Was looking up Adam Sandler's numbers to see where he lands among current box office behemoths and while he does well, these guys are off the charts. He's also been in about half the movies they've been in. Stallone, Arnold, Bill Murray can't touch these guys. When I was typing in different names off the top of my head I forgot all about Tom Hanks, but he's the leader. And I didn't think of Bruce Willis, but he's a bigger international star than anybody but Hanks. Hanks' world grosses are amazing. I didn't realize that Hanks' movies would translate so well. Eddie Murphy is helped by the 3 Shreks. Ford is helped by the first 3 Star Wars. But people still went to see those movies, partly because they were in them.
Tom Cruise has only the Mission Impossible series, but he was long established before they came out and he has no help from other box office kings (unlike Murphy in the Shreks). People went to see just him. And Tom Hanks has been making serious films for almost 20 years now, yet he's the biggest star and he rarely draws a gun or makes people laugh. Mike Myers has made just 13 movies, but his per average is by far the best. The Love Guru looks dicey, but Myers is as close to golden as anyone in Hollywood, never bet against him. Julia Roberts leads among women, but she doesn't place among these guys and gets credit for some movies like Oceans 11 that have nothing to do with her. Kind of like Samuel L. Jackson, who appears in popular movies but isn't necessarily the star (Star Wars, Coming to America). One of these days, Will Smith will blow all of them away.
The Freditor
Mike Myers: Average US gross: $140,282,107/per movie
Tom Hanks: US gross: $3,839,936,098
world Gross: $7,513,937,782
Harrison Ford--US gross: $3,561,989,506
world gross: $6,383,423,057
Eddie Murphy---US gross: $3,439,371,750
world gross: $6,134,535,458
Tom Cruise---US Gross: $3,076,936,700
world gross: $6,247,259,679
Bruce Willis: US Gross: $3,044,221,838
world gross: $6,412,660,366
Monday, June 9, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
WRXP-101.9: Has anyone been listening to the Best Rock Station in New York City?
101.9 RXP - The New York Rock Experience
The newest radio station in town came on the air, Feb. 7, 2008 and I have been remiss in writing about it. Finally, Finally, FINALLY a station for those of us who still wish the best for terrestrial radio.
My commute is only 1 hour round trip and I don't want to get satellite radio for my car for such a short period of time. I could get an I-Pod, but then I will only be listening to music I already own and not experiencing new stuff. And I will never hear the news or any other current events that way. I love variety on the radio, but my mainstay since 1978 has been great rock and roll radio, and we used to have it.
I didn't fully appreciate it at the time, because I was too young to notice and because it was always there, so who knew it could be taken away from us, but rock radio started going downhill around the end of 1982 and the fall has been precipitous since 1990. I won't go through an entire history, but people my age and older remember when WPLJ and WNEW were in a great dogfight for best rock station in New York. PLJ had a more commercial bent, but they were in touch with the modern listener and there was no shame in listening to them. WNEW was more avant garde, but boy did they open this young boy's ears. The punk rock scene never totally caught on in New York City, despite the revisionist history we hear on VH1 these days, but certain bands had their day in the sun on NEW and are staples today. Talking Heads, Blondie and The Ramones to name a few.
In 1982, NEW was so sure of itself that it started paying attention to the drumbeats of those who wanted to hear more black rock on the radio. They had always played Motown and Stax records, but they started looking at more modern fair and felt that Michael Jackson and Prince were making rock records. You'd hear "Beat It" because of Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo and Little Red Corvette, because of Prince's familiarity with Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix. But the corporate honchos started making their move on NEW and the experimenting was suddenly limited to Sundays and Friday afternoons with Things From England.
When K-Rock switched to all classic rock in the late '80s, New York radio started its fast swirl towards the drain. Classic rock became a code phrase for the Top 100 songs according to listener surveys beaten to death. Now many of those songs which I once loved are barely listenable anymore. And I won't even get into the fact that hardly any new rock and roll bands got a chance to find an audience during these last 25 years. U2, REM and Guns and Roses were the only new bands to find great success.
Now with so many in the New York audience turned off to FM radio by the lack of great music, a new station rises like a Phoenix from the ashes, 101.9--WRXP--The New York Rock Experience. It plays classic rock, modern rock and alternative rock. You are likely to hear in a row: Spoon, The Smiths and the Rolling Stones, but the Stones song will probably one you haven't heard on the radio in 25 years, like "Respectable" off Some Girls. Never heard of Spoon? They are a modern New York band with a fast, Spanish-flavored acoustic sound.
So basically, WRXP mixes up several genres into one cohesive rock and roll station. The punk/new wave era of late '70s WNEW, the modern hard-core rockers of '90s K-Rock, the alternative '80s and '90s records of WLIR and the classic rock that any number of stations have laid claim to since 1988. It's a lot for one station to take on, but hopefully the suits at other stations are starting to see the groundswell of support it's getting. People want to hear something both familiar and new. At most, classic rock stations will play the same five songs from an artist, RXP played the rarely heard Boogie With Stu from Led Zep III the other day. I nearly hit a tree when I heard it on the radio.
It's already starting to happen. Other stations are starting to experiment more. K-Rock is now playing hard rock back to 1970; WCBS is making more room for the '50s records they shamelessly pushed aside; the lowly "classic" Q-104.3 is at least playing something different on Two-for Tuesdays, making the second song one you haven't heard in a while.
RXP claims that they let their DJs pick the records, which might be true, but they do seem to have a bit of playlist that they choose from. Hopefully with success will come more experimentation. The afternoon DJ, Bryan Schock has become the biggest name on the station so far and he brags that he will play something you haven't heard in many years at least once a day on his show. Which is great and I hope that number grows exponentially, but the songs and groups I've heard him play on my way home is heartening. Devo's "Satisfaction" (which like Schock I prefer to the Stones version), Jim Carroll's "All the People Who Died, Died"; Sex Pistols "Anarchy in the UK"; Ian Hunter's "All the Way to Memphis"; Husker Du; The Replacements; and several more I'm not remembering.
Unfortunately, this should not be such a tremendous event. Rock and Roll is 54 years old, there is so much great and wonderful music out there just waiting to be heard. But suit and ties who probably listen to John Tesh make the decisions for what you can hear and like lemmings we listen to stations that long ago gave up any connection to what we want. It has fueled the alternative ways of hearing the music you want from satellite to I-Pods, but how stupid is it for companies to chase away radio listeners who care about what they listen to. I'll keep listening to a station if it's playing a song I don't like, if the promise is there that I will like the next song, but how horrible is it that I am forced to change the station because they've made me sick of a song.
I hope 101.9-WRXP continues to experiment and I hope the New York audience makes them a rousing success.
The Freditor
The newest radio station in town came on the air, Feb. 7, 2008 and I have been remiss in writing about it. Finally, Finally, FINALLY a station for those of us who still wish the best for terrestrial radio.
My commute is only 1 hour round trip and I don't want to get satellite radio for my car for such a short period of time. I could get an I-Pod, but then I will only be listening to music I already own and not experiencing new stuff. And I will never hear the news or any other current events that way. I love variety on the radio, but my mainstay since 1978 has been great rock and roll radio, and we used to have it.
I didn't fully appreciate it at the time, because I was too young to notice and because it was always there, so who knew it could be taken away from us, but rock radio started going downhill around the end of 1982 and the fall has been precipitous since 1990. I won't go through an entire history, but people my age and older remember when WPLJ and WNEW were in a great dogfight for best rock station in New York. PLJ had a more commercial bent, but they were in touch with the modern listener and there was no shame in listening to them. WNEW was more avant garde, but boy did they open this young boy's ears. The punk rock scene never totally caught on in New York City, despite the revisionist history we hear on VH1 these days, but certain bands had their day in the sun on NEW and are staples today. Talking Heads, Blondie and The Ramones to name a few.
In 1982, NEW was so sure of itself that it started paying attention to the drumbeats of those who wanted to hear more black rock on the radio. They had always played Motown and Stax records, but they started looking at more modern fair and felt that Michael Jackson and Prince were making rock records. You'd hear "Beat It" because of Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo and Little Red Corvette, because of Prince's familiarity with Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix. But the corporate honchos started making their move on NEW and the experimenting was suddenly limited to Sundays and Friday afternoons with Things From England.
When K-Rock switched to all classic rock in the late '80s, New York radio started its fast swirl towards the drain. Classic rock became a code phrase for the Top 100 songs according to listener surveys beaten to death. Now many of those songs which I once loved are barely listenable anymore. And I won't even get into the fact that hardly any new rock and roll bands got a chance to find an audience during these last 25 years. U2, REM and Guns and Roses were the only new bands to find great success.
Now with so many in the New York audience turned off to FM radio by the lack of great music, a new station rises like a Phoenix from the ashes, 101.9--WRXP--The New York Rock Experience. It plays classic rock, modern rock and alternative rock. You are likely to hear in a row: Spoon, The Smiths and the Rolling Stones, but the Stones song will probably one you haven't heard on the radio in 25 years, like "Respectable" off Some Girls. Never heard of Spoon? They are a modern New York band with a fast, Spanish-flavored acoustic sound.
So basically, WRXP mixes up several genres into one cohesive rock and roll station. The punk/new wave era of late '70s WNEW, the modern hard-core rockers of '90s K-Rock, the alternative '80s and '90s records of WLIR and the classic rock that any number of stations have laid claim to since 1988. It's a lot for one station to take on, but hopefully the suits at other stations are starting to see the groundswell of support it's getting. People want to hear something both familiar and new. At most, classic rock stations will play the same five songs from an artist, RXP played the rarely heard Boogie With Stu from Led Zep III the other day. I nearly hit a tree when I heard it on the radio.
It's already starting to happen. Other stations are starting to experiment more. K-Rock is now playing hard rock back to 1970; WCBS is making more room for the '50s records they shamelessly pushed aside; the lowly "classic" Q-104.3 is at least playing something different on Two-for Tuesdays, making the second song one you haven't heard in a while.
RXP claims that they let their DJs pick the records, which might be true, but they do seem to have a bit of playlist that they choose from. Hopefully with success will come more experimentation. The afternoon DJ, Bryan Schock has become the biggest name on the station so far and he brags that he will play something you haven't heard in many years at least once a day on his show. Which is great and I hope that number grows exponentially, but the songs and groups I've heard him play on my way home is heartening. Devo's "Satisfaction" (which like Schock I prefer to the Stones version), Jim Carroll's "All the People Who Died, Died"; Sex Pistols "Anarchy in the UK"; Ian Hunter's "All the Way to Memphis"; Husker Du; The Replacements; and several more I'm not remembering.
Unfortunately, this should not be such a tremendous event. Rock and Roll is 54 years old, there is so much great and wonderful music out there just waiting to be heard. But suit and ties who probably listen to John Tesh make the decisions for what you can hear and like lemmings we listen to stations that long ago gave up any connection to what we want. It has fueled the alternative ways of hearing the music you want from satellite to I-Pods, but how stupid is it for companies to chase away radio listeners who care about what they listen to. I'll keep listening to a station if it's playing a song I don't like, if the promise is there that I will like the next song, but how horrible is it that I am forced to change the station because they've made me sick of a song.
I hope 101.9-WRXP continues to experiment and I hope the New York audience makes them a rousing success.
The Freditor
Monday, May 26, 2008
Traffic lights are holding up traffic on Juniper Valley Rd.
Today at work, my friend Ernie and I had a very interesting discussion about the new traffic light they put in on Juniper Valley Road in Middle Village, Queens, NY. It used to be a great road to drive down, since there were no traffic lights or stop signs between 80th Street and Penelope Avenue. Now I understand they are putting in another light at the corner of 79th Drive. Who's responsible for this? I want names.
I hear people talk about air pollution and maker a greener world, well how about eliminiating some of these unncessary traffic lights which cause drivers to sit still with their engines running in perfectly quiet residential neighborhoods. The same city planners destroyed a great route of travel in Cooper Avenue with an onslaught of traffic lights. I've heard Kathy Nolan was responsible, but I will not blame her without proof.
People in a hurry to get from Brooklyn to Forest Hills had a fast way of getting there using Cooper, but now that is destroyed. And people who wanted to avoid the congestion and filthy air quality of Metropolitan and Eliot Avenues used Juniper Valley Rd. are now stymied.Very unfair.
The Freditor
I hear people talk about air pollution and maker a greener world, well how about eliminiating some of these unncessary traffic lights which cause drivers to sit still with their engines running in perfectly quiet residential neighborhoods. The same city planners destroyed a great route of travel in Cooper Avenue with an onslaught of traffic lights. I've heard Kathy Nolan was responsible, but I will not blame her without proof.
People in a hurry to get from Brooklyn to Forest Hills had a fast way of getting there using Cooper, but now that is destroyed. And people who wanted to avoid the congestion and filthy air quality of Metropolitan and Eliot Avenues used Juniper Valley Rd. are now stymied.Very unfair.
The Freditor
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Marshmallow Sidewalks--The Caffeine Junkie Blues
Two separate friends in two weeks have suggested I start a Blog, so I guess that's a sign I should do it.
I've been very lax about writing the last few months. Mostly due to the lack of caffeine. On Dec. 21, I went to the movies with my brother and drank a large Cherry Coke with a chocolate bar. My blood pressure rose as it will do with large amounts of caffeine, sodium and sugar, (which Cherry Coke has in abundance) and I started getting dizzy. Real dizzy.
Walking on a marshmallow sidewalk dizzy. If you ever got hit in the head with a 2 by 4 (which I have) you know this feeling. Except I was having this feeling quite a bit in the last year. So rather than continue feeling this way I figured I better cut out the one thing my doctor was adamant about. Caffeine.
He said that the heart palpatations I was having off and on would not got better if I drank or ate caffeine (chocolate has plenty of caffeine). I asked what's the worst thing that could happen if I continued on my Pepsi ways? He said the palpatations wouldn't stop. That was not a good alternative.
As you know I love Pepsi, but I hate feeling nauseous, breathless and sweaty or being unable to speak and walk with confidence even more. If you ever want to know what it must be like to be a stroke victim or have Alzheimers for a short time, get into one of these dizzy spells. One thing is that your mind can't recall simple multi-syllable words that you've used thousands of times.
Two, it takes too much effort to tell a long story, so you wrap it up quickly to preserve your breath. I am very talkative, so this is a sure sign that I'm not feeling well.
Well, Dec. 21 I decided I am going to stop making myself feel this way. For all intents and purposes I stopped using caffeine that day. But the dizziness didn't stop. I started worrying after about 10 days that it wasn't the caffeine causing it at all, that it was something in me maybe. So I spoke to a Health Food/Vitamin lady. A tough older German who doesn't mince words. Doctors know about the body and medicine, but they really don't know about nutrition. I found out there are no nutrition courses in medical school.
Frau Vitamins told me that my body was trying to readjust itself after years of living off caffeine. My whole energy level was dictated by a foreign substance. Now it was trying to reacquaint itself with its own natural energy. So I was bound to feel bad/out of sorts for a while, maybe even a few months until everything was back in line. MONTHS!!!
It makes sense because since I was 18, my first year of college in 1984, I have been using Pepsi for a boost. Any time of day. For years I drank Pepsi with my breakfast. On Fridays, when I worked at the bank, I treated myself to Dr Pepper and bagels with thick cream cheese. Then after work (around 11AM, I worked the early walk-up window) I'd lay on my bed and watch my whole body pulse as my blood would try to metabolize that winning combination. At 22 I thought it was funny. I never find it funny now.
So 22 years of this abuse had to take more than 10 days to reverse itself. Then a friend of mine and a different friend of Barbara's separately told us about Apple Cider Vinegar. Both are champions in their physical endeavors and have fantastic bodies. These are people you listen to.
They both said a tablespoon of this vinegar into a glass of water in the morning will even out your blood sugar and help clean out the toxins/poisons in your body. This was on New Year's Eve and we soon went to Whole Foods (an organic supermarket chain) and bought the Vinegar. We both started drinking it every morning and while the results for Barb were minimal, for me they were astounding.
Suddenly the marshmallow sidewalks became hard again. The dizziness stopped. My energy level increased and within a couple of days I was back to my old self. No more drowsing off at 8PM on the couch. I even felt better than I had before the caffeine caused the palpatations. For years I would be drowsy around 11AM and get a Big Gulp Pepsi on my way to walking my route. Now I feel fine at 11AM. I would drive home from work and literally doze off in traffic. Now I'm alert from the moment I awake until a half hour before bedtime.
The caffeine was not only keeping me alert, but was causing my energy level to drop at different parts of the day. Having lived like this for years I never realized that it was UnNormal. Now even after a long Game Night, when I sleep only 3 hours before going to work, I don't have that crash. Sure I'm slower on my route, but I don't need that boost that I would before. I just work my way through it and manage to stay alert until I go to bed when I get home.
But one change for the worse has occurred with the lack of caffeine. I always heard about performers worrying that they would lose their creative edge if they stopped drinking or taking drugs. And I always dismissed it. Wouldn't Jimi Hendrix still be as great without the heroin? Now I realized, maybe not.
I found my writing started to become very ordinary. I would begin an email to you people and it would start boring me. Who wants to read this?, I'd say to myself and I'd delete it before finishing it. Now I realize that with the caffeine crash comes a period of depression and believe me I went through that. And with depression comes a lesser sense of self-worth, which could play into the "who wants to read this anyway" mentality. But then those feelings go away and you are your old self. And you can better judge the quality of your own work.
The best art I believe is the kind that entertains the artist themself. My favorite writing is the type that I smile about it after I send it off. The type that makes me stay up in bed and rethink the phrases that I was most proud of.
So I started to see that Pepsi or caffeine probably had a hand in tapping my creativity all these years. Perhaps caffeine released another chemical in my brain that opened my mind and let the words flow through. That chemical wasn't releasing these last few months, I know that. Maybe it's something like Robin Williams said. When asked how he can be so free on stage, he said that other people have a self-edit button in the brain that stops them from going to that next level.
The self-edit button that says "I won't do that because I will look foolish." Robin said that maybe his brain doesn't have that button.
Well maybe caffeine makes that button useless. Now I'm less animated when I'm telling a story in person and my writing is less colorful. That damn self-edit button is allowed to work now. I hope I can somehow struggle through that and make my mind work without the caffeine. Maybe this Blog will be a way to help me through it. I hope so. I won't lie. I'm a ham. I love to perform. For friends, for people who enjoy it. Writing is another kind of performing and it feeds my soul. I'd hate for the palpatatations and marshmallow sidewalks to steal that from me.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed this first taste of the New Millenium's "Crazy White Boy Blues". The caffiene bronco knocked me off the saddle. I hope I can get back on and tame this horse.
The Freditor
I've been very lax about writing the last few months. Mostly due to the lack of caffeine. On Dec. 21, I went to the movies with my brother and drank a large Cherry Coke with a chocolate bar. My blood pressure rose as it will do with large amounts of caffeine, sodium and sugar, (which Cherry Coke has in abundance) and I started getting dizzy. Real dizzy.
Walking on a marshmallow sidewalk dizzy. If you ever got hit in the head with a 2 by 4 (which I have) you know this feeling. Except I was having this feeling quite a bit in the last year. So rather than continue feeling this way I figured I better cut out the one thing my doctor was adamant about. Caffeine.
He said that the heart palpatations I was having off and on would not got better if I drank or ate caffeine (chocolate has plenty of caffeine). I asked what's the worst thing that could happen if I continued on my Pepsi ways? He said the palpatations wouldn't stop. That was not a good alternative.
As you know I love Pepsi, but I hate feeling nauseous, breathless and sweaty or being unable to speak and walk with confidence even more. If you ever want to know what it must be like to be a stroke victim or have Alzheimers for a short time, get into one of these dizzy spells. One thing is that your mind can't recall simple multi-syllable words that you've used thousands of times.
Two, it takes too much effort to tell a long story, so you wrap it up quickly to preserve your breath. I am very talkative, so this is a sure sign that I'm not feeling well.
Well, Dec. 21 I decided I am going to stop making myself feel this way. For all intents and purposes I stopped using caffeine that day. But the dizziness didn't stop. I started worrying after about 10 days that it wasn't the caffeine causing it at all, that it was something in me maybe. So I spoke to a Health Food/Vitamin lady. A tough older German who doesn't mince words. Doctors know about the body and medicine, but they really don't know about nutrition. I found out there are no nutrition courses in medical school.
Frau Vitamins told me that my body was trying to readjust itself after years of living off caffeine. My whole energy level was dictated by a foreign substance. Now it was trying to reacquaint itself with its own natural energy. So I was bound to feel bad/out of sorts for a while, maybe even a few months until everything was back in line. MONTHS!!!
It makes sense because since I was 18, my first year of college in 1984, I have been using Pepsi for a boost. Any time of day. For years I drank Pepsi with my breakfast. On Fridays, when I worked at the bank, I treated myself to Dr Pepper and bagels with thick cream cheese. Then after work (around 11AM, I worked the early walk-up window) I'd lay on my bed and watch my whole body pulse as my blood would try to metabolize that winning combination. At 22 I thought it was funny. I never find it funny now.
So 22 years of this abuse had to take more than 10 days to reverse itself. Then a friend of mine and a different friend of Barbara's separately told us about Apple Cider Vinegar. Both are champions in their physical endeavors and have fantastic bodies. These are people you listen to.
They both said a tablespoon of this vinegar into a glass of water in the morning will even out your blood sugar and help clean out the toxins/poisons in your body. This was on New Year's Eve and we soon went to Whole Foods (an organic supermarket chain) and bought the Vinegar. We both started drinking it every morning and while the results for Barb were minimal, for me they were astounding.
Suddenly the marshmallow sidewalks became hard again. The dizziness stopped. My energy level increased and within a couple of days I was back to my old self. No more drowsing off at 8PM on the couch. I even felt better than I had before the caffeine caused the palpatations. For years I would be drowsy around 11AM and get a Big Gulp Pepsi on my way to walking my route. Now I feel fine at 11AM. I would drive home from work and literally doze off in traffic. Now I'm alert from the moment I awake until a half hour before bedtime.
The caffeine was not only keeping me alert, but was causing my energy level to drop at different parts of the day. Having lived like this for years I never realized that it was UnNormal. Now even after a long Game Night, when I sleep only 3 hours before going to work, I don't have that crash. Sure I'm slower on my route, but I don't need that boost that I would before. I just work my way through it and manage to stay alert until I go to bed when I get home.
But one change for the worse has occurred with the lack of caffeine. I always heard about performers worrying that they would lose their creative edge if they stopped drinking or taking drugs. And I always dismissed it. Wouldn't Jimi Hendrix still be as great without the heroin? Now I realized, maybe not.
I found my writing started to become very ordinary. I would begin an email to you people and it would start boring me. Who wants to read this?, I'd say to myself and I'd delete it before finishing it. Now I realize that with the caffeine crash comes a period of depression and believe me I went through that. And with depression comes a lesser sense of self-worth, which could play into the "who wants to read this anyway" mentality. But then those feelings go away and you are your old self. And you can better judge the quality of your own work.
The best art I believe is the kind that entertains the artist themself. My favorite writing is the type that I smile about it after I send it off. The type that makes me stay up in bed and rethink the phrases that I was most proud of.
So I started to see that Pepsi or caffeine probably had a hand in tapping my creativity all these years. Perhaps caffeine released another chemical in my brain that opened my mind and let the words flow through. That chemical wasn't releasing these last few months, I know that. Maybe it's something like Robin Williams said. When asked how he can be so free on stage, he said that other people have a self-edit button in the brain that stops them from going to that next level.
The self-edit button that says "I won't do that because I will look foolish." Robin said that maybe his brain doesn't have that button.
Well maybe caffeine makes that button useless. Now I'm less animated when I'm telling a story in person and my writing is less colorful. That damn self-edit button is allowed to work now. I hope I can somehow struggle through that and make my mind work without the caffeine. Maybe this Blog will be a way to help me through it. I hope so. I won't lie. I'm a ham. I love to perform. For friends, for people who enjoy it. Writing is another kind of performing and it feeds my soul. I'd hate for the palpatatations and marshmallow sidewalks to steal that from me.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed this first taste of the New Millenium's "Crazy White Boy Blues". The caffiene bronco knocked me off the saddle. I hope I can get back on and tame this horse.
The Freditor
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Obama's "vision" of a better America makes him the candidate of choice for Bruce Springsteen
The Boss Backs Obama for President - AOL News
After the beating John Kerry took for accepting so many celebrity endorsements in 2004, some stars have been nervous about putting their weight behind a candidate this year. Some conservative Americans get very angry when they see a celebrity endorse a non-conservative candidate. Liberal elitists and other names are thrown at them. So when a concert tour was started in 2004 to support John Kerry, with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty and REM, I'm not sure it helped his candidacy as much as bring out the vitriol of those angry conservatives. But I don't think too many people were fully supportive of Kerry at that time. I mean I recognized his war record and figured he'd better than Bush, but I wasn't inspired by the man. 2004 was more about Anybody But Bush.
But 2008 is different. Bush is obviously a non-factor, but his policies and the disasters he's leaving behind aren't. This year people are inspired by one man and feel excited about his candidacy. Barack Obama has been lighting up people's minds and hearts for several months now and Bruce Springsteen is the latest celebrity to put his name behind this man. I don't believe Bruce was half-hearted when he supported Kerry, but he is way more outspoken about his feelings for Barack. "He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years."
That's huge. People like George Clooney have refrained from giving their support because they fear it will hurt more than help. But I think the people of this country are so disgusted with the direction America has gone these last four years that they are giving no mind to what the angry conservatives are saying. And while the war in Iraq might be part of it, the most disgraceful moment of these last four years has to be the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Because that shouldn't ever happen in America. And people watching TV that week saw themselves swimming in those streets and suffering and dying in the squalor of the Super Dome and having no government there to help them when the time was most dire. This wasn't Haiti or some African province. These weren't mud hut people in Thailand. These were Americans suffering and dying in America and it happened in one of our favorite cities, so why couldn't it happen in your city.
What would the response be after a devastating terrorist attack in your city. A dirty bomb say. Would the government be as slow to help us then? If that didn't enter many people's minds that week and for weeks after I'd be very surprised. While Katrina's aftermath was claming lives, George Bush stayed on vacation in Texas and Condaleeza Rice shopped in Manhattan and went to Broadway shows. They lost any moral supremacy they had that week. Hollywood Liberal Elitist Sean Penn, he went down there and got in a boat and saved people from drowning. He was a hero, maybe for the first time in his life, but he became one that week and because of that His Voice Has Value. Celebrities who help have value, they bring attention to a cause that might lack a spotlight.
I have been very lazy lately and have not read as much about Obama as I want to before giving my unquestioned support, but I'm almost there. That Bruce likes Obama doesn't change anything for me. There's plenty of celebrities that I like and respect who are going for McCain and Hillary. But having listened to Bruce's music for 30 years now I do know what he means about speaking to the America he's envisioned. That's my America, too.
The Freditor
After the beating John Kerry took for accepting so many celebrity endorsements in 2004, some stars have been nervous about putting their weight behind a candidate this year. Some conservative Americans get very angry when they see a celebrity endorse a non-conservative candidate. Liberal elitists and other names are thrown at them. So when a concert tour was started in 2004 to support John Kerry, with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty and REM, I'm not sure it helped his candidacy as much as bring out the vitriol of those angry conservatives. But I don't think too many people were fully supportive of Kerry at that time. I mean I recognized his war record and figured he'd better than Bush, but I wasn't inspired by the man. 2004 was more about Anybody But Bush.
But 2008 is different. Bush is obviously a non-factor, but his policies and the disasters he's leaving behind aren't. This year people are inspired by one man and feel excited about his candidacy. Barack Obama has been lighting up people's minds and hearts for several months now and Bruce Springsteen is the latest celebrity to put his name behind this man. I don't believe Bruce was half-hearted when he supported Kerry, but he is way more outspoken about his feelings for Barack. "He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years."
That's huge. People like George Clooney have refrained from giving their support because they fear it will hurt more than help. But I think the people of this country are so disgusted with the direction America has gone these last four years that they are giving no mind to what the angry conservatives are saying. And while the war in Iraq might be part of it, the most disgraceful moment of these last four years has to be the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Because that shouldn't ever happen in America. And people watching TV that week saw themselves swimming in those streets and suffering and dying in the squalor of the Super Dome and having no government there to help them when the time was most dire. This wasn't Haiti or some African province. These weren't mud hut people in Thailand. These were Americans suffering and dying in America and it happened in one of our favorite cities, so why couldn't it happen in your city.
What would the response be after a devastating terrorist attack in your city. A dirty bomb say. Would the government be as slow to help us then? If that didn't enter many people's minds that week and for weeks after I'd be very surprised. While Katrina's aftermath was claming lives, George Bush stayed on vacation in Texas and Condaleeza Rice shopped in Manhattan and went to Broadway shows. They lost any moral supremacy they had that week. Hollywood Liberal Elitist Sean Penn, he went down there and got in a boat and saved people from drowning. He was a hero, maybe for the first time in his life, but he became one that week and because of that His Voice Has Value. Celebrities who help have value, they bring attention to a cause that might lack a spotlight.
I have been very lazy lately and have not read as much about Obama as I want to before giving my unquestioned support, but I'm almost there. That Bruce likes Obama doesn't change anything for me. There's plenty of celebrities that I like and respect who are going for McCain and Hillary. But having listened to Bruce's music for 30 years now I do know what he means about speaking to the America he's envisioned. That's my America, too.
The Freditor
Monday, February 25, 2008
Haha, Oscars have worst ratings ever
Two reasons always make or break Oscars ratings. One, popular movies are nominated giving the audience a rooting interest. Titanic is the highest rated Oscar for this reason. Young girls all wanted Jack and Rose to win it all, which they did. When a movie is nominated that didn't even make as much as a baseball player's salary, then no one is going to care if it wins or loses.
Two, the Host is so important. If the host comes out of the gate with a great monologue people might stick with it, but if he tanks then the casual viewer will move on to something else. Before I left the house I caught three minutes of Jon Stewart's monologue and what I saw was bad, except for the Gaydolf Tittler joke. That was funny. But that's a big problem there. Jon Stewart. Who thinks Jon Stewart is funny? I don't, if I did I would watch The Daily Show. He replaced the Funny Guy on that show, Craig Kilborn.
You want a funny host who used to actually host a funny show. Greg Kinnear from Talk Soup. He's a really good actor who happens to be very funny, and quick on his feet.
Instead they keep bringing back horrible hosts like Whoopi Goldberg. Let's look at the hosts since Johnny Carson stopped doing the show.
2006/7--Jon Stewart--Not Funny
2005 Chris Rock---Funny
2004 Billy Crystal---Funny during the Reagan years
2003 Steve Martin---See Billy Crystal
2002 Whoopi Goldberg---Interesting, not funny.
2001 Steve Martin
2000 Billy Crystal
1999 Whoopi Goldberg
1998 Billy Crystal
1997 Billy Crystal
1996 Whoopi Goldberg
1995 David Letterman---Great. One of my favorite Oscar hosts. Got slammed because he wasn't a Hollywood insider. Oprah Uma thing was dumb, but the rest of the show was fun. He'll never do it, but I'd bring him back.
1994 Whoopi Goldberg
1993 Billy Crystal
1992 Billy Crystal
1991 Billy Crystal
1990 Billy Crystal
1989 No official host
1988 Chevy Chase---Rather stick a grapefruit spoon in my eye than watch him.
1987 Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, Paul Hogan---The Ménage à trois from hell.
1986 Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams---The hairiest Ménage à trois.
1985 Jack Lemmon---Only Neil Simon thought this guy was funny.
1984 Johnny Carson--The King.
The Freditor
Two, the Host is so important. If the host comes out of the gate with a great monologue people might stick with it, but if he tanks then the casual viewer will move on to something else. Before I left the house I caught three minutes of Jon Stewart's monologue and what I saw was bad, except for the Gaydolf Tittler joke. That was funny. But that's a big problem there. Jon Stewart. Who thinks Jon Stewart is funny? I don't, if I did I would watch The Daily Show. He replaced the Funny Guy on that show, Craig Kilborn.
You want a funny host who used to actually host a funny show. Greg Kinnear from Talk Soup. He's a really good actor who happens to be very funny, and quick on his feet.
Instead they keep bringing back horrible hosts like Whoopi Goldberg. Let's look at the hosts since Johnny Carson stopped doing the show.
2006/7--Jon Stewart--Not Funny
2005 Chris Rock---Funny
2004 Billy Crystal---Funny during the Reagan years
2003 Steve Martin---See Billy Crystal
2002 Whoopi Goldberg---Interesting, not funny.
2001 Steve Martin
2000 Billy Crystal
1999 Whoopi Goldberg
1998 Billy Crystal
1997 Billy Crystal
1996 Whoopi Goldberg
1995 David Letterman---Great. One of my favorite Oscar hosts. Got slammed because he wasn't a Hollywood insider. Oprah Uma thing was dumb, but the rest of the show was fun. He'll never do it, but I'd bring him back.
1994 Whoopi Goldberg
1993 Billy Crystal
1992 Billy Crystal
1991 Billy Crystal
1990 Billy Crystal
1989 No official host
1988 Chevy Chase---Rather stick a grapefruit spoon in my eye than watch him.
1987 Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, Paul Hogan---The Ménage à trois from hell.
1986 Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams---The hairiest Ménage à trois.
1985 Jack Lemmon---Only Neil Simon thought this guy was funny.
1984 Johnny Carson--The King.
The Freditor
Monday, February 4, 2008
Tremendous Victory--Giants win 3rd Super Bowl, now can Jets please win one
I was 2 1/2 years old when the Jets won their Super Bowl, I am now 41 1/2 years old. They're due, I'm due.
As thrilling as last night's win was, I've experienced three Giant Super Bowl wins in my adult life, and in this one case I kind of know what it feels like to be a Yankee fan. That feeling of ho-hum, another world title, please pass the Grey Poupon.
I went crazy when the Giants scored their last touchdown, and I was excited to hear the sports talk guys go on about it today, but I guess because the Giants are my second favorite team in football, it lacks that exhilarating feeling that would definitely come if the Jets ever entered the promised land.
Was last night's game the most exciting of all time? The greatest of all time? I'm not sure. It's up there, but Buffalo's missed field goal against the Giants in 1991 seemed more exciting. I guess because it ended the game. Can you imagine if Randy Moss had caught that pass at the 20 yard line with 20 seconds left last night? The Patriots would have gone for a 37 yard field goal to send it into Overtime. That is the only way last night's game could have been better.
Before expansion and parity, teams didn't come back late in games the way they do now. So when Joe Montana and the 49ers came back against the Bengals to score that last minute touchdown in 1989, that was both thrilling and unprecedented. But for sheer 4th quarter theatrics, perhaps the greatest Super Bowl of all time was the 1999 Rams-Tennessee game. That ended with the Titans stretching at the goal line for a touchdown, only to miss it by inches. I wasn't watching football in 1979, but from those who saw it, they tell me that was pretty exciting. Pittsburgh beat Dallas, when Roger Staubach threw into the end zone and Jackie Smith dropped the winning pass.
I started following football in 1981 and fell in love with the Jets that year. They made it to their first playoff game in 12 years that year and then to the AFC Championship the following year. I was young and spoiled and thought they would do it every year. They didn't and in 27 years I have only seen them get to two AFC Championship games. My heart stopped both times and finally was broken. What would my heart need if they ever made it to a Super Bowl and then won? I'd love to find out.
My teams in descending order of passion and year they last won title:
Mets--1986
Jets---1969
Giants---2008
Knicks---1973
Nets---Never in the NBA
Islanders----1983
Rangers----1994
Devils----2003
The Freditor
As thrilling as last night's win was, I've experienced three Giant Super Bowl wins in my adult life, and in this one case I kind of know what it feels like to be a Yankee fan. That feeling of ho-hum, another world title, please pass the Grey Poupon.
I went crazy when the Giants scored their last touchdown, and I was excited to hear the sports talk guys go on about it today, but I guess because the Giants are my second favorite team in football, it lacks that exhilarating feeling that would definitely come if the Jets ever entered the promised land.
Was last night's game the most exciting of all time? The greatest of all time? I'm not sure. It's up there, but Buffalo's missed field goal against the Giants in 1991 seemed more exciting. I guess because it ended the game. Can you imagine if Randy Moss had caught that pass at the 20 yard line with 20 seconds left last night? The Patriots would have gone for a 37 yard field goal to send it into Overtime. That is the only way last night's game could have been better.
Before expansion and parity, teams didn't come back late in games the way they do now. So when Joe Montana and the 49ers came back against the Bengals to score that last minute touchdown in 1989, that was both thrilling and unprecedented. But for sheer 4th quarter theatrics, perhaps the greatest Super Bowl of all time was the 1999 Rams-Tennessee game. That ended with the Titans stretching at the goal line for a touchdown, only to miss it by inches. I wasn't watching football in 1979, but from those who saw it, they tell me that was pretty exciting. Pittsburgh beat Dallas, when Roger Staubach threw into the end zone and Jackie Smith dropped the winning pass.
I started following football in 1981 and fell in love with the Jets that year. They made it to their first playoff game in 12 years that year and then to the AFC Championship the following year. I was young and spoiled and thought they would do it every year. They didn't and in 27 years I have only seen them get to two AFC Championship games. My heart stopped both times and finally was broken. What would my heart need if they ever made it to a Super Bowl and then won? I'd love to find out.
My teams in descending order of passion and year they last won title:
Mets--1986
Jets---1969
Giants---2008
Knicks---1973
Nets---Never in the NBA
Islanders----1983
Rangers----1994
Devils----2003
The Freditor
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