Blaine Harden : A Far Cry From Home
Please welcome Jero.
"New Year Dance"
Thanks to Eric Morrison, who reports on "New Year Dance" at Club Hooligan (27.12.2007). This song is written by Danny Bloom, composed by Michael Wallace, sung by Wallace and Taylor Vidic.
Wallace :
"What we're really trying to do - it's not about the money - it's about putting out a cool song with a cool message that somehow makes the world a more peaceful place to live."
Vidic :
"It was really cool because I knew I was the ... first person to sing it."
"It's just a really fun, upbeat happy song."
Bloom :
"We created the song and are making it available online for free as a gift to the world, just for fun, and to celebrate the New Year worldwide with a global anthem."
"I had the easy part, just writing the words. George did all the heavy lifting and turned a simple happy-feel lyric into a resounding choral song."
"We aren't Lennon and McCartney by any means, who wrote some great songs together, of course, but I think George and I worked really well together in a long-distance Internet collaboration that wasn't about ego or getting personal credit, but just having fun doing it."
File location : Michael Wallace's site (MP3).
And Taylor Vidic profile.
Nathalie Baye, l'amour monstre
Du Figaro (07.03.2007), un entretien avec Nathalie Baye sur Mon fils à moi par Emmanuèle Frois :
Quelle mère est-elle ? « Je n'ai jamais voulu être une copine, je suis restée une mère, proche, complice, à l'écoute. L'enfant a besoin de repères. » On imagine qu'elle n'est pas sortie indemne de cette aventure. On se trompe. « À mes débuts, j'ai incarné certains personnages dans le désarroi ou à la dérive, qui ont pu déteindre sur moi. Une certaine mélancolie m'envahissait. Ce n'est plus le cas. Être une autre, c'est très libérateur et enrichissant. Tous ces personnages ont une histoire et j'ai l'impression d'avoir plusieurs mémoires, plusieurs vies. Cela m'a rendu aussi beaucoup plus tolérante car ce ne sont pas des êtres exceptionnels. J'ai cohabité avec eux et je les ai compris. Je ne fais pas ce métier par besoin narcissique mais pour m'oublier et aller vers autre chose. C'est ce voyage qui m'intéresse. Quand je me retrouve je suis très contente ! »
Trailer à Allocine.com. Mother-castrator?
Iwao Takamoto Dies
From Mainichi Daily News (09.01.2007) :
LOS ANGELES -- Iwao Takamoto, the animator who created Scooby-Doo and directed the cartoon classic "Charlotte's Web," has died. He was 81.
Takamoto died Monday of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Warner Bros. spokesman Gary Miereanu said.
In a career that spanned more than six decades, Takamoto assisted in the designs of some of the biggest animated features and television shows for Disney and the Hanna-Barbera animation team. They included "Cinderella," "Peter Pan," "Lady and the Tramp," "101 Dalmatians," "The Jetsons" and "The Flintstones."
But it was his creation of Scooby-Doo, the cowardly dog with an adventurous heart, that captivated audiences and endured for generations.
Singing a New Song
The NY Times Magazine has an interview with Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) :
For all your devotion to education and good deeds, government officials in various countries have tried to link you to extremist groups, including Hamas. What do you think of Hamas?
That’s an extremely loaded question.
Can you try to answer it?
I have never supported a terrorist group or any group that did other than charity and good to humankind.
O.K., but many of us here in the States would like to see moderate Muslims make more of an effort to denounce the extremist fringe of the faith. Very few mainstream Muslims have publicly criticized their radical brethren.
If I am not an example of that, then tell me, Who is?
So would you say you have contempt for a terrorist group like Hamas?
I wouldn’t put those words in my mouth. I wouldn’t say anything on that issue. I’m here to talk about peace. I’m a man who does want peace for this world, and I don’t think you will achieve that by putting people into corners and asking them very, very difficult questions about very contentious issues.
Disappointed although I love his songs. If he could deny all kinds of violence, even Hamas...
Joseph Barbera Dies
From The NY Times (19.12.2006) :
Joseph Barbera, an innovator of animation who teamed with William Hanna to give generations of young television viewers a pantheon of beloved characters, including Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and the Flintstones, died yesterday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 95.
A spokesman for Warner Brothers said he died of natural causes, The Associated Press reported.
Mr. Barbera and the studio he founded with Mr. Hanna, Hanna-Barbera Productions, became synonymous with television animation, yielding more than 100 cartoon series over four decades, including “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?,” “Jonny Quest” and “The Smurfs.”
Also see The LA Times (Are you all right, editors?), WSJ and Le Figaro.
Tom & Jerry at Google Video.
Dan-san Sings "Amah, Amah Koon Beiki"
"Amah, Amah Koon Beiki" means "Granma can't sleep", I learned. As it's designated in Kanji "阿媽．阿媽．睡未去", oh I could see at last!
Interview with Columbo
"Peter Falk : «Je suis un acteur, pas un policier»" propos recueillis par Christophe Barbier, Christophe Carrière à L'Express (29.11.2006). The video shows the photo session.
Hardy-Sheila-Vartan : Salut les copines!
Propos recueillis par Gilles Médioni à L'Express (22.11.2006) :
Incroyable mais vrai: c'est leur toute première interview ensemble. Il a fallu jongler avec les plannings. La veille, Sylvie Vartan débarquait de Los Angeles. Le lendemain, Sheila s'envolait pour l'étranger. Françoise Hardy était débordée. Le jour J, les trois idoles des yé-yé se sont prêtées au jeu entre deux éclats de rire. Pour la séance photo, Sylvie a suggéré à Jean-Marie Périer (Lire son interview) qu'elles se glissent sous la couette. Sheila a tout de suite dit oui. Françoise a hésité puis accepté. Et ce fut, de nouveau, le temps des copines.
Sala : "Mon Japon est complètement fantasmé"
Entretien avec Jean-Luc Sala à Metro France (18.11.2006) :
L’histoire se déroule dans un Japon médiéval et fantastique, pourquoi ce choix, quelles ont été tes influences ?
Alors d’abord les influences ! Quand j’étais ado, j’ai mangé du Tolkien comme je n’aurais pas dû en manger. A tel point qu’en cours de français au lieu de citer du Balzac, je citais Tolkien. J’ai compris plus tard qu’il y avait d’autres auteurs !
J’avais envie de faire de la fantasy en BD, c’est vraiment le point de départ de cet album. Mais quand on voit déjà ce qui se fait en BD, le genre est déjà très balisé. C’est 80% du catalogue Soleil, une bonne partie de celui de Delcourt. C’est toujours la quête pour sauver le monde, l’héroïne sexy bimbo en bikini et en cotte de maille dans la neige, les ogres, les trolls, les elfes… Du coup, je ne me voyais pas aborder le genre autrement que par le pastiche. Pourtant j’adore la science-fiction, Tolkien, ça me parle, ça m’émeut et ça me fait penser à autre chose que ce que je viens d’énumérer. A partir de là, j’ai dû trouver quelque chose pour faire de la fantasy autrement. Le déclic est venu quand je me suis souvenu d’un jeu vidéo sur lequel j’avais travaillé et qui touchait au merveilleux japonais. Pour ce jeu, j’avais dessiné des Bakemono, des Tengu, des geishas, des samuraïs, des paysages oniriques.
Jack Palance Dies
From The NY Times (11.11.2006) :
Jack Palance, a coal miner’s son who spent most of a long Hollywood career playing memorable heavies in movies like “Shane” and “Sudden Fear,” only to win an Academy Award in his 70s for a self-parodying comic performance in “City Slickers,” died yesterday at his home in Montecito, Calif.
His death was announced by a family spokesman, Dick Guttman, The Associated Press said. His family said he was 87, though some biographical records indicate he was 85.
Mr. Palance (he pronounced it PAL-ance and grew annoyed when others insisted on the more flowery pa-LANCE) first gained wide notice in 1953, when he electrified movie audiences with his serpentine portrayal of the nasty gunfighter Jack Wilson in the classic film “Shane.”
Contempt/Le Mépris (1963 by J.-L. Godard), trailer at The NY Times.
Girl on the go
Interview with Aya Ueto by Chris Betros at Metropolis (20.10.2006) :
Ueto’s commercials, among them Otsuka vitamin drinks (in which she appeared with South Korean heartthrob Bae Yon Joon), Softbank, Daihatsu, Lotte, JTB, Kikkoman and Aoki, make her one of the most recognized faces on TV. “We usually shoot commercials in a day. They’re great fun to do, and I get to meet people I would never meet otherwise,” she says.
Over the years, Ueto has attracted a huge fan base, many of whom write to her blog. “The girls are usually elementary to high school students, but men in their twenties to forties write me a lot. If a message really touches my heart, I write back. When I read a letter that tells me I’m needed in some way, I answer it. Sometimes I try to meet fans at hospitals.” Ueto says she’s not very good with computers and doesn’t even own one. She writes her blog material and her staff takes care of it for her.
"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" at Foreign Dispatches (06.10.2006). A good job.
The Hiragana Song
We love this pretty song. Re-arranged? Better than before. Have a listen please : GoodnightKiss.com | Download (SWF file). Performed by Alyssa Collins (15 year-old Canadian girl, wow!), music by Janet Fisher, and lyrics by Dan Bloom.
Dan-san is a Boston-born freelancer, now living in Chiayi, Taiwan. I've read some articles of his : 1) "Taiwan still a good place to learn Mandarin" at Taipei Times (25.07.2006), which is written against The Time Magazine ignoring Taiwan. This is "hankotsu seishin" (反骨精神), meaning (probably) "difiant spirit" that I love most. I suppose that The Time editors and CCP are in complicity. Mandarin is lucrative, that's on their mind. I see this kind of "hankotsu seishin" also in his beautiful response "Locals suffer? More's the pity" at Taipei Times (21.04.2005). 2) "Bookseller at large" at MobyLives (04.07.2005), which tells humorously his experience that he sold his book BY HIMSELF! 3) "Group says a new word is needed for Jews" at Asia Media (28.08.2005), which reports and reflects on Jewish situation in Taiwanese society. Here are three words for him : defiance, humor, and observation. Anyway, enjoy his columns at Taipei Times and you can find his insightful remarks everywhere.
Enghien-les-Bains honore «sa» Mistinguett
Florent Pétoin's report at Le Figaro (10.10.2006). "À l'occasion du cinquantième anniversaire de sa disparition, sa ville natale lui rend hommage." Who cares about Mistinguett these days? (not ironically) Did you know her? Was she like Shizuko Kasagi in Japan?
Jesus Camp
By Brian Orndorf at DVDTalk.com (04.10.2006) :
Depending on your viewpoint, "Jesus Camp" is either a chilling or reassuring peek into the motivations of an Evangelical Christian society. The leader here is Becky Fischer, a rotund, vain believer who has sensed a resurgence of faith in America since George W. Bush took power. Her mission is to sequester the children in the camp, to train them about the evils of liberalism, abortion, and Harry Potter, so they can go out into the world and spread the good word further. In a mind-bendingly shocking scene, she compares her work to the multigenerational Islamic Fundamental terrorists that plague our world. Becky has no patience for those who disregard Jesus.
Update : 12.10.2006
The Atheist Mama on Jesus Camp. Worth a read.
Update : 17.11.2006
Lone Sheep
Kaori Mizushima's comics. "Ippiki Hitsuji." She's a Japanese actress, and movie director Shun'ichi Nagasaki's wife. 
Bizzare Bouts of Self-Expression
By Tomoko Otake at The Japan Times (17.09.2006). Reports on "Shogaisha puroresu".
I Just Can’t Stop Loving You
"Michael Jackson and queer cultural desire" by Alisha Gaines at NSRS (n.d.).
Pushing the Boundaries of Political Satire in Japan
By Norimitsu Onishi at The NY Times (12.08.2006) :
So unfolded a skit broadcast recently on the weekly prime-time comedy show "Hikari Ota: If I Became Prime Minister," whose star is possibly the closest figure Japan has to Jon Stewart, the host of "The Daily Show." Mr. Ota, long known as the politically opinionated half of a famous comic duo, has brought political satire to Japanese television for the first time.
Is Ota the first person who "has brought political satire to Japanese television"? Onishi-san, did you forget Columbia Top, Tatekawa Danshi, or Maki Shinji?
A Heroine from Planet X
"The Lost Interview with Kumi Mizuno" (November 2002) at Mr. Patrick Macias' own weblog (13.07.2006).
Kumi Mizuno is a Japanese actress, heroine in some of Toho "Kaiju" or "Tokusatshu" movies. Tomohiro Machiyama is a Japanese movie critic, editor of the "Eiga Hiho" magazine. Tamao Urayama is also a Japanese movie critic. Patrick Macias is an American writer, connoisseur of Japanese "otaku" culture.
Machiyama: I am part of the generation that was really traumatized by Godzilla Vs Monster Zero. Kumi Mizuno was one of the first actresses that I could recognize and paid attention to.
Yup. When I fell in love with Kumi-san, I was only eight. She was sexy and beautiful (still is) and "my heart went pop," I remember even now. First there's eroticism, right?
Mr. Machiyama's weblog (Japanese).
Williams on Limbaugh
A video uploaded at Crooks and Liars (30.06.2006) :
Robin Williams was a guest on The Tonight Show this evening and immediately went into one of his improvisational routines once Jay Leno mentioned Rush Limbaugh’s "Viagra Vacation."
O'tsuki on Colonel Kuhio
メールの整理をしていたら、先月なかばごろ会社の後輩から送られたメールがでてきた。昼過ぎに営業で回っている間、クルマを運転しながらＴＢＳラジオ「ストリーム」を聞いていたら、大槻ケンヂが面白い本を紹介していた、だからファイルがアップされたら是非聞くように、という内容。実際に、私はポッドキャスティング用の MP3 ファイルをダウンロードしておいたのに、今日まですっかり忘れていた。今頃聞いて、大爆笑。
「ストリーム コラムの花道」 (12.05.2006) | MP3 file.
大槻さんが紹介していたのは、吉田和正、『結婚詐欺師クヒオ大佐』（新風舎文庫）。「母はエリザベス女王と双子の妹、父はハワイのカメハメハ大王の末裔、米軍特殊部隊パイロットの私は、ジョナ・エリザベス・クヒオ大佐、３６歳」、と言いながら、結婚詐欺を続ける男と、彼を追い詰める作者の攻防戦（？）。
クヒオ大佐は実在はするけど、「小説仕立てのノンフィクション」（讀賣）というのは、逆さまではないかな。むしろ、ノンフィクション仕立てのフィクション。「作者もなかなかの騙（かた）り屋＝語り屋さん」（Asahi.com）。ちょっと読んでみたいな。
Here, There and Everywhere
David Loftus reviews Geoff Emerick and Howard Massey, Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles (Gotham), at California Literary Review (06.06.2006).
Stephen Colbert At Knox College
Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3 by LizzyTerry at YouTube. — "Sorry, Our battery died during his speech, so we got as much as we could!" A great job anyway.
"Colbert to Graduates: ‘You Are the Most Cuddled Generation In History’," at Think Progress (05.06.2006).
"Stephen Colbert's Address to the Graduates," transcript at AlterNet (05.06.2006).
Radical Chicks
At The Raw Story (21.05.2006) :
New York - “I apologized for disrespecting the office of the President. But I don't feel that way anymore. I don't feel he is owed any respect whatsoever,” Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines tells TIME's music critic Josh Tyrangiel, of her remark to a London audience in 2003: “Just so you know, we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.” TIME's cover story, “Radical Chicks,” hits newsstands Monday, May 22nd.
Le Monde 2 : Stanley Kubrick
Slide show at Le Monde (03.05.2006).
Kubrick, ah... I like his movies (Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange...) but... I prefer Nathalie Baye who appears on the cover. Nathalie Baye and Angie Dickinson have been my most favorite actresses.
Colbert Video
At Free Internet Press | WMV & MOV.
YouTube のほうは FLV だから、扱い易いのだろうけど、画質も音質もイマイチだよね。コルペールのビデオはほかにないのか探していたら、FIP がアップしてくれていた。こっちのほうが質がいいよ。
"Colbert's Historic Feat," at The Anonymous Liberal.
Too hot to handle
Tom Shone's bookreview on Lee Server, Ava Gardner (Bloomsbury), at The Times (16.04.2006) :
Sadly, the real Miss Gardner is no longer around to hit the town (she died in 1990), but Lee Server’s biography is as close as we will ever get to an evening out with the woman herself. It’s pretty big at 500-plus pages, but there’s a large crowd gathered around this beauty and Server wants to capture them all, from the wounded, bellowing T Rex that is Sinatra right down to the guy who shot her first screen test for MGM in 1941: it consisted simply of Gardner carrying a vase of flowers across a room and placing them on a table. She did it badly, too: wooden and awkward and unsure of her vase placement. But, said the test director, “When Ava’s face came on that screen every guy in the room fell in love with her.”
エヴァ・ガードナーの伝記。これも読みたいな。映画を観るとは美女を観ることなり、というのは、山田宏一から得た教訓。『裸足の伯爵夫人』の色気……、マンキーウィッツの演出もさることながら。
Video blog a hit as promotion material for 'Simsons' movie
"Video blog a hit as promotion material for 'Simsons' movie," at Mainichi (16.01.2006).
カーリングを題材にした映画。『ウォーターボーイズ』の監督ですか。
Jon Stewart to host 2006 Academy Awards
Greg Risling, "Jon Stewart to host 2006 Academy Awards," at Crisscross (06.01.2006)
ジョン・スチュアートが、今度はアカデミー賞の司会を務める。"As a performer, I'm truly honored to be hosting the show, Although, as an avid watcher of the Oscars, I can't help but be a little disappointed with the choice. It appears to be another sad attempt to smoke out Billy Crystal." なんて、のたまってますよ。ビリー・クリスタルにも、一言言わせてあげればいいのに。
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