This e-mail from the Democratic Party came the other day to my inbox.
Here's a portion (highlighting by me):
Terry --
We're making some big changes to this year's Democratic National Convention.
Just like we broke with conventions of the past in 2008, we're moving the final night of this year's convention to Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers. There will be room for 70,000 people, so more folks will be able to come out and celebrate as President Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for re-election.
It should be a wonderful night -- and it's not the only way we're doing things differently this year. In the upcoming months, we'll be asking folks for their ideas on how to make this convention more open and accessible than ever before.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Paula Deen is merely the tip of the Food Network high-fat iceberg.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/18/paula-deen-diabetes_n_1212614.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl7%7Csec3_lnk2%26pLid%3D128537
Yes, it's just like eating a bag full of Lays Potato Chips (either regular or baked) to call Paula Deen out on her mixture of hypocrisy, sanctimoniousness, naked greed and a willingness to split the morality atom by balancing sales of a diabetes drug with maintenance of her popular down-home cooking "brand."
Granted, there's a mitigating factor--Paula's son Bobby now has a healthier version of his mother's schtick on sister station The Cooking Channel: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/not-my-mamas-meals/index.html
But The Food Network has other programming of the eat-the-high-fat-delicacies-they-taste-so-good genre.
There's frosted-hair good-old-boy Guy Fieri's DINERS, DRIVE-INS AND DIVES:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/diners-drive-ins-and-dives/index.html.
And the upscale-cast-of-food-stars variant of Paula Deen--THE BEST THING I EVER ATE:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-best-thing-i-ever-ate/index.html.
At this juncture, I'm guessing The Food Network will do their very best to ride out Paula Deen's Type 2 Diabetes revelation (which some network execs or perhaps Paula's entourage will likely blame on either foodie snobbery or condescension towards Southerners) and do very little to change their winning eat-at-your-own-risk-and-don't-blame-us-if-you-get-sick-and-die formula--which should now be viewed with caution and (excuse the expression) taken with a grain of salt.
Yes, it's just like eating a bag full of Lays Potato Chips (either regular or baked) to call Paula Deen out on her mixture of hypocrisy, sanctimoniousness, naked greed and a willingness to split the morality atom by balancing sales of a diabetes drug with maintenance of her popular down-home cooking "brand."
Granted, there's a mitigating factor--Paula's son Bobby now has a healthier version of his mother's schtick on sister station The Cooking Channel: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/not-my-mamas-meals/index.html
But The Food Network has other programming of the eat-the-high-fat-delicacies-they-taste-so-good genre.
There's frosted-hair good-old-boy Guy Fieri's DINERS, DRIVE-INS AND DIVES:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/diners-drive-ins-and-dives/index.html.
And the upscale-cast-of-food-stars variant of Paula Deen--THE BEST THING I EVER ATE:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-best-thing-i-ever-ate/index.html.
At this juncture, I'm guessing The Food Network will do their very best to ride out Paula Deen's Type 2 Diabetes revelation (which some network execs or perhaps Paula's entourage will likely blame on either foodie snobbery or condescension towards Southerners) and do very little to change their winning eat-at-your-own-risk-and-don't-blame-us-if-you-get-sick-and-die formula--which should now be viewed with caution and (excuse the expression) taken with a grain of salt.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Re end of ONE LIFE TO LIVE: Disney/ABC has only one more soap to cancel.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Best films of 2011--second draft.
In no specific order: MONEYBALL DRIVE GAINSBOURG YOUNG ADULT TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY INTO THE ABYSS BUCK THE DESCENDANTS THE GUARD MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE JANE EYRE THE TRIP HUGO RANGO SUPER 8
SORT-OF GUILTY PLEASURES: IRONCLAD TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN DRIVE ANGRY
HONORABLE MENTION: BRIDESMAIDS CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS PROJECT NIM RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES RESTLESS RAMPART CONTAGION SARAH'S KEY MY WEEK WITH MARILYN THE IDES OF MARCH CRAZY STUPID LOVE CARNAGE THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN THE SKIN I LIVE IN
SORT-OF GUILTY PLEASURES: IRONCLAD TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN DRIVE ANGRY
HONORABLE MENTION: BRIDESMAIDS CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS PROJECT NIM RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES RESTLESS RAMPART CONTAGION SARAH'S KEY MY WEEK WITH MARILYN THE IDES OF MARCH CRAZY STUPID LOVE CARNAGE THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN THE SKIN I LIVE IN
THE ARTIST really doesn't live up to its hype.
Before filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius crafted THE ARTIST, he made a couple of comedies inspired by the French O.S.S. spy series of the 60s. These films (one of which I saw) are essentially AUSTIN POWERS-meets-BORAT satires of racism/colonialism/sexism; they got some art-theater showings and are available on video.
THE ARTIST is a straight-up attempt at remaking the kind of silent film with intertitles plus a musical track that Charlie Chaplin did twice in the 1930s (CITY LIGHTS and MODERN TIMES). It's technically brilliant (looking spot-on like a shot-in-the-20s actual silent) and will undoubtedly make an American star of Berenice Bejo (who will probably be inundated with offers to play wild-and-crazy girlfriends of Jason Segel and/or Paul Rudd). And it has Harvey Weinstein pulling out the promotional stops to make it a left-field Oscar winner in the tradition of LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.
Unfortunately, the film is overlong, overthin, a bit too one-dimensional--and, as with the somewhat superior HUGO, unlikely to find a supportive mass audience in an era where silent cinema is as much a thing of the past as books, print newspapers, VCRs, DVD players and reviews by people who were once paid a lot of money just to write film criticism.
THE ARTIST is a straight-up attempt at remaking the kind of silent film with intertitles plus a musical track that Charlie Chaplin did twice in the 1930s (CITY LIGHTS and MODERN TIMES). It's technically brilliant (looking spot-on like a shot-in-the-20s actual silent) and will undoubtedly make an American star of Berenice Bejo (who will probably be inundated with offers to play wild-and-crazy girlfriends of Jason Segel and/or Paul Rudd). And it has Harvey Weinstein pulling out the promotional stops to make it a left-field Oscar winner in the tradition of LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.
Unfortunately, the film is overlong, overthin, a bit too one-dimensional--and, as with the somewhat superior HUGO, unlikely to find a supportive mass audience in an era where silent cinema is as much a thing of the past as books, print newspapers, VCRs, DVD players and reviews by people who were once paid a lot of money just to write film criticism.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Criticism--and the supersensitive/vindictive reaction to it--in rock and roll.
Recently, I read the late Paul Nelson's book of interviews with Clint Eastwood--CONVERSATIONS WITH CLINT.
Now, I'm onto EVERYTHING IS AN AFTERTHOUGHT: THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PAUL NELSON (edited by Kevin Avery).
Some choice tidbits from the book:
Stephen Holden on artists who Jann Wenner considered sacred cows in ROLLING STONE:
"Jann would insist on positive reviews for his personal friends, including Boz Scaggs and Art Garfunkel, in particular, and Jimmy Webb. They got lots of coverage and they always got positive reviews."
Paul Nelson's personal friendship with Jackson Browne (Browne's album THE PRETENDER was a Nelson favorite) came to an end when Nelson panned J.D. Souther's (Souther is now probably best known for songwriting--with hits for the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt--rather than his singing/recording career) album YOU'RE ONLY LONELY.
From the review:
"These days, J.D. Souther is mostly a parody of the sensitive California singer/songwriter. He's calendar art, the aural equivalent of a Kodak color slide: leaves turning in the autumn as photographed by Felicia Filigree of Vassar. He's so lazy that too often his songs have trouble holding even the most cliched poses, because their creator can't be bothered to supply the necessary conviction, much less any at all. 'If you don't want my love/Well, there's nothing I can do.' he mewls, sounding like he's mildly annoyed because his Perrier is getting warm."
Don Henley wrote an angry letter to ROLLING STONE (keep in mind that ROLLING STONE was then considered THE major rock magazine) that began:
"Paul Nelson's blade seems to be getting too big for him to carry. He's so busy being cute and is such an obviously biased little prick, he invalidates his own reviews."
Then the book goes on to recount a conversation Nelson had with Jackson Browne concerning the Souther album:
Jackson Browne: "It was if he had wasted his time [two years] making this record. It was as if his first record, which you liked, was made last week, and this week he didn't do so well. Now, I don't think that's the job of the reviewer--if you don't mind my telling you your job this once. I think often reviewers are given assignments and they write about something and they might not care for the thing. They may be actually pissed off that they have to write about it, and that anger gets handed over to the artist."
Paul Nelson: "If I don't like John David's album, I dont see anything wrong with my saying that I don't like it."
Browne: "By the end of the review, I still didn't know why you didn't like it."
Nelson: "Because I thought it was real narcissistic."
"You know," Browne snapped his fingers, "that can be said just like that. I disagree. But I think it could be said without cultural references like Perrier and the amount of money one might have made."
"I wanted to shake him up," Paul shot back, "Which I told you in advance when we talked, that I thought--"
Browne: "No, you didn't tell me in advance. You told me after you'd written it and before I had read it."
The punchline to this SoCal rock story:
Jackson Browne read the review of the Souther album and called Nelson "and demanded to know how he could've written such a thing."
Nelson was planning on writing a Jackson Browne biography before the Souther review blowup and Browne killed the project, saying "Well, I don't see how we can do a book now. I couldn't go and do a book with the journalist that had savaged my friend."
And that's how people behave when they have money and the stakes are higher than, say, the poetry community (where similar behavior occurs too).
Now, I'm onto EVERYTHING IS AN AFTERTHOUGHT: THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PAUL NELSON (edited by Kevin Avery).
Some choice tidbits from the book:
Stephen Holden on artists who Jann Wenner considered sacred cows in ROLLING STONE:
"Jann would insist on positive reviews for his personal friends, including Boz Scaggs and Art Garfunkel, in particular, and Jimmy Webb. They got lots of coverage and they always got positive reviews."
Paul Nelson's personal friendship with Jackson Browne (Browne's album THE PRETENDER was a Nelson favorite) came to an end when Nelson panned J.D. Souther's (Souther is now probably best known for songwriting--with hits for the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt--rather than his singing/recording career) album YOU'RE ONLY LONELY.
From the review:
"These days, J.D. Souther is mostly a parody of the sensitive California singer/songwriter. He's calendar art, the aural equivalent of a Kodak color slide: leaves turning in the autumn as photographed by Felicia Filigree of Vassar. He's so lazy that too often his songs have trouble holding even the most cliched poses, because their creator can't be bothered to supply the necessary conviction, much less any at all. 'If you don't want my love/Well, there's nothing I can do.' he mewls, sounding like he's mildly annoyed because his Perrier is getting warm."
Don Henley wrote an angry letter to ROLLING STONE (keep in mind that ROLLING STONE was then considered THE major rock magazine) that began:
"Paul Nelson's blade seems to be getting too big for him to carry. He's so busy being cute and is such an obviously biased little prick, he invalidates his own reviews."
Then the book goes on to recount a conversation Nelson had with Jackson Browne concerning the Souther album:
Jackson Browne: "It was if he had wasted his time [two years] making this record. It was as if his first record, which you liked, was made last week, and this week he didn't do so well. Now, I don't think that's the job of the reviewer--if you don't mind my telling you your job this once. I think often reviewers are given assignments and they write about something and they might not care for the thing. They may be actually pissed off that they have to write about it, and that anger gets handed over to the artist."
Paul Nelson: "If I don't like John David's album, I dont see anything wrong with my saying that I don't like it."
Browne: "By the end of the review, I still didn't know why you didn't like it."
Nelson: "Because I thought it was real narcissistic."
"You know," Browne snapped his fingers, "that can be said just like that. I disagree. But I think it could be said without cultural references like Perrier and the amount of money one might have made."
"I wanted to shake him up," Paul shot back, "Which I told you in advance when we talked, that I thought--"
Browne: "No, you didn't tell me in advance. You told me after you'd written it and before I had read it."
The punchline to this SoCal rock story:
Jackson Browne read the review of the Souther album and called Nelson "and demanded to know how he could've written such a thing."
Nelson was planning on writing a Jackson Browne biography before the Souther review blowup and Browne killed the project, saying "Well, I don't see how we can do a book now. I couldn't go and do a book with the journalist that had savaged my friend."
And that's how people behave when they have money and the stakes are higher than, say, the poetry community (where similar behavior occurs too).
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Victor Infante, Christopher Hitchens and me.
"...I'm afraid I just don't share the belief that those who think differently than I do are in some way mentally deficient or evil. (Alas, yet another thing I probably differed with him on.)"--from a December blog post of Victor Infante's on the passing of Christopher Hitchens.
Link to the post: http://ocvictor.livejournal.com/920257.html
"You bring your misery on yourself, and whether you realize it or not, you do it on purpose. You need therapy, but I really don't care."--Victor Infante to me, March 2011
Link to the post: http://ocvictor.livejournal.com/920257.html
"You bring your misery on yourself, and whether you realize it or not, you do it on purpose. You need therapy, but I really don't care."--Victor Infante to me, March 2011
Sunday, January 1, 2012
RIP Katy Perry and Russell Brand's marriage.
Whether true love or merely a match made in celeb-publicity Heaven, it's
always a bittersweet thing to see a marriage end too soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)