The Runaways band to be turned into THE RUNAWAYS movie.

Kristen Stewart (who was actually good in Greg Mottola's ADVENTURELAND) appears in photos displaying her Joan Jett look for the upcoming THE RUNAWAYS biopic: http://icydk.com/2009/06/11/kristen-stewart-is-joan-jett/

A news item about Dakota ("my stage mom wants me to grow up fast on film") Fanning's casting as Cherie Currie: http://pitchfork.com/news/34781-dakota-fanning-cherie-currie-in-runaways-movie/

And here's the IMDB page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1017451/fullcredits#cast

One item of interest from IMDB: Michael Shannon is rumored to be in the film; let's hope he's being cast as controversial manager Kim Fowley.
[UPDATE 6/23/09: Yes, Shannon IS playing Fowley. And here's some more information on the film: http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2009/06/joan-jett-helping-kristen-stewart.html]

Coca-Cola Zero, Hugo Chavez and AOL's Tom Barlow.

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/06/11/coke-zero-no-mas-in-venezuela/?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl2link4http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walletpop.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F06%2F11%2Fcoke-zero-no-mas-in-venezuela%2F

AOL's Tom Barlow essentially wants to rant about how Evil Hugo Chavez won't let multinational corporations do Whatever They Want in Venezuela.

But there's a link questioning the health benefits of Coke Zero embedded in the article that ought to be clicked--and paid attention to, whether you drink Coke Zero or not.

Lots of overreaction from the left and right about David Letterman's TOP TEN Palin jokes.

An article from an occasional contributor to SLATE:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/06/11/david-letterman-owes-sarah-palin-flight-attendants-and-women-in/

Letterman's semi-apologetic clarification--plus the original Top Ten list (links from HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE):
http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/06/greatest_non-ap.php
http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/06/why_the_kid_glo.php

James Wolcott's take on Letterman's remarks:
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/wolcott/2009/06/here-it-is-friday-and.html
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/wolcott/2009/06/like-clint-eastwood-in-a.html

And the Palins getting their demagogue on to rack up cheap political points from their base:http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/06/palin-vs-letterman.html

Another Letterman apology: http://defamer.gawker.com/5291870/

Patrick Goldstein on Judd Apatow's editphobia.

I've only just managed to read Patrick Goldstein's LOS ANGELES TIMES piece on Judd Apatow's apparently mule-ish determination to make the upcoming FUNNY PEOPLE two-and-a-half hours long (those familiar with Apatow's other self-directed comedies, THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP, may be aware that Apatow has a compulsion for including just about every bit of comic improv/scripted antics whether they work or not--and let's not forget the even-longer DVD versions):http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2009/05/memo-to-judd-apatow-your-movie-is-too-long.html

I don't always agree with Goldstein (first a rock-and-roll, now a film gossip columnist), but this time we're in perfect sync.
[UPDATE 6/12/09: Apparently, the running time for FUNNY PEOPLE has shrunk to a still-lengthy 2 1/4 hours.]

Links to articles about Los Angeles poet francEyE

An article by Al Martinez from THE LOS ANGELES TIMES in 2002, profiling FrancEyE, but focusing more on Bukowski: http://articles.latimes.com/2002/dec/06/entertainment/et-martinez6

A worth-reading personal account by L.A. poet E.Amato:
http://eamato.blogspot.com/2009/06/franceye.html

A fine summary of francEyE's life and career in poetry by Lynne Bronstein:
http://www.smmirror.com/MainPages/DisplayArticleDetails.asp?eid=10352

Finally, the LOS ANGELES TIMES publishes an obit, as of this past Sunday, June 21st:
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-franceye21-2009jun21,0,1368352.story

Bonus link: A couple of poems of francEyE's printed on Rick Lupert's PoetrySuperHighway site--
http://poetrysuperhighway.com/ppa/ppa423.html#fp1

LAND OF THE LOST: the "it's a flop" post-mortems begin....

http://www.popeater.com/movies/article/has-ferrell-fatigue-set-in-at-box-office/518314

I passed on LAND OF THE LOST this past weekend in favor of AWAY WE GO and THE HANGOVER.

Having seen a long trailer for LOTL in Montreal while on vacation, I was a bit suprised (having liked the teaser ad showing Will Ferrell jousting with Matt Lauer) that the film opted for a dumb, breast-grabbing NATIONAL LAMPOON approach instead of going for a suitable-for-just-about-all-the-family PG in the manner of the NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM duology.

And maybe that's the reason LOTL underperformed--not "Will Ferrell fatigue" or younger audience unfamiliarity with the Sid and Marty Krofft TV series from the 70s.

Another great moment in the history of pre-emptive poetry reading censorship.

The story goes like this: A respected veteran poet I know (who now lives in Oregon) had a co-feature at a Florence, Oregon reading (inside a restaurant). He opened with an a cappella cover of John Prine's "Sam Stone" and read Charles Bukowski's famous poem about the act of writing. Then he read a poem of his own which condemned the murder of Dr. George Tiller last week. Then the plug was pulled on him by the restaurant owner, who pronounced his poetry as not being "uplifting."

And variations of this story will take place again whenever venue owners and/or poetry hosts let the angry words "IT'S MYYYYYYYYYY PLACE (or HOUSE or READING)!!!!!!" ring out instead of using their brains (an increasingly lost practice as this first decade of the 21st Century comes to a close) and realizing that poetry can and often must be something besides soothing platitudes and homilies meant to do nothing but keep diners undisturbed in the Great Pacific Northwest.

Eulogy for poet Frances Dean Smith aka francEyE.

It's likely that Frances Smith, also known as francEyE, will be known to future generations not as the talented Los Angeles poet she was--but for her relationship with Charles Bukowski, which produced their daughter, Marina. And this is unfair, since her poems were marked by truth and accessibility-to=everyone and don't deserve to be consigned to footnote status.

My memories of francEyE are mostly good ones. I loved the poetry she would contribute to readings at L.A. venues and on Scott Wannberg's Yahoogroups site Ongoing Dancers. And for a time, she was friendly to me and even let me drive her home on occasion from readings at a venue in the South Bay. All that came to an end early in 2005 when I had a confrontation with a local literary poet (someone who once said that my death "couldn't come soon enough") at that venue. francEyE was angered by this and, as a result, we pretty much avoided each other for the rest of the time she was in L.A.

After she entered the care facility in Northern California, I ordered a copy of an anthology of her work and was suprised and happy when receiving the book with her signature inside.

It's a statement that's been said before--but I, and other poets in LA/Orange County, can consider ourselves fortunate for living in her time.