http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Sun, 8 Feb 2004 23:34:50 EST http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. 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Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/02/08/233450.php Chris CotnerCounting down to till the first press release/appearance from a Native American Group upset about the performance of "Hey Ya. . ."10 . . . 9 . . . 8The marching band was a nice touch but, I like the Snow Bunny Outfits better. AUTHOR UPDATE: For T-David: Andre "Ice Cold" 3000 and his entourage came out to perform "Hey Ya" at the Grammy's in outfits inspired by what I guess would be considered traditional Native American Dress. This post was mainly intended to be a little comment on the way people overreact to things, and I guess I proved the point. There was also a small kernel of truth to the idea that Native American Groups might be offended, and this was based on my wife's reaction, who while not Native American, grew up in the heart of the Cherokee Nation: Tahlequah, OK. The only thing I saw that might be considered crossing the line was the wearing of the Full Head Dress by the D.J. Also, I did not intend for this post to be a troll trap, but apparently Mr. Yeagley just cannot help himself. Video12536@blogcritics.org Sun, 8 Feb 2004 23:34:50 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/02/04/152849.php Chris CotnerDue to network interruptions, I quit streaming the normal stations I listen to during the work day and flipped on the AM Radio I keep in my office. Rush was on, and as I keep a radio on for mostly background noise, I left him on. My interest was peaked when he said he wanted to talk about why he thought the Janet SB Halftime controversy was so big. Not that I expected anything different, figured it would be the same half-baked stuff I have already heard/read. His take boiled down to this: People have overreacted to this story because we are all convinced that famous people have much better sex lives than we do. So, there you go. A new perspective from an unexpected source. Culture12384@blogcritics.org Wed, 4 Feb 2004 15:28:49 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/02/04/102246.php Chris CotnerWOXY, 97X -- The Future of Rock and Roll is no longer going to broadcast over the air (starting around May 1st):This is Linda Balogh . . . my husband Doug and I have been the owners of WOXY Radio for nearly 23 years. When we bought the station, I was 35 and Doug was 39. We built it together with a special group of scrappy and talented people. Now we're 57 and 61 . . . and ever since the Telecom Act of 1996 unleashed the massive consolidation in radio, it's been harder and harder for single-station independents like us to compete against the behemoths. So when this offer came along, we decided it was time to take it. We don't feel we've "sold out," we really don't. We have elderly parents to take care of, and our own retirement to think about. So, it was time.On the other hand, we have also built this wonderful and rapidly growing website and internet broadcast, and it's a wonderful entrepreneurial opportunity for the 20- and 30- and 40-somethings we work with . . . so we are going to help them find the funding to keep that going and growing. We will stay involved to a degree - and continue to own part of it - but we do intend to walk off into the sunset (that would be in Santa Fe) and enjoy the fruits of our labors.Hope this helps clarify the decision. We're not some big faceless corporation - we're two real live people (with feelings, by the way!).Sincerely, LB --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Is 97X going away?No. "97X The Future of Rock and Roll" was not sold. The local broadcast license at 97.7 FM was sold but we still have the music and everything else that makes 97X what it is. And that's why we're going to be able to continue this as an internet-only radio station at woxy.com . . . same music, same format, live DJs and independently owned. 97X The Future of Rock and Roll is not going away . . . in three months, you just won't be able to tune us in on your FM radio at 97.7 anymore. Since I only listen to 97X on the Net (living in OK, its kinda hard to get the FM signal all the way from Cincinnati) I am not going to notice a difference. For the people of Dayton/Oxford/Cincinnati this seems like a tremendous loss. Culture12371@blogcritics.org Wed, 4 Feb 2004 10:22:46 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/01/16/131127.php Chris CotnerAhhh . . . the good ole' days when you could call a radio station and actually get a request played, even when the DJ had never heard it. Actually, in this case, it was letter written by a 15 year old girl, and in a "Where Are They Now, With A Little History" piece by the Washington Post I learned that a 15 year old girl literally helped create Beatlemania:Capitol's chief talent scout, Dave Dexter, initially didn't find the Beatles "suitable for the American market." And on the day after Christmas, when the record was released, few in America had heard of the quartet. But plenty of Washingtonians had. They had a big head start on what the rest of the nation would discover -- all thanks to an enthusiastic 15-year-old Silver Spring girl and the letter she wrote to a local DJ. Because of that modest note, urging him to locate and play a song by a certain obscure British band, she has been widely credited with helping light the fuse for the explosion that was Beatlemania. Reluctant to take that credit, she all but vanished many years ago, and attempts to find her have failed. Until now. Hat Tip to J. Bowen at No Watermelons Music11777@blogcritics.org Fri, 16 Jan 2004 13:11:27 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/01/13/154859.php Chris CotnerRichard Goldstein, writing in the Village Voice, posits that Jackson's difficulty is not the same as that of R. Kelly based on the gender of the victims: Because fantasies of sex with minors are so common, age of consent laws are essential. But the obsession with these cases has unintended consequences. It focuses our attention on the sexuality of minors, and makes our fantasies about them even hotter. The more hysterical D.A.s get, the hipper these reveries seem. By now, a yen for the young is an emblem of roguish transgression. This spiral of arousal and repression was bound to produce a superstar - and R. Kelly is that man. As for Jacko: If he wants to save his career, he'll have to start fooling around with 14-year-old girls. I am not sure that I agree with all the assertions in this article, espcially this one: Why does Jacko rate contempt while the Pied Piper gets a wink and nod? The answer lies in the widespread assumption that "awakening" a young lass is the mark of a potent man. When combined with the racist fantasy that black men are repositories of unbridled lust, sex with girls becomes the ultimate credential for a playa.Based on a random sampling, mainly the people I know who are white, only a few can even pinpoint R. Kelly and most of them only know him as the guy who wrote that song for that Michael Jordan movie with Bugs Bunny. So, I have no idea if there is a racist fantasy in play, but I do recognize there was a time when "the black man" was feared in terms of sexual prowess. And, I always assumed the girls in the R. Kelly video were black, so, well, I just don't know. I do agree with sentences that follow the above paragraph:But Jacko will never qualify as a stud. He's violated the rules of both racial and gender identity by transforming himself into an alabaster androgyne. In a time when banality passes for subversion, Jacko is our Oscar Wilde. The Oscar Wilde comparison may be a little off, but the point remains. Towards the end of the article comes this:A generation ago, not much attention was paid to the sexual abuse of boys. It was thought that they could slough it off in the absence of penetration. After the pedo-priest scandals, we know otherwise. Now there's a danger that boys will be regarded as the most vulnerable victims. That would be the perfect projection of America's homosexual panic. As for attitudes toward men abusing girls, consider Chris Rock's reaction when he spied R. Kelly in the house at last year's MTV awards show. Better put the Olsen twins in the balcony, quipped Chris. Bah-dum! The Chris Rock joke is funny. And, the idea that sexual abuse of boys was overlooked for too many years is probably valid (I don't have access to any research on this). But, I don't know what Mr. Goldstein means when he writes that there is "now a danger that boys will be regarded as the most vulnerable victims. That would be the perfect projection of America's homsexual panic."Two points:1. Isn't it a good thing that boys are now being recognized as vulnerable to sexual abuse? Whether the abuse comes at the hands of a male or female, sexual abuse is sexual abuse and the boys who are victims need to be treated appropriately.2. I didn't realize America was in the grips of homosexual panic. There is the issue of gay marriage on the table, but that seems to be more a public policy dispute than anything else. Maybe I am reading something into this, but the author seems to imply that sex with underage boys should be seen as much as an awakening process as sex with underage girls. If so, that scoots pretty close to a line I am not willing to cross. There are good arguments for lowering the age of consent to 16. Mostly, age of consent laws criminalize sex between teenagers. But, whether the age of consent should be lowered so that adults, over the age of 18 or 21 (take your pick) should be able to have legal sex with minors, I ain't there on that one. Maybe 18, but not 21. Culture11683@blogcritics.org Tue, 13 Jan 2004 15:48:59 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/01/13/142427.php Chris CotnerI don't think I am overselling this guy. Rob Ryder writes the best movie/sports column. It may be the only one, but when it is the best, why would you need more? I won't excerpt (and spoil) his PWW (Pedaling While White) story, but here is a sample paragraph:It's called packaging. There's no one set way to put the key elements of a movie together, except to say that it usually involves a great deal of begging, arm-twisting, misrepresenting the truth, calling in old favors, outright lying, threatening, more begging, more lying, beating down doors, beating up assistants, and even more begging (not necessarily in that order). Video11682@blogcritics.org Tue, 13 Jan 2004 14:24:27 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/01/12/155428.php Chris CotnerDisney announces plan to close Orlando Animation Studio.This has been coming for a long time as it was obvious with the success of Pixar that long form hand-drawn features were on the outs.With a little one back in the house, Disney has been back in the DVD player. "The Lion King" is the current favorite and I just can't picture what that film might look like computer animated. A lot of people point to "The Lion King" as the last great hand-drawn Disney picture, and I think they may be right. The colors in this film are magnificent, and the story is hands-down Disney's last strong hand-drawn animated story. The opening sequence alone, where all the animals gather for Simba's presentment, is worth the price of the DVD. Video11653@blogcritics.org Mon, 12 Jan 2004 15:54:28 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/01/08/170209.php Chris CotnerSince the Etc. column is here to stay, despite my suggestion :), here is an interesting article from Reason Online about Media Consolidation and whether the Critics are right. Domination Fantasies.Discuss, or not. Culture11560@blogcritics.org Thu, 8 Jan 2004 17:02:09 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/01/06/162728.php Chris CotnerYou wouldn't really expect a sports site like ESPN.com to have anything, well smart and engaging, about movies. But, for the Page 2 of the site, they have hired a guy named Rob Ryder who is a former college basketball player and now Hollywood screen writer, among other things, to write a weekly column. Naturally, the focus of Mr. Ryder's efforts are sports oriented, but still interesting. Here is the link to this week's column, and the other columns are archived to the right of the current one. Small taste:At least Burg has a pretty good sense of humor. Like the time we were prepping "Eddie." We hadn't left for Charlotte yet, so we were working in one of Disney's high rises in Burbank. Whoopi was visiting, and she was one very unhappy camper. You learn to keep your head down in the movie business. Doesn't matter what department you're in. As soon as the s--- starts flying you close your door (if you're lucky enough to have one). So there I was, alone at my desk, trying to figure out how in hell, in the midst of a nasty NBA lockout, we were gonna put actual NBA players in uniforms when the uniforms belonged to management. Suddenly, I heard Whoopi go off. This wasn't one of those slow builds. Oh no, this was an explosion -- a monumental, seven-expletive tirade laced with what sounded like a string of extremely imaginative, quasi-sexual improbabilities about to be committed on said producer, Mark Burg. I closed my door. The thing about movie stars ... when they yell at you, you can't yell back. You've gotta eat it. You've gotta take it like the hot-shot producer you are. Then you turn around and dump it on your assistant. Video11499@blogcritics.org Tue, 6 Jan 2004 16:27:28 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/12/18/174459.php Chris CotnerIf Michael Jackson had ever been married, he would be immune to being made fun of for smelling up the bathroom. I can imagine this conversation:Police #1 -- Hey, where's the King of PopPolice # 2 -- In the bathroomPolice # 1 -- You think his s*** don't stink?Police # 2 -- Nope. Music11094@blogcritics.org Thu, 18 Dec 2003 17:44:59 EST