I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Laramie-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES — an exhibition on the dangers in life entitled The Power of Poison: From the Depths of the Sea to Your Own— with images of everything from Macbeth and Snow White to poison dart frogs and venomous snakes, and dangerous creatures in the aquarium — will be at the Frost Museum of Science in Miami, Florida to September 2nd.
Toil & Trouble: in Miami to Sept 2ndDESPITE BETTER EDUCATION for its girls, the female employment rate in India went from an already-low 35% in 2005 to just 26% today: partly due to the mechanization of traditionally-female jobs, plus a socially conservative culture with a family’s social standing being enhanced by having its women remain home.
WORLD CUP TODAY! — today, the championship game (with France taking on Croatia in Moscow) is on this morning: at 11:00 AM Eastern, 10:00 AM Central, 9:00 Mountain and 8:00 AM Pacific.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Toby the Hero Cat— an English kitteh who is able to sense a woman’s onset of a debilitating seizure (as a result of a case of meningitis two years ago) — which gives her two children, aged nine and 15, the chance to call for help … and puts Toby in the running for Britain’s National Cat Awards next month.
Toby the Hero CatMY FAVORITE SPORTSWRITER is the WaPo’s John Feinstein — who recently recounted how he got a summer internship at the Post (after watching All the President’s Men four times). He questioned a general manager by using Bob Woodward’s “If I write (such-and-such), would we be embarrassed?” When the scoop panned out, John Feinstein was congratulated .. by Bob Woodward himself.
CHEERS to the Hall of Fame women’s golfer JoAnne Carner— who is playing in the inaugural U.S. Senior Women's Open tournament (for players aged 50+) and who concluded the first round shooting her age … a round of 79 for the 79 year-old.
LABOR NOTES — workers at automaker Fiat in Italy are scheduling a two-day strike next week … over the signing of a World Cup star. The Agnelli family, which owns both Fiat and the Italian powerhouse soccer team Juventus (based in the automotive city of Turin) is being accused of sacrificing investment in the car company by paying $131 million to sign Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Prince Ozzy the Hero Cat— a Northern Ireland kitteh who, yes, was named after Ozzy Osbourne — and is a finalist in Britain’s National Cat Awards next month, after alerting a woman to a fire in the downstairs flat.
Prince Ozzy: the Hero CatCONDOLENCES to the US men’s tennis player John Isner — and not simply for losing Friday’s semi-final match against South African Kevin Anderson (who will play today for the title).
It is also because, for the second time: he had to play a marathon final set, due to Wimbledon’s ancient rules (not using a tiebreaker in a fifth set). Eight years ago, he was on the winning end of the longest match in tournament history: a 70-68 fifth set match against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut. On Friday, Isner lost in a 26-24 final set against Anderson. Did he do something in a previous life to deserve this?
BRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
SEPARATED at BIRTH — two English entertainment figures: film star and producer Rupert Grint and Grammy-winning musician Ed Sheeran.
Rupert Grint (born 1988) Ed Sheeran (born 1991)...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… while he once was promoted as “Canada’s best-kept musical secret” — it was nearly fifty years ago that Bruce Cockburn began a solo career, and he certainly has performed across the continent with regularity. If that adage had any validity, it may be due to the ever-changing nature of his music over that time: with folk-rock in a singer/songwriter musical style, with world music and other influences, and lyrics alternating between introspection and outrage.
Born in the capital city of Ottawa in 1945, he spent time busking in Paris, then three semesters at the Berklee College of Music in Boston before leaving to perform in several Ontario bands from 1966-1969, including one (Olivus) who opened for such bands as Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1968. He began a solo career in 1969 and released his debut self-titled album in 1970.
Born as an agnostic, he became a Christian social justice adherent in the 1970’s (although emphasizing his distaste for the religious right at all times) and this was reflected in his earlier singer-songwriter recordings of the 1970’s. His biggest US-charting single was Wondering Where the Lions Are— that reached #21 in 1980, and garnered an appearance on Saturday Night Live.
The 1980’s saw him incorporate world music in his sound, along with an increased sense of environmentalism and political commentary. His 1984 album Stealing Fire featured my favorite song of his, Lovers in a Dangerous Time— which, when covered by the Barenaked Ladies (seven years later) became their first Top 40 hit.
In the 1990’s he returned to a more introspective sound, with two albums produced by T-Bone Burnette… including a tribute song Closer to the Light dedicated to Mark Heard, a close friend of Cockburn’s.
This century has seen him return to a more overtly political style with 2003’s You’ve Never Seen Anything— with guest appearances by Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne and Canned Heat bassist Larry Taylor. His 2005 album Speechless was an all-instrumental recording and he released a live album in 2009. Another example of his political bent was the tune Comets of Kandahar from 2011, after which he took a short break: following the birth of his daughter and to begin writing his memoirs.
In recent years, he released an nine-disc boxed set of his music (a shorter compilation album was released back in 2002) and he completed his autobiography Rumours of Glory in 2014. . His most recent album was 2017’s Bone on Bone— released a week before his induction (along with others including Neil Young) into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Having just turned age 73, Bruce Cockburn hopes to someday record an album of tribute covers to some of his musical inspirations (including Bob Dylan and Elvis) and has a tour schedule this year taking him to the West Coast, then some dates in Japan and then in the Midwest. Sounds like he’s in it for the long haul.
Bruce Cockburn (late 60’s) ... and in more recent yearsWhile Lovers in a Dangerous Time is my favorite song of his ….. easily the most compelling is his 1984 tune If I Had a Rocket Launcher— inspired by Cockburn's visit (sponsored by Oxfam) to Guatemalan refugee camps in Mexico following the counterinsurgency campaign of dictator Efraín Ríos Montt — which became a minor hit due to airplay on MTV (though some radio stations faded-out the last line … yes, really). After performing the song for Canadian troops in Afghanistan thirty-five years later (in 2009) they temporarily presented him with …... well, you don’t need two guesses. And below you can hear it.
Here comes the helicopter -- second time today Everybody scatters and hopes it goes away How many kids they've murdered, only God can say If I had a rocket launcher ... I'd make somebody pay
I don't believe in guarded borders and I don't believe in hate I don't believe in generals or their stinking torture states And when I talk with the survivors of things too sickening to relate If I had a rocket launcher ... I would retaliate
On the Rio Lacantun, one hundred thousand wait To fall down from starvation -- or some less humane fate Cry for Guatemala, with a corpse in every gate If I had a rocket launcher ... I would not hesitate
I want to raise every voice -- at least I've got to try Every time I think about it water rises to my eyes Situation desperate, echoes of the victims cry If I had a rocket launcher ... some son-of-a-bitch would die
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