Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Things Brought To My Attention

     

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In an engrossing half hour video Bill Moyers talked with Neil deGrasse Tyson the astrophysicist about the nature of our mysterious universe and whether faith and science can be reconciled.

This is the second of three part interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson. It is titled: Science, Religion and the Universe

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E.L. Doctorow has written a new book titled Andrew's Brain which one reviewer  says is more like a therapy notebook than a novel.

I am not recommending this book, as I have not read it yet; I'm just calling it to your attention.




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Later this week there is to be broadcast an expanded American Masters edition, a documentary concerning J.D. Salinger... his disappearance from the public eye after the great success of his novel Catcher In The Rye.

It should be interesting.

The PBS edition of "Salinger" runs 135 minutes, 15 minutes longer than the film released in theaters in September, and serves as the 200th installment of the "American Masters" series.

More about that

Too bad it's coming on so late... 9 P.M. is rather late for me to be up these days.

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Did You Know . . .?

In Mexico, the act of escaping from prison is considered legal because the law recognizes that all people have a fundamental desire to be free.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1959, Carl Dean Switzer, the actor who as a child played "Alfalfa" in the Our Gang comedy film series, died at age 31 in a fight, allegedly about money, in a Mission Hills, California, home. Alfalfa, the freckle-faced boy with a warbling singing voice and a cowlick protruding from the top of his head, was Switzer's best-known role.

Our Gang revolved around a group of ragtag children and their adventures. Along with Alfalfa, other popular characters included Spanky, Buckwheat and Darla. Our Gang was considered groundbreaking in that it featured white and black child actors interacting equally.

At the Mission Hills home of Moses "Bud" Stiltz, a fight broke out, during which Stiltz shot and killed Switzer. A jury later ruled the incident justifiable homicide.

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WORD FOR TODAY

jeremiad  [jeh-ruh-MY-ahd]
noun
a long mournful lamentation or complaint

Wikipedia states that a Jeremiad is a long literary work, usually in prose, but sometimes in verse, in which the author bitterly laments the state of society and its morals in a serious tone of sustained invective, and always contains a prophecy of society's imminent downfall.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


(Jan 21, 1922 - Jan 22, 1994)
Telly Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer, whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the 1970s crime drama Kojak, Savalas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz (1962).

His other movie credits include The Young Savages (1961), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Battle of the Bulge (1965), The Dirty Dozen (1967), The Scalphunters (1968), supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971), Inside Out (1975), and Escape to Athena (1979).



(born January 21, 1956)
Geena Davis is an American actress. She is known for her roles in Stuart Little, The Fly, Beetlejuice, Thelma & Louise, A League of Their Own, The Long Kiss Goodnight and The Accidental Tourist. In 2005, she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a  Television Series Drama for her role in Commander in Chief.



(Jan 2, 1924 - Apr 20, 1992)
Benny Hill was an English comedian and actor, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.

Short youtube Benny Hill clip



(born January 21, 1947)
Jill Eikenberry is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her role as lawyer Ann Kelsey in L.A. Law (1986–1994). She has won an Obie Award, been nominated five times for an Emmy Award and four Golden Globes, winning one, and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award in 2011.

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The curse of man and the cause of nearly all his woes, is his stupendous capacity for believing the incredible.
--H.L. Mencken

NASA TV

   

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