Bruner Blog

Agi, involved with the exhibit, suggests a pre-Kinja party event for this photo exhibit’s opening reception.

I just want to know, the curator’s name is really Mofokeng?

It’s taken American Express and Superman to get Seinfeld out of retirement, but it’s worth it.

Bonus trivia: voice of Superman is Patrick Warburton, aka Puddy.

More details of this on MarketingVox.

Well, the day has finally come (presuming the sun rises again tomorrow): Air America, the left-wing radio station featuring Al Franken’s three-hour talk show, “The O’Franken Factor,” launches tomorrow, March 31. It will be a momentus moment when I move my radio off of WNYC to a new station, but I can hardly wait: WLIB 1190 AM (in the NY area), here I come.

Since I suspect the site will shoot to the top of Daypop tomorrow, I want to get my link in early. Sadly, I see that they’ve already made a mess out of their web site(s). First mistake, they named the company something that they don’t have the domain for. Second, they can’t even make up their mind what domain to go with at this point, so they appear to have two web sites right now: CentralAirMedia.com and AirAmericaRadio.com. And both sites look like they were designed by a high school student was a few weeks of HTML training.

Whatever. I’m ready to love the station no matter what, at this point (having not yet heard whether it’s any good). Aside from the excitement surrounding Franken’s show, I’m eager to check out the morning show hosted by another hero of my youth, Chuck D of Public Enemy fame. Promises to be weird, at least.

Saw last night on Letterman a hilarious video of Bush speaking at some event, and on stage next to him is a dumpy teenage kid, probably 13 or so, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and baseball cap, bored out of his mind and making no effort to conceal it. It’s a series of clips stitched together of the kid yawning repeatedly, looking at his watch, cracking his neck and back and finally falling asleep standing up.

Knowing Letterman’s style, he’ll probably use it repeatedly for the next week or so, so keep an eye out for it. It’s ridonkulous. I hope it haunts the kid to his grave. I mean, sure, Bush doesn’t exactly inspire reverence, but don’t kids today honestly have enough respect for their elders and sense of place to know that such behavior is inappropriate when you’re on stage with the mother-fucking President of the United States?? Apparently not.

If anyone happened to record Letterman and can turn this clip digital, or if you find it elsewhere on the web, please let me know. I could watch it for hours. It’s priceless.

Meanwhile, it got me thinking that now that the political campaigns have discovered the Internet, the DNC should really be releasing clips like those Letterman routinely puts together in recent months, apparently just mining CSPAN for Bush making an ass out of himself and then splicing together highlights reels. E.g., the spit-take of Bush hawking up a goober on the White House lawn. I think those would get the Dems some political mileage if released digitally for the likes of Fark.

Maybe in 2008.

UPDATE, 3/31/04:

Bizarre. Tonight, Dave reports that CNN got a hold of the tape and aired it. Then, apparently, immediately after its airing, the CNN anchor said that the White House had called in to say that the boy was edited into the clip. Letterman called this “an out and out, absolute, 100% lie.” CNN apparently then later corrected themselves saying that the White House clarified that the kid was at the event but just wasn’t standing in that position of proximity to the president. (Letterman showed the clips of the CNN anchors making these statements.) Again, Letterman called this “an out and out, absolute, 100% lie.” He went on to add that we should remember this when we’re in the voting booth in November, that the White House tried to make “me look like a dope.”

Then, later in the Late Show, Letterman gets handed a slip of paper saying that CNN has called the Late Show to say that it was their staff’s mistake, that the White House never made any statements. Letterman appeared pissed, having moments earlier accused the White House of lying. He expresses this annoyance to his producer, who he suggests should have fact-checked this important information earlier.

I wonder, is CNN covering up for the White House or are they just more incompetent than we thought? Moreover, I still really want to a copy of that tape again. Sadly, he hasn’t shown it again yet tonight.

Do any other Bruner Blog readers watch Letterman, or do you all just depend on me to summarize it for you? Can I get a witness? The clip was screamingly hilarious, yes?

FURTHER UPDATE, 4/1/04:

Staying on top of this issue, here’s the Late Show’s Wahoo Gazette commenting on the original incident and the ensuing CNN controversy. Wonkette also has an update on this (with more photos) called DaveGate.
EVEN FURTHER UPDATE, 4/1/04:

Leave it to Wonkette to find this, but the back-story is now on the Orlando Sentinal (registration required), as Bored Boy is son of Florida’s Orange County Chairman Rich Crotty, a big-time Bush donor, who notes:

“It was a funny bit.”

And when Tyler finally saw the tape, Crotty said, “he laughed so hard he almost cried.”

Utterly pretentious Euro crap. I bother to write about this only because I hear that Dogville has come to U.S. theaters this week.

Granted, I watched only the first 20 minutes of this (three months ago in Budapest), switching screening rooms instead to Ken Park, which I thoroughly enjoyed, so I can’t give a proper review of this steaming pile of shit, as I didn’t see it through to the end.

But here’s what I can tell you. It’s from director Lars von Trier, “innovator” of the Dogme 95, a cinematic movement (ugh) with it’s own set of rules, such as “Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in,” “The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa,” “The camera must be hand-held” and so on. The result: pretentious crap.

Seemingly realizing this, von Trier takes Dogville (the name a coincidence with Dogme? doubtful) in the opposite direction: it’s all set on a small theatrical stage. All the action (that I stayed for, anyway) takes place on the small “Main Street” of Dogville, where all the houses are outlined in white lines on the floor of a wood stage. There are, in fact, no houses, and furniture is sparse. Everything in pantomimed. Someone knocks on a door, we hear “knock, knock, knock,” but they’re rapping their fist against empty air. No walls, no background, everything is left to the imagination.

Sounds innovative? Sure, I rented Waiting for Godot, with Burgess Meredith and Zero Mostel, a year or so ago, and thought it was brilliant. Minimalism I can do. But pretentious garbage I can do without. (I mean, Nicole Kidman? Come on.)

I am looking to hire a blogger willing to sell his/her soul for a commercial blog. I need an average of one post per day for $100 per month. Email me if interested.

This from my brother via email. No idea about the source or the accuracy, but it sounds about right and makes me nostalgic for the ’70s. Can’t you just hear Paul Lynde’s voice?

From The Original Hollywood Squares T.V. Show. These are from the days
when game show responses were spontaneous and not scripted like they are now.

Q: If you’re going to make a parachute jump, you should be at least how high?
A: Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.

Q: True or false…a pea can last as long as 5,000 years.
A: George Gobel: Boy it sure seems that way sometimes…

Q: You’ve been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a
woman?
A: Don Knotts: That’s what’s been keeping me awake.

Q: According to Cosmo, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think
he’s really attractive, is it okay to come out directly and ask him if
he’s married?
A: Rose Marie: No, wait until morning.

Q: Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older?
A: Charley Weaver: My sense of decency.

Q: In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words to say “I love you”?
A: Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a pineapple and a twenty.

Q: What are “Do It”, “I Can Help” and “Can’t Get Enough”?
A: George Gobel: I don’t know but it’s coming from the next apartment.

Q: As you grow older, do you tend to gesture more or less with your hands
while you are talking?
A: Rose Marie: You ask me one more growing older question, Peter…and I’ll give you a gesture you’ll never forget!

Q: It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps.
One is politics. What is the other?
A: Paul Lynde: Tape measures.

Q: If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
A: Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark.

Q: According to Ann Landers, is their anything wrong with getting into
the habit of kissing a lot of people?
A: Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army!

Q: Is it possible for the puppies in a litter to have more than one daddy?
A: Paul Lynde: Why, that bitch!

Q: It is the most abused and neglected part of your body - what is it?
A: Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused but it certainly isn’t neglected!

Q: Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head,
what was he trying to do?
A: George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.

Q: Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your
elephant?
A: Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?

Q: When a couple have a baby, who is responsible for it’s sex?
A: Charley Weaver: I’ll lend him the car. The rest is up to him.

Q: James Stewart did it over twenty years ago when he was forty-one years
old. Now he says it was “one of the best things I ever did.” What was it?
A: Marty Allen: Rhonda Fleming.

Q: Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and
has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
A: Charley Weaver: His feet.

Q: Imagine you are a child in your mother’s womb, can you detect light?
A: Paul Lynde: Only during ballet practice.

http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/

As usual, the Jews were right.

Okay, it’s put up or shut up time. My friends John and Laura just sent an email saying they are participating in the Kerry campaign, and they have set a goal to help raise $2,000 in the next 60 days. I did my part. Do yours and donate to the campaign.

(I’m just sorry to see that PayPal isn’t an option. So much for politicians figuring out the Internet this season.)

I feel blessed that I am friends with so many successful people. Since I’ve been keeping this blog, it seems like every few weeks I have the occasion to feature another friend who is doing something prominent in the news (thankfully, not in the criminal pages, either).

This week its David Bornstein, an author friend who recently published the modestly titled book How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas.

He was the guest this afternoon on WNYC’s Leonard Lopate Show. You can hear the interview here.

I really hate to get into politics on this blog, but sometimes I just can’t help myself. So, Howard Dean has endorsed Kerry. What a surprise. (Would you like a slice of humble pie with that crow, Mr. Dean?) This comment, as reported in the Post, makes me laugh:

“The real issue is this: Who would you rather have in charge of the defense of the United States of America, a group of people who never served a day overseas in their life, or a guy who served his country honorably and has three Purple Hearts and a Silver Star on the battlefields of Vietnam?”

The radio clip I heard of this was followed by cheers from Deaniacs. Think about this for a minute. As we all know, Dean himself copped out on service in Vietnam, citing a back injury that didn’t prevent him from a season of skiing immediately after his Army fitness exam that granted him deferment. Likewise, I’d hazard a guess that most Baby Boom Dean Supporters similarly were against the Vietnam war and did their best to dodge service.

Granted, I’m a coward and probably would have done all I could to avoid service in Vietnam more to save my ass than out of some principled objection to foreign policy issues, but it’s now Dean who is bringing those principles into the argument. He’s saying he’d rather have a Vietnam war hero in the White House than a draft dodger, like himself and his supporters. Yet they cheer. Go figure.

Ya know, I really do like the French. I have traveled there several times and always thought the typical American prejudices against French snobbery or whatever were misguided. I found them a thoroughly charming people with a great appreciation of the things that really matter in life: friends, love, sex, food, wine, art, etc.

As many readers know, on the eve of war with Iraq, I found myself in reluctant support of it, despite being a life-long “liberal,” for lack of a better word. France’s position blocking a U.N. vote on the war aggrieved me, but I thought the blatant France-bashing that went on afterwards was a bit foolish and not really helpful.

Still, there is something to be said for slack-jawed disgust at some of France’s political decisions. The latest example, their reaction to a current terror threat, from a seemingly homegrown terror group called AZF that has been placing crude bombs along train tracks in recent months. The group has made some references to objecting to France’s new policy banning Muslim head scarves and other religious symbols in schools (something else that I think is stupid), but the motives of the group are hazy at best, and, when it comes down to it, they’re simply asking for a payoff of a few million dollars. So what is France’s reaction? I heard this fleetingly this morning on the radio and had to track it down on the web before I could believe it, but the New Zealand Herald reports the same incredible detail:

The French Government has communicated with the blackmailers by telephone, and through coded newspaper small ads. It has also made two unsuccessful attempts to pay the ransom.

They’re trying to pay the ransom! Isn’t that rule number-one with terrorists? You don’t give into their demands or you end up encouraging them? Oh wait, that’s what they wanted to do with Saddam, too: appease. Reminds me of this ditty (scroll down).

Just heard Blondie on Letterman. Debbie Harry barely resembles herself of old (or, rather, young). She is now just some ordinary looking middle-aged woman (lost weight since the last time I saw her a few years ago). And the song sounded like some forgotten also-ran tune from one of their mid-career albums. Do they even have a new album out? (Oh, I see on their site, it’s a new single (”the dancefloor stomper ‘Good Boys’,” yeah, right), in advance of their upcoming album, “The Curse Of Blondie.”)

All I can say is, why bother? What happened to her jazz career? That seemed more likely to be interesting and a chance to age with grace. The Rolling Stones they’re not.