Bazaar News | ReportWire publishes the latest breaking U.S. and world news, trending topics and developing stories from around globe.
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“You are safe,” Rep. Judy Chu says, discusses shooting in Monterey Park, California. “This is a fearful time, an anxious time, but I believe that this community is resilient…if we work together, if we come together, we will be stronger and we will get through this.”
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This week, we meet the online influencers who enticed victims into the BitConnect farce, and the pyramid-scheme model that allowed them to make millions doing it. "Crypto Crooks" is sponsored by Chainalysis. It takes a village to scam the world. Or at least some YouTube channels. In the…
#bitconnect #cryptocrooks #scottshaffer #youtubechannel #cryptojedi #youtubers #clips #carlosmatos #cryptonick #trevonjames
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Many investors brush off or ignore options trading because options are complex and misunderstood. However, many other traders have learned how to “follow the flow.” In other words, they want to know what the big funds and institutions are doing. When these buyers make their move in the options…
#uber #doordash #boeing #deltaairlines #delta #caterpillar #cat #conocophillips #chevron #cvx
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The Space Shuttle Columbia had made 27 successful trips to space and back, but its 28th, dubbed STS-107, was subjected to numerous delays and problems.
Its launch was originally scheduled for Jan. 11, 2001, but ultimately wouldn’t happen for another two years, on Jan. 16, 2003 — and only 80 seconds into the launch, a piece of foam insulation broke away from the shuttle’s tank and hit the Columbia’s left wing.
Some experts at NASA expressed concern that the wing could have suffered critical damage, but others felt that because similar incidents had occurred before without serious damage, the shuttle would surely be fine.
They were proven wrong when the Columbia returned from orbit on February 1 and started to break apart 230,000 feet above the surface of the Earth. The remains of the crew and the debris of the shuttle were scattered across more than 2,000 locations.
The Columbia disaster was one of the most tragic events in the history of the American space program — one that a later investigation determined could have been avoided entirely. So, what went wrong?
Following the monumental success of the Apollo 11 space mission, humanity’s pursuit of life beyond the stars continued to make large strides, working toward the construction of the International Space Station and developing technology that could be used to repeatedly take mankind to space.
Whereas the Apollo 11 mission utilized a rocket that only allowed for a single trip, researchers and engineers later created a design for a shuttle that could take astronauts into orbit and bring them back. This shuttle was called the Columbia, named after the first American ship to travel the North American Pacific coast, and it debuted in April 1981.
The Tragic Story Of The Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster — And How It Could Have Been Avoided
According to Space, over the next two decades, the Columbia completed 27 successful missions. Meanwhile, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster made history when it burst into a ball of flame and smoke during its launch in 1986 as the world watched it in a live broadcast.
The Columbia, it seemed, had managed to skirt any tragedy of its own, however.
So, 20 years after it was introduced, Columbia prepared for its 28th mission with a seven-person crew: Commander Rick Husband; payload commander Michael Anderson; mission specialists David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, and Laurel Clark; pilot William McCool; and payload specialist Ilan Ramon of the Israeli Space Agency — the first Israeli astronaut.
NASASTS-107 crew, from the left, Mission Specialist David Brown, Commander Rick Husband, Mission Specialists Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla and Michael Anderson, Pilot William McCool and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon.
The crew embarked on a mission dubbed STS-107, a 16-day mission dedicated to various scientific experiments involving microgravity environments. They kept a video log of their experiments and time aboard the shuttle, offering a firsthand glance into life in space.
But despite its successful launch, all was not well with the shuttle. Roughly a minute-and-a-half into their launch, a piece of foam fell from a “bipod ramp” attached to the shuttle’s external tank fell and struck Columbia’s left wing. It caused no issues during launch but raised concerns among NASA staff that the wing may have sustained significant damage.
Even as members of NASA staff called for photos of the wing in orbit, and the Department of Defense offered to examine it with orbital spy cameras, higher-ups within the space program opted not to press the issue — and argued that little could be done to fix it, even if the shuttle had been damaged.
Following the crash, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) would determine that the Columbia crew could have repaired the damage to the wing, if they had been aware of it, or that they could have remained in orbit for an additional two weeks and awaited rescue from the Atlantis shuttle, which was planned to launch on February 15.
NASA-TV/Getty ImagesVideo footage shows members of the Columbia crew as they prepared to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.
Instead, the Columbia began its return to the Kennedy Space Center as planned, and ended in catastrophe.
On Feb. 1, 2003, just before 9 a.m., the Space Shuttle Columbia was 231,000 feet above California, traveling at 23 times the speed of sound when the first signs of trouble appeared.
According to HISTORY, the foam insulation had damaged the heat-resistant tiles that coated Columbia’s left wing — and created an opening that allowed the intense wind and heat of its reentry to enter the wing and rip it apart from the inside.
Abid Katib/Getty ImagesA Palestinian man watching news of the Columbia disaster live in the Gaza Strip.
At 8:59 a.m., the Capcom, or spacecraft communicator, contacted Columbia to inquire about the shuttle’s tire pressure readings, which had also gone dark. Commander Rick Husband responded, “Roger—” but was cut off mid-sentence. The crew lost contact with Mission Control.
A minute later, as Columbia soared over Texas, debris began crashing to the Earth. Texans reported hearing a loud explosion and seeing streaks of smoke in the sky as Columbia disintegrated before their eyes. At 9:12 a.m., Mission Control received a phone call informing them that a network news program showed video of Columbia breaking apart.
NASA called the event a shuttle “contingency” and sent out multiple search and rescue teams to examine the debris sites, which ranged from Texas to Arkansas and Louisiana. During the search, two pilots aboard a search helicopter died in a crash, and later that day, NASA declared the Columbia’s crew had been lost.
Per the Encyclopedia Britannica, pieces of the shuttle and the crew’s remains were recovered over the course of the following month from more than 2,000 square miles spread across three states.
STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty ImagesSmoke from fires caused by the debris of the Space Shuttle Columbia as seen from above.
“This is indeed a tragic day for the NASA family, for the families of the astronauts who flew on STS-107, and likewise is tragic for the nation,” said Sean O’Keefe, administrator of NASA at the time of the crash.
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster marked a turning point for NASA, and led to far-reaching consequences for the space program.
Following the disintegration of the Columbia shuttle, NASA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency began work to recover the debris that had broken away. In total, they collected 84,000 pieces — and found crew remains scattered among them, later identified using DNA.
Per FBI reports, the total number of people who took part in the search and recovery mission was more than 25,000. They scoured roughly 2.3 million acres of land looking for Columbia debris, and managed to collect roughly 40 percent of the shuttle’s weight.
Special Agent Gary Reinecke was among a group of agents tasked with handling hazardous material at a staging area in Lufkin, Texas. Upon arriving, Lufkin recalled, “I had no idea what to expect when I got down there. It was just swarming with astronauts.”
A U.S. Air Force Honor Guard carries the remains of crew members from the Columbia in a tribute ceremony.
As the search teams scoured the country for debris and remains, they sent reports back to the FBI with possible locations of crew remains.
“After we determined we had found a crew member, we documented the scene like we would a crime scene—we mapped it and took pictures. But in this case, we didn’t keep any evidence. We turned everything over to NASA,” Reinecke said.
In August 2003, the CAIB report detailed the ways in which the Columbia disaster could have been avoided and revealed that a number of managerial decisions and the overall culture at NASA contributed heavily to the incident.
“Cultural traits and organizational practices detrimental to safety were allowed to develop,” the report reads. The board found that NASA relied too heavily on “past success as a substitute for sound engineering practices” and cited “organizational barriers that prevented effective communication of critical safety information” alongside other major issues.
Following the Columbia disaster, the space shuttle program was grounded until 2005 while NASA implemented new safety measures and reworked the fundamental components of the space shuttles. On July 16, 2005, Discovery launched and entered orbit.
NASA/Getty ImagesLeft to Rright, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, Commander Rick Husband, and Mission Specialist Laurel Clark aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
In 2008, NASA additionally released a crew survival report that offered insight into the crew’s final moments, revealing that they likely survived the initial breakup but quickly lost consciousness when the cabin lost pressure. They died when Columbia disintegrated.
The crew’s memory has not been forgotten, however. Their deaths receive a public tribute each year during NASA’s Day of Remembrance, and personal artifacts from both the Columbia’s crew and the Challenger’s crew are on display at the Kennedy Space Center.
Seven asteroids orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter have also been given the names of the seven Columbia crew members.
After learning about this unfortunate disaster, remember the glory days of space exploration through these 44 vintage photos. Then, read the story of Katherine Johnson, one of the “hidden figures” behind the space program.
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Austin Harvey
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Four members of the far-right Oath Keepers group were convicted of seditious conspiracy on Monday, for their role in trying to keep former President Donald Trump in power after his 2020 election loss. The defendants — 52-year-old Joseph Hackett of Florida, 38-year-old Roberto Minuta of Texas,…
#oathkeepers #donaldtrump #josephhackett #florida #robertominuta #davidmoershel #edwardvallejo #arizona #stewartrhodes #floridaoathkeepers
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(CNN) — A California man has recounted his near-death experience after he narrowly avoided being crushed by a boulder in his car.
Mauricio Henao was sitting in the driver’s seat of his parked car in Malibu, California, on Tuesday when he received a phone call. He left the car to take the call — and then heard the sounds of massive rocks tumbling down the hillside.
“I just heard loud crashes,” said Henao, according to TV station KTLA. “And I ran out and saw my car just crushed.”
Dramatic photos show Henao’s Prius with the roof caved in by the 4-foot boulder.
“The rock is the size of the whole hood,” Henao said. “The windshields are all broken and the frame of the car is just all twisted.”
Debris from the hillside fell across four lanes of traffic, according to KTLA. While no one was injured, several other cars were also damaged by rocks falling down the hillside.
Henao told KTLA that the terrifying incident along the Pacific Coast Highway left him feeling distraught.
“I’m pretty shook up,” he said, according to KTLA. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ll park here again after this. I’m a little traumatized by this whole ordeal.”
The rockslide came after a historic storm hit California earlier this week. The fatal storm left millions under flood watches, toppled trees and flooded roadways.
The state is expecting more extreme weather this weekend, with over 25 million people under flood watches along California’s central coastline and the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys.
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Sotheby’sStudy for Saint Jerome with an Angel, Anthony van Dyck, circa 1618-20. Oil on canvas, mounted to board.
The last place one would expect to find a four-centuries-old masterpiece is in the back of a shed. But that’s exactly what part-time art collector Albert B. Roberts found in 2002 when examining a farmer’s shed in Kinderhook, New York.
The painting depicts a nude old man sitting hunched-back on a stool. With the man’s face and lean muscles cast in shadow, the three-foot-tall piece was reminiscent of 17th-century Flemish portraits. Now, it has officially been authenticated as an original work by famed Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck.
The painting is scheduled to star in Sotheby’s Masters Week series, where it is estimated to fetch up to $3 million.
Born in 1599, Van Dyck lived and worked in a period where art was mostly created to depict religious and historical themes. He went on to become one of the most influential artists of his day. According to the National Gallery in London, he was the second most important 17th-century Flemish painter after Peter Paul Rubens.
He is best known for his portraits, particularly for his work painting figures like Charles I as a court artist. He built off of the techniques developed by artists like Hans Holbein, and helped revolutionize court portraiture with his own innovations.
National Portrait Gallery, LondonSelf-portrait of Sir Anthony van Dyck, circa 1640. Oil on canvas.
As an art collector, Albert B. Roberts knew what he was looking at when he found Van Dyck’s A Study for Saint Jerome in the shed that day.
Although the back of the piece was covered in bird droppings, Roberts believed it to be an original Dutch Golden Age painting and bought the piece for $600, displaying it as part of his own collection – one that he once called “an orphanage for lost art that had suffered from neglect.”
The find was later authenticated in 2019 by art historian Susan Barns who remarked to the Times of London that the piece was a “surprisingly well-preserved” work by Van Dyck.
“The oil sketch,” she wrote, “is an impressive and important find that helps us understand more about the artist’s method as a young man.”
When asked why he waited so long to authenticate the portrait, Roberts responded that he already figured it was a Dutch or Flemish work most likely painted by Van Dyke given its resemblance to Saint Jerome with an Angel.
“I did nothing about it then. I essentially had the answer,” Roberts said at the time, according to The Daily Gazette. “What’s exciting for me is the chase. And once I’m satisfied with who it’s by, I turn to other work.”
A Sketch for Saint Jerome, likely painted between 1615 and 1618 when Van Dyck was an art studio assistant, was a study for Van Dyck’s Saint Jerome (1618–20), currently owned by the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
A “study” is typically used by artists as a reference image when working on other paintings. According to the Times, the nearly-three feet tall painting is one of only two of Van Dyck’s live studies of that size to survive.
“[Studies] weren’t really meant to be exhibited,” said Christopher Apostle, the head of the Old Master Paintings department at Sotheby’s in New York to the Times. “The artist would often keep them in the studio to refer back to later.”
Following Albert B. Roberts’ death in August 2021, Artnet reports, his estate offered the van Dyck sketch to Sotheby’s for its Masters Week event. A portion of proceeds will go to the Albert B. Roberts Foundation, which provides financial support to artists and charities, according to Insider.
How the painting ended up in a small town in New York may forever remain a mystery, though it’s possible there’s a Dutch connection.
The name of the town where the painting was found, Kinderhook, derives its name from the Dutch “kinder,” meaning children, and “hoek,” meaning corner. The earliest European exploration of the area includes Henry Hudson’s voyage, funded by the Dutch East India Company, in 1609.
Regardless, the discovery of A Sketch for Saint Jerome reminds us of how unexpected life can be.
When asked about the discovery, Roberts reflected, per ArtDependence Magazine: “I suppose it’s not every day that a painting picked up for $600 with bird droppings on the back turns out to be a masterpiece of European art.”
After reading about this incredible art discovery, learn about how a rare Picasso painting sat forgotten for years in a closet in Maine. Then, read the story of how coins minted to celebrate Julius Caesar’s assassination were expected to fetch millions at auction.
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Amber Breese
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After a year that saw a surprising drop in subscribers, Netflix (home to shows like Stranger Things, The Crown, and Cobra Kai) appears to be rebounding, with 7.7 million new subscribers added in the fourth quarter of 2022. Maybe that’s why the company is willing to compensate a private plane flight attendant up to $385,000 for their services.
According to Travel + Leisure, the streaming giant recently began searching for an attendant for their private airplane. The position, which is based in San Jose, California, seeks prospective applicants to “operate with little direction and a lot of self-motivation.”
The job listing adds: “You also demonstrate the independent judgment, discretion and outstanding customer service skills necessary to provide a seamless experience for our passengers.”
In addition to in-flight duties, the attendant will perform pre-flight inspections, purchase inventory for the plane, and be willing and able to work a flexible schedule. Compensation ranges from $60,000 to a ceiling of $385,000 depending on skills and “market indicators.”
If this sounds like a fit, you can apply here.
[h/t Travel + Leisure]
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Jake Rossen
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Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesStatues of St. Michael, like the Italian one pictured here, often have swords because the archangel is seen as a defender of the heavenly host.
Call it holy retribution. While trying to steal a statue of St. Michael the Archangel from a Mexican church, a drunken thief tripped and seriously injured himself on the statue’s sword.
“That happened to him for doing bad things,” a neighboring shop owner told ABC Noticias. “Saint Michael is for protection, to combat evil. I think that’s why that happened to him.”
As the Catholic News Agency reported, 32-year-old Carlos Alonso snuck into the Christ the King Parish in Monterrey, Mexico, early in the morning on Jan. 14. He jumped a fence, broke a window, and tried to flee with a statue of St. Michael, the archangel tasked with defending the heavenly host.
But Alonso, who was drunk, bungled the robbery. As he tried to carry the statue out of the church, the thief tripped and inadvertently sliced his neck on St. Michael’s sword. ABC Noticias reports that the stunned and bleeding would-be-robber then crashed through a glass door.
Enrique López-Tamayo Biosca/FlickrChrist the King Church in Monterrey, Mexico, where the bungled robbery took place.
Fortunately, Alonso appeared to have a sympathetic guardian angel. As he lay bleeding on the ground, a couple of people walking by noticed that he was hurt. They called for help, and the Monterrey Civil Protection rushed to the scene. They took the thief to a hospital and managed to save his life.
The statue of St. Michael, the Catholic News Agency reports, was unharmed.
Though the church’s priest, Father Benito Ramírez Márquez, seemed uninterested in talking to the media about the failed heist, nearby shop owners told reporters that St. Michael’s ability to “defend” himself and the church against the would-be thief was unsurprising.
St. Michael “is the great protector,” a shop owner named Cony who sells religious objects told ABC Noticias. “In the articles that we sell, he is included here, and he is a protector of homes.”
As the Christian Post notes, St. Michael appears frequently in the Bible, especially in the context of war. He appears in passages about the endtimes, and his name means “Who is like God” in Hebrew. He’s usually depicted wielding a sword, often while defeating the devil.
“Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven,” Revelation 12:7-8 reads.
Twitter/MilenioCarlos Alonso was taken to the hospital, while the St. Michael statue was unharmed, authorities said.
Locals additionally noted that the church has been the site of “miracles” before. According to ABC Noticias, a baby boy was left on the church steps in 2017 and rescued by a sacristan; today, he’s a healthy five-year-old. Three years later, in 2020, police officers were also able to convince a man not to take his own life by jumping from the church bell tower.
Indeed, perhaps other would-be thieves should take note. Across the entrance of the Christ the King Parish are inscribed the Latin words: “Terribilis est locus iste hic domus dei est et porta coeli” — or, “This is a place that commands respect, this is the house of God and the gate of heaven.”
After reading about the thief who cut himself on the sword of a statue he was trying to steal, discover the stories of some more successful heists, like the Australian jewel thief who stole a Versace necklace using a fishing rod, or the thieves who managed to steal $12 million worth of art from Oxford during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
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Kaleena Fraga
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Microsoft is removing Windows 10 Home and Pro downloads from sale later this month. The downloads include license keys for Windows 10 (necessary to activate and use the download), and are being removed more than two years before Microsoft stops officially supporting Windows 10 on October 14th,…
#windows10homeandpro #windows10 #amazon #amybartlow #verge #windows10home #windows11 #windows8 #windows
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Funko is famous for creating vinyl figurines of characters from movies and TV, but it has been known to immortalize real-life celebrities as well. Dolly Parton is the latest larger-than-life icon to get the Funko Pop! treatment.
The brand is celebrating the Queen of Country, who turned 77 on January 19, by adding her to its line of collectible toys. The Pop! doll comes in two styles: one dressed in a bedazzled orange suit and holding a banjo, and the other playing an electric guitar while sporting the iconic white jumpsuit the singer wore to Glastonbury 2014.
Though both Dollys come in sparkly platform heels, the Glastonbury figure stands .13 inches taller at 4.5 inches. Both figurines also feature the musician’s signature blonde hairdo.
The Dolly in white is listed for $15 on the Funko website, and the Dolly in orange is slightly cheaper at $12. You can sign up on each respective landing page to be notified when the new products hit the Funko store. However, the orange jumpsuit Dolly is also available for pre-order at Entertainment Earth (for $12) or through Walmart’s online store (for about $20, as it also comes with a protective case). The toy should ship out in either March or April, depending on which site you order from.
If you can’t wait that long to get your hands on one of these collector’s items, don’t worry. There’s a whole world of Dolly Parton-branded swag to explore, including a “Doggy Parton” pet clothing line that launched last year, as well as Duncan Hines mixes inspired by the star’s love of cooking. Some new mixes are even launching on the company’s site for the general public on Wednesday, February 8, including those for brownies, buttermilk biscuits, and cornbread.
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Michele Debczak
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The Beastie Boys’ hit “Fight For Your Right to Party” was actually a parody of frat culture. In fact, the group hated that the song became an anthem for the kind of partiers they were trying to mock.
The Beastie Boys released “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)” as a single in 1987. The song is on Licensed to Ill, their debut album.
The group wrote the tune as a satire of party culture and the excesses of youth. Their whole point was to mock the very idea of “fighting for your right to party,” not celebrate it. But with lyrics full of irony and sarcasm, many listeners took the song at face value, and it became an anthem for partying and rebellion.
Of course, Fight for Your Right… was a commercial success. It reached number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 2 on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
Watching the video should have given most people a clue about the song’s real goal. In fact, if you go back and look at it, you’ll see the video contained many comedic and absurdist elements. It features the band members playing themselves as irresponsible party animals
MTV put the video for Fight For Your Right… on its list of the 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made.
According to Far Out Magazine (cited below), Mike D himself revealed the song was a big joke:
“It was summer 1986. We wrote it in about five minutes,” Mike D recalled in 1987. “We were in the Palladium with Rick Rubin, drinking vodka and grapefruit juice, and ‘Fight for Your Right’ was written in the Michael Todd Room on napkins on top of those shitty lacy tables...
Although, Mike D has fond memories of creating the track — how people interpreted the song was an entirely different story, “The only thing that upsets me is that we might have reinforced certain values of some people in our audience when our own values were actually totally different,” he lamented. “There were tons of guys singing along to [Fight for Your Right] who were oblivious to the fact it was a total goof on them. Irony is often missed.”
Frankly, we’re having a hard time wrapping our heads around the fact that we’ve been partying to an anti-partying anthem our whole lives. But people who didn’t get the joke are the ones who ensured it made millions. — WTF fun facts
Source: “The reason why The Beastie Boys hated one of their biggest tracks” — Far Out Magazine
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The Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE, Local 800) will honor Guillermo del Toro with its William Cameron Menzies Award, recognizing his visually striking and emotionally rich body of work. The award will be presented during the 27th annual ADG Awards on Feb. 18 at the InterContinental Los Angeles…
#artdirectorsguild #adg #iatse #guillermodeltoro #adgawards #nelsoncoates #panslabyrinth #academyawards #shapeofwater #oscars
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There are plenty of reasons to love Costco, from its surprisingly robust clothing section to its $1.50 hot dog and soda deal. Even if you leave the big-box store without a rotisserie chicken or a 60,000-piece puzzle, your interactions with employees can make the trip a positive one. If customer service is what you’re after, check out the friendliest Costco locations in the U.S.
Finance Buzz surveyed Costco members across the country to determine which stores provided shoppers with the most pleasant experience. The retailer’s warehouse in Cumming, Georgia, earned glowing reviews, with a friendliness score of 9.5 out of 10. That rating applies to employees in every department, but one customer specifically praised workers in the vision and hearing center for their helpfulness.
The Cumming location is tied with the one in Hawthorne, California, for title of America’s friendliest Costco. The store also earned a high rating of 9.5 out of 10 from members. Located in the Los Angeles metro area, it’s busier than many Costcos, but this doesn’t prevent the staff from making customers feel welcome, according to one survey respondent. You can read the full list down below.
Overall, Costco attracts more vocal fans than your average retail chain. Passionate shoppers can choose to get married in the frozen food section, or even get buried in a casket from the retailer. Here are more facts about Costco you should know.
[h/t Finance Buzz]
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Michele Debczak
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The word “nerd” was first coined by Dr. Seuss in his book “If I Ran the Zoo.”
The first use of the word nerd appeared in Dr. Seuss’s 1950 If I Ran the Zoo.
And then, just to show them, I’ll sail to Ka-troo
And bring back an It-kutch, a Preep and a Proo,
A Nerkle, a Nerd, and a Seersucker, too!
According to Merriam-Webster (cited below):
“In October of the following year, Newsweek carried an article about the latest slang that includes the word nerd. ‘In Detroit,’ it notes, ‘someone who once would be called a drip or a square is now, regrettably, a nerd, or in less severe cases, a scurve.’
It’s not until the 1960s, however, that nerd (as well as its alternate spelling nurd) takes off and starts appearing more frequently in running text (as opposed to lists of slang). Over the decade and into the ’70s, print usage of nerd became truly abundant. It could be said, then, that nerd established colloquial usage around that time.”
Traditionally, a nerd is a person who is highly intellectual and knowledgeable in a particular field. But it’s typically coupled with being socially awkward. Nerds are often seen as being overly absorbed in their interests. They’re and are often associated with being passionate about a certain subject, such as science, technology, mathematics, or fantasy fiction.
More recently, the term “nerd” has been reclaimed by many people and has taken on a more positive connotation. People are now proud to call themselves “nerds.” They believe it makes them seem proud of their superior knowledge on a topic.
If the modern word “nerd” truly came from Dr. Suess, it was likely interpreted as a pejorative term because of the appearance of the character sharing a page with the passage. However, that character appeared to be more grouchy than traditionally nerdy.
Merriam-Webster suggests other possible origins for the word nerd as it related to being deeply passionate yet uncool.
“Another character whose name has been mentioned as a possible source of the word is Mortimer Snerd, a ventriloquist’s dummy created by Edgar Bergen. Modeled on a country bumpkin, Snerd perhaps reminded listeners of a “drip” (someone who is looked on as tiresomely or annoyingly dull), and, therefore—according to Newsweek in 1951—a nerd. Snerd’s drippy qualities were magnified by his sophisticated foil, the dummy Charlie McCarthy. Bergen’s radio show was popular from the late 1930s through the 1950s, and it’s possible that Seuss had Snerd in mind when he wrote the rhyme—but the claim is unverifiable.”
Source: “The Many Origin Stories of ‘Nerd’” — Merriam-Webster
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On October 13, 1998, actor Joe Pesci made a personal appearance at the HMV music store in Manhattan to sign autographs and plug a new project. It was not Lethal Weapon 4, which had just been released that summer, or the video releases of his two 1997 films, Gone Fishin’ and 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag.
Pesci was there to sign copies of his record album, Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You, a 13-song compilation in which Pesci alternated rap spoofs (“Wise Guy”) with earnest renditions of classics (“What a Wonderful World”). It was as close to a sequel to his 1992 hit movie My Cousin Vinny as fans would ever get.
Actors trying to achieve success in the music industry is not unusual. In the 1980s, Bruce Willis, Don Johnson, and Patrick Swayze all spent time in the recording studio, to varying levels of success. (Swayze’s “She’s Like the Wind” was a hit; Miami Vice heartthrob Philip Michael Thomas’s ”Don’t Make Promises” was not.) And while Pesci may not have attracted a younger demographic like Swayze did, he at least had a background in music.
Before his breakthrough role as the brother of boxer Jake LaMotta in 1980’s Raging Bull, Pesci had designs on becoming a recording artist. He got an education in that and more when his father enrolled him at Marie Mosier’s School of Acting, Song, and Dance at age 4. As a teenager in 1950s Newark, New Jersey, Pesci shadowed jazz singer Jimmy Scott, hoping to soak up the performer’s knowledge of the industry: Pesci would later call him “my guru.”
In the 1960s, Pesci became a singer and nightclub performer who had a circuitous, Forrest Gump-esque journey through the music scene. He was briefly in the same road band (for Joey Dee and the Starliters) that once employed Jimi Hendrix; in the 1960s, he introduced songwriter Bob Gaudio to Frankie Valli, which sparked a collaboration between Valli and Gaudio that helped launched Valli’s career.
Pesci also released an album, Little Joe Sure Can Sing!, in 1968. The record featured Pesci, who went by the name Joe Ritchie, singing covers of Beatles and Bee Gees songs, including “Fixing a Hole” and “The Fool on the Hill.”
“It was a real big deal,” he said of the album in 1997. “I was very happy and excited, thinking, you know, that something had finally paid off for me. But I had singles out before that, maybe about five or six, that were under different names and different styles of singing. And I finally settled on doing … a jazz-blues album, that I wanted to do, the way I wanted to sing.”
But Pesci, who was not a known commodity in either music or acting at the time, didn’t immediately follow up with another album. Instead, he agreed join a nightclub act with future actor Frank Vincent.
The musical aspirations didn’t last long, given the upswing of pre-recorded music for dance clubs. Instead, Pesci and Vincent pursued a comedy duo act, Vincent and Pesci, which lasted through 1975. (In 1980, they would reunite, in a manner of speaking, when Pesci’s character battered Vincent’s in Raging Bull. He would do the same to Vincent’s Billy Bats character in Goodfellas.)
Acting seemed a better fit for Pesci, who saw his reputation grow after Raging Bull. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, he had two franchises (Lethal Weapon and Home Alone) as well as the prestigious Scorsese projects.
But by the late 1990s, Pesci had seemingly had his fill of Hollywood. He instead seemed more concerned with returning to his roots.
Pesci’s biggest hit as a leading man was My Cousin Vinny, in which he played the title character, an ill-prepared attorney trying to help his nephew (Ralph Macchio) beat a murder rap. The comic persona was apparently appealing enough to Pesci to adopt it for his new album, which was being distributed by Columbia Records.
Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You is an oddity. Esquire described the entire thing as a “coked-up version of Dean Martin.” In some songs, like “Wise Guy” or “Take Your Love and Shove It,” Gambini’s profanity-laced bravado is apparent. Others, like the duet with My Cousin Vinny co-star Marisa Tomei on “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” are seemingly sincere. Pesci even included a holiday number, “If It Doesn’t Snow This Christmas.”
Critics weren’t sure what to make of it. “One minute he’s goofing on Louis Prima’s ‘Robin Hood’ and the next he’s rapping (yes, rapping) to Blondie’s ‘Rapture,’” wrote Eric Searleman of The Arizona Republic. “The album swings in a halfhearted sort of way, and it’s doubtful the arrangements will inspire many couples to get on the dance floor. It’s also questionable whether the non-stop barrage of profanities qualifies as humor.”
The album debuted in 36th place in the Billboard Heatseekers Chart, though it didn’t appear to get any significant radio or television airplay. Coupled with his low-key retreat from acting in 1999, it seemed like the public was about to hear the last of him.
But Pesci wasn’t done, either with music—or with pseudonyms. In 2003, he appeared on organ player Joey DeFrancesco’s Falling in Love Again, a jazz album in which he was credited as “Joe Doggs.” Pesci never acknowledged the alias and even went so far as to do an interview in the Joe Doggs persona.
Pesci hasn’t been involved in many projects since, appearing in only a small handful of movies, shows, and one 2011 Snickers commercial. But in 2019, the same year he had a significant role in The Irishman, he released Pesci…Still Singing, a new 13-track album that also featured Adam Levine.
Whether Pesci will release more albums—and whether he’d do it under his own name—is unknown, but there may be a good reason for the latter. While being interviewed as “Joe Doggs,” Pesci noted that during live performances with DeFrancesco, people in the crowd kept shouting his own famous movie lines at him.
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Jake Rossen
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If I were running one of the big three, I wouldn’t care where [the ticket sale] comes from,“ Stacy Spikes told TheWrap They recently nabbed additional seed funding from Animoca Brands , a Hong Kong-based game software, blockchain and venture capital company. The seed round also included Claritas…
#stacyspikes #thewrap #animocabrands #hongkong #claritascapital #emeraldplus #harlemcapital #pkovc #sandhillangels #helios
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Members of the royal family follow different standards of etiquette from the rest of us. These rules dictate the way they dress (young princes can’t be seen in long pants), eat (afternoon tea is essential), and speak (you’ll never hear King Charles say the word toilet). They even have a particular way of eating pastries, as a former royal butler explains in the video below.
Grant Harrold has first-hand experience serving the British crown, according to Food & Wine. He has worked for the now-King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla as well as William and Catherine, The Prince and Princess of Wales. Today, he shares his expertise as a royal commentator on social media.
His most recent Instagram post addresses an important part of any Buckingham Palace breakfast spread: pastries. If you ever find yourself enjoying croissants with people you want to impress, Harrold recommends practicing restraint.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please remember that while having a pastry in the morning, you only take one,” he says in the video. And if you’re the host, don’t forget to offer a baked good to your guests before filling your own plate.
These tips apply to pastries in general, but scones come with their own set of rules. If you want to enjoy the British treat like Queen Elizabeth did, slather on the jam first and the clotted cream second. Here are more ways to eat and drink like the late queen.
[h/t Food & Wine]
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Michele Debczak
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