Advantages of Mass Transit

If It Was 45 Years Ago, We'd Be Watching This on Ed Sullivan

Before 60 Minutes was standard Sunday night viewing (or ER on Thursdays), The Ed Sullivan Show was how families across America got ready for a new week of work and school. Every Sunday night between 8:00-9:00 p.m., families gathered around a television set in their living room to watch acts like this one:

Raymond Crowe, Unusualist

"The surest sign of age: Yearning for simpler times."

Celebrating Monks

Burma’s Monks: Ethics is not confined to Books and Temples

"By speaking up for the people of Burma who have suffered so much under military rule for so long, the monks of Burma are doing precisely that: living up to the Prophetic mission of Buddhism and showing that ethics and morals are out there in the streets and in demonstrations."

~Farish A. Noor

What can the world do?

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Happy Birthday

Tony Shaloub
(born October 9, 1953)

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Thelonious Monk, October 10, 1917 - February 17, 1982

Games Industry Discovers Gitmo, Hunger and Other Serious Issues

A new breed of computer games -- so-called "serious games" -- has been developed to help interest and educate young people about the world's political conflicts.

A screenshot of the "Gone Gitmo" game on Second Life: a continuation of the teach-in using new media.

Der Spiegel reports:

They sit onboard an airplane with their hands and feet restrained. Black hoods have been pulled over their heads. Guards roughly push them around until they are delivered to a dog-pound-like area fenced in with barbed wire. Now it is time to wait. There is no formal indictment, no lawyer -- and no escape.

That is roughly what one plot in "Gone Gitmo," a digital recreation of life in the US prison camp in Guantánamo, looks like. "Gone Gitmo" is part of the online phantasy world Second Life.

A virtual penal camp in the midst of a hedonist dreamworld that lures hundreds of thousands of pleasure-seeking computer users by means of shopping malls and nudist beaches -- is that not tasteless? "On the contrary," says Nonny de la Peña, a California-based activist who was involved in developing the politically inflected game. "It's not our playworld that's a scandal, but the conditions inside the real Guantánamo."

De la Peña is documentary film director whose works are shown mainly at small festivals. She hopes the online gulag will help her to reach young Americans who prefer playing computer games to attending demonstrations. To her, the Guantánamo simulation is something like a new-media update of the traditional teach-in.

An entire gamut of so-called "serious games" is hitting computer stores this fall -- games that are serious, challenging and politically correct. The 3D strategy game "Global Conflicts: Palestine," for example, which goes on sale in mid-October, involves the player assuming the role of a journalist doing research in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The player-reporter's task is to find out what is fueling the conflict and whether Israeli security forces are reacting appropriately to terrorist attacks. Instead of hunting monsters or gunning down enemies, players need to assemble -- by mouseclick -- a halfway plausible report on the basis of a plethora of mutually contradictory sources.

"Of course it's a game for a niche market," says Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, a Copenhagen-based professor of media studies. "But the niche is growing rapidly. We hope to be able to sell the game to 1,000 schools and 30,000 private customers for use in political education."

"Games for Change"

The new genre is expanding. The conference "Games for Change" was held for the fourth time in New York in June. It's the kind of gathering that sees computer programmers, political science professors and even World Bank and United Nations employees talking with each other.

A screenshot from the political game "Global Conflicts: Palestine."

But many serious games still suffer from serious teething troubles. Sometimes they seem too trivial and sometimes as wooden as an interactive Sunday sermon. "Darfur is Dying," for example, invites players to imagine themselves as refugees in western Sudan forced to hide from the brutal Janjaweed militias. The game was developed at the University of Southern California with the support of firms such as Reebok and MTV. It is neither particularly exciting, nor does it shed light on the conflicts behind the genocide.

"Food Force," on the other hand, is considered one of the most successful political games. It is distributed free of charge by the UN World Food Progam and is not meant to shake people awake by means of shock effects; rather, it is designed to offer insight into the complex world of famine relief. The player's task is to reduce food scarcity on a fictitious island -- despite financial bottlenecks, enemy rebels and numerous practical constraints.

Germany's Federal Agency for Civic Education (BPB) is also introducing a computer game at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair. The game, called "Genius - In The Center of Power," was developed in cooperation with the textbook publisher Cornelsen and resembles a blend of the simulated civilizations of "SimCity" and Social Studies 101.

Players can take on the persona of a politician of their choice and then campaign for the offices of mayor or prime minister. Their success is measured by the degree to which they keep their campaign promises. "In this way, we want to convey a basic understanding of how democracy works," says Arne Busse, who is responsible for the development of political-educational games at BPB. Next, he is planning to develop games for young people with immigrant backgrounds.

Of course, not even the best software can substitute for political discussions; at best they can encourage such debates and provide them with facts. The virtual Guantánamo prison, for example, regularly transforms into an Internet lecture theater where legal experts explain the US Constitution.

"When I conduct a teach-in on Second Life, I'm able to show films, present documentaries and let eyewitnesses speak-- and I reach people all over the world," says the well-known and controversial Mark Denbeaux, 64, a law professor at Seton Hall University, in New Jersey. He also works as a lawyer for Guantánamo prisoners.

Denbeaux hopes to reach a wider audience by means of the seminars he presents in the pixel-prison: "The pioneer spirit on the Internet," he says, "almost reminds me of the rallies held by the civil rights movement in the 1960s."

Mission Creep

Kathy Griffin's Emmy Remarks to Be Censored



The AP reports:

Before Kathy Griffin won a creative arts Emmy last weekend for her reality show, 'My Life on the D-List,' she joked that an award would move her to the C-list. She was right: 'C' as in censored. The TV academy said her raucous acceptance speech will be edited when the event, which was taped, is shown Saturday on the E! channel.

The main prime-time Emmy Awards air the next night on Fox.

'Kathy Griffin's offensive remarks will not be part of the E! telecast on Saturday night,' the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said in a statement Monday.

In her speech, Griffin said that 'a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus.'

She went on to hold up her Emmy, make an off-color remark about Christ and proclaim, 'This award is my god now!'

The comedian's remarks were condemned Monday by Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who called them a 'vulgar, in-your-face brand of hate speech.'

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League

According to the TV academy and E!, when the four hour-plus ceremony is edited into a two-hour program, Griffin's remarks will be shown in 'an abbreviated version' in which some language may be bleeped.

The program was in production and unfinished, an E! spokeswoman said Monday.
Requests for comment were left Monday evening by phone and e-mail with Griffin's publicist. They were not immediately returned.

The Catholic League, an anti-defamation group, called on the TV academy to 'denounce Griffin's obscene and blasphemous comment' at Sunday's ceremony.

The academy said Monday it had no plans to address the issue in the prime-time broadcast.

The organization may have another delicate issue to consider, this one involving an off-color fake music video that aired last December on 'Saturday Night Live' and won a creative arts Emmy for best song.

Andy Samberg of 'SNL' said Saturday that he had yet to be asked by the TV academy to perform the tune with Timberlake on the Fox broadcast, but he was willing.

Timberlake, on a concert tour, is scheduled to be in Los Angeles next weekend.
The subject of their '(Blank) in a Box' video: wrapping a certain part of the male anatomy and presenting it to a loved one as a holiday present.

The academy has said that 'show elements are in the process of being worked out.'

Had Kathy Griffin not been Catholic, but had she been born into a Presbyterian family, would Donohue have launched his attack? How is it that Donohue and the Catholic League can own 'Jesus Christ' and dictate what can be said about him? Do they hold a trademark (Jesus Christ®)?

This is a typical example of what evangelical Christians mean when they say that "there is an attack on Christians" - the free speech rights of a private citizen.

P.S. Way to go on the Emmy, Kathy Griffin!

Feel Good

Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle

Staunch Women . . . .

. . . . We just don't weaken.

The revolutionary costume pour du jour, Tony-award winner Christine Ebersole in "Grey Gardens":

"Let's win the revolution, with style!

<sub>The Revolutionary Costume For Today, from "Grey Gardens," premiered March 7, 2006
Music: Scott Frankel
Lyrics: Michael Korie
Book: Doug Wright
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Speaking)
Oh, hi. Thank heaven you're here. You look absolutely terrific, honestly. (Mother wanted me to come out in a kimono so we had quite a fight...)

(Singing)
The best kind of clothes for a protest pose
Is this ensemble of pantyhose
Pulled over the shorts, worn under the skirt
That doubles as a cape.

To reveal you in capri pants
You fashion out of ski pants,
In a jersey knit designed to fit
The contour of your shape.
Then cinch it with a cord from the drape.

And that's the revolutionary costume for today.
To show the polo riders, in khakis and topsiders,
Just what a revolutionary costume has to say.
It can't be ordered from L.L. Bean.
There's more to living than kelly green.
And that's the revolution, I mean.

Da da da da dum...

(Speaking)
Just listen to this: The Hamptons Bee, July, 1972: "The elderly bed-ridden aunt of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Mrs. Edith Bouvier Beale..."

My very own mother, can you imagine?

"...and her adult daughter, Miss Edie Beale, a former debutante once known as Body Beautiful Beale..."

They called me Body Beautiful Beale, it's true - that was my whaddyacallit, my uh ... sobriquet.

"...are living on Long Island in a garbage-ridden, filthy 28-room house with 52 cats, fleas, cobwebs, and virtually no plumbing. After vociferous complaints from neighbors, the Board of Health took legal action against the reclusive pair."

Why, it's the most disgusting, atrocious thing ever to happen in America!

(Singing)
You fight City Hall with a Persian shawl
That used to hang on the bedroom wall,
Pinned under the chin, adorned with a pin
And pulled into a twist.

Reinvent the objet trouve,
Make a poncho from a duvet,
Then you can be with cousin Lee
On Mr. Blackwell's list.
The full-length velvet glove hides the fist.

And that's the revolutionary costume for today.
Subvert the CrisCraft boaters, those Nixon-Agnew voters.
Armies of conformity are headed right your way.
To make a statement you need not be
In Boston Harbor upending tea.
And that's a Revolution, to me.

Staunch!
There's nothin' worse, I tell ya,
Staunch!
S-T-A-U-N-C-H.
Staunch women, we just don't weaken.
A little known fact to the fascist pack
Who comes here for antiquin'.

Da da da da dum...

(Speaking)
Honestly, they can get you in East Hampton for wearing red shoes on a Thursday - and all that sort of thing. I don't know whether you know that - I mean, do you know that? They can get you for almost anything - it's a mean, nasty, Republican town.

(Singing)
The best kind of shoes to express bold views
Are strapless mules in assertive hues
Like fuscia or peach, except on the beach,
In which case you wear flats.

When I stood before the nation
At Jack's inauguration,
In a high-heeled hump, I got the jump
On Jackie's pillbox hat.
Just watch it where you step with the cat!

And that's the revolutionary costume pour du jour.
You mix'n'match and, Presto! A fashion manifesto.
That's why a revolutionary costume's de rigeur.

The rhododendrons are hiding spies,
The pussy willows have beady eyes.
Binoculars through the privet hedge,
They peek at you through the window ledge with guile!

We're in a Revolution!
So win the Revolution with style!

Da da da da dum.</sub>

The Easter Monkey

For your amusement, meet Nina Conti and 'Monk':



Interesting alter ego she has.

When Was The Last Time You Were This Happy . . . .

. . . . .about anything?:

Laura Linney and Rodrigo Santoro in a clip from "Love Actually."

Country Music Industry to Dixie Chicks: "If You're Trying to Offer an Olive Branch to Country Radio, That's Not The Way To Do It"

Grammys or not, Dixie Chicks still country-radio "outlaws."

The Seattle Times reports:

Country radio still isn't ready to make nice with the Dixie Chicks.

With a haul of Grammys on Sunday, the Texas trio topped their comeback from their 2003 Bush-bashing comment that turned them from superstars to pariahs — but Nashville's Music Row isn't welcoming them back into the country-music fold.

"Most country stations aren't playing the Chicks, and they aren't going to start now," said Jim Jacobs, owner of WTDR-FM, a country radio station in Talladega, Ala.

The awards might have the opposite effect, sparking another radio backlash against the group. Country broadcasters said Monday that the group's five Grammys show how out of touch the Recording Academy is from the average country fan.

"I think [the listeners] are outraged," said Tony Lama, program director for KXNP in North Platte, Neb. "This is rural, conservative America. They are just disgusted."

Country stations quit playing the Chicks in 2003 after singer Natalie Maines told a London audience: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."

Almost overnight, Maines became a lightning rod in the debate over the Iraq war, with conservatives blasting her for criticizing the president, especially while on foreign soil.

The Chicks sang about the controversy in their single, "Not Ready to Make Nice," which won Grammys as record and song of the year. Their album, "Taking the Long Way," won album of the year.

Country radio may not be ready to embrace them again, but the Grammy runaway suggests that a significant portion of the rest of the country has come around to their way of thinking. The president's approval ratings are down, and his party was ousted in the midterm elections.

"I'm slowly getting my faith back in mankind," Maines said Sunday.

But the rift with country-music radio seems impossibly wide. The Chicks have said they never felt at home on Music Row, even when they were a top-selling country act.

"If you're trying to offer an olive branch to country radio, that's not the way to do it," said Ken Tucker, Billboard country-music correspondent. "The Chicks are celebrating being the outlaws."

$367 billion dollars later, more than 3100 U.S. troops dead, more than 23,000 wounded, hundreds of thousands of Iraq civilians dead and wounded, a no-win-and-escalating-out-of-control civil war, and the Bush-loving country-music industry thinks that it's the Dixie Chicks who owe an apology?!??

When do these people realize that they have no business going anywhere near a ballot box? And why aren't they in Iraq?

Piss them off even more and drive the Dixie Chicks' sales through the roof.

Agents of Change

The Dixie Chicks had the last laugh at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.

After a boycott by corporate radio stations nationwide, death threats, CD burnings, and the loss of a lucrative country music career after lead singer Natalie Maines told an audience in London on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq: "We're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas," the Dixie Chicks won 5 Grammy awards for an album they produced after the controversy in response to their critics, including awards for the top 3 categories - Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year. The last artist who won the top 3 awards was Eric Clapton in 1993. They performed their biggest hit song from the album, "I'm Not Ready to Make Nice":

The Dixie Chick accept the award for 'Best Country Album' of the year:

The Dixie Chicks accept the award for 'Best Song of the Year':

Tonight we celebrate what is all right with the world, for tomorrow, it is back to the trenches: The House of Representatives debates Bush's splurge in Iraq.


,

End of an Era

End of empire.

Paula Poundstone is Back . . . .

. . . . And she's better than ever.



Welcome back, Paula.

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