Neal Gabler on the TV fantasy of "we'll always be there for you" friendship.

Commentary: The social networks - latimes.com

This passage by Mr. Gabler is particularly resonant:
One feels a little churlish pointing out how phony most of this intimacy is. After all, these shows, even one as observant as "Modern Family," aren't about realism. They aren't about the genuine emotional underpinnings of friendship or family, and they certainly aren't about the rough course that almost every relationship, be it with a friend or family member, takes — the inevitable squabbles, the sometimes long and even permanent ruptures, the obtuseness, the selfishness, the reprioritization, the expectations of reciprocity, the drifting apart, the agonizing sense of loneliness even within the flock. These shows are pure wish fulfillment. They offer us friends and family at one's beck and call but without any of the hassles. It is friendship as we want it to be.

The bombast/"respectability" schizophrenia of CNN.

http://nymag.com/news/media/68717/

Gabriel Sherman's NEW YORK magazine article brings together a lot of over-the-years anecdotes relating to CNN, FOX NEWS, MSNBC (remembering its brief, John Gibson-powered, imitation of FOX NEWS in the last decade) and HLN and mostly concentrates on their prime-time programming.

And a point is made in the piece that CNN should probably transform into a "class" brand--to the extent of trying to woo someone like Charlie Rose over from PBS.

But, despite who's running CNN, the network tends to be too attracted to bombastic news types like Tom Foreman (the RAW POLITICS guy), Tony Harris and, of course, the now-departed Rick Sanchez.  And it looks like Anderson Cooper's being nudged to take a more confrontational stance (in a sort-of-neutral way) with GOP extremist-types.  But you and I both know that Anderson Cooper wouldn't behave like that around John Boehner and/or Mitch McConnell.

Or there's weekend anchor Fredrika Whitfield, who seems to have been told by consultants to smile just about every time she delivers a line from the prompter.  But at least Ms. Whitfield, at this stage in her career, isn't actively grating.

And I fear that grating-nerves newsjunk, under the "Keeping Them Honest" tag, is the path CNN will travel down with the ex-HLN head honcho at the helm.

Rick Sanchez and the ghost of Richard Nixon.

I've never been able to watch now-former CNN cartoon news-anchor blowhard Rick Sanchez for more than a few minutes at a time.  Having said that, I was rather sickened by the anti-Semitic, anti-"Eastern intellectual elite" bilge that Sanchez blurted out on Sirius/XM leading to his firing earlier today:
http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/rick-sanchez-fired-over-remarks-on-jews-media-jon-stewart/19657894?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-w%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk2%7C174810

This is comparable to former President Richard Nixon's hateful anti-Semitic rantings:
http://hnn.us/articles/657.html

RIP Tony Curtis.

When I woke up this morning, KABC-TV in Los Angeles seemingly couldn't mention any Tony Curtis starring/co-starring films except for SOME LIKE IT HOT (likely to be remembered forever because of Marilyn Monroe).  But Curtis had plenty of memorable films on his resume (mentioning the ones I've seen): THE VIKINGS, OPERATION PETTICOAT, THE DEFIANT ONES, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, SPARTACUS, THE GREAT RACE, THE BOSTON STRANGLER, THE LAST TYCOON.

And post-superstardom, Curtis was a regular on TV series including THE PERSUADER (teamed with a post-SAINT, pre-Bond Roger Moore), McCOY and VEGAS.

RIP film and stage director Arthur Penn.

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2010/09/penns_end.php

I remember seeing Arthur Penn once around 1989 at the Telluride Film Festival; Penn and Penn & Teller were there to promote the film PENN AND TELLER GET KILLED.  All three were, if memory is correct, on an outdoor panel where Arthur Penn was on the end of a brief tongue-lashing from a local Telluride woman (decidedly not a festival-goer) intent on using him as a punching bag for her disdain for Hollywood and its filmed product, which she apparently found values-deficient.

Certainly, THE MIRACLE WORKER, BONNIE AND CLYDE, THE LEFT HANDED GUN, THE CHASE, ALICE'S RESTAURANT (haven't seen it, but should ), LITTLE BIG MAN and NIGHT MOVES  form the cornerstone of Penn's reputation as a film director. MICKEY ONE (Penn's first collaboration with Warren Beatty) and THE MISSOURI BREAKS (Penn's second time working with Marlon Brando--who, from his performance, had a different film in mind) are watchable, idiosyncratic misfires.

And, as Mr. Wells mentions in his HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE post, Penn was out of cinematic fashion by 1981.  Two of his later films (TARGET and DEAD OF WINTER) were genre thriller stuff that could have been made by just about anyone.

But Penn had a good run from THE LEFT HANDED GUN through MISSOURI BREAKS and deserves posthumous attention from younger generations of film enthusiasts.

Contestant Seth Caro of TOP CHEF: JUST DESSERTS--more reality TV theater of cruelty.

http://realitytvmagazine.sheknows.com/blog/2010/09/24/top-chef-just-desserts-who-is-seth-caro/
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2010/09/top-chef-just-desserts-raising-the-bar-for-pasty-chefs.html#comments

I'll let the LOS ANGELES TIMES commenters (names deleted) speak for themselves (with highlighting by me):

I feel that Seth emotional state is so fragile that he should have been sent home. I hope they are not keeping him on the show just to boost ratings. He need professional help

  

I think that Seth's talented but after last night, he's got to get it together and at least be nicer to his fellow contestants. His mother's health problems are serious but if he really wants to win, he needs to step up to the plate and change his attitude. I thought he should have been sent home, both because of his horrible behavior and bad dessert. God help us if he keeps acting this way.

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First, I want to point out that the crybaby is not one of the gay men on the show, and that last week, the other "heterosexual man" Morgan acted like a five-year old during the judging. Seth, unfortunately, is way beyond the categories we have usually put Top Chef contestants in. His problems are in Real Housewife territory -- Kelly Bensimon crazy, for instance. At this point, I don't think Seth is there for his "talent" but for his meltdown potential, and I haven't decided whether this is a good thing for the show or an immense distraction for the usual plot arc.

If the judges have any sense, he'll be gone next week.

Poem I liked that appeared in a literary e-zine.

http://www.boxcarpoetry.com/024/luebbers_jennifer_001.html

I became a poet for the wrong reasons.

Let's start with this true story:
I was a stand-in on a movie filming during the year of 1993.

One night, we were filming at an apartment building on Fountain and El Centro.  In the first hour of work (while the apartment interior was being readied), the cinematographer came up to me and said:
"I had a dream about you.  You were on the Santa Monica Pier wearing clown shoes."

He said it loud enough for other crew members to hear.

I couldn't do anything about what he said: I was scared of being fired on the spot.  And I was making a decent enough amount of money as a SAG stand-in for the length of the shoot--so I kept very very quiet.

The other crew people said nothing; they kept doing their work so the first shot of the night could be filmed.

When the film shoot ended, I told myself that I didn't want to experience anything like that again.  I didn't like being bullied and powerless and resolved to not take abuse from others without at least attempting to fight back.

Cut to five years later: I became involved in poetry because I liked the scene, a lot of the people and the opportunity for recognition if I was found to be "good enough" to be a featured poet at a venue (likely a coffeehouse or independent bookstore in those days).

But I didn't like egotism or bullying.  And when other poets chose to regard me as "someone to f--- with", then I didn't hesitate to stand my ground and/or risk angering people by fighting back.

Needless to say, various spoken and unspoken varieties of punishment, ostracism, "it's your problem, don't bother me with it" and "we don't want you associating with us" resulted.

As far as poetry was concerned, I wrote the kind of (mostly narrative) verse I felt comfortable with.  I didn't anticipate the death of most of the "most anyone can play" coffeehouse/independent bookstore scene (though I could see a decline beginning as early as 2002-03).  And, like a lumbering triceratops, I haven't made the transition to academia-friendly, strongly form-and-image-conscious "there's no mistaking this for anything but a REAL poem" work.

Some people like the poetry I write--others (influential tastemakers included) don't.  And I'm still a creature of 1998 who has essentially stopped going to certain readings where the spotlights shine on:
1. MFA/private-study/retreat-friendly high-minded verse
2. "Look at us, we're more hip and special than you are!" backscratching.

Obviously, I'm a wretched specimen who partially wanted the kind of star status I didn't receive in my lower-level work in the film/TV industry.

And maybe someday, I can adjust to merely being a bit player blessed with witnessing several really talented people--some still on the scene, some deceased--at their artistic peaks.