Recharging the Batteries
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on January 10, 2012
I took an unannounced break over the holidays, and found that it was enjoyable. I am recharging the batteries and after recently passing the four-year mark at this blog (I am lousy at celebrating anniversaries that do not involve my wife), I am re-evaluating my approach on this blog. Thanks for your patience while I am gone. I will be back, promise!
Oh boy: Dave is Actually Tweeting! Sorta!
Posted by admin in comedy, late night TV, Uncategorized on January 3, 2012
And yet, there is a familiarity to his Tweets. Consider this.
.@rupertmurdoch Great New Year’s party the other night. I think I left my LMFAO cd at your pad. Need that. Burn it & return it. #watsupdoch
— jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) January 3, 2012
Then oddly Dave tweets this
Great New Year’s party the other night.I think I left my LMFAO cd at your pad.Need that.Burn it & return it.
— Late Show (@Late_Show) January 3, 2012
I hope he keeps “jokingly” ripping off his fellow hosts.
Discovered Thanks To 1950s Radio: Fred Allen’s Treadmill to Oblivion
This week’s holiday atmosphere includes Sirius/XM rebroadcasting classic Bing Crosby Christmas specials, with introductions by recently retired Regis Philbin. Listening to these radio shows is the closest one can easily get to opening a time capsule.
In the 1970s, a local AM radio station (WGST if I recall correctly) used to devote part of its evening programming to airing old radio shows–and I vaguely remember hearing Fred Allen periodically. I know the name.
But this week I was absolutely flummoxed to hear a 1954 Christmas special, where Crosby went on at length (I came in on the broadcast mid-show, this could have been an ad) at how great Fred Allen’s then new book, Treadmill to Oblivion, was. The book is out of print (you can see parts of it at Google Books), so unfortunately it’s not something you can pick up at the local bookstore. Allen, a popular radio show host, was clearly unhappy with the seeming demise of radio, thanks to television. Allen likely would have made his way in TV (much like his peer, Jack Benny, did)
In trying to research the book, I ran across a 1989 Garrison Keillor New York Times review of a then new Robert Talyor-penned biography of Allen. The last paragraph of the review touched upon the naming of Allen’s 1954 book and Allen’s impact on the larger landscape of comedy history.
“Treadmill to Oblivion is a pretty bleak title for a memoir by an old comic. Allen chose it over genial ones like ”Looking Back” or ”Microphones and Memories,” and meant what he said, and ”Fred Allen: His Life and Wit,” trying to rescue him from oblivion, only proves him right. Comedy is temporary art unless you’re Mark Twain. Thirty years after you knocked them dead, your best stuff is just damp hyphens, a wet glow on the plate.”
Raja Fenske and Fernanda Romero on Pendejo / Official Trailer Online
Article first published as Raja Fenske and Fernanda Romero on Pendejo on Technorati.
A couple of months back, I interviewed writer/director Jairaj Walia about Pendejo, his romantic comedy starring Danny Trejo, Raja Fenske and Fernanda Romero, while the film was in post-production. More recently, the Pendejo team granted Technorati the exclusive premiere of the film’s official trailer (featured above) along with brief interviews of Fenske and Romero. My thanks to Fenske and Romero for their time. Current plans are for Pendejo to be released in 2012.
Five Questions with Raja Fenske
Were you nervous the first day on the set, or are you too experienced to get nervous any longer?
Not so much nervous. More anxious and excited to take on the role and begin shooting. It was my first experience being the lead in a film and I loved the idea that I would be in a position to carry a film.
Lyle Lovett Performs Step Inside This House
Posted by admin in Music, streaming video on December 21, 2011
Here’s the thing that surprises me about Guy Clark’s song, Step Inside This House. Clark has never recorded it (as noted by Wikipedia). Here is the great Lyle Lovett performing it, at the White House for a songwriting/educational workshop for local kids, connected to the recent In Performance at The White House special.
Watch Educational Workshop: Lyle Lovett on PBS. See more from In Performance at The White House.
Congrats to AdHouse on Nine Great Years … So Far
Today the great AdHouse publisher, Chris Pitzer, observed the ninth year of being in business. Congrats to one of the good folks and I look forward to celebrating its 10th anniversary next year.
AdHouse: Nine Years Strong
In observing the nine-year mark, Pitzer also noted it is the publisher’s “MOST productive year to date”.
Masha Hamilton on Afghan Women’s Writing Project
Posted by admin in Literature on December 15, 2011
This email interview with Afghan Women’s Writing Project (AWWP) founder, award-winning author Masha Hamilton, was set months ago, but I dropped the ball. In a sense, though, I am glad that this interview was delayed. This time of year, I like to think people are more charitable. So once you read about the AWWP, an organization devoted to giving Afghan women the ability to voice their opinions without the filter of male relatives or the media–and visited the AWWP website–I hope you consider donating to its cause. My thanks to Hamilton for her time and thoughts, as well as to AWWP’s Lynn Harris for helping to arrange this email interview.
Tim O’Shea: In a sense, do you think mentors benefit almost as much from the experience as the contributors?
Masha Hamilton: Absolutely. A bridge is being built between Afghan women and both mentors and readers abroad that I think is important to both sides. To read some of the mentors’ comments on our site, look here. Here is one quote from Stacy Parker Le Melle, but you can pick any one you’d like:
“Magical. How else to describe sitting at my computer in Harlem, USA, and connecting with young women in Afghanistan, women who want to better themselves as communicators so that they can be heard at home and all over the world? I cannot thank Masha Hamilton and her partners enough for creating this cyberspace classroom. At times, it feels like we’re meeting in our dreams.”
Bittersweet Moments: TCM’s Remembers (Those We Lost) in 2011
Posted by admin in Film, streaming video on December 15, 2011
There’s two levels to my enjoyment of Turner Classic Movies (TCM) Remembers (acknowledging those who died) 2011: seeing some of my favorite actors/directors/screenwriters/what-have-you being remembered (I love that TCM picked a clip of Wenders’ Wings of Desire to honor Peter Falk, as well as The Princess Bride) and being introduced to great talents I had never known about it.
I respect the fact that TCM tries to update the clips for people who die late in the year, also. Thanks to Bill Brioux’s TV Feeds My Family for the tip.
Kevin Avery on The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson and Conversations with Clint
Article first published as Kevin Avery on The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson on Technorati.
The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson
From the 1960s to the early 1980s, Paul Nelson was known for writing passionate, insightful criticism of folk and rock music that showed a partiality for singer-songwriters. He, and his record collection, was of great importance to Bob Dylan early in his career. As an editor at Rolling Stone, he influenced many great critics, such as Charles M. Young and Mikal Gilmore. But suddenly, in the early 1980s, when editorial decisions at Rolling Stone ran contrary to his thinking, Nelson walked away from music criticism. In fact, he dropped out of criticism entirely, choosing to spend his remaining years in relative obscurity, working at a video rental store. He died in 2006, but not before writer Kevin Avery contacted him about a potential biography. After Nelson’s death, Avery was tapped to compile this new Fantagraphics book, Everything Is An Afterthought: The Life And Writings Of Paul Nelson, in which Avery documented Nelson’s career as well as collecting his writing. In addition to discussing this book, Avery also discussed his other Nelson-related book that he edited, Conversations with Clint: Paul Nelson’s Lost Interviews with Clint Eastwood, 1979-1983 (Continuum Books). To mark the release of both books, Avery recently allowed me to interview him via email.
Not to toss a large question your way, but how did Paul Nelson help to shape present day rock criticism?
I’m probably the wrong person to ask. As a result of immersing myself in the music and criticism of the Seventies and Eighties, I really don’t follow rock criticism much anymore, but what I do read bears very little resemblance to the kind of writing that Paul did. Paul’s writing was more contemplative and expansive—in contrast to some of what I read today, which is dictated by time and space constraints (some of the very things that brought Paul’s tenure at Rolling Stone to an end in 1982).
Discovered: George Carlin on His Persona
Posted by admin in comedy, streaming video on December 14, 2011
This Archive of American TV interview (the full version can be found at the Archive’s website) was conducted in late 2007, about six months before his death. In this excerpt, Carlin does a hilarious imitation of Ed Sullivan around the 4 minute mark.
It’s bittersweet to hear him be critical of his Sullivan appearances, lamenting that he cannot watch them…but admitting he intended to watch them someday. I hope he got the chance. Or hopefully heaven has a great cable package.
The term comic genius is an understatement with this fellow. His influence on comedy can be felt everyday. Hell, his influence permeates throughout The Daily Show.
Twitter RSS- talkingwithtim: @BenJMorse @Remender That gem is not on sale yet is it? @gabrielhardman could draw 24 pages of heroes drinking coffee & I would love it.
- talkingwithtim: @j_bacardi @macabfilms Yeah, it's been that way for awhile. This is the second spam DM in several weeks I have received.
- talkingwithtim: Cannot believe #steveDitko is doing one of the #beforeWatchmen books #heh #iAmKidding
- talkingwithtim: All these years, I have never grown tired of Nick Lowe's Cruel to Be Kind #stillLoveIt
- talkingwithtim: @highway_62 I would not object
Recent Comments