Month: September 2010

Names unfamiliar? How about Brian Nelson? Know him? No? Kind of shrug or have a neutral reaction?

How about M. Night Shaymalan?

Well, sure. NOW you wince or shudder or remember when that name promised a brain-twisting thrill of a suspense film before he wandered off into self-indulgent crap.

Continue Reading “I Feel Sorry for Drew and John Dowdle” →

In the grand scheme of things, I know that “Dancing with the Stars” doesn’t even register.

But it bugs me that, when they announced this year’s cast, virtually all of the focus has been on Bristol Palin, with occasional glances at David Hasselhoff, Mrs. Brady, and some guy from an MTV reality program. And absolutely no one is paying the least bit of attention to the REAL story:

Jennifer Freaking Grey is in the cast. Baby herself is in the house. The intrepid amateur dancer determined to measure up to the demands of a hunky dancing instructor. It’s life imitating art. How is no one making hay out of this? She is quite literally the only reason to watch the show.

PAD

Okay, look, I like pun names as much as anyone else and probably more than is healthy.

But a new villain has been announced for the Spider-Man musical who has a costume composed of Swiss Army knives, which I suppose can be pretty vicious.

And her name is Swiss Miss?

Look, I desperately want to see the musical be a hit, if for no other reason than that it’s always fun to see nay-sayers get it in the teeth. But really, if it’s a villain, and you’ve got two and a half hours to establish her as a threat, naming her after a brand of hot cocoa really isn’t the way to go. Unless they’re going for full-blown camp, in which case, well, okay, good luck with that. It didn’t serve Superman’s Broadway musical well in 1966, and that was back when superhero camp was big. Campy musicals can succeed, but they typically need smaller, preferably off-Broadway venues. On Broadway, reaction to camp usually comes in the form of derision or disgust. Just ask the audience members who walked out halfway through “Dance of the Vampires.” (Kathleen and I saw it twice; we’re just that twisted, and the show was that much of a train wreck that we had to see it a second time to confirm what we saw the first time.)

There’s gotta be better names for her. “Blade” is obviously a no-go, but maybe Cutter? Slice-And-Dice? B-Sharp? Just…not cocoa.

PAD

President Obama, who resolutely refused to take a position on the wisdom of building a Muslim center two blocks from Ground Zero, has unequivocally said that he thinks Jones burning Korans is a terrible idea. The obvious difference is that he thinks lives aren’t at stake in the building of a mosque, but firmly believes Americans will be at risk in this display of contempt.

Meanwhile Jones is claiming that if someone from the White House or the government contacted him, he would “seriously reconsider.” This is coming across more and more like a low-rent cult leader looking for publicity than anything else.

And just so everyone’s clear on my position on this: I regard it the exact same way that I do flag burning. It’s protected speech, yet it doesn’t seem particularly constructive because the image is so inflammatory (no pun intended) that people are too busy getting pìššëd øff to listen to what you have to say.

PAD

UPDATED 6:14 PM–So apparently Reverend Nutjob has decided to cool his jets, with the dubious claim that the builders of the proposed NY Muslim Center have agreed to find a new location. Whatever. Basically he got the publicity he sought, so mission accomplished.

We have some modest plans for the day, but whatever we do, it’s not enough to show how much we love and adore you. Many happy returns of the day.

PAD

Good holidays to my fellow Jews who are welcoming in the new year of 5771.

Of course, there’s always that annoying first few days when you’re still writing 5770 on your checks…

PAD