Random Detritus: Going Negative Edition

I watched the second half of Frontline last night, Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story. Thanks to the wonder of DVR technology, I'll watch the front half tonight. Lee Atwater's life is a modern Faust morality play. As a political king-maker, he rose from obscurity to national prominence by doing anything and everything to ensure his side won. And it worked. Really, really well. From the top of the world, things came down hard and fast. After fainting during a speech, doctors discovered a tumor in his brain. In a matter of months, he lost his vitality, his strength, and then his life. Atwater died mostly alone, regretful, vilified by his detractors and never truly embraced by the kings he had made. It's a powerful story.

In other news, Sarah Palin called out bloggers as "kids in pajamas sitting in the basement of their parents' homes" being all mean-like. Oh, really? I for one do not favor PJs. I blog in the raw (a lovely image, I know). Way to make the Republicans seem even more curmudgeonly and out-of-touch, Ms. Palin! You're a pajama-wearing parents's-basement-living bloggers dream!

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And now for something completely different: a girl on a pogo stick!

I didn't even know someone still made pogos but nobody told this girl who was happily pogoing down Greenwich Street during my lunch hour yesterday. Out with the new, in with the old! The pogo stick is the new Segway. You heard it hear first.

Happy All Saints Day!

Samhain and his brood have come and gone, apparently taking the cold weather with them. I played it pretty close to the vest last night. I was tired from the week. I didn't get any trick-o-treaters either. The young ones were already prowling the neighborhood for sucrose when I was getting home from work.

My neighbor spent last night moving out. He and I actually worked for the same company though in different offices and got there by different routes. He had worked for a small company that was then bought out. The overlords decided to jettison most of the acquired crew from that purchase, including him. There's a lesson in this story for me that I'll probably ignore. Moving out of your apartment on Halloween Friday must have been loads of fun.

You won't like him when he's angry... well, angrier anyway.

I watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown last night. I always loved the Peanuts holiday specials but this one might be my favorite. Is there any doubt that this is the type of family holiday special that would never get made today? You've got war imagery in the Snoopy vs. Red Baron sequences, you've got the questioning of faith in the Linus and the Great Pumpkin sequences with Lucy's great commercialism-laden rant about the cost of his faith measured in her loss of candy. "I should sue!" she tells him, "I should sue!" I wonder when some righteous group from one end of the spectrum or the other will pull enough strings to get it off the air. Which reminds me, I ought to pick it up on DVD along with the rest of the Peanuts specials.

Out on the Fringe

I watched the pilot and second episode of the new show Fringe via Hulu. I've heard it characterized as a poor man's X-Files but I find it leaning closer towards Millenium, shadow groups, patterns of paranormal events, and (so far) a lack of alien intervention.

At this point, I'd say Fringe is a step below those other shows but it is still showing me enough that I'll keep watching. Each episode to this point has been a single serving. I wonder if any over-arching story will emerge. Only time will tell.

A World Without Movie Voice-Over Guy

It feels a bit strange to mourn a man whose talent was providing a deep, overly serious voice to movie and TV commercials and trailers but there it is. They called him the voice of god and now he's gone. RIP.

Don LaFontaine, the man who popularized the catch phrase "In a world where..." and lent his voice to thousands of movie trailers, has died. He was 68.

...LaFontaine made more than 5,000 trailers in his 33-year career while working for the top studios and television networks.

Source: "Don LaFontaine, voice of movie trailers, dies" by Raquel Maria Dillon

As a poor memoriam, here's the GEICO spot that featured the voice a bit back:

Snoop Keeps It Real

The storm (slight breeze?) of The Wire related news continues! While Michael drifts into a sad, suburban rebound TV show, Snoop (Felicia Pearson) is keeping it real! Although, really, this is the kind of real she probably shouldn't keep... or at least flush down the toilet before the law shows up at her door. From the AP:

Court records show Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, who played a killer of the same name on the televesion series, was charged after police went to her home in Northeast Baltimore to pick her up for refusing to cooperate as a witness in a murder trial.

She was arrested Wednesday after police served a warrant that would allow them to detain her, if needed, until the Sept. 16 trial of Steven Lashley. Court documents say Pearson is accused of having two cigars containing suspected marijuana in a bedroom and loose plant material. She was charged with one count of drug possession.

Source: "'Wire' actress arrested on minor drug charge"

Drugs, murder trials... The Wire was fiction, right? Right?

Another "Michael" Sighting...

Last seen in a Roca Wear billboard, now I find him (Tristan Wilds aka "Michael" from The Wire) gracing a poster for the New 90210. It's not The Wire (what is?) but at least it's work.

It's probably highly irrational but why did I hope that, having worked on such a quality show, none of the actors would end up in pathetic shows that will, truth be told, probably be much more popular with the mainstream than The Wire? As the saying goes, they can't all be gems.

Monkey Magic!

The nature of Monkey is... irrepressible!

Why did I post this? Because I could. And I have very fond memories of watching it in reruns during high school. And I own all the DVDs. And I just watched some last night. Yes, I have issues.

Curry On My Wayward Son

It ain't easy to find a good pun to go with curry but I, I am a master of the form, and, basking in the glow of dinner, I was inspired to rarefied pun-ish heights (I am the pun-isher).

Dinner was yellow curry with beef from Thai 101. Curry is not normally on my culinary short-list but, tonight, I was inspired. Inspired but not blind, I also ordered, as a backup, nice, safe fried rice. However, the curry, a bit sweet, a bit spicy, hit the spot so completely that the fried rice has been relegated to the fridge for tomorrow.

Those are some big shoes to fill.

My bigfoot post got a wee bit of attention which is cool. I really think that the bigfoot community needs to distinguish between the researchers whose undertakings are honest, scholarly, and those people trying to turn a buck, make a name, or just hijack the forum because they can. Maybe this whole to-do will push people in the right direction. We'll see.

Getting crabby.

I watched all four episodes of After the Catch yesterday, the last one when I really should have been in bed. I don't know why The Deadliest Catch captures my attention so completely but I am like an Opelio crab caught in its pot and I can't get out. After three or four seasons, you'd think all the tales have been told (and, honestly, they have) but I haven't tired of them. Not a bit.

Showtime.

My cousin, Paul, arrives this Friday to stay with me to start off his summer vacation. He wants to see a show but doesn't know what show to see. I get the feeling he doesn't actually like theater over much but he wants to do it because, as he said, it's a New York thing to do. Well, plenty of things are New York things to do, like taking a dump on the edge of a subway platform, dodging hobos, and bitching about gentrification. I told him to find a couple of shows he wanted to see. He's having a hard time coming up with anything. At $40+ a pop, even via TKTS, I figure he should see something because he wants to see it, not because he feels obligated to see something, anything, in the pursuit of the New York state of mind. (Where have you gone, Billy Joel?) I suppose we'll figure something out.

I'm going to watch Anthony Bourdain slough his way through Indonesia on the TV. I like his caustic brand of narrative - he's a man after my own heart. Plus, I've got nothing more to say (yeah, right).

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An Open Letter to Documentarians

Society for Creative Anachronism
Originally uploaded by Inkybrain

After watching Stone Henge Decoded on National Geographic, I have one simple request to all television- nay all documentarians: stop with the reenactments. Stop. They are horrible. They do nothing but reduce an otherwise serious or interesting program into Society for Creative Anachronism sideshow. Just. Stop. I beg you.

Case in point: the aforementioned Stonehenge program- shot after shot, close-up after brutal close-up of various haggard extras in nutria furs and Renaissance Fair outfits mouthing random lines from Beowulf. Please God make them stop.

What might be worse- as worse- are the reenactments by actual witnesses. As seen in such monuments to the documentary arts as the History Channel's MonsterQuest, a witness to a paranormal event will star as themselves in a replay of the event. Watch the excruciating attempts at emotions. Marvel as the non-actors wave, point, and otherwise madly gesture at an empty section of the screen where later Bigfoot, Skunk-Ape or a Little Green Man will be digitally inserted with all the buttery smooth subtlety of a rectal probe.

No more. Please. No more weekend actors playing at Hamlet in front of a green screen. No more off-duty Renaissance Fair employees. No more people over-dramatizing their own fifteen seconds of fame. Please, no more. I don't think I can take it.

So let me hereby propose a moratorium on reenactments. If removing this senseless, brain-destroying filler reduces documentary times in half then I will watch twice as much. As it stands, I can't watch half as much as I want to. My eyes just won't let me. It burns they tell me. And they're right. So no more, I say! No more!

Things to Do, Saturday Edition, Philly Sub-Edition

I'm in Philadelphia today visiting my sister. As I write this, we hanging out in her apartment watching The Departed. I was able to acquire LOST season finale that I missed the other night. I gave it a spin. I'll write up something more substantive tomorrow when I get home but my capsule review: underwhelming. I had seen the end on Thursday and, as I watched the episode from the beginning, I kept waiting for some big something to happen but when I got to the end, that something hadn't happened. I'll go a bit deeper tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, I'll also write up my thoughts on Machine Girl. Bottom line: great low-budget high body count action splatterfest.

I saw Prince Caspian this afternoon. It's drek. Although surprisingly dark and bloody (I don't remember much from the book), it's light on charm, internal logic, and plot sensibility.

Tomorrow I'll be seeing another flick at a Philly art house theater but I don't remember what it is at the moment. Hopefully, it will be better than Prince Crapsian.

Adieu, Count de Money

Harvey Korman
Originally uploaded by Da Nes

It just bums me out that so many of the personalities that shaped my youth are leaving us. Add to that list: Harvey Korman. Mr. Korman had so many memorable roles, from the Carol Burnett Show to all his Mel Brooks film characters. According to the NY Times, his favorite role was the evil Hedley Lamarr in Brooks's Blazing Saddles. Here's a taste of Korman's Lamarr from YouTube:

To quote Lamarr, "My mind is aglow with whirling, transient nodes of thought careening through a cosmic vapor of invention." Except, now there is one less node a-whirling. RIP.

"Tribbles" Director Dies

Another of the old guard passes on.

Joseph Pevney, who directed some of the best-known episodes of the original “Star Trek” television series, died on May 18 at his home here. He was 96.

...Mr. Pevney directed 14 episodes of that 1960s series, including “The City on the Edge of Forever,” in which Captain Kirk and Spock travel back in time to the Depression, and “The Trouble With Tribbles,” in which the starship Enterprise is infested with cute, furry creatures.

Source: nytimes.com

Now, if I could only get the original series on blu-ray, I could give Mr. Pevney the send-off he deserves.  RIP.

Damn You, Technology!

I just got back from Machine Girl with the aim of immediately firing up the LOST season finale via my trusty DVR. Did I say trusty? I meant backstabbing. Treasonous. Satanic. It was recorded nothing. It's blank faceplate regarded me with pure, unadulterated disdain. So now I will have to acquire the finale by other means. And I will have my revenge. Oh yes, I will have my revenge.

Family Psychic?

Family Guy
Originally uploaded by Proteus IV

This evening I experienced one of those strange moments in which I felt myself at the center of a tuning of events that was both remarkable for its strangeness and completely meaningless.

I was watching Family Guy on TBS this evening. The episode was Jungle Love. From the TBS episode guide:

Chris' fear of his first experiences in high school lead him to join the Peace Corps where he is assigned to a remote island tribe. Lois sends Peter out to job hunt and he lands a dream job at Pawtucket Brewery. Stewie goes on a quest to punish Will Ferrell for the remake of BEWITCHED.

Two things were weird about this episode (the first maybe not so wierd but we'll see). The first (not chronologically) was that the Griffins, at the end of the episode, escapes from the "remote island" in a replay of the Raiders of the Lost Ark jungle escape sequence. Ok, maybe not so wierd right? It's not as if a sequel to that film isn't playing in every theater right now, as we speak. Fine.

However, in this same episode, Stewie has a sequence pulled out of Tootsie. Sydney Pollack who both directed and co-starred in Tootsie (including in part of the sequence aped in the episode) died yesterday but, due to the holiday, the news was only widely reported today. Now that's weird.

And, lest I forget, RIP Mr. Pollack, you'll be missed.

Like a Sanitary Wipe, Only Not As Funny

Anyone else see the commercials ABC has been running for their ultra-lame looking MXC ripoff Wipeout? First of all, the MXC love-affair ended in tears years ago. Secondly, if you're going to copy the show, at least make it as funny and interesting. This new show is anything but. The commentary is awfully unfunny and it looks like the show copied the least interesting stages from now twenty-year old material. Yes, twenty years. And this is the best ABC can do? Really?

Someone might ask (but won't) why I would provide a link (and thus a plug) to a show that I clearly think poorly of. Why? Why? Because to see that show is to know it's pathetic soulless heart. No one who sees the clips of that show could possibly be moved to actually watch it. Follow that link. Watch a clip. I dare you. I double-dog dare you.

As for ABC, they will suffer the rotating surfboard of death:

...or bad ratings, probably bad ratings. But if they have a contestant named baba ganoush, I'm calling Beat Takeshi. Seriously. And Guy LaDouche. Get it on!

Soupy Sale

I walked over to El Cofre to get something for dinner. I hadn't been there before but an ex-coworker had given it a good review. I ended up walking out with a sausage soupy rice which, I must say, was excellent.

While I was waiting for my food, I was looking at their TV which was tuned to Telemundo. A Rebecca Romijn movie was playing. The Spanish title was "Mujer Fatal". Wouldn't that translate to "Fatal Murder"? Aren't all murders fatal or did I miss something? [EDIT: I missed something. "Mujer" means "woman". Thanks, Angel.] One good thing I saw was an ad for Modelo beer with a boxer and masked wrestler arguing at a bar. At one point, the wrestler had the boxer on the bar and pinned him with a quick three-count. That's good stuff. And I had no idea what they were saying. Yet, I have a strange craving for Modelo beer...

This has nothing to do with anything I just talked about but, yesterday, I saw this woman as I was waiting outside the movie theater prior to seeing Indy IV. I can only describe what I saw as... the mega-visor! I think she may be the member of a rogue street welder cult but I haven't been able to confirm it.

(And yes, that is Morgan Freeman's brother checking her out from across the street.)

LOST: There's No Place Like Home, Part 1

LOST is in a strange position going into tonight's episode, the first of a three-part season finale: we already know the future. We don't know what happens to all the characters but most of the main ones' fates are already set: Sayid, Jack, Kate, Hurley, Ben - we already know where they end up, just not how they got there. This puts tonight's episode in a strange position: it's hard to build up tension in a scene if the ultimate outcome is not only not in doubt but is, in fact, known.

Knowing this, why did the show bother to keep pointing out Jack's leaky appendix wound? We all know he's one of the six "survivors"- if we didn't know, or had forgotten, they reinforce this within the first few minutes of the show. This completely undermines any tension we might feel since we know he'll survive: whatever happens with his injuries, ultimately it isn't a factor. Yet the writers waste time and dialog on it. I don't know why.

It's the characters whose fates we don't know that should have gotten the lion's share of the time but don't: Sawyer, Locke, Jin, and Desmond (I'd say Claire but she seems to have gone over to the dark side). Locke spends the episode standing behind Ben chewing his lip and looking confused while Sawyer plays baby taxi and Jack escort. Jin? He does a good job standing behind Sun doing exactly nothing. Great.

I think I've labeled just about every episode I've written about thus far as a "setup" episode. This must be the ultimate setup episode but nothing happens. And I mean nothing. I could summarize the "action" as a travelogue of movement around the island. It was all about moving people around to put them in place for next week. That's it. And they didn't exactly do much to make those moves exciting to watch. It was a five minute bit of exposition stretched out into an hour. I hope it's worth it because, otherwise, this was a total throwaway. Next week better make up for it.

"Michael" Pimps Roca Wear

Michael Pimps Roca Wear
Originally uploaded by Critical Todd

I saw this while walking to the Virgin Megastore on Broadway by Times Square. As an avid watcher of "The Wire", I immediately recognized Michael (Tristan Wilds) pimping the Roca Wear on the giant billboard.

While, I'm happy that the guys from the show are breaking out since the show is over, there is also something disconcerting about seeing the actor outside the Michael persona. It's not quite as awkward as seeing Bodie Broadus (J. D. Williams) delivering pizza for Domino's (or was it Pizza Hut?) a few years ago but still, it's odd.

World Turning

I was lucky enough to get out of work a bit early today. I walked out of the office and noticed a small film crew working cross the street. It turns out they were filming a segment for As The World Turns. I snapped a couple of pictures:

I don't anything about the soaps other than Victor Newman, Susan Lucci, and a few random characters from Days of Our Lives (my grandmother's husband watches it religiously). Unfortunately, none of them were there.

LOST: Cabin Fever

For an episode all about setting up the season finale, Cabin Fever had some meat to it. The beneficiary of this content was my favorite character, Mr. John Locke, whose early years now revealed beg as many questions as they answer.

We also finally (finally!) not only get into "Jacob's Cabin", we also learn the identity of the man inside. Claire is somehow transformed from a moving, talking piece of scenery into something halfway interesting- this is a tremendous feat in itself. Some (read: I) might call it a miracle. Her look at the end of the episode was somehow knowing, smug, and... evil. Yes, evil. And I liked it.

While we didn't get an all Locke episode, the other segments were more than watchable. The beach got little more than a sidelong glance and the boat segments had both purpose and blood-letting. This show can always use more blood-letting.

Things are shaping up nicely for the big finale. I wasn't all that keen on last week's episode but this week brings the excitement back up nicely. There's no better character to ride into the finale than Locke and tonight we got a full dose of the island mystic. I also like Ben in his role as Locke's reluctant sidekick. It fits in nice contrast to Ben as power politician supreme.

The finale should bring us to the "rescue" and the unveiling of the "Oceanic Six". This plot aspect I find the least interesting of all the threads outstanding. Since this episode got a big dose of Locke, I hope that doesn't reflect on a Locke-free finally. Every episode needs some Locke. Tonight we got a double dose. It was a banner night.