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The Jinx: What's Been Said and What Hasn't Been Said

March 18, 2015, 1:00 pm
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Promos for "The Jinx" showed Robert Durst saying, "Nobody tells the whole truth." That seems to include the filmmakers, who canceled all interviews after Andrew Jarecki, the director, was challenged about having provided contradictory timelines. On "CBS This Morning," he said they'd been unaware of "the bathroom confession" until months later. That was inconsistent with a newspaper report that it had gone undiscovered for more than two years. The reason given for refusing to be interviewed was the producers expect to be called as witnesses by law enforcement so it's inappropriate for them to make further comments. They could, I'm sure, stipulate what's off limits and discuss the processes and challenges they'd experienced.

The man suspected of three murders was willing to talk, while those who'd asked the questions were not. Maybe they're afraid someone will tape what they say in the bathroom or that they'll be asked why no one in the room, including the sound person, heard what Durst was saying into the mike he was wearing.

Jarecki had promised that at the end of the series we would know what happened, but his refusal to speak has left me questioning his methodology and feeling mistrustful. I grew suspicious during the final episode, watching him prepare for presenting two envelopes with identical handwriting and the same misspelling, evidence that incriminated Durst. When a colleague asked why he was anxious, he said he'd come to realize that Durst was "volatile." That hadn't occurred to him when Durst admitted he'd killed and dismembered his neighbor?

The finale was dramatic, better than The Sopranos. While looking at a black screen, we heard Durst in the bathroom, saying, "There it is. You're caught. What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course." I took another look at that part of the show to hear if he continued talking while the toilet flushed, thinking that would reveal if it was, in fact, a stream of consciousness or a prepared statement. Like an actor who'd been directed, "hold for the flush," he didn't speak, resuming only when it was quiet and his voice would again be clearly heard. This was a most unique open mic experience.

"You killed" could fairly be said to the filmmakers, who crafted a brilliant and compelling show that led, conveniently, to Durst being arrested days before the final episode. "You killed," when said to Durst, will be more sinister.
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The 15 Best Sexiest Movies On Netflix Right Now

March 18, 2015, 1:07 pm
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We've scanned Netflix for the best sex-related movies so you don't have to. Are they all "sexy," in the traditional sense of the word? No. In fact, you might consider some the opposite of sexy. But most of them deal with issues related to mating and relating with ingenuity, style and/or intelligence. We've ranked them in order of Rotten Tomatoes freshness ratings from lowest to highest: All are "fresh" (the majority of critics -- over 60 percent -- gave the film positive reviews) and half are "certified fresh" (75 percent or higher, with 40 reviews counted and at least 5 reviews from top critics).


15. Bitter Moon (63 percent)


If you can get past the fact that it's directed by statutory rapist Roman Polanski, Bitter Moon is a wonderfully campy dark-comedy about erotic obsession gone really, really wrong. Like oinking-in-a-pig-mask wrong.



14. Sex and Lucia (71 percent)


This is sexy -- there is a lot of "strong sexual content" -- but it is also super sad. Tragedy plus eroticism does NOT equal comedy.



13. Young and Beautiful (73 percent)


Sounds like a terrible soap opera, but this French film by the director of Swimming Pooland 8 Women centers on a teenager with a secret life as a blasé sex worker. (Actually, maybe it could be a soap opera...) Let's just hope mom doesn't find out!



12. The Piano Teacher (73 percent)


Basically, this is the opposite of the BDSM relationship in Fifty Shades of Grey: older woman, younger man; zero romance (and we mean it, unlike Christian Grey); and a seriously unhealthy approach to masochism. Makes Fifty look like a feel-good romantic comedy.




11. Nymphomaniac (Vol I 75 percent; Vol II 60 percent)


We're almost morally opposed to including anything by Lars Von Trier on this list, just because his films are so painful to watch. But come on, this is an epic two-parter (over four hours long) about a sex addict. Do we have a choice?



10. Frida (76 percent)


This biopic of the Mexican surrealist painter Frida Kahlo chronicles her complicated marriage to muralist Diego Rivera, which involved lots of lovers on both sides (including one shared mistress), as well as Kahlo's affair with the Marxist revolutionary, Leon Trotsky.



9. Fatal Attraction (78 percent)


The classic that spawned the term "bunny boiler" wasn't just a cautionary tale (be careful what you wish for, don't take for granted all you have...) -- it could also be seen as a feminist treatise on the dangers of ignoring women and their feelings.



8. I Am Love (80 percent)


Italian vistas + food porn + an affair + Tilda Swinton = intense, dramatic sensuality.



7. Don Jon (81 percent)


Funny and stylish take on the the deleterious effects the modern meathead's porn habits have on his romantic relationships.



6. Submarine (86 percent)


Adorable, stylish and touching coming-of-age British film about a 15-year-old trying to save his parents' marriage and lose his virginity.



5. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (90 percent)


Peter Greenaway, famous for combining beauty and horror in his art house works, carried on the tradition in this shocking film from 1989 which featured Hellen Mirren's always-stellar acting, Jean-Paul Gaultier's over-the-top costumes, and Michael Nyman's creepy music. You won't be hungry for a while after this one.



4. Like Water for Chocolate (90 percent)


Based on the best-selling book of the same name, the film tells the tale of star-crossed Mexican lovers with lots of foodie sensuality and magical realism. According to RT, it's one of the highest grossing foreign films of all time. You will be hungry after this one.



3. Blue Is the Warmest Color (91 percent)


A French teenager explores her Sapphic sexuality with a blue-haired art student. Rated NC-17 for explicit scenes. Strap in, 'cause it's over three hours long.



2. Y Tu Mama También (92 percent)


A coming of age story about two Mexican teenage buddies on a road trip with a 28-year-old married woman. It's got all the fantasies: older woman, younger men, casual sex, threeways, homoerotic experimentation... Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who would later make Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004),  Children of Men (2006) and Gravity (2013), for which he won an Academy Award.



1. Gloria (99 percent)


It doesn't get much better than 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. This Chilean film follows a divorced, middle-aged woman looking for love in singles' dance clubs. She finds it... but it ain't perfect.




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Theater: Kristen Chenoweth Becomes a Legend in "On The Twentieth Century"

March 18, 2015, 2:29 pm
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ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY *** out of ****
LONESOME TRAVELER ** out of ****


ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY *** out of ****
ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY AT AMERICAN AIRLINES THEATRE

The bubbly is on tap at the Roundabout for this classy, fun revival of On The Twentieth Century. That's bubbly as in champagne and bubbly as in the high spirits of Kristin Chenoweth, who giggles and stomps and twirls her way through the comic role of Lily Garland, a part she was clearly born to play.

Watching her perform this with ease makes clear why exactly On The Twentieth Century hasn't been seen on Broadway for a commercial run since 1978. Remember, this Comden & Green and Cy Coleman bit of nonsense ran for a year and launched the careers of Judy Kaye and Kevin Kline. But Lily Garland is hugely demanding vocally and comedically; On The Twentieth Century may be the most musically sophisticated score in history for such a silly show. In short, who the hell else could actually tackle this character? She has to sing and dance, trade punches with the fellas AND deliver tunes with the aplomb of a coloratura while making it all look easy. Chenoweth does but precious few others could. This should run as long as Chenoweth and co-star Peter Gallagher are on board but I pity her replacement.

Mind you, this isn't just a revival smoothly delivered by director Scott Ellis, choreographer Warren Carlyle and an excellent creative team. Nips and tucks can be found throughout the show (with additional lyrics by Amanda Green, natch, and additional material by Marco Pennette) from the trims in the overture right through what is essentially a brand new eleven o'clock number for Gallagher's Oscar Jaffe. Tighter transitions, removals of extraneous bits and emotional refocusing of the story all pay off with a streamlined show that barely catches its breath from the madcap introduction to the flourish at the finale. Fun? Absolutely.



Based on the classic play Twentieth Century (which led to the Howard Hawks film starring John Barrymore and Carole Lombard), this is the story of a down on his luck producer, broke, hounded by creditors and with a string of flops seemingly dooming him to obscurity. He's traveling on the Twentieth Century from Chicago to New York and needs a miracle. But wait! His one-time paramour Lily Garland -- the nobody he turned into a glittering star -- is traveling on the same train. Jaffe has just sixteen hours to discover a play, find backers and convince Lily to sign a contract. By God, he'll do it!

It's all nonsense of course, delivered with charm and style and in this production a modest sense of grounded reality. Jaffe is a monster in John Barrymore's hilarious film depiction, a producer who will do anything, just anything to accomplish his goals. Gallagher pays homage to that self-centered portrayal but -- without spoiling the fun -- he also makes Jaffe an actual, flesh and blood human being. As his sidekicks, Mark Linn-Baker and Michael McGrath are pitch perfect and take their cue from him: often scenery chewing wiseacres as characters, these guys play it relatively low-key and real as well. This all puts the emphasis on romance in this romantic comedy.

On the other hand, this realism doesn't quite pay off in the casting of the great Mary Louise Wilson as the religion-obsessed, independently wealthy Letitia Peabody Primrose, the perfect sap for bankrolling Jaffe's sudden inspiration to turn the story of Mary Magdalene into a Broadway show. Oh Wilson is good; she can't do otherwise. But there's not quite the sense of wacky abandon one might like. And this particular part is actually rather demanding on a physical level; for the big visual gag people still remember from the original, I was more worried about her safety than laughing. I hope she keeps acting for another 20 years but this wasn't the right antic role for her. (Still, great job on the cartwheels, Ms. Wilson!)

Similarly, Andy Karl lets himself down if not the show in the part of Lily's silly movie star lover Bruce Granit. He's fit and fine in the role and clearly having a lot more fun here than in the misbegotten Rocky. But somehow he makes very little impression. When you remember that this same role turned Kevin Kline into a star, the feeling of lost opportunity is inevitable. His big musical number is "Mine" in which both he and Jaffe are singing about Lily while staring into a mirror. They're in separate cars on the train but the audience sees them as unwittingly facing each other down. It's telling that instead of that hilarious one-upmanship you should expect that they both seem to be...staring into a mirror. There's no sense of connection, no comic electricity here.

On the plus side, the Porters -- who serve as the show's Greek chorus -- work like a charm. They've been wisely adjusted from the original's all-black porters of identical height who literally embodied the porter of movie cliche down to a t into four distinct men from smallest to tallest. They wowed the audience from start to finish, including their big number "Life Is Like A Train" which opens Act Two. (And it would take a close comparison of the two shows to figure out exactly why even this song had some apparent additions.) One hates to play favorites but the first among equals was the sexy and charming Rick Faugno, who immediately established a rapport with the crowd.

All the tech elements were superior, from the sets by David Rockwell to the costumes by William Ivey Long to crucial lighting by Donald Holder and flawless sound design by Jon Weston. I assume the ridiculous wig Chenoweth wore at the start as the dowdy Mildred Plotka was part of the fun so Paul Huntley did a great job too. Without actually being lavish in the extreme, they made the show at least look like a million bucks (which is understating matters, but you get the idea).

On The Twentieth Century zips by so quickly you almost don't realize how many good songs there are in it. The opener is a terrific scene setter, then Jaffe's character-defining "I Rise Again," the over-the-top "Veronique" (also tweaked to make its storyline clearer, I think), the hilarious "Never," the lovely "Our Private World" (my guest has dibs on that for his wedding song so I hope Chenoweth will be available), then "Repent" and that's just act one. Jaffe's eleven o'clock number, the hilarious and self-absorbed tune "The Legacy" has been turned into a declaration of love called "Because Of Her." That ups the emotional ante and makes this entire's production focus on (almost) believable characters pay off. Of course, they're not entirely believable since no one can actually sing like Chenoweth.

She and Gallagher almost seemed a little dampened as the show began when I caught it on a Wednesday. It had just opened and there was also a matinee that day, so you can imagine them running on fumes. As the show moved along, they loosened up and their voices warmed up and it actually helped this particular night build and build. Gallagher delivered in spades while Chenoweth was simply a delight. Five years is too long away from Broadway for her but it was certainly worth the wait. With performances like this, Chenoweth is well on her way of blossoming from a star into a legend.



LONESOME TRAVELER **
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Well, they nailed the earnestness. This well-intentioned but flat-footed and sometimes risible evening of entertainment serves up everything that can make folk music seem hokey and goody-goody. It has educational passages, heavy-handed sermonizing and sincerity served up by the bucket. The show is rescued ultimately by the very thing it hopes to celebrate: classic folk and blues. So inadvertently, writer and director James O'Neil made his point; folk music will endure, even in the face of musical theater entombment.

I spent half the evening imaging what sort of night I'd create to celebrate folk music. A straight-forward revue would work well (and indeed this same cast would do that just fine). You could also tell the story of folk music's rise and fall (in commercial terms) by taking a more jaundiced look at its journey from angry, fist-raising blues and folk that fired up unions and frightened the power structure into the smoothed out entertainment that became acceptable TV fodder until it was ultimately blown up by Bob Dylan going electric.

But to focus on what we have, it's a survey of folk music -- often very well sung -- that means to educate and entertain about the music's roots, its history, how it reflected and perhaps influenced changing times and continues today with traditionalist purveyors and the likes of Mumford & Sons. It is dutiful and dull anytime the music stops, which thankfully isn't all that often.



It begins with a lovely sing-along on "How Can I Keep From Singing?" and then our narrator, a Pete Seeger-like fellow called Lonesome Traveler who has a penchant for over-explaining and never missing a chance to educate (just like Seeger!) steps up and starts talking. Justin Flagg sings well and delivers the dialogue as best he can.

That's not easy when a scene depicting Alan Lomax doing a field recording is followed by Lonesome Traveler saying, "Ok. Well, as you all saw on the screens it's around 1926 and this fella here came a long way just to get us to sing into that funny little box. A new thing called recording. He said people'd be able to hear us over and over for years to come." He's joined by a black woman called The Muse (her race is important to appreciating the banality of the dialogue she must repeat), played by Jennifer Leigh Warren. She chimes in helpfully, "Helpin' folks remember who we were and what we sung about." Lonesome continues, "That's right. But I coulda told him we'd been passing things along for a good long time already. You see, I know for an absolute fact that I was here long before I was born and I figure I'll be here long after I'm dead." Woman, laughing, "Now, if that doesn't make a lot of sense right now, you just stick around for a time; it's bound to come clear."

If that reads poorly, like some educational show thought up to play high schools in the 1970s, it plays even worse. Act One has a lot of this sort of banal dialogue. Act Two goes more heavily into the songs, but feels the need to include the corny jokes the big acts used to make while appearing in concert or on television. One would have been plenty. You'd never know from this sanitized presentation that folk music was a rebel-rousing, dangerous form of protest -- even though they tell you so.

Very typically, the song "Talking Union" is preceded by a lengthy passage explaining how folk singers felt the working man deserved a decent pay for a decent day's work and on and on about this injustice. Then of course they sing the tune...which makes the same point far more dramatically and effectively. Or at least it would have without the laborious set-up. Is this the sort of thing Pete Seeger and others have in concert, explaining a song that needs no explaining? Yes, so it's "authentic" but not very dramatic.

The singers are good and the arrangements by Dan Wheetman are to my amateur's ears pretty faithful. Act Two opener "There's A Meetin' Here Tonight" does the most effective job of showing how rural tunes and the blues were transformed into commercial folk with a gutbucket version gliding right into a smoother than smooth version your folks might have sung along with on the radio. They aren't making a value statement here and I agree: the first is certainly more moving but both have their charms. This brief passage does point to the road not taken by Lonesome Traveler of demonstrating musically the history and changes in folk music rather than talking about it.

But the presentation! First, the women are for some reason asked to carry the load of goofy, period-setting costume changes. True, the men put on and take off jackets, move from jeans to slacks and so on. But the women are asked to don headbands and dreadful wigs that emphasize the periods being depicted. This extends to performances of songs by Judy Collins and Joan Baez where they're asked to do imitations and fall flat. All the performances are certainly in the spirit of the originals but only the women are asked to ape them; why, I don't know. Much better if everyone just wore simple outfits and let the music set the scene.

The slideshows that take place throughout are also superfluous. When the time jumps from the early 1940s to the 1950s, do we really need a slide show reminding us of WW II? It's not the fault of multimedia designer David Mickey. I can't think of what slides one could choose to depict the Civil Rights movement other than the ones he chose that wouldn't seem overly familiar. But all the more reason to drop them completely. Other than identifying the acts, there's simply no need for screens and multimedia in the first place.

Far worse, however, is the frankly offensive depiction of blacks throughout the show. The fact that it's done by folks with the best of intentions almost makes it worse. An early scene shows Lomax recording black folk in their homes and it all takes place behind a gauzy screen. OK, I thought, maybe this is just a one-time thing since we've just jumped back in time. But no, time and again, when "authentic" black music is heard, it's often performed by the two black performers stuck behind a gauzy scrim. Anthony Manough spent so much time behind the scrim his whole impression of the audience is probably hazy and indistinct. He is also the lone man to have to don a ridiculous costume, in this case the prison garb that Leadbelly was forced to wear by promoters since audiences wanted the excitement of seeing a genuine jailbird. Yes, the smiling and genial Leadbelly gets out front in a suit later but he delivers that fact with such good nature you'd think it was an amusing misunderstanding rather than offensive.

When they sang "John Henry," Manough was back behind the scrim, his shirt off so we could see the gleaming black man pound away with his hammer. And in the jaw-dropping low point of the show, during one number (I don't even know which one I was so gobsmacked by what I saw), for no conceivable reason we see Manough on the left -- behind a scrim of course -- working in the fields doing some hoeing. On the right we see Warren doing laundry in a bucket, soaping up clothes on a washboard with a do-rag to hold up her hair. Other than the Lomax recording and a campfire sing-along, none of the other actors ever depict everyday activities like this. I honestly expected these two actors to suddenly stop what they were doing and walk off the stage for good.

Despite these indignities and horrible, folksy dialogue filled with down-home wisdom she somehow delivers with a straight face, Warren still managed to sing beautifully and with conviction. She was the show's standout and after all, these are classic songs. On the male side, Matty Charles was excellent as various figures like Woody Guthrie. I always looked forever to whenever he took center stage. (The Ian & Syliva duet on "Early Mornin' Rain" with Sylvie Davidson was a particular high point.)

But all the performers sang well. That certainly wasn't the problem. It was the entire, dutiful, earnest, repetitive and borderline offensive conception of the show that doomed it. Emotionally, the entire piece built up quite reasonably to Bob Dylan going electric. "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" is the literal climax of the show. I wondered, how would they do it? Strip it down to see what an enduring folk tune it would be even without the plugged-in guitar? Would the "Joan Baez" character do it? One of the men?

Instead, musical director Trevor Wheetman -- who had done superior work on multiple instruments all night, along with Sam Gelfer -- suddenly stepped up to the mike and sang away. Unfortunately, unlike every other person on stage, he is not a good singer. Do they actually think Dylan is not a good singer and it doesn't matter who performs it? (Dylan of course is one of the greatest and most influential singers of all time.) Were they just trying to give him a moment in the spotlight, never mind that it's the crucial climax of the show -- the moment when folk music is almost literally blown away by rock and roll? Wheetman could have performed during the intermission if they wanted to let him enjoy a moment of his own. Squandering the peak of the show to someone who can't even begin to do this classic justice was just the final nail in the coffin.

And still, still my love for folk music (if not my love for singing along) and the general high quality of singing lets me give this evening two stars. It's pleasant if a little boring and not nearly the show that folk music deserves.

THEATER OF 2015

Honeymoon In Vegas **
The Woodsman ***
Constellations ** 1/2
Taylor Mac's A 24 Decade History Of Popular Music 1930s-1950s ** 1/2
Let The Right One In **
Da no rating
A Month In The Country ** 1/2
Parade in Concert at Lincoln Center ** 1/2
Hamilton at the Public ***
The World Of Extreme Happiness ** 1/2
Broadway By The Year 1915-1940 **
Verite * 1/2
Fabulous! *
The Mystery Of Love & Sex **
An Octoroon at Polonsky Shakespeare Center *** 1/2
Fish In The Dark *
The Audience ***
Josephine And I ***
Posterity * 1/2
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame **
Lonesome Traveler **
On The Twentieth Century ***


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Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of the forthcoming website BookFilter, a book lover's best friend. It's a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in every category. He's also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog. Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.

Note: Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be writing a review. All productions are in New York City unless otherwise indicated.
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Review: Insurgent or How to Make an 118-Minute Film Feel Like a Day in Hell

March 18, 2015, 3:02 pm
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Insurgent is a relentlessly exasperating sci-fi film made, miraculously, with a half-baked imagination, a slaughtered wit, and insufferable direction by Robert Schwentke, the man who supplied 2013 with one its biggest flops, R.I.P.D.

You know something's gone very wrong when a blue dress outacts Kate Winslet in this adaptation of Veronica Roth's second novel in the bestselling Divergent series. Ms. Winslet is not at fault alone here. I own a Swingline stapler that makes more of an impression than many of her costars, especially Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, and Daniel Dae Kim.

(This non-acting by the way-over-30 crowd in teen-oriented, "the future-doesn't-look-so-hot" epics seems to be trending. Other recent examples include Meryl Streep and Katie Homes in The Giver and Harrison Ford and Viola Davis in Ender's Game. Here's possibly a ploy to win over the hearts and dollars of the prepubescent by reaffirming their belief that adults are nonessential, characterless joy killers.)

Moving on, since sequels are usually inferior to their predecessors (Godfather 2 excluded), and the original Divergent was pretty much panned, the forecast for this offering was little better than inclement. Clearly, one could pretty much quote from the 2014 reviews to critique its 2015 sibling. The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern, for instance: "In all candor, and with all the amity I can muster, Divergent is as dauntingly dumb as it is dauntingly long." Or Rolling Stone's Pete Travers: "The only terror Divergent roused in me was that the drag-ass thing would never end."

Embarrassingly, I rather enjoyed the introductory episode, but then I was watching it on TV with the gentile-side of my family on Christmas day, a little bit soggy from eggnog.

Where was that eggnog now when it was really needed?

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Well, the alcohol-buzz-free Insurgent begins with a lengthy voiceover from the film's major villain Jeanine (Winslet), the vicious leader of this post-apocalyptic society that has been divided into five factions, each representing a specific personality trait, such as Abnegation for selflessness. On this broadcast, Jeanine accuses Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James)-- both Divergents who fit into no faction category--of undermining their society with actions that might lead to a reoccurrence of the desolation of the past. She's lying though. They're the good guys.

The basic plot from here on is that Jeanine has a special box that contains a message from leaders of the past. This box can only be opened to receive that communication by securing a pure Divergent to it with numerous wires that hold the victim up in midair. The wrong Divergent will die, so who's the right one? Tris, of course. And what is the crucial message? My lips are sealed, more from ennui than from not wanting to spoil things for you.

Anyway, getting to the above point in Insurgent is a dystopian trek for the viewer. Tris and Four have to run a lot, and dozens of malfeasants are always shooting at them and missing. For example, Tris stands tall in a field during an onslaught and still doesn't get shot. A near-sighted pigeon couldn't miss crapping on her, yet trained soldiers falter.

Then whenever our heroes are about to be decimated, instead of running for their lives, they stand around and chat a bit. I guess the screenwriters, Brian Duffield and his buddies, felt that they had to supply excessive verbiage to prove their worth, all for naught. Every time there are at least four uninterrupted lines of dialogue, you'll find your mental faculties shutting down.

Worse, when a depressed Tris decides to chop off her long hair by herself, she winds up with a sophisticated pixie cut a la Jean Seberg in Breathless. The back is even slightly layered. Have you ever tried to layer the back of your head by yourself? Let me tell you, it ain't easy, especially in a dystopian society with not a blow dryer in sight.

To be fair, this 3D film livens up immensely in the final half hour when Tris is finally connected to the aforementioned box. Suddenly, there are first-rate imaginative visuals, and Insurgent becomes quite engrossing. And whenever there's a slight lag, you can always focus on that blue dress. It's lovely.
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Ariana Grande's Wonder Dog

March 18, 2015, 3:15 pm
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Ariana Grande performs in the World Wide Day of Play 2013 PETER DZUBAY


I'd like to be Ariana Grande's puppy, if only for a day. I first saw Sirius Black on Ariana's Instagram, a big-eyed mixed breed adopted bouncing ball of curly black fur, ensconced in a soft tan leather seat on a private jet. Don't get me wrong. I'm not looking to be adored, pampered and connected on a soul level by a Grammy Award nominated, fetching young singer, although that seems quite lovely now that I think about it. Hmm. What was I saying?

Oh, yes. I would give up that daydream just to be Sirius the social media canine juggernaut. Within hours of Ariana posting that photo, Sirius' "first flight" had more than one million likes on Instagram and more than 20,000 comments. Yes, comments. Kittens and puppies have always been the darling of the internet, but isn't that a bit much? When you're on fire, you're on fire. More than 27 million fans follow her religiously on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Ariana can connect with her fans, and they with her, in real time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, digital chatter from the subliminal to the profane. That connection can be organic, as felt in her live concerts, or defined by gigabytes upon which her fans feast from afar.

My day as Sirius would go like this. I would beseech Ariana with my big puppy eyes to post silly photos of me around the globe. You can do a lot of flying in 24 hours. Not just anywhere. My first stop would be a refugee camp in South Sudan. I'd let the orphaned children pet me. The trip would be worthwhile just to make them smile. Next stop, the South Pacific islands that make up Vanuatu, where thousands were displaced from last week's cyclone.

I would nestle on Ariana's lap while she sings, if only to bring a little beauty into the islander's lives as they piece together the wreckage. Haiti would be next, five years after the earthquake. I would try to remind Ariana that natural disasters may briefly capture our attention, but it can take years for communities to rebuild. I would beguile a local musician to play a song with Ariana, bridging cultures. I bet that would be a cool song. Haitian Arianator pop.

If you were impressed by my Instagram posts before, watch out, because that was nothing. At our first stop, I met eight year old Ayak, a Sudanese left for dead after a village raid by feuding tribes, sparked by an argument that no one can remember, was captured in a moment of pure joy, beaming as he teased me with a scrap of food, inches from my nose. Ariana took the photo just as I leaped for Ayak's treat, my tail curled clockwise, photobombed by his sister, Adeng. A moment later, Adeng tickled me mercilessly. That posting went mad viral, with 33 million likes by dinnertime.

With each stop, each photo, each posting, it would grow and grow. I would open eyes, hearts and minds, to see hidden beauty in surprising places. I would bring smiles where hope seemed lost. I would invite my adopted siblings Coco, Toulouse, Ophelia, Fawkes, and Cinnamon. I hope you'll join me. Please. -- Sirius, Ariana's Wonder Dog.

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Ariana Grande Gets New Puppy, Fawkes Kitty!
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Life Lessons From a Modern Day Cinderella

March 18, 2015, 3:22 pm
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Like most little girls, I was captivated by Cinderella and remember wearing my own version of Disney's magical blue dress, sparkly crown and of course, those beautiful glass slippers. Somehow I believed this fairy tale wardrobe gave me permission to be a princess... if only for a little while. . What I didn't realize was how insignificant the dress really was....until now.

Fast forward to 2015, an advanced technology-driven world with women who are taking charge of their femininity in a powerful fashion. With this being said, I can understand why today's women feel the need to critique this storyline. We want Cinderella to use her girl power and fight for what is right, not allowing her wicked stepmother or stepsisters to deflate her happiness in a dusty attic.

I believe that we should view Cinderella not as a fairy tale or a story of how a young girl falls in love with a prince in five minutes, but of how an underdog uses her courage to go after what she wants despite life's consequences. Empowering girls to be brave and smart is important, however a girl's ability to overcome adversity while retaining humility is equally necessary.

Cinderella's famous quote "Have courage and be kind" is the far more important message this story has to offer. Cinderella's mother and father instilled the morals and values every girl should learn. These traits empower girls to rise above adversity to be their own version of a "princess"...never worrying about the stroke of midnight.


Mentorship ~

Cinderella's parents provided her with a well balanced foundation. The root of everything good or evil will produce results based on one's choices and actions. Mentors have the capability of creating a positive impact that can weave through the lives of youth generation after generation. The wicked stepsisters want us to believe that they ruled the castle while Cinderella worked all day and slept by the cinders. I don't see them winning at all. The sisters were doomed from the beginning having never learned the simple values of kindness and love. Ella's mother reinforces how to bring good into her world. Kindness brings out goodness, which brings out magic.

"Where there is kindness, there is goodness. And where there is goodness, there is magic." - Cinderella's Mother


Kindness ~

Lady Tremaine becomes bitter over the loss of her fairy tale life after the untimely death of Cinderella's father. Instead of embracing and appreciating the hard work of her late husband she has chosen to include Cinderella in her suffering and demise. Both Tremaine and Cinderella suffered, however, the lesson here is how we choose to overcome our grief and anger. Kindness always prevails. Teaching girls to be kind and follow their heart is one of the most beautiful lifelong traits a girl can possess.

"We ladies must help one another." - Cinderella


Courage ~

Cinderella is a woman who has suffered immensely and has the courage to stand up for what she believes. Her values of forgiveness and kindness will not be swayed even in bad times. She embraces high standards even while imprisoned. She was an outcast to her sisters and still found it in her soul to understand the bigger picture of life. Cinderella knew that tearing down others would never bring her happiness. Instead she learned to understand, not judge, and to allow courage and forgiveness to prevail.

"Have courage and be kind" - Cinderella

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How Cell Phones Would Have Ruined Most of Our Favorite Movies

March 18, 2015, 4:47 pm
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If you're a pop culture maven, most likely it can be agreed that the modern cell phone can be traced back to two classic TV series of the 1960s: Star Trek and Get Smart. Captain James Tiberius Kirk and his USS Enterprise crew were always armed with their "communicators" when traveling abroad on a distant planet. They were palm-sized devices with covers the flipped open, providing instant connection with the orbiting space ship. This design was aped, no doubt, by former Trekkies for the classic "flip phone" design that ruled the high-tech roost in the late 90s and early millennium.



Secret Agent 86 Maxwell Smart had his shoe phone, surely the most creative (and ridiculous) example of technology ever invented by someone who was most likely thought to be a creative and scientific genius. However, it did enable Max to get out of one sticky situation after another. After all, how many bad guys confiscate a spy's shoes after he's been captured? With these questions in mind, we'll take a look at a handful of classic movies, and how they literally couldn't have played out, if they had been set in a cell phone-ruled universe.



The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Spirited teen Dorothy Gale runs head-on into a 19th century Kansas tornado in search of her terrier, Toto, who's run off. Now, if Oz had taken place in 21st century Kansas, not only would Dorothy and all her relatives, farm hands and neighbors have smart phones stuck into that big front pocket of their overalls, Toto would have been stuck with a microchip by the local vet when he was just a pup, enabling Dorothy to track him via Google and changing her desperate, fumbling search for him through the cornfields into an easy search that would have taken all of ninety seconds. Cut to Dorothy: "Bad dog!" Dorothy snatches up said dog, scrambles into the storm cellar with time to spare, grabbing a piping hot biscuit for herself from Auntie Em's fresh batch in the kitchen, and a stew bone for Toto. No conk on the head. No hallucinating about Munchkins, poppy fields and animated scarecrows. And no drug problem for the college-bound Dorothy a few years later because, let's face it: once you've been to Oz, you'd wanna keep going back. And back. And back...



Casablanca (1942)
Former lovers Ilsa and Rick are reunited in Nazi-occupied North Africa. There is still major chemistry between the two, but Ilsa's heart belongs to her husband, noble Hungarian freedom fighter Victor Laszlo. If Ilsa and Rick had cell phones, their first meeting never would have taken place. Think about it: a chick dumps your ass in Paris, the most romantic city on Earth, in the middle of a frickin' rainstorm. What's the first thing you do? You defriend her sorry excuse for a girlfriend on Facebook and get all your real buds to do the same! The minute Ilsa and Victor arrived at Rick's Café Americana, and of course "checked-in" on Facebook, that one semi-catty female "pal" that stayed in touch with both Rick and Ilsa would inform Rick post-haste that Ilsa was in his establishment. Rick would then text Captain Louis Renault, dropping dime on the fact that the Nazi-wanted Laszlo was in his joint. Louis and his boys would arrest the hot couple on the spot, without Rick ever having to deal with them directly. End of story, with revenge served as the coldest of cold dishes on Rick's part. Final fade out has Rick telling Sam to tinkle the ivories with the J. Giles Band classic "Love Stinks" as Rick dances with a beautiful Casablancan gal.



Vertigo (1958)
Alfred Hitchcock's classic, cited by the British Film Institute as the greatest film ever made, could have played out much the same for its first half, until Kim Novak's Madeline Elster character is "reborn" as Judy Barton, discovered by James Stewart's ex-cop Scottie Ferguson on the streets of San Francisco. In the world of cell phones and the Internet, Scottie would have become a shut-in after the trauma of losing Madeline, spending all his time surfing dating and hook-up sites on the web and his phone. While cruising chicks on Tinder one lonely night, Scottie would have discovered Madeline/Judy's profile, as the forlorn girl is now looking for love herself. Scottie quickly puts the pieces together via Photoshop, comparing and contrasting picks of Madeline and Judy under extreme magnification, realizing they're one and the same. After setting up a Coffee Bean date with "Judy" using a fake Tinder profile picture, Scottie spikes her chai latte with drugged almond milk, taking her to the Golden Gate Bridge, making her confess all as she comes to. As the cops drag Judy off, Scottie throws his cell phone into the San Francisco Bay, deciding to move up to an Oregon commune where all technology is forbidden.



E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
"E.T. phone home!" Well, here's the thing: if we'd had cellphones in 1982, what do you think an uber-advanced alien would've had at that point? He would've phoned home. As in post-haste. As in, "Dude, what h-e-double hockey sticks are you guys thinking?! You left me stranded!" The captain of E.T.'s ship, scared shitless that his commanding officer, who happens to be E.T.'s uncle, will find out about this, uses a top secret do-hickey to travel back in time to the point where E.T. wandered off in the first place, grabbing him and dragging him onto the ship, chastising his subordinate for being "a space cadet." Meanwhile, Elliott, Gertie and the nice suburban family have a normal suburban life, and adopt a Golden Retriever puppy a few months later. They name him Fernando, which translates to "brave traveler," and got the idea from a new naming app Gertie downloaded onto her iPhone 6.
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5 Underrated Taylor Swift Songs That Can Help You Through Your Rough Patch

March 19, 2015, 7:11 am
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Disclaimer: I am not a die-hard Taylor Swift fan.

When I found out she would be performing this summer in my hometown, all I could really do is shrug. I have nothing against Taylor (except for the fact that she's dated both Harry Styles and Jake Gyllenhaal, two of my dream men). I guess I just never really joined the "Swiftie" movement. Sometimes when I would catch myself jamming in the car to "Shake It Off" or "Blank Space," I would justify it by admitting that these songs were popular and catchy.

As it turns out, there is so much more to Taylor Swift than the overplayed chart-toppers that she is known for. Instead of shaming her for musically trashing her exes, we should instead look at the unacknowledged heroes of her albums. Swift's songs cover misfortunes that every young woman can relate to, from getting over an unrequited love to being afraid to transition to a new phase in life.

Taylor Swift recognizes these struggles and uses her music to overcome them. While some of these songs may not be what is constantly blaring on every radio station across the country, they help define Swift as a whole. Like it or not, Taylor Swift is an icon. She may have a long list of ex-lovers, but she also has a repertoire of songs that can relate to an entire generation of girls.

In an effort to recognize Swift's hidden musical gems, I have compiled a list of five songs that showcase her genius. These songs are unappreciated and overlooked, and they can help you through your darkest of times.

1. "Mean"
Album: Speak Now
Lyrics to remember: Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me / And all you're ever gonna be is mean / Why you gotta be so mean?

Let's be honest here, when was the last time you straight up called someone mean? There are probably 100 other derogatory words you could use instead of mean. While the lyrics of this song may seem simple, the underlying message tells a lot. Swift admits that there are always going to be people who will try to tear you down. The best revenge? Work hard and be successful while staying humble and classy.



2. "Change"
Album: Fearless
Lyrics to remember: Tonight we stand, get off our knees / Fight for what we've worked for all these years / And the battle was long, it's the fight of our lives / But we'll stand up champions tonight

This song was chosen as one of the featured tracks for the 2008 Summer Olympics, and there's a good reason why. The theme of "Change" is perseverance. A huge part of life is having to fight for what you want. Nothing in life comes easily. Swift welcomes this adversity by shining a dash of hope: the difficulties you are facing now are not permanent. Stick it out and things will, in the end, work in your favor.



3. "Long Live"
Album: Speak Now
Lyrics to remember: Long live all the mountains we moved / I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you / One day, we will be remembered

Swift's coming-of-age song details the fear that arises when you have to face the uncertainty of moving on to a new chapter in life. For me, transitioning to college was something I dreaded every second leading up to move-in day. "Long Live" acknowledges that this ambiguity can be scary; no one wants to forget the comfort of the past. You have to hold on to your fondest memories while also accepting the fact that you will make new memories in your new stage of life.

4. "The Story of Us"
Album: Speak Now
Lyrics to remember: Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room and we're not speaking / And I'm dying to know is it killing you like it's killing me?

This song is honestly so underappreciated. Swift tells the tale of the most uncomfortable experience ever: seeing your ex in public right after your break up. This encounter makes you question everything and actually long for that ex, even though you broke up for a reason. You have to stay strong, keep your head held high, and put a definitive "The End" to that chapter of the relationship.



5. "Clean"
Album: 1989
Lyrics to remember: Rain came pouring down when I was drowning / That's when I could finally breathe / And by morning gone was any trace of you / I think I am finally clean

Did you really think I would write an article about Taylor Swift songs and not include something about a breakup? "Clean" is different than Swift's other breakup masterpieces because it's a song about cleansing. The idea here is simple: I'm moving on, and I'm over him. There is no more longing for that relationship. Swift proves to girls that you don't need a man to define who you are. Find yourself instead of finding a man. Treat yo self, girl!

In the future will you see me screaming front row at a Taylor Swift concert? Probably not. However, the next time I'm dealing with a heartbreak or a case of the haters, don't be surprised if you find me with my hand in a bag of Cheetos while rocking out to T Swizzle.
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Tavis Smiley: My Conversation With Lenny Kravitz

March 19, 2015, 8:00 am
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Tonight on PBS I'm joined by Grammy-winning musician Lenny Kravitz, whose recent foray into photography is the subject of a new exhibit at the Leica Gallery and companion coffee table book, both entitled "Flash."

As someone constantly in the public eye, Kravitz decided during his world tour to turn his camera on the folks -- professionals and fans -- who turn their cameras on him. The result is a surreal exploration into what he sees from day to day.

In the clip below, we discuss the responsibility he feels when he meets his fans.



For more of our conversation, be sure to tune in to Tavis Smiley on PBS. Check our website for your local TV listings: www.pbs.org/tavis.
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The Walking Dead: Rick's People Show How It's Done

March 19, 2015, 8:19 am
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This past March 15th, season 5, episode 14 of The Walking Dead titled, "Spend," was indeed extraordinary in every way. Chris Hardwick of follow-up show Talking Dead said the episode was like watching a season finale. And he was right, with still two episodes of this hit show left in the season. Therefore by hindsight, viewers now know why the previous two episodes were light in action, which were preambles of sorts. Or in other words, episodes 12 and 13, titled "Remember," and "Forget," from an overall story vantage point, were warm-ups. Further validating that the people behind producing The Walking Dead certainly know what they are doing.

From previous episode 12 titled, "Remember," before Rick and his group of fourteen enters the Alexandria Safe Zone community, he says, "It's a good thing we're here." And wow was that ever more confirmed than in last Sunday's March 15th episode. For his words held true.

Thus when potentially dangerous and horrifying situations did indeed arise in episode 14, the people of the Alexandria Safe Zone community were shown to be inept, compared to Rick's people who are so used to exigently handling themselves, almost like a tight-knit Special Forces group. That is all of Rick's people including now Eugene in this episode, except Father Gabriel now a traitor. In any case, this episode had Rick's people show the people of the Alexandria Safe Zone community how it's done when unexpectedly encountering the walking dead. Something of which the Alexandria community were simply not ever used to before Rick's people arrived.

The mocking of Glenn's plan by Nicholas a long-time Alexandria community citizen, a plan to know all the exits of a warehouse before entering to get micro-inverters, was the first clue. Yet it was Nicholas's friend Aiden, son of Alexandria leader Deanna, who supported Glenn's plan. Thus the scene had proven that both Glenn and Aiden were shown to be good with each other, since after their previous altercation happening after a supply run. Nevertheless, shortly after Glenn, Noah, Tara, and this time Eugene, as well as Nicholas and Aiden all enter the warehouse, horror awaited, which shortly after, both Aiden and Nicholas panic. And tragedy results.

Meanwhile, Abraham joins with a crew of people from the Alexandria community at a mall construction site to gather materials to expand their Safe Zone wall. Then walkers appear unexpectedly to converge, followed by Alexandria community citizen Francine who falls from her lookout perch. Fellow Alexandria citizen and crew leader Tobin, acted by Jason Douglas, panics, and orders the rest of his crew to retreat, thus leaving Francine, acted by Dahlia Legault, behind. This of course doesn't sit well with Abraham, fellow battle-hardened member of Rick's group, who not only acts to save Francine, but also takes charge of continuing work of expanding the wall.

Summarily stated, there seems to be a whole lot of panicking going on among those of the Alexandria community whenever they encounter roamers, or walkers as called by Rick's group. This episode also shows why both patience and hindsight are enjoyably invaluable while viewing a show like The Walking Dead. Especially after the end of episode 12 titled, "Remember," the last scene where Rick, Carol, and Daryl are all three standing on the porch of their new beautiful mansion home, their group's first night in the Alexandria community. It was Carol who spoke a concern among the three, after she and others of Rick's group had observed a characteristic behavior of the community of Alexandria, during their first day within the beautiful fortified community. For Carol feared that they too may become weak. Yet shortly after listening, Rick says, "Carl said that. But it's not gonna happen. We won't get weak. That's not in us anymore. We'll make it work. And if they can't make it then we'll just take this place."

Yes, patience followed by hindsight are enjoyably invaluable while watching The Walking Dead, because every episode does not always have to be flat-out balls-to-the-wall action as if you are watching a Michael Bay Film. There are gems in this show.

Hindsight is invaluable, especially after viewers watched that last scene in episode 12, when after Rick says that if the people of the Alexandria Safe Zone community can't make it then he and his people will just take this place, some viewers were already quick to seeing Rick as the new bad guy. For shortly after episode 13, during the follow up AMC show Talking Dead with host Chris Hardwick, with guests Kevin Smith of AMC's Comic Book Men, Ross Marquand who plays Aaron, and Alexandra Breckenridge who plays Jessie, it was Kevin Smith who had said that Rick may be the new monster. While Chris Hardwick followed by comparing Rick to the Governor's descending to the dark-side as Rick touched his gun holstered to his belt, while watching Jessie with her husband Pete both walking together down the street. So now we know why it was prophetic when Rick had said in the beginning of previous episode 12, as he says, "It's a good thing we're here."

Now more than ever, it's a good thing for the people of the Alexandria Safe Zone community's sake, that Rick's people are now there -- this especially after stunning revelations. Beginning from both Nicholas and Aiden, wonderfully played by Daniel Bonjour who reportedly cut short his honeymoon for the role of Aiden Monroe, that both men had panicked that resulted in the deaths of previous fellow supply-run crew members, and not the other way around as both had told Glenn, Noah and Tara two episodes ago. Of course both had panicked again, while not only resulting in Tara getting injured but also both in Aiden's death and Noah's.

Then of course there's the domestic violence revelation brought forth by Carol to Rick, about Jessie's husband Pete that she learned from the couple's son Sam. Yet lastly, Father Gabriel was bound to show up, to betray the very ones who had protected him all along before Deanna Monroe. She said to Rick earlier that she's good at reading people, so she may already believe that Father Gabriel isn't all that together. But if not, then there's an ace in the hole, and that ace's name is Maggie.
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Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly's Devotional Bandleader

March 19, 2015, 9:01 am
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To Pimp a Butterfly has me excited to make music. It reminds me how important music is to my everyday existence. It's an inspiring record, an incendiary lyrical tour de force and a stylistic mashup that's elevated the G-Funk era with a set of more organic twists. Kendrick's cabinet runs deep: although the producer/collaborator count runs close to two dozen, the album's sonic expansiveness is cohesive, dynamic and jammed with live instrumentation. Intros and outros snake through song forms, paving a road both perfect for low-riders or your MTA of choice. When was the last time you heard clarinet on a hip-hop record? This is it.

If a little Googling is correct, that's Pedro Castro, a clarinetist with four YouTube videos and a solid writeup in the Pasadena City College Courier. But his performance on "Institutionalized" is not as anonymous; rather it's part of the deep musical fabric that Kendrick, a decidedly hands-on foreman, has curated on his third full-length. To Pimp a Butterfly paints with colors that resemble, if I may use the C word, classic hip-hop -- the album feels more like De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and 2Pac, all of whom made records that duck and weave in their bounce. While the latter's brilliance obviously inspired the Kendrick behind 2011's Section.80, the emcee of this week's surprise release is more worldly, part of which owes to the feeling that he's become a true bandleader.

From the jump, we get a mood beyond that of 2012's good kid, m.A.A.d city -- the last time we heard George Clinton like this was on "Synthesizer," from Outkast's 1998 masterpiece Aquemini. The Atlanta duo remains a major influence throughout, and their perpetual collaborations with production team Organized Noize mirrors the setup at Kendrick's label, Top Dawg Entertainment, which employees an in-house production crew that's all over To Pimp a Butterfly. Neal Pogue, who engineered Aquemini said of those sessions, "It was almost like a Motown, that's what we had. Or like a Stax Records thing. That's what I loved about it. It brought back that whole feeling of making records. It was organic."

That feeling pervades To Pimp a Butterfly, which owes much to Thundercat's bass playing, more nuanced than ever, and Bilal's vocals. The Bay Area singer has been making genre-smashing R&B for years, and his style surely informed this album.

Organic is nothing new in hip-hop, a genre we often imagine being made on machines from choppy chunks of music that already exists, but in 1993 a little band called The Roots independently put out Organix, which changed my world. The idea that such a powerful genre, one that saw a concentration of incredible music that year, could be created with live instruments connected hip-hop to the spheres of jazz, funk and rock, which seemed to live disparately in my musical mind. The career trajectory of that little band is just as inspiring - they've pushed envelopes on every stage, including that of latenight television, not failing to get political when necessary.

Of course, hip-hop has seen live instrumentation elsewhere, but it wasn't billed as the work of a band (e.g. Ron Carter, on the bass). The same arrangement is true on To Pimp a Butterfly, which combines the LA languidity of The Pharcyde with Dr. Dre's aggressive bounce, so emblematic of the West Coast. But there's also a spirituality, one learned from the coastal feuds of the '90s that took hip-hop's co-rulers, one that pays homage to the past yet looks squarely towards the future. It feels at times like a Soulquarians opus or a J Dilla joint -- collective musicality and compromise triumph over ego, themes that echo in Kendrick's words.

"Egos kill. Not only you but everybody around you," he said at 24. "The caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it. Its only job is to eat or consume everything around it in order to protect itself form this mad city... the butterfly represents the talent, the thoughtfulness and the beauty inside the caterpillar," says present day Kendrick, sounding as thoughtful as ever.

I like thoughtfulness in my music. I like to hear collaboration, which is why I love jazz, or, if I've read my Nicholas Payton*, Black American Music (#BAM -- do I need the hashtag?). "From a genealogical standpoint," says Payton, "It becomes very clear to a knowledgable listener whose music has been informed by the Black tradition and whose hasn't. That will never happen with jazz because it's a bastardized tradition that has no foundation outside of a commercial structure. It's not a communal language, it's a capitalist one." Hip-hop has certainly been speaking that language, and it's refreshing to hear something serious that stops putting materialism on a pedestal. Although flashiness and braggadocio have been essential to the art form since the beginning, the past decade has been overly concerned with material gain.

Or, as Kendrick notes in "Hood Politics":

Critics want to mention that they miss when hip hop was rappin' / Motherfucker if you did, then Killer Mike'd be platinum / Y'all priorities are fucked up, put energy in wrong shit / Hennessy and Crown Vic, my memory been gone since.


There's hints of an A Love Supreme vibe here, and in a way some of the work is devotional. No surprise from the man who said, "All I am is just a vessel, doing his [God's] work." That attitude, notes pianist Ethan Iverson, "seeks ecstasy through communion, not just with God but with every one in the immediate vicinity. You don't practice it. You plug into the ancestors and your reason for living and it's there."

Also no surprise that multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin, who produced much of the album, compared Kendrick to "Coltrane, man. Mild-mannered, soft-spoken, always practicing. New harmonic approaches, different techniques, falls in -- there's not a mistake on that stage with him. If the turntables fall, he gon' -- like, it's weird. It's like water."**

"I think that's why a lot of motherfuckers fuck with me," the rapper said, "Because the shit I put out on my music is me not knowing everything. It's me trying to figure out the world just like you." Although he's gained confidence in the past three years, his allowance for musical sensitivity, nuance and harmonic richness gives the album weight, which makes for a statement not without its warts. The inclusion of the live version of "i" is a conscious illustration of this (Kendrick is certainly striving for Black Thought status in his ability to front a band) and his willingness to perform an untitled song on national television that was written the day before "cause we didn't want to do nothing that's already been done" - these things explain why To Pimp a Butterfly was streamed almost 10 million times in one day.

I'm on board with Kendrick. I would've loved an Elmer Bernstein sample somewhere, but I'll live.



*Payton collaborators from Virginia band Butcher Brown are all over the record.
**In that same interview, Martin mentions Snarky Puppy, whose drummer Robert "Sput" Searight can be found on the album.
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Andy Cohen Three-Part Interview

March 19, 2015, 9:39 am
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I sat down with Andy Cohen at the Columbia Journalism School. He opened up about coming to terms with his sexual orientation and about the traits he looks for in the ideal man.

He also spilled the tea on whether the Real Housewives is fake, and about the challenge of making sure the housewives aren't acting to maintain their job security.

Read the Q&A and watch the videos below. Enjoy!

This interview has been edited and condensed.


Andy Cohen: On Growing Up Gay from Spencer Macnaughton on Vimeo.


Q: I heard that when you were 12 and 13, you had a lot of sleepless nights when you were grappling with your sexual orientation. Could you take me back to one of those nights and tell me what you were thinking?

A: It was a time when there weren't that many gay people on TV. Being gay seemed foreign and unacceptable. So the nights were spent thinking, 'Wow, I know that I'm gay, and I'm not going to be able to express this side of me,' and uh, just really kind of heartbreaking, heavy nights when I allowed myself to go there.

Q: And back in your hometown, St. Louis, what were your experiences with homophobia like? Was there one particular moment you remember?

A: I remember being at an Eddie Murphy concert when I was in high school, and he said the word fag and faggot so many times in his act. Everyone thought it was hilarious -- even my friends who I was with. That was kind of symptomatic of the times and the community and the perception of gay people.

Q: You always stand up to injustices against gay people. Would you ever take on a larger role in terms of advocacy for LGBT rights?

A: I just feel like using whatever platform I have to kind of express myself and be myself is the best that I'm gonna be able to do.


Andy Cohen: On Journalism and Real Housewives from Spencer Macnaughton on Vimeo.


Q: I read your book, and you reference a time when you were a journalist. What makes you not a journalist today?

A: I don't have to adhere to the constraints and rules of journalism. If I'm sitting down on a hard-hitting interview with Bethenny Frankel, it would be fine for me to go over the questions beforehand. Whereas, if she was coming on 60 Minutes, they would probably just sit her down and do the interview. I worked at CBS News for 10 years, and you get the standards and practices book, which are the rules. And, reality TV and what I'm doing, it's just kind of an unregulated frontier.

Q: I'm obsessed with reality TV and the Real Housewives, and we know that to a certain extent, it's a constructed version of reality. How fake is it?

A: They're never told what to say. But on the flip side, we're not shooting them 24/7. So, if you and I just saw each other at a big party and there was a lot of drama, and then you and I were gonna have lunch three days later, I think it's fair to say that one thing we'll definitely be discussing is the party that happened. But everything else is free form. That's the reason the housewives are so successful. You can't make this stuff up. But we cast highly volatile, emotional, outgoing, fun, funny people. And so it's in the casting.

Q: As Real Housewives has become more successful, it's given the housewives a bigger platform to brand themselves and make money. How do you make sure that as they're on the show they're able to maintain a level of authenticity without just trying to boost ratings so their job security stays strong?

A: I think sometimes you can watch the show and think they're just kind of fighting for their job. And if it doesn't seem authentic to the show, then the viewers can detect B.S. and they can tell if something is not genuine. We try to cut around it or try not to make a big deal of it.


Andy Cohen: On His Ideal Man and Proudest Moment from Spencer Macnaughton on Vimeo.


Q: You talked a lot about the physical characteristics you look for in an ideal man. What are some prerequisites to a lifelong partner for you, personality-wise?

A: Uh, well that's interesting, because I don't have a lifelong partner, so I should probably just lay up on the prerequisites because maybe my list is what's keeping me. I think someone who's smart, who has their own thing going. Someone who's independent. Um. gosh. Smart, independent, funny, strong. That's kind of on the list.

Q: Can they take center stage?

A: I'm cool with someone taking center stage. I like that.

Q: What's your proudest moment in your career?

Wow. I think it's when Watch What Happens Live went five nights a week. And then the books being bestsellers. Those two things are very big for me.
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How 'Serial' and 'The Jinx' Have Changed Everything

March 19, 2015, 10:12 am
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Murder. Criminal Depositions. Witness Accounts. Evidence. Once upon a time, I wouldn't have imagined that these words would form the fabric of my dinner conversations. But with the advent of the wildly popular 'Serial,' and polarizing call-it-a-sequel 'The Jinx,' those words are thrown around like seed to hungry birds. We've grown up on ghost stories: Goosbumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark were the fireside tales of the 20-something generation. But we are in a new generation, and this is a new type of ghost story.

Because they are not fantasies. They are real. And relevant. 'Serial' and 'The Jinx' have captivated audiences, and these stories represent a groundbreaking year for journalism as entertainment.

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Documentaries are nothing new. Podcasts, although witnessing a burgeoning rebirth, have been around as long as radio itself. But what 'Serial' and 'The Jinx' have done, inadvertently, is to create stories that have a direct impact on the fabric of our society. Unlike 2014's Citizenfour documentary -- which was a fascinating account of Edward Snowden in its own right -- these pieces of journalistic gold didn't just recount a story: they created one. In the case of Adnan Syed, the wildly popular podcast led to a call for an appeal. Koenig, outside of the bounds of any legal jurisdiction, had free reign to question witnesses and suspects, spinning a story of her own through conversations with those close to the crime.

Jarecki turned opportunity into a gift from God after being contacted by Durst following the release of All Good Things, his somewhat-biographical film about the wayward heir. The request for an interview turned into a conversation, which turned into a second conversation, which turned into a much-debated possible confession by the man with the wild eyes and twitchy mouth. How Jarecki handled the evidence -- namely, the entrapment of Durst when showing him a handwritten letter that matched a murder note -- has been hotly debated, but the matter is clear: these stories do, and have, affected real crimes in real time.

A movie can't do that.

And this, coming from a screenwriter. Sure, a movie can open a conversation. Create discourse. Bring awareness. But investigative documentaries? In this case, they've literally re-opened unsolved murder cases. Cases where lawyers couldn't pin it on the rich man. Couldn't place a high school kid in the library that fateful day. Are professional investigators ineffective? Bumbling? Somehow dumber than these journalists?

2015-03-19-1426728597-1174090-720x405h_14364182.jpgAndrew Jarecki, Director of 'The Jinx' and 'Catfish'


One thing that 'Serial' and 'The Jinx' have in common, other than their mutual focus on murder, is the idea of time. Both of these journalists are approaching the subject matter at a time distanced from the crimes themselves. When the cases are less emotionally fraught, the stakes seemingly lower, if not forgotten. No way Durst would have sat down for an interview when the heat was on him. In every piece of news footage shown in the documentary, he declines all opportunities for comment to the reporters. And what of his decision to speak, after so long a silence? Can we call it vanity? Ego? Did he just get lazy? Clearly Durst wanted to be seen: he glows when the cameras are on him, taunting his brother during sidewalk strolls outside of the Durst building. A man scrutinized for years, yearning for just one more greedy taste of the limelight.

And it is this combination, of time with the inescapable draw of celebrity and entertainment, that can coax the snail from its shell. The lion from its den. Pandora from her box. In Jarecki's case, Durst may have signed his own death warrant. His ego got the better of him: he wanted to be seen, and what better feeling than to have a camera crew on him, makeup people fixing his thinning hair, a producer and a director hanging on his every word?

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Funny or Die parody of 'Serial'


In 'Serial,' it gets a bit more complicated. Syed calls Koenig from jail. His own fate has already been sealed. For him, it is more likely a break from the monotony of prison life than the draw of ego that compels him to talk. So, the allure of journalistic inquiry instead fell upon one of the witnesses: Asia McClain, a woman who had remained silent on the case for over a decade. She was the only person who could place Syed at the library that afternoon, thus discounting the prosecution's assertion of the timeframe in which Syed supposedly killed his girlfriend, Hae Min Li. But she was also the woman who had initially refused contact following the trial. Koenig seduced McClain out, just as Jarecki unintentionally lured Durst with his film. These journalists had a very powerful weapon in the combination of media allure and distance from the events.

In the cough-inducing cloud of media dust kicked up following 'The Jinx's' finale, is investigative journalism in danger of curtailment? Will the unrestricted freedoms that Koenig and Jarecki enjoyed as private citizens become folkloric? These investigations -- ostensibly germinating as forums for reality entertainment -- have inadvertently launched us into a new stratosphere, where entertainment changes things. Cases broken and reopened due to the work of private citizens, whose main objective is to educate and entertain their audiences, not necessarily to put them behind bars. You could see in his eyes that Jarecki felt that he was betraying Durst by entrapping him: it wasn't the intention of the documentary, but the unforeseen outcome of it. And, 'The Jinx's' credit sequence could give any scripted HBO show a run for its money.

As we watch a new precedent being set by entertainer/journalists, it will be interesting to see if our society can handle this type of revolutionary activism, and what it will mean for the future of unsolved crimes.
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Rocka My Soul

March 19, 2015, 10:38 am
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"I wanna be ready..."

And suddenly the glass case shattered. You know the one, perhaps. I'd been agitated by it for the past hour or so, sitting as I was maybe 25 rows back from the stage at Chicago's ornate Auditorium Theater, watching the Alvin Ailey troupe dance their hearts out, moving their bodies with such lithe precision and grace.

A huge hunger, a wanting, a hope stirred in the cage inside my breast. "Appreciating" a "performance" wasn't enough. Oh God. This great inner wanting yearned for a freedom we don't much talk about these days, in our relative affluence and comfort, but the music and the movement of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, with its roots in Africa, in Gospel revival -- in growing up black in America -- went so much deeper than that. I didn't want to feel separated from the dancers, some disengaged spectator watching fine art in motion behind the glass case of culture. That felt so wrong.

I had never seen them perform before and didn't know what to expect. The troupe has been around since 1959. I guess I waited till I was old enough to be truly ready for them: this heritage of African-American dance, born of the "blood memories," as Alvin Ailey himself described them, of a man who grew up black in Texas in the 1930s and '40s.

"There was the white school up on the hill," he said of his upbringing in Rogers, Texas, "and the black Baptist church, and the segregated theaters and neighborhoods. Like most of my generation, I grew up feeling like an outsider, like someone who didn't matter."

After the second intermission, the troupe moved into the show's finale, its signature, multi-part dance called "Revelations." As I say, I didn't know what to expect. I admit this sheepishly. Ailey choreographed "Revelations" in 1960. It's been performed in over 70 countries in the half century since then and has been described as "the most widely seen modern dance work in the world."

Pia Catton, writing last year in the Wall Street Journal, said of "Revelations" that it "reliably brings audiences to their feet, even dancing in the aisles. The combination of modern dance and spirituals creates a sense of uplift so infectious that most people leave the theater either singing the music or trying to dance the steps."

Like I say, I didn't know this. But something in me was waking up. And then Vernard Gilmore began dancing a solo number called "I Wanna Be Ready." The dance is an aching spiritual cry to mortality.

"I wanna be ready... to put on the long white robe."

This is gospel. It's deeply religious -- and I'm not a religious person in the least. I avoid describing myself spiritually as anything at all, except open, willing to listen, reverent, sort of Buddhist, sort of agnostic. I was raised as a Lutheran. My moral template begins with the concept "turn the other cheek." I listen to everyone, remain skeptical, believe in the soul, communicate as best I can with the universe that exists beyond my ego, understand that I will die and sense that death is not a cul-de-sac of non-existence but rather a transition to... God knows what.

"I wanna be ready..."

As I sat in my seat, listening and watching, the words and the movement pierced something profound. "I would not be a sinner. I'll tell you the reason why. 'Cause if my Lord should call on me, Lord, I wouldn't be ready to die."

The words I heard had nothing to do with specific religious precepts on how to behave. The words I heard were barely words at all, but a plaintive, prayerful cry commingling with music and the billowing movement of a young man on stage dressed in white. And what I heard was an homage to life. To be ready to die means no more than to be alive with conviction and integrity, to live fully, to say yes to life in this moment -- now -- and breathe it in, looking, reaching beyond what I think I know.

And as I breathed this in, the yearning caged inside me freed itself. Tears filled my eyes. I became aware that I was clapping and swaying with the music and so was pretty much everyone else in the theater.

And then it ended. But as the dance numbers that comprise "Revelations" continued, I was fully present, no longer ruminating about some mysterious, socially imposed divide between performer and audience. I was spiritually part of the performance.

The last dance, performed by the whole company, was "Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham" -- so big and spiritual, with women in yellow dresses, men in their Sunday finest. I was utterly open to the joy it exuded, yet aware, in spite of myself, of the pain -- the depths of America's history of cruelty and racism, the "blood memories" -- from which this joy flowed. And the music and the dance went on and on, filling the moment like few things in my life have ever filled a moment. Time didn't simply stop; it vanished, as we, the audience, stood swaying and dancing in the aisles.

And this is the heritage of America's pain. It ends in joy. It ends in redemption. I can still hear the music and feel the dancing inside me. "Oh rocka my soul."

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Robert Koehler is an award-winning, Chicago-based journalist and nationally syndicated writer. His book, Courage Grows Strong at the Wound (Xenos Press), is still available. Contact him at koehlercw@gmail.com or visit his website at commonwonders.com.

© 2015 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, INC.
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EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Angie Harmon Understands the Power of Walking in Your Ancestors Footsteps

March 19, 2015, 12:46 pm
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Angie Harmon and her daughters, proud roots and an amazing gene pool
(courtesy of TLC)


This Sunday on Who Do You Think You Are? (March 22, 2015 at 10/9c on TLC), Angie Harmon -- who always thought she was Greek, Irish and Native American -- makes some surprising discoveries about the Harmon branch of her family tree.

Her 5th great-grandfather, Michael Harmon, emigrated from Germany as an indentured servant and wound up serving as a soldier in George Washington's regiment at Valley Forge. After a bleak season in hell, he and others mutinied against the Continental Congress in protest for basic rights of food, clothing and shelter ... and won! Michael went on to become a well to do land owner in Kentucky where Angie pays her respects at land that remains in the Harmon family today.

Check out this sneak peek of Angie's reaction to walking in her ancestor's footsteps at Valley Forge.

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Movie Review: 'Insurgent.' Women Power!

March 19, 2015, 2:45 pm
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Women crush it! How wonderful to have women leading the pack in an action flick. Shailene Woodley is refreshing as a woman warrior. Kate Winstlett is refreshingly evil and bad ass. Naomi Watts is stunning as a heroine . Theo James as Four is Shalene's guy but it is the women who run the show. This show is Insurgent. We have the Jason Bourne trilogy with Matt Damon, the Expendables series with Stallone. The Taken franchise with Liam Neeson and now we have Shailene Woodley in part two of the Divergent franchise who is getting to rough it up in a man's world. A woman taking risks. A woman in charge and representing values of love, respect, hope, faith and courage. Above all courage. Shailene Woodley knows how to generate this quality without saying a word. Her expressions are fierce, tender, focused and all caring. Selfless. This is a film about a woman with balls. Insurgent with its IMAx, 3D, special effects of a dysfunctional utopia and electrifying sound track will keep you spellbound. No bathroom breaks in this corker.

Cinderella this isn't. If you're looking for a colorful escape, this is not it. It is bleak, filmed in browns, greys and tattered and torn images. In your face.

Sure we have Jennifer Lawrence in the Hunger Games franchise and Angelina Jolie who was magnificent in Maleficent, and there is always Helen Mirren rearing her white,well-coiffed head as a brave new woman in Reds and her TV police woman saga, so Hollywood please keep these films comin' where women are empowered. And we sell tickets! A boffo one billion for Divergent worldwide!

The plot of this is simple. Tris (Shalene Woodley)is running from the evil Jeanine (Kate Winslet) who is trying to destroy most of the world, but Tris volunteers her beautiful bod and mind to Jeanine to experiment with, but you must see the film to watch this torture done in 3-d and Imax in an all too real special effects creation and understand why Tris has volunteered to be Jeanine's victim. Or is she?

More women warriors, please Hollywood? Raging hormones can match or even beat a box office driven by testosterone. Go for it, Insurgent that is, if you want to wake up on a dull night!
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A Thank You Note to Kendrick Lamar

March 19, 2015, 3:17 pm
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Stellar music mediates a sense of God. It reminds us that there are values more important than networking, making money, and the transactional exchanges that comprise most of our lives. Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly accomplishes this kind of work. Its achievement, in some respects, resists analysis. Nevertheless, in gratitude, I'd like to share what the work has evoked within me.

As a Christian preacher, I appreciate Lamar's deft use of symbols and images. The word pictures on TPAB are effective and risky. Inadvertently or intentionally, Lamar allegorizes Matthew 25:31-46, bringing Jesus to his listeners in the form of a homeless person. On "u," we are reminded of the beauty and agony of self-love; we are cajoled with the recognition that dealing gently with ourselves is a complicated affair. All of this top-shelf musing, mind you, occurs over a soundscape arranged by some of the best producers in music. If you haven't purchased the album, open another tab in your browser. Purchase it now. Thank me later, thank God immediately following your first listen to the full album. Thank God for what? For a twenty-seven year old poet who approaches artistry as ministry. Like pastor and parishioner in the preaching moment, there is a brokenness and wholeness to Lamar's work for the artist and the audience.

The rhythms are dexterous, the breath control breathtaking, the technical execution varied and virtuosic. TPAB is a clinic on oratorical excellence. The classical criteria of rhetorical brilliance are inarguably present: Lamar says something substantive -- on tracks, on interludes, and a spoken word terrace that builds into a sweet crescendo to conclude the album -- with a highly stylized, well-sequenced, and memorable delivery. What preacher, lawyer, teacher, radio host, or anyone who earns wages with words, wouldn't benefit from studying Lamar's rhetoric closely?

Somehow within this act of commodification Lamar manages to commune with God, with self, with an ever-expanding public. For 79 minutes, Lamar unveils his insides: we hear the disorientation of stardom and living in a new tax bracket and social strata than most of his beloved Compton residents. It's audacious. It's disarming. It's also a noteworthy risk by the artist and the label. I'm not sure if the album will sell. If it does, wonderful. If not, I celebrate Lamar, Interscope Records, DJs, street teams, and everyone else supporting the project with verbal affirmation, purchasing power, and the irreplaceable sweat of promotion. Pricing and packaging art, when done this way, models a principled engagement with market forces. It disrupts the canard that one must sell out to gain a broad audience. Preachers, take note: we can reach the masses without reducing the Gospel to advice on autonomy and the inspiration industry of individualism. At root, TPAB is a suite of songs that reflects K.Dot's deepest vision of music, his experiences, and his sense of what the world and an ideal Kendrick Lamar might look like. I'm grateful for the journey. Grateful for the art. Grateful for the institutional risk takers known and unknown that fought for this album.

As theologians and rhetorical theorists maintain, words are speech-acts. In the Bible, God speaks and stuff happens. Life and death and therefore resurrection -- precisely because we die everyday -- are still in the power of the tongue. Forgive us all Lord, especially those of us who use words to evoke worship, for mismanaging the treasure you entrusted to us. After listening to TPAB, I feel stirred into good works. I feel compelled to apologize for all of the unedited sermons, uninspired exhortations, and unthoughtful utterances I've shared in over fifteen years of ministry with words. Kendrick, keep rapping. The Church, of which you are a part, is listening and learning from you.
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Comedian Julie Goldman: 'I Would Be Lesbian Maude' in Modern-Day Remake

March 19, 2015, 3:30 pm
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Editor: Photo courtesy of Julie Goldman
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"I would be lesbian Maude," is the answer comedian Julie Goldman gives when asked which show she'd reinvent and cast herself in. As for who would play her gay best friend in the show, she deadpans: "Jonny McGovern."

With recent notable stints on The People's Couch, Big Gay Sketch Show, The Mindy Project and Faking It one might ask the obvious question: what's it like to (temporarily) trade in the comedy circuit for a role in front of millions of people in one fell swoop?

"I love being on television. It's so fun. I love the work. I love going to a studio or location. I love working with cool people and seeing all the crew and gear and stuff. I love it," Goldman said. "And, yeah, I love being recognized and meeting people all over the place. And I really love money. So, I'd really like to keep working..."

The fans in both mediums are completely different, according to Goldman.

"Mindy has some pretty rabid fans so it's been really fun. I would love to be able to reach such a wide array of people and the scope of audience you can get via TV is so vast," she said.

Even with a vast audience, Goldman is uncomfortably familiar with being misunderstood.

"Sometimes I feel misunderstood...sometimes people can get touchy or offended about certain subjects. I know there have been people who just see me as some big dyke (which is true of course) -- or think my material is too gay or too women-centered. [Some] people think I don't appeal to men, or I'm not sensitive enough to certain people," she said. And then in true Goldman fashion added, "Really at the end of the day...all those things are true and I don't give a fuck. So save it."

It makes sense that Goldman would have an unapologetic outlook on her comedy. Joan Rivers was, after all, one of her favorite comedians.

"She was so funny and vulnerable, and yet fearless and sensitive... outrageous, classy, tacky and complicated," Goldman said. "There was so much more to her than met the eye. When I got the chance to work with her, all those things were confirmed. I think people underestimated her and wrote off a lot of her comedy as mean, too much or she took it too far, and I think all of that is utter horse shit."

Goldman equated it to a gender issue.

"Had she been a man, none of that would have been said. In addition, so what? If she went too far or was mean sometimes -- I think she was held to an unfair standard that others were not," she added. "Really, though, I just thought she was hilarious and fun. I admired her and was a huge fan."

Regarding Fashion Police, Goldman was just as blunt.

"They need to let Fashion Police go. The show existed and worked because of Joan. There's no way it can continue. Kathy griffin just quit and it's just going down. Let it go. We had to say goodbye to Joan, and we need to say it to Fashion Police," she said.

"Goldman and the Art of Letting Go." This subject matter could easily be erected into a mini-series, book or tragic love story told on one Lifetime Television for Women.

"In sixth grade I auditioned for the school play Peter Pan and I was desperate to play Captain Hook. I killed it in the auditions. I mean killed it," she remembered. "Well , they wouldn't cast me as Captain Hook because I was a girl, so my mom called the school, yelled at them and lo and behold -- I got to play Captain Hook for one performance. I never knew she did that until five years ago."

Goldman added, "Mom, you kinda paved the way for some gayness."

Speaking of musicals, we next asked Goldman to answer some questions about her favorite (and least favorite) things a la Julie Andrews.

Favorite thing about the LGBT community? Lesbians.

Least favorite thing about the LGBT community? Lesbians.

Favorite place to go to relax and unwind? If I were rich I would buy a beach house. As of now...just my couch.

Least favorite moment of your day on any given day? Putting on my bra to take the dogs out.

Favorite compliment you've ever received? "You're hot."

Least favorite insult? We liked your show better last time.

Goldman will headline the second annual Seattle Women's Pride presented by The Seattle Lesbian on Friday, June 19, 2015. Tickets are available via Stranger Tickets.
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Dame Edna on Fame, the Prostate Olympics and Her Glorious Goodbye

March 19, 2015, 4:01 pm
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Dame Edna Everage's "possums" near and far might be fretting over the news that the savage, self-proclaimed international superstar is taking a bow after her current U.S. tour fades to black next month. But fear not--one never really knows for sure if this is, indeed, the last we'll see of this versatile Aussie, exquisitely brought to life by the incomparable Barry Humphries. After all, Dame Edna has surpassed expectations and withstood the fickle fate of time--six decades have passed in fact, since the character first appeared in a little theater in Melbourne. In between performances for "Dame Edna's Glorious Goodbye: The Farewell Tour" in San Francisco, the lady--she of stage and screen and fabulous self-glorification and quick wit-- pauses between performances to fill us on about her state of mind and the road ahead.

Greg Archer: You are on the last leg of your final farewell tour.

Dame Edna: It's quite poignant.

Greg Archer: Tell me. How are your feeling?

Dame Edna: Very very emotional, Mr. Archer. You understand because you are a Sagittarius.

Greg Archer: Thank you for acknowledging that. I feel so validated.

Dame Edna: [Laughs] Well, you don't need to be validated, Mr. Archer.

Greg Archer: Well, some days ... Tell me, what is inspiring you the most, now that you have a few weeks left of your tour?

Dame Edna: You know that San Francisco is a special place for me. Because this is where it began. All those years ago when Joan Rivers told me I should come here. Upon her advice, I came here over 16 years ago on the Theater on the Square. You were probably a little boy in Poland then.

Greg Archer: Ha. Probably. I was. I was barely speaking English.

Dame Edna: Well, it was the beginning of a miracle journey.

Greg Archer: Ms. Rivers must have been very inspiring for you.

Dame Edna: Well, she said I inspired her but we were very very close buddies. I was deeply saddened by her passing. Premature in my view. But it has been wonderful here. It's a homecoming for me. And the theater is lovely, too. If I could ever have a home in the United States, it would be here, probably Sausalito. And my little friend Amy Tan lives there. And I might say that some of my best friends are in San Francisco--Amy, Armistead Maupin, Michael Tilson Thomas. They are my best American buddies and they all live here.

Greg Archer: You should move. However, how would we handle you on an ongoing basis?

Dame Edna: You would be fine. I just find there's a wonderful level of acceptance here. In Australia, they really want to turn me into a religion. A religion! Can you imagine? The Church of Edna? Oh. I don't want to be over-revered. On the other hand, I do think you need a really glamorous woman dominant in culture here. Danielle Steel isn't enough. Even Arianna Huffington isn't enough.

Greg Archer: Well ...

Dame Edna: I knew you know little Arianna. I met her in London when she was a very humble little Greek girl. I met her when I was having laser treatment for my leg hair. We had the same leg waxer. I gave her make-up tips. But I don't think you can print that. [Laughs]

Greg Archer: I'm going to try.

Dame Edna: No darling. I wouldn't put your job on the line. You know, I was looking over some notes I have on you and I see here you come from Chicago.

Greg Archer: I do.

Dame Edna: I like it there too, but it is too cold for me. Now, I want to read your book, Grace Revealed.

Greg Archer: I will give you a copy. It's been an experience, to say the least, writing about the forgotten Polish deportations and my family.

Dame Edna: Would you? That theme of survival is important to me. I survived Australia.

Greg Archer: Oh...?

Dame Edna: It was my Stalin, you know.

Greg Archer: I can imagine. What do you think got your through it?

Dame Edna: I think my own wonderful talent. And I have an unconventional beauty. Let's accept it. But I am an attractive woman, don't you think?

Greg Archer: Nobody wears sequins quite like you.

Dame Edna: Now, you and I met several years ago.

Greg Archer: Yes. I interviewed you for a local publication and also for The Advocate.

Dame Edna: I thought so.

Greg Archer: You made a significant comment about my faded jeans and afterward, I immediately threw them out. I was grateful.

Dame Edna: [Laughs] Now, you are doing book tours are you?

Greg Archer: Yes. In fact, I have a book event on April 9 in San Francisco, and others in May and June.

Dame Edna: Those book tours are really important. They put you in touch with your reader. And it helps if the reader is plural.

Greg Archer: So far, so good. The three of them seem to love the book. No. Just kidding.

Dame Edna: You see, I think books about survival and family journeys are very important. And I am setting out to write another account of my life. Unfortunately, my manager Barry Humphries writes his to contradict mine.

Greg Archer: I saw that.

Dame Edna: He has another story to tell and of course, it is about promoting himself.

Greg Archer: Do you think he's resentful of your fame?

Dame Edna: It's terrible. It's old fashioned resentment. I am telling you this Greg Archer--Never underestimate envy. Think of how many writers in America would envy your opportunity to talking to me this morning.

Greg Archer: You have a point.

Dame Edna: And this despite my voice being in ruins.

Greg Archer: Oh, you sound fine. Pop in a throat logenze and it will be just fine.

Dame Edna: Oh, you are inspiring.

Greg Archer: I live to please. I am a good Polish boy.

Dame Edna: Yes, I know. I have been to Poland--Krakow and Warsaw. And we have a lot of Polish refugees in Melbourne. They changed our culture somewhat with the dumplings and other delicacies.

Greg Archer: It must have been quite a shock.

Dame Edna: [Laughs] It was. Now, your name isn't really Archer.

Greg Archer: Well, it is and yet ... it's my professionally name, technically. I took it on more than 20 years ago. It used to be Krzos.

Dame Edna. Well, you could say "cross" couldn't you.

Greg Archer: Because I was a Sagittarius, I took on Archer.

Dame Edna: It makes perfect sense to me.

Greg Archer: Well, tell me: What's beyond this?

Dame Edna: Well, you know, I am starring into an abyss. And I am not talking about Market Street, San Francisco. I am staying in a hotel I used to love called the Huntington. And it's been redecorated by a blind person--from Singapore. Well, I am all for helping the blind. Unfortunately, you get a headache every time you walk into my hotel room.

Greg Archer: You have to wear sunglasses then?

Dame Edna: Very very thick sunglasses. Actually I may have to live in them. And the hotel ... well, they say it has not been redecorated, but "re-imagined" to resemble Singapore. Don't let them re-imagine your home, darling. So, what's ahead. Well, I have my charities, The Friends of the Prostate, which is a major charity. And I am on the committee for the International Prostate Olympics.

Greg Archer: And ... how does that work, exactly?

Dame Edna: Hard sell. Mostly aquatic events ... as you can imagine. White water rafting. Or, preferably, yellow water rafting. And then, of course, I'll have private appearances. I will be on cruise ships talking about my career. I have been approached by some of the very upscale cruise lines. I will continue writing my books. I am writing a book called "The History of Australia in Hundred Objects." It's of things we have invented in Australia. And you know, some of them are amazing. We invented the clapper boards used in films. We invented those cranes--those big long cranes used on constructions sites. I am also doing a series on the BBC about my travels around the world.

Greg Archer: You seem to move through these environments with ease.

Dame Edna: I try to. I have a ceaseless intellectual curiosity. I am very excited about things. And I am very very useful for my age. As I tell my audiences--I am approaching 60 ... but from the wrong direction. [Laughs] Now ... as we talk, I can remember our previous conversation. Somehow, as we were chuckling away with each other, it was such a pleasure.

Greg Archer: I agree. It was.

Dame Edna: Now, do you think you will spend the rest of your career in San Francisco?

Greg Archer: I sense Palm Springs is next. But back to you. Tell me: Who inspires you?

Dame Edna: I will tell you, I am very inspired by my friend the Queen. The other day, the Queen said to me, "Edna, if only you had played me in that film instead of Helen Mirren. She said, you would have captured what a really nice person I am. She said Helen Mirren was quite wrong and that I would have been perfect. And there are other offers for film parts for me. Oh yes--roles that Sharon Stone are too old to play.

Greg Archer: You do cross ... and uncross your legs well.

Dame Edna: Well, I do. It's advisable. One of the things I would like to do is clothe people before going to the theater.

Greg Archer: I agree.

Dame Edna: You look out at that audience and you think: Why can't they buy nice clothes? And there are beautiful shops here. When ... do ... they ... wear ... them, Greg?

Greg Archer: Maybe at a Bar Mitzvah?

Dame Edna: At a Bar Mitzvah? Don't tell me you're Jewish as well, Greg.

Greg Archer: I'm not. I was raised Catholic. I've recovered, thank you.

Dame Edna: Lovely. You know where I went when I was in Krakow? I went to the Black Madonna?

Greg Archer: Oh my. Wonderful. Did you pray?

Dame Edna: Of course I did. And, as you see, my prayers came true [laughs].

Greg Archer: They did. In spades.

Dame Edna: Now, I am afraid I have to talk to Washington.

Greg Archer: One last question: What's some of the best advice you have been given about life?

Dame Edna: The best advice about life is ... enjoy yourself, Greg. And preserve your sense of humor. I was born with a precious gift--the ability to laugh at the misfortunes of others. And that's kept me cheerful 24/7.

Greg Archer: What a beautiful thing.

Dame Edna: [Laughs] I thank you for your talent. And I am looking forward to your book. I have a feeling it's a bit special.

Greg Archer: Well, thank you.

Dame Edna: Bye darling...

Dame Edna is at San Francisco's Orpheum Theatre through March 22. Learn more about her next stops here.
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The Making of The Who: A Tale of Mod Cool, Drugs, Addiction and Recovery

March 19, 2015, 5:40 pm
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I was recently blown away by a fascinating documentary, to be released by Sony on April 3rd, revealing the brilliance and daring of the two young men -- Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert -- who discovered The Who and brought, dragged, finessed and nurtured them onto world stage.

This is a tale of mythic proportions, of loss and redemption, addiction and recovery. The fame of The Who was curiously crafted by two genius impresarios, barely of age themselves, who had the bright idea that they would find some no-name group, promote them into worldwide fame, and them make a film about the process. The footage Stamp took of this takes the viewer into the immediacy, the moment when all eyes were on Carnaby Street -- mod cool and the birth of a new kind of music. It was culture creation at its most breakneck speed. A generation that had emerged out of the rubble of World War ll, both terrified and fearless, had no caution in rebelling against the old structures and throwing them over with both hands.

"I played in the rubble of bomb sites, we all did," says Stamp. Having grown up in London's working-class East End, in a world that changed shapes daily, Stamp appeared at once scarred by constant bombings, excited to be alive and ready to break rules and take huge risks. His unlikely partner was Kit Lambert, son of the composer Constant Lambert. Kit was Oxford educated, spoke several languages, and had all of the sophisticated manners of the English upper class. The two of them ignited a creative combustion that is beautifully documented through dazzling images of the period. The footage captures vividly the ascendancy and heyday of British mod culture. There are entertaining, rather hilarious and occasionally brilliant interviews with Pete Townshend and Roger and Heather Daltrey, Chris's brother actor Terence Stamp, and Stamp himself.

Together they weave a tale of a time gone by that has played a pivotal role in the development of pop culture. Stamp and Lambert joined the rest of their post-war generation in inventing their own, very particular (particularly what they seem hardly to have known) style and credo. Kids who had lived the daily reality of death and destruction and appeared to carry a feeling that life is temporary, LIVE NOW! Tomorrow may never come. They lived by their wits and intuition taking a very, very large bite out of life.

That sense of destruction they grew up in and around was reenacted in their music -- loud, invasive and culminating in the symbolic smashing of guitars. The music seemed to give a kind of release to the trauma of surviving in a world that was constantly being destroyed around them, what psychologists call a trauma re-enactment.

This is a story about great ambition, bravado, talent and addiction. About acting out and self-medicating pain and PTSD. It is a story about the cultural beginnings of the extended adolescence that has been in place ever since post-WWll. It is also an account of the energy and creativity that flows when you break out of restricting rules and conventional forms and are willing to reinvent yourself in the moment. These are true culture creatives.

The total aesthetic of the film is riveting. Superbly edited by Oscar-nominated Hollywood Film editor Chris Tellefsen, brilliantly directed by someone very close to Chris, James D. Cooper, and beautifully produced by Loretta Harms. The film was entirely financed through private equity and thus was able to hold its authentic character. No unnecessary nods to moneyed interests, the film continues in the Stamp Lambert tradition of raw authenticity. It succeeded in capturing so many layers of the glamorous adventure of Chris and Kit's career as rock impresarios and visionaries who trailblazed the path for many after them. Track Records, their own independent label, was created to produce and promote the music of Jimi Hendrix, another stroke of Lambert and Stamp's uncanny instincts. They were forerunners in promoting rock performers with innovative film and video, (think music video) giving artists financial participation and recognition.

One of the sub-themes of the film are the ravages of addiction which led to the untimely and early deaths of very gifted Kit Lambert and Keith Moon, and eventually John Entwistle and the bust up of the band and its creators. The other sub-theme is the survivors who found recovery, hope and healing.

Especially touching was the end when a silver-haired calm and now very-much-sober Chris Stamp saw through all the fame and folly into what he now sees as not only a glitzy and exciting adventure but also a story of great intimacy among unusually talented young men. Ultimately, said Stamp, "it's about love, intimacy, the thing we were all trying to hold back, well, in the end, we had that intimacy and we shared the love."
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