My hero: when i found out that jamey rodemeyer killed himself – i felt deeply troubled. but when i found out that jamey rodemeyer had made an it gets better video only months before taking his own life – i felt indescribable despair. i also made an it gets better video last year – in the wake of the senseless and tragic gay teen suicides that were sweeping the nation at the time. but in...

Sometimes the Left Brain (the one that controls the right side and “logical” language functions) needs to take a break. Luckily, the Right Brain (the “spatial” non-linear side that controls the left side of the body) is sometimes up to the task. Drawings by Hart Williams (in his alter- persona as Hesperion Wug) from September and early October. Horny Toad (or Horned Frog in Texas) —...

Mitt Romney is liked but not well-liked. Herman Cain could sell ice cubes to Eskimos. Images from post-World War II theater arise as “Death of a Salesman” meets “The Music Man” in a 21st century culture clash that defies rational explanation. Like “Dr.” Harold Hill, who sold band instruments and uniforms without knowing how to read music, Cain is dazzling even stubborn Iowans with his 9-9-9 version...

There’s a difference between Flo Ziegfeld’s shameless 1896 scandal publicity and the corporate machine that was MGM’s 1949 publicity, which brings us to the present day. You see, Ziegfeld was selling sex to a society that didn’t allow women’s ankles to be exposed in public, while MGM was pouring an endless glop of corny wholesomeness on the pancakes of sentimental hogwash to more...

We return to the story of Anna Held, Florenz Ziegfeld’s meal ticket from 1895 … The 1896 Broadway revival of A Parlor Match had two musical highlights – the hit song “Daisy Bell” (also known as “A Bicycle Built for Two”), and Anna Held’s performance of the playful “Won’t You Come and Play With Me?” To guarantee ongoing publicity, Ziegfeld let out...

“A pretty girl is like a malady,” quoth the poet. Celebrity and its handmaiden, Publicity, have been with us ever since P.T. Barnum perfected the art and artifice, and Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. learned how to create ticket sales for a “celebrity” who nobody’d ever heard of, Anna Held, whom he stole from the Folies Bergere in Paris: The 1896 Broadway revival of A Parlor Match had two...

SNL skewered Fox & Friends and Hank William’s Jr.’s controversial comparisons of Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler: And here’s the original for- real segment that got Hank Williams, Jr. axed from ESPN: The original almost plays like an SNL skit. I haven’t blogged on this, but the (hideous, reprehensible) analogy apart, Williams made the mistake that some celebrities do when they are...

by WALTER BRASCH The most important media story this past week is that the Kardashians were guest co-hosts on the fourth hour of NBC’s “Today” show. One Kardashian sister per day, plus mother Kris and stepdad Bruce Jenner. It isn’t bad enough that talk shows, which have descended into a morass of being publicity mills for celebrity hucksters, adore them. It isn’t bad enough that the E! cable network,...

Astrophysicists Saul Perlmutter, Adam Riess, and Brian Schmidt were recently awarded the Nobel Prize for their work concerning the universe and everything in it. Their recent research has contributed greatly to the discovery that the universe is not only expanding, but actually speeding up. The reasons for the Universe’s expansion and increased acceleration are less certain. Astrophysicists believe the...

Washington National Cathedral officials announced today that they plan to reopen the cathedral on Nov. 12, but that short-term repairs and continuing cathedral operations through the end of 2012 would cost $25 million. Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi immediately called dueling press conferences. At her conference, Pelosi stated that repairs of...

Set your DVRs. From the NYTimes review: Flappers in speakeasies and biddies beating temperance drums: hardly seems a recipe for modern-day relevance. Yet you can hear history talking directly to the Americans of 2011 all through “Prohibition,” an absorbing five-and-a-half-hour documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick that runs for three nights, beginning on Sunday on PBS stations. Especially now, the story...

Saturday Night Live last night lampooed internet comments sections on weblogs and websites where people comment and say whatever pops into their heads using “pen names.” Another case of satire saying something far more effectively than a zillion serious words:

I’ll be in Atlanta this afternoon on a panel after the screening of my video, For Such A Time As This, at the 24th annual Out on Film Festival. The documentary short tells the story of out proud lesbian Baptist preacher, Genie Hargrove, who was ordained the Southern Baptist minister of her rural Georgia church in 2004. My partner, Doug Keith, and I interviewed Genie for StoryCorps last February. That...

“I don’t collect vinyl. I have a small collection. I’d say none of it is prized.” That’s Gregg Gillis speaking in episode 4 of Hulu’s, A Day in the Life, from documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. The quote comes as a series of interviewers repeatedly and mistakenly ask the musician about his career as a DJ: I never play with DJs; I never really associated with DJ culture....

RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

by WALTER BRASCH Parents demanded it be banned. School superintendents placed it in restricted sections of their libraries. It is the most challenged book four of the past five years, according to the American Library Association (ALA). “It” is a 32-page illustrated children’s book, And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, with illustrations by Henry Cole. The book is based upon the...

TV Newser reports that Times’ Mark Halperin scored a historic broadcast first: he did his analysis for MSNBC from an airplane bathroom. GO HERE to see their post and the video (its such a scoop that we prefer you go to their site). I REFUSE to make any immature jokes about how I would think the analysis would be done by a lab after he uses the bathroom. No jokes about crappy analysis will appear here...

THIS JUST IN! Here is the love song sung by the Republican Party to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (sung here actually by a young Elvis Presley). The lyrics fit:

It may not be the trial of the (young) century, but the trial of the late “King of Pop” singer Michael Jackson’s doctor has now begun — and it promises to have media coverage galore. The opening salvo by Dr. Conrad Murray’s lawyer: Jackson was responsible for his own death: A lawyer for Dr. Conrad Murray, who is charged in the death of Michael Jackson, says the pop superstar caused...

A pitiful Wall Street parody of 1960s populist protests is a reminder of what has changed in American life over half a century. The hippie trappings are there, but the joyous anarchy and hope back then are nowhere to be seen in today’s crybaby culture. More real passion was generated by a recent increase in Netflix prices than “Occupy Wall Street,” a diffuse demonstration against corporate greed that started...

Are we surprised? NPR.org | Time Out Chicago | New York Times | The Atlantic Reviews of Roger Ebert’s memoir, Life Itself, are pouring in — Maureen Dowd’s was just posted — and the critics love it. “The book charms and entertains, but it also teaches,” Spencer Kornhaber writes in the Atlantic. Robert Feder, who worked with Ebert at the Sun-Times for decades, says his ex-colleague...

Since there is interest among TMV readers whenever I’ve posted any item here about Jane Goodall here’s the trailer for the Jane Goodall LIVE event that’ll will take place in theaters all over the U.S. on Sept. 27, 2011. Among the many features of this night: she’ll talk with astronauts on the space station and celebrities will make special appearances. For more details and participating...

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The feisty Philadelphia Daily News, which bills itself as “The People’s Paper” has as its headline a story that’s creating quite a buzz in the old and new news and celebrity gossip media. “MELTDOWN WHAT HAPPENED WITH KIM DELANEY?” the tabloid’s front page screams with the headline letters against a photo of the “Army Wives” star...

Tonight’s installment of the “Mitt and Rick Show,” AKA presidential debates, will introduce a new fringe character to be ignored—-former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, who will bring to the party the novelty of a GOP wannabe who favors gay rights. Meanwhile, the Texas governor keeps providing colorful language for the long-running sitcom by denouncing Romney to Fox News, “We need to nominate someone...

News Item: Yahoo has an opening…I can even do some commercials – Yahooooooo …” 2. Actually, having bolts inserted into both sides of neck and will announce shift to WWE as new terror, evil, bag guy, “Peytonstein” 1. “Damn everybody, I’ve always wanted to be… a lumberjack” Bonus Peyton Manning Riffs