Monday, March 31, 2008

Has the world gone mad?

In comments to the previous post, hoss explains how to say "shit heap" in Esperanto--should you ever need to do so. I should note that the title is one of many pitch perfect lines/moments from The Yiddish Policeman's Union, which was mentioned in said post.

John Adams was excellent last night. I shall possibly have more to say about it later. After JA, we caught the end of the new Tracey Ullman show. She does an Arianna Huffington impression--though, having actually known Arianna (though the last time I saw her she didn't remember me), I wouldn't say that it was a very good one. (She also does a very poor David Beckham.) Speaking of Arianna, rumor has it that she's about to get $200 million for the Huffington Post--which is read by no one I know. (Yeah, I know--selection bias. Still, do you know anyone who reads the HuffPo? Thought so.) Has the world gone mad?

I haven't had much to say about American politics of late, and, in the main, will continue to do so (or not do so). I would like to say, however, that there is something quite bizarre about Hillary playing footsie with Richard Scaife. This is the guy, after all, who accused her of murdering Vince Foster. And he wasn't joking.

Posted by jwb at 7:58 AM  · 0 Comments   

Saturday, March 29, 2008

How do you say "shit heap" in Esperanto?


I don't have much to say about Idol this week. I found Chikezie kind of annoying, but with nothing like the red-hot intensity that I disliked Amanda. He was going to go sooner or later, so I guess there's no time better than the present. Ken Levine's roundup is pretty funny--especially the bit where he pretends that Jason is a girl (and was on ecstasy).

I'm starting to think this Tintin movie is going to be a disaster. A week or so ago, it was announced that Spielberg was going to direct the first one--which I interpreted at the time as good news. However, they managed to spoil it this week with the announcement (though it may be more of a rumor) that the annoying drum-playing kid from Love, Actually is going to play Tintin. Blistering barnacles! This will not do. Relatedly, the jury's out on whether Andy Serkis will convince as Captain Haddock, though I'm leaning toward no. No other casting just yet.

In happier news, the Coen Bros. are turning Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union into a film. As it happens, I am currently reading YPU, and it is simply overwhelming in its awesomeness. It's dark but also pretty funny, which ought to be right up the Coen's alley (so to speak).

Reporting in from our Canadian bureau, Marty has some really boring stuff in comments to the last post about human rights in Canada. He also taunts me with a link to a Mark Steyn article that I will not be reading.

Posted by jwb at 7:22 AM  · 12 Comments   

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Do you know how lucky you are?

Didja watch Idol on Tuesday night? It was pretty brutal. I'm still unclear about whether the problem was that it's harder to do justice to the Beatles than it looks or that they all suck. For the moment, I'm leaning toward the former. Also, Simon and Randy are kind of annoying on this point, but it ought to be plenty clear to everyone how crucial choosing good songs is. Also also, in my opinion, turning Beatles' songs into country songs is a really bad--and I mean a really, really bad--idea.

I hope I won't say something mean about your favorite contestants, but here is what I'm thinking in the wake of this weeks fiasco:

I was beginning to really hate Amanda--to the point where I had to go upstairs and pretend I was looking for something while she was on--so I'm happy that she is gone. Goodbye, good riddance, don't let the door hit you on the way out, don't pass go, don't collect $100, etc.

Kristy is really cute, but I fear that she is doomed.

I agree with Ken Levine (whose Idol roundups, btw, are pretty hilarious--much funnier that anything you'll find here, much as we try) that there is something "unsettling" about David. (Levine comments: "It’s always the nice, sweet, perfect boys who get caught wearing their mothers’ clothes.")

Michael Johns is one of my favorites, but I agree with Simon that the "Day in the Life" medley was a horror-show.

I'm having a hard time deciding what to think about Brooke, though I'm leaning toward something along the lines of, "Meh."

I like grunge (or, as we now call it, emo) as much as the next guy, but David Cook has got to go. The Lionel Richie joint was pretty cool, but the last couple of weeks it wasn't working for me, dawg. (Sorry.)

Carly's tattoo fetish is kind of weird. (Levine comments that her "7" refers to Jason's IQ.)

Speaking of Jason, his Leon Redbone act is getting a little old. He also plainly started smoking weed at way too early an age.

Syeshaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Oh, sorry, I fell asleep for a minute. Where was I?

Chikezie is kind of painful. Also, see my comments above about Beatles songs as country songs.

Ramiele is cute but she keeps picking bad songs (for her) and she dresses like J. Lo. (which, for me, is not a good thing).

Unrelatedly, Scooter Libby has been disbarred. Couldn't have happened to a nicer dickhead.

Posted by jwb at 11:30 AM  · 4 Comments   

Monday, March 17, 2008

Bow ties

Regarding REM, it seems my fears may not have been as off-base as I hoped. I suppose I could see them myself and make up my own mind. Alas, when they arrive in Boston this summer, they'll be playing at the insipid Tweater Center and, unless someone offers to fly me there in a helicopter (which is unlikely to happen), I will not be going.

Boy, "The L Word" last night was pretty horrible. Every single plot line was either really boring or really annoying--or, in some cases, both. Make it stop!

We did, however, catch about 20 minutes of John Adams on HBO and it was pretty cool. I haven't been able to find much on the interwebs from actual historians about whether it is to be trusted--though there's some interesting background here--but the Thighmaster liked it.

Raphy: you'll be glad to know that bow ties are back--or at least that's what I took away from this Times article without actually reading it.

Oh, yeah. Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Posted by jwb at 6:30 PM  · 3 Comments   

Girlfriend

Like New York magazine, I think Ashley Dupre is way more adorable than I would have expected. Just sayin'.

Tim Weiner's big book on the CIA--which I may have mentioned once or twice--is coming in for some criticism. Clicky here if you're interested in such things.

Lastly, Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend was one of my favorite records as a kid--and it's still pretty awesome. Here he is on Letterman from back in the day:



[Via Tbogg.]

Posted by jwb at 9:32 AM  · 3 Comments   

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Supernatural Superserious

Did I mention that the new REM single is pretty awesome? If not, consider this me doing so.

Posted by jwb at 6:15 AM  · 3 Comments   

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Where everyone talks like a squad car

Did you ever notice that Eliot Spitzer has really big ears? They're huge! Also, I'm astonished that his wife--who, it has to be said, is kind of a hotty--hasn't stabbed him in the neck with a sharp object just yet. She has astonishing powers of self-control.

Since we're on the topic of ... um ... big ears, the Vatican has announced a whole bunch of new sins. I wonder where spending $400 on Italian leather shoes falls. (Vanity, I suppose, though that's one of the original ones.)

A while ago, I mentioned that I thought we were in need of a new take on the King Arthur story. (As I recall, I said some nice things about Excalibur and Bram expressed his disappointment with me.) In any case, more here from Cinematical. I too am sick of "revisionism" and would like an ordinary remake with some cool special effects and such.

Regarding Lush Life--a book, as I mentioned, that I will not be reading--James Wolcott has a funny line: "one of [Richard Price's] gritty urban novels where everyone talks like a squad car."

Finally, words to live by from Michael Pollan: Don't eat anything that won't rot.

Posted by jwb at 11:42 AM  · 3 Comments   

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

The emptiness of our entertainment lives

So "American Idol" is back. I've been feeling like I ought to blog a bit about it, though I'm finding the whole enterprise kind of boring. The question, I suppose, is: Is it the show (perhaps it's not as good as it used to be or it has run on past it's natural life span) or is it me (perhaps I've become too much of an old fogy)? What say you? One small piece of evidence that the show itself is lamer than it used to be is that even the scandals are kind of boring.

I've also been meaning to blog about "The L Word"--especially after raving to Raphy about it recently--but I'm also finding it hard to watch. I have to agree with James Wolcott, who finds himself:

docked in front of The L Word, hooked on the negative suspense of whether Bette and Tina, America's most boring lesbian couple, will get back together and spare us another season of Marlee Matlin's sign-language overacting, and when, where, and how the bratty, insufferable poseur Jenny will finally get hers. Oh, when will the long-postponed reckoning come? Well, not tonight, as the big dramatic payoff featured the annoying, nattering Alice reprising the climax of An Office and a Gentleman lesbian-style with her black lover. I recognize that if you're not a regular viewer of The L Word, it may seem as if I'm trafficking in obscurities, but to those of us who have watched The L Word from its pagan beginnings, these are matters of utmost doctrinal importance, testifying to the emptiness of our entertainment lives.


Empty indeed.

I'd like to add another book to the list of books I will not be reading: Master of Dialogue Richard Price's Lush Life. In fact, I've managed to not read any of Price's books, though--I should confess--I once thought about reading Clockers, but, in the end, did not.

I have jury duty tomorrow. As someone who studies American politics--with a particular interest in the courts--I ought to be looking forward to this. But, alas, I am not.

Oh, btw, Canada: Stop trying to mess with our elections. Haven't you learned anything the last eight years? We're allowed to mess around in your business, but stay out of ours. Got it?

UPDATE (9:30 PM or so): Re. Idol, it was kinda funny how Randy thought Simple Minds' "Don't You" was by INXS--and no one bothered to correct him. Also, Jason's version of "Hallelujah" was pretty awesome. Seacrest out!

Posted by jwb at 8:06 AM  · 5 Comments   

Monday, March 03, 2008

Envy


Welcome back to the show.

Reader's of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (TOD) will know this already, but the US Department of Agriculture ought to be part of the AXIS OF EVIL. Also, if you liked TOD, you should check out Pollan's most recent tome, In Defense of Food (IDOF). It is designed for people like me who accepted completely his argument (in TOD) about various sundry problems with our industrialized food chain (but that might aptly be summarized thus: corn--or, as they say in southern Illinois, "carn") and want to know what then they should be eating. Also also, Jenn reports that Michael Pollan is the brother of Tracy Pollan. That's ... um ... really interesting.

Marty reports from our Canadian bureau (which is, oddly, located in Farmland, Indiana) that Oscar-loser Ellen Page is in fact Canadian. (It seems that she is from Halifax, Nova Scotia, which is a very cute little city that, for some reason, has no tall buildings.) Good for you, Ellen, though I wish you had been a little less forgettable on SNL. (Then again, post-strike SNL has been almost entirely forgettable, so perhaps I am being unfair. It has happened before.) Also, ex-Canadian Lord Black of Crossharbour (LBOC) reports to federal prison in Florida today. Marty points us to this piece about LBOC from the late William F. Buckley, though, as with many of WFB's columns, I'm not really sure what the point is (though it seems to have something to do with envy).

More anon.

Posted by jwb at 7:21 AM  · 4 Comments