoon of the Day

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July 8, 2012 · 7:58 PM

Picture of the Day

“Shelton” and “Scott” hold a banner showing their opposition on the Navajo-Hopi Little Colorado River Water Rights Settlement Act or SB 2109 at the Council Chambers in Window Rock, AZ, on July 5, 2012.  Photo courtesy of Donovan Shortey.

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July 8, 2012 · 7:55 PM

Supreme Court Refuses FCC Bid to Fine CBS for Janet Jackson Incident

Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake in the second after the traumatizing “wardrobe malfunction.”

Eight years after Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” during the half time show of the 2004 Super Bowl, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to reinstate the Federal Communications Commission’s $550,000 indecency fine against the CBS network.

In November, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia upheld its earlier ruling that the FCC’s indecency fine against the network was invalid.  The court didn’t say whether the incident was indecent but said the FCC’s fine represented an undisclosed change in the enforcement of its policy with regard to “fleeting images” and hence could not be enforced.

I’m so glad that this major issue can finally be put to rest.  I recall a Congressional hearing over the matter in the days after the incident and not surprised that the Republican-controlled panel would get so upset over it and not investigate whether President George W. Bush lied about Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction.  Never mind that football is one of the most violent sports and that the Super Bowl features scantily-clad cheerleaders bumping and grinding and ads from Viagra and Cialis warning about 4-hour erections.  Never mind also that some Super Bowl commercials show men and boys enduring groin injuries for the sake of cheap laughs.  All of that apparently is perfectly acceptable.  But, now that it’s over, we can all pick up the tattered pieces of our lives and try to move forward.

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July 8, 2012 · 7:37 PM

In Memoriam – Ernest Borgnine 1917 – 2012

Veteran character actor Ernest Borgnine has died at the age of 95.  Borgnine won a Best Actor Oscar for his role as a homely butcher who lives with his domineering mother in Marty.  He’s also remembered for unique personages in other films such as From Here to Eternity, Bad Day at Black Rock, The Dirty Dozen and – one of my favorite films – The Poseidon Adventure.  Born Ermes Effron Borgnino on January 24, 1917, in North Haven, CT, he was the son of Italian immigrants.  After a decade in the U.S. Navy, Borgnine pursued an acting career, which began on the Broadway stage and then, transitioned into television and film.

His manager, Lynda Bensky, said Borgnine died of kidney failure Sunday afternoon.  His wife, Tova, and children were at his side at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, she said.

“It’s a very sad day,” Bensky said.  “The industry has lost someone great, the caliber of which we will never see again.  A true icon.  But more importantly, the world has lost a sage and loving man who taught us all how to ‘grow young.’  His infectious smile and chuckle made the world a happier place.”

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July 7, 2012 · 9:45 PM

July 7 Notable Birthdays

If today is your birthday, “Happy Birthday!”

Fashion designer Pierre Cardin is 90.

Trumpeter – bandleader Doc (Carl) Severinsen, The Tonight Show Band, The Doc Severinsen Band, is 85.

Author David McCullough (The Johnstown Flood, The Path Between the Seas, 1776, John Adams, Truman) is 79.

Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey; drummer: The Beatles; singer: It Don’t Come Easy, Photograph, You’re Sixteen) is 72.

Actor Joe Spano (Hill Street Blues, Cast the First Stone, Brotherhood of Justice, American Graffiti, Northern Lights) is 66.

Actress Shelley Duvall (Popeye, Nashville, Roxanne, Brewster McCloud, The Shining, Annie Hall, McCabe and Mrs. Miller) is 63.

Actor Bill Campbell (Dynasty, Moon Over Miami, Gettysburg, The Brylcreem Boys, Once and Again) is 53.

Actress Jorja Fox (C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation, Missing Persons, ER, The West Wing) is 44.

Michelle Kwan (Olympic Figure Skating Champion [silver, 1998]; World Champion [1996, 1998]; U.S. National Champion [1996, 1998]) is 32.

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July 7, 2012 · 9:19 PM

On July 7…

1754 – King’s College opened in New York City.  It was renamed Columbia College in 1784 and, later, became Columbia University.

1860 – Composer Gustav Mahler was born in Vienna, Austria.

1865 – Mary Surratt became the first woman executed by the federal government for her role as a conspirator in President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

1887 – Artist Marc Chagall (Red Nude Sitting Up, I and the Village, Bride with a Fan, The Cattle Dealer, Jew at Prayer, Bella with a White Collar) was born in Liozna, Belarus, Russia.

1898 – The United States annexed the Hawaiian Islands.

Inauguration of Sanford Dole, the first governor of Hawaii, with him transferring the Sovereignty of Hawaii to United State Minister Harold M. Seewall.

 

1899 – Movie director George Cukor (My Fair Lady, A Star is Born, Born Yesterday, Love Among the Ruins, The Philadelphia Story) was born in New York City.

1902 – Movie director Vittorio de Sica (The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, Marriage Italian Style, Two Women, The Bicycle Thief; actor: The Shoes of the Fisherman, It Started in Naples) was born in Sora, Lazio, Italy.  (Some sources list his birth year as 1901.)

1976 – The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, admitted women for the first time.

1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor, an Arizona court of appeals judge, became the first woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The Senate unanimously approved her appointment on September 21.

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