Entourage: "Fire Sale"

Air date: September 28, 2008

Top 10 Things I Learned from Entourage This Week

1. A good way of postponing depression is to do a guest spot on The View.

2. There is nothing better for a “general meeting” than having something to say, especially if it involves a bid for your client.

3. Only Richard Simmons can get away with wearing a tank top and shorts on The View. (But what the hell was Whoopi wearing?)

You can read the rest of the review here.

A Heartbeat Away

Pat Oliphant, The Washington Post.

Natural Born World Shaker

"He was smiling... That's right. You know, that, that Luke smile of his. He had it on his face right to the very end. Hell, if they didn't know it 'fore, they could tell right then that they weren't a-gonna beat him. That old Luke smile. Oh, Luke. He was some boy. Cool Hand Luke. Hell, he's a natural-born world-shaker."

--Dragline in Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Goodbye, Paul.

Smallville: "Plastique"

Air date: September 26, 2008

Consider me re-geeked for this series. After a few seasons of what often seemed like aimless wandering through lame story arcs, Smallville has come back strongly this season, with stories and characters that actually remind us that this is a show, after all, about Superman.

Read the complete review here.

The Change Candidate?

Campaign Advisor: David Friedman

Lysistrata, Emasculated

from the SUU Journal (all emphasis mine):

A modern-day adaptation of the Greek play Lysistrata is making its debut to the Adams Memorial Theatre tonight.

Christine Frezza, associate professor of theatre arts, director and adapter of Lysistrata, said she started on the adaptation last April.

"I was inspired by the state we live in," Frezza said. "Utah rightly promotes love, marriage and families, and I wanted to update Aristophanes to focus on those values."

Frezza said this play is about a war between the Spartans and the Athenians, that has been going on for centuries.

However, an even bigger war comes about between these two groups and all their wives.

Elisa Marcheschi, a sophomore secondary education major from Ogden, plays the protagonist Lysistrata.

"(Lysistrata) is a strong, intelligent and modern woman, whom the other women respect and follow as their leader," Marcheschi said. "Lysistrata starts the uprising because she is sick of the women being unappreciated and underestimated."

Joshua Cha, a sophomore theatre arts major from Wellington, said he is hoping for a great turnout and is excited to be able to perform. He plays a herald named Harold.

"This play is about men learning to treat women as their equals, not inferior, neither superior," Cha said. "I think this is a good story and I think the changes that Christine made with the script help younger audiences understand it."

Vince Major, a sophomore theatre arts major from Phoenix who plays Proteus, said this romantic comedy makes a great free date night.

"I hope people walk away from this show and they feel that they were entertained," Major said. "I (also) hope that people walk away and are able to laugh at themselves and the way they may fight with a loved one."

You can read the article in its entirety here.

By contrast to this "update" of the play, made for the benefit of "younger audiences," here are some excerpts from the summary of the play as presented by Wikipedia:

Led by the title character, Lysistrata, the story's female characters barricade the public funds building and withhold sex from their husbands to end the Peloponnesian War and secure peace. In doing so, Lysistrata engages the support of women from Sparta, Boeotia, and Corinth. All of the other women are first against Lysistrata's suggestion to withhold sex. Finally, they agree to swearing an oath of allegiance by drinking wine from a phallic shaped flask, as the traditional implement (an upturned shield) would have been a symbol of actions opposed to the aims of the women. This action is ironic and therefore comical, because Greek men believed women had no self-restraint, a lack displayed in their alleged fondness for wine as well as for sex.

and:

Lysistrata touches upon the poignancy of young women left with no eligible young men to marry because of deaths in the wars: "Nay, but it isn't the same with a man/Grey though he be when he comes from the battlefield/still if he wishes to marry he can/Brief is the spring and the flower of our womanhood/once let slip, and it comes not again/Sit as we may with our spells and our auguries/never a husband shall marry us then."

From the news article, it doesn't sound like much of the original play, or its anti-war sentiment, made it to Cedar City, does it? But at least the kiddies will be able to come and enjoy a wholesome comedy about the battle of the sexes, and not have to worry about anyone criticizing the war that may have killed their daddies.

I don't know what Frezza thinks she's updating here, but it ain't Aristophanes.

NOTE: I plan on attending the play this weekend, and will report back.

Inspiring Quote of the Week

"A case could be made . . . that the Jews [of Austria in the late 1930's]. . . benefited from having doors closed against them. It would be a bad case. The humiliations were real and the resentments lasting. But there was one undoubted benefit to us all. Whole generations of Jewish literati were denied the opportunity of wasting their energies on compiling abstruse doctoral theses. They were driven instead to journalism, plain speech, direct observation and the necessity to entertain. The necessity to entertain could sometimes be the enemy of learning, but not as often as the deadly freedom to write as if nobody would ever read the results except a faculty supervisor who owed his post to the same exemption."

--Clive James, in Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts.

I'm only 15 pages into this book, and it is easily one of the most fascinating and engaging historical surveys that I've read in some time. Well worth checking out.

Led Zep to Join Journey in Ranks of "Douchiest Rock Band"

Check out this story.

Now, I understand that Robert Plant perhaps does not have the full incredible vocal range that he used to, and that lesser mortals (such as, say, Billy Joel) have employed back-up singers to cover those notes that are now beyond the reach of the, ahem, elder rock statesman. I'm OK with that. (Let's put aside for the moment that Plant delivered one of the best vocal performances of last year in his collaboration with Alison Krauss.)

I also understand that Led Zeppelin could have, at any time during the past 30 years, hastily organized a reunion tour and, with minimal-to-no rehearsal time, filled up stadiums around the world and made a shitload of money, like pretty much every other rock band that broke up prior to 1999.

But the idea of Led Zep touring without Robert Plant in front of the mic is perhaps the douchiest and most misguided idea in popular music since Natalie Cole recorded a "duet" with her long-dead father. Consider, for example, the reaction of many longtime fans to the re-emergence of Journey (I know this is comparing apples to rotting corpses, but bear with me) with a new lead singer who not only sounds remarkably like Rock Icon Steve Perry, but fucking looks just like him as well. Now, any O.G. Journey fan with anything resembling a sense of integrity (to their own taste, if no one else's), regards the touring original members of Journey as giant douchebags. And rightly fucking so.

Keep in mind here that Led Zep, upon the death of their drummer, Rock Icon John Bonham, almost immediately decided to put the band to rest forever. No Bonham, no Zep. And rock fans at the time, though sad at the loss of perhaps the greatest rock band on the planet at that time, recognized and fucking respected the wisdom of the surviving band members. In fact, such was the level of respect engendered by this move, that many of us even forgave the decision to release the band's outtakes (the execrable Coda) as sort of a farewell present to the fans.

Thirty years down the road, the decision to reunite without John Bonham is understandable, if not quite forgivable, only because John's son, Jason, is perhaps the only person worthy to pound the skins behind Plant, Page, and Jones.

But the concept of Led Zeppelin touring with a replacement lead singer is the stupidest fucking idea in rock history and is doomed to failure. I hope that anyone who calls him/her self a fan of Led Zeppelin will excoriate this decision in the harshest possible terms in order to let Page, Jones and Bonham II know that, if they proceed with this plan, they will forever be regarded as the Douchiest Band in Rock History.

(And I say this in spite of Robert Plant's almost equally douchy quote from the article that Led Zeppelin has "never been about the fans." Mr. Plant, I respect your integrity and, in comparison with your bandmates, may come to worship your integrity, but as a long-standing Led Zep fan, I cannot let such dismissive statements stand without sending you a hearty "Fuck you.")

I have spoken. We now return you to continued aesthetic contemplation of Physical Graffitti.

Entourage: "The All Out Fall Out"

For this review, I followed the format established by Victoria, another Two Cents reviewer who wrote up the first two episodes of the season. If you like the format of this review, let me know. I suspect I should probably change it up, but I sort of like the top 10 style she adopted. Anyway, here's a teaser for the review:

Entourage
“The All Out Fall Out”
Airdate: September 21, 2008

Top 10 Things I Learned from Entourage This Week

1. A ho + a floozy = a hoozie. And hoozies are most likely French.

2. Mrs. Ari doesn’t always mind when Ari acts like a 25-year-old, or even an 18-year-old, and if it takes a new red Ferrari to get him there, well, that’s why we have anniversary presents, isn’t it?

3. If you are going bankrupt, like Vinnie, you have three options:
A. Reduce your expenses, mainly by cutting off the rest of the gang.
B. File for bankruptcy
C. Take a temp job appearing at a Hollywood sweet sixteen party.

You can read the full review here.

Smallville: "Odyssey"

Here's the opening paragraph of my review/recap of last night's season premiere of Smallville. You can read the full review at The Two Cents. Leave a comment there that will impress my editors!

Smallville
“Odyssey”
Original Air Date: September 18, 2008

As Smallville begins its eighth season, the series faces one of its biggest challenges. In the wake of departing cast members, story arcs that seem to have left the Superman legend behind, and an aging Tom Welling, can the series retain its disgruntled fans and restore glory to the legend of Clark Kent? And if, as some suspect, this ends up being Smallville’s final season, will the series end with a bang or a whimper? Let’s see what kind of tone the season premiere sets.

Review continues here.

Fringe: "The Same Old Story"

Wrote the following as a sample piece for The Two Cents, a TV review site that has offered me a position writing about Smallville and Entourage. My reviews should start showing up on the site within the next week. Until then, enjoy these comments on last night's episode of The X-Files clone, Fringe. You're welcome!

"The Same Old Story"

Original broadcast date: September 17, 2008

I still miss Mulder and Scully, but with the exception of those characters, last night’s episode of Fringe continued its reboot of the X-Files franchise, complete with a gross-out teaser, seemingly inexplicable phenomena that, by the end of the episode, are mostly explained, and further hints of a complex conspiracy behind it all. Does the second episode help the series form its own identity? The truth is out there.

The episode’s teaser does manage to up the X-Files’ ante in terms of shock value and overall creepiness. We see Christopher, a guy who looks like a cross between an inebriated Matthew Modine and Tony Perkins checking in another hotel guest, and a working girl in a hotel room, after concluding some, er, business. While Christopher gets out what looks like a drug kit in the bathroom, his partner (Loraine with one “r”) chats him up from the bedroom, until her stomach begins convulsing and she begins screaming in pain and horror. Before long, her tummy has swelled to disturbingly pregnant proportions and Christopher is dropping her off outside the local emergency room before making a fast getaway.

Loraine is rolled into an operating room, where her caretakers soon adopt open-mouthed expressions of horror and disgust. Loraine’s abrupt pregnancy is freaking out surgeons, so we know something freaky is happening. Cue spooky opening montage!

The episode then quickly reintroduces us to the main cast of characters and the premise of the series. We are reminded that Walter Bishop, the kooky scientist, has spent 17 years in a mental institution and has already forgotten that his old lab was returned to him in last week’s episode. Peter, Walter’s grifter son, rolls his eyes at this and offers appropriately sarcastic commentary on his father’s mental state, before he is off with our heroine, Olivia Dunham, at the behest of the mysterious Mr. Royles, to investigate the hotel room where Loraine was, shall we say, introduced to the miracle of life.

Olivia quickly realizes that this case follows this M.O. of a serial killer she and her former love, Agent Scott, investigated without resolution twelve years ago. The killer, dubbed “The Brain Surgeon,” apparently had some fixation for the pituitary gland and devised some brilliantly efficient means of extracting said gland from his unfortunate victims. Cue ominous music!

Coincidentally (?), crazy Walter Bishop also has had some experience with Mr. Brain Surgeon, via his former lab partner, Dr. Claus Penrose, whom Walter is reminded of after remembering the location of a car he parked before entering the institution. Said car is full of interesting knick-knacks, including a severed hand in a jar (shades of Doctor Who) and lots of files that are sure to contain plot devices for future episodes. Walter speculates that Loraine’s birthing pains were largely inspired, if not induced, by Penrose’s experiments in manipulating growth hormones for the Defense Department as a way of creating super-soldiers. Cue Captain America!

After we see Christopher entrap another lady of the evening, Walter and son drop some Jules Verne references and Blair Brown offers her best impersonation of the Cigarette-Smoking Man, before Walter comes up with the idea of using the latest victim’s last vision before death to identify where the Brain Surgeon has been, er, operating. How can we know what the victim’s last vision was? By extracting the electrical images preserved on her retina, of course! Cue eyeball extraction scene that would give Fredric Wertham pause for thought.

While Walter and Junior Agent Astrid make popcorn, Olivia and Peter chase down the Brain Surgeon after identifying the location obtained from Eyeball Lady. Turns out that Brain Surgeon Christopher is Penrose’s experimental son, whom Penrose could not stand to see die. To survive, Christopher must continually ingest pituitary gland juice from his victims. And who can blame the guy? Any sacrifice in the cause of younger-looking super-soldier skin must be valid, right?

Though Penrose escapes, the episode shifts into seed-planting mode for future episodes, and we get hints that Peter’s medical history might make for interesting reading and that he may have spent some time in a lab sleeping in a Michael Jackson-style oxygen chamber. Cue Lost-like episode-concluding sound of closing door!

Considering that Fringe has been placed in the timeslot following House, Fox clearly has big plans for this series. So what do you think? Is Fringe making more sense the less you pay attention? Are Olivia and Peter up to the challenge of helping us forget all about Mulder and Scully? Will Agent Skinner and CSM be making guest appearances on the show? Is this really “the same old story” or is Fringe’s envelope-pushing content as fresh as Walter’s laboratory milk and popcorn?

Musician Quotes of the Month (Or So)

"Right now America is in a state of upheaval. Poverty is demoralising. You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor. But we've got this guy out there now who is redefining the nature of politics from the ground up...Barack Obama. He's redefining what a politician is, so we'll have to see how things play out. Am I hopeful? Yes, I'm hopeful that things might change. Some things are going to have to. You should always take the best from the past, leave the worst back there and go forward into the future."

Bob Dylan, from the TimesOnline, June 5, 2008

Q: What was it like when you last saw him?

A: We held hands. It's funny, even at the height of our friendship--as guys--you would never hold hands. It just wasn't a Liverpool thing. But it was lovely. I sat with him for a few hours when he was in treatment just outside New York. He was about 10 days away from his death, as I recall. He was very poorly. But it was lovely, really lovely, and the years just stripped back. We joked about things. . . . Just amusing, nutty stuff. It was good. It was like we were dreaming. He was my little baby brother, almost, because I'd known him that long.

Paul McCartney, on his bandmate George Harrison, in the August 2008 issue of Uncut

Ditka Kitty!

Mike Ditka looks like a fuzzy kitty cat! Don't you just want to rub his face? Whoz a nyce kitty? Whoz a suhweet kitty?

I, Terrorist

Caught part of a Star Trek: TNG marathon over the Labor Day weekend, and found myself getting sucked into some great episodes I hadn't seen for a number of years. Among them was "I, Borg," an episode (you will no doubt recall) in which a lone Borg is brought back to the Enterprise for medical treatment, and is soon incorporated into a plan to disable and destroy the entire Borg Collective by means of an impossible geometric shape implanted into the Borg's programming. Captain Picard's history as one who was kidnapped, tortured, and "modified" into a Borg himself changes his usually more reasoned approach to an enemy, and, during the episode, he expresses an unusual degree of animosity toward the Borg. (A similar attitude is presented by Guinan, a character who rarely expresses strong emotions at all, preferring to listen to her customers.)

By contrast, several crew members who are working with the Borg (Dr. Crusher and Geordi) begin to develop a relationship with the Borg and to introduce concepts of individuality and free will to it/him. Eventually, the Borg is given a name ("Hugh") and develops a sense of his own persona apart from the Collective. The crew slowly begins to reconsider Picard's plan to exterminate the entire Collective.

This is one of the best episodes of TNG, one that challenges information presented in previous seasons about the nature of the Borg, who were initially introduced (by Q) as an opponent that Starfleet was in no way prepared to face. Unemotional, implacable, and seemingly unbeatable, the Borg were in many ways presented as the ultimate enemy of the Trek universe. This episode, however, brilliantly dismantles all those assumptions by making the Enterprise crew, and the audience, reconsider the Borg and the nature of individuality.

During the episode, as the crew begins to debate Picard's plan, the following conversation ensues:

Doctor Beverly Crusher: I just think we should be clear about that. We're talking about annihilating an entire race.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Which under most circumstances would be unconscionable. But as I see it, the Borg leave us little choice.

Commander William T. Riker: I agree. We're at war.

Doctor Beverly Crusher: There's been no formal declaration of war.

Counselor Deanna Troi: Not from us, but certainly from them. They've attacked us at every encounter.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: They've declared war on our way of life. We are to be assimilated.

Doctor Beverly Crusher: But even in war there are rules. You don't kill civilians indiscriminately.

Commander William T. Riker: There are no civilians among the Borg.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Think of them as a single collective being. There's no one Borg who is more an individual any more than your arm or your leg.

Doctor Beverly Crusher: How convenient.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: It comes down to this: We're faced with an enemy who are determined to destroy us. And we have no hope of negotiating a peace. Unless that changes, we are justified in doing anything we can to survive.

No doubt this conversation will sound familiar to anyone who has read a newspaper in the last eight years. The original broadcast date of this episode? May 11, 1992.

The episode concludes with the newly individualized "Hugh" choosing to return to the Collective in order to protect his new friends. The hope is that Hugh will retain at least some of the values and insights he gained during his time on board the Enterprise and will thereby influence the Collective to begin operating as less of a single mind and more as a group of individuals, with all the complications and arguments that implies. (The series would revisit the consequences of Hugh's return to the Collective in a few future episodes, which I may also need to revisit.)

I was surprised by how much the episode resonated with me. I believe it was the first time I had seen the episode since 9/11. I was pleased that an episode of TNG had been so far-sighted, but I was more disturbed by the fact that 1) if our current foreign policy is any indication, few seem to have taken these ideas to heart, and 2) that if we choose to follow this course of action we are more likely to be "assimilated" and/or destroyed by our Collective-like enemy than we are to "convert" them to our way of thinking; that is, if we continue to ignore the fact that they, no matter how comforting it may be for us to think otherwise, are made up of individuals, just as we are. As Sting once sang about our Cold War opponenents, "I hope [they] love their children, too."