Nov 12 2009
Sitting at my desk, working quietly, when a call comes in -- why it was put through to me, I'll never know.
Guy says he's doing a job in Vandergrift, listening to Rush Limbaugh, and we in the media sometimes pay attention to him.
Says Rush Limbaugh said that Hitler put people in jail when he wanted to bring the unemployment numbers down, and now Nancy Pelosi is going to put people in jail for not having health-care coverage.
When I begin to protest, I'm told no, I'm wrong. And . . . "Have a nice day. Click."
In case he's listening, here's what President Obama told ABC News on the subject:
“What I think is appropriate is that in the same way that everybody has to get auto insurance and if you don’t, you’re subject to some penalty, that in this situation, if you have the ability to buy insurance, it’s affordable and you choose not to do so, forcing you and me and everybody else to subsidize you, you know, there’s a thousand dollar hidden tax that families all across America are — are burdened by because of the fact that people don’t have health insurance, you know, there’s nothing wrong with a penalty.”
Under the House bill those who can afford to buy insurance and don’t pay a fine. If they refuse to pay that fine there’s a threat – as with a lot of tax fines – of jail time. The Senate removed that provision in the Senate Finance Committee."
Nov 11 2009
Visit Broadway.com for a gallery of Tim Hartman, one of our favorite local actors, who's making a splash in the NYC revival of "Finian's Rainbow."
The image here is from the opening-night after party on Oct. 30.
Nov 10 2009
AP -- "Twilight" and "True
Blood" were among the top nominees announced today for People's Choice
Awards. Fans cast more than 18 million votes online to select the nominee slate
and will also choose the winners in 35 categories.
"Twilight" is up for favorite movie, franchise and on-screen
team for its trio of stars: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor
Lautner. Stewart and Pattinson were also nominated individually for favorite
movie actress and actor.
"True Blood" was nominated for favorite TV obsession and
sci-fi/fantasy TV show, plus star Anna Paquin earned a nod for TV drama
actress.
The People’s Choice Awards will be broadcast live on CBS on
Jan. 6, 2010.
Nov 08 2009
"Men Who Star at Goats" is mostly light-hearted stuff, if you can call a dark anti-war comedy light. The chuckles often come because the audience is in on the joke of Ewan McGregor -- who stars here and who played the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the "Star Wars" franchise -- saying he doesn't know what a Jedi is, and George Clooney has to explain.
The audience reaction to one scene, though, could not have been anticipated. There was an audible gasp (or maybe it was just me) when a soldier who has been drugged for a mad experiment grabs a handgun, heads out to a crowded yard on his Army base and starts shooting.
On Tuesday, when PG movie editor Barbara Vancheri saw a screening of the film, the scene was just one of the darker moments in the film. On Saturday, after the shootings at Fort Hood, the scene had taken on a whole new meaning and was particularly hard to watch.
The movie is based on a book by Brit Jon Ronson, played in the movie by McGregor. The actor was not allowed to keep his accent, though, instead playing a Michigan reporter in pursuit of story about Army troops who are trained in psychic (and mostly silly) soldiering. Ronson told NPR that his book starts out with humor before it "takes a dark, lurching turn," while the film stays on a mostly humorous path. He liked the movie, he said, but it's not his book.
Nov 04 2009
I'm sure there was someone happier to be in front of a Comic-Con audience than the outgoing Doctor of "Doctor Who," David Tennant. The smiley, wiry Tennant and the equally delighted creator of the current incarnation of the "DW" franchise, Russell T Davies, couldn't have been more thankful for the support from American fans of their BBC endeavor.
Tennant was saying goodbye to the role he owned in seasons 2 through 4 and ongoing specials, and was fresh off a well-received turn as Hamlet for London's Royal Shakespeare Company over the summer.
Another project was ahead of him, and now we know what that is: a pilot for lowly NBC, titled "Rex Is Not Your Lawyer." The Hollywood Reporter. says Tennant will play the titular Rex, a Chicago lawyer who
starts having panic attacks and coaches his clients to represent themselves.
David Semel (Heroes, Life) will direct the pilot.
Sounds a little like a cross between "Monk" and "The Sopranos," but if anyone can pull it off, it's Tennant. The only thing that makes me nervous: Will he have to go with an American accent?
Next week, I'm going to see Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, an Aussie and a Brit, trying to pull off Chicago accents. I'm hoping it's not too painful an experience.
And I'm hoping David Tennant can be a Chicagoan by way of his native Scotland.
Meantime, catch his final frames as the Doctor in "The Waters of Mars" on BBC America Dec. 19.
Nov 04 2009
Above: The first committee members of the San Diego Comic-Con, in a picture taken in the fall of 1969 at the home of Jack Kirby. Left to right: Dan Stewart (holding drawing), Bob Sourk, Richard Alf, Barry Alfonso (in front, holding drawing), Jack Kirby, Shel Dorf and Wayne Kincaid. (Wayne was not a Comic-Con member; he was just along for the visit.) The photo comes from the collection of Richard Alf.
Saw the sad news that Sheldon Dorf, who founded Comic-Con International in San Diego, has died at age 76 from kidney failure. He had diabetes and had been hospitalized for about a year.
Dorf, a freelance artist and comic strip letterer, led a group including then teen-age Barry Alfonso, now of Swissvale, in starting a modest convention of comic-book lovers. The con now attracts more than 120,000 fans to see not just their comic-book idols, but TV and movie stars, filmmakers and show runners, who launch their biggest genre projects there.
Mr. Dorf's longtime friend, Greg Koudoulian, told the Associated Press that Dorf was friends with comic greats such as Marvel artist Jack Kirby and "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz. He says Dorf was also instrumental in helping budding artists find audiences.
In a July remembrance for the Post-Gazette, Alfonso described the alliance with Dorf and Jack Kirby that helped Comic-Con take form:
In the fall of 1969 ... I was living in San Diego, and I had placed an ad in the local Pennysaver looking to buy old comic books. One of those who responded was Shel Dorf, a 37-year-old Detroit transplant and veteran comics aficionado. I bought some choice back issues from him and, more importantly, I put him in contact with Richard Alf, a teenage comic-book dealer whose ad I'd seen in the back of a Marvel comic. Dorf met with Alf, who in turn introduced him to Mike Towry and other key players in the origins of the convention.
It turned out that Dorf was no ordinary fan -- he had helped to put on the Detroit Triple Fan Fair, a multifaceted comics and science fiction event. He had a vision for launching something similar in San Diego.
I was invited to join the meetings of the group that formed around Dorf and Alf. At first, we debated whether there was room for another convention, especially one far away from the New York-based comics industry. Remember, in 1969 comics fandom was a fairly small and insular world, still considered something of a disreputable hobby for kids.
Despite this opinion, we knew that comic art could achieve high aesthetic value. An example we could point to was the work of Jack Kirby, creator of Captain America, Fantastic Four and the Incredible Hulk. Dorf knew Kirby, who had recently moved to Southern California. One of the first things we did as a Comic-Con planning group was to arrange a visit with the legendary Kirby, King of the Comics.
Kirby showed us royal hospitality and submitted to our sometimes obsessive questions about his characters. . . . [He] showed us that our heroes were accessible and even eager to share their artistic secrets. He became the patron saint of the Comic-Con.
Nov 02 2009
Broadway can't hold onto Neil Simon, but Oregon is going full steam ahead with Shakespeare and friends.
It was sad to read that the revival of Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs," lauded by critics, had closed after just nine performances. An L.A. Times story blamed the producers: "The reason “Brighton Beach Memoirs” closed early and “Broadway Bound” was aborted in previews was, not surprisingly, all about money. As dated as Neil Simon’s plays are -- and let’s face it, they were almost dated back when they were written, though it didn’t stop them from being hits -- what was even more dated was the producer’s business plan."
Other stories blamed the fact that the show could boast no big Hollywood names in a season when Jude Law, Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig and Sienna Miller are all on Broadway stages.
How then to explain the booming success of the annual Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon?
With the recession cutting back travel and entertainment spending, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was anticipating a tough 2009 season — so much so that it cut the budget $1 million and actors tripled-up on roles, The Associated Press reported.
But the repertory theater today reported record attendance of 410,034 — 89 percent of capacity for the three theaters — and revenues of $17,098,115.
Executive director Paul Nicholson called the turnaround "astonishing," and credited loyal festival patrons.
Among the most popular plays of the season were a modern adaptation of a 250-year-old Italian farce, "The Servant of Two Masters"; the quirky "Dead Man’s Cell Phone," and the classic American musical, "The Music Man."
Nov 01 2009
Just back from a weekend in Chicago, my first trip there, with my family. We
stayed in Downtown Chicago while visiting Northwestern University, taking the
usual university tour and staying on Saturday for the Penn State game.
It was Halloween so we were treated to a "Thriller" -- a re-enactment of the
Michael Jackson song and dance -- and the band forming a perfect "N" before the
game at Ryan Field in Evanston.
The windy city was blustery this day, and it was bone-chilling. Thank
goodness the sun was out or we never would have lasted until Penn State started
it's second-half surge against the pesky Northwestern Wildcats. We were sitting
with the PSU fans, and they were stunned when Northwestern played their team
even to the half. Things collapsed from there, when NU's Mike Kafka went down
with an injury . . . and what does this have to do with pop culture?
When I picked up the Chicago
Tribune the next day, the lead about the PSU win over the hometown team was
all about Tom Hanks. The actor was in town as part of Parents Weekend, the story
said.
All that time in on campus Friday in the rain and Saturday in the wind and
cold, and not one sighting! Oh well.
We did eat at Cafe Spiagga, the casual cousin of the Obama's
fave date-night spot, Spiagga. The long narrow space overlooks the design
houses that line Michigan Avenue -- the Maginificent Mile -- where Niketown,
Eddie Bauer, Crate & Barrel and others have key locations alongside Cartier,
Gucci, Chanel and the like. The wind died down enough to walk back to our hotel,
past the
A sunny Sunday morning in Chicago was much prettier, but it was time to come
home. Wish we had more time to explore.