Not a Heather
I'm still in San Jose, and was making my daily blog rounds in between running some errands and came across Terry Teachout's defense of the blogosphere.
I must chime in. As a new kid on the blogging block, relatively speaking, I can say that there are a few established bloggers, and even mainstream media types, like Terry, who will blogroll a new guy, or give him a mention as Aaron Haspel has been so kind to do for yours truly. And there's NZ Bear who gives newbies a chance to promote themselves through the New Blog Showcase.
All in all, with few exceptions, the blogosphere is a pretty friendly place where even unknowns like myself can get a link or a blogroll, if he even occasionally has something interesting to share. The trick is to join in, dive into the deep end, comment on what others write, be willing to share your opinions. Sometimes you may get criticized for a posting and even occasionally flamed, but that is part of the game, and really the goal of blogging is just to get a bit of oxygen for your thoughts and ideas.
And as Terry said, "Above all, blogging is fun."
Futurballa Blog
Saturday, November 15, 2003
Friday, November 14, 2003
Where did we go right?
Reviewing the Rosie O'Donnell production of the musical about Boy George (no, I'm not kidding), Terry Teachout has a classic line, that I just had to share.
TT quips, "If Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom had produced "Taboo" instead of "Springtime for Hitler," they'd have stayed out of jail... ."
To coin a phrase, read the whole thing here.
Reviewing the Rosie O'Donnell production of the musical about Boy George (no, I'm not kidding), Terry Teachout has a classic line, that I just had to share.
TT quips, "If Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom had produced "Taboo" instead of "Springtime for Hitler," they'd have stayed out of jail... ."
To coin a phrase, read the whole thing here.
Viva Las Vegas
The wife and I are heading out on a well deserved vacation, so postings may be sporadic this next week. I'm taking the trusty iBook, recently upgraded with a bigger hard drive (a tale for another day), and a bag full o' cameras. So at the very least I will return with good stories and pictures for the photography site. But, who knows, if internet connectivity presents itself along the way, there might even be some postings from on the road.
In the meantime, visit Futurballa Photography. My good chum and conservative counterpart, George Wallace at A Fool in the Forest (it is said if we ever meet the universe will self destruct, but that is patently untrue). Make good use of the blogroll (to your right, please keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times). And take a gander at the League of Liberals and its ever growing list of members.
Mahalo
The wife and I are heading out on a well deserved vacation, so postings may be sporadic this next week. I'm taking the trusty iBook, recently upgraded with a bigger hard drive (a tale for another day), and a bag full o' cameras. So at the very least I will return with good stories and pictures for the photography site. But, who knows, if internet connectivity presents itself along the way, there might even be some postings from on the road.
In the meantime, visit Futurballa Photography. My good chum and conservative counterpart, George Wallace at A Fool in the Forest (it is said if we ever meet the universe will self destruct, but that is patently untrue). Make good use of the blogroll (to your right, please keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times). And take a gander at the League of Liberals and its ever growing list of members.
Mahalo
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Casting a Vote
There were a few nice political postings, but not much in the non-political area this week at the New Blog Showcase, so I'll just be casting one vote for fellow League member, And Then...
And Then...: Late Night With Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
There were a few nice political postings, but not much in the non-political area this week at the New Blog Showcase, so I'll just be casting one vote for fellow League member, And Then...
And Then...: Late Night With Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
You've Lost That Loving Feeling
It's been several days, but I forgot to mention the passing of Bobby Hatfield, half of the blue eyed soul band of the Sixties, The Righteous Brothers.
Yes, they did soul with a face that white America could accept, just like when Pat Boone sang Little Richard songs, but the difference was that these guys had a voice and a sound that crossed racial lines.
They are a bit before my time, but I have an older sister who was a big fan of theirs ever since she saw them warm up for The Beatles in the early sixties (either San Francisco or Vegas, not certain). So I heard them a lot growing up.
Bill Medley spoke at Hatfield's funeral yesterday. He said, "I'm going to miss our two-part harmony. I'm going to miss our rock and roll. I'm going to miss looking to my right on stage and seeing my friend." Addressing Hatfield, he added, "I want you to rest as well as you lived."
The CNN article can be read here.
It's been several days, but I forgot to mention the passing of Bobby Hatfield, half of the blue eyed soul band of the Sixties, The Righteous Brothers.
Yes, they did soul with a face that white America could accept, just like when Pat Boone sang Little Richard songs, but the difference was that these guys had a voice and a sound that crossed racial lines.
They are a bit before my time, but I have an older sister who was a big fan of theirs ever since she saw them warm up for The Beatles in the early sixties (either San Francisco or Vegas, not certain). So I heard them a lot growing up.
Bill Medley spoke at Hatfield's funeral yesterday. He said, "I'm going to miss our two-part harmony. I'm going to miss our rock and roll. I'm going to miss looking to my right on stage and seeing my friend." Addressing Hatfield, he added, "I want you to rest as well as you lived."
The CNN article can be read here.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
My Top 10
The last post inspired me to respond with my own 10 best.
1. This Is Spinal Tap
2. A Hard Day's Night
3. The Wall
4. Tommy
5. Don't Look Back
6. Rock & Roll High School
7. The Doors
8. The Decline of Western Civilization
9. Help
10. Yellow Submarine
And 5 best Concert Films.
1. The Last Waltz
2. Stop Making Sense
3. Gimme Shelter
4. Rust Never Sleeps
5. Woodstock
The last post inspired me to respond with my own 10 best.
1. This Is Spinal Tap
2. A Hard Day's Night
3. The Wall
4. Tommy
5. Don't Look Back
6. Rock & Roll High School
7. The Doors
8. The Decline of Western Civilization
9. Help
10. Yellow Submarine
And 5 best Concert Films.
1. The Last Waltz
2. Stop Making Sense
3. Gimme Shelter
4. Rust Never Sleeps
5. Woodstock
...these go to eleven
It's official. This is Spinal Tap is the best rock movie ever!
Here is the rest of the list ---
The top 10 rock-related films are:
1. This Is Spinal Tap
2. A Hard Day's Night
3. Sid & Nancy
4. High Fidelity
5. Almost Famous Untitled: The Bootleg Cut
6. Velvet Goldmine
7. Desperately Seeking Susan
8. Hedwig & The Angry Itch
9. Rock 'N' Roll High School
10. 24 Hour Party People
I would agree with about half, but the number one is a sure thing.
Concert films were handled in a separate poll. The Band's The Last Waltz beat Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense and The Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter in a list to find the Best Rock Concert on DVD.
It's official. This is Spinal Tap is the best rock movie ever!
Here is the rest of the list ---
The top 10 rock-related films are:
1. This Is Spinal Tap
2. A Hard Day's Night
3. Sid & Nancy
4. High Fidelity
5. Almost Famous Untitled: The Bootleg Cut
6. Velvet Goldmine
7. Desperately Seeking Susan
8. Hedwig & The Angry Itch
9. Rock 'N' Roll High School
10. 24 Hour Party People
I would agree with about half, but the number one is a sure thing.
Concert films were handled in a separate poll. The Band's The Last Waltz beat Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense and The Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter in a list to find the Best Rock Concert on DVD.
Don't Mess Around With Bill
As my regular readers might have noticed, the Al Franken, Fox News, Bill O'Reilly dustups have been a bit of a pet project here at Futurballa. Last evening, I saw something that has a peripheral relationship that kind of made me do a double take. Fox's O'Reilly, on the Spin Zone show, began to do one of his regular, boy has our justice system gone awry and look at the librul judges, shows. The story was about a judge who blocked an FBI sting operation against child pornographer because the FBI had overreached in some way.
Of course we won't know the way that the FBI over reached, because O'Really's guests included a retired FBI agent who had not been involved in this operation for over a year and Chuck Norris, who was there to pimp some family friendly internet service provider, but who appeared to have absolutely nothing to offer in terms of the case at hand. There was no legal expert or professor of constitutional law who could shed some light on why the judge might have found that this particular operation violated the constitutional rights of its targets.
What was interesting about this little story is who the judge was. The judge in question was one Denny Chin, who happens to be the same jurist who threw out the Fox copyright infringement lawsuit against Al Franken as being totally without merit. Is this a warning to judges throughout America? Don't mess with Fox or you might be the target of a Spin Factor report! I knew Bill was thin skinned, but this seems to be just plain vindictive.
Sorry no links, O'Really hasn't posted this story yet on the Fox website.
As my regular readers might have noticed, the Al Franken, Fox News, Bill O'Reilly dustups have been a bit of a pet project here at Futurballa. Last evening, I saw something that has a peripheral relationship that kind of made me do a double take. Fox's O'Reilly, on the Spin Zone show, began to do one of his regular, boy has our justice system gone awry and look at the librul judges, shows. The story was about a judge who blocked an FBI sting operation against child pornographer because the FBI had overreached in some way.
Of course we won't know the way that the FBI over reached, because O'Really's guests included a retired FBI agent who had not been involved in this operation for over a year and Chuck Norris, who was there to pimp some family friendly internet service provider, but who appeared to have absolutely nothing to offer in terms of the case at hand. There was no legal expert or professor of constitutional law who could shed some light on why the judge might have found that this particular operation violated the constitutional rights of its targets.
What was interesting about this little story is who the judge was. The judge in question was one Denny Chin, who happens to be the same jurist who threw out the Fox copyright infringement lawsuit against Al Franken as being totally without merit. Is this a warning to judges throughout America? Don't mess with Fox or you might be the target of a Spin Factor report! I knew Bill was thin skinned, but this seems to be just plain vindictive.
Sorry no links, O'Really hasn't posted this story yet on the Fox website.
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
What's Up Doc?
I don't subscribe to the Wall Street Journal (for obvious reasons), and Terry Teachout, if he has gotten around to it, has not yet shared his take on The Looney Tunes Golden Collection, so I'll jump out ahead. I'm sure he will have more interesting things to say on the subject than I, but here goes.
I've only gotten through the first disk so far, which focuses, quite pleasantly, on Bugs Bunny. It has 14 shorts and an enjoyable collection of extras, including a history of the development of Bugs, Elmer Fudd, and Yosemite Sam, who was patterned after Tunes director, Friz Freleng. Some nice bits from the early Bugs Bunny TV show are also included. The selection of shorts is good, but not perfect. Some obvious classics are being held back from future releases, but this is a solid collection including, "What's Up Doc", "The Bunny of Seville", "Water, Water, Every Hare", and "Baseball Bugs".
The other disks focus on the many other great Looney Tunes characters, including Daffy, Foghorn Leghorn, Roadrunner, and the list goes on. There are 58 shorts in all and extras on each disk. The restorations are very nice, and most importantly, they are as funny as ever. Looney Tunes, were always the witty counterweight to the softer Disney shorts. While Disney has always had very smooth and detailed animation, they were always geared to the younger audience. Warner, made more animated and frenetic cartoons that had the silliness and characters the kids loved, but the wit that could entertain adults. For my generation the Jay Ward cartoons like Rocky and Bullwinkle were the obvious heir of Warner's sharp wit.
It is a fine collection. My only caveat is that WB will probably own my wallet for at least 3 or 4 more sets. Curses!
I don't subscribe to the Wall Street Journal (for obvious reasons), and Terry Teachout, if he has gotten around to it, has not yet shared his take on The Looney Tunes Golden Collection, so I'll jump out ahead. I'm sure he will have more interesting things to say on the subject than I, but here goes.
I've only gotten through the first disk so far, which focuses, quite pleasantly, on Bugs Bunny. It has 14 shorts and an enjoyable collection of extras, including a history of the development of Bugs, Elmer Fudd, and Yosemite Sam, who was patterned after Tunes director, Friz Freleng. Some nice bits from the early Bugs Bunny TV show are also included. The selection of shorts is good, but not perfect. Some obvious classics are being held back from future releases, but this is a solid collection including, "What's Up Doc", "The Bunny of Seville", "Water, Water, Every Hare", and "Baseball Bugs".
The other disks focus on the many other great Looney Tunes characters, including Daffy, Foghorn Leghorn, Roadrunner, and the list goes on. There are 58 shorts in all and extras on each disk. The restorations are very nice, and most importantly, they are as funny as ever. Looney Tunes, were always the witty counterweight to the softer Disney shorts. While Disney has always had very smooth and detailed animation, they were always geared to the younger audience. Warner, made more animated and frenetic cartoons that had the silliness and characters the kids loved, but the wit that could entertain adults. For my generation the Jay Ward cartoons like Rocky and Bullwinkle were the obvious heir of Warner's sharp wit.
It is a fine collection. My only caveat is that WB will probably own my wallet for at least 3 or 4 more sets. Curses!
Elsewhere (on the culture front)
Mickelthwait posits, to paraphrase Marquez, Love in the Time of Multiple Remotes.
DVD Journal introduces me to a new word. Quadrilogy, as in "Don't want to shell out a B. Franklin for Fox's upcoming Alien Quadrilogy box set? Never fear all the four films will be released individually in two-disc sets on Jan. 3, while the ninth, "bonus" disc will be available only for slipcase buyers."
Forager 23 has a very nice analysis of the X-Men. (My current comic book reading is focused on Sandman.)
OGIC goes to see La Jetee, and tells us that if we are in Chicago not to miss Jules et Jim. "Shakespeare."
Mickelthwait posits, to paraphrase Marquez, Love in the Time of Multiple Remotes.
DVD Journal introduces me to a new word. Quadrilogy, as in "Don't want to shell out a B. Franklin for Fox's upcoming Alien Quadrilogy box set? Never fear all the four films will be released individually in two-disc sets on Jan. 3, while the ninth, "bonus" disc will be available only for slipcase buyers."
Forager 23 has a very nice analysis of the X-Men. (My current comic book reading is focused on Sandman.)
OGIC goes to see La Jetee, and tells us that if we are in Chicago not to miss Jules et Jim. "Shakespeare."
Couple of League Links
The Mahablog provides a bit of history of Armistice Day.
Different Strings has a heartrwarming story about Larry Flynt. Who'd a thunk?
Poison Kitchen picks Devil in the Dark as the best Star Trek episode ever.
The Mahablog provides a bit of history of Armistice Day.
Different Strings has a heartrwarming story about Larry Flynt. Who'd a thunk?
Poison Kitchen picks Devil in the Dark as the best Star Trek episode ever.
Electability
Josh Marshall makes some interesting points on why Howard Dean may not be "the man" just yet. In summary, his main point is that the Dean electorate while united, does not necessarily reflect the party at large, and as the field narrows that will become more evident. Read the whole thing here, and John Judis' response here.
Honestly, I haven't made up my mind yet, and expect the field to be significantly narrowed by the time we get to the California Primary, which should make my life easier. As it stands I could live with Dean, Clark or Kerry, but expect my choice to be between Dean and Clark. To coin a phrase, stay tuned.
Josh Marshall makes some interesting points on why Howard Dean may not be "the man" just yet. In summary, his main point is that the Dean electorate while united, does not necessarily reflect the party at large, and as the field narrows that will become more evident. Read the whole thing here, and John Judis' response here.
Honestly, I haven't made up my mind yet, and expect the field to be significantly narrowed by the time we get to the California Primary, which should make my life easier. As it stands I could live with Dean, Clark or Kerry, but expect my choice to be between Dean and Clark. To coin a phrase, stay tuned.
Monday, November 10, 2003
Diane Arbus Reevaluated
It must have been around 1975 that I first became aware of Diane Arbus. During my junior or senior year in high school the famous Aperture monograph of her work (the one with the twins on the cover, originally published in 1972, one year after her death) was circulating. I don't remember if it was a student or a teacher who brought it in, but we were all fascinated by her odd pictures of Transvestites, Twins, nudists and Jewish Giants. To my teenage eyes it held the fascination of a freakshow, but even then I understood that Arbus was not being voyeuristic, but that the images I was looking at were oddly loving and intimate.
In some ways, Arbus was my first introduction to fine art photography. Before that, photography to me was to be found in the pages of Life or National Geographic. Now my tastes lean more towards artists like Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Ansel Adams, Bill Brandt, and Man Ray. Sometimes Arbus seems like the stuff of college girls. Kind of the Sylvia Plath of photography, the progenitor of Cindy Sherman. But still she carries a fascination. Her subjects are so obviously at ease with her. She has intimated herself into their lives and they have opened their doors to her and bared something very personal to her camera.
As a photographer myself, I'm more of a landscape and architecture type. Occasional candid street photography, but never what Arbus did. She so obviously befriended these people, lived with them, spoke to them without judgment, and in the end recorded them at their most vulnerable. That in itself is a talent that I am in awe of. She is an observer of humanity in all its frailties, and as much as her work is flawed in terms of often static compositions and the use of full frame 6x6 images can be disconcerting, it continues to engage the viewer and to invite the observer into the lives of people that we would ordinarily turn away from. Her fascination with the beauty in what others might see as ugly reminds me in some ways of the stories of Flannery O'Connor.
There is a beauty and an innocence to her images that even today is very powerful. It is often necessary with an artist like Arbus, who has committed suicide and become an icon of sophomoric angst, to forget about how you reacted as a teenager and look at her with fresh eyes.
The current show at SFMoma, which I attended last Friday does just that. It brings together over 300 pieces and presents many works that have never been exhibited before. They are shown in a roughly chronological order and show her development as a photographer, an artist, and a technician. The exhibit has been memorialized in a new book as well, Diane Arbus Revelations. If you get an opportunity to see the show, forget your preconceptions and you will perhaps find weaknesses in her work you never saw before, but you will also find that Arbus has earned her place in the history of art photography.
It must have been around 1975 that I first became aware of Diane Arbus. During my junior or senior year in high school the famous Aperture monograph of her work (the one with the twins on the cover, originally published in 1972, one year after her death) was circulating. I don't remember if it was a student or a teacher who brought it in, but we were all fascinated by her odd pictures of Transvestites, Twins, nudists and Jewish Giants. To my teenage eyes it held the fascination of a freakshow, but even then I understood that Arbus was not being voyeuristic, but that the images I was looking at were oddly loving and intimate.
In some ways, Arbus was my first introduction to fine art photography. Before that, photography to me was to be found in the pages of Life or National Geographic. Now my tastes lean more towards artists like Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Ansel Adams, Bill Brandt, and Man Ray. Sometimes Arbus seems like the stuff of college girls. Kind of the Sylvia Plath of photography, the progenitor of Cindy Sherman. But still she carries a fascination. Her subjects are so obviously at ease with her. She has intimated herself into their lives and they have opened their doors to her and bared something very personal to her camera.
As a photographer myself, I'm more of a landscape and architecture type. Occasional candid street photography, but never what Arbus did. She so obviously befriended these people, lived with them, spoke to them without judgment, and in the end recorded them at their most vulnerable. That in itself is a talent that I am in awe of. She is an observer of humanity in all its frailties, and as much as her work is flawed in terms of often static compositions and the use of full frame 6x6 images can be disconcerting, it continues to engage the viewer and to invite the observer into the lives of people that we would ordinarily turn away from. Her fascination with the beauty in what others might see as ugly reminds me in some ways of the stories of Flannery O'Connor.
There is a beauty and an innocence to her images that even today is very powerful. It is often necessary with an artist like Arbus, who has committed suicide and become an icon of sophomoric angst, to forget about how you reacted as a teenager and look at her with fresh eyes.
The current show at SFMoma, which I attended last Friday does just that. It brings together over 300 pieces and presents many works that have never been exhibited before. They are shown in a roughly chronological order and show her development as a photographer, an artist, and a technician. The exhibit has been memorialized in a new book as well, Diane Arbus Revelations. If you get an opportunity to see the show, forget your preconceptions and you will perhaps find weaknesses in her work you never saw before, but you will also find that Arbus has earned her place in the history of art photography.
Friday, November 07, 2003
I Link to a Fool
I just noticed that my Google ad banner on Futurballa Blog has a link to a site called iworkwithfools.com, which features true stories from the workplace. Oddly enough I don't work with fools (in general), and have never written on the subject. So it must be a case of mistaken identity, because quite often, I link to a Fool.
....and elsewhere
Kevin Drum wonders if Arnold is hiring investigators to look into his past groping behavior, couldn't they pool resources with OJ's investigators?
And remember those new neologisms I linked to from Atrios? Well one of my LOL compatriots has brought to my attention that some fine person has created a whole dictionary of them.
Might be another light day beyond this short missive. Planning a field trip that, if all goes as expected, should produce some blogging grist for this blogger's mill.
I just noticed that my Google ad banner on Futurballa Blog has a link to a site called iworkwithfools.com, which features true stories from the workplace. Oddly enough I don't work with fools (in general), and have never written on the subject. So it must be a case of mistaken identity, because quite often, I link to a Fool.
....and elsewhere
Kevin Drum wonders if Arnold is hiring investigators to look into his past groping behavior, couldn't they pool resources with OJ's investigators?
And remember those new neologisms I linked to from Atrios? Well one of my LOL compatriots has brought to my attention that some fine person has created a whole dictionary of them.
Might be another light day beyond this short missive. Planning a field trip that, if all goes as expected, should produce some blogging grist for this blogger's mill.
Thursday, November 06, 2003
Insert Blogging Cliche Here
Yes it is the inevitable, light blogging day, not a hiatus, just away from the computer most of the day fulfilling other responsibilities.
Couple of niceties from About Last Night.
First Terry gives a bit on why attendance is lagging at The Producers. TT of course, puts it down to the show being dated, which is something we here at Futurballa, heartily disagree with. The good news is that Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane will be returning for a 14 week stint to inject some life into the production. Terry is even kind enough to link to his WSJ piece that is, glory be, in the free section. Read my take on The Producers here, and Mr. Wallace's assessment here.
Secondly OGIC shares a smidgen of Gorey.
Enjoy.
Yes it is the inevitable, light blogging day, not a hiatus, just away from the computer most of the day fulfilling other responsibilities.
Couple of niceties from About Last Night.
First Terry gives a bit on why attendance is lagging at The Producers. TT of course, puts it down to the show being dated, which is something we here at Futurballa, heartily disagree with. The good news is that Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane will be returning for a 14 week stint to inject some life into the production. Terry is even kind enough to link to his WSJ piece that is, glory be, in the free section. Read my take on The Producers here, and Mr. Wallace's assessment here.
Secondly OGIC shares a smidgen of Gorey.
Enjoy.
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
Had enough of Blogging?
More neologisms from Atrios.
I doubt if any of these will really catch on, but amusing nonetheless.
More neologisms from Atrios.
I doubt if any of these will really catch on, but amusing nonetheless.
Vote Early, Vote Often
Here are my votes from the early entries at this weeks New Blog Showcase.
Nice piece on "Mr. Bring it on"
Clareified: Death By Invitation
And in the non-political category, how could I resist a "Halloween is my favorite holiday" posting from someone calling themselves Mr. Cranky?
Mr_Cranky: A Halloween Story
Here are my votes from the early entries at this weeks New Blog Showcase.
Nice piece on "Mr. Bring it on"
Clareified: Death By Invitation
And in the non-political category, how could I resist a "Halloween is my favorite holiday" posting from someone calling themselves Mr. Cranky?
Mr_Cranky: A Halloween Story
To Blog or Not...
George Wallace and Aaron Haspel engage in a discussion on the use of the word Blog. I have no dog in this fight. I respect, read, and link to both of these gentlemen, and George is a dear personal friend. However, I can't get too upset about the use of jargon. As someone who works with software engineers for a living, I can tell you that without jargon we would be reduced to hand signals and grunts.
George Wallace and Aaron Haspel engage in a discussion on the use of the word Blog. I have no dog in this fight. I respect, read, and link to both of these gentlemen, and George is a dear personal friend. However, I can't get too upset about the use of jargon. As someone who works with software engineers for a living, I can tell you that without jargon we would be reduced to hand signals and grunts.
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Not Here [Addendum]
Eric Alterman offers more insight into the item I noted below from Josh Marshall. The last word in the truth about Linda Tripp. Here.
And Terry Teachout tackles the cancellation of CBS' Reagan miniseries, and has some very interesting things to say.
Read the whole thing here.
Eric Alterman offers more insight into the item I noted below from Josh Marshall. The last word in the truth about Linda Tripp. Here.
And Terry Teachout tackles the cancellation of CBS' Reagan miniseries, and has some very interesting things to say.
Read the whole thing here.
Not Here (Elsewhere)
At Salon (get thee a day pass or subscribe) Eric Boehlart has an excellent piece on the (mis)assumptions of BushCo going into Iraq.
This paragraph especially struck me.
"At the center of those plans was a unique brand of neocon wishful thinking that bordered on the fanciful, even delusional. As Stephen Walt, a professor of international affairs at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, told Salon this summer, "There doesn't appear to have been a contingency plan. It's scary but true. An underlying assumption of this whole campaign against Iraq and the larger campaign to remake the whole Middle East was that all we had to do is knock off Saddam Hussein and everything else would fall down obediently at our feet. The Iraqis themselves would welcome being liberated, the Syrians and Iranians would be cowed and start doing what we want, and all will be for the best in this best of all possible worlds.""
Joe Conason chimes in on a similar subject here.
Via SFGate this NYT story is an unfortunate reminder that the so called liberal media has no teeth.
Josh Marshall notes that irony is not dead.
Leaving politics, Michele Delio writing at Wired.com debunks some myths around the Salem Witch trials and links to the University of Virginia's Salem Witch Trials Site. They actually happened one town over. Read it here.
Not surprisingly, Michael Blowhard hates Kill Bill. Read his evisceration here. (Earlier discussions can be found starting here and here.)
And thanks to the LOL for plugging my newest gallery.
Mahalo
At Salon (get thee a day pass or subscribe) Eric Boehlart has an excellent piece on the (mis)assumptions of BushCo going into Iraq.
This paragraph especially struck me.
"At the center of those plans was a unique brand of neocon wishful thinking that bordered on the fanciful, even delusional. As Stephen Walt, a professor of international affairs at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, told Salon this summer, "There doesn't appear to have been a contingency plan. It's scary but true. An underlying assumption of this whole campaign against Iraq and the larger campaign to remake the whole Middle East was that all we had to do is knock off Saddam Hussein and everything else would fall down obediently at our feet. The Iraqis themselves would welcome being liberated, the Syrians and Iranians would be cowed and start doing what we want, and all will be for the best in this best of all possible worlds.""
Joe Conason chimes in on a similar subject here.
Via SFGate this NYT story is an unfortunate reminder that the so called liberal media has no teeth.
Josh Marshall notes that irony is not dead.
Leaving politics, Michele Delio writing at Wired.com debunks some myths around the Salem Witch trials and links to the University of Virginia's Salem Witch Trials Site. They actually happened one town over. Read it here.
Not surprisingly, Michael Blowhard hates Kill Bill. Read his evisceration here. (Earlier discussions can be found starting here and here.)
And thanks to the LOL for plugging my newest gallery.
Mahalo
Whale Power
This last weekend I watched Whale Rider. This film had provoked some controversy during its theatrical release because the producers had used a quote from Roger Ebert recommending the movie to "the whole family" on the advertisement. The film has a PG-13 because of a bit of language and a momentary shot of a marijuana pipe. The MPAA cried foul that the makers of Whale Rider were marketing a PG-13 movie to children, which is a no-no. Ebert entered the fray, arguing the ridiculousness of a ratings system that puts a fine film such as this in the same category as Scary Movie and Scream.
I will join Roger in saying "take the kids". This is a great movie about empowerment. There has been a recent spate of films from overseas about young women and girls overcoming the limitations and prejudices placed on them by society. Rabbit Proof Fence dealt with racism, and a journey home for 2 young girls across the Australian outback. It was an emotional and heartrending film. Bend it Like Beckham was a lighter look at an Indian family in modern England, and the culture clash that occurs when the youngest daughter wants to play soccer. And Whale Rider deals with a girl born to be a chief of her Maori tribe in New Zealand, but has to deal with her paternalistic and chauvinistic grandfather.
All of these movies have important things to say to the subject of female empowerment and simply of humans overcoming odds to live their dreams. As an adult, I enjoyed all three. Whale Rider, with its focus on a young girl, is a wonderful film to share with your children. It is life affirming and the language is very mild. The one drug reference is of the girl's slacker uncle trying to hide his pipe when she walks in on him. You never see him use it, and it is almost too quick to notice.
The ratings system is broken, and this case is the best example of why it needs to be revamped into something that might actually be useful to parents.
This last weekend I watched Whale Rider. This film had provoked some controversy during its theatrical release because the producers had used a quote from Roger Ebert recommending the movie to "the whole family" on the advertisement. The film has a PG-13 because of a bit of language and a momentary shot of a marijuana pipe. The MPAA cried foul that the makers of Whale Rider were marketing a PG-13 movie to children, which is a no-no. Ebert entered the fray, arguing the ridiculousness of a ratings system that puts a fine film such as this in the same category as Scary Movie and Scream.
I will join Roger in saying "take the kids". This is a great movie about empowerment. There has been a recent spate of films from overseas about young women and girls overcoming the limitations and prejudices placed on them by society. Rabbit Proof Fence dealt with racism, and a journey home for 2 young girls across the Australian outback. It was an emotional and heartrending film. Bend it Like Beckham was a lighter look at an Indian family in modern England, and the culture clash that occurs when the youngest daughter wants to play soccer. And Whale Rider deals with a girl born to be a chief of her Maori tribe in New Zealand, but has to deal with her paternalistic and chauvinistic grandfather.
All of these movies have important things to say to the subject of female empowerment and simply of humans overcoming odds to live their dreams. As an adult, I enjoyed all three. Whale Rider, with its focus on a young girl, is a wonderful film to share with your children. It is life affirming and the language is very mild. The one drug reference is of the girl's slacker uncle trying to hide his pipe when she walks in on him. You never see him use it, and it is almost too quick to notice.
The ratings system is broken, and this case is the best example of why it needs to be revamped into something that might actually be useful to parents.
Monday, November 03, 2003
New Gallery at Futurballa Photography
A gallery of images taken in Los Angeles last month are up at Futurballa Photography. They are posted in Black and White Gallery II, and include a number of interiors at the Bradbury Building, perhaps most famous as the location where scenes of Blade Runner were shot. Some exteriors in downtown LA around the Bradbury. And a number of shots taken on Fairfax Avenue, home of the best delis and bakeries on the West Coast, in my humble opinion.
The Bradbury shots were taken with Ilford Delta 100 using a Sigma 20mm lens on my Canon Elan 7. The shots on Fairfax were shot with Ilford HP5 with a Canon 1.8 50mm lens. For those of you who care about that sort of thing. The images were scanned from negatives on an Epson 2400 Scanner and the Gallery was created in Photoshop CS.
Enjoy and Mahalo
A gallery of images taken in Los Angeles last month are up at Futurballa Photography. They are posted in Black and White Gallery II, and include a number of interiors at the Bradbury Building, perhaps most famous as the location where scenes of Blade Runner were shot. Some exteriors in downtown LA around the Bradbury. And a number of shots taken on Fairfax Avenue, home of the best delis and bakeries on the West Coast, in my humble opinion.
The Bradbury shots were taken with Ilford Delta 100 using a Sigma 20mm lens on my Canon Elan 7. The shots on Fairfax were shot with Ilford HP5 with a Canon 1.8 50mm lens. For those of you who care about that sort of thing. The images were scanned from negatives on an Epson 2400 Scanner and the Gallery was created in Photoshop CS.
Enjoy and Mahalo
Count Your Pixels
Nice article at Forbes.com on why pixels matter. Does a pretty good job of clearing up some of the mystery around digital photography and pixel count.
Sorry that it's more of a Linking Day than a Thinking Day. Not enough time in the day.
Mahalo
Nice article at Forbes.com on why pixels matter. Does a pretty good job of clearing up some of the mystery around digital photography and pixel count.
Sorry that it's more of a Linking Day than a Thinking Day. Not enough time in the day.
Mahalo
Putting Blogs to Good Uses
One of my LOL compatriots, Grateful Dread on the Web, is participating in Blog for a Cure to Diabetes, along with BlogCritics he is trying to raise awareness of the disease through his blog. This is a fine and noble purpose for whatever publicity can be garnered via the blogging medium.
Pay a visit, get informed, and maybe get involved!
One of my LOL compatriots, Grateful Dread on the Web, is participating in Blog for a Cure to Diabetes, along with BlogCritics he is trying to raise awareness of the disease through his blog. This is a fine and noble purpose for whatever publicity can be garnered via the blogging medium.
Pay a visit, get informed, and maybe get involved!
Scanning for you
Spent a good part of Sunday scanning negatives from my recent trip to LA (read about it here) and hope to have an update to Futurballa Photography soon. There are some interesting shots of the Bradbury Building in downtown LA and a bit of street photography in my old shtetl. Still have a roll or two from old town Pasadena to digitize and after spending a bit of time updating some software, time ran out.
Keep your eyes peeled.
Other matters...
I noticed this morning that the ecosystem has moved to a unique links method for ranking. Since joining the League of Liberals, I had skyrocketed to undeserved and lofty status in the blogging ecosystem. Today, I'm back to a more realistic Flappy Bird level. Kudos to the Bear for discouraging the playing of the system.
Normally, I would never link to this "news" outlet, but the link comes via Buzzflash, and one wonders, if true, could this be Tweety's swan song?
Spent a good part of Sunday scanning negatives from my recent trip to LA (read about it here) and hope to have an update to Futurballa Photography soon. There are some interesting shots of the Bradbury Building in downtown LA and a bit of street photography in my old shtetl. Still have a roll or two from old town Pasadena to digitize and after spending a bit of time updating some software, time ran out.
Keep your eyes peeled.
Other matters...
I noticed this morning that the ecosystem has moved to a unique links method for ranking. Since joining the League of Liberals, I had skyrocketed to undeserved and lofty status in the blogging ecosystem. Today, I'm back to a more realistic Flappy Bird level. Kudos to the Bear for discouraging the playing of the system.
Normally, I would never link to this "news" outlet, but the link comes via Buzzflash, and one wonders, if true, could this be Tweety's swan song?
Friday, October 31, 2003
Trick or Treat
I arrived exactly one week before Halloween, and my father weaned me on Universal horror movies.
Halloween is my favorite holiday.
Who wouldn't want to run wild with your school chums, unsupervised by adults, dressed as your favorite super hero or a ghost, knocking on neighborhood doors, demanding candy, and getting it? Later years, college parties that involved sneaking surreptiously into the Cal drama department's costume warehouse to find the best disguise. Halloween is the best.
Sadly, it ain't what it used to be. Only the Simpsons seem to keep up the tradition of the Halloween special. AMC is the only station that can be counted on to have a horror marathon. Fewer and fewer kids show up at the door every year. Pumpkins are overpriced and seem to go moldy so much faster. I'm too old to dress up and knock on doors. And too much candy makes my teeth hurt. But I haven't given up.
Let's bring back Halloween. Parents, dress 'em up and take your kids out. Neighbors, decorate your home and have lots of candy on hand. Sitcom makers, have a Halloween special and don't show it two weeks after Halloween. TV Stations, show Dracula and Frankenstein. Read a scary story aloud.
You too, can help.
If we all pitch in, we can save Halloween.
Boo!
I arrived exactly one week before Halloween, and my father weaned me on Universal horror movies.
Halloween is my favorite holiday.
Who wouldn't want to run wild with your school chums, unsupervised by adults, dressed as your favorite super hero or a ghost, knocking on neighborhood doors, demanding candy, and getting it? Later years, college parties that involved sneaking surreptiously into the Cal drama department's costume warehouse to find the best disguise. Halloween is the best.
Sadly, it ain't what it used to be. Only the Simpsons seem to keep up the tradition of the Halloween special. AMC is the only station that can be counted on to have a horror marathon. Fewer and fewer kids show up at the door every year. Pumpkins are overpriced and seem to go moldy so much faster. I'm too old to dress up and knock on doors. And too much candy makes my teeth hurt. But I haven't given up.
Let's bring back Halloween. Parents, dress 'em up and take your kids out. Neighbors, decorate your home and have lots of candy on hand. Sitcom makers, have a Halloween special and don't show it two weeks after Halloween. TV Stations, show Dracula and Frankenstein. Read a scary story aloud.
You too, can help.
If we all pitch in, we can save Halloween.
Boo!
Feel the Power
Stanford Law Professor, Lawrence Lessig, writing for Wired, sings the praises of grassroots blogs and their potential influence in the upcoming presidential election.
Speaking in particular of the Dean campaign, Lessig states, "Enter the blog, a space where people gab. As implemented by most campaigns, it is a place where candidates gab down to the people.
"But when done right, as the Howard Dean campaign apparently is doing, the blog is a tool for building community. The trick is to turn the audience into the speaker. A well-structured blog inspires both reading and writing. And by getting the audience to type, candidates get the audience committed. Engagement replaces reception, which in turn leads to real space action. The life of the Dean campaign on the Internet is not really life on the Internet. It's the activity in real space that the Internet inspires.
"None of this works unless the blog community is authentic. And that requires that members feel they own their gabbing space. A managed community works about as well as a managed economy. So the challenge is to find a way to build community without the community feeling built."
Today the ecosystem, tomorrow the world.
Stanford Law Professor, Lawrence Lessig, writing for Wired, sings the praises of grassroots blogs and their potential influence in the upcoming presidential election.
Speaking in particular of the Dean campaign, Lessig states, "Enter the blog, a space where people gab. As implemented by most campaigns, it is a place where candidates gab down to the people.
"But when done right, as the Howard Dean campaign apparently is doing, the blog is a tool for building community. The trick is to turn the audience into the speaker. A well-structured blog inspires both reading and writing. And by getting the audience to type, candidates get the audience committed. Engagement replaces reception, which in turn leads to real space action. The life of the Dean campaign on the Internet is not really life on the Internet. It's the activity in real space that the Internet inspires.
"None of this works unless the blog community is authentic. And that requires that members feel they own their gabbing space. A managed community works about as well as a managed economy. So the challenge is to find a way to build community without the community feeling built."
Today the ecosystem, tomorrow the world.
Thursday, October 30, 2003
Futurballa Writes Like a Guy
I've come across this little gem from Bookblog in a couple of places lately, including About Last Night and All Facts and Opinions.
Just copy and paste a sample of your writing into the Genie, tell it if it is fiction, nonfiction, or a blog entry, and click submit. The Genie will tell you if the writer is a male or female.
Good fun had by all.
Click here to play.
I've come across this little gem from Bookblog in a couple of places lately, including About Last Night and All Facts and Opinions.
Just copy and paste a sample of your writing into the Genie, tell it if it is fiction, nonfiction, or a blog entry, and click submit. The Genie will tell you if the writer is a male or female.
Good fun had by all.
Click here to play.
Stalking Atrios
Crooked Timber chimes in on the Donald Luskin suing Atrios affair. Let's see Perle threatens to sue Sy Hersch, Fox (O'Reilly) try to sue Franken, and now Luskin goes after Atrios. Is this a trend?
How many courts can thin skinned conservatives get laughed out of?
42 (Sorry, but that is always the answer).
Be sure to read Andrew Northrup's comments. Classic!
Kevin Drum comes to Atrios' defense as well.
And Atrios has kindly posted a list of blogs commenting on this bit of inanity.
Crooked Timber chimes in on the Donald Luskin suing Atrios affair. Let's see Perle threatens to sue Sy Hersch, Fox (O'Reilly) try to sue Franken, and now Luskin goes after Atrios. Is this a trend?
How many courts can thin skinned conservatives get laughed out of?
42 (Sorry, but that is always the answer).
Be sure to read Andrew Northrup's comments. Classic!
Kevin Drum comes to Atrios' defense as well.
And Atrios has kindly posted a list of blogs commenting on this bit of inanity.
Shhhhhhh!
A very entertaining Michael Blowhard shares his thoughts on noisy movie patrons and geezers who narrate the Kama Sutra. Read it here.
A very entertaining Michael Blowhard shares his thoughts on noisy movie patrons and geezers who narrate the Kama Sutra. Read it here.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Time to vote
Here are a some worthy reads from this weeks new blog showcase:
ink from the squid: investing in the future
Damfacrats 2004: CLARK CALLS BUSH PHONY PRANCER
[Update: Because of some late entries, I've changed my votes.]
Here are a some worthy reads from this weeks new blog showcase:
ink from the squid: investing in the future
Damfacrats 2004: CLARK CALLS BUSH PHONY PRANCER
[Update: Because of some late entries, I've changed my votes.]
Are you a linker or a thinker?
That's the question that Aaron Haspel asks at God of the Machine.
Aaron argues for thinkers, "Now we non-portal types don't rightly cotton to this. I can't speak for Cowen, but I read the blogs I do precisely because they offer the author, and the author alone; "too much," Steven Den Beste possibly excepted, is never enough. Blogs are amusing because they are personal. The "cream" of a blog always means more to the regular reader, who knows the author's foibles and obsessions, than the skimmer who happens by only for that. By Cowen's logic book-readers would restrict themselves to anthologies, and music-listeners to greatest hits. Cowen himself writes an entertaining blog where he ignores his own advice. "
Bloggers do seem to enjoy ruminating on blogging, and this blogger is no exception. I'm still fairly new to blogging, but have made a bit of a commitment, at least to myself, to post something everyday, Monday to Friday, unless I'm out of town. I hope that my blog is more of a thinking blog than a portal blog, but I do find that I may not have something to say every day, that even interests me, much less a wider audience. Links can be a way to share my interests and promote bloggers I respect and enjoy. Nothing wrong with an "Elsewhere" posting, but not a daily dose of elsewhere and nothing but. At the end of the day, I blog to share my interests, my thoughts, and perhaps a bit of myself. Generating hits is a goal, but not an end in itself.
Usually it is another blogger's post that gets me to thinking on a subject. The result, as in this case, is to join the party and chime in with my thoughts on the subject. Personally I don't read portal blogs very much. When I make my daily round of blogs, I look for opinions. Whether it be culture or politics I want to gain some insight not just into what the author thinks, but why he thinks it.
And now, Rocky, some bad poetry.
Some days I link,
some days I think.
Even when I think I link.
And so I think,
then link...
Then think some more.
Mahalo
[Update: George Wallace comments]
That's the question that Aaron Haspel asks at God of the Machine.
Aaron argues for thinkers, "Now we non-portal types don't rightly cotton to this. I can't speak for Cowen, but I read the blogs I do precisely because they offer the author, and the author alone; "too much," Steven Den Beste possibly excepted, is never enough. Blogs are amusing because they are personal. The "cream" of a blog always means more to the regular reader, who knows the author's foibles and obsessions, than the skimmer who happens by only for that. By Cowen's logic book-readers would restrict themselves to anthologies, and music-listeners to greatest hits. Cowen himself writes an entertaining blog where he ignores his own advice. "
Bloggers do seem to enjoy ruminating on blogging, and this blogger is no exception. I'm still fairly new to blogging, but have made a bit of a commitment, at least to myself, to post something everyday, Monday to Friday, unless I'm out of town. I hope that my blog is more of a thinking blog than a portal blog, but I do find that I may not have something to say every day, that even interests me, much less a wider audience. Links can be a way to share my interests and promote bloggers I respect and enjoy. Nothing wrong with an "Elsewhere" posting, but not a daily dose of elsewhere and nothing but. At the end of the day, I blog to share my interests, my thoughts, and perhaps a bit of myself. Generating hits is a goal, but not an end in itself.
Usually it is another blogger's post that gets me to thinking on a subject. The result, as in this case, is to join the party and chime in with my thoughts on the subject. Personally I don't read portal blogs very much. When I make my daily round of blogs, I look for opinions. Whether it be culture or politics I want to gain some insight not just into what the author thinks, but why he thinks it.
And now, Rocky, some bad poetry.
Some days I link,
some days I think.
Even when I think I link.
And so I think,
then link...
Then think some more.
Mahalo
[Update: George Wallace comments]
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Political Compass
I come out somewhere in between the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela on the political spectrum.
Click here to take the test.
I come out somewhere in between the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela on the political spectrum.
Click here to take the test.
Blowhard on Books
Thought provoking post on the future of book publishing by Michael Blowhard. Give a young person a book, preferably fiction, for Christmas and let's hope that Michael is overly pessimistic.
Read the whole thing here.
Thought provoking post on the future of book publishing by Michael Blowhard. Give a young person a book, preferably fiction, for Christmas and let's hope that Michael is overly pessimistic.
Read the whole thing here.
Hoops Time
Baseball ended sadly in the division playoffs for yours truly, when both The Giants and The A's got knocked out, but hope springs eternal in a young man's heart (or should I say, hoops spring eternal? [ed. sorry]).
I pretty much divide the year into baseball season and basketball season, and whatever bit of time is in between is some sort of nebulous dreamstate. It should be a season of wierdness and loathing, with all eyes on Kobe and LeBron.
Here is the SF Chron's David Steele with his season preview.
Hold your hats boys, it's going to be one hell of a ride.
Baseball ended sadly in the division playoffs for yours truly, when both The Giants and The A's got knocked out, but hope springs eternal in a young man's heart (or should I say, hoops spring eternal? [ed. sorry]).
I pretty much divide the year into baseball season and basketball season, and whatever bit of time is in between is some sort of nebulous dreamstate. It should be a season of wierdness and loathing, with all eyes on Kobe and LeBron.
Here is the SF Chron's David Steele with his season preview.
Hold your hats boys, it's going to be one hell of a ride.
Monday, October 27, 2003
You can run...
The Sun newspaper quoted a source at the school as saying: "By the time the afternoon lessons began, there was no hiding what they had done."
A prank gone wrong. Indeed.
The Sun newspaper quoted a source at the school as saying: "By the time the afternoon lessons began, there was no hiding what they had done."
A prank gone wrong. Indeed.
Headlines
The headline of this AP piece looks more like an Onion headline.
Bush blames rise in Iraq violence on U.S. success
And what is it with the Onion lately. I thought that satire involved exaggeration. Seems like they are just reporting the news.
Some recent headlines at the satirical weekly include...
Muscleman Put in Charge of World's Fifth Largest Economy
and
CIA-Leak Scapegoat Still At Large
Just looks like the evening news to me.
[update: should thank friend and coworker Tom for pointing these Onion headlines out]
The headline of this AP piece looks more like an Onion headline.
Bush blames rise in Iraq violence on U.S. success
And what is it with the Onion lately. I thought that satire involved exaggeration. Seems like they are just reporting the news.
Some recent headlines at the satirical weekly include...
Muscleman Put in Charge of World's Fifth Largest Economy
and
CIA-Leak Scapegoat Still At Large
Just looks like the evening news to me.
[update: should thank friend and coworker Tom for pointing these Onion headlines out]
Thanks to TT and/or OGIC
Futurballa has been added to the Sites to See at About Last Night. Thanks Terry and OGIC.
Futurballa has been added to the Sites to See at About Last Night. Thanks Terry and OGIC.
What, my art?
Today's Bleat has some interesting things to say about accessibility in art while comparing The Rite of Spring to Night on Bare Mountain, following a viewing of Fantasia.
This got me to thinking about the whole subject of accessibility. Why is it that as soon as something can be understood by the masses it gets the middle or lowbrow tag? While there is certainly much great art that requires work on the part of the viewer, and rightly so, if something can be understood on a more visceral level should it be classified as somehow a lesser achievement.
Lileks describes the experience of hearing Night on Bare Mountain, "'Night on Bare Mountain' - now, that's different. It's less adventurous than 'Rite,' less experimental, more literal and kitschily dramatic. And hence more popular. I don't say that with rolled eyes: of course, the masses love it. They would. No, it's more popular for a reason. If you played 'Rite' for someone in a culture with a completely different musical tradition, it would probably baffle them: what the hell? But play them 'Night' and they'd get it right away: this is scary music. Is it about dragons? If so they are very powerful dragons. Many people die, I think. But it's not just disorder and evil - it's disorder presented in the orderly terms of tonal music. It makes sense. It even has a plot. Plus - and this just occurred to me - it clearly exists in a world in which there is an opposite force to the events we're hearing described. We know what is going on in 'Night' is wrong without being told; you just sense it. 'Rite' has no such moral framework. It's not amoral as much as pre-moral, and in a way that's worse. You don't even have the terms to describe why things are wrong."
I'd be interested in compiling a list of contemporary middlebrow entertainments that could still be considered Art (with a big A). Shakespeare was certainly written to entertain a broad audience, but the language has placed it solidly in the highbrow arena for modern audiences. This is actually true of many classics, that in their own time they may have been intended for a wider audience, but today are the domain of the literati. Does that mean that much of our contemporary popular art will be elevated in the future? There is the middlebrow that is firmly planted in the middle, the Ventriliquists, impersonators, comedy teams etc that have been discussed earlier. But there is also the popular literature that perhaps today is seen as a bit too middlebrow for the Universities to teach or serious critics to give attention. I'm referring to things like books by John Irving and Michael Chabon, musical theater, Coppola or Scorsese movies. Definitely popular entertainments, but of a quality that future generations may look at them differently.
Nominations are welcome.
Today's Bleat has some interesting things to say about accessibility in art while comparing The Rite of Spring to Night on Bare Mountain, following a viewing of Fantasia.
This got me to thinking about the whole subject of accessibility. Why is it that as soon as something can be understood by the masses it gets the middle or lowbrow tag? While there is certainly much great art that requires work on the part of the viewer, and rightly so, if something can be understood on a more visceral level should it be classified as somehow a lesser achievement.
Lileks describes the experience of hearing Night on Bare Mountain, "'Night on Bare Mountain' - now, that's different. It's less adventurous than 'Rite,' less experimental, more literal and kitschily dramatic. And hence more popular. I don't say that with rolled eyes: of course, the masses love it. They would. No, it's more popular for a reason. If you played 'Rite' for someone in a culture with a completely different musical tradition, it would probably baffle them: what the hell? But play them 'Night' and they'd get it right away: this is scary music. Is it about dragons? If so they are very powerful dragons. Many people die, I think. But it's not just disorder and evil - it's disorder presented in the orderly terms of tonal music. It makes sense. It even has a plot. Plus - and this just occurred to me - it clearly exists in a world in which there is an opposite force to the events we're hearing described. We know what is going on in 'Night' is wrong without being told; you just sense it. 'Rite' has no such moral framework. It's not amoral as much as pre-moral, and in a way that's worse. You don't even have the terms to describe why things are wrong."
I'd be interested in compiling a list of contemporary middlebrow entertainments that could still be considered Art (with a big A). Shakespeare was certainly written to entertain a broad audience, but the language has placed it solidly in the highbrow arena for modern audiences. This is actually true of many classics, that in their own time they may have been intended for a wider audience, but today are the domain of the literati. Does that mean that much of our contemporary popular art will be elevated in the future? There is the middlebrow that is firmly planted in the middle, the Ventriliquists, impersonators, comedy teams etc that have been discussed earlier. But there is also the popular literature that perhaps today is seen as a bit too middlebrow for the Universities to teach or serious critics to give attention. I'm referring to things like books by John Irving and Michael Chabon, musical theater, Coppola or Scorsese movies. Definitely popular entertainments, but of a quality that future generations may look at them differently.
Nominations are welcome.
Sunday, October 26, 2003
Note to my readers
Just thought it would be prudent to let my regular readers know that the mood and subject matters of Futurballa will not be changing. This will remain a blog that showcases photography, art, cinema, literature, culture (low, middle and highbrow), technology and a dose of my brand of politics and humor.
My joining with the League of Liberals is something I do proudly, but this is not becoming any more of a political blog than it was before. Politics have always had their place on Futurballa, but person can't live by politics alone. As a past winner of the Truth Laid Bear New Blog Showcase, I felt it important to "give back", and support other bloggers who take a left of center stance. The league is doing a great job in doing just that.
If you share my views politcally, please click through to the League and check out some of the fine bloggers that they offer. But if you come here for other subjects, keep coming back. There will still be plenty of semi-educated musings by an ill informed culture lover. Moi.
Mahalo
Just thought it would be prudent to let my regular readers know that the mood and subject matters of Futurballa will not be changing. This will remain a blog that showcases photography, art, cinema, literature, culture (low, middle and highbrow), technology and a dose of my brand of politics and humor.
My joining with the League of Liberals is something I do proudly, but this is not becoming any more of a political blog than it was before. Politics have always had their place on Futurballa, but person can't live by politics alone. As a past winner of the Truth Laid Bear New Blog Showcase, I felt it important to "give back", and support other bloggers who take a left of center stance. The league is doing a great job in doing just that.
If you share my views politcally, please click through to the League and check out some of the fine bloggers that they offer. But if you come here for other subjects, keep coming back. There will still be plenty of semi-educated musings by an ill informed culture lover. Moi.
Mahalo
Robin Hood
One of the prezzies I managed to score for my birthday was the beautifully restored, exemplary packaged, DVD edition of the 1938 version of The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. I had commented on this film briefly before (here) in response to Terry Teachout's discussion of Swashbucklers (here). Now that I have my own grubby little mittens on this fine DVD box, I can give a bit more of a personal assessment.
Teachout had this to say in reference to a showing of the film at the Film Forum, "Anyway, Generation Z was out in force and we all had a terrific time, except for a few dried-up spoilsports who kept turning around in their seats and shushing the fathers who were telling their children all about Robin Hood. Sure, I like a quiet theater, but to expect a dead hush at a Labor Day matinee of The Adventures of Robin Hood is just plain silly. Me, I didn't mind the background chatter one little bit. The newly restored Technicolor print was delicious-looking (no red is quite so red as Technicolor red), Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score was more thrilling than ever, and - glory of glories - they even showed a cartoon, Chuck Jones' "Rabbit Hood," a Bugs Bunny in which Errol Flynn makes a cameo appearance. I can't remember the last time I went to a matinee screening of an old-fashioned swashbuckler complete with cartoon. Probably not since I was a kid, and I had at least as much fun last Monday as I used to have watching Saturday-afternoon Audie Murphy double features at the Malone Theater in Sikeston, Missouri. The only thing missing was a newsreel.
"Was it art? No. Do I care? No. Man cannot live by art alone. He needs a little popcorn from time to time, and the occasional Bugs Bunny cartoon to go with it. Which is how I spent my Labor Day, thank you very much. "
I think Terry makes many of the salient points about the restored version. The technicolor is more vibrant than I can every remember. After years of faded prints on Saturday matinees it is a joy to see the color as it was originally intended. The score is indeed thrilling. The addition of a Looney Tunes short before the film, completes the experience, and the DVD includes a choice of two, the above mentioned Bugs Bunny and a Daffy Duck version of the legend. The Bugs Bunny is the better and more classic of the two. I part company only slightly with Terry on his use of the word "silly". Though he obviously means it fondly, I would hate the reader to think that this film is somehow not worth your time. It is good fun in a way that we are rarely allowed to have it in our era.
The DVD package, as I've stated, is excellent. Along with the beautiful restoration and the two animated shorts, there is a plethora of extras that are actually worth watching. Feature length commentary by film historian Rudy Behlmer. A Warner documentary with Leonard Maltin. A collection of Errol Flynn trailers. Documentaries on Robin Hood in history and in the movies. Errol Flynn home movies. More vintage short features, and more. I often find myself ignoring the extras on these overloaded "special editions", but these are truly extras worth having and add to the movie watching experience.
Let's hope that move classics of Hollywood's golden age receive similar treatment in the future.
One of the prezzies I managed to score for my birthday was the beautifully restored, exemplary packaged, DVD edition of the 1938 version of The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. I had commented on this film briefly before (here) in response to Terry Teachout's discussion of Swashbucklers (here). Now that I have my own grubby little mittens on this fine DVD box, I can give a bit more of a personal assessment.
Teachout had this to say in reference to a showing of the film at the Film Forum, "Anyway, Generation Z was out in force and we all had a terrific time, except for a few dried-up spoilsports who kept turning around in their seats and shushing the fathers who were telling their children all about Robin Hood. Sure, I like a quiet theater, but to expect a dead hush at a Labor Day matinee of The Adventures of Robin Hood is just plain silly. Me, I didn't mind the background chatter one little bit. The newly restored Technicolor print was delicious-looking (no red is quite so red as Technicolor red), Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score was more thrilling than ever, and - glory of glories - they even showed a cartoon, Chuck Jones' "Rabbit Hood," a Bugs Bunny in which Errol Flynn makes a cameo appearance. I can't remember the last time I went to a matinee screening of an old-fashioned swashbuckler complete with cartoon. Probably not since I was a kid, and I had at least as much fun last Monday as I used to have watching Saturday-afternoon Audie Murphy double features at the Malone Theater in Sikeston, Missouri. The only thing missing was a newsreel.
"Was it art? No. Do I care? No. Man cannot live by art alone. He needs a little popcorn from time to time, and the occasional Bugs Bunny cartoon to go with it. Which is how I spent my Labor Day, thank you very much. "
I think Terry makes many of the salient points about the restored version. The technicolor is more vibrant than I can every remember. After years of faded prints on Saturday matinees it is a joy to see the color as it was originally intended. The score is indeed thrilling. The addition of a Looney Tunes short before the film, completes the experience, and the DVD includes a choice of two, the above mentioned Bugs Bunny and a Daffy Duck version of the legend. The Bugs Bunny is the better and more classic of the two. I part company only slightly with Terry on his use of the word "silly". Though he obviously means it fondly, I would hate the reader to think that this film is somehow not worth your time. It is good fun in a way that we are rarely allowed to have it in our era.
The DVD package, as I've stated, is excellent. Along with the beautiful restoration and the two animated shorts, there is a plethora of extras that are actually worth watching. Feature length commentary by film historian Rudy Behlmer. A Warner documentary with Leonard Maltin. A collection of Errol Flynn trailers. Documentaries on Robin Hood in history and in the movies. Errol Flynn home movies. More vintage short features, and more. I often find myself ignoring the extras on these overloaded "special editions", but these are truly extras worth having and add to the movie watching experience.
Let's hope that move classics of Hollywood's golden age receive similar treatment in the future.
Saturday, October 25, 2003
Take a Gander
Here is a list of the charter members of The League of Liberals. Some great stuff in there. Take some time to check them out.
Democratic Veteran
Rush Limbaughtomy
The Spy Game
Cosmic Iguana
The People's Republic of Seabrook
Musings of a Philosophical Scrivener
The Mahablog
T. Rex's Guide to Life
WTF is it NOW?
Dohiyi Mir
blunted on reality
Savage Cruel Bigots
Treason Online
Hell on Halliburton
Happy Furry Puppy Story Time!
Shock and Awe
All Facts and Opinions
Pen-Elayne on the Web
MadKane
Dubya's Daily Diary
different strings
Futurballa
Here is a list of the charter members of The League of Liberals. Some great stuff in there. Take some time to check them out.
Democratic Veteran
Rush Limbaughtomy
The Spy Game
Cosmic Iguana
The People's Republic of Seabrook
Musings of a Philosophical Scrivener
The Mahablog
T. Rex's Guide to Life
WTF is it NOW?
Dohiyi Mir
blunted on reality
Savage Cruel Bigots
Treason Online
Hell on Halliburton
Happy Furry Puppy Story Time!
Shock and Awe
All Facts and Opinions
Pen-Elayne on the Web
MadKane
Dubya's Daily Diary
different strings
Futurballa
League of Liberals
Futurballa is joining with the League of Liberals in supporting new bloggers at the Truth Laid Bear New Blog Showcase. This week's blog du jour is....
Hell for Halliburton: Halliburton Again - and again - and again
Futurballa is joining with the League of Liberals in supporting new bloggers at the Truth Laid Bear New Blog Showcase. This week's blog du jour is....
Hell for Halliburton: Halliburton Again - and again - and again
Friday, October 24, 2003
I was just going to make espresso
At first I was wondering why we needed a remake of Dawn of the Dead, but now I understand. Mall life has changed in America. Now we have espresso shops and Victoria's Secret. Does that mean that remakes of Mallrats and Fast Times at Ridgemont High are around the corner.
At first I was wondering why we needed a remake of Dawn of the Dead, but now I understand. Mall life has changed in America. Now we have espresso shops and Victoria's Secret. Does that mean that remakes of Mallrats and Fast Times at Ridgemont High are around the corner.
Viggo
Via this interview at Salon, we find that Viggo Mortensen is quite the rennaisance man. Poetry readings in Venice, jamming with Buckethead, co-founder of independant publisher Perceval Press and photographer. His latest book, Miyelo, features his photographs of Lakota Indians performing the ghost dance. Looks like some interesting work.
Via this interview at Salon, we find that Viggo Mortensen is quite the rennaisance man. Poetry readings in Venice, jamming with Buckethead, co-founder of independant publisher Perceval Press and photographer. His latest book, Miyelo, features his photographs of Lakota Indians performing the ghost dance. Looks like some interesting work.
It's my Birthday
Fair and Balanced, fairly balanced, and at times, slightly unbalanced... this little futurist is 45 today!
Mahalo
Fair and Balanced, fairly balanced, and at times, slightly unbalanced... this little futurist is 45 today!
Mahalo
Thursday, October 23, 2003
No Go
Crooked Timber on how product names can get Lost in Translation. I've heard that the Chevy Nova was a flop in Latin America. Who would want to buy a car that doesn't go?
Crooked Timber on how product names can get Lost in Translation. I've heard that the Chevy Nova was a flop in Latin America. Who would want to buy a car that doesn't go?
Mmmmmm, donuts!
Via Atrios.
Reminds me of the scene in Blazing Saddles when Sherrif Bart holds the gun to his own head.
Via Atrios.
Reminds me of the scene in Blazing Saddles when Sherrif Bart holds the gun to his own head.
Blame Clinton
From the Onion...
Limbaugh Says Drug Addiction A Remnant Of Clinton Administration
WEST PALM BEACH, FL- Frankly discussing his addiction to painkillers, conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh told his radio audience Monday that his abuse of OxyContin was a "remnant of the anything-goes ideology of the Clinton Administration." "Friends, all I can say is 'I told you so,'" said Limbaugh, from an undisclosed drug-treatment facility. "Were it not for Bill Clinton's loose policies on drug offenders and his rampant immorality, I would not have found myself in this predicament." Limbaugh added that he's staying at a rehab center created by the tax-and-spend liberals.
It's getting tougher to tell the satire from the news without a scorecard.
From the Onion...
Limbaugh Says Drug Addiction A Remnant Of Clinton Administration
WEST PALM BEACH, FL- Frankly discussing his addiction to painkillers, conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh told his radio audience Monday that his abuse of OxyContin was a "remnant of the anything-goes ideology of the Clinton Administration." "Friends, all I can say is 'I told you so,'" said Limbaugh, from an undisclosed drug-treatment facility. "Were it not for Bill Clinton's loose policies on drug offenders and his rampant immorality, I would not have found myself in this predicament." Limbaugh added that he's staying at a rehab center created by the tax-and-spend liberals.
It's getting tougher to tell the satire from the news without a scorecard.
Living in a Karaoke World
Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols Svengali, abandons ProTools and embraces "chip" music. Hacking old Game Boys to forge "a new kind of folk music for the digital age".
He writes, "Chip music is made using processors from the antediluvian 8-bit past. (Pro Tools, by contrast, starts at 24 bits.) The genre's seminal moment occurred three years ago when Role Model (real name: Johan Kotlinski) created a custom Game Boy cartridge called Little Sound DJ - LSDJ for short - that takes over the palmtop's internal synthesizer and turns the device into a musical workstation capable of playing sequences and arpeggios, but not chords."
McLaren goes on to further describe Chip music, "The essence of chip music is in reverse engineering an electronic interface - whether it's a Game Boy or a computer's sound chip - and subverting its original design. Chip music can be made using run-of-the-mill equipment, like a Casio keyboard, but first the insides must be scrambled. The lo-fi sound of the White Stripes and their ilk has a certain aesthetic kinship with chip music, but it's less tech-centric and not nearly as subversive. Kraftwerk might be the grandfathers of chip music - like today's reversible engineers, they invented many of their instruments. As for programs like Pro Tools, chip musicians don't think they're really creative. The sound isn't generated by circuitry, and you can't alter it by twisting a knob."
Low tech, minimalist technique to create what in the end is rich sounds is not new. The experiments of Fripp and Eno a' la No Pussyfooting used little more than a reel to reel tape machine and a single guitar to create highly textured sounds. It is good to see the "game boy generation" finding a new vocabulary to break the rules and who better to promote them than Malcolm McLaren, who helped to create the youth style of the late 70's while redefining rock 'n roll.
Read the whole thing here.
Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols Svengali, abandons ProTools and embraces "chip" music. Hacking old Game Boys to forge "a new kind of folk music for the digital age".
He writes, "Chip music is made using processors from the antediluvian 8-bit past. (Pro Tools, by contrast, starts at 24 bits.) The genre's seminal moment occurred three years ago when Role Model (real name: Johan Kotlinski) created a custom Game Boy cartridge called Little Sound DJ - LSDJ for short - that takes over the palmtop's internal synthesizer and turns the device into a musical workstation capable of playing sequences and arpeggios, but not chords."
McLaren goes on to further describe Chip music, "The essence of chip music is in reverse engineering an electronic interface - whether it's a Game Boy or a computer's sound chip - and subverting its original design. Chip music can be made using run-of-the-mill equipment, like a Casio keyboard, but first the insides must be scrambled. The lo-fi sound of the White Stripes and their ilk has a certain aesthetic kinship with chip music, but it's less tech-centric and not nearly as subversive. Kraftwerk might be the grandfathers of chip music - like today's reversible engineers, they invented many of their instruments. As for programs like Pro Tools, chip musicians don't think they're really creative. The sound isn't generated by circuitry, and you can't alter it by twisting a knob."
Low tech, minimalist technique to create what in the end is rich sounds is not new. The experiments of Fripp and Eno a' la No Pussyfooting used little more than a reel to reel tape machine and a single guitar to create highly textured sounds. It is good to see the "game boy generation" finding a new vocabulary to break the rules and who better to promote them than Malcolm McLaren, who helped to create the youth style of the late 70's while redefining rock 'n roll.
Read the whole thing here.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Here I am in Camp Grenada
Returning briefly to an earlier posting on the subject first posed by Michael Blowhard and later picked up by Terry Teachout of lost performance art forms, a couple more cross my mind.
The novelty song album. To a large extent this was carried on by Wierd Al Yankovitch, but it reached its height in the sixties with Alan Sherman. There was a time when I, as a young lad, practically wore the grooves off of My Son the Folksinger and My Son the Celebrity.
Another related form is the comedy album. Remember when comedy albums were a big deal? Some of my favorites were Bill Cosby's Why is there air?, Robert Klein's Child of the 50's, and George Carlin's Class Clown. Of course in my college years, Firesign Theater played with my head.
Returning briefly to an earlier posting on the subject first posed by Michael Blowhard and later picked up by Terry Teachout of lost performance art forms, a couple more cross my mind.
The novelty song album. To a large extent this was carried on by Wierd Al Yankovitch, but it reached its height in the sixties with Alan Sherman. There was a time when I, as a young lad, practically wore the grooves off of My Son the Folksinger and My Son the Celebrity.
Another related form is the comedy album. Remember when comedy albums were a big deal? Some of my favorites were Bill Cosby's Why is there air?, Robert Klein's Child of the 50's, and George Carlin's Class Clown. Of course in my college years, Firesign Theater played with my head.
Rush Sings Kumbayah
Michelangelo Signorile at the New York Press takes a bit of delight in the thought of Rush Limbaugh being treated for his addictions by hippies, new age mystics, and feminazis.
He notes, "But after researching the place that Limbaugh reportedly checked into for drug treatment, I'm convinced that if the treatment is successful, he could be transformed into a being that is barely recognizable. In this case, that can only be a good thing. After all, if Limbaugh has been on synthetic heroin for years, foaming at the mouth and railing against liberals, a detoxed Limbaugh might be defanged as well. (Makes you wonder what Ann Coulter is on, eh?) That's not to mention that the treatment center that sources told the New York Post he's entered is, for him, the belly of the beast."
Rather you read it in its entirety than I quote it here, but the brochure of the Sierra Tucson facility where Rush is believed to be holed up includes "psychodynamic role-playing and yoga" to "adventure therapy," "Climbing Wall," "the desert experience" and "equine-assisted therapy". Ah, to be a fly on the wall.
Read the whole thing here.
Michelangelo Signorile at the New York Press takes a bit of delight in the thought of Rush Limbaugh being treated for his addictions by hippies, new age mystics, and feminazis.
He notes, "But after researching the place that Limbaugh reportedly checked into for drug treatment, I'm convinced that if the treatment is successful, he could be transformed into a being that is barely recognizable. In this case, that can only be a good thing. After all, if Limbaugh has been on synthetic heroin for years, foaming at the mouth and railing against liberals, a detoxed Limbaugh might be defanged as well. (Makes you wonder what Ann Coulter is on, eh?) That's not to mention that the treatment center that sources told the New York Post he's entered is, for him, the belly of the beast."
Rather you read it in its entirety than I quote it here, but the brochure of the Sierra Tucson facility where Rush is believed to be holed up includes "psychodynamic role-playing and yoga" to "adventure therapy," "Climbing Wall," "the desert experience" and "equine-assisted therapy". Ah, to be a fly on the wall.
Read the whole thing here.
Video Killed the Radio Star... Indeed
This could have been the death of MTV before it even began. Or is it the latest LOTR Trailer? Click here.
[Thanks to George for the link]
This could have been the death of MTV before it even began. Or is it the latest LOTR Trailer? Click here.
[Thanks to George for the link]
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
What about Jugglers?
Terry Teachout continues his "middlebrow" musings in response to the Blowhards posting on types of performers you don't see much anymore on TV. The list includes ventriloquists (Edgar Bergen, Senor Wences), Impersonators (Rich Little, Vaughn Meader, David Frye) and Comedy Teams (Martin & Lewis).
I would add Jugglers, Clowns (remember when Emmett Kelly was a celebrity), Popular Classical Singers (think Marnie Nixon), and Flamenco Dancers. All staples of Ed Sullivans past, but you would be hard pressed to find any of these on a mainstream TV show (with the exception of PBS).
Terry Teachout continues his "middlebrow" musings in response to the Blowhards posting on types of performers you don't see much anymore on TV. The list includes ventriloquists (Edgar Bergen, Senor Wences), Impersonators (Rich Little, Vaughn Meader, David Frye) and Comedy Teams (Martin & Lewis).
I would add Jugglers, Clowns (remember when Emmett Kelly was a celebrity), Popular Classical Singers (think Marnie Nixon), and Flamenco Dancers. All staples of Ed Sullivans past, but you would be hard pressed to find any of these on a mainstream TV show (with the exception of PBS).
The Meme Spreads
Well sort of.
Salon features an article on why GenXers have such an appetite for reading and writing about their kids. Could it be a case of spreading lilexia.
Well sort of.
Salon features an article on why GenXers have such an appetite for reading and writing about their kids. Could it be a case of spreading lilexia.
Monday, October 20, 2003
I'm Baaaack!
I have returned from a sojourn in Los Angeles with a few delightful tidbits to share. First and most importantly... You can still get the best corned beef in California on Farifax Avenue. (Hey, a guys gotta have his priorities.)
Thursday evening our cast of assorted misfits, ragamuffins, fools, futurists, and better halves dined at Miceli's Restaurant, which features some of the best pizza on the West Coast (our New York cast member, Harry, certified it as such), along with singing waitpersons in a family atmosphere. Miceli's was a favorite destination for my family when I was but a tiny futurist, and it is still family owned and has maintained a high standard.
Friday brought us to the real excuse for our trip. Our group went to the Pantages Theater in Hollywood to see Mel Brooks' The Producers with Jason Alexander and Martin Short. George of Fool in the Forest, will certainly be chiming in with his own review shortly, but I will add my two cents now.
A delight, would be the first thing that comes to mind. It is an evening of broad comedy in the Mel Brooks tradition. Perhaps the time of Mel's sort of comedy has passed but at the height of his prowess he gave us a couple of the best comedies in the history of cinema. Of course I'm referring to Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, but before those high points he created The Producers, which may not have made the splash of the other two films, but is every bit as funny.
The movie is now a musical play. The story has only been tweaked slightly to accommodate live performance and to make it a bit less dated. Gone, sadly are the concierge at Liebkind's building (would have required an extra set for one joke) and gone is Dick Shawn's character Lorenzo Saint DuBois ("but my friends call me LSD"). Would have been too dated, but Shawn stole the movie to a large extent and we lose his song "Love Power".
Jason Alexander and Martin Short did a great job in the roles and obviously made a study of the rhythms and intonations in the original film. I rewatched the movie last night and when Zero Mostel laments his "cardboard belt", or Gene Wilder gets "hysterical, wet and in pain", it is obvious that the cast of the stage version used the film as a template.
It is broad humor with no sense of irony, but it works on its own terms. And if you manage to see it, watch for Ulla. A fairly minor character in the original movie, but a show stealer in the stage version.
Finally on Saturday, my band of miscreants did some museum excursions. A trip to the Getty was a pleasure. We were between major exhibitions besides a small showing of renaissance drawings titled Michelangelo to Vasari that was well worth seeing. Unfortunately we were a bit early to see the exhibit of Julia Margaret Cameron, which opens October 21st. We also spent a fair bit of time roaming amidst the wonderful collection of European Paintings at the museum. If you find yourself in LA, the Getty is a must. A wonderful collection in a fabulous facility perched atop a hill above the Sepulveda Pass, a fabulous gift to art lovers.
From the Getty we headed a bit further down Sepulveda to The Skriball Museum, which is currently featuring an excellent exhibit entitled "The Photograph and the American Dream, 1840-1940". Also recommended if you find yourself in Southern California between now and January 4th.
A wonderful time had by all. Thanks to our host, George (Le Fool) and his wife Gail for arranging this field trip.
Mahalo
Update: As expected, George has posted his more detailed and literate review of The Producers. Read it here.
I have returned from a sojourn in Los Angeles with a few delightful tidbits to share. First and most importantly... You can still get the best corned beef in California on Farifax Avenue. (Hey, a guys gotta have his priorities.)
Thursday evening our cast of assorted misfits, ragamuffins, fools, futurists, and better halves dined at Miceli's Restaurant, which features some of the best pizza on the West Coast (our New York cast member, Harry, certified it as such), along with singing waitpersons in a family atmosphere. Miceli's was a favorite destination for my family when I was but a tiny futurist, and it is still family owned and has maintained a high standard.
Friday brought us to the real excuse for our trip. Our group went to the Pantages Theater in Hollywood to see Mel Brooks' The Producers with Jason Alexander and Martin Short. George of Fool in the Forest, will certainly be chiming in with his own review shortly, but I will add my two cents now.
A delight, would be the first thing that comes to mind. It is an evening of broad comedy in the Mel Brooks tradition. Perhaps the time of Mel's sort of comedy has passed but at the height of his prowess he gave us a couple of the best comedies in the history of cinema. Of course I'm referring to Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, but before those high points he created The Producers, which may not have made the splash of the other two films, but is every bit as funny.
The movie is now a musical play. The story has only been tweaked slightly to accommodate live performance and to make it a bit less dated. Gone, sadly are the concierge at Liebkind's building (would have required an extra set for one joke) and gone is Dick Shawn's character Lorenzo Saint DuBois ("but my friends call me LSD"). Would have been too dated, but Shawn stole the movie to a large extent and we lose his song "Love Power".
Jason Alexander and Martin Short did a great job in the roles and obviously made a study of the rhythms and intonations in the original film. I rewatched the movie last night and when Zero Mostel laments his "cardboard belt", or Gene Wilder gets "hysterical, wet and in pain", it is obvious that the cast of the stage version used the film as a template.
It is broad humor with no sense of irony, but it works on its own terms. And if you manage to see it, watch for Ulla. A fairly minor character in the original movie, but a show stealer in the stage version.
Finally on Saturday, my band of miscreants did some museum excursions. A trip to the Getty was a pleasure. We were between major exhibitions besides a small showing of renaissance drawings titled Michelangelo to Vasari that was well worth seeing. Unfortunately we were a bit early to see the exhibit of Julia Margaret Cameron, which opens October 21st. We also spent a fair bit of time roaming amidst the wonderful collection of European Paintings at the museum. If you find yourself in LA, the Getty is a must. A wonderful collection in a fabulous facility perched atop a hill above the Sepulveda Pass, a fabulous gift to art lovers.
From the Getty we headed a bit further down Sepulveda to The Skriball Museum, which is currently featuring an excellent exhibit entitled "The Photograph and the American Dream, 1840-1940". Also recommended if you find yourself in Southern California between now and January 4th.
A wonderful time had by all. Thanks to our host, George (Le Fool) and his wife Gail for arranging this field trip.
Mahalo
Update: As expected, George has posted his more detailed and literate review of The Producers. Read it here.
Futurballa is the personal blog of Rick Coencas, a graphics professional & photographer in San Jose, California.
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