http://news.aol.com/article/man-throws-two-shoes-at-bush-in-iraq/241945?icid=200100397x1214711641x1201007398
Nothing else to add.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Ron Howard: despite FROST/NIXON, he tilts right.
I saw FROST/NIXON last week and pronounce it Ron Howard's WAG THE DOG--a deftly made and relative low-budget/schedule film that entertains, enlightens and provides a chance for Howard to do something with gravitas, prestige and awards-season potential between making THE DA VINCI CODE and the forthcoming ANGELS AND DEMONS.
But, to be honest, Howard (who voted for Nixon in 72 and supported Obama this year) is conservative and his earlier films show it.
Exhibit A: Witness the scenes where Kathleen Quinlan's mom had a meltdown over the teen daughter's mild liberalism in APOLLO 13.
Exhibit B: Witness the dumb subplot (that marred an otherwise good film) where Paddy Considine's workers'-rights "radical" and residents of a NYC poor-people's "Hooverville" were maligned as malcontents in CINDERELLA MAN.
Having pointed out the above, it's safe to hypothesize that the character in FROST/NIXON that Howard had the most sympathy for is Kevin Bacon's Nixon acolyte/camp follower.
But, to be honest, Howard (who voted for Nixon in 72 and supported Obama this year) is conservative and his earlier films show it.
Exhibit A: Witness the scenes where Kathleen Quinlan's mom had a meltdown over the teen daughter's mild liberalism in APOLLO 13.
Exhibit B: Witness the dumb subplot (that marred an otherwise good film) where Paddy Considine's workers'-rights "radical" and residents of a NYC poor-people's "Hooverville" were maligned as malcontents in CINDERELLA MAN.
Having pointed out the above, it's safe to hypothesize that the character in FROST/NIXON that Howard had the most sympathy for is Kevin Bacon's Nixon acolyte/camp follower.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Jay Leno going to prime time: everything old is new again.
Jay Leno, who will now get to take his play-down-to-the-proles version of THE TONIGHT SHOW to prime time, isn't the first host of the show to score a prime-time gig on NBC. Both Steve Allen and Jack Paar went the same route in the 50s and 60s--and if I recall correctly, Paar's prime-time show was much the same as his late-night one.
But neither Parr nor Allen were asked to do an hour show for five nights a week in prime time.
Obviously, Ben Silverman (who for every OFFICE or 30 ROCK comes up with nongenius ideas for "edgy" retoolings of KNIGHT RIDER and THE BIONIC WOMAN) isn't going to walk the plank. So, one can expect NBC to gut their prime-time schedule as much as possible (even past the 16 hours remaining when Leno debuts next year) with more superstupid reality shows and extra helpings of DATELINE NBC.
Perhaps the silver lining in this cloud will be possessed by Conan O'Brien. Free of the spectre of Jay being direct competition on either Fox or ABC, maybe Conan can develop an 11:35 p.m. talk show that can be truly Conanesque [i.e. incorporate more of the LATE NIGHT WITH...show than he thought possible, say, a week ago] and move the tired late-night format into a new era.
At least until Viacom sends David Letterman to early retirement and likely blesses Jon Stewart with the CBS 11:35 p.m. slot.
But neither Parr nor Allen were asked to do an hour show for five nights a week in prime time.
Obviously, Ben Silverman (who for every OFFICE or 30 ROCK comes up with nongenius ideas for "edgy" retoolings of KNIGHT RIDER and THE BIONIC WOMAN) isn't going to walk the plank. So, one can expect NBC to gut their prime-time schedule as much as possible (even past the 16 hours remaining when Leno debuts next year) with more superstupid reality shows and extra helpings of DATELINE NBC.
Perhaps the silver lining in this cloud will be possessed by Conan O'Brien. Free of the spectre of Jay being direct competition on either Fox or ABC, maybe Conan can develop an 11:35 p.m. talk show that can be truly Conanesque [i.e. incorporate more of the LATE NIGHT WITH...show than he thought possible, say, a week ago] and move the tired late-night format into a new era.
At least until Viacom sends David Letterman to early retirement and likely blesses Jon Stewart with the CBS 11:35 p.m. slot.
G. Murray Thomas' reply to my original post about poetry decade 98-08.
[Note: this came from the Cobalt Poets list, where my recent post about changes in Los Angeles poetry was forwarded.]
In my opinion, 1998 was a highwater mark in L.A. poetry. There was an energy and excitement in the poetry scene which has, to a large part, dissipated. My analogy is that in 1998 the poetry scene was an adolescent, full of energy and believing that anything was possible. Since then, we have matured a bit, and realized, for better and worse, our limitations. Most readings today (and maybe this is what Terry means by "Chamber music", I'm really not sure) have settled into an identity. Even witht he big ones like Da Poetry Lounge, you pretty much know what you're going to get when you walk in the door. This does create a certain comfort level, but at the expense of innovation. It also means the each reading has developed its own taste in poetry, which may lead poets to feel they are being excluded if they dont' fit that taste.On the other hand (and I have had this discussion with Terry before) it is easy to see any insistence on quality as exclusiveness. Especially since quality in poetry can be a very subjective standard. What gets wildly cheered at Da Poetry Lounge would not fly at the Ruskin, and vice versa. So the key becomes finding the reading whose taste fits your poetry. However, as readings become fewer, and more set in their taste, this can become more difficult.I think part of what's missing is new blood, especially on the level of hosting. In 1998 new readings were popping up all over the place. Not just new readings, b ut ambitious readings. What new readings I do see are usually on the order of -- another coffeehouse, another open reading.Still, I do believe the scene in 2008 still contains a variety of readings accomdating a wide variety of taste in poetry.G. Murray Thomas
In my opinion, 1998 was a highwater mark in L.A. poetry. There was an energy and excitement in the poetry scene which has, to a large part, dissipated. My analogy is that in 1998 the poetry scene was an adolescent, full of energy and believing that anything was possible. Since then, we have matured a bit, and realized, for better and worse, our limitations. Most readings today (and maybe this is what Terry means by "Chamber music", I'm really not sure) have settled into an identity. Even witht he big ones like Da Poetry Lounge, you pretty much know what you're going to get when you walk in the door. This does create a certain comfort level, but at the expense of innovation. It also means the each reading has developed its own taste in poetry, which may lead poets to feel they are being excluded if they dont' fit that taste.On the other hand (and I have had this discussion with Terry before) it is easy to see any insistence on quality as exclusiveness. Especially since quality in poetry can be a very subjective standard. What gets wildly cheered at Da Poetry Lounge would not fly at the Ruskin, and vice versa. So the key becomes finding the reading whose taste fits your poetry. However, as readings become fewer, and more set in their taste, this can become more difficult.I think part of what's missing is new blood, especially on the level of hosting. In 1998 new readings were popping up all over the place. Not just new readings, b ut ambitious readings. What new readings I do see are usually on the order of -- another coffeehouse, another open reading.Still, I do believe the scene in 2008 still contains a variety of readings accomdating a wide variety of taste in poetry.G. Murray Thomas
Friday, December 5, 2008
COMMIE GIRL Rebecca Schoenkopf out as editor of LA CITY BEAT.
A stain on alternative journalism has been removed: Rebecca Schoenkopf (who once charmingly told a reader who wrote a complaining letter "f--- you") is no longer editor of LA CITY BEAT, the alternaweekly which underwent an in-your-face-with-slick-magazine-cover makeover last summer.
Schoenkopf (formerly COMMIE GIRL columnist for OC WEEKLY) started her tenure at the paper with a loud fart of an article about how the Los Angeles County Museum of Art should be destroyed because the then-current Chicano art exhibit wasn't sufficiently with-it. And the smirkiness kept coming.....
To Schoenkopf's credit, she brought some talented ex-OC WEEKLY writers (notably Steve Lowery and Jim Washburn) to CITY BEAT. But the general "we're SO better than you right-wing boneheads" bratty 'tude of the pre-Mike Lacey era OC WEEKLY {excepting then-writers such as Victor Infante and Jaimes Palacio) apparently didn't play too well in Los Angeles. And when Schoenkopf's ex-boss Will Swaim was tapped to run CITY BEAT....the results are summarized by Kevin Roderick of LA OBSERVED: http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/11/schoenkopf_out_as_citybea.php
Now CITY BEAT looks like it will mutate into what Kit Rachlis' (who runs the old-folks home for former LA WEEKLY writers called LOS ANGELES magazine) version of the LA WEEKLY between the late 80s/early 90s minus the occasional spasms of quirkiness (not-so-fondly remembering John Powers writing about a truffle and an attempted seduction and Helen Knode rhapsodizing about being in a bathtub with a Frenchman)--essentially MOR liberalism.
Which is more than can be expected from the current LA WEEKLY (which ran off Marc Cooper recently), which tilts center/right now (and has Jill "I Still Heart Richard Riordan" Stewart as an editor).
One nervously awaits Mike Lacey bringing Rick "The Finger" Barrs back to L.A. Then the humiliation of the WEEKLY (currently celebrating its 30th anniversary with an issue that brings back and/or namechecks most of its former writers) will be complete.
Schoenkopf (formerly COMMIE GIRL columnist for OC WEEKLY) started her tenure at the paper with a loud fart of an article about how the Los Angeles County Museum of Art should be destroyed because the then-current Chicano art exhibit wasn't sufficiently with-it. And the smirkiness kept coming.....
To Schoenkopf's credit, she brought some talented ex-OC WEEKLY writers (notably Steve Lowery and Jim Washburn) to CITY BEAT. But the general "we're SO better than you right-wing boneheads" bratty 'tude of the pre-Mike Lacey era OC WEEKLY {excepting then-writers such as Victor Infante and Jaimes Palacio) apparently didn't play too well in Los Angeles. And when Schoenkopf's ex-boss Will Swaim was tapped to run CITY BEAT....the results are summarized by Kevin Roderick of LA OBSERVED: http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/11/schoenkopf_out_as_citybea.php
Now CITY BEAT looks like it will mutate into what Kit Rachlis' (who runs the old-folks home for former LA WEEKLY writers called LOS ANGELES magazine) version of the LA WEEKLY between the late 80s/early 90s minus the occasional spasms of quirkiness (not-so-fondly remembering John Powers writing about a truffle and an attempted seduction and Helen Knode rhapsodizing about being in a bathtub with a Frenchman)--essentially MOR liberalism.
Which is more than can be expected from the current LA WEEKLY (which ran off Marc Cooper recently), which tilts center/right now (and has Jill "I Still Heart Richard Riordan" Stewart as an editor).
One nervously awaits Mike Lacey bringing Rick "The Finger" Barrs back to L.A. Then the humiliation of the WEEKLY (currently celebrating its 30th anniversary with an issue that brings back and/or namechecks most of its former writers) will be complete.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Britney Spears' punishment for acting out: resuming the career that caused her to act out.
I didn't bother to watch the Britney Spears MTV documentary on Sunday where she allegedly moaned about being imprisoned in an overly-controlled lifestyle.
And it appears that manager Larry Rudolph and father Jamie Spears are excessively concerned with returning Britney to the era where she made a lot of money for a lot of people--Britney's personal health and welfare (and apparently by extension, the current raising of her and Kevin Federline's sons) being acceptable collateral damage.
Here's the LOS ANGELES TIMES' take on Britney and the "comeback" album CIRCUS--
First, Elizabeth Snead's DISH RAG blog entry: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/12/well-we-all-wat.html
Ann Powers reviews CIRCUS:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2008/11/album-review--1.html
And it appears that manager Larry Rudolph and father Jamie Spears are excessively concerned with returning Britney to the era where she made a lot of money for a lot of people--Britney's personal health and welfare (and apparently by extension, the current raising of her and Kevin Federline's sons) being acceptable collateral damage.
Here's the LOS ANGELES TIMES' take on Britney and the "comeback" album CIRCUS--
First, Elizabeth Snead's DISH RAG blog entry: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/12/well-we-all-wat.html
Ann Powers reviews CIRCUS:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2008/11/album-review--1.html
Monday, December 1, 2008
Current and former Los Angeles poets looking back at the previous decade.
1998 was the year I became active in Los Angeles poetry. It was a time when poetry readings came in a selection of rock-and-roll, hip-hop, folk-radical agitprop or chamber music. And, on occasion, readings could blend all of the above.
2008 is a year where Los Angeles poetry is mostly chamber music (with occasional exceptions such as Fairfax's Da Poetry Lounge and the Wednesday night readings at the Unurban Cafe) that can, at its soporific worst, remind one of the sound of water being poured into a glass.
Recently, the Onyx Cafe, an everyone-can-participate Los Feliz reading dead since 1998, staged a reunion at the Echoplex in Echo Park. A documentary film may surface someday of the reunion.
Ex-L.A. poet Larry Jaffe, who co-hosted Poetic License with the late Donn Deedon, was a beneficiary of the Onyx's legacy. Here's a link to his latest project--UNPROTECTED POETRY 10 YEARS AFTER: www.lgjaffe.com/unprotectedpoetry
Rick Lupert, a veteran of the local scene, has finally acted on a suggestion I (among others) made to him years ago and reissued his second book--I AM MY OWN ORANGE COUNTY--consisting of poetry written between 1990-97. More information on the book can be found here: http://poetrysuperhighway.com/iamooc.html
Reissues are all well and good for reminding the public of work done in the past. And 10th anniversary celebrations are a valuable opportunity for seeing now-mostly-retired poets make rare reappearances and for poetry hosts (such as Ron Dvorkin, who recently celebrated his 10th anniversary as host of the Barnes and Noble reading in Encino) to make note of their longevity in a changing scene.
After the celebrations are over, questions remain:
What kind of poetry scene will we be looking back on in 2018?
Inclusive or ultraexclusive?
2008 is a year where Los Angeles poetry is mostly chamber music (with occasional exceptions such as Fairfax's Da Poetry Lounge and the Wednesday night readings at the Unurban Cafe) that can, at its soporific worst, remind one of the sound of water being poured into a glass.
Recently, the Onyx Cafe, an everyone-can-participate Los Feliz reading dead since 1998, staged a reunion at the Echoplex in Echo Park. A documentary film may surface someday of the reunion.
Ex-L.A. poet Larry Jaffe, who co-hosted Poetic License with the late Donn Deedon, was a beneficiary of the Onyx's legacy. Here's a link to his latest project--UNPROTECTED POETRY 10 YEARS AFTER: www.lgjaffe.com/unprotectedpoetry
Rick Lupert, a veteran of the local scene, has finally acted on a suggestion I (among others) made to him years ago and reissued his second book--I AM MY OWN ORANGE COUNTY--consisting of poetry written between 1990-97. More information on the book can be found here: http://poetrysuperhighway.com/iamooc.html
Reissues are all well and good for reminding the public of work done in the past. And 10th anniversary celebrations are a valuable opportunity for seeing now-mostly-retired poets make rare reappearances and for poetry hosts (such as Ron Dvorkin, who recently celebrated his 10th anniversary as host of the Barnes and Noble reading in Encino) to make note of their longevity in a changing scene.
After the celebrations are over, questions remain:
What kind of poetry scene will we be looking back on in 2018?
Inclusive or ultraexclusive?
Maureen Dowd on Pasadena newspaper's reporters--from India.
It had to happen sometime: a newspaper called PASADENA NOW has outsourced its reporting staff to India--where the scribes are paid much much lower than their American cousins.
Maureen Dowd tells the story in a recent NEW YORK TIMES column: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/opinion/30dowd.html?em
Maureen Dowd tells the story in a recent NEW YORK TIMES column: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/opinion/30dowd.html?em
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