Merry Christmas from Mel Tormé 2; bailout meets zeitgeist; my new TV

Overwhelming demand from last year made me go back to the vault for this gem. You will not find it on Facebook, YouTube, MeTube, or anywhere else. Until some genius at PBS puts together the Best of Mel on PBS, this is your go to site for rare and impossible to find Mel. I still can't figure why they run great stuff like this as an inducement to pledge. It disappears as soon as pledge week is over.



BAILOUT MANIA
More common themes in the culture: in SUNSHINE CLEANING, a woman gets in a big money jam and gets bailed out, kind of like the last post where I referenced Broadway's SUPERIOR DONUTS. The bailout has entered the zeigeist. In real life, George Bailey jumps off the bridge. There may really be angels but the fantasy is people throwing piles of dough at you when you're in the hole.

NEW SONY
My old Toshiba died after 16 years. The last image: Gene Kelly, SITR. A 20 amp house blew when it died. I had thought the microwave was on the fritz (making a lot of funny noises lately) but when I put in the new fuse, it blew that too.

The new Sony Bravia rocks in over the air HD. First show we saw was a CHARLIE BROWN CHRASTMAS (not in HD). Football is awesome and I can't wait to see how bad the Mets are in 16:9. For now I'm putting off gettng Cablevision's "free" HD. They charge you a premium fee for the HD box, not the service, and somehow the FTC lets them get away with this fradulent claim of free HD.

[Correction: I got my bill and can confirm that the HD box from Cablevison carries no extra charge.]

Tales of Redemption; Sony ebook

By chance I've stumbled upon several recent movies and books on the theme of male redemption. The first was Clint Eastwood's GRAN TORINO. Clint helms and stars in a tale of a bigoted retired Korean War vet who, to his surprise, gets to know and like his Hmong neighbors. He's a hero with a war secret in his past and we eventually learn it and the ultimate sacrifice he makes to save his new young friends and redeem his past.

Jim Lehrer's THE PHONY MARINE, which I read on the new Sony Touch ebook (more on that later), is about a suit salesman who discovers his inner Marine when he buys a Silver Star on eBay. He actually avoided conscription during the Vietnam era by using college deferments. He pretends he is a retired Marine hero, performs two heroic acts in the present day—saving a judge's life and defusing a gunfight/hostage situation in a restaurant—which leads to local celebrity in Washington, D.C. He deals with the fear of exposure or the shame of confessing his deceit to his new admirers. Lehrer, a former Marine, is a master plotter and ties this up so neatly, with honor, that we can only wish life were more like that.

Today 1onthetown received an early Christmas gift from my daughter, two ducats to SUPERIOR DONUTS on Broadway. We need more plays about real people and less about singing fairy tales and roller skating cats. Michael McKean shines as the owner of a failing donut shop in Chicago, a target for acquisition by the aspiring Russian electronics mogul in the shop next door. The donut man takes on a young African American to work the register, clean up, and eventually, he teaches him to make the donuts. The owner is a former draft evader who "was invited home by Jimmy Carter," but he lives with the nagging feeling of being a coward, as his father called him. The young man has a secret too. He's in a 16K gambling hole. The plot is resolved to the satisfaction of all parties, most important being the donut man's act of physical courage. This show has posted a closing notice and it's a shame. In the old days, the Tony Awards would feature scenes from dramas and this year they played up musicals from road shows. No wonder straight dramas and comedies continue to struggle.

SONY EBOOK

I never had the time or the desire to devote to writing but I get bursts now and then. Ten years ago I had a web page called the Blackboard and here is a link to my review of one the original ebooks from 10 years ago.

I like the new Sony Touch. One of the great experiences was reading THE PILALRS OF THE EARTH. It's always been a drag to read heavy books on the train. This hefty tome is almost 1000 pages in print and 1-2 pounds depending on the edition. The ebook is 10 ounces and has the added advantage of a built-in 2000 page dictionary, a plus for a novel about 12th c. England. Great read by thrillmeister Ken Follett, a TV miniseries was co-produced by the Germans and Canadians, so read this book before the series eventually makes it over here. Publishers please note: this was a fantastic bargain at $7.59 in ebook form, so keep them coming. The Oprah's Book Club paperback edition will set you back $16.47. It's a beautiful production with the paperback cover in dust jacket– style, some nice gold lettering. With Oprah, all things are possible.

Electric Cooking with the Silver Anniversary Wok; 1-Cup Coffee Maker; The Most Annoying Character in Literature

I like electric cooking devices. The coffee maker and the wok will be celebrating their 25^th anniversary next year, not to each other. Then there’s my EEB—the Emergency Electric Burner system, rarely brought out except for Thanksgiving when I need Burners 5 and 6. Pretty exciting when the Chef calls out for Burner 5 and the cry returns from the cook, “Burner 5 ready, sir!”

The little round waffle maker has gotten a lot of use lately, although there’s nothing sadder than making a pile of waffles and finding the forgotten, unexamined, uneaten leftover waffle sitting in the back of the fridge after a week. Not even the toaster can bring it back to life.

Tonight the wok saw some new ingredients: shallots and squash. I loved Anthony Bourdain’s memoir KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, the updated 2007 edition and am a big fan of his NO RESERVATIONS Travel Channel show. Tony mentioned shallots in the book as one ingredient that chefs use that you don’t usually use at home, an onion-like vegetable that lets you know you’re eating out.

I went to Key Food, bought some shallots and thought, why stop there? Lately I’ve been eating squash at Miss K’s Kitchen’s hot food Italian buffet ($4.99/lb. is a fantastic bargain at Madison & 30^th) and decided to experiment with it. This is the first time I ever bought squash to cook, to my best recollection. I also picked up some mushrooms.

I usually cook chicken on the wok but tonight went for the pepper steak, 1 lb. Start the brown rice on the stove and cook for 45 minutes or as long as it takes simmer away extra water. Cut each steak strip into inch squares and marinate in soy sauce for as long as it takes to chop the mushrooms into thin slices, the squash into thin circles, and the scallions into circles then quarter the circles. Start with the steak in the middle at medium heat for about 5-6 minutes or until almost done. (Keep an eye on the rice!) Push the steak to the sides and add the scallions and the squash for at least 3 minutes. Push the scallions and squash aside and let the mushrooms cook in the juices for another 3 minutes. Mix it all together vigorously for 2-3 minutes, then turn the wok to low and cover as the rice finishes. Serve the steak combo over a bed of rice.

1-CUP COFFEE MAKER

How did I lose my plastic 1-cup coffee maker? I don’t know, but I can’t live without it any longer. Tonight I ordered one from Fante's Kitchen Wares Shop in Philadelphia. I’ve looked in several likely NY stores and nobody had it—BB&B, Target, JC Penney, etc. I’ve been making ½ pots of coffee on the weekend but that’s probably too much coffee to drink in a day, at least for me.

THE MOST ANNOYING CHARACTER IN FICTION

No doubt about it, the most annoying character in fiction is the father in LITTLE DORRITT. I’m about halfway through it and unless Dickens has a trick up his sleeve, this is the most annoying and self-pitying character in fiction since the incompetent Uncle Billy in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. My contempt for Uncle Billy, the archetypal unreliable family member, who not only isn’t pulling his weight but is a drag on the family resources, started to extend irrationally to the actor who played him, Thomas Mitchell, like hissing the villain in a melodrama. It wasn’t until I saw his heroic role in the Cary Grant flying pic ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS that I realized that Mitchell was just a helluvan actor.

On a Most Diffucult Decision; Amy Dorritt or Owen Meany?; THE PRISONER; More JULIE AND JULIA

I read THE LEOPARD by Giuseppe di Lampedusa, enjoyed it greatly, contemplations on mortality when turning 50 was considered old. Written in the 20th c., love the pre-20th c.-style chapter section titles. I thought it should have ended sooner, with the last passage on Father Perrone's trip an unnecessary one of several postscripts.

I went to Netflix to look for the Visconti movie with Burt Lancaster and had a most difficult decision: to rent the Italian or English version. The Netflix reviewers favored the Italian version and I went with that. But did I make the right decision?

The conventional wisdom is that you want to hear the original language of the actors and read the subtitles. However in the Italian version, Burt Lancaster delivered his lines in English and his lines in the Italian were dubbed in Italian (with one exception--at the end of a line I heard the classic staccato Lancaster laugh). In the English language version, you get Burt in English, but all the Italian actors are dubbed. The English version is also cut a great deal.

When I recently saw PERSEPOLIS, I switched to the English for a bit and it was flat compared to the original French reading, including Catherine Deneuve as the grandmother. I'm sure I made the right choice to stick with the original French, but I'm not so sure with THE LEOPARD.


AMY DORRIT OR OWEN MEANY?

A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY sat on my bookshelf for twenty years before I read it. Apologies to my sister. Great read. Now I'm reading LITTLE DORRITT by Charles Dickens, on my old Rocket eBook. I understand that Irving has been compared favorably to Dickens. Just asking: who is taller, Amy Dorritt or Owen Meany?


THE PRISONER: Episode 10: Hammer Into Anvil

This ep is featured on AMC On Demand this month as part of the promotion of the AMC series update with Jim Cavaziel and Ian McKellen premiering in November 2009. It's one thing for Number 6 to have a suspicious tearful woman directly appeal to to him for help. "I'm waterproof," was his response in another ep. But when Number 2's interrogation of another woman prompts her suicide, Number 6 pledges revenge. Number 2 is played by Patrick Cargill. Number 6 exploits a personality flaw of Number 2--he's afraid of his masters--and breaks Number 2 in the end.

Cargill was the star of the Brit sit com FATHER DEAR FATHER and recognizable to me when I saw this PRISONER ep again after its original run in the '60s. There was a period in the '70s when independent channels in New York would run more creative programming than Judge Judy, such as Brit and Canadian sit coms. FATHER DEAR FATHER ran on channel 9, featuring Cargill as the father of two sexy daughters. The American version was another syndie, starring Ted Knight and retitled TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT.

One hilarious scene involved Cargill visiting his brother in hospital, sneaking him in a forbidden bottle of Scotch. If you know British humor or are a fan of the Austin Powers series you can see where this is going. They can't find a glass so the brother breaks out two specimen cups. As they toast each other, a nurse walks in, horrified. From the hospital bed comes a response to her stupefied look: That's ok mum, it's my brother's!


MORE JULIE AND JULIA
I heard Julie, the author of the book/blog on which the movie was based, interviewed on the Audible Books show on SiriusXM radio. They played a clip from the audiobook with a blog entry talking about trying to get pregnant, something the movie left out. There's a brief but very powerful scene in the Julia part of the movie (Julia hears her sister is pregnant) and I wonder if the writer or director thought that adding a pregnancy element to the Julie section would have taken away from this strong Julia scene? Julie is a nice girl but too young and whiny for us to feel much empathy for her. Two hours on Julia Child would have been a better movie.

She told her interviewer from the publisher that her blog responders are "my collaborators." I'm sure her lawyer loved hearing that. Shouldn't they get a royalty?

Something Terribly Wrong

This weekend I watched other men work as they put down a new kitchen floor. When an old rug was pulled up, a bit of old floor in the living room was exposed. I called up my sister to bring over her sander and a can of polyurethane.

Man cred established after inhaling a lot of dust and poly, I rewarded myself by going to see JULIE AND JULIA. The ticket price seemed cheap, $8.50, and I thought I had somehow made the Sunday matinee at Sheepshead Bay. I later confirmed that there is no Sunday matinee. As I walked to the Theater 6 I saw the work "Senior" on the ducat.

This morning I ran a 9:30 mile, which I've been able to do consistently this summer on a 1.45 mile course in Marine Park. I played street sports as a kid but never blew out my legs playing competitive schoolboy sports, so I'm lucky to run now with nothing but occasional heel pain (a bone spur relieved by stretching).

I don't feel like 52. I took a picture of myself tonight just to give you an idea of what I look like. I could use a shave and it comes in a little gray. My son Matt said I looked good except for losing hair. Matt was the one who, when I was sitting on the floor 15 years ago playing with him and the other kids, pointed out my bald spot. He keeps it real.

I know guys with white hair but you'd never mistake them for seniors. I wonder if the girl who sold me the ticket just hit the wrong button?

CULTURAL NOTES

Theater
I saw REASONS TO BE PRETTY and rooted for it hard on Tony night, with no success. The opening scene is like the worst fight Margie and I ever had and amazingly, author Neil LaBute and a bravura cast sustain and extend the drama and humor throughout.

Video
Great vid: PERSEPOLIS. After seeing this well-drawn and -acted animated flick, a true story based on a graphic novel about growing up female under fanatical Islam in Iran, and reading READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN some time ago, I felt like John Lennon (subject of a great interactive exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex, the longest time Margie and I ever spent in a museum) who said, woman is the N-word of the world.

Books (thanks to the annual buy 2 get 3rd free at Posman's (Grand Central Station)
NETHERLAND by Joseph O'Neill. I had avoided 9/11 novels but this one is falsely promoted as such. Very good read, about a man with a shaky marriage and a questionable friend; a great meditation on getting through life and the meaning of friendship. I lose empathy when the protagonist inherits a million bucks (I'm buying Megabucks tix trying to pay for the new kitchen floor) but once you put that kind of money (after all it takes place during the boom when all NYers were raking it in) out of your mind, you can enjoy the car ride down to Floyd Bennett Field where the player/friend is building a cricket field. Not many novels take place in my area.

Next time: THE LEOPARD by Giuseppe di Lampedusa; LITTLE DORRITT by Charles Dickens

Happy Birthday Mom

Number 90.

STREET FIGHT (2005)

Do you miss watching Keith every night on MSNBC? Need a political fix? Here's a great movie for you political junkies who can't get their jolt from debates over the TARP program.

Sharpe James was mayor of Newark, NJ for 20 years. His iron grip on power was challenged by Councilman Cory Booker in 2002. STREET FIGHT (2005) directed by Marshall Curry, documents the struggle to dislodge a long-time and popular incumbent who had all the heavy hitters come in to campaign for him, including the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

The first hour is an admiring, almost idolatrous, study of Cory Booker's life and career. The last 30 minutes is a tense study of the weeks before the election. Threats and intimidation are the stock in trade of Mayor James. His style is "give a little, take a little, take a little bit more," if I can quote Jackie Gleason. James's workers and police force painted over Booker signs or ripped them down.

As Election Day loomed, voter machine fraud was in the air and the U.S. Attorney came in to monitor the election, just like a third world nation. Booker's team prepares for the debate and tells him good points don't matter but clever sound bites do. Booker is prepared by them to do what it takes to win, but will he get in the mud? He shows the tenacity of a former college football star but he's playing against an NFL-calibre politico.

The doc filmer not being allowed to film James at rallies makes for great footage. Ugly threats from James's people are scary and sometimes we just hear secret audio with transcription. On audio we hear James accuse a man in the crowd of being a terrorist; turns out he's just a local guy: "I was just sitting there." But when James saw the Booker hat on his head he sent the cops after him. Two reporters take the filmer aside and tell him to be careful, his life could be in danger.

Great images: Booker in the gym, letting off steam: this guy is tough, hitting the weights and the heavy bag. Al Sharpton is on stage endorsing Sharpe James. Former President Clinton doesn't take sides but James runs a picture of himself and Clinton in his ads to give a false impression. Jesse Jackson endorses James. Dr. Cornell West endorses Booker. Sound trucks claiming that Booker's "not black" and "You suspect boy." Sounds funny to say but it turns into a racist campaign, the way Muhammad Ali baited Joe Frazier over authenticity.

A cute child shakes Booker's hand. She says "smell my hand" and interviewer says "What do you mean?" "Cory Booker smells like the future," she says.

Constant lies by James, even on Election Day, calling his workers "volunteers" and Booker's people paid workers; yet James's vols ID them themselves to the interviewer as paid workers from Philly who barely know who Sharpe James is.

Election Day poll problems of power outages, intimidation of Booker supporters, levers broken, not enough Booker poll workers; cop taking down Booker signs, more nasty sound trucks: "It's not how bright you are--it's how white you are!" Al Sharpton again, proudly marching down the street with his good friend James.

The polls close. James does great in the predominantly black districts.

Spoiler alert: results below:










James 28300
Booker 24800

The film ends with the note that Booker will try again in 2006.

Postscript: James chose not to run in 2006. Booker did and he won with 70 percent of the vote over a candidate associated with James. James had some trouble with the law in 2008 and you're welcome to Google him and find our what he's doing today. The wonder of it all is how he managed to fool so many for so long.

Amos 'n Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy

After midnight tonight you can hear a radio episode of Amos & Andy called "Ruby's Diamond" on CHML-AM 900 from Hamilton, Ontario. But if any station in the U.S. broadcast this show, the outcry against it would be overwhelming. Why is Amos 'n Andy unofficially banned in the U.S.?

hulu.com is running a TV documentary from 1983 called Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy. Hosted by the late funnyman George Kirby, this program takes a look at and even runs a lengthy clip from the TV show.

The NAACP successfully pressured CBS in 1953 to cancel the popular program after two years and finally to remove the popular program from syndicated repeats in the mid-1960s. After seeing this documentary, hearing the original actors talk about their roles, and doing some research (including watching episodes on youtube), I concluded that the time has come to let this show come home. From what I saw, many of the images were very positive showing African Americans as hard working professionals with good family values. The negative images or articulation were no more demeaning than Jimmy Walker in GOOD TIMES or many hip-hop videos. The artistry of these fine actors deserves to be seen.

Trivia: the theme from the show came from BIRTH OF A NATION.

Note: if this show comes back to TV, people who have "borrowed" from it are going to be embarrassed. For example, there's a scene in MULTIPLICITY where Eugene Levy surfaces a driveway and Michael Keaton says you did a good job but you got the address wrong by two--you were supposed to do the house next door! How did I make this connection? Don Imus used to run a bumper of the ANDY radio clip that inspired this scene.

I'm going to turn this part of the post to hulu poster pembroke1952

Pioneers? Absolutely. I am African American and grew up watching the Amos n' Andy show in the late 1950's. I'm 57 years old and I think they were funny then and I think they're funny now. The Godsen and Corell black-face routine I didn't care for, but the actual African American cast playing the roles of Kingfish, Amos, Andy, Sapphire, her 'Momma', Lightnin' & Algonquin Calhoun (the attorney) should be ranked among the most talented great comediens of all time. Imagine breaking into the television medium at that time, especially being the first all Black cast television show in the 50's. As for their acting, they should be seen for just that - their ACTING. See it for what it is - pure raw talent. I see no difference in their comedic genius than the Wayans Show, the Three Stooges, Sanford & Son, or Good Times - silly, goofy, funny and sometimes dramatic. It's unfortunate it was during a time when racial tension was high but we should see these guys for what they were, talented comediens. I was fortunate to buy a DVD collection of the tv series on-line and have all 86 tv shows on DVD - and I have a good laugh everytime I watch them! I'm not ashamed - I VERY proud of them!

In conclusion, judge for yourself. Here is the pilot episode of the show, courtesy of youtube. You can also rent the DVDs from Netflix.

SLOW FADE TO BLACK by Thomas Cripps

Several years ago (25?) I was watching Channel 9 in New York. A newsbreak with reporter Denise Richardson came on during an evening movie. I can't remember the movie, but just before the break there was a scene with Stepin Fetchit doing his shuffling and stuttering act. As they cut to the break, Ms. Richardson, who thought her mike was off said, "I can't believe they're still doing this to our people," then went into the update. This caused a local brouhaha and I think may have hurt her career. I couldn't find this incident on Google, which surprised me, but I recall it clearly. I'm not sure where she works now but I've seen her in recent years on the local cut-in to the Jerry Lewis telethon.

******

SLOW FADE TO BLACK: The Negro in American Film, 1900-1942, by Thomas Cripps, covers the long, slow climb from the first silent movies to the 1940s, when the old stereotypes started to fade during World War II. Chapter 1 reminds us that film began in the 1890s. Notwithstanding Thomas Edison's Kinetoscopes showing black troops "marching down a gangplank on their way to Cuba," in Colored Troops Disembarking, for the most part demeaning scenarios were the norm. Typical Edison titles: Prize Fight in Coon Town, Interrupted Crap Game, The Gator and the Pickaninny,...you get the idea.

Chapter 2 covers Birth of a Nation (1915), which is revisited throughout the book as the archetypal racist movie. Today it's in the public domain and you can see it on YouTube, but even in 2009 it would evoke outrage if shown in a commercial venue or outside the classroom.

Blacks channeled their frustrations with negative portrayals into producing their own films, the most famous director being Oscar Micheaux. As overt racism was replaced by casual racism (portrayals of criminality replaced by shuffling butlers and maids) in mainstream movies, black-produced movies suffered from lack of capital and distribution.

Some blacks turned to European cinema in the 1930s where there was less racism; two artists who crossed the ocean were Josephine Baker and Paul Robeson. However, Baker's "exotic primitives" were seen as stereotypical and "drew small audiences." Robeson was more successful in American and European films. He was in a most difficult position, held to the highest standard by his own people. Old Bones of the River (1939) was appeared to be a dignified British shoot but the final cut caused outrage in the African American press.

Cripps thesis is a slow but steady climb to the years of World War II. Blacks fighting for their country added to the pressure on Hollywood for fairness. Caught in the middle were brilliant performers such as Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. Criticized by some for the way he played Jack Benny's butler on the radio, I see Anderson as clearly Benny's equal or better in the mold of P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves.

My biggest quibble in the whole book with author Cripps is his comment that Anderson saved the Benny show. I believe this to be false. Anderson made a popular show greater. I saw no need to demean Benny and can find no evidence that his show was in any trouble before Anderson joined the cast.

*****

You can still see racially insensitive portrayals on Turner Classic Movies. Some people want them banned. Tough question. Should Irishmen call for banning any use of the phrase "paddy wagon"? No. Should Stepin Fetchit be banned? I don't think so either, but I wouldn't object to a note that you sometimes see at the beginning of the broadcast, that some portrayals are of their time and may offend modern sensibilities.

Last year the editor of 1 On the Town decided to honor Black History Month and it was such a hit we'll look take a brief look back at what we covered.

• Black History Month: PETTIGREW FOR PRESIDENT
• Black History Month: HOTEL RWANDA
• Black History Month: PRIDE AGAINST PREJUDICE: THE LARRY DOBY STORY
• Black History Month: TALK TO ME on DVD

Pettigrew: As unlikely as it seemed, this prescient comic book from the '60 forecast the election of the first African-American POTUS. Just as unlikely one year ago was the candidacy of Barack Obama.

Don Cheadle in HOTEL RWANDA and TALK TO ME: Cheadle is taking over the Terrence Howard part in IRON MAN 2. Lots of buzz over what happened and there's no conclusive evidence yet in this you-can't-fire-me-I-quit controversy.

PRIDE AGAINST PREJUDICE: THE LARRY DOBY STORY: There's a young guy running Newark, Corey Booker, who could be the Larry Doby of presidential politics in 2 years. Like my governor David Patterson said at the Gridiron Dinner regarding his own future in national politics, once you go black, you never go back.

On to 2009: we'll be looking at:

• SLOW FADE TO BLACK: The Negro in American Film, 1900-1942. This is a scholarly tome by Thomas Cripps from 1977 and reissued in 1991 by Oxford University Press. One of the bonuses of joining the Press last June is that I picked this up at an in house used book sale for 50 cents.
• AMOS 'N ANDY: Anatomy-of-a Controversy: I can tune in CHML-AM 900 in 2009 and listen to Amos 'n Andy but in the U.S. they are banned forever. This doc from 1983, narrated by the late great George Kirby, explains why.
  
• Reflections on Chappelle and Pryor: The enduring appeal of CHAPPELE'S SHOW--one of my teenagers got into this show early, then a while later I did and told my friend. "Who? Dave Atell?" one of them said. Later he actually thanked me for telling him about the show, busted a gut enjoying "The World Series of Dice." Richard Pryor's LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP: there was a week in my life in the early '80s where, like Spencer Tracy in the last scene of MAD MAD WORLD, I thought I'd never laugh again. Richard got my funny bone back and I've been forever grateful.
• STREET FIGHT (2005): the no-holds barred fight for the soul of Newark, NY--Booker vs. James, winner take all.

Hang on, it all starts next week here at Black History Month 2.

XM Radio--Addition by Subtraction

---

The new Metro Traffic on Sirius XM doesn't have the temperature/forecast on the readout like the old XM Traffic and Weather. It's the death of 1000 cuts, the lobster in the boiling water, value subtracted every month.

The new XM73 (swapping High Standards for Siriusly Sinatra) started running a new Saturday show (not from WNYC) with Jonathan Schwartz. He taped song intros but he may not even know what they're doing with the rest of the program. I don't think he or producer Buddy Ladd (did he survive the recent cuts?) have much to do with this show. For example, they've played Steve & Eydie (no intro); but JS is a long-time Steve & Eydie knocker, although he likes them individually. Part of his deal with Nancy must be to put his name on a show that plays songs he doesn't like, like terrestrial radio.

My wife liked the new XM27 (The Bridge, mellow rock), but then complained that they play the same songs every day.

I also miss the canceled XM2, which replayed exclusive content from other channels. I could never remember when Dylan or Marty Stuart were on their regular channels.

I'm letting my 2-year subscription lapse in March. If the marketers are counting on me being brand-loyal, they made the brand a lot less valuable for me. Side note: I read that DirecTV did not replace XM73 High Standards with XM73 Siriusly Sinatra.

related board links:
Clear Channel Using Some HD Signals For Traffic Data
Metro Traffic to Take Over XM Traffic+ Weather

TV Worth Watching by David Bianculli

Did newspapers die in 2009 because they let good writers go? David Bianculli of the Daily News was one of those good writers, and I recommend his website, proving that there's life after whatever you can call the gossip sheet that used to be the NY Daily News. Check him out, great stuff on the passing of Patrick McGoohan.

http://www.tvworthwatching.com

Righteous Indignation

Several years ago, a young man complained via email about the air in his office. The air was unhealthy, either too hot or just not circulating. This went on for months, years. The head of office services, who was in charge of getting the air fixed, didn't like being accused of the truth of her incompetence. Her reaction was to file an anonymous complaint against the young man, accusing him of, of what?

He was called down to personnel.

"People are saying," said the personnel person, "that you don't like [name of person] for some reason... ... ..."

The implication was that it was racial.

I, that is, the young man, slammed his fist on the desk and said, "I DEMAND TO FACE MY ACCUSOR!"

Suddenly, it was over. She changed the topic and made it into an issue over violating company email policy. "Next time, don't be so inciteful," she said. "Is that inciteful or insightful?" he said. The bon mot went over her head.

When you're right and people who think they can get you fired are wrong, you can man up like McGoohan and fight, or meekly take it. I don't just mean to be like the fictional characters he played, but also to be like the real man. He was a unique soul for the ages.

Patrick McGoohan, 1928-2009

Joke; KUNG FU PANDA; DOUBT; SHUT UP AND SING; What's in the Daily News? Not much

Nothing to do with the rest of the post, let's start today with a joke.

The definition of a Friend: some who'll help you move.

The definition of a Real Friend: someone who'll help you move a body.

*****

KUNG FU PANDA on DVD

Jack Black brings the funny as the little panda that could, meeting his destiny to fight an evil tiger who aims to ravage the land. Several fine Asian actors appears in the supporting cast, including Jackie Chan in a supporting role, which you wouldn't expect in a Kung Fu movie. He plays a member of the legendary team, the Fabulous Five. I would have cast him as the wise master (Dustin Hoffman).

Special mention to James Hong, he of the 335 imdb.com actor credits dating back to 1955. He's a duck who's father to a panda. The duo appears to be a variation of the Rodney Dangerfield joke and they do a very funny scene that plays on the duck/panda dichotomy. (Rodney always wondered if he was adopted. One day, he asked his father, "Wong Fu...")


DOUBT

Over the holiday it was Clint vs. Meryl, which movie to see? Since there was no sequel to BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY playing, my wife won this argument.

Did a priest (Philip Seymour Hofman) molest a schoolboy? Who is right about him, the strict and suspicious veteran nun (Meryl Streep) or the trusting rookie nun (Amy Adams) who knows he's innocent? Hoffman is one of my favorite actors. He reminds me of my brother, perpetually pissed in a Brian Keith kind of way.

Streep has a great reveal where we learn something of her past. She plays it as a throwaway line or two so don't blink. The lines give you enough evidence to help you decide if she's got what it takes to make the charge stick.

Amy Adams disappears from most of the last half-hour of the movie. She's written out of the plot to go visit family. That places Streep vs. Hoffman alone together on centerstage like Columbo vs. Patrick McGoohan in a battle of wills. No doubt, Oscar will be calling.


SHUT UP AND SING on DVD

People who supported Bush burned the Dixie Chicks CDs. Most of them changed their minds about Bush. There are a lot of people who owe the Chicks an apology. The most shocking revelation: lead singer Natale Manes is married to Adrian Pasdar--Nathan Petrelli from HEROES! I follow the business and had never heard this, or forgot it. There's a lesson here for showbiz couples who complain about the spotlight. Stay home with your kids when they're little, the night clubs will still be there when they get a little older.

I think the movie was an attempt to show Republican Family Values voters that these ladies are just like them, good parents. They are not Jane Fonda, providing aid and comfort to the enemy on enemy territory, within miles of our soldiers being tortured. Natale Manes spoke out against the war before a shot was fired. That's the using the same First Amendment that allows me to criticize Bill O'Reilly's call to slap around the Chicks as punishment. (It's on videotape from his show.) O'Reilly, who paid tens of millions of dollars in a dirty-talk-to-co-worker settlement, has it in for women. I don't have to worry about O'Reilly coming after me because he said on his show that after paying the millions, no matter who asked him or how many times, he would never speak about it again. Too bad the Chicks don't have that luxury.


WHAT'S IN THE DAILY NEWS? NOT MUCH

The Daily News Sunday comics taught me how to read. Dondi, Terry and the Pirates, Dick Tracy. This week I dumped the News.

Forget the politics, there's no reading in the DN any more. They took out Rush & Molloy for sleazy items about people I never heard of except in the gossip page, fired Bianculli, and what's left in the rest of the paper is about 20 minutes of reading. Almost no daily show biz coverage, few news articles, an anemic business section, sports hanging in there, and from 4 down to 3 comic pages. The worst layout decision was to start the NOW section on the left. I'm switching to the Post for the first time ever. I give the News about 6 months. They are ready to fold or sell. Zuckerman is no genius as he proved with the Madoff scandal.

I know Madoff can't be executed but I'm stumped how we send a message to the next guy.