Saturday, October 17, 2009

This Week



The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Recap - Week of 10/12/09
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorRon Paul Interview


The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Recap - Week of 10/12/09
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorMichael Moore

Poppy's Sick Puppies

President Bush I, whose 1988 campaign launched the current era of the "politics of personal destruction," first pleads for civility, then lashes out in the opposite direction.

Please Be Seated

Daniel Sieberg takes a look at the new generation of office chairs that are threatening to upset the old indicator of office hierarchy...

"You are what you sit on."

Forward Into The Past

It's a second chance to party like it's 1999 now that the stock market is exactly where it was 10 years ago.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Dow Jones Rebounds to 1999 10/15/09
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorRon Paul Interview

The Money Shot

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Money Shot - 10/15/09
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorMichael Moore

Survivor Congressman Flakes Out

And gets (hermit) crabs in the process...

Friday, October 16, 2009

We Were Warned

While covering Congressional races in 1974, I asked my college intern to get a candidate set up for a studio interview. To test the would be House Member's microphone audio level in response to questions, Roy asked him: "So you're running, huh... What are you afraid of?"

In recent years I've come to appreciate the brilliance of the question.



Exploiting fear for power and profit? Imagine that.

A Few Words From Katie



She's sounding more like Andy Rooney every day.

Two Tickets To?

As The Boston Globe pondered offers from two very different potential buyers, interested parties debated whether current economic conditions would lead the paper to the same future with either choice.

Audio: WBUR FM, Boston Reporter: Monica Brady-Myerov.

In today's edition The Globe's principal rival, The Boston Herald reports negotiations have broken down over the question of unfunded pension liabilities.

Take It With A Grain Of Salt

When a New Orleans 4th grader voiced concern about having to face hatred and harsh criticism during a town hall event, President Obama explained, "it is just politics."



Republicans immediately began to criticize Mr. Obama for failing to explain the etymology and meaning of the expression grain of salt.

Stewart Copeland


Sting may have been the front man, but drummer Stewart Copeland was the heartbeat of The Police. In his new memoir Strange Things Happen Copeland talks about how the band’s creative friction helped sell over 50 million records. And he blows the cover on his father, who raised the young Copeland in Beirut while spying for the CIA.




Audio: PRI & WNYC's program Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen.

Pinktober

"Lifetime's Women Rock" 2005 Breast Cancer Awareness Concert:

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Bailed Out Banks Big Bonus

Illustration: The EconomistThe debate over big bonuses for executives at bailed-out A.I.G. heats up again on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are hearing from the special inspector general for the $700 billion financial rescue program. Steve Geimann, Washington Editor for Bloomberg News also discusses lawmakers considering whether to set up a consumer protection finance agency, which the banking industry is fighting.




Audio: BBC, PRI & WBUR's Here & Now October 14. Host: Robin Young.

Baby Mommy

David Javerbaum discovered while researching his book is that pregnancy often affects the mother,

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Born Supremacy - David Javerbaum 10/13/09
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorMichael Moore

Health Care As Human Right

Since the health care debate began, advocacy groups, including the NAACP and the National Council of La Raza, have been arguing for a public option and for health care that's affordable for all their members. But will they be successful in using a civil rights organizing platform to affect the health care debate? For a primer on whether or not affordable health care can be considered a fundamental human right, we turn to Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. We also hear from Hilary Shelton, the NAACP's senior vice president for advocacy and policy and director of its Washington bureau. And we talk to Jennifer Ng’andu, deputy director of health policy at the National Council of La Raza.



Audio: PRI & WNYC's program The Takeaway, 10/8 - Hosts John Hockenberry & Celeste Headlee.

Turning On Their Own

Pro Ron Paul ultra-conservative activists hijack a town meeting "Tea Party" style, attacking South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham...


Mexican Metal Heads

Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero met in Mexico City, where both played in the thrash-metal band Tierra Acida. (Photo: Ryg Koria)The Mexican duo Rodrigo y Gabriela is known for nimble-fingered classical guitar work and a diverse musical background that fuses traditional flamenco music with heavy metal and rock.

The pair's new record, 11:11, features 11 songs dedicated to 11 different musical influences in Rodrigo y Gabriela's lives — from Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix to the jazz-fusion band Shakti. The duo recently spoke with All Things Considered host Guy Raz and performed songs from the album.





Audio: NPR's All Things Considered.

40 Years Later: Parrot Still Dead

3 Monty Python survivors encounter 1 really big fan.



Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) page on IFC includes a link to watch an associated event live tonight, Oct. 15 at 9 p.m. EST

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Clearing Committee



Hereditary

2nd Generation neo-conservatives band together in... I was going to say common cause, but the name is already taken and its owners are thoroughly despised by these guys... A tax exempt right wing cabal.

Le Miel de Paris

Local honey on sale in Paris market
Honeybees, plagued in recent years by a phenomenon called "Colony Collapse Disorder"in single-crop agricultural areas filled with pesticides, have found refuge in an unlikely location...

The city of Paris.


Audio: BBC, PRI & WGBH's The World, Host: Katy Clark.
Reporter: Genevieve Oger

Beck vs O'Reilly

Beck calls his audience "zombies," O'Reilly dismisses Beck's flu vaccine conspiracies: "That's nuts"



Video: Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor October 8 via Media Matters

Self Hater

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Audio: Wait Wait Don't Tell Me Host: Peter Sagal
Panelist: Charlie Pierce


The original report was published in Britain's Daily Telegraph.

Joe Friday vs Roman Polanski

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Kill Bill

It's decision day.




Fighting Back

When Roger Ailes was the producer of the Mike Douglas show nobody cared about his politics. But then he emeged as the media architect of selling "The New Nixon" in 1968. And twenty years later he took a darker turn in promoting Republican nominee George H. W. Bush.

Ailes helped to create an infamous attack ad about a black convicted murderer on furlough from prison in Massachuesetts escaping and raping a white woman in Maryland. In the campaign run by (Karl Rove prototype) Lee Atwater there was never any question about whether to exploit the crime... Ailes remarked "the only question is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it."

Now the veteran Republican activist and media assassin Roger Ailes runs the Fox News Channel and the White House views his product as part of a continuing campaign...



Perhaps Rush Limbaugh isn't the head of the Republican Party...
But Roger Ailes is.

Bombast

Now Senator Al Franken wrote a book back in the 90's called "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot." So how's that working out?
  1. He's big... Still the most listened to talk radio program.
  2. He's fat... Still obese despite recent weight loss.
  3. He's idiotic... All the way to the bank.

"Magic Negro" on Wikipedia

Rushing Game

When ESPN picked up a NY Daily News article on NFL players refusing to play for Limbaugh if he were to purchase a stake in the struggling St Louis Rams, the director of the NFL Players Association, whose membership is between 65 to 70% non-white, raised the divisive nature of the radio talker's impact...

"NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons." -- Rush Limbaugh (2007)

Top 10 Racist Limbaugh Quotes according to NewsOne.com.

Are you ready for some political football?



Correction: Since existing ownership nust approve any applicant's attempt to join their ranks, Rush doesn't have a right buy in... It's more like needing acceptance by the snooty board of an NYC apartment co-op.

If You Liked It

Then you should have put a ring on it.

NASA's moon bombing on Friday 10/9 proved disappointing visually. And so will the largest ring in the Solar System. But like the the debris from the moon impact, infrared imagery proved it's there.

Dr. Michael Skrutskie from the University of Virginia made the newest Saturn ring discovery.






Audio: CBC Radio's Quirks & Quarks. Host: Bob McDonald.

Children of the "Rings"

"The Lord of the Rings" will be screened in NYC with music performed live by 300 musicians and singers. Composer Howard Shore and CBSNews.com's David Morgan listen in as the Brooklyn Youth Chorus practices their Elvish.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Sometimes You Win

She said she was from Oklahoma... Stop you dead in your tracks pretty, with really bright blue eyes... And she loved the Red Sox.

She spotted my baseball cap on Friday afternoon to ask me how the team did the night before, and seemed geuinely distraught that the Angels had taken game one... Turns out they also took two & three.

Angels in 3
Wait 'til next year, pretty girl.

Free Form Index

The day I walked into WBCN-FM Boston for the first time in August 1970 there was an argument already in progress.

A part owner, the man who had the transformative idea to take a struggling classical music station and pursue a youthful audience via an air staff of their peers playing a wide variety of music from a really big library including multiple genres, had broken an unwritten rule... He had called a DJ while on air to complain about a lengthly drum solo.

A more senior DJ, and self-styled arbiter of taste, had complained about the hot-lining incident as an infringement of freedom to select and sequence music of their choice, saying they needed to be able to create an atmosphere for the audience to "get high & mellow out."

The General Manager, not the offending caller by the way, responded that the station needed to be "more than just a soundtrack for your friends' drug abuse."

As the new guy, and a neutral party, I was asked to weigh in.

Although I could understand the objection, I agreed with the GM.

The DJ immediately wrote me off as a major asshole.

But as someone whose family was involved with the film industry over multiple generations, I knew both the show and business parts had to work well to succeed... A druggy image would be limiting for both.

Although I freely admit I didn't know enough music to be on the air then and there, I was fascinated by the idea of a real live person with access to that really big library selecting and sequencing the music to present a more personal, less random program... Open to the possibility you might like to discover something you may not have heard before as part of an enjoyable context.

The mixes linked at right and described below offer a contemporary experience in the spirit of what Free Form FM radio was in the past.















001
Bob Seger
Mainstreet
Night Moves (1976)

Roxy Music
More Than This
Avalon (1982)

Be Bop Deluxe
Life In The Air Age
Sunburst Finish (1976)

David Bowie
Modern Love
Modern Love (1983)
002
The Byrds
Eight Miles High
Fifth Dimension (1966)

The Plimsouls
A Million Miles Away
One Night In America (1982)

R.E.M.
The One I Love
Document (1987)

Tom Petty
American Girl
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (1976)
003
Chalk FarM
Lie On Lie
Notwithstanding (1996)

The Police
When The World Is Running Down
Zenyatta Modatta (1980)

Bonnie Rait
Love Letter
Nick of Time (1989)

Rush
Time Stand Still
Hold Your Fire (1987)
004
Peter Gabriel
Red Rain
So (1986)

Radiohead
Pyramid Song
Amnesiac (2001)

Crosby & Nash
Naked In The Rain
Wind On The Water (1975)

Jimi Hendrix
Little Wing
Axis: Bold As Love (1967)
005
Little Feat
Spanish Moon (live)
Waiting For Columbus (1978)

Allen Toussaint
Yes We Can Can
Our New Orleans (2005)

John Hiatt
Blue Telescope
Perfectly Good Guitar (1993)

Eric Clapton
Bad Love
Journeyman (1989)
006
Toad The Wet Sprocket
Fly From Heaven
Dulcinea (1994)

Jackopierce
Summer's Gone
Summer's Gone (2008)

Ataris
The Boys of Summer
So Long Astoria (2003)

East Village Opera Co.
La Habanera (Carmen)
East Village Opera Co. (2005)
007
Keb' Mo'
Every Morning
Keb' Mo' (1994)

Pearl Jam
Yellow Ledbetter
Jeremy [Maxi Single] (1992)

Stevie Ray Vaughan
Honey Bee
Couldn't Stand The Weather (1984)

B.B. King
Bad Case Of Love
Blues on the Bayou (1998)
008
Dishwalla
Counting Blue Cars
Counting Blue Cars [EP](1996)

Seal
Fast Changes
Seal (1994)

Steely Dan
Black Cow
Aja (1977)
009
Shawn Colvin
Sunny Came Home
A Few Small Repairs (1996)

Neil Young
Old Man
Harvest (1972)

I Mother Earth
So Gently We Go
Earth Sky & Everything In Between (1993)

Simon & Garfunkle
America
Bookends (1968)
010
The Beatles
Strawberry Fields Forever
Magical Mystery Tour [US] (1967)

Alanis Morrissette
All I Really Want
Jagged Little Pill (1995)

Beck
Loser
Mellow Gold (1994)

Michael Franti & Spearhead
What I Got
Tribute To Sublime (2005)
011
Mick Jagger
Memo From Turner
Performance [OST](1970)

Gregg Allmam
Midnight Rider
Laid Back (1973)

Molly Hatchet
Dreams I'll Never See
Molly Hatchet (1978)
012
Marvin Gaye
What's Going On
What's Going On (1971)

The Commodores
Night Shift
Night Shift (1985)

Jackie Wilson
Higher & Higher (1967)
Brunswick R&B Singles 1966-1975

Van Morrison
Jackie Wilson Said
Saint Dominic's Preview (1972)
013
Led Zeppelin
Hey Hey, What Can I Do
Box Set #1 (1990)

Steve Miller Band
Living In the U.S.A.
Sailor (1968)

U2
Desire [Hollywood Mix]
12" UK Single (1988)
014
Earth, Wind & Fire
Mega Mix 2000
Best of Earth, Wind & Fire,
Volume 1 (1989)

Blood, Sweat & Tears
Smiling Phases
Blood, Sweat & Tears (1969)
015
Rolling Stones
Bitch
Sticky Fingers (1971)

Santana
Everybody's Everything
Santana (1971)

Jack Johnson
Upside Down
Curious George [OST](2006)

Melodians
Rivers Of Babylon
The Harder They Come [OST](1972)
016
3 Doors Down
Away From The Sun
Away From The Sun (2002)

Alice In Chains
No Excuses
Nothing Safe (1999)

The Who
Eminence Front
It's Hard (1982)
017
Jeff Beck w/ Rod Stewart
People Get Ready
Flash (1985)

Rickie Lee Jones
Rodeo Girl
Flying Cowboys (1989)

Elton John
Levon
Madman Across the Water (1971)
018
Allman Brothers
Stormy Monday
At the Fillmore East (1971)

Matchbox Twenty
Push
Yourself or Someone Like You (1996)
019
Colbie Caillat
I Won't
Breakthrough (2009)

Don Henley
The End of the Innocence
The End of the Innocence (1989)

311
Love Song
50 First Dates [OST](2004)
020
The Smithereens
Time Won't Let Me
Blown To Smithereens (1995)

Foo Fighters
Learn To Fly
There Is Nothing Left To Lose (1999)

George Harrison
Beware Of Darkness
All Things Must Pass (1970)

Soweto Gospel Choir
Asimbonanga/Biko
The Sounds Of Soweto Gospel Choir (2009)
021
Boston
We're Ready
Third Stage (1986)

The Byrds
Dolphin's Smile
The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)

The Strawbs
Round And Round
Hero And Heroine (1974)

Steve Miller Band
Space Cowboy
Brave New World (1969)
022
Dean Seltzer
Lady Luck
Lady Luck (2009)

Van Halen
Dancing In The Street
Diver Down (1982)

Rolling Stones
Can't You Hear Me Knocking
Sticky Fingers (1971)
023
Queen
Bohemian Rhapsody
A Night At The Opera (1975)

Meat Loaf
I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)
Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell (1993)

The Tubes
Don't Touch Me There
Young and Rich (1976)
024
INXS
I Need You Tonight
Kick (1987)

Billy Idol
White Wedding (Part 1)
Billy Idol (1982)

Goo Goo Dolls
Long Way Down
A Boy Named Goo (1995)

Mitch Ryder
Devil With A Blue Dress (1966)
Rhino Hi Five (2006)

No Brainer

New studies show that athletes who play high-impact contact sports, especially professional football players who suffered many blows to the head, become disproportionately brain damaged.




Audio: Commentary from Bill Littlefield.: WBUR FM, Boston.
Introduction: Bob Oakes.

More Than Meat


While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consistently report that meats are the number one cause of foodborne illness, they are not the only foods to be wary of.

A new report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that a number of food poisoning cases are caused by some other, unexpected foods, including leafy greens, potatoes and ice cream.

Read more at ABC News.

Deconstructing "Come Together"

The Record Producers, a series on BBC Radio 2, broadcast a show about Beatles producer Sir George Martin on August 31.

Unfortunately it's not available for rebroadcast or podcast download due to rights restrictions, but in this portion you hear how the pieces available to Martin's son Giles fit together for the new Beatles remastered box set and Beatles edition of the "Rock Band" game.

In this portion the program presenters go through "Come Together."



BBC posted interview clips with George Martin as a consolation prize.

Hammer Done Hurt Himself

And so as Dancing with the Stars proceeds without Delay...

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Moment of Zen - Fat Jon Dances 9/14/09
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorRon Paul Interview

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Moment of Zen - Carnaval 3/7/06
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorRon Paul Interview

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Moment of Zen - Little Girl Dancing 2/4/03
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorRon Paul Interview

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Moment of Zen - Accordion Dancing 5/3/05
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorRon Paul Interview

Sunday, October 11, 2009

War Without End, Amen



Link to Richard Engel's "Tip Of The Spear" documentary.

If It's Sunday

It's the host of Meet The Press...

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
David Gregory 10/8/09
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorRon Paul Interview

Tip Of The Hat, Wag Of The Finger

Stephen wants to be a biblical figure on Conservapedia, the Louvre announces its plans to install a McDonald's, and Honda introduces a unicycle of the future.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Tip/Wag - Conservapedia, Louvre & Honda Unicycle 10/7/09
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorMichael Moore

Blue Dog


An unsolicited testimonial.

Sport Report

Rush Limbaugh makes a bid to buy the St. Louis Rams, and cryogenics employees play baseball with Ted Williams' frozen head.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sport Report - Rush Limbaugh & Ted Williams 10/8/09
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorMichael Moore

Critical Time For Prime Time

At one time it seemed NBC's prime time lineup was all in the hands of Dick Wolf, who created 3 variations of the "Law & Order" franchise... Now it's falling on Jay Leno to fill 5 hours & carry 10pm all week long.