Gone Boy: Sometimes, To Be a Good Father, You Have to Be a Bad Son

June 19, 2015, 8:14 am

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I was in a Target store recently when I had a realization about God. I was there shopping for some small gifts for my children, when I saw a sign across the way. It read:

"Happy Fathers."

The "Day" was obscured by a display of sporting goods which, presumably, would make fathers happy.

I've never liked Father's Day, in large part because I never liked my father (alcohol/God). It didn't help being raised an Orthodox Jew: my Father in Heaven was as bad as my father on Earth. Neither father, biological nor mythological, was happy. Both were forever angry, forever dissatisfied, forever punishing and shouting and pointing their fingers at anyone but themselves. I'm sure there were reasons for my father on earth's miserable demeanor (his own mother for one, too much Kedem wine for another), but reasons are not the same thing as excuses, particularly when that unhappiness is vented on children.

And so I left, or tried to, slowly, over a period of years: first leaving their home, then their community, then their God.

But I could never quite leave them.

What kind of son leaves his parents? I reproached myself.
Don't you know how much this hurts them?
They gave you life.
They fed you.
They clothed you.

Etcetera.

Trust me, there's nothing you can call me that I haven't already called myself.

Years of ambivalence and guilt finally came to a head with the birth of my first son. I could no longer deny that contact with my parents, however small or seemingly benign, made me angry, short-tempered, depressed. It made me, in short, my father. Every phone call, every email, every holiday left me in a dark cloud for weeks. It was a difficult realization, but not a complicated one: if I was going to be a good father, I was going to have to be a bad son.

And so I ended it.

It has been ten years since I've spoken with my parents.

It was the right choice -- the only choice -- but I still feel bad.

And I still hate Father's Day.

Which, to bring this back around to the beginning, is why I thought of God at Target. There's something about this relationship between God and his children that seems... off. I am a father of two young boys now. Many of my friends are fathers as well. We all know, and somewhat dread, that our children will one day rebel against us. They will challenge us, dismiss us, move on and, in doing so, become their own people.

It will be a difficult phase, we know, but we will welcome it. It will mean we have done our jobs.

So, believers in the Father Above, tell me: when do God's children rebel against him? You should, you know, it's the only way to become an individual. What are you waiting for? It's been, literally, forever. Wouldn't a good father want that for us? Don't we have to, at some point? The devout at the Wailing Wall, at Mecca, at the Vatican all see themselves as great sons, but what if they're not?

They're still living at home.

They're still slavishly obeying their father.

What if God is troubled by these believers? What if God knows they need to move on? What if God is pleased with atheists, thrilled with agnostics, because God is a good father and happy to see us finally grow?

What if, to be a good believer, you have to be a bad son?

What if, to become a good father, you have to be a bad son?

All this I thought when I saw that sign: Happy Fathers.

A day celebrating happy fathers. Or fathers who pretend to be happy. Or fathers who at least don't take out their unhappiness on their children.

That's a holiday I can live with.

The unhappy ones -- the drinkers, the abusers, the resentful, the bitter, Father in Heaven Himself -- this one isn't for them.

That's why I'm in Target at all, by the way; in an effort to reframe the day, I've decided that from now on, on Father's Day, I'll buy my sons presents, rather than the other way around.

To thank them for being my sweet and adoring sons now.

To thank them for having the courage, someday, to be not so sweet and adoring.

I'm not always happy. Not even mostly. But I'm happier than I would have been had I stayed with my own father. To be a good father, I've had to be a bad son. Well, so be it.

Happy Fathers.

Day.

Shalom Auslander is the Creator, Executive Producer and Writer of the Showtime series Happyish, and the author of several books, including the best-selling Foreskin's Lament and the Thurber Prize Finalist Hope: A Tragedy. Happyish airs Sundays at 9:30pm ET/PT on Showtime. The season finale will air Sunday, June 28th.

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Sidekicks in the Spotlight at LA Film Fest

June 19, 2015, 8:45 am

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Well, the 2015 LA Film Fest came to a close yesterday, which means traffic around L.A. Live should get marginally better as long as Obama doesn't decide to hold a fundraising event there. With construction cranes rising literally all around it, something tells me the festival may be sizing up soon as well. However, I have to say I always enjoy the relaxed, intimate vibe of the fest, a pleasant excuse to hang downtown in summer and catch some films that might not otherwise get the attention the deserve.

But what's really great about a festival like Film Independent's baby is that it gives venues to performers and performances who deserve a little spotlight now and then, even if all we want to see on Netflix these days is Brad Pitt. There are all kinds of films that not only studios, but even the major indie players don't support, specifically films that give actors you know without knowing you know, a chance to fly. Take Amy Hargreaves for example. She's best known for her role as Maggie Mathison on Homeland, but she's a veteran who's always lurking about in the wings in prestige films like Michael Clayton and Shame, occasionally getting more of the limelight as in last year's great indie thriller Blue Ruin. This year, the LA Film Festival afforded her center stage in Marc Meyer's How He Fell in Love, a restrained drama about infidelity told without the melodramatic fanfare one comes to expect.

Hargreaves plays Ellen, a married yoga instructor who starts an affair with Travis, an itinerant musician she meets at a New Jersey wedding (Orange Is The New Black's Matt McGorry). Of course, she's "never done anything" like this, but the slow burn romance opens up lost dreams and long-shuttered desires in her studiously balanced persona. All that hard fought composure she's earned as a yoga instructor quickly crumbles as her repressed marital woes bubble to the surface. Although the story unfolds ostensibly from Travis' perspective, the subtly wrought interior life Hargreaves instills her character with holds your gaze throughout. (Veteran character actor Mark Blum also shines as her staid but vulnerable older husband.) That Travis is something of an emotionally dim-witted man child only accentuates the poignant marital ruin that has led Ellen to the affair. In fact, one wishes the movie would leave Travis' POV behind in favor of Ellen's because Hargreaves makes even the small-scale drama of this minor affair absorbing and complex. Hopefully, someone influential catches Hargreaves' performance somehow (Netflix I suppose?) because she's a gem of an actor who you feel could bring a vibrant humanity to any role whatsoever.

I've also long been a fan of Luis Guzman, Hollywood's Puerto Rican side-kick par excellence who finally gets something of a leading role in Puerto Ricans in Paris. You've absolutely seen Guzman, whether as a crooked cop, a cartel thug, or in P.T. Anderson's Boogie Nights (a director who knows a thing or two about brilliant character actors) as desperate club owner Maurice. Puerto Ricans in Paris is essentially the kind of silly studio comedy that studios would make if they made movies that actually represented America's 21st century demographics. Guzman plays Luis who, along with his partner Eddie (Edgar Garcia) busts New York's counterfeit designer bag dealers with effortless flair. They're your typical macho Nuyoricans who get tasked to help a celebrity Parisian bag designer figure out who among her friends has stolen her latest hot-hot-hot design and is holding it for $1 million euros ransom. Implausible, sure. And the script is somewhat rote in going through the genre beats. But Guzman brings it to life with unrestrained brio, as does Edgar Garcia, adding genuine heart. Sure, Puerto Ricans in Paris would love nothing more than to be a dumb studio comedy, but if dumb studio comedies were as unabashed as this, maybe we wouldn't complain about them so much? The movies' one unforgivable sin is managing a casting coup with Rosie Perez and Rosario Dawson as Eddie's and Luis' respective flames but leaving them behind in New York -- away from the action. You want nothing more than to see Perez, Dawson, Guzman and Garcia given the opportunity to go at it classic-screwball style in a fleshed out story worthy of their talents.

Who knows, maybe one day someone else will take that bright idea and run with it. Until now we have venues like the LA Film Fest whose greatest unappreciated virtue is that they know how to spread the spotlight around.

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A-Sides with Jon Chattman: Only "Blue Skies" with Lenka, "Catch" Eddie Gomez's Hot Track

June 19, 2015, 9:09 am

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"I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go I can't do it alone I've tried
And I don't know why..."

It's hard to believe it's been seven years since Australia's Lenka dropped her self-titled album and notably - as referred above - her infectious hit single "The Show." But, "life moves pretty fast" as Ferris Bueller used to say with a wink and a smile. Still, the song has shown zero moth balls. It's that rare, truly timeless track that you never tire of it. I don't anyway. But, that's Lenka and it's been the case with other songs of hers as well. Let's get to the point: earlier this week, she dropped her new studio album The Bright Side, and it's another album rich in pop goodness. The musician is currently on her North American headline tour (see dates below), and stopped by Primary Wave to perform a pair of tracks and take part in a chat exclusively for A-Sides. I can't think of a better way to start the summer. I dare you not to smile.

LENKA // 2015 Summer Tour Dates
June 19th Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
June 21st Seattle, WA Barboza
June 23rd Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
June 24th Denver, CO Lost Lake Lounge
June 28th Dallas, TX House of Blues - Cambridge Room
June 29th Austin, TX Stubbs Jr.
June 30th Houston, TX House of Blues - Bronze Peacock Room
July 8th Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen
July 9th Minneapolis, MN Cedar Cultural Center
July 10th Madison, WI The Frequency
July 11th Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
July 13th Toronto, ON Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
July 15th New York, NY Le Poisson Rouge
July 16th Boston, MA The Sinclair
July 17th Wilmington, DE World Cafe Live at the Queen
July 18th Vienna, VA Jammin Java
July 20th Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
July 21st Atlanta, GA Vinyl

"Blue Skies"




To watch Lenka perform "Unique," click here.

Like Lenka, Eddie Gomez is making some feel-good music that's as infectious as your toddler with strep. His music has already been featured in Apple's iWatch campaign, and scored placements on VH1 and Coca Cola to name a few. The trend will continue when the budding star plays the Staples Center in July during Halftime at an LA Sparks game. Specifically, he'll play "Catch Me if You Can," an infectious perfect-for-summer track A-Sides is ecstatic to PREMIERE - right here, right now.

As Gomez said, the song is about "a risk taker that will do the unconventional, and think outside of the box (so to speak) to achieve his dreams. Being creatively different in his thinking then most individuals, makes him vulnerable to feeling like an outcast, and his lack of common ground makes him feel disliked by his peers."

Have a listen, and you're welcome.



A-Sides "Delve Into Twelve" Countdown
Each week A-Sides unleashes its top 12 tracks of the week AKA the "Delve Into Twelve" based on the following contributing factors: songs I'm playing out that particular week (no matter when they were released - think overlooked songs, unreleased tracks and old favorites), songs various publicists are trying to get me to listen to that I did and dug a bunch, song posts and trends I've noticed on my friends' Facebook walls and, most importantly: what my toddler is currently enjoying thoroughly with an assist from my newborn.



About A-Sides With Jon Chattman:
Jon Chattman's music series features celebrities and artists (established or not) from all genres of music performing a track and discussing what it means to them. This informal series focuses on the artist making art in a low-threatening, extremely informal (sometime humorous) way. No bells, no whistles, just the music performed in a random, low-key setting followed by an unrehearsed chat. In an industry where everything often gets overblown and overmanufactured, Jon strives for a refreshing change. Artists have included fun., Charli XCX, Imagine Dragons, Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, Gary Clark Jr., STP, American Authors, Echosmith,and many, many more!




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What Black Music Needs Now More Than Ever

June 19, 2015, 11:15 am

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As we mark the 36th anniversary of Black Music Month, I am grateful that there is a time dedicated to commemorating and celebrating the significance of black music. I have been in the music industry for over 40 years, and have had the privilege of witnessing the amazing evolution of black music. As a former senior executive at a major record label, I have helped oversee history-making records and cultivate superstar acts such as Destiny's Child and Alicia Keys, to name a few.

Having experienced so much in this industry, I can honestly say that while Black Music Month is wonderful, we can't ignore the fact that the state of traditional black music IS NOT. Today, there are hardly any black music divisions at major record labels. In the '80s, '90s, and early 2000s, there were divisions, departments and labels focusing primarily on the genre of black music -- I know because I ran the black division at Sony for many years and I helped create So-So Def with my son, Jermaine Dupri, in 1993. Not having those divisions today and having only a handful of African-American music executives limits opportunities and support for black artists, particularly if they're not hip-hop or hip-hop-leaning R&B artists.

Without these components at record labels, we are overlooking a wide array of talent for the next generation. The artists who do manage to make it big oftentimes have to have the hottest producers on their tracks. So many of the artists of today have a very similar sound and style. Producers and the artists have to make sure that they're doing music in a way that is perceived to be pop, crossover or Top 40, so there's not a lot of originality. There is no concentration or focus being given to new black artists who have a different, eclectic sound, or who want to be the next Maxwell or the next Fugees, and that's unfortunate.

Black music is the core of American music and the foundation of all popular music. But does it get enough recognition or acknowledgement -- more than just a month of appreciation and reflection? Turn on a Top 40 radio station and you will hear Taylor Swift doing music with an "urban flavor." You'll hear rapper Juicy J featured on a Katy Perry song, or Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk" -- one of the biggest songs of the year -- with an undeniable Gap Band/The Time feel to it. If an artist like Maxwell recorded "Uptown Funk," or if Usher recorded Sam Smith's "Stay With Me," would those songs have been as big or viewed as Top 40?

Some people would argue, 'Michael, it's 2015, it's a different day, it's about all types of genres and artists -- black or white, hip-hop or pop -- coming together. Why keep the music segregated?' Well, I'm not talking about separating music, I'm talking about acknowledging the foundation of our music and recognizing where the music came from, because our older traditional genres like R&B and gospel are being marginalized. All while hip-hop and "urban" music are thriving. because those genres have managed to crossover in ways no one could have every imagined.

So, how can traditional black music get its just due and evolve? There needs to be more African-American executives, as well as established urban and hip-hop artists, who will stand up for themselves and stand up with a mission. We need more executives like the forefather, Berry Gordy, Clarence Avant, Jheryl Busby. That's why a movement needs to be created -- especially for the future generation -- a movement that says black music is very much alive, still needed and still relevant.

Don't get me wrong; I appreciate, celebrate, and applaud that every June we acknowledge black music, but it's not only about recognizing black music of the past, or black music artists of yesteryear, it's about putting enough emphasis on the very foundation of pop music today and shining a light on it, so that we can continue to give unsigned / undiscovered artists a platform and the chance at success!

Michael Mauldin is the CEO of Scream Nation, a hip-hop and pop music tour franchise, and the founder and President of Mauldin Brand, Inc., a multidimensional entertainment company focused on music, motorsports, artist management, music-publishing, and corporate endorsements. Scream Nation's back-to-school "Arena Bowl Tour" will be hitting 33 cities across the U.S. this September. For more on Scream Nation, visit www.screamtour.com.

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Sam Waterston: A Temperate Prospero in The Tempest in the Park

June 19, 2015, 11:16 am

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A storm threatened. Not the one that opens Shakespeare's late life play, The Tempest. On the evening I ventured into Central Park, to the Delacorte Theater for the always delightful experience of seeing Shakespeare under the night sky, rain was in the forecast. It would have been appropriate: not a downpour which would have cancelled the performance, but a melding of real nature with the teeming waters of the Public Theater's ocean backdrop (Riccardo Hernandez' design) for this season's The Tempest, directed by Michael Greif, with Sam Waterston as Prospero.

As is most often true about Shakespeare's plays, The Tempest is in part about what makes for good leadership. Shipwrecked, Prospero and his daughter Miranda (Francesca Carpanini) find themselves on an island, a "strange, new world," and Prospero, making the best of his exile, takes on the mantle of leadership. The play's composition, roughly 1610, in the time of the great explorations of the Americas, is Shakespeare's fantasy about what a civilized European might find and do under such circumstances, especially if equipped with a vast library, such as the one saved by Prospero. Two creatures owe loyalty to him, and they represent opposite poles of the "Great Chain of Being," that is, one Ariel (Chris Perfetti) is pure spirit with angelic powers, the other Caliban (Louis Cancelmi), brutish and animal. Each wants his freedom, Prospero's power to bestow. Prospero has the further duty to find a suitable husband for his daughter, who has in fact never seen a fully human man.

As I said, the evening is always a delight, and it was. No rain fell. Still, Sam Waterston in the role of Prospero, played a bearded savant lacking in the authority to make this pivotal character round. And as a result, the sequences of betrayal and magic fell short of their usual verve. While the ensemble was fine--with Trinculo (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Stephano (Danny Mastrogiorgio) performing their comic duet, rolled into a two-headed monster, This Tempest in the park needed less from the template, a tad more tempestuous.

A version of this post also appears on Gossip Central.

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If We Are Being Honest About Final Fantasy 7

June 19, 2015, 11:32 am

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The 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) has come to an end after a flurry of exciting announcements and details about upcoming games and hardware from the world's top video game companies. The myriad of games discussed include heavy hitters from established franchises such as Halo, Uncharted, Gears of War, Star Wars Battlefront, Mass Effect, Street Fighter V, Tomb Raider, and of course Bethesda's jaw-dropping reveal that kicked off the show a little earlier than expected: Fallout 4. New IPs like Horizon: Zero Dawn, The Last Guardian, ReCore, No Man's Sky, Dreams and many others proved that new and unique ideas are still a constant within the industry. What has turned into the most talked about aspect of the premier annual gaming convention was the announcement of the remake that has been asked for since almost the day it came out eighteen years ago, Square Enix's Playstation One classic: Final Fantasy 7.

Read that last statement closely, yes, it is true that fans and game journalists alike have been begging the RPG juggernaut for a makeover to the most popular entry of the iconic franchise for many years. Try and visit a website that covers games without seeing a headline, probably multiple, about the game that is seemingly more mythical than a unicorn, the title that became the punchline to jokes surrounding remake possibilities of classic games. It's official, Final Fantasy 7 is coming back to life on the Playstation 4 and likely the Xbox One and PC shortly after. No release date has been revealed, but that has not stopped gamers and journalists from declaring this as one of the most important moments in video game history. An argument can be made that this is the most important remake of all time, but also the most needed. If that came off as a compliment, then it is time for some honesty.

Final Fantasy 7 has aged worse than any other highly regarded, classic video game, period. Sandwiched between the platformer that reinvented the genre, Super Mario 64 in 1996, and the commonly called greatest game of all time in 1998, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy 7 was supposed to be the grand introduction of RPGS in 3D. The first of the already long-running franchise at the time to abandon its top-down sprite graphics in favor of graphics that were revolutionary at the time. Of course, Final Fantasy 7 pushed the Playstation to its limits of visual capability and sheer size of the game world. Out of the three titles listed, FF7 is laughable in comparison to the two Nintendo classics. All three are commonly on best of all-time lists, but in 2015, only two are playable today. The Nintendo classics received subsequent releases/slight remakes, but make no mistake, their original N64 versions are still two of the best games of all time today. Quite literally, in their original forms, Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time are likely still in working condition after a few breaths into the bottom of the cartridge and a couple of failed attempts to get the game to boot, while the likelihood of even one of the three discs that comprise FF7 being intact is as likely as finding one of its monstrous cases that has not fallen apart or cracked across the plastic. Physical durability aside, Final Fantasy 7 is unplayable today so the remake is understandable, but if we were honest in the first place we probably would not be bowing in gratitude to the perceived greatness of Square Enix for bestowing such an incredible gift to us.

Rewind to 1997, Bill Clinton was sworn in for his second term in office, Hanson's "MMMBop" was the number one song in America, Tiger Woods became the youngest person to win The Masters, The Simpsons became the longest running animated TV show, Internet Explorer 4 debuted, Titanic came to theaters, and our subject, Final Fantasy 7 conquered video game charts. Let's reflect: No description is needed for the fact that a song called "MMMBop" was topping charts, Bill Clinton was impeached for his well-known, embarrassing oval office indiscretions, Tiger Woods's own indiscretions, in large numbers, came out and now his body seems to be as frail as his psyche, The Simpsons is somehow still on air and no sane person could give you a good reason for its continued existence, Internet Explorer comes preinstalled on most PCs and its only use is to immediately download a usable browser, and Titanic is just as melodramatic and unbearably long as it was when it was released. The point being that popular things often times show their flaws in time, sometimes staying around longer than they really should. Final Fantasy 7 is not excluded from this logic. All good things must come to an end as they say, but if we are truthful, some things were never good in the first place.

Yes, the beloved darling of the RPG genre has actually been executing an incredibly impressive long con, duping video game journalists and its legions of fans alike. The plot is substandard to say the least, like all of the cliched games in the franchise. There is better Final Fantasy fan fiction in terms of dialogue and pacing than the drivel that the writers came up with for Final Fantasy 7. Now, to be fair, the series has never been about engaging stories, in favor of addictive battle systems, leveling up your party, and exploring the world while grinding from giant boss to an even bigger one. The first 3D entry into the franchise is plagued with incredibly slow battle scenes, coupled with large portions of mundane dialogue between. It was gorgeous for the time though; that was the point, right? I understand that point but it was not comparable in visual beauty to other standout titles of its time. Not even close. That's not fair though because it was such a massive game in scale, come on. Ever heard of the saying bigger does not mean better? Just because a game strives to redefine the way we experience games does not make it revolutionary, or even great, just as the first girl who gives you attention is not the end-all-be-all of girls. The ability to do one thing well should not hinder the rest of the experience. I could get an A+ in Algebra and fail every other course and I would still be repeating the tenth grade despising being the best at math. FF7 suffers from trying to do too much in one area while neglecting the rest of its duties.

In 1997, it was not a great game, and eighteen years later it is still not a good game. Fine wine gets better as it ages, but FF7 is more like the cans of cheap beer that you carried in your backpacks to fraternity parties, failing to notice that the beer is getting warmer, because at that point, who cares. You were drunk already, so who cares how it tastes. They told you FF7 was revolutionary, that it was breathtaking, and the buzz that you had when disc one started to churn, turned into a full fledged drunken escapade. Looking back, people remember the fun nights but fail to remember the persistent hangover. In a way, you cannot blame people for being excited about a remake of the most overrated game of all time since the hangover has been pounding in their heads for almost two decades. The potential, that initial buzz started the love affair that has led to the most needed remake ever, if only to prove to gamers that the original was not anywhere near its alleged greatness. Maybe the potential of Final Fantasy 7 will prevail, but if not, when it is released, the original will likely be near legal drinking age, capable of getting its own buzz to conceal the fact that its devoted following was a sham all along.

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The Grateful Dead's Legacy 50 Years and Counting

June 19, 2015, 12:40 pm

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The Grateful Dead performing in Pittsburgh by Robbi Cohn, courtesy of Da Capo Press

The Grateful Dead is a band whose influence transcends its brand of epic adventurous music and army of loyal fans known as Deadheads. Aside from their uniquely eclectic sounds and improvisational stage performances, the California band's imprint in music belies their laid-back '60s hippie image: from the Dead running their own independent record company during the '70s to employing the latest audio technology onstage. Since the death of co-founder Jerry Garcia in 1995, the other members of the Grateful Dead continued on with their own solo projects, while today's jam bands such as Widespread Panic and Phish are symbolic of the Dead's legacy.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead, the surviving band members will perform together for the last time -- beginning on June 27-28 in Santa Clara, California, and ending in Chicago on July 3-5. This September will see the release of 30 Trips Around the Sun, an 80-CD collection containing 30 previously unreleased shows spanning the band's career.

Also coinciding with the milestone is a recently-published book, So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead, by Rolling Stone contributing editor David Browne. In this edited interview, Browne talks about the Grateful Dead in terms of their music, shrewd business acumen, and cultural importance.


Book cover of So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead, courtesy of Da Capo Press

There have been previous books about the Grateful Dead, including a few written by the surviving band members. What did you want to convey through So Many Roads?

What I've always tried to do with my books is approach them as if they were novels. I do all the research, reporting and interviewing, and then I tried to put it together as if it was a story with characters, scenes and settings. I thought that's something I could bring to this story that hasn't been done before, and treating their story in a very cinematic and also accessible way than some of the other books.

I think the Dead should be up there in the culture with the Beatles, the Stones, the Who, and all that. In some ways they are, but there's still that big air of illegitimacy about them. I think it's mostly the perceptions of their fans. I think [when] people think of the Dead, they don't think of their music. They think, "Oh, those twirling tie-dyed hippies," and they usually don't say that in a very complimentary way. I thought maybe it would be a way to tell the Dead story that would be accessible to outsiders who would then appreciate their story and their music.

In researching for and writing So Many Roads, what were some of the things that you learned about the Dead that you didn't know about previously?

You certainly learn what a bad-ass organization it was, from the road crew, and then even just the relationships between the band members. The public perception is that it is just a bunch of communal hippies and they're all smiling and hanging out together. And they had moments of that. But it was a pretty tough, hardened crowd.

I didn't quite realize in the early days of the band, those guys were butting heads. I had some sense of that from previous stories I done on them for Rolling Stone. But delving deeper into it and listening to that tape from that 1968 meeting where they sort of tried to fire Bob Weir and "Pigpen" [McKernan]... they were a band at that point for three years and they almost fell apart. You hear many stories of the road crew and the whole survival-of-the-fittest atmosphere that really got the best of people like [late keyboardists] Keith Godchaux and Brent Mydland, who had tried to keep up with that in a way. I think that was all pretty eye-opening.

Not only did the Dead inspire loyalty from their fans but also from those who worked for them, such as their road crew and office people. How did they do that?

You'll hear on one hand a lot of sniping amongst people -- people in the office will complain about someone here or there, and that person will complain about someone on the crew. And yet... they all would light up and say, "But it was so much fun working there." I think it was, in the sense that they were a self-contained little world. I think there was a sense of a tribe, "all in it together" atmosphere, kind of an "us against the world" thing that the band perpetuated. It was a singular workplace I guess is the best way to put that.


Members of the Grateful Dead at New York's Fillmore East, circa early 1970s, by Amalie R. Rothschild, courtesy of Da Capo Press

It's interesting that the Dead are one of the few rock bands that actually preferred touring over recording studio albums.

They didn't like performing in a studio without that audience. One of those guys said to me, "Without the feedback from the crowd, it didn't feel right being in the studio." It's interesting that they rarely outgrew that. They were constantly tinkering in the studio for a lot of their records. They liked to experiment, and maybe that was to their detriment sometimes, because you can spend forever working out an arrangement in a studio and you can drive yourself crazy. It's one thing to play a song differently night to night onstage, but to play it repeatedly in a studio -- it can really drive a band to distraction.

The mantra that I heard over and over again from people in the band [and] people in their crew was the band never made good albums... which I think is actually kind of ridiculous. Workingman's Dead, American Beauty, Aoxomoxoa -- they did make great music in the studio. But I think the experience of doing most of that was so unpleasant that it's colored some of the perception.

It's impossible not to separate the Dead from the drug culture they emerged from during the '60s. Did drugs play a factor in the band's music?

It drove their music, and later on it hampered their music. I think early on it definitely was seen as a creative tool. When they started, LSD and cocaine did not have bad associations with them the way they did later. They were seen as not just mind-altering substances but things that would also unlock your creativity and allow you to be free and to experiment mentally and creatively. Then of course later, especially with Jerry, it became a problem and it intruded on the music.

There's this dichotomy that surrounds the Dead. On one hand, they embodied the hippie spirit of the '60s. And on the other, the group was a very efficient, well-oiled business organization.

They kind of knew how to get what they wanted. When I was going through their archives, I came across this yellow legal pad -- handwritten notes from a meeting where they were complaining about [their record label] Warner Bros. They were complaining, "We should be getting more money from Warners," "They should be marketing us this way," "They shouldn't just be marketing us to the alternative crowd." It was really pointed criticism. And there was also a constant light-versus-dark atmosphere. They were constantly teetering between those two worlds. It must have been a very stressful situation to be in that organization, even though it had moments of fun.


Jerry Garcia and Bruce Hornsby in 1991, by Robbi Cohn, courtesy of Da Capo Press

Your book documents in heartbreaking detail Jerry Garcia's drug and health problems leading up to his death, while the band had to deal with the machine of touring and unruly fans during the early to mid-'90s.

There is something so tragic about Jerry's decline. Even though people tried to stop it -- he tried to stop it intermittently -- it seemed like an unavoidable situation. I remember being so surprised when I watched this footage -- there was this interview he did just a few months before he died. When you watch that, he looks so old and worn down. There's still a lot of hand-wringing over "What we should have done to stop Jerry?" or "Should we have stopped touring for a year and let him rest?" There's still all this debate about what could have been done, but it's too late.

What do you hope people will come away from your take on the Dead's story?

It would be nice if it sent people back to their records or their concert recordings. I hope there's a greater appreciation for their legacy, everything from what really amounted to early social media... the way that they fostered that bond with their fans really was a blueprint for much of what followed in the industry. A greater appreciation of their cultural footprint, whether from that early social media aspect to even the way they pioneered technology on stage. They were really one of the first bands to say, "We want our concerts to sound really good." It would be nice if people came away thinking, "Oh, these weren't just a bunch of stoned hippies who couldn't write songs."

The Dead's story makes one appreciate works like Workingman's Dead and American Beauty from the early '70s, and even some of their later albums like Shakedown Street and Go to Heaven.

They had their own style and sound. And that's not to be underestimated. There was nothing generic about that band. For the most part, when you heard them, you knew it was them. They really did try to stay true to themselves for better and worse sometimes, but they did have a strong sense of themselves... and what they could get away with. It's very rare for bands to be like that anymore.



So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead by David Browne, published by Da Capo Press, is now available in bookstores.

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Barry Manilow Closes Farewell Tour in Brooklyn

June 19, 2015, 12:44 pm

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"The last time I sang in Brooklyn was at my Bar Mitzvah", said Barry Manilow at Wednesday's birthday concert at the Barclays Center, the last stop on his farewell tour.

Manilow sounded and looked great, and his show was a profoundly moving and personal experience for me. As Barry played most of his hits, including "Mandy" from 1975, I saw the past forty years of my life flash before my eyes. It was actually in 1974, his first year as a solo artist, that I saw Barry perform at Mister Kelley's in Chicago, the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park(opening for Melissa Manchester), and the Bottom Line in New York.

He opened his shows with "It's a Miracle" in those days, as he did on Wednesday in Brooklyn. At the Barclays Center, Barry seemed to still think it was a bit miraculous that he had been discovered by Clive Davis("I don't know what he saw in me"), who was in the audience. And when the crowd swooned during one of his romantic melodies, Manilow asked "Still?".

"It's a Miracle" inspired me so much when it was released in 1974, that I listened to it for many years as a pre-comedy performance ritual. And it is one of the only songs that I dare to sing at karaoke.

Later in the show, his rendition of a song from his very first album, "I Am Your Child" choked me up as the lyrics brought to mind my 97 year old father and 88 year old mother. "Whatever I do, you taught me to do.... whatever I am, you taught me to be."

From my days as a college student, to receiving invitations in the mail to join AARP, Barry Manilow has been a constant in my life. His songs conjure up memories, and inspire me to come up with pictures and moving images to go along with his music. And to this day, after more than 35 years as a comedian, I still get that same burst of adrenaline before a show when I listen to "It's a Miracle".

Barry Manilow's farewell show Wednesday may have been a goodbye to huge, multi-city tours. But he gave the strong impression that his performing days were far from over. Which is music to the ears of a fellow nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn.

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Reda Kateb Takes an Oath in Hippocrates

June 19, 2015, 12:58 pm

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French actor Reda Kateb always knew he was a born actor. The son of an Algerian actor father and French mother (and grandnephew of celebrated Algerian writer Kateb Yacine), Reda grew up watching his father perform on stages across Europe. After deciding himself to "enter the family business" as a child, honing his skills reciting his great uncle's texts, Reda stayed busy on the stage as well, making his film debut in the internationally-lauded A Prophet in 2009.

Reda's latest film, Hippocrates: Diary of a French Doctor, traces the relationship between two young physicians (Kateb and Vincent Lacoste) doing their internships in a Parisian hospital. Reda's work captured him a 2014 César Award as Best Supporting Actor. The film opens in the U.S. today, June 19.

Reda spoke to us by phone from his home in France. Here's what transpired:

How did the project come to you, initially?

I read the script, but didn't get cast until I passed the audition. (Director) Thomas Liti wanted a strong connection between my character and Vincent's character. We established the connection quite quickly.

You and Vincent worked very well together.

Yeah, we found a great work relationship and friendship. He's very mature for his age and brought a lot to the film.

I read in your biography that you're half-Algerian, and your character in the film is Algerian. Is that something that drew you to the part initially?

It wasn't so much about being Algerian for me in this film as much as it was in another film I did recently, called Far From Men. For this one it was more to talk about the situation of doctors coming from other countries and working in French hospitals. I wasn't familiar with the situation prior to doing this movie, so it was something I wanted to address.

I know that Algerians in France haven't been treated well over the years. Growing up in France with your lineage, did you have any difficulty?

Not so much, because I'm from the next generation. It was harder for my father and my family in the past. Since I was born in France, I always identified with being French. Just like if you're born in the States and your lineage is from elsewhere, you're still American. This is something that France has been a bit behind on, I think, and could use America as an example for. This film dealt a lot with France's immigration issues. France has a lot to improve on this subject.

What are some of those things that need improvement?

In this movie you can see that my character is a really good doctor, he's a specialist. He's paid like a student, and this is a big situation in France. In emergency services in France, you have fifty percent of the doctors in this situation. It's a big waste of talent and people who can make our country richer, and we have to recognize that, or people will leave France and go somewhere else.

Let's talk about your background: your father was an actor and your uncle is one of the most famous Algerian writers of his generation.

Yes, I grew up in a creative environment, which was wonderful for a child. I remember being age four or five and going with my father on tour, watching the rehearsals, and I was hooked. (laughs) So it's been thirty years now that I've been an actor.

I read in your bio that you decided to become an actor at the age of twelve. Was there one inciting incident that made you decide that?

Actually, my first play was at age eight, and I told my father that I wanted to do what he did. It was a way to be an adult and a child at the same time.

Reda and Tahar Rahim in A Prophet.

The first film I remember seeing you in was A Prophet. What was that experience like?

Well, it was my first film and quite an amazing introduction to filmmaking and film acting. Jacques Audiard is one of the best directors we have in the world, so I learned a lot from him. I still use many of the methods he taught me today.

A few years later, you did Zero Dark Thirty. How was it working on a high-profile American film with a director like Kathryn Bigelow?

It was very simple, very easy actually. At the beginning I was supposed to play a much smaller part, and when I met with Kathryn, she suggested I play the part I ended up doing. She had a terrific creative process, very straightforward. She knows an actor is good when you basically leave them alone and let them do their job. She's not the kind of director to give you line readings, or something like that. We've stayed very friendly. It was a great experience I remain grateful for.

In Zero Dark Thirty.

How was it working with Ryan Gosling, who directed Lost River?

Also a great experience. It was full of trust because he sent me the script and offered me the part without an audition. I spent a month in Detroit and wasn't familiar with it and that side of the American Dream, which is more like a nightmare.

Reda with Ryan Gosling at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Is it a different experience working with a director who's also an actor?

Well, every director and actor is different, but with Ryan, he understands the acting process so well. He shares the scene with them and you invent it together. Again, it was very simple, easy and exciting at the same time.

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Madonna: Your Ageist Haters Are Clueless -- You'll Always Be the Queen Bitch

June 19, 2015, 1:07 pm

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Madonna, you are so smart to keep creating the music and videos that excite you. The ageist critics who tell you to stop dancing and looking hot at 56 are the real old folks, no matter what their ages.

Madonna, the dissers who are trying to define or judge you for your age -- 56 -- are silly and small-minded. And in many cases, sexist! I'll throw that in for good measure, because it's true. You just released what is arguably the hottest, funnest and most compelling video of your life for your single, "Bitch I'm Madonna", with guest appearances by Beyonce, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, Chris Rock, Rita Ora and a fabulous rap set by Nicki Minaj. It's ridiculous that anyone has the gall to tell you you're too old to "have fun tonight"!

Madonna's New Song -- Ageist Haters Of 'Bitch I'm Madonna' Are Clueless

You happen to be in incredible shape, look fantastic and can still dance your legs off, so why shouldn't you wear a tight minidress, show off cleavage, kiss guys and girls, and just plain put out a killer single? Just because you're 56, doesn't mean you should stop doing anything or being anything. You've always been sexually open, outrageous and boundary-pushing. Who says that when a woman crosses a certain age she should cover up, shut up and stay off stage -- especially stop shaking her booty?

If anything, people should applaud you for showing that age is irrelevant to staying creatively and physically energized. Why should anyone "accept" their age and "age gracefully", like georgiavanzan tweets:

Wish Madonna would just accept her age and stop trying to be so young. What ever happened to growing old gracefully?

-- georgiavanzan (@VanzanGeorgia) June 17, 2015

Or how about Kara or Shoshanna:

I get it - Madonna is a pop legend. But everyone reaches a point in their lives when they need to accept their age, and she has yet to do so -- Kara (@kmk5753) June 17, 2015

I feel like Madonna needs to remember her age...

-- Shoshana (@_mirandajule) June 17, 2015

Then there's William McDermid, who wants Madonna to act her age, not be a teen:

Have officially lost all respect for Madonna. There's a difference of trying to stay on top and being trashy. Act your age not being a teen. -- William McDermid (@McDermidWilliam) June 17, 2015

I'd guess that all these tweeters are under 35. That's because they have no clue how anyone who is 50-plus feels. I bet Madonna, at 56, is as full of beans and ideas as she was at 26. Furthermore, I bet that Madonna, at 56, has more energy and ideas than most people do at 26. So why does she need to accept any preconceived notion about what "age" is or have to "remember her age"? Instead, they should all be thrilled that she is taking the lead and showing them and the rest of the world that you don't have to "remember" or "act" your age.

Madonna Shouldn't Be Shamed For Being Sexy & Daring At 56!

You can shake, rock, roll, be sexy, be daring, be alive, at 56, 66, 76 and more. If Madonna wants to "get freaky", jump in the pool with her clothes on and "go hard or go home", what is so wrong with that? I can guarantee that when Madonna's haters get to be 56, they won't be so willing, either, to "grow old gracefully". And I'd like to ask these dissers -- do they feel the same way about mature rockers Bruce Springsteen, 65, Mick Jagger, 71, Jon Bon Jovi, 53 or Steven Tyler, 67? I don't think so.

So, Madonna haters -- ask yourselves, would you diss a man for refusing to act his age?

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The Blind Side Actor Takes on the Harsh Realities of Life After Prison in New Film Halfway

June 19, 2015, 1:18 pm

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Quinton Aaron as Byron. © Halfway Film LLC, 2015

A recently-released convict finds himself caught between two worlds in the upcoming feature film Halfway, starring Quinton Aaron (The Blind Side). Aaron plays Byron, a man whose urban criminal past haunts his new life as the only black man in a predominantly white, conservative Wisconsin farming town.

The film chronicles Byron's struggles as he adapts to his new life on probation, while trying to elude the very real threat of falling back into his old life of crime.

I recently chatted with Halfway producer Jonny Paterson about the movie, the important social issues it seeks to address, and his work on the film.

Q: What are the themes in Halfway?

A: Halfway is a commentary on the fractured incarceration system in America and the serious socio-economic implications that result from recidivism (the re-incarceration of released felons for a similar crime within a short period of time). The American prison system has been at a breaking point for years, with a 700 percent growth in inmate population since 1973 that now stands at 2.4 million -- higher than any other democratic nation in the world. Coupled with the discouraging statistic that nearly 66 percent of released prisoners will find themselves back in prison within three years, and approximately 75 percent within five years, it's clear that more should be done to ensure that released prisoners are given the opportunity for an actual second chance.

Halfway is a right-of-passage story seen through the eyes of our protagonist and further themes that run through the story include strong family values and the belief that everyone deserves a second chance. Byron's story asks the audience to consider the serious systematic failure within the American prison system, where a lack of opportunity for those who have transgressed in their past seems to guarantee a future behind bars. Aaron's character faces harsh realities about decisions that need to be made when someone is given a second chance, in a new and unfamiliar surrounding.

The fish-out-of-water story at the core of the film has to do with race. It is very timely that with the events taking place in Baltimore and Ferguson (among others) that the United States still has a problem with race relations in many parts of the country, and whilst we cannot try and tackle everything in this film, we certainly wish to pose some poignant social questions. Should our past actions allow for prejudice against us? Can we expect to be absolved of all blame simply because we have served our punishment?


Quinton Aaron as Byron. © Halfway Film LLC, 2015

Q: How did Halfway first come to your attention? What was it about the movie that grabbed you, made you want to be a part of it?

A: My first job in Hollywood was working with Paula Wagner, Tom Cruise's producer. It was an incredible experience and I learned to track talent on the rise from her. I met Ben Caird at a networking event, liked his work, and he pitched me a film inspired by where he grew up that had to deal with race in America.

Ben has a tone and style to his writing that I'd seen him translate onto the screen with a series of successful short films that he wrote and directed. As I was reading the script for Halfway I could see his vision in my head.

Having worked closely with Quinton Aaron on the film 1982 in 2013 I knew I could introduce the project to him. I told Ben, "If I can get Quinton to do the film, then I think we can get it made." Quinton responded really positively to the material and came on board after our first meeting. From there on I knew we could do it!

Q: Of all the scripts you read every week, what made this one stand out?

A: Halfway stood out to me for a few reasons, but I'll focus on one practical reason and one creative reason. From a practical perspective, the story was contained and did not need a massive budget. As a first-time producer, I felt I could raise the money necessary to make the movie. From a creative perspective, I loved Ben's vision and believed in the team. There is a European sensibility to this American story thanks to an international team; the director, cinematographer Ben Thomas, editor Karel van Bellingen, and I all come from across the pond.

Q: Once you decided you wanted to make this movie, what was the next step?

A: I remember it was on April 1, 2014, when Ben and I looked at each other and said, no matter what we need to do or how much money I can raise, we're making this movie in October. We shook on it. Within six months everything fell into place and we started filming on Wednesday, October 1, exactly six months later, to the day!

But, in a very practical sense from that moment in April onwards it became a full time job for me, working 12 hours a day to move things forward one step at a time.


Byron with his Parole Officer. © Halfway Film LLC, 2015

Q: What made you decide to take on such an important topic?

A: It is important to me that I make a wide range of movies in my career that reflect not just my personal, creative tastes as a film lover but also satisfy my social beliefs as well. I studied history at undergraduate level in college in the UK and have always been fascinated in the evolution of societies and the powers that govern them. Since I moved to America in 2010, racial tensions have been at a boiling point. Halfway isn't directly commenting on issues of police violence and racially charged tensions in big cities like Baltimore, but it is telling the story of someone who has been afforded a second chance after paying his debt to society through his incarceration. That's powerful to me. The fact that ever since I moved to this country, this has been the most contentious socio-economic issue, made it prominent in my own mind, and as such, when this project presented itself to me it seemed like an opportunity to tell a story that is borne out of this world, but hopefully sheds a positive light on how we can move forward as a society if we give people a true second chance.

Q: Are you hoping the movie generates a larger discussion? In your ideal world, what impact would Halfway have on the conversations we are having in our country and around the world about race and the prison system?

A: Yes, I am certainly hoping that the film provides a platform for further discussion on the issues of racially charged tensions in America and the broken prison system's involvement in inciting that. To that point, I, along with the executive producers, have plans to form the Halfway Foundation, which will seek to raise awareness for and create more public initiatives towards reducing recidivism rates.

I'd also love for our movie to be shown in prisons around the country, to young men and women who will soon be sent back out in to the world. I'd love them to identify with our protagonist and think, "One opportunity, no matter how obscure it may seem, is all that I need to get myself straight and make a good life for myself away from all the temptations and troubles of my former life" -- I'd feel fantastic about that!


Jonny enjoying himself on the set. © Halfway Film LLC, 2015

Q: What do you think are some of the barriers in the way of our having and making progress in these important discussions -- whether in our own small social groups or as a nation or world?

A: On a macro level, the prison system in America has become so expensive and the prisons are so overpopulated by people who are incarcerated for misdemeanor offenses that America has found itself in a challenging position to remedy the current state of affairs. To focus on one example, I met with the prison warden of the Prairie du Chien Correctional Institute in Wisconsin, and he told me a lot about the good work that their prison does to rehabilitate their prisoners, by offering them the chance to take classes and learn a trade, preparing them for life back on the outside. Unfortunately I don't think enough prisons around the country are doing that well enough. And on top of that, the bigger problem is that when young men and women are released back in to society, they're just sort of thrown back out there and expected to fend for themselves. There is an undeniable lack of opportunity for these people, and when they have to tick a felony box on every job application they make, it's understandable that the general attitude is quite defeatist.

Q: Who else stars in the movie?

A: We're incredibly fortunate to have a wonderful supporting cast of actors that includes the amazing Jeffrey DeMunn (Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Walking Dead), Gillian Zinser (90210), Amy Pietz (The Office), and TJ Power (Eat Pray Love, The Sapphires).

Coming next week: More Q&A with Jonny about his career path and the producer life.

Coming in two weeks: Q&A with Halfway writer/director Ben Caird.

Find Halfway on Facebook and Twitter.

Also published at pamstucky.com.

Somewhere between funny and philosophical lies the truth in Pam Stucky's writing. Pam is the author of several books including the Wishing Rock series (Northern Exposure-esque contemporary fiction, with wit, wisdom, and recipes); the Pam on the Map travelogues (wit and wanderlust); and the YA Sci-Fi The Universes Inside the Lighthouse (wonder and wisdom). Pam's driving forces are curiosity, the pursuit of happiness, the desire to thrive, and the joy in seeing others do the same. Pam is currently working on writing a screenplay, because life is short, so why not try?

Find out more about Pam and check out her personal manifesto at pamstucky.com
Follow Pam on Facebook and Twitter.

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World's Best (Literary) Dads

June 19, 2015, 1:32 pm

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Happy Father's Day! While we take a break from toasting our own dads, we thought we'd make a list of our favorite fictional fathers. Without further ado, here are Grammarly's top five literary dads!

The Man, The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy's The Road isn't exactly a fun book to read. But there's no denying that the protagonist, known only as "the man" is one of the most heroic dads in literature. Journeying through a post-apocalyptic wasteland, he has one mission: protect the boy. Though we never know his name or even the nature of the event that cast them into the nightmarish struggle for survival, the story still manages to be a heart-wrenching testament to the love between a father and son.

Arthur Weasley, the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
Mr. Weasley is seen by his peers (and, to a certain extent, his children) as something of a buffoon. He's a bit bumbling and embarrassingly enthusiastic about his interests. But he's also a kind, good-hearted man who loves his wife and children more than anything. It doesn't hurt that he's also quietly been a key member of the fight against Voldemort.

Matthew Cuthbert, Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Sweet, shy Matthew Cuthbert may not have been Anne's biological father, but he was a dad to the red-headed orphan. His tough-as-nails sister, Marilla, forbids Matthew to "put his oar in" when it comes to raising Anne, yet it is the old bachelor who shows Anne the first true kindness she has ever known. When Matthew decides that Anne should have a pretty dress like the other girls in their town, he bravely faces his fears to buy the fabric and commission it himself. Okay, maybe it's not exactly storming the Bastille, but it proves that Matthew would do anything for his adopted daughter.

Mr. Bennet, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Fathers don't have to be perfect. Mr. Bennet is a flawed character and a controversial figure. The poor choice of his youth to marry a pretty, frivolous woman whom he has grown to resent colors his interaction with everyone, especially his five daughters. He seems equally bewildered and annoyed by the sheer amount of estrogen and petticoats in his house, but his special bond with like-minded heroine Lizzie redeems him. It's hard not to cheer when he refuses to let Mrs. Bennet force Lizzie to marry the odious Mr. Collins!

Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
No list of fictional fathers would be complete without Atticus Finch. The moral, kind and brave father of Scout, he defends his family and his community from those who would harm it. Whether it's taking out a rabid dog or fighting for justice, he's one of the most admirable men in literature. In fact, he inspired the real-life Alabama Law Foundation to create the Atticus Finch Society, praising him as "the epitome of the type of professional and person that lawyers strive to be."

What can we learn from this list? That regardless of whether they're single fathers, adoptive parents or raising children with a partner, the qualities we value most in our dads are bravery, kindness and goodness. Here's to you, dads!



Did we leave someone off this list? Share your favorite literary dads in the comments!

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Judy Garland: The Joy and the Genius Remembered and Remastered

June 19, 2015, 1:58 pm

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Judy Garland would have turned 93 earlier this month on June 10th, and we are quickly approaching the 46th anniversary of her untimely passing on June 22nd. Proof that a legend never dies, two new works have emerged celebrating her 47 years on this earth, and the rich legacy she has left behind.

Many claim to have known the "real" Judy Garland, and/or claim to have tried to have save and help her. How refreshing it is to happen along someone who actually did know Miss Garland, sans such gross exaggerations. Someone who had the great privilege of being in her company on several occasions. Including her famed London recording sessions, the filming of her final movie and working under the same roof at CBS at the same time. That someone is Joan Beck Coulson, who has authored Always for Judy, Witness to the Joy and Genius of Judy Garland. Just like Glinda, the Good; Joan Beck Coulson floats in, in her (figurative) pink bubble and delivers a refreshing book celebrating Garland's life.



Can you imagine being invited to attend a recording session by the "world's greatest entertainer' (an apt sobriquet attributed to Tony Bennett about Judy)? You arrive at the studio to find that 4'11" power house bearing a warm smile and as she guides you down the corridor she turns and says:

"I don't know why you want to watch this-It will be so boring!", Garland said. As if! Miss Coulson's recollection: "We were in Seventh Heaven!"

On watching Garland in action at the recording studio Miss Coulson reflects:

"There was no diva there, it was a collaboration of artists working together to produce a piece of art."

Along with her personal reminiscences, Coulson's book, uses the psychological approach of "7 Up" to explain Garland's life. "7 Up" is a Jesuit early childhood psycho-social analysis, that has the core tenet: Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man. Ms. Coulson skillfully uses this concept to anchor the narrative, without hitting the reader over the head with an over indulgence of psychological folderol. Throughout she makes intelligent assessments (Coulson's degrees and experience are in Sociology and Anthropology). Including the fact that Judy was forced to sing in her childhood, which logically accounts for the fact that she sometimes resented being forced to sing as an adult. Especially when due inept management who squandered her earnings, there was no monetary reward for her efforts, and in fact debt that she often had no knowledge of. I certainly think that is worth a pout. "7 up" indeed!



Ms. Coulson's recollections are crucial; especially those of being on the set of I Could Go On Singing. She was present in the audience while Garland filmed the iconic "Hello Blue Bird" number, and the title song from the film. Her memories of Judy's behavior are very different than that of director Ronald Neame. Coulson recalls a very cooperative, consummate performer doing her job and showing concern for the extras.

Always for Judy is an extremely well written and perspicacious book which sparkles with love, warmth, intelligence, sincerity and humor. All of the ingredients that made Judy Garland, JUDY GARLAND!



Judy's final years have turned into the stuff that legends are made of, and people often love to commiserate (falsely) about her voice "being gone." Enter Hallow Records to correct this myth. The men behind this curtain are audio restoration engineer extraordinaire: John H. Hayley, and award winning music producer, Lawrence Schulman. Their latest project is with Judy Garland Swan Songs, First Flights: Her First and Last Recordings. To set the record straight Hayley aptly states:

"She remained in admirable command of her extra ordinary voice and riveting performing ability."

These newly re-mastered recordings are proof positive that, as Scott Brogan curator and archivist of the online site The Judy Room offers:

"Judy still had "it" even at the very end."

Judy shines brightest during the March 25th, 1969 concert at the Falkoner Centret in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her last live performance ever. The Garland wit is clearly heard as a Dutch fan, tries to convey in his native tongue his deep regard for the star.

"You know I have trouble with my English, let alone!" Garland jokingly scolds photographers, "Well, stop photographing and translate!" Finally, the enthusiastic fan musters a great big "I LOVE YOU!" Her exuberant response: "Oh say, I sort of recognize that language! I love you, too! I love you all, you know that!"

"Joy prevailed" Mr. Schulman, astutely observes in his liner notes. "That unending optimism despite the disillusionment that life often offers us."

Finally, composer John Meyer, whose contribution to the Garland legacy cannot be overestimated states that Garland's voice had:

"The force of a locomotive. Judy had all her power and her command."

Bravo, John H. Hayley for not only re-mastering these precious moments but for helping to dispel that myth of "a washed up Judy without a Rainbow." Through such conservators like Joan Coulson and John H. Hayley preserving Garland's legacy for future generations; the joy and genius of Judy Garland will continue to shine as bright as the stars in heaven.

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Brother Ali, Hip-Hop's Truth-Teller, Speaks

June 19, 2015, 2:50 pm

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Brother Ali is one of hip-hop's most honest and outspoken cultural critics of this generation. The Minneapolis MC has released five studio albums and four EP's all under the Rhymesayers banner. This is a small segment of our hour-long conversation in which Brother Ali took time out of his schedule to speak about some of the current challenges he sees in the community and the legacy of his label Rhymesayers as they celebrate 20 years in hip-hop.

Giving the current relationship between law enforcement and the community, is there a path forward to co-exist?

People are very afraid of the term "radical." And for the people who know a change needs to happen, for people of good conscience and intentions, who know that things are not right -- those divide into two approaches, not that a person has to believe completely in one; they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. On one hand, you have progressives who say that this is a good system, that is just not operating properly and we need to make progress within this system. We can work within the system and do better. Part of Martin Luther King's life in 1963 when he made the "I Have a Dream" speech, he would have been considered a progressive. Whereas, contrasted with Malcolm X, who was saying that the system never had poor people in mind, never had black people in mind, it never had women in mind, and so Malcolm would be considered a radical. There are people who are radical, like Malcolm, who would say the system is fundamentally flawed and there needs to be radical changes. Radical doesn't necessarily mean violent. The conservatives have conflated these issues to imply that radical means that somebody wants to kill people, and to be violent. That's what they said about Malcolm, they said Malcolm is the violent one, Martin Luther King is the non-violent one and it's much more complicated than that. Malcolm never committed any violence and never told anyone to commit violence. Malcolm may have asked the question, why is America violent in all of her disputes?

This idea that is pervaded by people of power that being a radical means that you're violent. I would say that my philosophy is that there are some very flawed things in the make-up of our civilization, and that those things ought to be addressed. Does that mean that I don't believe in progress action? I think short-term, progressive things are good. Is that the ultimate solution? No, it's definitely not.

Because you speak honestly, the media gravitates to your criticisms of society as oppose to some of the more compassionate lyrics in your music. Are you optimistic about the future?

I'm not necessarily optimistic. I have a degree of hope that is related to my faith. I do believe in a creator. I do believe that there is a cause and a meaning behind the universe; and behind life. And I believe that that creator is always in complete control. That's on a very personal level. Now, that doesn't mean that we're not supposed to speak out and fight injustice. It doesn't mean that we're not supposed to be building community. And honestly, that has become more and more of my focus -- rather than fighting injustices, watering the good plants. I did a lot of organizing and activism around fighting institutions like banks and the police department -- trying to hold them accountable -- and I feel great about all of that, but what I've really found lately to be more worthy of my time and energy is just trying to build the things that I want to see more of. And that is trying to really foster and nurture community.

When I look at hip-hop culture, there are so many artists worried about technology; is that something that concerns you within hip-hop?

Yeah, I keep using the term global "monoculture," but I think that's what the modern age is about. I really feel the modern age is about separating us from meaning, separating us from each other, separating information from poetry, separating information from beauty, separating the heart from the mind, instead of holistic living. And that's what we really should be promoting and talking about; and that's what we should really be trying to get right; how do we live together. I do talk a lot about what's wrong, both in my personal life and also in society, but I also try to always be inviting. Ultimately, I'm not condemning for the sake of condemning. This music is here for everyone. I'm here for everybody. My heart -- and I hope I'm not making a false claim -- but my heart field includes everybody.

I saw you perform last year, headlining the Home Away From Home Tour. After the show, I saw you greet every fan and they left with an overwhelming feeling of love.


I appreciate you saying that. On an ego level -- which is a dangerous level to really exist on, because our ego will always destroy us -- but on an ego level, as artists we want to be understood, and we think we deserve to be understood. And for me, when I'm at my most base level, when I've experienced being the most bitter or despair, it's because I don't feel like I'm being understood. There are two dimensions at the same time; on the one hand, there is open-embrace, love, and hope. And on the other side, because I love us so much -- if you love a person, you hate when they are hurt. If someone you know is being treated unjustly, then you hate that injustice. So the songs in which I'm angry, I'm extraordinarily angry, and the songs that I'm loving, I'm extraordinarily loving, and they are tied to each other, but I agree that people tend to focus on whichever side serves them best.

Looking back, what do you think the Rhymesayers legacy has been over the last 20 years?

What I think Rhymesayers had a role in bringing to the table was that their fans did not have to be traditional hip-hop fans. Artists can make an entire career touring in cities where major hip-hop artists never went before. And also, you don't have to have what is seen as the typical hip-hop story, or content, or delivery, or presentation. It's only been very recently that's been normal. That's Rhymesayers, but we're not the only ones to do that. Living Legends had a hand in that, Def Jux had a hand in that, Tech N9ne had a hand in that. But when you look at the label, Rhymesayers has stood the test of time. And we've done it in a way that is very legitimate and respectful to the culture.

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Basil Khalil's Ave Maria: Questioning the Rules

June 20, 2015, 6:10 am

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What would happen if the Israelis and Palestinians really needed each other? How would that change the world?

Well, I'm cheating a bit here, those are not really the questions that Basil Khalil asks through his charming, funny, beautifully made short film Ave Maria. A short film with a hefty presence in Cannes this year, where it premiered in Competition.

Khalil's film doesn't deal with the Netanyahu and Hamas of the conflict, instead choosing the human side of the struggle. When a very small group of Palestinian Carmelite nuns and a family of Jewish settlers "collide" together through a car crash outside the convent, they then need each others' cooperation to get away from one another as soon as possible. That's the premise of a film that -- along with the best poster in Cannes, designed by Maher Diab -- definitely conquered my heart.

This weekend, Ave Maria screens on June 21st at the Palm Springs International Shortfest in California, and on July 7th at the Festival du film court en plein air de Grenoble, while awaiting confirmation of an Italian screening later in the summer.

I caught up with Khalil in Cannes and his wit, charm and intelligence are the stuff my interview dreams are made of.

How did you come up with the idea for your film, was there a lightbulb moment?

Basil Khalil: The idea was, I come from Nazareth and there is a convent there of Carmelite nuns who live in a massive fortress with nine-meter-high walls. There are only five nuns in a building that fits two hundred. And they don't talk, only for one hour a day, and each year they vote for one nun to do their shopping, the only one who can exit the building. That struck my imagination, what do they do behind closed doors, what do they talk about when they can talk, what are these rules that they chose, to stay silent? And on the other hand you have the Israelis who are loud, squabbling with each other and they have their rules of Sabbath. And the rules are conflicting. They help each other not because they've become friends but because they can't stand each other. And the only way they can get rid of each other is by helping the other. The nuns want to go back to their silence and the Israelis to their Kosher home.

The anti-friendly friendliness.

Can we make your film a little bit political, by adding another layer to it? Like the Palestinians and the Israelis, can they help each other by finding a way to avoid each other?

Khalil: It's a very very tricky and sensitive situation because the minute you have anything on Palestine it becomes political. Even if it's a love story, or someone sweeping their front door, it becomes political if it's about Palestine.

They are not equal these people so it's hard to say if they can cooperate. There is no cooperation when you're under occupation and one is the occupier. You don't meet on the same level.

My film is also about the rules and the settlers believe that the rules of God gave them this land and it's their duty to occupy it. Because God is on their side. Even though the Bible was written 3,000 years ago by another human channeling that message. So question your rules. People in the Middle East, particularly in Israel and Palestine, they are born into a religion, they don't choose. You're instantly given sides, but what you do choose is the level of extremism of that side. So when do you realize that you've not chosen who you are, but only the extreme? If we are born Israeli or Palestinian that doesn't make us enemies. But if you chose to adopt a doctrine that you have a right to take this land and take it, by hook and by crook, that's a decision you should question. The same about the life of silence of the nuns, how is that really going to help the world?

Is cinema a way to create a discussion?

Khalil: Absolutely, because when people live in a bubble they don't get a chance to see the other side. People see the world through the news, which in turn have their own agenda. And unfortunately extremism sells. Bland, normal, friendly people don't sell advertising space. Cinema is the only outlet where people, I wouldn't say without an agenda, but filmmakers whose only agenda is to get their truth out and are dying to tell their stories, can show for example Palestinians as human beings, with all their faults.

When you show this film what do you hope people will walk away with from it?

Khalil: So many messages I want people to walk away with, where do we start?! I want them to know there are Palestinian Christians, there are Palestinian nuns and they are as quirky and weird and boring as anyone else. My first message of the film is "question the rules you've chosen." My world view may not be right if it's infringing on some else's rights. Religion, if you believe in it, and you believe it's good for you, go for it. But don't believe at the expense of someone else.

What is your own background?

Khalil: My Dad is Palestinian, my Mum's English, I was brought up in Nazareth and studied in Scotland. And then I worked in television in London for five years. I also worked on Jamie Oliver's show. He used to feed us on set, such a great guy! I moved to Italy then Spain to work on my script. It's difficult to live in London without working constantly to pay the rent.

Are you a spiritual person?

Khalil: I've become more cynical. I'm questioning the rules.

What is the first film you remember watching?

Khalil: We weren't allowed to watch films as kids. We read books and my mom read us Winnie the Pooh, doing all the voices. Once in a while, we'd watch a film like Lawrence of Arabia or The Ten Commandments or Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music.

And finally, three words that describe you?

Khalil: It's difficult! Punctual, organized, you know, the good side of OCD.

Images courtesy of the filmmaker and Mad Solutions.

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Kate Winslet in A Little Chaos

June 20, 2015, 8:36 am

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Kate Winslet in a smart ponytail and slinky black skimmer posed for selfies with fans as I approached MoMA this week for the New York premiere screening of her new film, A Little Chaos, directed by Alan Rickman.

Finally prying herself loose from the crowd, she joined the audience for this period piece in which she portrays Sabine De Barra, a self-possessed woman with a career as a landscape designer --from -- most improbably -- the 17th century, the time of Louis XIV (Rickman is both imperious and human in this role as king). A Little Chaos describes her mode of design which impresses Andre de Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts) to hire her for the work at Versailles, and from there, the rest is history, as they say, or more to this film, historical fiction. There is much to say about Ellen Kuras' stunning cinematography. The film was shot in the castles near London, exteriors in gardens, and interiors in bedrooms where the emerging love affair is swoon-worthy.

A party ensued at The Monkey Bar, one of the warmest in a season of summer movies: Everyone seemed to be Alan Rickman's friend from some part of his long and stellar career. And Winslet fell into embrace with Belinda Sinclair, a wild-haired "magicienne" who had worked on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with Winslet back in the day. Kuras shot that film too, and they all remained friends, since 2004. When I asked Kuras what was the hardest part of the shoot, she said, there was a lot of mud. Indeed, in one scene, Winslet's Sabine is so determined not to fail, when her lover's jealous wife floods her work, she plunges into rushing waters to rescue the garden. Kuras said, "That was no double. Kate dove right in."

A version of this post also appears on Gossip Central.

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Awaiting Interreflections: Peter Joseph's Highly Anticipated New Film Series Inches Towards its 2016 Release

June 20, 2015, 1:01 pm

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In a time of great social strife and growing inequality and public outcry, it's no wonder Peter Joseph's work has gained more and more prominence in the counter-culture each year. Love him or hate him, Joseph continues to challenge the "zeitgeist", leading the charge towards a new society. Art is his weapon... and the thousands of dedicated fans don't hurt either.

Peter Joseph is a producer who created the Zeitgeist Film Trilogy, a series of films critical of society and culture. These works exploded online starting in 2007 with millions of views and can now be found in major media outlets such as Netflix. His third film, Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, had the largest grassroots, non-profit theatrical release in history, with almost 350 screenings in 60 countries in 25 languages. While I may not agree with everything in his films, I certainly appreciate being exposed to it as they are designed to create critical thought.

When he is not creating films, he is doing research on culture and ecological sustainability. Apart from his ongoing media creations in support of such social issues, he works with a global community of engineers, artists, activists and scientists in pursuit for a new, more human social arrangement for the world's population.

Born in Winston-Salem, NC and trained as a classical musician, Joseph moved to New York City to attend the New School for Social Research as a percussion major, only to drop out years later. For the next decade, he worked in advertising as an art designer and in Wall St as a private equity trader. The son of two civil services workers, Peter sources his mother's social work as his first awareness of the problems of social inequality and the "structural violence" inherent to poverty.

As the founder of The Zeitgeist Movement, a global non-profit with thousands of members, Joseph has lectured widely and a quick internet search shows endless of hours of radio, TV and podcast interviews. He is also on the board of Project Peace on Earth and works in support of the Occupy Movement.

While his prior work media explored a vast range of social issues via traditional style interviews with experts, his new film InterReflections I, leaves the documentary style behind and instead explores an experimental approach that encompasses fantasy, abstraction and a mixed film genres.

Peter Joseph sat down recently to discuss his past, present and future. Here's what transpired:

How did your mother's social work influence your own work and future activism?

My mother worked in rural North Carolina with the extreme poor, a social condition full of abuse, apathy and desperation. I learned from her that the chain reaction set in motion by poverty was the greatest crime against humanity in existence. We have been groomed to think there is an "equal playing field" and "you get what you work for" in the current economy -- and that is the great American (and now global) myth. Our society is predicated on this pervasive "naturalist fallacy" that some win, some lose and those who make it deserve it. We assume this is the natural order of things on the economic level when it is actually a societal contrivance. The truth is that those who actually make it out of poverty into affluence are the exceptions that prove the rule. The system is designed to keep the poor being poor and to keep the rich being rich and learning about the generations of physical and psychological abuse/suffering that is spawned from the precondition of poverty revealed to me that we live in a system of convert structural oppression. It isn't a conspiracy. It is simply how the society has evolved over generations through tradition.

You had an unusual path after dropping out of the conservatory.

After dropping out of the music conservatory I made my way into the advertising medium. It was one of the few viable job roles I could find that allowed for music composition and some sort of artistic creation. My personal musical performance interests in college were too abstract and even then I didn't want to pollute the art form with the constant search for paid gigs. However, as the years went by working in the NYC advertising scene, the more unbearable it became. There is something wrong in a culture where a company spends more on marketing than on the actual building and design of a product, which is often the case today. It shows that the market game cannot be based on the idea of the "informed/educated citizen" making "rational choices" -- for the goal of marketing is not to inform but to psychologically coerce, manipulating our deeply social human nature. It convinces us to think our status and personal sense of success can only be tied to a good or service and, the sad fact is, the more people who succumb to these artificially created "needs", the more other people tend to succumb and a feedback loop is generated. Hence the term "fashion trend".

Beyond that, I also couldn't stand the dictatorial nature of the corporate hierarchy itself and hoped for some kind of job role that didn't have a boss or a client. At that stage, I really didn't care what the new job was. I just wanted to be free. So, I looked around and noticed private equity trading. So, for six years I traded from my own account learning a great deal not only about the stock market but market economics in general. I spent about 3 years in private mentorship with professional Wall St. traders. In the end, this experience forced a realization about the true nature of the market economy: it doesn't matter what it is that one sells, as long as there is another to buy it and the reasons they buy it are meaningless. It is a parasitic concept, masked, once again, by the idea that everyone is equally as informed about what they are doing and hence no one can be blamed for any given outcome.

It's hard to picture someone like you working on or with Wall Street.

In this, the stock market is perhaps the lowest common denominator of what the market economy is and does, moving trillions of dollars while literally selling nothing tangible. The whole thing is pointless in and of itself. You could eliminate the entire investment/trading exchange network and it would make no difference to the world economy in principle function as the market doesn't create anything -- it just exploits price imbalances. The stock market even let's one gamble on the decline of a company, currency or derivative. It has no loyalty to human progress and the fact a person can make a million dollars off the failure of a country's currency, for example, shows the heart of the sickness. And this game now rules the financial world -- hence the 2007 housing market crash. Anyway, in hindsight, if I did not engage in this world, I would never have learned about economics, which lead to my more core activist focus today, which is a total change in the global economy, away from the market itself.

You really made a splash with the Zeitgeist Film Series. Tell us a bit about that.

Over 250,000 people have seen the Zeitgeist Film Series. It started with a performance piece I did in lower Manhattan in 2007. The production was simply called Zeitgeist at that time. After the free event finished its run, the video portion was tossed online via Google Video (which is no longer around) under the title Zeitgeist: The Movie. I never promoted it or thought anything of it at that point. I didn't know what a "viral" video was. In fact, I didn't even own most of the footage. But then, somehow, it went super-viral with 50 million views in the first year. Shocked and now with a large following, I then made a sequel called Zeitgeist: Addendum in 2009 and then closed the series as a trilogy in 2011 with Zeitgeist: Moving Forward. The films are now distributed in large scale, globally in various mediums, including Netflix.

Peter Joseph in his studio.

Then, in 2011, you started the Zeitgeist Media Festival.

Right. While related to The Zeitgeist Movement, this arts-based event experiment has transcended with a life of its own. The annual event takes place in Hollywood California in the fall of each year. We feature films, live performance, comedy and multimedia, each with an expression in support of a cause or gesture of human well-being/unity. I believe communication needs a balance -- part art -- part science. I think breaking the shackles of dogma and tradition requires more than logic and reason -- it requires aesthetic. To sneak behind people's ego. Notable figures who have been booked at an event include actor Rutger Hauer, writer Tim Kring, author Marianne Williamson, Billy Gibbons ("ZZ Top"), Rick Overton, Lee Camp, Mear One, IN-Q, Sussan Deyhim and many more.

Who are some of your biggest influences when it comes to social theory?

While there are many influences, my oldest influence when it comes to social theory has been Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the Geodesic dome. Fuller has still made the greatest foundational design contributions of any engineer when it comes to philosophy, focusing on what true efficiency means and how the current system doesn't facilitate it by its current methods. This core activist focus builds upon the work of many like Fuller and, in short, it is the promotion of what could be termed a "post-scarcity" economic model. This is not as utopian as it sounds. It is a gesture of focus. Obviously nothing is infinitely abundant -- even the sun will burn out -- but the problem with the current system is it is focused on scarcity, as scarcity is the most profitable condition, if maintained correctly. There is no incentive for abundance in the world economy. If there was one, there would be no need to price or generate service. For example, it was only when water pollution occurred we started bottling water -and now bottled water is a billion dollar a year industry, employing many. This is important because the truth is that through modern technology we can create a degree of abundance that can satisfy the world population's needs many times over. We don't do it because it isn't profitable, making all the charity organization a waste of time and effort. Poverty simply can't be solved in this type of system. Hence, a system focused on abundance (post-scarcity) is needed.

Tell us about the InterReflections Trilogy.

With the first of the series due for release in 2016, the InterReflections Trilogy is a live action, experimental idea I have been working on for about 5 years now. Taking place in three time frames, the first of the trilogy establishes an experimental vocabulary that will define the style of the three-part series as a whole. The films mix together elements of documentary, science fiction, drama, musical, thriller and dark comedy, embraced in a gesture of film noir, InterReflections attempts to show the audience just how twisted modern "normality" really is, defending the films' aesthetically driven social criticism by intellectually putting the audience in the position of future hindsight. The project takes critically important social themes, from human oppression/inequality to environmental destruction, and aesthetically molds a perspective of humanity's folly (and potential) that likely remains outside of the awareness of most people.

It sounds unlike anything we've seen before.

If I was to compare the production style, for those who have a film background reading this, I would say it will unfold like Sin City did, but without the comic book style. This kind of work is nothing new in Hollywood production, but again, such technical rigor is rare for those who don't have millions of dollars. Specifically, the film is being shot in 6k, via Red Epic Dragon/Red system, and the workflow will incorporate Foundry and Adobe program sets. It will be released theatrically, and then VOD. Eventually it will be online for free, like all my media.

Do you feel that film provides a unique avenue for self-expression and communication, unlike any of the other seven arts?

As a filmmaker, I have changed my view regarding what really inspires people and I feel the "abstract arts," -- rather than mere cold academic info, hold a powerful place in changing people's world views. We can tell people technical data all day long and some will absorb it... but the arts have a mysterious way of sneaking behind people's values and planting seeds for new ideas. I try to walk the line between art and intellect, academia and poetry.

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Man Behind 'Oprah,' 'Dr. Phil' Remembered At Star-Studded Memorial Service

June 20, 2015, 7:14 pm

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A who's who of Hollywood, music and politics gathered last night at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles to celebrate the life of Michael King, the much-beloved syndication king behind wildly successful shows like Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Roseanne and Dr. Phil. King passed away suddenly March 27 at age 67 from complications of pneumonia.

Former President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Norman Lear, Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg and Sugar Ray Leonard, among others, remembered King as an "intellectual" but "street-smart" businessman, a generous philanthropist and exceptionally kind and devoted friend, brother, husband, father and uncle. Kenny G, Michael Bolton and David Foster performed at the invitation-only event, held by King's wife, Jena and children Ali, Audrey, Teddy and Jesse.

As Clinton remarked later in the program, referencing a poem by William Wordsworth, King's "last best hope of his great good life were the unforgettable acts of kindness, love and laughter. We are all here because we basked in his embrace."

White floral arrangements and candles in tall glass votives set a peaceful scene as bagpipes welcomed 400-plus guests, including Bobby Kennedy Jr., Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin, Don Henley and Joe Walsh from The Eagles, Netflix's Ted Sarandos, producer Lawrence Bender and acrots Tommy Chong, Paul Reiser and Lorraine Bracco.

A bagpipe rendition of "Amazing Grace" marked the start of the service, after which Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson from St. Monica's Church in Santa Monica, California led those gathered in prayer.

King's children then came on stage, the oldest three giving emotional, at times tearful, speeches about their love for their dad -- and his love for them. Eldest daughter and singer Ali said King was "the funniest person I know." Son Teddy, a student at the University of Southern California, called his father his "best friend." Teenage daughter Audrey welcomed guests and spoke on behalf of her mother, who was seated in the audience, then read two searing poems she wrote herself, leaving many attendees in tears.

In one, titled "Poem For My Mom," she wrote:

A love so intangible, is that much
More alluring-
That much more passionate.
When you feel the cold wind
Just know it is him kissing your neck,
Teasing your senses,
Reminding you
He loves you.

Teddy introduced the former president with an anecdote of a trip he took with his dad and Clinton to South Africa, where the trio had gone to do charity work and visit Nelson Mandela. A known jokester, King impersonated Clinton, who had fallen asleep in the jeep. The account elicited laughs from the audience.

"Teddy, thanks for that wonderful story, I would far rather be impersonated by your father than anyone I can think of," Clinton began, to laughter. "I will say this: We have this vast King clan here, and we had the bagpipers playing, and I thought, 'It is so Michael King, ending with a flourish, an invasion of the Skirball Center by the Irish Catholics.'"

Clinton continued on a serious note, referencing the Charleston shooting on June 18.

"Everywhere in the world is bedeviled by people who are the opposite of Michael King. People who think all that matters is our differences," Clinton said. "We have more refugees than any time since World War II. It was a terrible, terrible thing that happened in South Carolina yesterday. Michael King is the polar opposite of all that."

Robert, King's brother and partner in King World Productions, followed the former president's remarks, saying his younger brother "would not want us to mourn his death; he'd want us to celebrate." Older brother Richie offered a few, heartbroken words about the loss of a national treasure, his business partner and his best friend of 67 years. "That's all I can say," he said, choking back tears.

Kenny G performed, dedicating his song, "Innocence," to the family. And tributes, tears and laughter continued.

Collaborator and producer Jeff Wald joked, "I was worried about going on after President Clinton -- then I realized I couldn't do worse than George Bush."

Producer Norman Lear panned, "There are people all over this town who would die to put a crowd like this together." Confessing that he had thought King was Jewish throughout their 30-year friendship until just before the memorial service, Lear said, "Jewish. Irish. It doesn't matter. Michael was the definition of the word 'mensch.'"

The speeches were interspersed by video tributes from those unable to attend, including Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg and Sugar Ray Leonard. In hers, Oprah Winfrey offered her condolences and shared photos and memories of King. "Here was a man who really knew how to live. He didn't just live big -- he lived huge," she said.

Major philanthropists to many causes, King and his wife donated to friend, lawyer and speaker Robert Shapiro's foundation to combat drug addiction, and to Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen's Oceana foundation, the largest ocean-conservation charity in the world.

"I really felt Michael got to experience the joy of what it means to be human," Danson said. "He got to love and be loved."

The event concluded with musical performances by Michael Bolton and producer David Foster, who sent the crowd off on a buoyant note: "Let's do this right. Everybody get up, scream, shout, and stomp your feet so wherever he is, he can hear us right now."

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You Want Attention? Talk About Me, Not You

June 20, 2015, 2:05 pm

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I don't mean to literally talk about me, Tucker Max, that would be a terrible way to get attention.

I am talking about "me" in the plural sense, as the customer or reader or client. Lemme explain. Every single day of my life, someone asks me this question:

"How do I get people to pay attention to my writing? What's your trick?"

So I'll ask them who their writing is for, and this is what they say:

"Me, me, me, me, me, me! MEEEE!! EVERYONE LOOK AT ME!!"

OK, I'm exaggerating. They usually don't scream, but the answer is always about themselves, never about their audience. They tell me what their book or blog post or writing means to them. Most people write only with themselves in mind, and not with an audience in mind.

And that's precisely the reason why no ones care about their writing.

It's really funny that Tucker Max is telling you this, isn't it? To not focus on yourself? Because you're probably thinking, "Didn't you sell millions of books that were just talking about yourself?"

Actually, no.

My books are the perfect example of the right way to do this. Even if you're a huge fan and read all my books cover to cover, you still don't know very much about me at all. My books are funny stories about stupid things I did, and they are designed to entertain the reader. There is almost nothing in there that is actually about me, or written for me. It's all written for the reader -- which is why it sells so well, and that is key lesson here. If you're trying to get attention for your writing -- or actually, ANY product or idea at all -- please listen to this fact:

No one cares about your writing. They only care about what your writing does for them.

This is the best advice you can get for trying to get anyone to do anything -- read your writing, buy your product, go to your bar, anything. My area of expertise is writing and books and publishing, but this applies to everything. See, watch it work:

No one cares about your product, they only care about what your product does for them.

And of course, services:

No one cares about your service, they only care about what your service does for them.

Watch it work in all sales:

No one cares about what you're selling, they only care about what it does for them.

It even works in broad categories, like ideas:

No one cares about your idea, they only care about what your idea means to them.

I bet you understand already. We're all sophisticated buyers of products and services, and this is how we buy things for ourselves  - - by calculating if the product or service will provide a value to us.

Yet, when the roles are reversed and people start trying to get attention for their product or service, they lose their damn minds, and somehow think that everyone has to pay attention to them just because they want them to. It's like as a society we have decided to be perfectly rational buyers, and totally irrational sellers.

But at least with a product or a service, people ultimately understand that they're making something for someone else. So unless they are blinded by the self-proclaimed brilliance of their idea/product, they eventually get that it has to appeal to the buyer. With books or blog posts or writing, people really lose their minds, because people think of a their writing in a totally different way.

Most people see their writing as a piece of themselves, as a representation of their identity, or some sort of personal validation. They think that getting attention for their writing will confirm and validate their idea, and thus themselves. I have seen this over and over and over.

I would say less than 10 percent of the writing I see is actually about delivering value to an audience; the rest is ultimately about the writer, not the audience. You're probably making this mistake too, without even realizing it.

This is literally what we deal with everyday in our publishing company. When we started our company, we thought the most important service we provided to authors was saving them time (our process only takes authors about 12 hours). That time saving is great, but the real value we provide to authors comes from helping them see exactly what wisdom they have that's interesting to other people  --  which is the only way to get attention for your book.

We charge a decent sized fee for our services, but I'll explain to you exactly what we do to get authors to understand this, because if you write anything for anyone  --  a book, blog, newsletter  --  this is process will make your writing better.

There's three basic steps that will ensure you get attention for your book or blog post (and yes, this works almost the exact same way for anything):

-What is your goal for this book/blog post/piece of writing (or product or service or idea)?

-What audience do you need to reach in order to accomplish that goal?

-What wisdom, information or value can you deliver to that audience that will help them reach their goals?

Do you see what that process does? It centers the entire discussion on the audience, not on yourself. Why does this matter? Because no one cares about your writing, they care about what your writing does for them.

I'll give you a specific example of how we took an author through this process, how it turned his book from a dud into something that got a ton of attention, and it will show you how to do this with your writing (or product):

This entrepreneur wanted to write a book about how he built a large commercial plumbing contracting business, in order to drive clients to his business and raise his profile in the plumbing industry. He was very proud of his company and wanted more people to know about it (and I think he secretly had visions of this book elevating him alongside famous business people like Jack Welch and Sheryl Sandberg). There was a small problem:

No one on earth wants to read a self-congratulatory book about plumbing (I won't make the obvious poop joke here).

We walked him through our exercise, and he realized that the audience he needed to hit in order to reach his goal (people who buy commercial plumbing services or care about the plumbing industry) were never going to read his book  --  unless he said something of interest to them.

So we asked him a bunch of questions about plumbing, the problems in the business, his experiences, and realized something: He had an incredible way of evaluating and speccing out commercial jobs that was genuinely revolutionary (at least as far as you can revolutionize plumbing). And guess what? That information would be incredibly valuable to the exact audience he needed to hit: people who buy commercial plumbing services.

So that's what his book became  --  the definitive guide on how to evaluate and spec out commercial plumbing jobs. Which will NOT put him next to the titans of business, but it WILL get him in front of exactly the people he wants, in exactly the way he wants it.

And it's happening only because he used his wisdom to help his audience reach their goals.

See how this works? This is the key to getting attention for any writing  --  books, blog posts, even tweets  --  first make your writing about the other person, help them reach their goals, and that will inspire them to both engage your writing and then share it with others. That's the only writing that anyone cares about reading  --  the writing that helps them.

You decide what to read based on the same calculus, right  --  what is potentially useful to you? So why do you think anyone will read your writing based on what it means to you? They won't. Write with your audience in mind, and then getting attention is easy. And if you do that, then they will engage your writing (or product or idea), and that is how you reach your goal.

As my friend Justine Musk says, "The question isn't how the world can cater to your passions, but how your passions can cater to the world."

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What Disney Pixar's 'Inside Out' Film Teaches Us About Embracing All Sides Of Our Emotions

June 20, 2015, 6:38 pm

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Disney Pixar's new "emotion" picture, Inside Out is not only another endearing creative masterpiece, it also teaches us some important lessons on the nature of our emotions.

It turns out that our unique tapestry of emotional responses -- whether
joy, anger, curiosity, disgust, surprise, sadness, fear, shame or guilt -- all serve a distinctive purpose. Even though we might like to eliminate unfavorable emotions, they serve an important role.

The American Psychological Association defines emotion as a "complex feeling state", impacting nearly all facets of our lives. Our responses are influenced by what we perceive to be "personally significant". We experience emotions in a wide variety of ways, according to what stage of life we are in, our unique temperament, and how we view ourselves- and the situations we find ourselves in.



Inside Out, while appealing largely to a younger audience, offers sound wisdom we can apply to make sense of our emotions-both at work and at home:

1. Feelings add color to our lives. Life would be boring if our emotions were flat lined. We'd lack passion and zest. The wide range of emotions we are capable of experiencing contribute to our human experience and essence -- our personality, mood, behavior and motivation. Yes, emotions can be raw, messy and visceral -- but they can also be profound, beautiful, and comforting. They all add dimension and flavor.

2. We don't always have to think positive. It's unrealistic to think that we are always going to put an instant positive spin on things. Very often, we may need to buy time to regroup and work through complex emotions. Our tendency to want a quick fix can help us look for solutions, but it can also be a trap that makes us fight ourselves when we think we "should" have already gotten past something and instead find ourselves needing time to regroup and put the pieces together.

3. Emotional contrasts are important. When we've experienced difficult emotions, it can help us appreciate the good moments all the more. If we never had to endure rainy days and seasons, we'd have less appreciation for sunny ones once they arrive. In a similar way, it's what makes us enjoy a break after a long and intensive work period.

4. Emotional states aren't permanent. Even though we might think we're forever stuck -- feeling states, like weather patterns, are temporary. The winds of change are inevitable. Knowing this can help us learn to appreciate and anchor down the positive moments and ride out the ones that clobber us and bring us to our knees.



5. Difficult emotions can protect us. If given the choice to completely squash feelings like sadness, rage and disgust, our first tendency might be to instantly jump at the chance. This could be detrimental, since our emotions provide us with all sorts of important information. Our fears or apprehensions often serve us well and prevent us from living with reckless abandon.

6. Emotions reflect our deeper values and desires. Feelings reflect what we care about. In the film, Riley, the main character, grappled with difficult emotions associated with her family moving across the country. Her happy memories of childhood were hard to let go of, bringing about great sorrow and frustration. When we're immersed in sadness or anger during life's changes, it reflects our desire for closeness, connection, and contentment.

7. All emotions can be catalysts towards growth. When we meet a goal or experience success, the energy propels us to keep striving. When we make a mistake, or have setbacks, even though it can be a tough pill to swallow, the emotions generated can prompt us to take action towards improvement.

Inside Out provides a poignant reminder that when our emotional responses are strong in one area-whether joy or sorrow, we can't magically switch gears. We also learn that these emotions are intricately connected, and you can't have one without the other.

We are inevitably going to have powerful responses to our life circumstances. It takes time and effort to sort out our complex emotions and come to terms with change, loss and stressors. We can't force ourselves to feel a certain way at a given moment, but knowing this can help us remember to make the joyful moments count and recognize that the more unsettling ones can also be useful.

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