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September 26, 2008
Racist Jokes Tarnish Ricky Gervais Film, Ghost Town
Ghost Town (watch the trailer here) may not be original, but it is amusing. The romantic comedy starring Ricky Gervais (of Britain's "The Office") trails the life of an aloof dentist who can see dead people after a botched colonoscopy. Haunted by NYC ghosts pleading for help with their unfinished business, he proves heartless until the widow (Téa Leoni) of one cheating spirit (Greg Kinnear) perks up his otherwise lonely life.
The film clings to clichés and wastes screen time on some flat characters, but still manages to glide along on Gervais' dry, charming humor. Devoid of gore and messy back stories, the ghost story stays lighthearted, aside from a tearjerker montage near the end.
It is doubly shocking, then, when Gervais' character twice whips out racist humor that seems both unexplained and excessive. In the first instance, Leoni and Gervais are holding back giggles from her fuddy-duddy human rights lawyer boyfriend when Gervais peeps out that the Chinese are the only ones different from the rest of the human population. Refusing to stop there, he continues by mocking names like "Pong." Later he targets his Indian colleague for tips on how to torture a patient for information (after asking his religion, of course).
Gervais' character is selfish and socially-awkward, for sure, but the racial comments seem contrived and tossed in for cheap laughs. See the film yourself and let us know what you think about movies with racial implications.
—Brittney Andres
Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
Jesus: Twitter Is a Waste of Time
Annoyed by non-believers micro-blogging their hourly moods, eating, and exercise habits?
Thank God, Gospelr just solved that messy societal problem for you. And what do you know, Christians are just as boring as everyone else.
A quick scan of Tweets on Gospelr, the Christian Twitter knockoff, reveals such minutiae as:
Adrian:
"I had an awesome night at the KPC men's group here in Rogers."
and
Jesustxtswithu:
"Checking out Gospelr, I must say glad to finally be able to "follow" people who Follow Him. Greetings <3."
Jesustxtswithu's sentiment is, of course, the ostensible reason for the site to exist. But the thing about following people who follow Jesus is that, much like people who don't, they mostly post things like:
"I have a newly opened bag of coffee on my bookshelf at work. The aroma of the ground coffee is tempting me to brew another pot."
Christians have always promoted sites dedicated to Christians and the "Christian lifestyle." Faith-based Internet users can search and edit Christian Wikipedia, the Christian version of Wikipedia. There's even Xianz, "the Faith Based MySpace."
There's an obvious reason for this. It actually makes a good deal of sense for Christian singles, for instance, wary of the pre-marital, homosexual, or just casual sex endorsed by many secular dating sites, to attempt to guide their dating life using Christian alternatives like ChristianCafe or ChristianMingle.
But does Twitter really need a Christian alternative? YouTube (hence ChristianTube)—makes more sense. But until BangR really does exist or boring Tweets become a sin, Christians are safe with secular Twitter.
—Daniel Luzer
September 25, 2008
Video: Sarah Silverman Will Blame the Jews If Obama Loses
Sarah Silverman is so convinced Florida's Jewish vote will tip the election in Barack Obama's favor that she's joined a campaign called "The Great Schlep." The campaign pushes young Heebs to visit their grandparents in Florida and educate them about the Democratic candidate, thereby saving the country from another Broward County nightmare, a la 2000.
Silverman outlines all the reasons Jews should vote for Obama in the video below, including the fact that "Barack" means "lightning" in Hebrew, while "John" is just another word for toilet:
—Steve Aquino
September 24, 2008
Second Radiohead Remix Project Offers Mixed Results
You gotta give it to Radiohead: they know how to use that internet. While other bands fret about file-sharing or unauthorized mashups and remixes, Thom Yorke and his merry bandits gave away 2007's In Rainbows for free, if you wanted, and happily sold the individual instrument tracks from the song "Nude" on iTunes a few months back so amateur remixers could have their way with them. Now they've done it again, with (in my opinion) a slightly more compelling track from In Rainbows, the haunting "Reckoner." The band have set up a "Reckoner Remix Project" web site where producers can upload their tracks and fans can listen and vote for their favorites. There doesn't appear to be any prize (other than the possibility Mr. Yorke himself might pop your mix onto his iPod) and the fine print makes it clear that Radiohead owns everything, always and forever, but it's still pretty interesting to see what people have come up with.
According to Pitchfork, both Diplo and James Holden cheated, as their remixes were requested by the band for the site. Holden's is the more intriguing (although it sure takes a while to get going), while Diplo's vaguely-Bmore beats sound kind of plug-and-play. Hip-hop producer (and Party Ben fave) Flying Lotus has a version in the top ten, complete with his signature static and fuzz, but there's something a bit off about it—dare I say it's out of key? The #1 highest ranked mix, with over 900 votes, is by someone called "Baskfield"; it annoys me from the get-go, with inexplicable staccato effects on the vocals that sound like mistakes. Clearly somebody has a "vote for me" campaign going on. My favorite at the moment is the #2 version by The Deadly Syndrome, a jittery mid-tempo take that adds retro-flavor Daft Punk beats and buzzy videogame-style beeps yet doesn't come off as silly. On the contrary, it adds a Kraftwerk-like delicacy to the profound melancholy of the original. Listen to all the mixes and vote here.
I'd submit a remix, by the way, but I'd probably just want to mix the vocal with, like, "Owner of a Lonely Heart," and that's not allowed.
September 23, 2008
"Palin Syrah" Wine Sales Drop Because of Sarah Palin
To a Miller Lite-drinking, displaced Ohioan like me, wine is wine. I enjoy it—the redder and drier the better—but I don't care if it's Cabernet, Merlot, or Pinot Noir.
But my fellow San Franciscans take their wine seriously enough that the vintners' label actually means something: The owner of a wine bar in the city says sales of "Palin," a Syrah, have plummeted since John McCain tapped Sarah Palin to be his running mate:
"It was our best selling wine before (the V.P. announcement)," said Chris Tavelli, owner of Yield Wine Bar, which has offered Palin Syrah, a certified organic wine from Chile, by the glass since July. But after Sen. John McCain tagged Sarah Palin as his running mate, sales of the wine with the conservative's inverted name plummeted.
Sure, the wine's name is ironic, but it's just wine; it's not as if naming it "Palin" turns it to moose blood. —Steve Aquino
September 22, 2008
New York Times Seems to Think Tonight's Heroes Premier is About Credit Cards and Whininess
I've always believed part of science fiction's power comes from its ability to offer both a narrative and a symbolic, fantastical metanarrative, that can either reinforce or supplant the apparent meaning of the narrative. Also, granted, I've been known to insist on, ah, somewhat sinister readings of current sci-fi hits, even when everybody thinks I'm nuts. But in discussing tonight's mildly-anticipated season premier of Heroes, Times writer Alessandra Stanley seemed to reveal more of her own personal issues than elucidate any metaphorical meaning. Basically, she wants those damn kids off her lawn. She has no sympathy for the super-power-endowed mutants, calling the show a "venting of [their] self-pity," and then makes a bit of a leap to those brain-searingly annoying spots for Freecreditreport.com:
Young people today can’t repay their college loans; they can’t afford apartment rents, let alone mortgages; their Social Security is being sucked up by their elders; and H.I.V. left them out of the sexual revolution: what was once free love is now a viral minefield. It’s a plight lamented in books like “Generation Debt” and even in ads for Freecreditreport.com that showcase debt-crippled lads gamely doing menial work as they warn others about the dangers of letting bills pile up.
“Heroes” gives its fans cathartic validation: You inherited a screwed-up world, and it’s not your fault.
These heroes are not driven to mistakes or misdeeds by their own personality flaws and weaknesses. When paranormal protagonists like Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) get hurt, harm innocent people or put the fate of the planet at risk, it’s because they were deceived by evildoers who pretend to be on their side in order to betray and destroy them (credit card companies). They are vulnerable to strange, often biologically engineered strains of viruses; one could wipe out all humanity, another strips people with supernatural abilities of their power.
Okay, so ultra-creepy ability-sucker evil villain Sylar is, um, MBNA, in this reading? And his slicing off the tops of his victims' heads is… high interest rates?
Stanley's not done attacking this nation of whiners, though, taking on all of the "coddled, indulged, and overprotected" Generation Y and the conveniences they take for granted, like, well, cash machines. I guess Stanley had to walk uphill through the snow to get her dollar bills when she was our age? Well, however old she is, she's definitely curmudgeonly: just yesterday, her article on sitcoms decried the loosening of our nation's taboos as leading directly to unfunny dreck like CBS' Worst Week. Right: If only women still covered their ankles, maybe we'd have some better TV comedies!
Grumbly Times writers aside, it will be interesting to see if Heroes can recapture some of its original magic. I've described more than once here on the Riff how this little show, hiding behind its generically-patriotic title, pushed the boundaries of what you could do on TV. But I do have to admit I completely lost interest last season. If NBC can give me more Hiro and a little less Mohinder, maybe I'll tune back in. (Oh yeah, it's on at 9pm).
Emmys Political References: And the Winner Is…
I'm embarrassed to admit I even watched part of the Emmys telecast last night, though in my defense it just happened to be on during dinner, and I was flipping back and forth to Die Hard With a Vengeance, at least. The ceremony managed to exaggerate the most infuriating aspects of awards shows, extending the pointless blather and witless tributes while cutting off speeches after about three seconds. Apparently America agreed, as the broadcast achieved the lowest ratings in the history of the Emmys. Congratulations.
One of the few highlights of the show was waiting to see what sly (or not-so-sly) political reference would come next. There were quite a few, with winners and presenters perhaps inspired by the stultifying boredom of the rest of the ceremony. In any event, please welcome Party Ben to present the five nominees for best political commentary at the Emmys broadcast last night.
Thanks Party Ben. It's an honor to be here tonight. And the nominees are:
Tom Hanks for his "John Adams" acceptance speech
Mr. Hanks referenced the "innuendo, lies, and disinformation" of the Jefferson/Adams election, and then sarcastically stated, "how great we've come so far since then."
Howie Mandel for "Bridge to Nowhere" reference
Mr. Mandel described the baffling show opener featuring reality hosts as being like a pointless elevated roadway which one could say thanks but no thanks to.
Tina Fey for Post-Emmys press-conference Sarah Palin reference
Describing her SNL impersonation of the VP candidate, Ms. Fey stated she wants to be "done playing this lady Nov. 5, so if anybody can help me be done playing this lady Nov. 5, that would be good for me."
John Stewart and Stephen Colbert for "Prunes Bit"
Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert pulled the old comedy switcheroo by announcing they would not discuss politics, then launched into a see-through metaphor for John McCain's campaign by referring to prunes, "shriveled and hard-to-swallow, but with the experience we need."
John Stewart for bleak non-joke Bush reference during acceptance speech
Mr. Stewart stated he's "looking forward" to the next administration, then said "I have nothing to follow that up with, I'm just saying I really look forward to the next administration."
And the winner is…
John Stewart and Stephen Colbert for "Prunes Bit"! Funny, silly, and charmingly old-school, the bit followed the Colbert strategy of high-wire satire that he executes perfectly on a nightly basis. "What could possibly go wrong," mumbles the wide-eyed Colbert, stuffing prunes into his mouth. Watch it below!!
How the Rich Are Destroying the Earth Smashes Capitalism
On his way out of the Tokyo G8 summit on climate change last July, President Bush famously punched the air and announced with his trademark grin, "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter!" At that moment Dubya could have been the mascot for Herve Kempf's How The Rich Are Destroying the Earth, a polemic about the world’s wealthiest people, who treat global warming like an inconvenient joke.
The villains of Kempf's book are familiar: an oligarchy that consumes greedily and a capitalist system that inspires others to do the same. The rich insulate themselves from the environmental havoc they wreak, while the poor pay the price, with skyrocketing asthma rates and living quarters near dumps. Kempf, an environmental reporter for the French newspaper Le Monde, navigates this well-worn territory with confidence and clarity. But when it comes to making his main point—that the rich are singularly responsible for environmental downfall—his case falls apart.
In Kempf’s world, rich people are really rich. His example of a typical "greedy glutton" is Paris Hilton; his laundry list of common extravagances includes yachts with basketball courts and movie theaters and daylong trips by private jet to fantasy islands, and leisure trips to the international space station. It's a fun section to read, in a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous way. And Kempf's sardonic commentary sizzles: "To tell the truth…space flight already has a little vulgar aspect, too look-at-me," he writes. “I'd advise you to buy a cruise submarine instead." What's missing, though, is the regular rich people—the kind that can afford two SUVs, maybe a country house or two. There are, after all, a lot more run-of-the-mill wealthy people than Warren Buffetts, and I'd guess that all those SUVs do more harm than private jets.
Kempf does briefly argue that these ordinary rich learn their habits from the super rich, but this theory of imitation seems like an afterthought. And with all his descriptions of celebrity trends, he seems to have overlooked Hollywood's current solar-panel frenzy: Among celebrities, living light on the land (or at least looking like you do) is in. If Kempf's trickle-down theory is correct, then will ecofashion eventually make its way to the masses?
The past few weeks have proven that greed can hobble the economy and How the Rich Are Destroying the Earth begins to make the case that it can destroy the planet. But the financial collapse, it turns out, is more complicated than many of us suspected, and our environmental problems require sophisticated analysis, too. In the end, Kempf's general dressing down of capitalism isn't enough. "Naïve comrades," he warns, "there are evil men on earth." If only it were that simple.
—Nikki Gloudeman
September 18, 2008
Rev Run's Affirmations
Words of Wisdom, a recently published book from Rev Run of Run DMC, is part Stuart Smalley, part Russell Simmons; sort of a pocket-sized, bathroom-reading, Christian alternative to Robert Greene's 48 Laws of Power, a book that made rounds in hip hop circles a few years ago.
I was reluctant to pick the book up because I prefer to think of Run as he used to be: an MC for one of the most influential and popular New York hip hop acts of the 80s. It's Run, after all, who convinced me that I needed to wear white hi-top sneakers with bright, fat laces to my middle school every day. Today, it's safe to say he's convincing folks to do a lot more than just wear cool kicks:
Run is a reverend, a family man with his own TV show and co-author of a book on family values. You can sign up to receive daily affirmations on his MySpace page.
In an era when hip hop artists are increasingly becoming multimedia, "360 model" businessmen and entrepreneurs, Rev Run's Words of Wisdom is nothing new, nor is it particularly sexy or amazing. But the fact that Run has personally texted his affirmations to the Williams sisters, Diddy, and Donald Trump, and the 30 million-plus viewers of his show has heard them, it seems worth taking a look at, right?
Here's a few:
Any idiot can face a crisis. It's day to day living that wears you out.
If you don't give yourself a quick kick in the butt, someone else will.
The acronym for fear is: False Evidence Appearing Real.
Get your shine on! When you shine, you light everyone's path.
Your family should be run like a business...with weekly family meetings.
Are things being held up in your life?...Take a spiritual colonic and let life begin to flow for you.
Spoken like a true hip hop reverend. If the daily affirmations aren't doing it for you, Run still performs, even if it is with Kid Rock. And, although he'd never condone living in the past, we can always revisit Run's former self.
Palin Watched SNL Skit With No Sound—And Thought It Was "Hilarious"
Given that the McCain campaign condemned SNL's portrayal of Sarah Palin last week as sexist, I was surprised to hear Palin's spokeswoman say that the governor actually found the spoof "quite funny."
Wonder how she would have felt if she'd watched with the sound on?
h/t TPM.
September 17, 2008
Top 5: New Music
This week, drum 'n' bass meets Coldplay, a sweet dream of Buenos Aires, Madlib gets impatient, and a reminder of the good times at the raves back in '92, since it's unlikely anyone actually remembers that.
1. The Walkmen – "In the New Year" (from You & Me on Gigantic Music)
On their new album, the New York band have gotten a little more epic while retaining their appealing rawness. "New Year" soars like Interpol but has the 6/8 rhythm of an old drinking song. (mp3 from The Sound of Marching Feet)
2. Surkin feat. Chromeo – "Chrome Knight" (single)
Techno producer Surkin's instrumental "White Knight" nodded to classics like Inner City's "Big Fun," so it makes sense to grab Dave from electro duo Chromeo for some vocals. Chromeo's usual strutting retro-silliness is calmed down by the rolling electro, and the track's suddenly got pop appeal. (mp3 from Voules Random)
3. Juana Molina – "Un Dia" (from Un Dia out 10/6 on Domino)
The Argentinian singer/songwriter moves further into surreal territory with this dreamlike lead single from her upcoming fifth album. It's both deeply experimental and oddly traditional, something I could imagine dancing to in a Buenos Aires bar, after enough mate. (mp3 from Stereogum)
4. Pendulum – "Violet Hill" (Coldplay cover, live on BBC Radio 1)
I mocked Coldplay's head-slappingly silly lyrics a while back, but did you ever wonder what would happen if the words were buried under rolling electronic beats? Well, hey, so did poised-on-superstardom UK drum 'n' bass crew Pendulum, and it turns out the result sounds kind of like Depeche Mode. (mp3 at Extra Wack)
5. Madvillain – "Boulder Holder" (from Madvillainy 2: The Madlib Remix on Stones Throw)
The 2004 release from producer Madlib and rapper MF Doom may already be a hip-hop classic, but apparently Madlib got a little antsy and decided to remix the whole thing. A risky idea, but this track's new funky soul background is oddly appropriate. (mp3 at Chickens Don't Clap, the winner of my New Favorite Blog Name prize.)
September 16, 2008
Will Bitch Go Broke?
Bitch, the 12-year old feminist pop culture magazine, recently announced that it needs to raise $40,000 by the middle of October in order to cover printing costs of its next issue.
The situation Bitch is facing is all too common in the magazine industry, especially among independent publications. But what's particularly difficult about Bitch's situation may have something to do with the magazine's advertising policy.
At any magazine, there's always a question lingering in the background: What happens when you publish ideas that are controversial to the institutions that actually pay for the magazine? Like many independent magazines, Bitch doesn't make that much money from advertising. The magazine is perfectly up front about this, explaining that:
Bitch, on the other hand, is loyal—and accountable—to its readers. We’re in this together, which is why we call ourselves a reader-supported magazine. Think of us as the print version of listener-supported radio.
In other words, Bitch won't accept all ads, only the ads from companies it, well, likes. Companies "with products and services are aligned with our mission." (Mother Jones, incidentally, does not have such a policy on advertisements—this magazine accepts most ads and promises not to let advertisers' interests affect editorial content. Not everyone is thrilled about that.)
This is not to say Bitch has chosen the "wrong" ad policy. There are plenty of good reasons to turn down ads if they don't fit with a magazine's mission, and Bitch's spirit of independence is inspiring. In practical terms, however, this puts Bitch in an emergency situation where it has to raise $40,000 in the next four weeks.
The fact of the matter is that most periodicals—except for the notable exception of the ad-dominated cash cows that are women's magazines (the other kind)—aren't exactly lucrative, whether the advertisers make things that are hazardous to your health, are ideologically questionable or responsible for numerous disreputable products.
The demise of Bitch would be a major loss, as the magazine provides a valuable service as a fresh voice for contemporary feminism. But the problem is not just what happens by October 15th but also what happens the month after that and after that…
—Daniel Luzer
September 15, 2008
Photographer Jill Greenberg Won't Be Working For the Atlantic Again Any Time Soon
Jill Greenberg's portrait of John McCain for the October cover of the Atlantic (see below) is either a bit gnarly or respectably granitic, depending on your perspective: all of McCain's "experience" is etched in the deep, harshly-lit lines on his face. But in case you were wondering what Greenberg's perspective is, she's made things abundantly clear on her web site, the aptly-named Manipulator, taking some of the more unflattering (and sneakily-executed) pictures from the shoot, adding some grody Photoshoppery, and posting the results. As Boing Boing points out, the elaborate Flash-filled site means one can't link directly to the pictures, but you can see one to the right, and Gawker has a couple more posted.
The Atlantic, unsurprisingly, isn't happy, with editor James Bennet issuing a statement that Greenberg has "disgraced herself" and that they are "appalled" by the images. The accompanying piece's author, Jeffrey Goldberg, released a statement saying that Greenberg's "'art' is juvenile, and on occasion repulsive… she betrayed this magazine and disgraced her profession."
Certain bloggers are quick to jump on these portraits as a symbol of an immoral Left: Shannon Love's post on Chicago Boyz is the most unintentionally hilarious, decrying liberals for believing that "the enormous benefits of their enlightened rule outweigh any consequences of the dishonest acts that bring about that rule." Dishonest acts, you say? Sure, these are crappy Photoshop jobs, and I'm not sure exactly what the point is or the actual outcome will be: in today's chaotic political world, attacks beget sympathetic reactions beget opposing backlash beget underdog resurgence. But, jeez, if you were doing the McCain photo shoot, wouldn't you play a little joke, if you could get away with it?
McCain Campaign: SNL Portrayal of Palin Was Sexist
Most people have seen the opening sketch of the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live — the one featuring Tina Fey's dead-on impersonation of Sarah Palin. (Video here.)
Now, Fey's Palin is a bit empty-headed. She's portrayed as a superficial and illegitimate usurper of the role Hillary Clinton (played by Amy Poehler in the sketch) ought to rightfully play.
It would be pretty hard to label a sketch as sexist if it portrays one woman as intelligent and capable and another as shallow and untested. In fact, comparing two people on their merits, with no regard to their sex, would appear to be the opposite of sexism. Right?
Not during an election year. Everything is a potential talking point. Here is John McCain's favorite CEO and sexism-crier-in-chief, Carly Fiorina, trying her best to attack the sketch on MSNBC:
"I think that [the sketch] continues the line of argument [against Palin] that is disrespectful in the extreme and, yes, I would say, sexist. In the sense that just because Sarah Palin has different views than Hillary Clinton does not mean that she lacks substance. She has a lot of substance."
WTF does that even mean? Criticizing a woman for having less substance than another woman is sexist? Criticizing a woman for having different views than another woman is sexist? Disagreeing with a woman's views and thus portraying her as having less substance as another woman is sexist?
Or is the correct answer that anything that attacks Sarah Palin effectively is sexist?
David Foster Wallace's Death Will Probably Make Wallace-Style Dystopia A Lot More Likely
The apparent suicide this weekend of David Foster Wallace has me pretty depressed, for a couple reasons. One, why do minds that brilliant always seem to self-destruct? And two, Wallace's work often functioned not only as a postmodern high-wire act, but also as a cautionary tale: warnings to us frogs in the pot about what it would look like if the water really started to boil. While George Saunders has, to a certain extent, taken up the mantle of jaw-dropping tales of tomorrow, his approach is unmistakably lighter. Of course, Wallace definitely had a sense of humor, but his work always carried an undercurrent of urgency, an almost desperate need to defuse as many terrible possible futures as he could. If it hadn't been for Infinite Jest's "Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment," you just know that somebody would have already tried to sell the naming rights for 2008. Without his hilarious, terrifying, engrossing warnings, what horrors will we blindly stumble into?
As I wrote a while back in a post on Lost's tangled plotlines, Jest was as frustrating as it was ambitious, something unavoidable in a work that was as much about the impossibility of tidy resolutions as anything else. In fact, as Michael Scherer wrote on Time's web site, it may be Wallace's essays and journalistic work that end up being his most profound legacy, calling him "one of our nation's greatest ongoing innovators of narrative journalism, of the magazine story, and a rightful heir to the golden age writers of old." Both Scherer and Slate's Christopher Beam point out Wallace's famous, punchy 2000 article about John McCain, lamenting that Wallace won't be around to point out the transformation of a candidate he then called "capable of devotion to something other, more, than his own self-interest."
Like with any suicide, those of us left behind are saddled with both grief and anger: okay, you were hurting, but what about us, dammit? We needed your awe-inspiring meditations on the death-defying horror of the luxury cruise, your all-too-believable imagining of the beginnings of the AIDS crisis, and even your 1000-page premonitions about a society so desperate for entertainment it fails to notice its own disintegration. Now what are we supposed to do?
September 12, 2008
The Newsweek Enquirer
Move over, McCain and Palin. The strangest bedfellows of this election season are the tabloids and the mainstream media. Check out this week's cover of Newsweek, featuring a gun-toting Sarah Palin:
And the National Enquirer online, featuring a gun-toting Sarah Palin:
Logos aside, can you tell which photo treatment is which? Yes, the Enquirer broke the story of John Edwards' extramarital liaison before the MSM. It seems the mainstream media is now taking artistic cues from them as well as story ideas.
—Nikki Gloudeman
Actor's Racism on Fox Makes Even Anchors Squeamish
Brad Garrett, the 6'8" costar of Everbody Loves Raymond, apparently doesn't love everybody. Especially Fox anchor Steve Doocy. And black people. And lesbians.
In an after-show special from his appearance on Fox and Friends, Garrett managed to offend just about everyone on set with his "comedy," even the black cameraman, and the blonde make-up artist who had the audacity to act like a "proper white woman" when Garrett accused her of drinking on the job and having sex with the cameraman in a van.
Garrett's offensive tirade prompted Doocy to call the moment Fox's "most offensive interview ever" and tell Garrett that "I just don't appreciate you making fun of people in such a personal way. People who are total strangers not in the public eye." Doocy, by the way, slammed Obama for attending a "madrassa" and having the middle name Hussein. He's also been seriously misinformed about a number of issues, from the US Code to Sarah Palin being a foreign policy expert. But this latest incident makes me think a tiny, little bit better of him. Maybe defending his co-hosts and crew from racist, misogynist attacks is part of those "small-town values" Republicans are always talking about. Or maybe he just didn't like being upstaged.
September 11, 2008
First Listen: TV on the Radio – Dear Science,
No, that comma is not a misprint, although the verdict is still out on the capitalization of "on" and "the." Jeez, I know I'm not a real writer, but come on, TVOTR, get with the grammar program. Are you guys like those Midwestern sign-makers who put quotes around things for emphasis, advertising "clothes" for "sale"? I mean, even Panic at the Disco dropped the exclamation point!
Honestly, though, I'd forgive this band almost anything. I'd say they're tied with Queens of the Stone Age for highest ratio of music quality to cover art crappiness, for instance. But in TV on the Radio's short career, they've been incredibly ambitious, combining a creative experimentation with astute social and political awareness in a way that makes them kin to fellow-airwave-referencing combo Radiohead. But while Thom Yorke and crew produce expansive, soaring tunes that can carry across a field, TVOTR have always aimed inward, towards sonic density. Their 2006 release, Return to Cookie Mountain, took the dark themes of their first album, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, and dove even deeper, but on Dear Science, they seem to have come to terms with some inner turmoil and returned to the surface.
At times, Dear Science almost sounds, well, jaunty: the album opens with "Halfway Home," where a droning guitar note is livened up with some retro "bah-bah-bah" background vocals. I've already remarked on the funky beat on "Golden Age," and these smooth disco grooves show up elsewhere too, like on "Crying," whose rhythm guitar could be straight out of a KC and the Sunshine Band number, although I doubt KC would encourage you to "take this car/and drive it straight into the wall." There's also a newfound emphasis on clear synthetic tones here: "Crying" ends with delicate beeping keyboard trills, and "Dancing Choose" is led by a cheap double-time drum machine and a buzzing synth bassline.
Like Radiohead on In Rainbows, TV on the Radio have mellowed out a little, while maintaining a focus on trying new things. Piano-led ballad "Family Tree" seems to be a love song, although its surreal lyrics about "the cozy red rainbows shaking off halos" offer only the dreamlike impression of a nursery rhyme. Another subtle highlight, "Love Dog," laments that "patience is a virtue until its silence burns you" over a 6/8 beat and a hypnotic electric piano, until a string section slowly builds in strange and beautiful chords on top, and a looped vocal swirls around in a distorted echo. It's one of many profound and lovely moments here. It all makes me wonder if they shouldn't retroactively switch album names with Cookie Mountain, since that collection seemed to be a cry of anger aimed at the heat death of the universe, while Dear Science reaches heights that are surprisingly sweet.
Dear Science, with or without the comma, is out 9/23 on Interscope.
Listen to streams of "Dancing Choose" and "Golden Age" at their website here.
September 9, 2008
Mercury Music Prize won by... Elbow?
Well, yes. 
UK rockers Elbow have won the Mercury Music Prize for their album The Seldom Seen Kid at a ceremony concluding just minutes ago in London. The annual award, judged by a committee of critics and industry types, is given to the best album by a UK artist that year. As I covered earlier, Radiohead's In Rainbows was the odds-on favorite to win, and by "odds-on" I mean actual odds, since this is England, after all. Elbow were tied for third-most-likely-to-win with dubstep mystery man Burial, whose Untrue brought that underground movement to the masses in a way similar to what Roni Size Reprazent did for drum 'n' bass with New Forms, which won the prize back in 1997. In any event, Elbow were apparently quite surprised, with lead singer Guy Garvey calling the award "the best thing that's ever happened to us." Better than, like, being born? Wow. The band have a middling level of fame in the UK but are barely known over here. So, what's the deal?
The band call themselves "prog without the solos," which is kind of true; there are elements of dream pop at work here, lovely vocal harmonies swimming around in a mix of swirling guitars. NME's review of the album could barely contain itself, calling the album a "masterpiece... an awe-inspiring labour of love that both soothes and swells the soul," while Pitchfork gave it a 7.8 (since they give everything a 7.8), calling it "visceral," but acknowledging that there may be a problem for Americans without finely-honed UK rock senses allowing one to distinguish between Coldplay, Keane, Travis, etc. That's my problem as well; while there are soaring, emotional moments, this is pretty traditional music, with pianos and 3/4 time signatures, and my jaded ears need something to wake them up. Perhaps a cup of tea and a rainy day might help elucidate The Seldom Seen Kid's more subtle pleasures. I will say, looking at the history of the Mercury Prize, that even if the eventual winner wasn't the most ground-breaking (or my favorite), it's always worth a listen, and so Elbow have my attention, for now.
Elbow - "Grounds for Divorce"
September 2, 2008
Tigh/Roslin Ticket Will Provide Strength and Purpose in Defeating Democrats Cylons
The presidential campaign has officially headed for outer space. As all of MoJoBlog as well as everyone everywhere is currently discussing, John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin for VP was kind of kooky. But it all makes sense if you're deep in Battlestar Galactica fantasyland: sci-fi blog io9 has a breakdown of the McCain=Colonel Tigh/Palin=President Roslin "meme," as they call it, noting the similarities aren't just physical: Col. Tigh was tortured by the Cylons, and Roslin was Secretary of Education (I guess that equals PTA).
Now we already have a Tigh/Roslin campaign website, which is mostly amusing just for its visual nose-thumb at McCain's site, although the idea of Roslin winning "Most Likely to Airlock a Cylon" in the Miss Caprica beauty pageant is pretty amusing. Unfortunately, io9 says we can't laugh about it any more, since "it took less than five hours for the meme to go from funny to tired." Gods damn it! Can we still be amused by Palin's resemblance to Tina Fey?