For any and all interested, I have a review of this book up at LibraryThing.

This seems apropos of the moment:

A Stewart fan, I tuned in to The Daily Show last night… Glynnis MacNicol called it an emotional, moving monologue. OTB’s Doug Mataconis calls it the smartest reaction of anyone to the tragedy in Arizona. I was disappointed; I thought it a rambling abdication of the Murrow mantle. Not for its perspective — did anyone really expect the Restoring Sanity maestro to take sides? — but what...

People’s Parties

“John Saw That Number” and “That Teenage Feeling.”

What makes a show business showstopper? It can be a dance, song, musical performance or comedy set that just flows and seems to unleash such joy in the performer and audience. TMVers of ALL ages are urged to watch this little video clip of a short musical shopstopper (one minute and 57 seconds) taped for the Hollywood Palace variety show in 1969. It shows a vaudeville style song with the legendary jazz singer...

Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a genuine American classic and one of the greatest works in the history of literature, American or otherwise, is being re-released in a new, cleansed version that takes out the words “nigger,” as well as “Injun,” the one-word, over-hyped source of controversy that has seen the book, as Publishers Weekly puts it, “disappearing from...

As government-hating lawmakers begin work, their guiding philosophy will come from a deceased Hollywood scriptwriter whose credo of Selfishness Uber Alles was considered loony half a century ago. In the House, Ayn Rand acolyte Paul Ryan takes over as chairman of the Budget Committee and Ron Paul will head the Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy as he prepares for another Presidential...

Having written “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Smoke,” my eye quickly caught a Letter to the Editor in today’s Stars and Stripes, titled “‘‘Don’t ask,’ surf and turf.” While hopefully my piece was a little more serious and a little less irreverent, this letter in all its “cheeky,” sardonic glory certainly gets its message across—after a while. Enjoy, or endure, according...

Mark Twain once defined a classic as a book people praise but don’t read. It seems that his truism is still quite accurate. In another of the sadly ironic PC events of the day there will be a new version of Tom Sawyer which will remove ‘offensive words’. The word nigger (my sincere apologies to those who are offended by the use of this word but it would be sort of hypocritical to condemn censorship...

I just live for connections like this; they fill me with delight!

How transformational are WikiLeaks and Facebook? According to columnist Antonio Pedro Vansconcelos of Portugal’s Sol newspaper, Julian Assange and Mark Zuckerberg have just heralded a brave new world, and those hoping for a smooth transition from the old civilization to the new are going to be ‘sorely disappointed.’ For Portugal’s Sol, Antonio Pedro Vansconcelos writes in part: If Facebook...

Now that the NFL’s 2010 season has been completed and we await the playoffs to decide the 46th Annual Super-bowl participants, it might be a good time to discuss bigger issues with respect to America’s favorite game. This exercise is far less stressful and depressing than discussing the barely-alive U.S. economy and its dysfunctional political system. I bring a dispassionate view to the entire exercise...

Here’s a bit of refurbished cinematic magic: Stewie of Family Guy (one of the most consistently funny animated programs) is seen here dancing with Gene Kelly in a scene where the Stewie takes the place of Kelly’s original animated partner Jerry Mouse in a famous segment from Anchors Aweigh. This dance scene is very famous because when it was made it was state-of-the-art in the days before Mary Poppins...

No matter what you’re age, if you’re interested in show biz (as a consumer or as a wannabe) finding REAL, AUTHENTIC examples of show stoppers on video is not easy. For years I’ve remembered a special musical that ran on ABC in the mid-60s due to a show stopper that stayed with me all these years. The number was done by a young Liza Minnelli (showing why she became famous in her own right versus...

As 2011 begins, I continue to be struck by the number of people I know who are undergoing financial crises, family crises and personal crises. Hopefully 2011 will prove a happier year for them than the end of 2010 or the first day of 2011. And it’s fitting to think about the lyrics of this song — a video from a TV show shot a long time ago, with Dean Martin singing a song to his adoring young daughter....

This is one of the most beautiful songs I know, and certainly one of my favorite Sheryl Crow songs (lyrics below video).

The world’s cartoonist are weighing in on the New Year. Here’s a cross section of their work: Gary McCoy, Cagle Cartoons 2011 Sword of Damacles: Michael Kountouris, Greece Drowning New Year: Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune Michael Kountouris, Greece

The four C’s are Karl Rove’s Courage and Consequence, and John Yoo’s Crisis and Command. The winner of the number one spot on that list does not have to share the spotlight: It’s George W. Bush, for Decision Points.

Kodachrome You give us those nice bright colors You give us the greens of summers Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, oh yeah! I got a Nikon camera I love to take a photograph So Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away ~Paul Simon This was a historic day, Paul Simon lived to see the day when Mama Kodak would take his Kodachrome away for good.  A victim of the digital age. Last Kodachrome...

As The Washington Post points out, her name was never Rosie and she wasn’t a riveter. But Geraldine Doyle and the original image of her that led to the iconic image of a working woman staring us into action are unlikely to fade from our political landscape any time soon. Thank you, Geraldine, and RIP.

Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Jon Stewart. In a 30-paragraph “news analysis,” the New York Times puts the Daily Show host into the journalism pantheon, omitting only Woodward and Bernstein. Well, yes but… As a comedian, satirist and, not incidentally, media critic, Stewart is a gifted figure, but lines are being blurred here in a way that tells much about our times and which, if he were...

THIS JUST IN from investigative reporter Andy Borowitz: Birthers Challenge Hawaii to Produce Statehood Certificate President’s Birthplace Not Really American, Leaders Claim KAILUA, HAWAII (The Borowitz Report) – Leaders of the so-called Birther movement followed President Obama on his Hawaiian vacation today to demand that Hawaii prove it is actually a U.S. state. Mr. Obama’s claim to American citizenship...

I have been a great admirer of Hollywood’s great war classics. Who can forget “All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)”, “The Longest Day’, “The Bridge on The River Kwai”, “Lawrence of Arabia”, and so on. But in the present times some see an unholy nexus between the war machine and the Hollywood. Al Jazeera has an interesting article and panel discussion...

And here it is…back on TMV by popular demand: The (dance) Bunny Hop: