'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
Media Thoughts
By Baron Dave Romm
Shockwave
Radio Theater podcasts
Note:
I'm updating the directory structure, so
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Climateprogress.org chosen by Time Magazine!
My brother's blog on global warming and related topics, Climate Progress selected as one of Time Magazine's Fifteen Favorite Websites for the Environment in the April 28, 2008CE issue of Time Magazine. The conservative news media is slowly waking up. Too slowly.
Iron Man
Non-spolier quick review:
The latest comic book to make it to the big screen is Iron Man. The movie is very good when it could have been very bad. I haven't read an Iron Man comic in decades, but caught most of the sly references (I think). The 60s comic careens off Vietnam without mentioning communism; the 00's movie careens off Afghanistan without mentioning terrorism. And it works splendidly.
Now that I've had a day or so to mull over the strengths and weaknesses, I'd say the producers did a very good job steamrolling over the technobabble and cartoon violence to give you a ride with strong characters, nifty technology, and good action sequences. On the Shockwave Radio scale of 9 to 23, where 9 is bad and 23 is good, I'd give Iron Man about a 20 or 21, depending on mood.
And yes, stay until after the credits.
A Refreshing Strike
We've now had several weeks of post-strike tv shows.
Maybe it's just me, but the new shows seem better than the ones earlier in the season. Several shows were in the doldrums or just coasting (House, Criminal Minds, Bones, even Boston Legal and 30 Rock to name a few) and seem much fresher with an infusion of interesting plot twists and new takes on the characters. Clearly, the writers were doing more than just picketing and letting facial hair grow.
I'm perfectly willing to give credit to the actors, producers, set designers and everyone involved as well. Perhaps everyone needed a break. Whatever.
What Obama should have said, courtesy Numb3ers
In April, Sen. Barack Obama said,
"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising, then, that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."He was, of course, entirely correct. He was pilloried by people who deliberately added the word "all" to his characterization of some people in desperate circumstances.
I don't know the lead time on tv programs, but Numb3ers, airing on CBS on May 2, had this exchange between Seeker of Truth Dr. Larry Feinhardt (Peter MacNicol) and Father Figure Alan Eppes (Judd Hirsch):
People in a cult have been murdered, and the wife of the founding minister is a zealot who associates all science with Hitler. Larry has words with her, and regrets it.
Larry: "I believe in peace and compassion and tolerance, but still. This woman, she triggers such outrage in me."Alan: "I think people like that, like this woman, they're just looking for something -- they're just looking for answers, and maybe even of the same answers you are, but just by different means."
Larry: "You cannot begin to justify this woman's spewing of her venom."
Alan: "No no no I'm not, I'm not. It's just that not everyone has the emotional and intellectual resource to search for God in a supercollider. People look for answers in what's available to them. And when they're particularly desperate they latch on to the closest answer that's available . I mean, it may make them wrong, but not necessarily evil."
And this is much closer to what Obama should have said. When people are desperate, they latch on to the closest answer that's available, whether guns or religion or people who aren't like them. The sincerity of their faith is not in question, but the answers they come up with are sometimes very wrong.
From the inside, "faith" is indistinguishable from "misplaced faith". Let's hope President Obama can provide a much needed reality check for those gone astray.
The Conservative News Media and the Lack of Personal Accountability
This is an important story, and the conservative news media has, for the most part, buried it's head in the sand. The shame of being a conservative has never been greater.
Glenn Greenwald has written several columns on the subject going back to April 20, Major revelation: U.S. media deceitfully disseminates government propaganda (requires salon.com Premium membership, but you can usually click through the ads). As he points out, the basic facts of the scandal -- that "objective" military analysts used regularly on news programs are part of a propaganda campaign by the Pentagon, and remain on the Pentagon payroll -- have been around since 2003. Five years later, the New York Times publishes this blockbuster (April 20, 2008CE) Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon's Hidden Hand:
In the summer of 2005, the Bush administration confronted a fresh wave of criticism over Guantánamo Bay. The detention center had just been branded "the gulag of our times" by Amnesty International, there were new allegations of abuse from United Nations human rights experts and calls were mounting for its closure.The administration's communications experts responded swiftly. Early one Friday morning, they put a group of retired military officers on one of the jets normally used by Vice President Dick Cheney and flew them to Cuba for a carefully orchestrated tour of Guantánamo.
To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as "military analysts" whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.
Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration's wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.
The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.
Howard Kurtz comments the next day in his column The Military-Media Complex, "But the degree of behind-the-scenes manipulation--including regular briefings by then-Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials -- is striking, as is the lack of disclosure by the networks of some of these government and business connections."
Will the conservative news media show some backbone? Or will they continue to give Republicans a free pass while blowing up minor details into mind-numbing 24 hour coverage for Democrats? Bets?
A final observation
It strikes me that there is an entire generation who would not find the phrase "gag me with a spoon" funny. This is very much in their favor.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
--////
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Roger Ebert: STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (R; 4 stars)
Errol Morris' "Standard Operating Procedure," based on the infamous prison torture photographs from Abu Ghraib, is completely unlike anything I was expecting from such a film -- more disturbing, analytical and morose. This is not a "political" film nor yet another screed about the Bush administration or the war in Iraq. It is driven simply, powerfully, by the desire to understand those photographs.
Amy Goodman: The Worst Food Crisis in 45 Years
If our government and large food and energy interests don't change direction, the food riots in distant lands will soon be coming to their doors.
Susan Estrich: How John McCain Will Lose This Election (creators.com)
"John McCain understands that those without prior group coverage and those with pre-existing conditions have the most difficulty on the individual market, and we need to make sure they get the high-quality coverage they need." That's what it says on his website: www.johnmccain.com. So what is he going to do for those millions of people? Nothing.
Froma Harrop: Codependent Addicts: States and Casinos (creators.com)
So after taxing the daylights out of the working class's cigarettes, states can go for a second helping from the quarters the little people dump into the slot machines. This raises revenues that, in the old days, their better-heeled residents might have had to pay. And the fleeced masses don't know to complain. Bingo, as they say.
Max Keiser: Why You Shouldn't Spend that 'Stimulus' Check (Huffington Post. Posted on Alternet.org)
If we refused to cash our checks, the value of the dollars in our pockets would go up by more than the face value of the stimulus refund.
Jim Lipson: Session Superstar (Tucson Weekly)
Dobro legend Jerry Douglas is one of the busiest, most honored musicians you've never heard of.
Bryan Reed: The Pressure Boys and The Sneakers Cash in Their Reunions for Charity (Independent Weekly [NC])
Misfortune brought people -- in this case, six musicians -- back together to fight cystic fibrosis.
Thor Christensen: Roots rocker Steve Earle gets worked up over politics, money, addictions (The Dallas Morning News)
"I Ain't Ever Satisfied" isn't just the name of a Steve Earle song. For years, it was the story of his life.
Andrew Earles: Jay Reatard Grows Up (The Memphis Flyer)
Memphis' garage-punk rising star on rowdy fans, obsessive collectors, prospecting record companies, and a career-changing embrace of melody.
Roger Ebert: Ten Greatest Films of All Time (1991)
If I must make a list of the Ten Greatest Films of All Time, my first vow is to make the list for myself, not for anybody else. I am sure than Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin" is a great film, but it's not going on my list simply so I can impress people. Nor will I avoid "Casablanca" simply because it's so popular: I love it all the same.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
Umbonal UnderWeAR and Putrid Presidency of W
WWJGD (What would Jeff Gannon do)?
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast morning, sunny afternoon.
Offers Grads Advice
Chuck Leavell
Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell entertained Central Michigan University graduates and joked about rock musicians during an appearance at commencement ceremonies.
Leavell also was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree during Saturday's event.
He offered life lessons for graduating students, including the importance of integrity, desire and determination.
"The pursuit of excellence can take you to the Super Bowl or the Hollywood Bowl, if you're committed," Leavell said. "If you keep these principles in life, no matter what you've chosen to do, you will be successful."
Chuck Leavell
Script Advisor In Family
Sidney Poitier
Legendary actor Sidney Poitier only starred in movies his father would approve of, even long after his dad died.
The Oscar winner stuck true to the family values his parents instilled in him, even when it meant persuading movie bosses to alter a scene in 1967 film In the Heat of the Night - so when his character is slapped, he slaps his attacker back.
The 81-year-old says, "(The scene) almost was not there. I said, 'I'll tell you what, I'll make this movie for you if you give me your absolute guarantee when he slaps me I slap him right back and you guarantee that it will play in every version of this movie.'
"And they thought about it and they said, 'Yes, we'll guarantee that.'
"I try not to do things that are against nature. I stayed away from films that didn't speak well of my values. I could only say yes to films if I passed it by my dad.
Sidney Poitier
Who's Buried In Tomb?
Friedrich Schiller
Who is buried in Friedrich Schiller's tomb? Several people, apparently, but none of them the famous poet and playwright, according to new research.
After two years of painstaking DNA research, experts have determined that none of the remains billed as those of Schiller belong to the German writer, who died in Weimar in 1805, Germany's MDR television reported. The study, dubbed the Friedrich-Schiller Code, was undertaken by the television station, the Foundation of Weimar Classics and an international team of scientists.
The DNA results add another chapter to a mystery that dates back to 1826, just 21 years after Schiller died, when it was decided that he needed a new resting place.
Schiller's remains had been interred in a mausoleum in Weimar's Jacobs cemetery that the state kept for distinguished citizens. But the remains were mixed with others, and when a total of 23 skulls were found, the city's mayor, Carl Leberecht Schwabe - a Schiller fan - declared that the biggest must have been that of the philosophic writer.
Friedrich Schiller
'National Train Day'
Amtrak
Amtrak is hoping live entertainment, exhibits and a national TV personality will lure people who don't normally take the train into its stations - and then inspire them to return to ride the rails another day.
Dubbed "National Train Day," the May 10 effort includes a performance by singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles in Washington's Union Station. Al Roker, of NBC's "Today" show, is serving as the official spokesman and will host the Washington events.
Elsewhere, the Harlem Globetrotters will perform in New York City's Penn Station. Amtrak also is sponsoring events in Chicago and Los Angeles, and other groups are organizing smaller-scale festivities around the country.
Amtrak chose May 10 for National Train Day because it is the anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory Point, Utah, in 1869.
Amtrak
Audience Erosion
'American Idol'
The fevered response to the latest loopy Paula Abdul episode, where she judged a phantom performance, just goes to show how "American Idol" continues to dominate television in its seventh season.
Audience declines for "American Idol" are steepest among youthful viewers, the people who set the pop culture agenda and are most likely to buy music made by the show's winners. These are not the people you want to turn off.
The show is averaging 28.7 million viewers this year, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's down 7 percent from the nearly 31 million viewers who watched last year. It's also typical - maybe better than typical: in this writers strike-marred season, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" has shed 19 percent of its viewers, "Grey's Anatomy" is down 20 percent and "Survivor" is off 9 percent from last spring's edition.
Among women aged 18 to 34, the "American Idol" audience has slipped 18 percent this year. Isolate teenagers 12-to-17, and the drop is 12 percent.
And - horror of horrors - viewership is actually UP this season among people aged 50 and over. Those are the folks many television tastemakers pretend don't exist.
'American Idol'
CMT Series
Hulk Hogan
CMT is getting in the wrestling ring with Hulk Hogan. The country music cable network has ordered eight episodes of the competition series "Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling" for a fall debut.
The series will feature 10 celebrities competing for the title of "Celebrity All-Star Wrestling Champion" through challenges and elimination matches. Two former pro wrestlers will train the contestants, with Hogan and former World Championship Wrestling president Eric Bischoff serving as judges. A third judge along with the competitors and trainers will be announced later.
Hogan, who is credited as a creator and executive producer of the series, said he was looking "to shake things up" in terms of sports entertainment with "something different and more contemporary."
Hulk Hogan
Biggest Animal Eyes
Giant Squid
Marine scientists studying the carcass of a rare colossal squid said they had measured its eye at about 11 inches across - bigger than a dinner plate - making it the largest animal eye on Earth.
One of the squid's two eyes, with a lens as big as an orange, was found intact as the scientists examined the creature while it was slowly defrosted at New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa. It has been preserved there since being caught in the Ross Sea off Antarctica's northern coast last year.
"This is the only intact eye (of a colossal squid) that's ever been found. It's spectacular," said Auckland University of Technology squid specialist Kat Bolstad, one of a team of international scientists brought in to examine the creature.
The squid is the biggest specimen ever caught of the rare and mysterious deep-water species Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, or colossal squid. When caught, it measured 26 feet long and weighed about 1,000 pounds, but scientists believe the species may grow as long as 46 feet.
Giant Squid
Major Ice Melt Expected
Arctic Sea
The Arctic will remain on thinning ice, and climate warming is expected to begin affecting the Antarctic also, scientists said Friday.
Last summer sea ice in the North shrank to a record low, a change many attribute to global warming.
But while solar radiation and amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are similar at the poles, to date the regions have responded differently, with little change in the South, explained oceanographer James Overland of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
What researchers have concluded was happening, was that in the North, global warming and natural variability of climate were reinforcing one another, sending the Arctic into a new state with much less sea ice than in the past.
Arctic Sea
Weekend Box Office
'Iron Man'
The Marvel Comics adaptation, 'Iron Man,' starring Robert Downey Jr. as the guy in the metal suit, hauled in $100.7 million during its opening weekend and $104.2 million since debuting Thursday night, the second-best premiere ever for a nonsequel, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Debuting in second place with $15.5 million was Sony's romantic comedy "Made of Honor," starring "Grey's Anatomy" heartthrob Patrick Dempsey as a man who tries to woo his best pal after she asks him to be "maid of honor" at her wedding.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Iron Man," $100.7 million.
2. "Made of Honor," $15.5 million.
3. "Baby Mama," $10.3 million.
4. "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," $6.1 million.
5. "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay," $6 million.
6. "The Forbidden Kingdom," $4.2 million.
7. "Nim's Island," $2.8 million.
8. "Prom Night," $2.5 million.
9. "21," $2.1 million.
10. "88 Minutes," $1.6 million.
'Iron Man'
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