http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/07/14/trading-stock-underwriting-propel-goldman-to-record-profit/
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/29127316/the_great_american_bubble_machine
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/07/15/goldman/index.html?source=newsletter
http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2009/07/16/on-goldmans-giganto-profits/
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Malia Obama wears a peace-sign T-shirt in Italy; Barack Obama in charge of offensive in Afghanistan.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/13/hate-speech-finds-a-home-on-the-web/?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl1link4http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2009%2F07%2F13%2Fhate-speech-finds-a-home-on-the-web%2F
I can't help but remember a poster for a Amanda Bynes film called WHAT A GIRL WANTS. Amanda, in the first version of the poster, flashed the two-fingered peace sign. Warner Brothers apparently shrieked because the film came out in the post-9/11 George Butch Jr. era; Ms. Bynes' peace sign was airbrushed away in the next version of the poster.
One wonders if Sasha and Malia are allowed to speak to their father about peace in the world. Or, maybe they do--and Barack solemnly shushes them with the words "PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH" just like the GOP slogan of two decades ago.
And the more things stay the same.....
I can't help but remember a poster for a Amanda Bynes film called WHAT A GIRL WANTS. Amanda, in the first version of the poster, flashed the two-fingered peace sign. Warner Brothers apparently shrieked because the film came out in the post-9/11 George Butch Jr. era; Ms. Bynes' peace sign was airbrushed away in the next version of the poster.
One wonders if Sasha and Malia are allowed to speak to their father about peace in the world. Or, maybe they do--and Barack solemnly shushes them with the words "PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH" just like the GOP slogan of two decades ago.
And the more things stay the same.....
CARNIVAL--a poem looking back at one corner of the 90s poetry scene in Los Angeles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiVaG86aZYo
An explanation of the above poem: This covers a period in the late 90s when I began reading at open mikes--and the poem describes the raucous anyone-can-be-a-part-of-it portion of the scene (less exclusive in some respects than the more sedate, MFA-coveting, prestige-press-loving scene of today). Of course, there were people who were either "in" or"out" ; banishments, tantrums and hierarchies existed, too.
The poem is true to my perception of the period as I lived it. And, as I have said before, it's an opinionated piece. And the opinion is solely that of the author.
An explanation of the above poem: This covers a period in the late 90s when I began reading at open mikes--and the poem describes the raucous anyone-can-be-a-part-of-it portion of the scene (less exclusive in some respects than the more sedate, MFA-coveting, prestige-press-loving scene of today). Of course, there were people who were either "in" or"out" ; banishments, tantrums and hierarchies existed, too.
The poem is true to my perception of the period as I lived it. And, as I have said before, it's an opinionated piece. And the opinion is solely that of the author.
Recent Soundscan sales figures for recorded music.
Found this on a message board on www.Prince.org. Thanks to Linus4000 for posting. These are album sales for 2009 (plus some 2008) releases as of July 5th.
Rank - Sales - TITLE - Artist 01 - 1,316,142 - FEARLESS - Taylor Swift 02 - 1,176,606 - HANNAH MONTANA: THE MOVIE - Soundtrack 03 - 1,168,750 - RELAPSE - Eminem 04 - 975,772 - THE FAME - Lady GaGa 05 - 970,526 - TWILIGHT - Soundtrack 06 - 939,000 - NO LINE ON THE HORIZON - U2 07 - 912,169 - DARK HORSE - Nickelback 08 - 824,530 - UNSTOPPABLE - Rascal Flatts 09 - 809,331 - I AM…SASHA FIERCE - Beyonce 10 - 688,898 - BIG WHISKEY AND THE GROOGRUX KING - Dave Matthews Band 11 - 630,000 - ALL I EVER WANTED - Kelly Clarkson 12 - 617,000 - INTUITION - Jamie Foxx 13 - 615,827 - 21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWN - Green Day 14 - 610,262 - NOW 30 - Various 15 - 596,000 - THE FRAY - The Fray 16 - 555,151 - ONLY BY THE NIGHT - Kings Of Leon 17 - 549,000 - WORKING ON A DREAM - Bruce Springsteen 18 - 541,000 - 808S AND HEARTBREAK - Kanye West 19 - 540,035 - THE E.N.D. (THE ENERGY NEVER DIES) - Black Eyed Peas 20 - 471,000 - FUNHOUSE - Pink 21 - 467,000 - CIRCUS - Britney Spears 22 - 463,990 - THE FOUNDATION - Zac Brown Band 23 - 455,000 - A DIFFERENT ME - Keyshia Cole 24 - 451,000 - PAPER TRAIL - T.I. 25 - 450,000 - WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THINGS - Jason Mraz 26 - 445,000 - DEFYING GRAVITY - Keith Urban 27 - 414,000 - LOVE VS MONEY - The-Dream 28 - 378,000 - DAVID COOK - David Cook 29 - 377,160 - LEARN TO LIVE - Darius Rucker 30 - 373,000 - LOVE ON THE INSIDE - Sugarland 31 - 371,000 - NOW 29 - Various 32 - 368,000 - IN A PERFECT WORLD - Keri Hilson 33 - 362,000 - LOTUS FLOW3R - Prince 34 - 361,000 - VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS - Coldplay 35 - 360,634 - WIDE OPEN - Jason Aldean 36 - 357,000 - TAYLOR SWIFT - Taylor Swift 37 - 354,000 - 19 - Adele 38 - 351,000 - FREEDOM - Akon 39 - 342,000 - DEEPER THAN RAP - Rick Ross 40 - 329,000 - CARNIVAL RIDE - Carrie Underwood 41 - 323,000 - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - Soundtrack 42 - 317,000 - THA CARTER III - Lil' Wayne 43 - 315,912 - LINES VINES AND TRYING TIMES - Jonas Brothers [/color] 44 - 315,000 - ONE OF THE BOYS - Katy Perry 45 - 311,000 - ROCK N ROLL JESUS - Kid Rock 46 - 307,000 - SCARS AND SOUVENIRS - Theory Of A Deadman 47 - 302,000 - QUIET NIGHTS - Diana Krall 48 - 300,000 - THE LAST KISS - Jadakiss 49 - 297,000 - YEAR OF THE GENTLEMAN - Ne-Yo 50 - 294,000 - MAMMA MIA - Soundtrack
Illustrates how much the music business isn't what it used to be.
Rank - Sales - TITLE - Artist 01 - 1,316,142 - FEARLESS - Taylor Swift 02 - 1,176,606 - HANNAH MONTANA: THE MOVIE - Soundtrack 03 - 1,168,750 - RELAPSE - Eminem 04 - 975,772 - THE FAME - Lady GaGa 05 - 970,526 - TWILIGHT - Soundtrack 06 - 939,000 - NO LINE ON THE HORIZON - U2 07 - 912,169 - DARK HORSE - Nickelback 08 - 824,530 - UNSTOPPABLE - Rascal Flatts 09 - 809,331 - I AM…SASHA FIERCE - Beyonce 10 - 688,898 - BIG WHISKEY AND THE GROOGRUX KING - Dave Matthews Band 11 - 630,000 - ALL I EVER WANTED - Kelly Clarkson 12 - 617,000 - INTUITION - Jamie Foxx 13 - 615,827 - 21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWN - Green Day 14 - 610,262 - NOW 30 - Various 15 - 596,000 - THE FRAY - The Fray 16 - 555,151 - ONLY BY THE NIGHT - Kings Of Leon 17 - 549,000 - WORKING ON A DREAM - Bruce Springsteen 18 - 541,000 - 808S AND HEARTBREAK - Kanye West 19 - 540,035 - THE E.N.D. (THE ENERGY NEVER DIES) - Black Eyed Peas 20 - 471,000 - FUNHOUSE - Pink 21 - 467,000 - CIRCUS - Britney Spears 22 - 463,990 - THE FOUNDATION - Zac Brown Band 23 - 455,000 - A DIFFERENT ME - Keyshia Cole 24 - 451,000 - PAPER TRAIL - T.I. 25 - 450,000 - WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THINGS - Jason Mraz 26 - 445,000 - DEFYING GRAVITY - Keith Urban 27 - 414,000 - LOVE VS MONEY - The-Dream 28 - 378,000 - DAVID COOK - David Cook 29 - 377,160 - LEARN TO LIVE - Darius Rucker 30 - 373,000 - LOVE ON THE INSIDE - Sugarland 31 - 371,000 - NOW 29 - Various 32 - 368,000 - IN A PERFECT WORLD - Keri Hilson 33 - 362,000 - LOTUS FLOW3R - Prince 34 - 361,000 - VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS - Coldplay 35 - 360,634 - WIDE OPEN - Jason Aldean 36 - 357,000 - TAYLOR SWIFT - Taylor Swift 37 - 354,000 - 19 - Adele 38 - 351,000 - FREEDOM - Akon 39 - 342,000 - DEEPER THAN RAP - Rick Ross 40 - 329,000 - CARNIVAL RIDE - Carrie Underwood 41 - 323,000 - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - Soundtrack 42 - 317,000 - THA CARTER III - Lil' Wayne 43 - 315,912 - LINES VINES AND TRYING TIMES - Jonas Brothers [/color] 44 - 315,000 - ONE OF THE BOYS - Katy Perry 45 - 311,000 - ROCK N ROLL JESUS - Kid Rock 46 - 307,000 - SCARS AND SOUVENIRS - Theory Of A Deadman 47 - 302,000 - QUIET NIGHTS - Diana Krall 48 - 300,000 - THE LAST KISS - Jadakiss 49 - 297,000 - YEAR OF THE GENTLEMAN - Ne-Yo 50 - 294,000 - MAMMA MIA - Soundtrack
Illustrates how much the music business isn't what it used to be.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
A further new low for LOS ANGELES TIMES Calendar section: fawning over THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.
Glenn Whipp, a former critic for the LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS, writes periodic second-string reviews for THE LOS ANGELES TIMES these days. And yesterday, he gave readers this sickening fluff piece about the 10th anniversary of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-witch11-2009jul11,0,4594569.story
There's not much to add except that THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was a triumph of marketing (particularly via the Internet) which obscured the actuality of a limp, unscary amateur video-to-film that received a bit of a backlash once it went into wide release. But Whipp, in his cravenly fawning article, just regurgitates all the original hype as if it were Gospel Truth.
But BLAIR WITCH did start a trend of horror/sci-fi projects using the "videography" gimmick to make the proceedings seem more "real." For their flaws, 2008's DIARY OF THE DEAD (from George Romero) and CLOVERFIELD (from J.J. Abrams) are more worthy of being written about than the Myrick/Sanchez artistic disaster of 1999.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-witch11-2009jul11,0,4594569.story
There's not much to add except that THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was a triumph of marketing (particularly via the Internet) which obscured the actuality of a limp, unscary amateur video-to-film that received a bit of a backlash once it went into wide release. But Whipp, in his cravenly fawning article, just regurgitates all the original hype as if it were Gospel Truth.
But BLAIR WITCH did start a trend of horror/sci-fi projects using the "videography" gimmick to make the proceedings seem more "real." For their flaws, 2008's DIARY OF THE DEAD (from George Romero) and CLOVERFIELD (from J.J. Abrams) are more worthy of being written about than the Myrick/Sanchez artistic disaster of 1999.
The CADDYSHACK "where are they now" cast members' update.
http://www.moviefone.com/insidemovies/2009/07/06/caddyshack-cast-where-are-they-now/?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl2link3http%3A%2F%2Fwww.moviefone.com%2Finsidemovies%2F2009%2F07%2F06%2Fcaddyshack-cast-where-are-they-now%2F
Saw CADDYSHACK in the summer of 1980 at the long-gone Twin Falls Drive-In in Wichita Falls, TX. Liked it in a middling-sort-of-way, but it wasn't a classic for me. But it's been blessed with a long afterlife in the 29 years since its original release.
In terms of the Moviefone still-photo and text updates, the mysterious death of writer Doug Kenney and the brief career (apparently derailed by drug abuse and mental illness) of starlet Sarah Holcomb (I had a crush on her based on both CADDYSHACK and ANIMAL HOUSE) carry a certain poignancy.
Saw CADDYSHACK in the summer of 1980 at the long-gone Twin Falls Drive-In in Wichita Falls, TX. Liked it in a middling-sort-of-way, but it wasn't a classic for me. But it's been blessed with a long afterlife in the 29 years since its original release.
In terms of the Moviefone still-photo and text updates, the mysterious death of writer Doug Kenney and the brief career (apparently derailed by drug abuse and mental illness) of starlet Sarah Holcomb (I had a crush on her based on both CADDYSHACK and ANIMAL HOUSE) carry a certain poignancy.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Updated Poetry.la page.
Here's the link to my updated page on Hilda Weiss' comprehensive site www.poetry.la
http://www.poetry.la/page75.html
http://www.poetry.la/page75.html
George Harrison's "Wah Wah"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd8K5juJ_1M
Hope this will appear on a follow-up compilation to LET IT ROLL.
Hope this will appear on a follow-up compilation to LET IT ROLL.
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