October 2005 Archives

"I was waiting for his bit where he actually says, "I love all the signs but then it's harder to remember the words and chords..." Finally he got to that and I held up my sign loud and proud. Suddenly a video camera and a still camera were in front of me. I must have gotten up on the big screen. Paul said, "Yes, and there's someone holding up a sign that says, "Read my sign but don't forget the words, Paul." That's very nice." Thumbs up. Chuckle. Smile. Wave. Point. Smile. Off to the piano. Everyone in front of me turned to stare and smile and giggle. Cheers. Laughter. HA! The ladies next to me gave me high fives..."

SHEESH

And I thought the VV was supposed to carry criticism: Nick Sylvester on Spitz.

AS IF IT HAD ALWAYS BEEN THERE

Beatlephoto Blog

MAKES YOU MISS GEORGE

Inexplicable how this story still gets play. The subtext here is: Nigel, push HARDER. (Is "I'll Get You" the first Lennon-mostly song PM's done onstage?)

COLUMN OF THE WEEK

Ron Rosenbaum on blog neurology:

[Truth] is more often elusive, hazy, a shape in the fog of possibilities that may not be glimpsed except through examining facts, theories, rumors and conjectures from (at least) 360 degrees of perspective and investigation. In other words, we might have something to learn about truth’s complexity from the blogosphere...

JAN HERMAN BLOGS

IF AMERICA WERE A MUSICAL SCORE

SCORSESE'S DYLAN

No Direction Home DVD and CD sountrack (Apple/Sony Legacy)

dunno if this will get posted as an mp3, they were in the middle of fundraising. Check this page.

WAIT 35 YEARS FOR JUDAS

And then three show up: CP Lee (QT)

I've read a lot of commentary, And Editor and Publisher's Greg Mitchell called the NYTimes Sunday spread "the gift that keeps on giving..." But I still think this is the most vexing piece of the Judy Miller saga: Although she told friends that she was feeling isolated and frustrated, Ms. Miller said she comforted herself with thousands of letters, the supportive editorials in The Times and frequent 30-minute visits from more than 100 friends and colleagues. Among them were Mr. Sulzberger; Tom Brokaw, the former anchor at NBC News; Richard A. Clarke, a former counterterrorism official; AND JOHN R. BOLTON, the United States ambassador to the United Nations..." [emphasis mine]

Why would JOHN BOLTON visit Judy Miller in jail? How come nobody's looking at him as the source? She went to jail for a source she couldn't remember? Is that a joke or something?

WISE AND IN LOVE AT THE SAME TIME?

Today on Soundcheck: more on Scorsese's Dylan. Stay tuned for the podcast.

More Republicans speaking out, if late. Heard financier John Bogle on NPR this morning, talking about the inherent bias in late capitalism towards the haves. ("My disenchantment came when the Republican Party did something I couldn't believe it would do, which was take George H.W. Bush and then, in 2000, take his son. The first one boggled my mind. The second one triple-boggled me...") If I had been interviewing Bogle, I would have liked his opinion on which interests the WSJ was protecting by slamming his book. Obvious and otherwise; the systems AND the news-gathering organizations who depend on it...

WHAT CAN I DO?

Finally gave a listen to Antony and the Johnsons this afternoon, almost six weeks after hearing he'd won the UK Mercury prize. This is what the Brits embrace? Baffling. This could be one of the more striking contemporary examples of mannered peculiarty posing as... authenticity? Neuroticism? Outsider-ness? Discomfort in one's own skin-ness?

EVERYBODY LOVES A LOSER

Morcheeba, THE ANTIDOTE (Echo) On this triphop crossover move pitched squarely at the mainstream, the lyrics consistently upstage the music: "If you don't believe that you owe it to yourself/You can owe it to me...." Which is rare, and almost makes up for the lack of Portishead.

JUST ENOUGH JURKOWITZ

Mediablog by Mark Jurkowitz, who just hopped back over the Phoenix to avoid the massacre at the Globe.

VID OF THE WEEK

Memoirs of a Geisha, poised for Oscar nods, has the author making approving sounds. Next: GEISHA! THE MUSICAL

LET US NOW PRAISE THE RETURN OF

Annabella Sciorra, on the revamped CRIMINAL INTENT, opposite Chris Noth, relieving D'Onofrio and Erbe every other week. D'Onofrio's always worth watching, but his character swallows most plot finales with his confrontations.

SWEET HOME CHICAGO

ER's web site still features Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle), and with its numbers in the cellar it could be looking at its final season. Whichi s a pity, because it's never worse than when it's getting all loopy with frenetic chopper explosions or stalker nurses to spike ratings. Balance is where it finds its voice, between last week's "Man With No Name" burn victim and Sam's pitiless flakeout on Kovac. There's a great unwritten book of cultural commentary on how this prime-time smash confronted the militaristic hypocrisy of medical culture, the limits of science, and how we all want hot docs and nurses whenever we're admitted.

LINK OF THE WEEK

from something called beatnikpad: Musicians Who Blog

ESPECIALLY IF YOU RESENTED JOCKS ALL YOUR LIFE

Don't know what it looks like to insiders, but to us plebes this past week felt like Bush went off the rails for real. OK, first: name your personal legal counsel to the Supreme Court, and make it an EARLY MORNING announcement to upstage the signing in of your CHIEF JUSTICE nominee. Then, give a major speech about terrorism, originally planned for 9/11 last month, on a THURSDAY MORNING, so prime-timers will only see clips and reaction commentary. Here's Ann Coulter: "Bush has no right to say 'Trust me.' He was elected to represent the American people, not to be dictator for eight years...." (I could link to her page, but I am not in the linking vein today.) That's called "alienating your base." Have Rove's kidneys taken over his brain?