Farhad Manjoo, meet Roger Friedman.

Technology writer Farhad Manjoo, writing an article for Slate.com on a wished-for "iTunes for movies" sings the praises of stealing filmed content by the use of BitTorrent: http://www.slate.com/id/2216328/

This sort of reminds me of now-former Fox News critic Roger Friedman defending his early review of a bootlegged workprint of WOLVERINE by singing the praises of watching it in the climate-controlled comfort of his domicile:http://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/04/roger-friedman-brags-about-downloading-wolverine/

Thumbs up for President Obama's high-speed rail plan.

It's a right-wing talking point to dismiss Barack Obama's Presidency by comparing it to Jimmy Carter's one term in office.

But, among his lasting achievements (such as the Israel/Egypt peace talks), Carter (and his then-Transportation Secretary Brock Adams) managed to decrease support for the Amtrak rail system.

This is why Obama's support for high-speed rail as an alternative mode of transportation is a welcome change of approach: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/04/18/obamas-rail-plan-speeds-ahead/

A Southern California poetry quiz originally written in 2005.

While looking on a certain poetry listserve's archives for a poem by the late Jack Shafer, I came across this post I wrote four years ago. Here's a slightly modified version:
Here's a constructive post--Below are a series of questions about the poetry scene in Southern California.They are written in a more-or-less neutral fashion.No one-myself included-will know all the answers.But it may be good (just a suggestion since I'm not the boss of anyone here) to take the quiz to enable us to know each other better.1. Define poetry in one sentence.2. What inspired you to join [poetry listserve]?3. Who is your favorite nationally published poet?4. Who is your favorite Southern California poet?5. Have you ever read NEXT magazine? Opinions?6. Have you read the offspring of NEXT-poetix.net? Opinions?7. Who are the most influential past poets of Southern California?8. Who are the most influential current poets of Southern California?9. Who are the hosts (past and present) who have been the most influential in creating and sustaining the recent SoCal scene?10. Below are some past and present SoCal poets chosen at random.Grade your knowledge of them and their work on a scale of 0-5;0 is if you've never heard of them.5 is if you're well acquainted with them and their poetry.AMELIE FRANK,BLUE,KATIE O'LOUGHLIN,PETER COCA,DON CAMPBELL, STEVE RAMIREZ,JAIMES PALACIO,VICTOR INFANTE,PATRICK MOONEY,BRENDA PETRAKOS,TEKA LARK LO,S.A. GRIFFIN,SCOTT WANNBERG,IRIS BERRY,PLEASANT GEHMAN,TISH EASTMAN,WANDA COLEMAN,LIZZIE WANN,DOUG KNOTT,THE CARMA BUMS,FRANCEYE,JUNE MELBY,MICHAEL GROVER,RAFAEL RENTERIA,MICHAEL PAUL,JOHN GARDINER,R.D. "RAINDOG" ARMSTRONG,LARRY JAFFE,MIKE CLUFF,PAT COHEE,MANUEL,CHIEF EAGLE EYE,ERICA ERDMAN,PETE JUSTUS,KEN SCOTT,JACK SHAFER,MICHAEL DATCHER,RAFAEL F.J. ALVARADO,JAMES "BOOMER" MAVERICK,MINDY NETTIFEE,JERRY QUICKLY,POETRI,RACHEL KANN,DONN DEEDON,HEATHER LONG,MATTHEW MARS (AKA NIBLOCK),BRENDAN CONSTANTINE,ROBERT ARROYO,HELENA LAZARO,ALICE PERO,LESLIE LEVY,CARL "CALOKIE" STILWELL,VIRGINIA VANOVER11. What, to you, was the most memorable program of poetry you have seen at Beyond Baroque or Tebot Bach? Or, if you haven't attended either or both readings, mention another venue.12. What phrase would you use to describe the current SoCal scene?A. It's fine as it is.B. It could be better, but I'm satisfied overall.C. I'm somewhat dissatisfied with it.D. I'm very dissatisfied with it.13. If you decided to stage a poetry festival, what kind of festivalwould you want for the local poetry community?A. The L.A. Poetry Festival is sufficient.B. A festival like the 2000 Pasadena festival, which featured poets from the San Gabriel Valley and other areas of SoCal.C. A joint L.A./Orange County festival.D. A festival similar to the annual outdoor poets' readings at theL.A. TIMES Festival of Books each spring at UCLA (concentrating onshowcasing nationally published poets).E. A pay-to-read festival similar to Austin, TX which showcases asmany of the diverse styles of poetry as possible.14. What kind of poetry listserve do you prefer?A. ModeratedB. Unmoderated15. Here's a question about past venues. What were the Onyx Cafe,the Iguana Cafe and the Rose Cafe? Discuss how each venue was/isinfluential in the SoCal scene.16. Name the SoCal poets you think will be the community leaders ofthe future.17. Do you think the SoCal community needs more readings or less?18. Which venues do you prefer reading at-those with or without restrictions on language or content?19. What do you think is the ideal way to deliver negative criticism of someone's poetry (i.e. being constructive without resorting topersonal attacks)?20. Which instructional text would you recommend to beginning poets?To more advanced poets?21. Should the SoCal scene attempt to draw more positive attention to itself? If you answer "yes", what would be the most effective way of doing so?Thanks for taking a look at these questions-and perhaps answering at least some of them.

If you're in the CIA and waterboarded people during the Bush regime, you're in no trouble whatsoever.

And the debate continues re the greatest pardon (although unofficial) of a President by another President since Ford let Nixon off the hook for crimes/misdemeanors in 1974.
http://www.newser.com/article/d97jnksg0/sources-obama-administration-wont-prosecute-cia-officials-who-used-waterboarding.html#continuedBelow
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/16/bush-torture-memos-releas_n_187867.html
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/feature/2009/04/16/waterboarding_olc/
http://news.aol.com/article/torture-probe-spain/403627
http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/politics/2009/04/19/impeach_bybee/index.html?source=newsletter

Mike Nichols' legendary flop THE FORTUNE--and the renewed interest in it.

On paper, THE FORTUNE looks like a must-see. It was a "smart grownups making slapstick" comedy starring Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Stockard Channing. The screenplay was written by Adrien Joyce aka Carol Eastman--also the scribe of the classic FIVE EASY PIECES, which starred Nicholson. And the director was Mike Nichols.

THE FORTUNE, released by Columbia Pictures, was critically panned upon its release in 1975. And, aside from a recent showing on Turner Classic Movies (plus some upcoming screenings in NYC as part of a Mike Nichols retrospective), it's pretty much unavailable in the USA. And, like a lot of unavailable films with A-list talent, the want-to-see factor is multiplying faster than rabbit reproduction.

Here are two links to Jeffrey Wells' HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE posts discussing Nichols and THE FORTUNE: http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/04/nichols_chat.php
http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/04/forgotten_fortu_1.php

Al Franken vs. Norm Coleman as compared to WB's Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyote.

The great animator Chuck Jones, when discussing his Road Runner cartoon series, used a phrase from, I believe, the philosopher Santayana, when discussing Wile E. Coyote's continual efforts to defeat the titular speeding bird. I remember the phrase as being something like: "A fanatic redoubles his efforts when he's forgotten his aim [surmising"aim" can be a synonym for "purpose" in this context]."

Exhibit A: Norm Coleman's Coyote-esque efforts to ignore logic and plain-to-see vote counts and boldly deny former comedian/liberal commentator/Bill Clinton acolyte Al Franken a Senate seat--regardless of how many times Coleman has cartoon boulders fall on him or one-way-down trips into painted desert canyons.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/04/14/coleman/index.html

Phil Spector guilty of second-degree murder of Lana Clarkson.

Just found this (at 2:52 p.m. PDT) on the LOS ANGELES TIMES website:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/04/phil-spector-verdict-lana-clarkson.html

One can't help but wish that Spector's gun-waving and threatening behavior directed at both men and women (rampant psychosis too often overlooked and/or enabled) could have ended a long time ago--and that Lana Clarkson could still be alive today.

More coverage from the London GUARDIAN:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/14/richard-williams-on-phil-spector
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/14/phil-spector-lana-clarkson-murder

Dominick Dunne on the first Spector trial:
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/culture/2009/04/13/phil-spector-found-guilty-of-murder.html

And a Ben Folds Five song that can be interpreted as describing the state of Spector's mind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pWB2N0_TxM

The tabloidization of AOL continues: re Alec Baldwin.

Here's a headline on AOL's Welcome Page:
ALEC BALDWIN PICKS A FIGHT
Here's the subheading:
Testy Actor Slams TV Anchor, Calls Her Too 'Cutesy'

Reality Check: Baldwin referred to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. And here's the quote from the article: On Rachel Maddow: "She is smart and charming but her writers are dreadful and the less cutesy she is, the better. She did an excellent interview with Colin Powell recently. The next night, I missed that tougher, less avuncular Rachel."

[The full article can be found at: http://www.popeater.com/movies/article/baldwin-peppers-msnbc-with-friendly-fire/423073?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl5link3http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popeater.com%2Fmovies%2Farticle%2Fbaldwin-peppers-msnbc-with-friendly-fire%2F423073]

Alec Baldwin does have a valid, nonarguable point: MSNBC does seem to want Ms. Maddow to fulfill the smile-every-few-words requirement now determined as appropriate for acceptable television hosting/anchoring (another example: Ben Lyons' near-constant grin--witnessed the last time I made myself sit through AT THE MOVIES).

To be fair, I haven't watched an entire episode of THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW in recent weeks. But I hope the smirky pop-culture-explanation final segment has been put in cement shoes and thrown into the East River.

Verdict: The folks at Time Warner, in order to get AOL visitors to Click The Link, are guilty--yet again--of inflating a not-that-momentous story into a Man Bites Dog extravaganza.