'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
A Musical History of Disneyland
By Baron Dave Romm
Quick Thoughts
I propose a Constitutional Amendment:
No flag burning at gay weddings.
This is an amendment anyone can get behind. The current No Flag Burning amendment proposal is eking its way through the ultra-right dominated Congress, and may be an issue in the upcoming election since conservatives are so dangerously wrong on virtually every other issue. My proposal is a middle ground, allowing the anti-free speech types to claim a victory and also allowing the love-conquers-all types to claim a victory. A win-win situation! Osama bin Laden and his ilk love to burn our flag and are virulently homophobic. If you don't support this Amendment, you are on the side of the terrorists. Tell your Congress person.
Yesterday (as you read this) was Mother's Day. "Hi Mom! We're #1!"
Al Gore's opening on Saturday Night Live (5/13/06) was brilliant. Maybe not Stephen Colbert brilliant, but still pretty good. He gave an Address To The Nation from the sixth year of his presidency. Here's a link to the transcript and the video. He was also good in a short Weekend Update segment. The rest of SNL ranged from bad to terrible, and not even two good Paul Simon songs could rescue the show. But it's nice to see Al still out there swinging.
Gore's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, has been bumped up the "must see" ladder.
Compare: 1) Radical Muslim reaction to critical cartoons published in Denmark, months later after 350+ believers died in the Hadj and 2) Reaction to The DaVinci Code book movie by fundamentalist Christians. The Xtian fundies are making fools of themselves (again), but at least they don't go around burning embassies (they save violence for churches and medical clinics). I know a fair amount of the history behind the story, and will review the movie soon. I don't know enough about Islam to make fun of it. Sorry.
A year late on a timeless place:
Disneyland opened just a few weeks after I was born, but no one made a musical history of my life. A Musical History of Disneyland is as close as I'll get.
Walt Disney's speech at the opening of Disneyland, July 17, 1955 (the first cut of the set): "Welcome to this happy place, welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past And here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America. With the hope that it will be the source of joy and inspiration to all the world."
Much of Disney's vision has born fruit: The imagineering of past and future has indeed inspired others around the world. But, like the right-winger he was, Walt ignored inconvenient truths. There is no Manifest Destiny Land, where the killings and torture of the native population in the name of Christianity is played out. Slavery is glossed over. Cock-fighting is not part of Frontierland. There are more mice than people of color in Disneyland. Nationalities are stereotyped.
So what? Reality is for adults. Disneyland is for children. A Musical History of Disneyland is for former children.
If you've never been to Disneyland or any of the later theme parks, or never watched The Wonderful World of Disney on tv or spent part of your childhood watching The Mouseketeers, these CDs won't mean much to you. And you will be in the minority.
I've been sitting here, dipping into the six-CD set. I haven't
listened to the whole thing; to do so would be to relive the rides
and experiences. This isn't music, it's what you heard while you
were in the park: It is the park. I can smell the sawdust,
stand on line, taste the ice cream, hear the magic. They're hard to
take out of the player. Ride after ride, pavilion after pavilion,
once again. When Mr. Lincoln comes to life, the audio of the
animatronic display still stirs:
Al Gore could speak like that; George W. Bush wouldn't understand half the words.
Much of the music is simply the background to the park. Disneyland is a talking movie. Honky-tonk music and marching bands and wholesome women in pleated skirts and trains and birds and dancing elephants are everywhere. Not just on the rides: More than anything else, Disneyland excels at having people waiting on lines. Being on a Disneyland queue is more fun than most other theme parks.
The CDs have the introductions and internal dialog for the various rides and exhibits. They are part of the experience, a part that isn't on the happy music CDs for kids. No, they are for people who've been there. You have to have been there.
The nationalities and races may be stereotyped by costume, music and broken English, but at least they are represented. Disneyland served as the major introduction to African drums and Siamese gongs for most white Americans. And may still serve that purpose, packaged in a safe environment, for all too many. Sugar coated, the world is seen through the eyes of a child.
None of this is why I borrowed the set from a friend. I was trying to find a childhood memory that wasn't available when I last visited Disneyland in 1996. In 1964, the New York World's Fair opened up with a ride that eventually wound up in Disneyland: it's a small world (officially without the capitals). Created from scratch in less than a year, the costumes are marvelous and the atmosphere is enchanting. The song is so infectious that it's loved the world over. It's also reviled by those who've had to hear it too many times: Tough. As only a nine-year-old can, I bugged my mom into buying a 45rpm with the music to the ride. The second side of the 45 started off with It's A Small World in yodel. I loved the yodel. I've been trying to find the yodeling version ever since. Without success. Disneyland in 1996 didn't have it, and writing Orlando yielded no results. The commemorative set has the music from it's a small world, but it's not the same as the 45. At 13:42, the cut is much too long for two sides of a 45rpm, and indeed the music from the record doesn't start until 2:32 in. It's been maybe 40 years since I heard the record, but I recognized the introduction right away. The liner notes said they reconfigured the ride it moved from New York to Anaheim, but I've been to both and they're not that different. (As an adult on the ride, I marvelled at the sound baffles between sections. You can't hear the previous section's music in the next. Brilliant, simply brilliant, in every aspect.)
It's been an amazing week, yodel-wise. I've been listening to Riders In The Sky and Bing Crosby yodeling with the Andrews Sisters, but I was really looking forward to the Disney. Unfortunately, the yodeling isn't the same as my memory. Now that I've heard it several times, I'm not so sure anymore, but the brief stint at 7:33 into the song still seems light. There is some Matterhorn Yodeling on the previous CD, which is still unsatisfying. (Now that I think if it, I'm pretty sure I still have the 45 around here someplace, hopelessly scratched and unplayable but beloved enough to drag through every move. Might be worth trying to get a digital file, however bad, to compare directly. Hmm....)
I'll save for another time a long story about how I was in Disneyland while Woodstock was happening forty miles from where I lived.
According to the interview with the Sherman Brothers on the Mary Poppins CD, my favorite Disney song, Feed the Birds, was also Walt Disney's favorite Disney song. He was a fascist in many ways, but he had great taste in music. The CDs have a nice instrumental.
The six CDs come in Mickey Mouse packaging, literally: The boxed set has an accompanying coffee-table book with the track listings and brief explanatory text on the many wonders of the park. The CDs are in a separate box, with two Mickey-shaped indentations to hold the disks (one in the middle of the face, one in each ear, times two.) Clever without being useful. A Musical History of Disneyland is designed to be displayed more than listened to. Memories more than ambience. And I can't fault them for the marketing.
Disney is the most important company in the world because of it's hold on children and former children. Disney has been moribund of recent years, firing top people for various reasons. But hope is on the horizon! One of the 20th's Century's most important imagineers now has the highest single stake in Disney stock: Through the sale of Pixar, Steve Jobs is poised to be the 21st Century's Walt Disney. There is no better person to create the future.
On the Shockwave scale of 9 to 23 with 23 being tops, I have to give relative ratings. If you've ever been to Disneyland -- and remember fondly the child-like wonder -- I'll give A Musical History of Disneyland about a 21 (losing two whole points for not recreating my 45). If you've been to Disneyland, or any of the other Disney parks, and didn't like it so much but maybe have kids who did, I give the six-CD set about a 15. What the heck. If you've never been to Disneyland or any of the related parks and have never seen a Disney movie or watched a Disney tv show... this review is not for you.
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. To receive the show as podcasts go to Shockwave Radio Theater Podcast or paste the following string in your podcast software: http://www.romm.org/podcast and if that doesn't work try the link from Podcastalley.com's listing. All podcasts also on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone whohas sent me music to play on the air. --////
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Karman Kregloe: Beaumont Belle: Out Comic Vickie Shaw (afterellen.com)
"I spent my whole childhood going, 'Oh my God... All right, fine. I may be attracted to women, but I can't be a lesbian. I like Laura Ashley polished cottons! And I throw like a girl! And I cry for no apparent reason all the time! Oh my God, I'm a gay man!'" - Lesbian comic Vickie Shaw
Jennifer Chrisler: We are family (Advocate.com)
Mother's Day is the perfect time to show appreciation for out and proud gay-parented families.
Karel: The hero inside yourself (Advocate.com)
Ranting against gay pride excess is so last season. There's plenty to be proud about, starting with the people in your own backyard.
Shauna Swartz: Alison Bechdel's Life In the Fun Home (afterellen.com)
Since 1983 Alison Bechdel has been chronicling the lives of a fictional bunch of characters in her comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out For. For the past seven years she has also been documenting her own life in the form a graphic novel. Fun Home, which comes out on June 8th, is intensely beautiful, sometimes disturbing and consistently astounding and comical.
Robert Urban: Fat Girls: Ash Christian's Film About Gay Boys and Their Natural Allies (afterelton.com)
Fat Girls is a coming-of-age tale of several odd yet endearing gay and straight Texas teenage students who, each for different reasons, are condemned as "outcasts" by their small-town Texas peers.
Jeffrey Epstein: Kristen Bell, The Veronica Mars star (out.com)
When I was in New York I used to go to the Upright Citizen's Brigade, and they did an improv comedy show. I fell madly in love with [Saturday Night Live star Amy Poehler]. I was so inspired by her petiteness and her sense of comedy that was stronger than anyone else in the room. When she got on SNL I totally freaked out. I told her husband [actor Will Arnett] on a red carpet once, "I'm absolutely in love with your wife." He looked at me and said, "I'm so glad you didn't say me. That would have been awkward."
Roger Ebert: Answer Man
An ideal review would provide a good idea of the film itself, and also include your own opinions. If you disagree with a film's message, then you can observe that it makes its point effectively but is unworthy for political reasons. See the struggle I had over this very dilemma in reviewing "The Birth of a Nation" in the Great Movies section on my Web site. Or note in "Silent Hill" that I praised the film as "incredibly good-looking," which is true, and should be reported even in a negative review.
Why Religion Must End: Interview with Sam Harris
A leading atheist says people must embrace rationalism, not faith--or they will never overcome their differences.
David Bruce: The Funniest People in Sports (Google Books Partner Program; registration required to read books online)
Hubert's Poetry Corner
SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER YOU AND ME
WHO IS W'S SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL 'ANALIST'?
Reader Question
Re: Al Gore & SNL
Hey, Marty!
Does anyone have the transcript of Al Gore's parallel universe? It was beautifully done, and I would love to read it again, share the script with friends who may not have seen last night's show.
Linda >^..^<
Amen, Linda!
Steve over at Crooks and Liars has
both the video & a transcript
The video is also posted at YouTube.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Nice sunny, breezy day.
Tonight's TV schedule may be off - the networks need to clear about 20 minutes for smoke to be blown up our collective asses.
No new flags.
Speechifying Mucks With Sweeps
TV Networks
As of Friday, NBC and Fox said they would carry the president's speech from 8 p.m. to 8:20 p.m. EDT. Both ABC and CBS deferred the decision on whether to carry until sometime Monday.
Some of the networks were said to be annoyed that the White House had timed the Oval Office address during the May Sweeps, that critical time in the broadcast year when the networks and their affiliates fight for ratings. At least one show, Fox's "Prison Break," was scheduled to have its season finale at 8 p.m. Monday.
Meanwhile, NBC will air an abbreviated version of the special two-hour edition of "Deal or No Deal" from 8:25-10 p.m. on the East Coast, following the president's address.
TV Networks
Toured Katrina Devastation
Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon says she wants families affected by Hurricane Katrina to know they haven't been forgotten. The Oscar award-winning actress was among a delegation of women who toured devastated parts of the city last week.
"I feel really like it's absolutely imperative that myself and this delegation of women have gotten together to come down and show that we haven't forgotten, we still care about these children, we are going to continue to lobby for these children," Witherspoon told ABC's "This Week," which aired Sunday.
Reese Witherspoon
Interviews Cabbie Instead Of Expert
BBC
A computer expert has spoken of his astonishment at seeing a taxi driver interviewed on BBC television news in the mistaken belief it was him. Guy Kewney was invited to BBC Television Centre to answer questions on the legal battle between the Beatles' Apple Corps and Apple Computer. As he watched the BBC's News 24 channel in a reception area while waiting to be interviewed, he was gobsmacked to see "Guy Kewney" appear on the screen.
Mr Kewney, who is white, is a specialist in computers and information technology, having worked as an IT journalist and founded newswireless.net.
But the "Guy Kewney" who appeared in the BBC slot was a black man who did not seem to know much about the complicated High Court case.
The cabbie, who has not been named, had been waiting for his fare in reception when he heard the name Guy Kewney called out. Presumably expecting the expert to follow him to the taxi, he raised his hand - and found himself being ushered into a studio and fitted with a microphone.
BBC
Plane Hit by Lightning
Ted Kennedy
A plane carrying U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy from western Massachusetts to his home on the coast was struck by lightning Saturday and had to be diverted to New Haven, Conn., his spokeswoman said.
The eight-seat Cessna Citation 550 plane lost all electrical power, including communications, and the pilot had to fly the plane manually, according to spokeswoman Melissa Wagoner. No one was hurt.
The Democrat had just delivered the commencement address at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams and was on his way to his Cape Cod home when the plane was struck around 4 p.m., she said.
Greenlighted Shows
ABC
Former "Ally McBeal" star Calista Flockhart will return to primetime next season in the ABC family soap "Brothers & Sisters," which also stars Rachel Griffiths.
Also added to the schedule are: the telenovela-inspired "Ugly Betty," set at a fashion magazine; the national security thriller "Traveler"; and "Men in Trees," starring Anne Heche as a divorcee who moves to Alaska.
ABC also gave the nod to two serialized comedies, "Big Day," a look at a couple's wedding day through the eyes of the participants; and an untitled project starring Donal Logue as the ringleader of a group of guys who conspire to rob Mick Jagger.
ABC
The Write Stuff
Autograph Poll
Johnny Depp has the write stuff when it comes to signing autographs while Cameron Diaz is the worst, according to a new list from Autograph Collector magazine.
Depp, followed by George Clooney, topped the magazine's 14th annual survey of Hollywood's best and worst signers. The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star also was rated best last year.
"Many stars become bad signers once fame and fortune hits, but not Depp. He's even signed autographs for crowds at the airport while carrying luggage," said Steve Cyrkin, editor and publisher of the Santa Ana, Calif.-based magazine.
Autograph Poll
Offers Downloads to DVDs
Vivid Entertainment
Hollywood has been tiptoeing its way toward letting consumers buy a movie online, burn it onto a DVD and watch it on a living-room TV.
While the studios hesitate, the adult film industry is taking the leap.
Starting Monday, Vivid Entertainment says it will sell its adult films through the online movie service CinemaNow, allowing buyers to burn DVDs that will play on any screen, not just a computer.
Vivid Entertainment
War Profiteers Move Meeting
Halliburton
Halliburton earned a record $2.4 billion last year, but Houston executives will forgo Texas-sized luxury when they come to this rural Oklahoma county seat this week.
Shareholders, who have gathered for the company's annual meeting since 2003 at Houston's lavish Four Seasons Hotel, will meet Wednesday in the modern, but far humbler setting of Duncan's convention center. Those staying the night can choose the Holiday Inn, with rooms opening onto the parking lot, and the Chisholm Suites Hotel, which takes its name for the cattle trail that once passed here.
Halliburton Co. says it moved its meeting to this company town of 22,500 to honor its southern Oklahoma roots. The company's critics accuse it of running to a prairie outpost to hide.
Halliburton
Englishman Claims Sovereignty
Nymark
The Barents Sea island of Nymark wants to break away from the King of Norway and be a republic. Or so says Alex Hartley.
The English artist is the self-proclaimed discoverer and ruler of Nymark, an uninhabited island the size of a football pitch. Nymark emerged in recent years as a glacier warmed and retreated from the sea.
"About two weeks ago I wrote to the Norwegian Prime Minister, the Norwegian Foreign Office and the governor of Svalbard saying I wanted to secede," Hartley, 42, told Reuters by telephone from London.
Nymark
Awes Kenyan Muslims
'Koranic' Tuna
A tuna fish caught in the Indian Ocean this week has excited Kenyan Muslims who are flocking here by the hundreds to see a Koranic verse apparently embedded in its scales.
Dubbed the "wonder fish" by locals in this port city, the 2.5-kilo (5.5-pound) tuna has attracted so much attention it has been placed in the custody of the National Fisheries Department for safekeeping, officials said.
Arabic scholars examined the fish and determined the writing was a Koranic verse meaning "God is the greatest of all providers," said Hassan Mohamed Hassan, an education officer with the National Museums of Kenya in Mombasa.
'Koranic' Tuna
For Sale
Rural General Store
This general store finally sold its last corset last year, to a young girl who thought it looked pretty cool. Still on the shelves of E.M. Marilley and Co. are odd pieces of a "Made in the USA" past: Flash cubes. Dress shields. Rubber boots from a B.F. Goodrich footwear division that hasn't been around since the '70s. Don't let the vintage fool you: All are stubbornly brand-new. The store's philosophy is, it stays until it sells.
Outside on the front porch sits owner Jim Marilley, turning his head to watch each truck boom by. This village of about 600 is a blink on busy Main Street, the road toward the Canadian border.
Marilley's grandfather opened the store in 1874. The grandson's 81 now, and slowed by some recent minor strokes. The kids don't want the place, so he plans to sell it all in one go. "The whole shebang," he says. And if the last lingering corset was any clue, he seems quite willing to wait.
Rural General Store
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