New Movie Review: Milk

There is no such thing as having too many civil rights heroes. I certainly had another in Milk, a movie that resonated with me deeply. I have spent my entire life dealing with powerful emotions based on the hatred and fear of homosexuality. I only wish I had known about him in middle school or before. I hope that teens watch this and the casual words of hatred towards people of different sexual orientation are not bandied about to establish a crude cameraderie amongst supposed equals.

There could be so many movies made about San Fran in this time period. It wasn't only Harvey's time, though he was a shining beacon of light. Some were controversial, such as the Black Panther Party. Others, such as Jim Jones with his People's Temple or the Symbionese Liberation Army, are regarded as blights of history with no apologists. All would make good movies. For a fun recasting of the SLA, don't miss the movie Network, a classic.

I'll have to watch Milk again, and I agree with what the Czech mentioned to me, that it's a movie you can watch again really soon. Some movies are great, but are nearly impossible to watch again (holocaust movies). This movie, though, succeeds in helping deepen Mr. Milk's place into the canon of American history, at none too critical a time.

Old Movie Review: Silence of the Lambs

Last night I watched this '91 Oscar winner for the second time, the first time being over 14 years ago. Back then, I was just plain scared. I wasn't a habitual watcher of horror movies. My first experience with a horror movie, Bug (1975, I watched a TV or VHS version in '84), left me absolutely terrified to put my body anywhere.

This, and a few other horror movies I probably shouldn't have seen, were due to my loving nanny at the time, an El Salvadorean in her 60's who had escaped the civil war. She loved horror movies. We speculated it was because of the real-life horror of being in a vicious war and also a huge earthquake, but perhaps she just needed suspense and bodycount to carry a storyline. Her English never got so good anyways, and this was long before Spanish cable was available nationwide. So, shows like Dallas didn't have enough going on to follow the story without understanding the conversations (not like she missed much).

This time around, I wasn't terribly afraid. I knew, for instance, that this movie (like the best of the suspense genre) traded a lot of outright gore and violence for suspense (reducing the 'cringe count'). Now that I could focus on other parts of the movie, I appreciated it for something wholly outside of suspense: Jodie Foster's acting around her character's gender role.

Jodie Foster is, as Hannibal Lecter pins her, a rube in cheap shoes dreaming to make it big in the FBI. She has an accent that she flips on when she needs to gain the trust of local police in rural or Southern areas. Likewise, she turns it off at the bureau's headquarters in Quantico. She's adapting because she's fighting an uphill battle: in the spheres of law enforcement and (yes) criminaldom, men are typically the enforcers and criminals and women are the victims. The men in the movie, whether nerdy Ph D's, G-Men, or lunatics, view her as a sexy catch or someone to fling semen on. The men who try something on her vastly outnumber the ones who don't: even Hannibal Lecter cops a 'pinky feel' as she grabs her case file back in Memphis. The movie isn't sexist; Demme's point is that this particular world (and the world at large by extension) is sexist. A criticism I would levy, though, is that it came off as a bit heavy-handed and not too subtle. I appreciate subtlety in art.

It was important for me to see this for another reason, as I had watched Manhunter this year, Michael Mann's original version that flopped at the box office. The difference lies in the directors. Demme is heavy-handed and obvious, while Mann uses his usual stoicism in guiding his monomaniacal male leads (with no big female protagonists, very typical Mann). Like all classic Mann (all Mann is classic), the men discuss the situations with extreme brevity and economy. Mann's Hannibal Lecter may be the exception, but he isn't given enough screen time to play tug-of-war with the detective lead like in Silence of the Lambs. And, unlike nearly all serial killer portrayals, Mann's killer on the loose actually has a sympathetic, human side. Michael Mann has guts--he's not afraid to lose audience in the romanesque gladiator simplicity of good and evil.

I am a Mann fan, though, and I make no bones about it. Is Manhunter superior to Silence of the Lambs? If you like Michael Mann, it's just an unfair fight, but yeah, it is superior.

Hey, I got a response!

A few weeks ago I wrote against Dick Cavett's wildly popular NYT article about Sarah Palin and her bad grammar. It reeked of class warfare, specifically Dick Cavett of the upper class against Sarah Palin of the lower class. Though, I did not deny that Sarah Palin didn't really answer questions, which scores her no points in my book.

I specifically took issue with, ironically, the grammar in Dick Cavett's column. If he's so high-and-mighty on grammar, shouldn't his column be Strunk and White clean? Not so! Says the new Strunk and White: Patricia O' Connor.

The grammar issue in question was this sentence above all: May I confess that upon first seeing her, I liked her looks?

To me, this looked like a declarative with a question mark. For example, on work emails I get these all the time, mostly from very-higher ups:

"This is being handled?" "I'm copying the right person on this?" (Instead of "Is this being handled?" "Am I copying the right person on this?")

Well, I wanted to ask her about what I saw as a lazy, passive question (on work emails) but I used Dick Cavett's quote, and here's what she said (note the very correct "Hi comma Wells:"



Hi, Wells,

In his Op-Ed piece for the Times, Dick Cavett wanted to say that he found Sarah Palin attractive, but he didn't want to come right out and say it. So he used two evasive constructions.

(1) He framed his first comment in the form of a question, beginning "May I confess that ...." This is a way of sneaking in a remark you're afraid might make you look bad. In essence, you're asking the reader's permission beforehand.

(2) He used a roundabout, double negative construction in his second comment: "not uncomely." In other words, "comely." Another way of evading a direct statement.

There's nothing grammatically wrong with either of these methods. But they're both intended to let you say something indirectly. In this case, Cavett used the coy phraseology to convey humor.

Pat O'Conner

So, what it comes down to is what I find to be funny or not funny. Dick Cavett: not funny, except as I said on the "Homer the Clown" episode. His humor probably appeals to the older demo that usually reads the NYT, not the Onion reading, Ali G show watching, Family Guy revering age.

But I have a taste for older humor too: I think that Garrison Keillor has a schtick that works (tho the show is too long) and I still smile remembering the antics of the late Victor Borge. Even Peter Schickele, who my parents listed to all the time, had some great riffs about big band and classical, which is NOT EXACTLY a minefield of laughs.

To me, Dick Cavett's blog postings are about as funny as Leno, without the band, studio laughs, or the economy of words. They're kind of vacuous.

But he did make me feel sorry, in his latest column, for poor Richard Widmark. The moral of Mr. Widmark's life is, if (IN A MOVIE) you push an invalid in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs, you will always be remembered for doing that. Nevermind the rest of the ouvre! You, sir, are a nasty individual.

Old Testament rules apply to theater patrons

Because the Czech riffed off of Ebert's brilliance (it comes out beautifully both when he's irked by crap or amazed by craft), I had to go to his site, to be greeted by a nice list:

Roger Ebert's top Foreign Films of 2008.

I only saw Tell No One, dogged not by reviews but by the reports of sold-out showings at the local cinemas. A foreign film, without zero-gravity martial arts, selling out? Well, it wasn't as widely distributed as Crouching Tiger, but it was popular in New York.

And, for a suspense movie, it accomplished its feat. The director takes the wheel and you're at the edge of your seat. Though as I read his praise (and agreed), I felt sad because my suspenseful moment was robbed from me. In a very empty theater (late showing on a weeknight) I sat with an old high school friend, when during the previews two ladies in their 50's or 60's sat in our row. And, they immediately started talking. I told my friend that instant that I knew they would talk throughout the movie.

Boy do I wish I was wrong about that. Not only did they intermittently break up a rather quiet, tense movie with their whispers (loud enough to determine that they were trying to piece together the plot, which movies usually do for you eventually), but they took advantage of the most tense scene in the movie (the meeting in the park scene) to whisper furiously. They must have been oblivious and perhaps a bit deaf. And I was f***ing pissed off.

So, in characteristic teapot fashion, I leaned over and hissed,

"Will you two SHUT THE F*** UP?!"

They certainly did. Too bad that my adrenaline from movie frustration was in overdrive. It was worth enjoying the rest of the movie in quiet comfort.

There are two axioms that everyone should know before going into a movie theater:

1. No one wants to hear you talk.
2. Even if you whisper, the people around you can hear you talk.

Yes, it was weird saying such vulgarities to women my mother's age, but they should know better, and that cancels it out.

Oprah's weight, not a 'big' deal

200 pounds over a 5'10" frame of a middle-aged woman? This is not a problem. I am close to 200 over a 5'7" frame and I feel like Clarence Darrow trying to convince my peers that I'm out of shame shape. From this, I can tell you that People mag's attempts to make an issue of this are totally flawed.

I'm more concerned about Oprah's yo-yo dieting, which purportedly pumps triglycerides through the arteries as they become metabolized for nutrition.

If you've been on earth for at least 14 years you've heard enough contradictory nutritional information to be able to block it out. My solution: go to the doctor almost yearly and get tests run. Because if there's one thing that's always been a problem, it's people who have treatable problems that let them go undiagnosed.

Here's a Globe and Mail article, if you're in Oprah-withdrawal. I apparently am, writing this.

Hardest guide to follow

The 48 Rules of Power is a compliation of philosophical teachings by a guy who, more or less, spent a lot of time reading philosophy books: Robert Greene. He's not Trump or Howard Hughes or even Carrie Fisher.

I grabbed this book out of the office of a recently fired co-worker and read it over a weekend. The editing is great. Each law of power is about four pages long with tons of historical anecdotes. It's a great way to learn about philosophy and history, especially Ancient Chinese History, European History, and Japanese Tea Ceremony History. Also in there are snippets about characters like Henry Ford, Mata Hari, and Haele Selassi. All in all, it's a grand scope book that pulls it off.

Almost. This book originally caught my eye in a New Yorker piece about how bigtime rap stars were touting this as the key to success. That's cool, I thought. Better than the Secret. The author, even, was going to these hip hop parties and though he looked out of place, he got nothing but love. At some point, him and 50 Cent are to make a book together, called the 50th Law.

So, maybe I could get some more power in my life? Not likely. By trying to follow some of these rules of power, I just came across as an asshole. I need a book about getting by, or being content. "Enjoy the Small Stuff." Sometimes, when things are going drastically wrong, especially between me and authority, it seems that I've violated one of the rules of power. There are too many to follow. I just don't want to end up like one of the loser anecdotes in the book. There are just as many of those as there are winners.

Click here for Robert Greene's site.

Click here for the New Yorker article, though you have to register to read the full piece. If you like hip hop stars, and you like out of leftfield success stories, I recommend it.

STOP: Yer' Album

I spent years, mostly in college, looking for music outside of classic rock. Why on earth would I do something like that? Well, I was so pro-classic that when I started djing at my college rock station, I wanted to do an 'artist feature' program, focusing on classic rock greats. I went over the idea with a friendly record store clerk (now owner) and he asked me why, if there are already four or five stations within the FM spectrum playing classic rock, we would need another one?

Good point! Such a good point that I dropped the idea and, when two people did put together a show that was more-or-less that, I scoffed.

But, after years of exploration, I fully understand that there is NOTHING like classic rock. Nothing hits home quite as solid as a good blues-boogie-rock album. The feelings associated with it cover everything from fishing, drinking, and wearing Carhartts to first crushes, tailspin depression, and personal revelation.

I finally got my hands on this not-so-rare yet not-so-available James Gang album, their first. I'm so into it, I was singing the last song, "Stop," on the way to work. Sorry fellow pedestrians! I'm feeling it. It's got that mid-tempo jive feeling that has about as broad an appeal as I could imagine. 1969 was the year, a landmark year for rock never to be repeated. If you're in need of some blues-rock (oh, by the way, it's seriously funky), then I recommend this.

Click here for a little russian blog that has a whole thing on Joe Walsh, the principal member of James Gang.

And, if you're drawing a blank on the James Gang, they had a song called "Funk #49" that you've probably heard. It was an instrumental that typifies "hard rock." It was the song that the 'cool kids' were listening to in the Simpsons when Homer wanted to hang out with them (flashback scene, Hullabalooza episode).

CNN Wellsmus Heroes Part 1

Kablaow! David Swensen gives you, with all the compassion he genuinely has, his flashlight through the financial darkness.

Who is he? He's actively managed the Yale Endowment to a staggering 28 billion dollars. And if you have questions about how they use that money, please read this article in Dec/Jan 09 Worth first. But I can't find it online, for your persual, which is a darn shame! I may have to buy this magazine and leave it on the house coffee table for all to read.

Hero: Someone who works diligently for an overall worthwhile cause, does an exceptional job, and tries to help others achieve the same. David Swensen, you are a MaureenDowdIsWorthless hero and someone that Wellsmus wishes he could work for.

So, let me do some quoting:

David Swensen on why Yale doesn't make it totally free tuition for all:

"If you dig beneath the surface and look at the extraordinary financial aid that's available, something like only the top five percent of money earners in the country wouldn't qualify for financial assistance. And I don't think it makes any sense to subsidize the wealthy."

David Swensen on why they don't spend more of the endowment:

"Even with four or five modifications to the spending rule [spending more money, in other words], we ended up with contemporary spending rates lower than we wanted. (Laughs) I don't think we're going to have that problem anymore."

David Swensen on results:

"When I started, the endowment's contribution to the operating budget was $45 million. Today we're contributing $1.15 billion. So the spending from the endowment this year is more than the endowment was when I started."

On Jim Cramer:

"Jim Cramer is a Charlatan. He turns the serious issue of personal financial security into a complete joke. There is nothing that comes out of James Cramer's mouth that allows people to make intelligent investment decisions."

On Richard Fuld, of Lehman:

"The debate when he testified in front of Congress was whether he made $450 million in the past seven or eight years or whether he made $350 million. I'm sure Dick Fuld is devastated by the demise of Lehman Brothers, but he still made staggering amounts of money."

On John Mack, of Morgan Stanley:

"It was just extraordinary that somebody like John Mack, who's in charge of Morgan Stanley, a firm that made staggering amounts of money from facilitating short-selling on the part of its clients, would have the gumption to get up and blame the short-seller for the troubles that Morgan Stanley found itself in."

David's books:

Pioneering Portfolio Management - this is for the institutional investor

Unconventional Success - this is for the individual investor.

Note: I believe that most of us will face these decisions at some point, and I recommend at least flipping through Unconventional Success. He is NOT POP FINANCE, so it is fairly dense reading.

NY Mag to Maureen Dowd: Stop being superficial!

Wow, really? NY Mag...with the Look Book, and the fashionable parties.

It's a good magazine to actually enjoy the best of best superficial things! And to crack up at the Look Book, which Gawker did since forever ago so I can't go there. But please, go there.

But for a categorizing of the sheer quantity of times that Maureen Dowd engages Tina Fey on food-related things, click here. (This is like a typical NY Mag nonfeature - 1 minute article).

Recommendation for promotion: Maureen Dowd

Marueen Dowd's column is great, form fitting, and illuminating. She clearly excells in writing for America's number one insider magazine: Vanity Fair. Please consider this a public appeal from one concerned hoi polloi to have her contribute monthly to this magazine and not to the newspaper I try hard to admire.

Her article is long and wafty, which is perfect for Vanity Fair. Their articles snake through 150 pages of glossy, engaging the reader to flip through countless ads.

If you do not have time to read it (an hour, at my limited reading level), here are many of the Vanity Fair forms that Maureen Dowd successfully (naturally) shows:

- Fashion, fashion! Expensive, of course, and both known and lesser-known designers.

-Old movie stuff that artsy people love: Marlene Dietrich, Fellini

-the looks, the looks! Tons of stuff to make Tina Fey's verbal look book (hint, she's not a fashionista, and boy do we learn that)

-sexy details about the past

-vulgar quotes

-adoration! adoration!

-how tall Tina Fey's husband is to the 1/2 inch

-using a phrase like glamour-puss

-Tina Fey's weight issues

-Tina Fey's ethnic heritage

-known lit references: Daisy Buchanan Great Gatsby

This is Vanity Fair. This is people in-the-know that you-don't(won't)-know talking way off the cuff about those we, "the collective consciousness," know. First, it's vibrant reading. Bore yourself to death with Time, Newsweek, and the Economist, the people quoted in these articles are too important to care about damaging quote regurgitation. Second, it's Vanity Fair, which has it's own in-crowd of people who gobble this stuff up. They give their people what they want, hat's off to them. Other publications are not so successful.

Maureen Dowd is an insider: who she knows, what they wear, what they'd like to wear, and where they wear it. This magazine needs to accept her into the fold. I mean, she may not bleed blue blood, but can't Vanity Fair make an exception?


Please?


Please?


What about me, can I get a table? I'll buy a mixed drink with my dinner, I promise!

Christmaswatch 2008: The big ticket

Certain gifts are ageless, and if they are also articles of clothing, they are the best gifts to get your mother.

Question: Will Bergdorf cut the price on a Hermes Scarf?



AAK! I hope so!

Bring back the ha'penny

Maureen Dowd would like to touch on Tom Friedman's territory this week, in between the Lexus and the Olive Tree. Her article this week is ostensibly about outsourcing but also about the difficulty of keeping the Newspaper business afloat.

Indeed, she has some amusing anecdotes about India-written news that and some associated outsourcing problems. But, a busybody stateside editor could probably fix those errors. News is global in ways that are hard to tell--many of the 2008 Olympic Games (not the big events) were commented on from the U.S. off of the satellite feed.

When given a choice, and the newspapers certainly gave that choice, the internet generation would prefer to pick up their news for free online. And no, they don't usually click on the ads. Sorry internet ad dreams!

But she does neglect to mention that some intrepid (people have other words) businessmen like Rupert Murdoch are willing to purchase unprofitable newspapers. Oh, the glory of Op-Eds, you miss chunks of the pie that are "clearly" not relevant.

One part of her opinion that I can't figure out is whether she thinks the outsourcing newsman, James McPherson, is the future, or if he's an enterprising moron trying to cut too many corners. Perhaps she thinks he's both!

When Maureen Dowd puts her columns on the auction block, I'm reminded of how much I like pennies, and that, to paraphrase Mr. Burns, "I think I'd be happier keeping the penny."

Deals still not worth it

I looked at the inserts, I saw the deals. I didn't think that they were worth breaking a door and inadvertently killing someone. 798 for a 50" plasma is cheap, but with circuit city going out of business, I'd imagine there will be deals equal or rivaling that.

"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling `I've been on line since yesterday morning,'" she said. "They kept shopping."

Hands down, I don't like mobs and rallies. They never succeed in enlightening the ideals they support. Sure, there can be a speech associated with it, but that speech is usually preplanned and could have been given on the radio or in a controlled setting.

If I was thirty years older, I would (hopefully) make an exception for Woodstock, though I can see I'd be fighting with myself.

Creditors Revenge - Old Testament Style

Maureen Dowd is off today, but Tom Friedman is beating the financial pony. Why? A pound for every penny. On a personal note, I remember meeting someone from upper echelon Citigroup and was impressed by the pompousity. "Citigroup has more money than a small country," she said. "Citigroup bailed out--and lost--in Argentina's currency crisis." (That this person was trying to brag was part of the sorry affair).

On another note, things were not always like this. Both my father and an old friend of his worked in Citibank Operations and, a few years ago, when I wanted a piece of the pie, my father's friend relayed to me that "you couldn't make near as much money in banking as you can now."

Mo money. Mo problems.

Have a Heart Files: Puppycam for you

With really important things going on in the world, it can be hard to remember that there are very critical time wasters that show that you're not all business. Learn about them, they make you look like a human being.

This site is getting like 6 million views a day.


Wellsmus2000, terminating operating procedure.

But one more look shows they're doing different stuff!

Ismyblogrelevant.com

“I think people are beginning to look at it differently, I know it’s happened for me,” Feinstein said of gay marriage. “I started out not supporting it. The longer I’ve lived, the more I’ve seen the happiness of people, the stability that these commitments bring to a life. Many adopted children who would have ended up in foster care now have good solid homes and are brought up learning the difference between right and wrong. It’s a very positive thing.”

Maureen Dowd, "Marriage on the Rocks."

These are the family values that make a society strong.

Terribly Good Food Part III: Saucy Love is Back

The McRib is delicious. Ground pork pressed into a "rib" form, cooked, and dunked into a vat of generic barbeque sauce. What's more, click on this link for some sexy McRib related music.

I was riding a bus down the street when I saw the good news.

If God had only perservered after his seventh day of rest, he would have made the McRib.

Terribly Good Food, Part II

Archway Cookies, the big, cheap cookies that were forever soft, has gone out of business.

They had a cult following but I don't know if people connected over their love of these chewy (though I would say mediocre) cookies.

Story from a site that seems to ship out 'specialty' foods.

By far my favorite item from their collection, though, and I am lamenting big time here, is their Circus Animals with the delectable soft icing. These were, by far, my favorite kind of cookie as a child. Sorry mom!

NPR Watch: Clinton In

NPR said it, I just heard it. But the sources are anonymous, so I'll wait until the WSJ prints it up for me.

Are Vampires Sexy?

Why am I totally in the dark about this stuff? I guess when it comes to the underworld you can't be too choosy. Mummies--too much clothes. Goblins--unsexy name and childlike disposition. Trolls--too short, can't wear heels when going out with him (or her if it's a Trollbian).

Okay. Titanic - bad movie. But a poor Irishman, or the late 20th century imagining of one? They fight AND dance, that's ladybait! Just ask anyone who's hot stuff at the honky tonk, that plus mechanical bull and you're a country-fried dream.





The girls on NPR were saying, "the lines [from the new Vampire movie] are cheesy but you don't think of them as cheesy." Oh yeah, they're into him. You know girls dig a guy when everything he says is pure gold hilarity, romance, and insight. Same vice versa, but guys don't try listening to girls much no matter how hot they are. Sexual attraction for guys also has a sort of white noise effect, which includes women's voices, cars honking, and authority figures that can arrest, fire, or ground you.

Too bad for teen boys. To be like a poor Irishman, just take some dancing lessons and learn not to wince when you land a punch and it hurts your poor knuckles. Vampire though? Well, they're not real. And they look like goths.

Reality Bites: Calorie Laws

In New York City, fast food chains have to show calorie counts. This can be a dealbreaker for some foods, I'm afraid! Take Cinnabon: 100% daily nutritional value for the SOUL, but very little otherwise.

Regular Cinnabon: 850 Calories

Pecanbon: 1150 Calories

Cinnabon may need to seriously revisit the recipe books if these laws go into effect across the nation.

Career RIP: Tucker Carlson

Both on and off Dowd is Worthless, I've been praising MSNBC. High octane without negativity. Well, Keith Olbermann can be overbearing but he's trying to conjure the spirit of Edward R. Murrow. I forgive him just because he's trying to be someone else. Besides, I think for the ladies (at least for Marge Simpson) he's easy on the eyes.



But what happened to the young Republican upstart Tucker Carlson? This link suggests that the future is uncertain if not finished for Tucker. Now it's back-to-back Olbermann and Maddow with no relief.

Part of the problem with Olbermann and Maddow's format is that they're accustomed to lengthy talks (some might say diatribes I didn't say diatribes) that scare off the opposition on their show. But 'skewering' and bringing out guests to argue with them is one of the highlights of TV News. It encourages spontaneity, for one. Who's going to take on Olbermann with his You Sirs and Maddow with her preplanned "Prove me Wrong" segments? Tucker loved to bandy about with Rachel Maddow, it was really funny to watch, and you might of learned something about both sides. Though, admittedly, it would frequently go off on tangents.

Also, the bowtie. The bowtie is the only GOP accoutrement worth anything. The straw hat is just too barbershop.



In Memoriam: 2005-2008

Australia - Are you prepared for the let down?

Perhaps it's the season, perhaps the gloomy outlook on America's future (and the world's too, but we're supposed to win), but it's times like this that I look forward to a big, epic cinema production whose ultimate goal is to come close to Gone With the Wind in scope. You may not like Gone, but you'd be hard pressed to come up with something that can topple it.

Enter Australia. Please, please be an epic movie. The movie posters were promising two hours of conquering and conquered, armies and technological changes, and some love and loss. But these previews seem to be all love and loss between the two main characters! No, I want this to be like a James Michener book (he wrote Tales of the South Pacific), whose big-scope works knew no bounds.

Hawaii - about Hawaii
The Source - about the history of the Jewish People
The Covenant - about the history of South Africa
Poland - History of Poland
Texas - History of Texas
The Drifters - Sweeping novel about hippies in Europe

Most of his books were bestsellers, some for a really long time. James Michener makes other authors look like wieners. Some author will sit on TV saying, "oh, you know, I was always curious about the Cold War." Well, James Michener would probably start a book on the cold war in 10400 B.C. when the Bering Strait had an ice bridge on it.

What is this season's Apocalypto? I want it to start at the Big Bang and explain it to me in narrative form!

David Brooks: Amen, that's funny!

From the David Brooks' op-ed today.

"Already the culture of the Obama administration is coming into focus. Its members are twice as smart as the poor reporters who have to cover them, three times if you include the columnists."

People, US, watch what you pay for

The NYT ran a story today (thank you contributor Jess) about Angelina Jolie putting editorial requirements on the exclusive interview after the Twins were born. Essentially, they had to focus on the good Angelina and not, say, the Hollywood Angelina (whatever that is).

While they got a big payout, I can't help but think that People could get smeared a bit. The magazines are 'fun reading,' that is, Bill Gates and Sec. Gen. of the UN Ban Ki Moon don't grab it while waiting for a flight. (I do, if someone left it on a bench). But, it's not as much fun if they're going to double stuff their fluff with personality-saving stories. I want to hear about crazy stuff and the expensive purses, not charity.

I, Wellsmus, citizen of the world, pointed back to the Bono + Angelina + Jeffrey Sachs "End of Poverty" ideas when they came out in 2004-5. After throwing money (rather carelessly) at problems for decades, their solution was to throw a huge amount of money at the same problems, but this time it would work because the amounts would just be enormous.

Not only can we call Angelina to the floor on something like this, but I can't get up on her shoe collection, or amounts of platinum vs. gold. Maybe she doesn't wear jewelry at all.

Most critically, I need this information to feed friends of mine who filter out the interesting stuff and tell it to me, which has been a rich part of my life.

I need dirt, I want it all over her! C'mon magazines! Gimme what I really want.

Oh, and as far as a dirty actor who hasn't done as well with his image, Mr. Tom Cruise, at least his movies this year have been or will be more interesting.

Breadline 2009: Please Sir, I Want Some More!

Bush has announced an extension of unemployment benefits. An additional 13 weeks of unemployed goodness onto the end. And, for all of you considering your nonjob futures, this starts coming after your regular unemployment, which is half of a year typically if you've worked for a few years.



Does this, pray tell, include Gov't food?



Food stamp initiatives to come in the new admin!

Christmaswatch 2008: Gifts no one expects

Cat in a cardboard tank? Things made of legos? Toast Wallet?

CURIOBOT

Thanks to contributor Jess

Maury is the People

I felt like Rip Van Winkle when people told me about Maury a few years ago. I had last checked out of the talk shows when they had more bodyguards than audience members on Jerry Springer. Kinda ruined the real-life aspect of it. Maury, though, has a heart that shines through, while Springer always seemed to be an agitator (where none was necessary).



Thanks to Literating, we have this revealing episode of Maury, which shows how in touch with people he is. One of the young prostitutes on the show laughed when asked about having sex for a cheeseburger. I don't think he got very far with her, or any of them, but I learned a lot about people today, and I have Maury to thank.

Maureen Dowd could learn a thing or two from Maury, as could most of the staff at the NYT. He's judging people, but he's understanding too. There were a couple parts where I almost cried.

This guy is with all kinds of people, he gets with everyone. I hope to attend this show and witness him in action.

Morning Joe on the Rise

TV NEWSER, a superhighway of a blog about Television News, reports that Morning Joe has bested American Morning this week for ratings. But it's still below Fox & Friends.

Three reasons:

Sensible talk: with all-stars on all points of the partisan spectrum
Erin Burnett: smart, funny, easy on the eyes
Mika and Joe: Chemistry folks!

One more reason: The show moves pretty fast. Besides, CNN is too authoritative for me. I feel like more variety and opinion might pop up in Joe's show.

CONGRATULATIONS MORNING JOE CREW!!! CONGRATULATIONS MSNBC IN GENERAL.

Bill Clinton, cont.

In reading today's column, I continued to learn about Bill Clinton's personality. It's making me regret not reading "My Life."

I leave the article not being sure of whether Bill Clinton is an asset or a liability to Hillary Clinton's political future (State Dept or otherwise).

Asset: Loved by the world, worldwide connections, makes America look good.

Liability: Worldwide conflicts of interest, bitterness at the new president (he does have this way of hesitating on camera when talking about Obama, even post election), pulls in the lecture fees $$$(this should be irrelevant but people, in wanting money and credit, are turned off by others getting money and credit)

When it comes to comparing presidencies, though, I would hope that Bill Clinton would realize it's too early to call. Bill Clinton's years were overall prosperous and enriching, but also, in my opinion, not incredibly dynamic. Welfare Reform, Serbo-Croatian Intervention, NAFTA, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Israeli-Palestinian Talks. And, of course, a raft of controversy distracting the government from helping Americans fulfill American Dreams. But no 9/11 to fight, no credit crisis to unfold.

Barack Obama, though, is playing for high stakes: win big, lose big.

I leave the article feeling a bit bad for Bill Clinton, that he can't sink properly into the background when necessary. If he had just not been president, I indeed think that would be possible in this not yet post feminist era. (who the hell is Mr. Pelosi?)

And, as others have noted, Maureen Dowd has revived his the President-elect's pre-college name of Barry to be his four-year moniker. Her freewheeling monikers remind me of the guy in the office who hasn't left the frat behind. Oh wait, does he look like

Stephen Colbert (AKA HERO), Scoops 2005

In one of his joke segments where he miraculously gets someone to sit with him (not a hapless Representative, oh those were the days!), he breaks this out:



Click here to read the article. It's about the "Are Men Necessary?" book and frankly we're not there yet, but we'll get there.

DVD Gripe - French ed.

I just want to know, why on earth is this movie not available in the US? We have all kinds of crazy titles from Criterion and other arthouse releases. When people talk about art house cinema, this movie often rears its hallowed head.

If you don't believe me, look at the gushing praise from this site at the Film Forum.
How do you petition for movies to be released on DVD?