The last week in September is the usual time to celebrate banned books. Yes, celebrate them. I do not support banning books. Any books. Having said that I suddenly realize the problem I always have with absolute statements. A book lauding raoe or children's pornography may need to be suppressed. But such books are rare and the books most commonly banned have nothing like that involved. That isn't to deny that some books are problematic or may not be appropriate for readers of certain ages. But in a free society banning books is just a bad move.
So my celebration will be to note those books commonly banned which I have read. I am proud to present the list below:
Catcher in the Rye
Harry Potter series
The Grapes of Wrath
To Kill A Mockingbird (one of my all time favorite books)
The Lord of the Flies
1984
Of Mice and Men
Catch-22
Brave New World
Animal Farm
Slaughterhouse Five
Call of the Wild
Lord of the Rings trilogy
In Cold Blood
Cat's Cradle
A Separate Peace
Rabbit Run (actually disliked this book quite a bit)
His Dark Materials trilogy
Fahrenheit 451
A Prayer for Owen Meany
A Wrinkle in Time (loved these books)
It strikes me that this list is way too short. In the next year I will try to read several more commonly banned books.
Peace
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
View From the Phlipside - TV and Your Clothes
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the Movies and more. I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View From the Phlipside.
The folks over at Pew Research are always coming up with all kinds of fascinating data to consider. At the same time whenever I’m about to read the latest poll numbers or research results I remind myself of Mark Twain’s wise dictum that there are “Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics”. You always want to approach the numbers with a certain reserve or even a certain disbelief.
For example our buddies at Pew Research recently asked folks about the various technologies in their lives. What’s the most important technology you have to deal with every day? What’s the one you could least afford to lose for your daily routine and comfort?
Once upon a time that might have been the television. It’s easy to forget what a big deal TV was in the ‘50s when having the first set on your block was some major social juice. Or in the ‘60s and ‘70s when TV was a major social force. These days are hard for the old boob tube. The latest research shows it taking a big hit since the last survey. TV’s had dropped 10 percentage points in the last year. Only 42 % of people consider it necessary. That drops it into 8th place on the list.
What tops the list is no big surprise. This is the United States of America and we can’t live without our...cars. It’s some of the rest of the stuff that interests me. Sure we want our microwaves, our clothes dryers and our air conditioning. They all made the top 7 ahead of the TV. But so did the landline phone. Which finished in SECOND place a full 12 percentage points ahead of the cell phone.
The home computer finished in fifth place but a mere 7 percentage points ahead of the venerable TV. So perhaps all is not lost just yet. But then the other big surprise jumped out at me. What DIDN’T finish ahead of the TV? (OK, you may have noticed that while a clothes dryer finished up high I haven’t mentioned a clothes washer. For some reason that didn’t make the top list of 13 at all. Dishwasher yes, clothes washer no. Draw your own conclusions) Both the internet and cable slash satellite TV were considered more expendable than the television. As the King once said, it is a puzzlement.
Of course once we all get our internet hooked up to the TV directly everything may change again. In the meantime let’s see about making that clothes washer a little more important in our lives.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
The folks over at Pew Research are always coming up with all kinds of fascinating data to consider. At the same time whenever I’m about to read the latest poll numbers or research results I remind myself of Mark Twain’s wise dictum that there are “Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics”. You always want to approach the numbers with a certain reserve or even a certain disbelief.
For example our buddies at Pew Research recently asked folks about the various technologies in their lives. What’s the most important technology you have to deal with every day? What’s the one you could least afford to lose for your daily routine and comfort?
Once upon a time that might have been the television. It’s easy to forget what a big deal TV was in the ‘50s when having the first set on your block was some major social juice. Or in the ‘60s and ‘70s when TV was a major social force. These days are hard for the old boob tube. The latest research shows it taking a big hit since the last survey. TV’s had dropped 10 percentage points in the last year. Only 42 % of people consider it necessary. That drops it into 8th place on the list.
What tops the list is no big surprise. This is the United States of America and we can’t live without our...cars. It’s some of the rest of the stuff that interests me. Sure we want our microwaves, our clothes dryers and our air conditioning. They all made the top 7 ahead of the TV. But so did the landline phone. Which finished in SECOND place a full 12 percentage points ahead of the cell phone.
The home computer finished in fifth place but a mere 7 percentage points ahead of the venerable TV. So perhaps all is not lost just yet. But then the other big surprise jumped out at me. What DIDN’T finish ahead of the TV? (OK, you may have noticed that while a clothes dryer finished up high I haven’t mentioned a clothes washer. For some reason that didn’t make the top list of 13 at all. Dishwasher yes, clothes washer no. Draw your own conclusions) Both the internet and cable slash satellite TV were considered more expendable than the television. As the King once said, it is a puzzlement.
Of course once we all get our internet hooked up to the TV directly everything may change again. In the meantime let’s see about making that clothes washer a little more important in our lives.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
View From the Phlipside - Facebook's Bad Week
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the Movies and more. I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View From the Phlipside.
Last week was an interesting week for the folks at Facebook. It’s not often even the leader in social media gets quite this much attention. And I’m quite certain they’re not accustomed to getting this much NEGATIVE attention.
First off we have the debut of the long awaited Facebook move “The Social Network” at the New York Film festival. The early reviews are very positive, unless you’re Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg isn’t shown in a flattering light in the movie. To counteract that vision of him he just happened to choose last week to make a 100 million dollar donation to the Newark, New Jersey school district. The company maintains the timing was coincidental. Let me assure you that I don’t believe in coincidence quite that large.
But things kept going badly for Facebook. Last week marked the biggest service glitch in four years for the social media site. Those of us who spend a fair amount of time there (I was in fact challenged just this past week by a friend who asked how I managed to post “so often”) were extremely annoyed to go several hours without access twice last week. Reactions ranged from annoyance to some borderline “It’s the end of the world” type stuff. The fact that it happened on an otherwise slow news day did nothing to help.
Which brings me to the last little bit of piling on. Last week Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten announced that Facebook was “useless” and, this is my favorite part, it is “an ocean of banalities shared among persons with lives so empty they echo.” That’s you and me he’s talking about there Sparky.
Some folks are comparing Facebook to the Model T Ford on the innovation scale. Some people become apoplectic at the very thought. I don’t know why Mark Zuckerberg and who ever else invented Facebook. Maybe it was to make the world a better place or maybe it was to meet girls. I understand both rationales. The invention sometimes outstrips the inventor. Henry Ford moved the world into a new direction. One that he soon discovered he couldn’t control. Facebook is taking us into a new place, to a new way of sharing and connecting. Maybe it’s a way for us to deal with lives that echo a bit too much. Or help us to understand the emptiness. Either way it will have provided us with a service. And that’s not a bad thing.
So here’s hoping next week is a little nicer for the current king of social media.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
Last week was an interesting week for the folks at Facebook. It’s not often even the leader in social media gets quite this much attention. And I’m quite certain they’re not accustomed to getting this much NEGATIVE attention.
First off we have the debut of the long awaited Facebook move “The Social Network” at the New York Film festival. The early reviews are very positive, unless you’re Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg isn’t shown in a flattering light in the movie. To counteract that vision of him he just happened to choose last week to make a 100 million dollar donation to the Newark, New Jersey school district. The company maintains the timing was coincidental. Let me assure you that I don’t believe in coincidence quite that large.
But things kept going badly for Facebook. Last week marked the biggest service glitch in four years for the social media site. Those of us who spend a fair amount of time there (I was in fact challenged just this past week by a friend who asked how I managed to post “so often”) were extremely annoyed to go several hours without access twice last week. Reactions ranged from annoyance to some borderline “It’s the end of the world” type stuff. The fact that it happened on an otherwise slow news day did nothing to help.
Which brings me to the last little bit of piling on. Last week Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten announced that Facebook was “useless” and, this is my favorite part, it is “an ocean of banalities shared among persons with lives so empty they echo.” That’s you and me he’s talking about there Sparky.
Some folks are comparing Facebook to the Model T Ford on the innovation scale. Some people become apoplectic at the very thought. I don’t know why Mark Zuckerberg and who ever else invented Facebook. Maybe it was to make the world a better place or maybe it was to meet girls. I understand both rationales. The invention sometimes outstrips the inventor. Henry Ford moved the world into a new direction. One that he soon discovered he couldn’t control. Facebook is taking us into a new place, to a new way of sharing and connecting. Maybe it’s a way for us to deal with lives that echo a bit too much. Or help us to understand the emptiness. Either way it will have provided us with a service. And that’s not a bad thing.
So here’s hoping next week is a little nicer for the current king of social media.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
What I did On my Summer Vacation - Travel
Last but not least. We did get a bit of travel in this summer. We knew going in that there wasn't going to be a "big trip" this year but we had some fun with some little ones.
Found out that an old college friend was playing over in North East so we went to check his band out. Rachel got the chance to play with the Celtic Hooligans. That's her with our friend Murph!
We are very lucky to have a wonderful local micro-brewery. There was a fund raising event for the local Arts Council radio station with music, brews and barbecue. Also a chance to talk with a variety of great people.
I love baseball and three of the Pittsburgh Pirates farm clubs play teams in our area. So we caught the Indianapolis squad in Buffalo (left), plus the Altoona Curve in Erie and the State College Spikes in Jamestown. Three very nice stadiums and a good time at all three games.
Buffalo has a thriving and excellent theater community. After all these years I FINALLY got up to see Shakespeare in the Park. An all female cast of "MacBeth" that was actually quite excellent. Rachel had a friend in the show and we saw several folks we know there! Definitely make that a more regular part of our summers.
We also took a couple days and went up to Niagara on the Lake in Ontario. Didn't get a chance to check out the Shaw Festival (also a future plan) but wandered around did some shopping, checked out the local wineries and just relaxed. It was a wonderful couple days.
Had some fun with several fireworks displays - Fourth of July, at a ball park and Labor Day!
Great Celtic Festival right here in Mayville!
Had a trip to beautiful downtown Newark NJ!
Found out that an old college friend was playing over in North East so we went to check his band out. Rachel got the chance to play with the Celtic Hooligans. That's her with our friend Murph!
We are very lucky to have a wonderful local micro-brewery. There was a fund raising event for the local Arts Council radio station with music, brews and barbecue. Also a chance to talk with a variety of great people.
I love baseball and three of the Pittsburgh Pirates farm clubs play teams in our area. So we caught the Indianapolis squad in Buffalo (left), plus the Altoona Curve in Erie and the State College Spikes in Jamestown. Three very nice stadiums and a good time at all three games.
Buffalo has a thriving and excellent theater community. After all these years I FINALLY got up to see Shakespeare in the Park. An all female cast of "MacBeth" that was actually quite excellent. Rachel had a friend in the show and we saw several folks we know there! Definitely make that a more regular part of our summers.
We also took a couple days and went up to Niagara on the Lake in Ontario. Didn't get a chance to check out the Shaw Festival (also a future plan) but wandered around did some shopping, checked out the local wineries and just relaxed. It was a wonderful couple days.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
View From the Phlipside - Jimmy Page
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the Movies and more. I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View From the Phlipside.
Time for me to show my age. While I was still pretty young during their heyday Led Zeppelin spent a lot of my life at the pinnacle of the rock god category. Leading the way to that pinnacle was the screaming, throbbing, pulsing guitar work of Jimmy Page. There had never been anything like them before and there’s been mostly wannabes ever since. You may or may not like Led Zeppelin but there is no arguing their place in the history of rock and roll. Particularly of the heavy variety. These were the poster children for the life of sex and drugs and rock and roll.
So for fans of a certain generation the announcement that Jimmy Page was publishing an autobiography is pretty exciting news. 1985’s NY Times bestseller “Hammer of the Gods” was a fairly amazing look at the group and I recommend it to all fans of Led Zeppelin and students of rock history. But this, this would the inside story. All the great stories finally shared. The back stage debauchery, the chemically enhanced perceptions, and the music.
Well one out of three ain’t bad. Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page may be the strangest autobiography ever made. It’s 500 pages of photographs. And not the backstage stories finally revealed sort of photos. No this is 500 pages of photos dedicated to the music. Page feels that this is the best way to document his life and work. He says any more traditional kind of autobiography will probably have to wait till he’s dead. Given that he’s only 66 that might actually be a while.
But the part that really slays me in all of this isn’t the subject matter or lack thereof. No, it’s mostly the price. For your very own copy of Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page you’d better be ready to shell out $685. That’s right more than a dollar a page. Now it must be said that this is no ordinary book. In addition to what I hear are some truly gorgeous photos you get Morrocan leather binding and an authentic autograph of the rock guitar god himself. You will also own one of only 2,500 copies of the book ever to be printed.
I just stared at that price when I read about it. And I didn’t know whether to laugh or get mad. Let’s face it, at that price, you’re getting hammered by the gods.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
Time for me to show my age. While I was still pretty young during their heyday Led Zeppelin spent a lot of my life at the pinnacle of the rock god category. Leading the way to that pinnacle was the screaming, throbbing, pulsing guitar work of Jimmy Page. There had never been anything like them before and there’s been mostly wannabes ever since. You may or may not like Led Zeppelin but there is no arguing their place in the history of rock and roll. Particularly of the heavy variety. These were the poster children for the life of sex and drugs and rock and roll.
So for fans of a certain generation the announcement that Jimmy Page was publishing an autobiography is pretty exciting news. 1985’s NY Times bestseller “Hammer of the Gods” was a fairly amazing look at the group and I recommend it to all fans of Led Zeppelin and students of rock history. But this, this would the inside story. All the great stories finally shared. The back stage debauchery, the chemically enhanced perceptions, and the music.
Well one out of three ain’t bad. Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page may be the strangest autobiography ever made. It’s 500 pages of photographs. And not the backstage stories finally revealed sort of photos. No this is 500 pages of photos dedicated to the music. Page feels that this is the best way to document his life and work. He says any more traditional kind of autobiography will probably have to wait till he’s dead. Given that he’s only 66 that might actually be a while.
But the part that really slays me in all of this isn’t the subject matter or lack thereof. No, it’s mostly the price. For your very own copy of Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page you’d better be ready to shell out $685. That’s right more than a dollar a page. Now it must be said that this is no ordinary book. In addition to what I hear are some truly gorgeous photos you get Morrocan leather binding and an authentic autograph of the rock guitar god himself. You will also own one of only 2,500 copies of the book ever to be printed.
I just stared at that price when I read about it. And I didn’t know whether to laugh or get mad. Let’s face it, at that price, you’re getting hammered by the gods.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
What I did On my Summer Vacation - Books
I've got to get this series done before snow falls!
I did a LOT of reading this summer. It was actually kind of nice even though a lot of what I read didn't overwhelm me. The majority of my reading was actually books that I picked up at the annual book sale at my local library. For example:
I read two Andrew Greeley books - Virgin and Martyr, and The Final Planet. The two books share one thing beyond their author. They both move into areas that were new for me in reading Greeley. I am a HUGE fan of his Bishop Blackie books. Those are fun mystery novels that center on the short unobtrusive assistant bishop from the Archdiocese of Chicago. The two books this summer were very different. Virgin and Martyr Iin which John Blackwood Ryan makes his first appearance in a Greeley novel) was much more serious and delved very strongly into politics, especially church politics. It was pretty well written and I was engrossed the whole way through. On the other hand The Final Planet is a foray into science fiction for Father Greeley. I know it sold very well and some folks like it a lot. As a story it's much closer to the feel of the Bishop Blackie novels. As a science fiction novel it's incredibly amateurish. Liked the characters but the story is just rather juvenile and simplistic. I doubt I'd read any other sci-fi books (like The God Game).
I would lump three other books together even though they're written by different authors. Midnight Runner by Jack Higgins, The Secret of Excalibur by Andy McDermott, and Total Control by David Balducci. The best of the lot is probably the Baldacci book. It's a pretty standard thriller similar to other Baldacci books I've read. Right behind it is the Higgins book. Really if you've read one Jack Higgins book you've read them all. But they're comfortable, the action blasts along and they're fun. Last and really rather least is the book by Andy McDermott. He does a pretty good job keeping the story moving but the plot and story have so many holes in it I spent a lot of time just shaking my head. I'm truly amazed at the kind of critical raves that these books have gotten. All three kept me involved to the end but I wouldn't ever consider reading them again. On the other hand I WOULD certainly read all three of the authors again.
Same goes for Harry Harrison's "The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus". I read a lot of this series back in high school. They are parodies of the secret agent genre like James Bond. They were fun and Harrison likes playing with words which I enjoy. I don't know if this is just the lowest rung of the series or I've just outgrown them but this was pretty lame.
So did I read anything good this summer? Oh yes.
After watching the movie Casino Royale I went back and read the original. And was surprised at the quality of the writing. I've read all the Ian Fleming Bond stories and most of the ones written after Fleming's death. The stories are told concisely and move quickly along with just the right amount of twists and surprises. I've gone on to read several more including Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, From Russia with Love, and Dr. No. While dated in many ways including Bond's attitude towards the women in his life (which is not as simplistic as some critics would have you think) the stories are still very good reads.
I checked out a V.I. Warshawsky book by Sara Paretsky called "Hard Time". I've read at least one other of this series and liked it. But like that previous book I came away from it feeling like it was a good read but not blown away. If another one wanders across my path I'll read it but I don't think I'll go looking for one. Can't tell you why.
Read my first ever Dick Francis story, "Reflex". I've known about Francis (who passed away earlier this year) for years but just never got around to reading him. Don't know why, I love mysteries and he's been extremely successful for years. So I jumped right into this one and really enjoyed it. The book takes place at the horse racing track where Francis has a great feel. I'm looking forward to trying another.
Now the best book I read this summer. Curiously the first 100 pages or so (maybe more than that) of the book I didn't much like it at all. Again Amy Tan is an author that I knew of but had never read. So "The Kitchen God's Wife" was a totally new adventure for me. Once the story shifted away from the American story line to China this book just took off for me. I've spoken to a couple people who had the exact same reaction. Really enjoyed it and I will certainly take a look at reading more of her stuff.
So it was a fun summer of reading. I'm looking forward to trying new stuff in the fall.
I did a LOT of reading this summer. It was actually kind of nice even though a lot of what I read didn't overwhelm me. The majority of my reading was actually books that I picked up at the annual book sale at my local library. For example:
I read two Andrew Greeley books - Virgin and Martyr, and The Final Planet. The two books share one thing beyond their author. They both move into areas that were new for me in reading Greeley. I am a HUGE fan of his Bishop Blackie books. Those are fun mystery novels that center on the short unobtrusive assistant bishop from the Archdiocese of Chicago. The two books this summer were very different. Virgin and Martyr Iin which John Blackwood Ryan makes his first appearance in a Greeley novel) was much more serious and delved very strongly into politics, especially church politics. It was pretty well written and I was engrossed the whole way through. On the other hand The Final Planet is a foray into science fiction for Father Greeley. I know it sold very well and some folks like it a lot. As a story it's much closer to the feel of the Bishop Blackie novels. As a science fiction novel it's incredibly amateurish. Liked the characters but the story is just rather juvenile and simplistic. I doubt I'd read any other sci-fi books (like The God Game).
I would lump three other books together even though they're written by different authors. Midnight Runner by Jack Higgins, The Secret of Excalibur by Andy McDermott, and Total Control by David Balducci. The best of the lot is probably the Baldacci book. It's a pretty standard thriller similar to other Baldacci books I've read. Right behind it is the Higgins book. Really if you've read one Jack Higgins book you've read them all. But they're comfortable, the action blasts along and they're fun. Last and really rather least is the book by Andy McDermott. He does a pretty good job keeping the story moving but the plot and story have so many holes in it I spent a lot of time just shaking my head. I'm truly amazed at the kind of critical raves that these books have gotten. All three kept me involved to the end but I wouldn't ever consider reading them again. On the other hand I WOULD certainly read all three of the authors again.
Same goes for Harry Harrison's "The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus". I read a lot of this series back in high school. They are parodies of the secret agent genre like James Bond. They were fun and Harrison likes playing with words which I enjoy. I don't know if this is just the lowest rung of the series or I've just outgrown them but this was pretty lame.
So did I read anything good this summer? Oh yes.
After watching the movie Casino Royale I went back and read the original. And was surprised at the quality of the writing. I've read all the Ian Fleming Bond stories and most of the ones written after Fleming's death. The stories are told concisely and move quickly along with just the right amount of twists and surprises. I've gone on to read several more including Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, From Russia with Love, and Dr. No. While dated in many ways including Bond's attitude towards the women in his life (which is not as simplistic as some critics would have you think) the stories are still very good reads.
I checked out a V.I. Warshawsky book by Sara Paretsky called "Hard Time". I've read at least one other of this series and liked it. But like that previous book I came away from it feeling like it was a good read but not blown away. If another one wanders across my path I'll read it but I don't think I'll go looking for one. Can't tell you why.
Read my first ever Dick Francis story, "Reflex". I've known about Francis (who passed away earlier this year) for years but just never got around to reading him. Don't know why, I love mysteries and he's been extremely successful for years. So I jumped right into this one and really enjoyed it. The book takes place at the horse racing track where Francis has a great feel. I'm looking forward to trying another.
Now the best book I read this summer. Curiously the first 100 pages or so (maybe more than that) of the book I didn't much like it at all. Again Amy Tan is an author that I knew of but had never read. So "The Kitchen God's Wife" was a totally new adventure for me. Once the story shifted away from the American story line to China this book just took off for me. I've spoken to a couple people who had the exact same reaction. Really enjoyed it and I will certainly take a look at reading more of her stuff.
So it was a fun summer of reading. I'm looking forward to trying new stuff in the fall.
Monday, September 20, 2010
View From the Phlipside - Ines Sainz
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the Movies and more. I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View From the Phlipside.
Of all the issues I’ve discussed on this program I don’t think any of them has given me the kind of whiplash that the Ines Sainz story has. Sainz is the female sport reporter for the Mexican network TV Azteca who ran into some kind of a problem with the New York Jets a little over a week ago. There is so little clear about this whole story that every time I thought I had grip on a point of view it was yanked out from underneath me. Sainz doesn’t think she was sexually harassed. Some of her professional colleagues think she was. Sainz claims that she didn’t hear any of the alleged comments but was just generally made to feel uncomfortable in the locker room. The Jets owner apologized and the NFL is investigating.
Right up front let’s be clear. Ines Sainz has every right to EXPECT to be treated like a professional and a human being. Not a piece of meat. The other side of the coin is that sports remains largely a boys club that is not entirely in sync with the intrusion of girls in their domain. The road for a female reporter is a harder one than for a guy. Yet I have to say that the reaction of at least one female spokesperson, who basically said that Sainz ought to be able to do her job dressed in anything, including lingerie without some kind of reaction is just ridiculous. At some point you need to take a look at the image you choose to present and take responsibility for it.
Sainz bills herself as the “hottest sports reporter in Mexico” and has a variety of cheesecake photos on both the network and her personal web site. If you want to be taken seriously as a reporter this isn’t the approach to take. At the same time there is no excuse for the players actions either. They need to grow up and behave like adults. They want to be treated like professionals and that requires extending that courtesy to the media.
In the end I think the reporter could stand to bring down the focus on her looks and play up her smarts. And I think the players could stand to grow some smarts. Beyond I’ll be happy to not have to think about it any more.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
Of all the issues I’ve discussed on this program I don’t think any of them has given me the kind of whiplash that the Ines Sainz story has. Sainz is the female sport reporter for the Mexican network TV Azteca who ran into some kind of a problem with the New York Jets a little over a week ago. There is so little clear about this whole story that every time I thought I had grip on a point of view it was yanked out from underneath me. Sainz doesn’t think she was sexually harassed. Some of her professional colleagues think she was. Sainz claims that she didn’t hear any of the alleged comments but was just generally made to feel uncomfortable in the locker room. The Jets owner apologized and the NFL is investigating.
Right up front let’s be clear. Ines Sainz has every right to EXPECT to be treated like a professional and a human being. Not a piece of meat. The other side of the coin is that sports remains largely a boys club that is not entirely in sync with the intrusion of girls in their domain. The road for a female reporter is a harder one than for a guy. Yet I have to say that the reaction of at least one female spokesperson, who basically said that Sainz ought to be able to do her job dressed in anything, including lingerie without some kind of reaction is just ridiculous. At some point you need to take a look at the image you choose to present and take responsibility for it.
Sainz bills herself as the “hottest sports reporter in Mexico” and has a variety of cheesecake photos on both the network and her personal web site. If you want to be taken seriously as a reporter this isn’t the approach to take. At the same time there is no excuse for the players actions either. They need to grow up and behave like adults. They want to be treated like professionals and that requires extending that courtesy to the media.
In the end I think the reporter could stand to bring down the focus on her looks and play up her smarts. And I think the players could stand to grow some smarts. Beyond I’ll be happy to not have to think about it any more.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERECopyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
The absolute LAST Jersey Circus post. Probably.
They dedicated a cartoon to me last week! How can I NOT give them a final shout out?
And for the record I absolutely do NOT get it! LOL.
Also for the record I went back and looked at larger sample of the cartoons. I found a couple that I thought were funny, a small number that I thought were offensive and a whole bunch.....
That I just didn't get.
Maybe it IS me?
Peace (to one and all)
And for the record I absolutely do NOT get it! LOL.
Also for the record I went back and looked at larger sample of the cartoons. I found a couple that I thought were funny, a small number that I thought were offensive and a whole bunch.....
That I just didn't get.
Maybe it IS me?
Peace (to one and all)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
View From the Phlipside - When is a story a story?
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the Movies and more. I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View From the Phlipside.How big does a story have to be to be a big story? A political assassination requires only two people, assassin and victim. But it is inevitably a big story. How many million people catch cold each winter? Yet that’s not a news story 999 times out of a thousand. The recent story about the planned Q’uran burning has me thinking about when a story makes the big time.
I’m not going to discuss whether I think it was a good idea or not, you’ll probably figure my position out for yourself. This is about the media circus that surrounded this non-event and what we need to learn from it.
Based on the number of column inches and screen time devoted to it this was a big story. Every major network had large investments of time and manpower in covering it. We learned a lot about the characters involved and heard a lot of analytical embroidery around the edges. My question is - why?
The size estimates I heard on the church is question ranged from 30 to 50. Now I did a quick, off the top of my head estimate of how many people live on my street. I live on a one block long street. And there at least that many people living on my street. Somewhere just below 50. About 15 houses. If we had a big bonfire in the middle of the block would anyone outside of Mayville care? Probably not. Nor should they.
This is an unknown pastor from a tiny church that represents a small fraction of the population of their hometown. For whatever reason they were going to burn the holy book of another religion. Suddenly this became of interest to the entire nation. The only reason why this was a story was because we made it a story. It’s a self perpetuating cycle. If we ignore it it never becomes a story. As soon as we make it a story then we can’t ignore it and it begins to grow.
I’m not saying to ignore the story because I believe in censoring the news. I’m saying we should have ignored this story because it wasn’t ever a story. Not beyond three sentences on page 27 or 10 seconds of screen time. Whatever damage has been done in the tattered relationship between our nation and the Muslim communities of the world can not be laid at the feet of that pastor. That blame lies firmly with the media and one other group. That would be us the consumers of information. If the media isn’t smart enough to know what isn’t a story then we should.
And we should have let this one burn itself out by itself.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
What I did On my Summer Vacation - Movies
It was a busy summer. And a pretty good one. So I'll break some of this down into bits to make it a little easier to take on.
As always summer is actually a slow time for me watching movies. I am working on a couple of series along the way as well.
TV Series -
Lovejoy - We first started watching these back in the '90's I think when A&E carried them. Fun little British series about an antiques dealer named Lovejoy (just Lovejoy). It's fun and lightweight and you might actually learn just a tiny bit about antiques along the way. This time we got the DVDs in order and have no seen the entire series. I saw someone refer to Lovejoy as the greatest character you've never heard of. That's probably pretty true. Ian McShane played Lovejoy with a fun supporting cast. There's always a love interest kept just at bay by Lovejoy, his partner "Major" Tinker Dill plus a couple other sidekicks and foils. Nothing profound but characters you can invest in. Great weekend viewing when you want to have some fun and have nothing better to do.
The Prisoner - I have no idea how I've gone this long in life without having seen this series. Another British TV show, one that ran for only 17 episodes. But it's one of the most talked about series ever. For many years it was very difficult to find or see so that's my excuse. The Prisoner is about a strange little village where people are taken to for reasons they don't entirely understand to be controlled by people with plans of their own. It's very strange and very disturbing to find yourself there. The story follows a prisoner, known only as "Number 6" (no one has names only numbers), who apparently worked in the intelligence community and resigned angrily. But no one seems to know WHY he quit and he doesn't want to say. The show is a long series of games between Number 6 (Patrick McGoohan) and the ever changing cast of Number 2s (among the actors who play this role was Leo McKern. More than 17 actors filled the role). It's still to this day bizarre and confusing. I'd watched about 3 episodes when I realized what it reminded me of. "Lost", the NBC hit that just ended its run. A secluded place, run by strange people and no one is quite sure why they are there. There are mysterious symbols like Lost's numbers and this pennyfarthing bicycle for the Prisoner. There's even a mysterious "beast" that enforces discipline (The Smoke Monster on Lost and Rover on The Prisoner). The parallels are quite striking. I'm really enjoying the series so far. It's great to finally add this one to the list of classic programs I've seen.
Movies -
I actually saw one movie in the theaters this summer.
Inception - The movie has been a good sized hit and gotten pretty good reviews as near as I can tell. Directed by Christopher Nolan (who has done several other movies I've like Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Prestige) the movie was visually stunning with a great twist at the end. At least a twist for me since I had forgotten the last level! DiCaprio, Ellen Page (who I'm really liking) and the cast did a very nice job as well. There was one nagging problem for me however. They just vault into the whole concept of the Inception (the ability to manipulate people by entering their dreams) with very little in the way of explanation. Where did it come from (one throw away line), how was it developed, et cetera? For me the willing suspension of disbelief was damaged because they posit this whole new technology without establishing any foundation for it. My theory is this - the closer you are to "reality" the more you need to explain any novel concepts you want to play with in the story. If you're doing Star Wars you can get away with much closer to a "lick and a promise". Although I think Star Wars did a lot more exposition setting up their world than Inception does. And that just left an enormous hole for me. It's easy to let the action just sweep you along (and to be honest this was another action movie that could have dropped at least one action sequence. Suppose they needed to justify the 3-D process. But towards the end I got to the "Yeah, yeah, yeah, BOOM. Got it. Can we get back to the plot and the characters for a minute now?" phase again) and forget about it. That's probably what Nolan wants you to do. Too bad because it kept this from being a great movie for me. Very, very good but not what it might have been.
Music and Lyrics - Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore are just wonderful in this lightweight little romantic comedy. It's fun and funny and totally enjoyable. Grant plays the less successful half of an '80's pop duo that broke up when his partner went solo and became a big hit. Think Andrew Ridgeley after WHAM! broke up. He's found a comfortable little niche that doesn't require much from him at all. Then he gets the chance to write a song for "the next big thing" and needs a lyricist. Enter Drew Barrymore (who could wander into my life anytime she wants.) and the story is off and running. I'm sure this one got brushed off by lots of people as a "chick flick" (by the way, that's a really stupid reaction to a movie. Ranks right up there as one of my ways to determine if you're really serious about movies or are just a poser.) Great fun and yes, it IS a great date movie.
Casino Royale (2006 version) - Disclaimer. Read ALL the original Fleming novels and most of the sequels. Sean Connery has been THE movie bond although Timothy Dalton wasn't bad. Do NOT be trying to drag Roger Moore or Pierce Brosnan into this equation. I will just have to beat you down.
So I may have walked into this one with a little bit of a preconceived attitude maybe.
And the movie blew me away. Extremely faithful to the book (went back and re-read it to be sure). Daniel Craig is a VERY acceptable Bond for me and they did a wonderful job of updating the franchise just the right way. No problems with Judy Dench as M, she maintains the character perfectly. A black Felix Lieter? Interesting. I can let the lack of black hair on Craig slide ( a small irritation), got the cars right, the drinks right, changing from Blackjack to Texas Hold'em makes perfect sense. The only other irritation was changing the two assignments that earned Bond his 007 designation. But again a small irritation. After watching so many awful Bonds in movies that bore NOT THE TINIEST RESEMBLANCE to the original stories when they used the titles or the original concept otherwise this was a breath of fresh air. I've got Quantum of Solace all lined up in the queue so we'll see if they keep me this happy.
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle - Talk about walking in with preconceived ideas! I mean it's doper humor. Which is a breed of what I call "idiot humor" (Let's see most things by Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell. Can not abide it. There are lots of others, mostly folks who don't do it as well as these two. Which makes those other movies REALLY awful.). Humor that comes from the main character being an idiot. Big market for it. Just doesn't include me. At the same time I did grow up listening to and loving Cheech and Chong. So go figure. In the end, I loved this movie. The script plays a beautiful balancing act between the doper stuff and, hey HERE'S a novel concept, real characterization. I actually liked these guys and enjoyed the story. There's the obligatory juvenile humor moments and bare breasted young women moments but they don't dominate the movie. It was fun and I would recommend the movie. Just know that this IS a doper movie. You have been warned.
Gotta start watching more movies!
As always summer is actually a slow time for me watching movies. I am working on a couple of series along the way as well.
TV Series -
Movies -
I actually saw one movie in the theaters this summer.
Music and Lyrics - Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore are just wonderful in this lightweight little romantic comedy. It's fun and funny and totally enjoyable. Grant plays the less successful half of an '80's pop duo that broke up when his partner went solo and became a big hit. Think Andrew Ridgeley after WHAM! broke up. He's found a comfortable little niche that doesn't require much from him at all. Then he gets the chance to write a song for "the next big thing" and needs a lyricist. Enter Drew Barrymore (who could wander into my life anytime she wants.) and the story is off and running. I'm sure this one got brushed off by lots of people as a "chick flick" (by the way, that's a really stupid reaction to a movie. Ranks right up there as one of my ways to determine if you're really serious about movies or are just a poser.) Great fun and yes, it IS a great date movie.
Casino Royale (2006 version) - Disclaimer. Read ALL the original Fleming novels and most of the sequels. Sean Connery has been THE movie bond although Timothy Dalton wasn't bad. Do NOT be trying to drag Roger Moore or Pierce Brosnan into this equation. I will just have to beat you down.
So I may have walked into this one with a little bit of a preconceived attitude maybe.
And the movie blew me away. Extremely faithful to the book (went back and re-read it to be sure). Daniel Craig is a VERY acceptable Bond for me and they did a wonderful job of updating the franchise just the right way. No problems with Judy Dench as M, she maintains the character perfectly. A black Felix Lieter? Interesting. I can let the lack of black hair on Craig slide ( a small irritation), got the cars right, the drinks right, changing from Blackjack to Texas Hold'em makes perfect sense. The only other irritation was changing the two assignments that earned Bond his 007 designation. But again a small irritation. After watching so many awful Bonds in movies that bore NOT THE TINIEST RESEMBLANCE to the original stories when they used the titles or the original concept otherwise this was a breath of fresh air. I've got Quantum of Solace all lined up in the queue so we'll see if they keep me this happy.
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle - Talk about walking in with preconceived ideas! I mean it's doper humor. Which is a breed of what I call "idiot humor" (Let's see most things by Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell. Can not abide it. There are lots of others, mostly folks who don't do it as well as these two. Which makes those other movies REALLY awful.). Humor that comes from the main character being an idiot. Big market for it. Just doesn't include me. At the same time I did grow up listening to and loving Cheech and Chong. So go figure. In the end, I loved this movie. The script plays a beautiful balancing act between the doper stuff and, hey HERE'S a novel concept, real characterization. I actually liked these guys and enjoyed the story. There's the obligatory juvenile humor moments and bare breasted young women moments but they don't dominate the movie. It was fun and I would recommend the movie. Just know that this IS a doper movie. You have been warned.
Gotta start watching more movies!
View From the Phlipside - The Firestorm! (Not Really)
Well, well, well. I never would have expected this. It seems I’m the center of a tiny little firestorm on the world wide web. The controversy began with my comment last week on the cartoon mash-up Jersey Circus which brought together the Family Circus comic with quotes from the TV show Jersey Shore. I didn’t much like them. And said so. And some people are very cranky with me because of that.
First let me note that the nicest, most intelligent response I got was from Liz Laribee, a contributing writer at Jersey Circus. Her response was witty and to the point. Liz made me go back and think about what I said and how I said it. I’m not backing away from my opinion of the work. It doesn’t appeal to me. Someone suggested that it was satire. Ok, even as satire it just doesn’t work for me. I don’t find much amusing, compelling or though provoking about the folks on the show Jersey Shore. I’m disturbed as someone who works with young people by the number of youth who seem to find these folks role models. So I’m pre-disposed to dislike the comic meme I guess.
What bothers me most is that Liz seemed to feel that I was calling her and her collaborators perverse and dumb. Not my intention. They went where their creative muse directed them. I have nothing but the highest respect for the creative process. When you put your work out in public though it’s open for criticism (just like this commentary). Some folks aren’t going to like it. I’m quite certain that Liz understands that.
I’m not so sure some of the commenters do. A variety of folks (a fair number of whom posted anonymously. My rule is that I pay very little attention to folks who won’t put their name where their mouth is. My name is at the start of every single program) chose to question a wide variety of my personal traits. I was told to lighten up, told that I was a crank. The defense of Liz’s right to make her commentary on society was not accorded to my commentary. But that seems to be the way of it. Sadly too much of what passes for discussion these days takes the tack that “I’m right and you’re an idiot”. Happily the creators of Jersey Circus are better than that. And whether I like it Jersey Circus or not it has created the chance for a deeper discussion.
At some point I probably owe Liz a beer.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
(The cartoon is from the BRILLIANT xkcd - a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language. If you are not a regular reader you should be!)
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
View From the Phlipside - Star Trek
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the Movies and more. I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View From the Phlipside.
I have no idea how this one slipped by me last week. I can only offer that I am deeply ashamed and remorseful that I failed to get it done in a timely fashion. Yes, last week marked the anniversary of the debut of the original Star Trek series. And I missed it.
That’s a big deal for me. I’m a life long trekkie. The fact that I say trekkie versus trekker shows how old school I am. I own a Tribble and a phaser and the plans for the original Enterprise. And I keep them all on display in my living room. I am a Star Trek geek. So missing this anniversary was a major faux pas on my part.
Beyond my geekish adoration why should anyone care? Because there are very few television shows that can run with Captain Kirk and crew when you’re talking long term influence on popular culture. First let’s deal with the fact that the show continues to retain popularity and create new story lines including last year’s hit movie. 40 plus years later name any other show that has had even a similar run. It’s added catch phrases to the language. It has offered important moments in social history like the first interracial kiss on network TV. The characters are icons. Once upon a time folks had trouble differentiating between Dr. Spock and Mr. Spock (it’s true, I swear). Today a large percentage of people have no idea who Benjamin Spock even was.
And it’s not done yet. Yes, there will no doubt be yet another sequel movie. But I’m talking about a whole new field to be conquered. Opera. This past weekend in the Netherlands saw the debut of the Klingon opera U, which tells the story of Kahless the Unforgettable, the first Klingon emporer. The opera will run later this month in Germany.
Yes, you can mark this off as the ultimate form of nerdery but think about it. 40 plus years, cartoon versions, multiple film versions, characters that are familiar to pretty much anyone who has kept even the lightest contact with popular culture. It’s easy to shrug it off as “Wagon Train to the stars” but this is a legend that continues to “boldly go where no man has gone before”. So I will offer my tribute to Star Trek in Klingon. Qapla’!
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
That’s a big deal for me. I’m a life long trekkie. The fact that I say trekkie versus trekker shows how old school I am. I own a Tribble and a phaser and the plans for the original Enterprise. And I keep them all on display in my living room. I am a Star Trek geek. So missing this anniversary was a major faux pas on my part.
Beyond my geekish adoration why should anyone care? Because there are very few television shows that can run with Captain Kirk and crew when you’re talking long term influence on popular culture. First let’s deal with the fact that the show continues to retain popularity and create new story lines including last year’s hit movie. 40 plus years later name any other show that has had even a similar run. It’s added catch phrases to the language. It has offered important moments in social history like the first interracial kiss on network TV. The characters are icons. Once upon a time folks had trouble differentiating between Dr. Spock and Mr. Spock (it’s true, I swear). Today a large percentage of people have no idea who Benjamin Spock even was.
And it’s not done yet. Yes, there will no doubt be yet another sequel movie. But I’m talking about a whole new field to be conquered. Opera. This past weekend in the Netherlands saw the debut of the Klingon opera U, which tells the story of Kahless the Unforgettable, the first Klingon emporer. The opera will run later this month in Germany.
Yes, you can mark this off as the ultimate form of nerdery but think about it. 40 plus years, cartoon versions, multiple film versions, characters that are familiar to pretty much anyone who has kept even the lightest contact with popular culture. It’s easy to shrug it off as “Wagon Train to the stars” but this is a legend that continues to “boldly go where no man has gone before”. So I will offer my tribute to Star Trek in Klingon. Qapla’!
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
On getting blasted for an opinion piece
Last week I wrote/broadcast about a couple new comic creations that I didn't much like in a post called "Cartoons "
I was away for most of the rest of the week so I only just caught up with the comments that landed on my blog.
Holy smokes people! I didn't think anyone payed that much attention to me!
Let me first say that I find this tiny little firestorm amusing. Let me also say that the most reasonable and good humored response actually came Liz Laribee a writer for Jersey Circus. She took my comments for what they were, questioned a couple of assumptions and phrase choices and on the whole gave me a whole boatload of things to think about. You can check out her comments HERE They are well worth reading.
I would note that I am prone to hyperbole to make a point. Thus "pantheon of literature" was not meant literally. Neither Jersey Circus nor this blog aim to attain whatever might be meant by that phrase. I use (or was attempting to use) polar opposites to make a point. Jersey Shore and literature are polar opposites. At the same time "anti-intellectual thuggery", a phrase which it pleases me that Liz found amusing, was probably over the top. I just really don't like the final product of what Liz and her colleagues produced.
The Kanye/New Yorker memes I just don't find amusing. Every one I look at falls flat. 'Nuff said.
So what bothers me about Jersey Circus? (Check it out yourself HERE and decide for yourself. YMMV). To start with I don't like Jersey Shore or the people on it. Everything I have seen and heard about them is repulsive (to me). I've never found vulgarity as a lifestyle particularly appealing. And that's what I see and hear from those folks. I grew up reading Family Circus and have a soft spot for it in my heart. Not a must read but if its there I check it out. It is simple and naive (in the best sense of that word) and innocent and a reminder of a different time and place. The concept of bringing the two together has a valid basis. As a former Theater major I was taught Goethe's three rules of Criticism - what was the artist trying to do, did they succeed and was it worth doing?
What were they trying to do - I can hazard a guess that they were going for social commentary.
Did they succeed - In the end I'd have to say they did. Look at the discussion that's popped up about it!
Was it worth doing - Here is where we part company. The Jersey Circus mission statement ends with this:
But Liz can clearly state what she and her friends are trying to do and I understand that and appreciate it. To the point where I'm willing to go back and look again.
Now as to some of the commenters. I thought I'd try and respond to some of them. My blog first.
Anonymous #1 - claims I missed the point. Could be. You think it's funny. I don't. Humor is subjective. How is your world view better than mine? I put my name on mine.
MP - ever heard of satire? Yep. Big fan. Didn't seem to make it for me. Satire is the most difficult and subjective of all forms of humor/commentary. Lots of people try and fail.
Anonymous #2 - oooh sarcasm. I'm cut to the quick. Care to actually offer something intelligent to the conversation or is snark the best you've got? I know which I'll bet on.
Liz - no hard feelings at all, :)
boojum - Had to go back several times to figure out what you're talking about. I think you're counting my intro as the first paragraph, yes? In that case go back and read the "second" paragraph again yourself. I "get" mash ups, I even acknowledge that I like some of them. I just don't "get" these. As a fellow father, writer, brother in Christ, et cetera I find very little in the way of "loving correction" here. Sorry that I make you feel bad but I think that says more about you than me. Apparently your view of how a father, writer, brother in Christ etc should think gets disgruntled when you find that it's not universally held.
Anonymous #3 - I actually like this simple comment. Could be taken a variety of ways and as being directed at a variety of people in the conversation. Even if aimed at me, bravo!
Young Structural - yes, you probably are too serious. I can also tend that way. I've explained above why I reacted the way I did. For the record I do this commentary show because I think people take all of the media too damn seriously. I'm also not sure that the Jersey Circus folks will take kindly to your assertion that their work is of so little consequence to be unworthy of any level of analysis. And if you think my comment rises to the level of either a doctoral thesis or a novel (it's only around 400 words for pete's sake!) then you've precious little experience with either.
Anonymous #4 - Yep, it's getting toasty in here! (I have a hunch I know who this person is. Just a hunch)
From the Jersey Circus comments
Someone named "ninjapirateben" would look down his nose at me because I have a soft spot for Family Circus. Really? Not up to your intellectual standards I presume?
Fan and Rob (two separate comments) - both make interesting points.
smokeyprimrose and thingsonthewestcoast (two comments) - fans of Liz's. Must be good people.
alphabet - "stuck up" and "prudey"? Really? Given that you know nothing about me that's a rather amazing comment on my person. Obviously I'm rather taken with my own opinions otherwise why would I do a public commentary? By the way I think you've missed the mark widely on your assessment of my personality.
heydave - oops seems dave doesn't like the description I offer of myself. Dave - two words. Too bad. In attempting to help people understand who I am I offer a very short listing of some of the roles I've fulfilled in my life. The ways that I interact with the other human beings in my sphere. Let me add to my list - person who isn't impressed by folks who spew pointless obscenity and name call as if they were still stuck in the 7th grade. My experience of people like you is that you wouldn't have the stones to say any of that to my face. So STFU yourself.
Dream Thiever - good advice. I shall try and follow it.
Joe in Philly - not sure why my title bothers you. Sure it's a pun. A play on an old school record term (the side of the single record that didn't have the hit tune on it was called a B side or the flipside) and a play on my last name. Folks in my family have been called Flip for a couple generations. I tweaked it for the name of my radio program almost 30 years ago. I left radio a decade ago then returned a couple years later in a different venue and form (public radio and commentary) but kept the name in slightly altered form for the recognition factor and marketability. And given that the 8 comments I got on the original post is one of my all time highs I'm not so sure we're not in the same ball park.
Phew! In the end I will simply remind you that commentary is just a form of opinion. My opinions are based on my education both formal and informal, my years of being a media consumer and a student of the media and my experience in the media. That makes me better qualified than some, less than others. Feel free to agree or disagree. But it's opinion, whether mine or yours. We are each entitled to our own.
Now if you'll excuse me I have a new weeks worth of scripts to write.
Peace
I was away for most of the rest of the week so I only just caught up with the comments that landed on my blog.
Holy smokes people! I didn't think anyone payed that much attention to me!
Let me first say that I find this tiny little firestorm amusing. Let me also say that the most reasonable and good humored response actually came Liz Laribee a writer for Jersey Circus. She took my comments for what they were, questioned a couple of assumptions and phrase choices and on the whole gave me a whole boatload of things to think about. You can check out her comments HERE They are well worth reading.
I would note that I am prone to hyperbole to make a point. Thus "pantheon of literature" was not meant literally. Neither Jersey Circus nor this blog aim to attain whatever might be meant by that phrase. I use (or was attempting to use) polar opposites to make a point. Jersey Shore and literature are polar opposites. At the same time "anti-intellectual thuggery", a phrase which it pleases me that Liz found amusing, was probably over the top. I just really don't like the final product of what Liz and her colleagues produced.
The Kanye/New Yorker memes I just don't find amusing. Every one I look at falls flat. 'Nuff said.
So what bothers me about Jersey Circus? (Check it out yourself HERE and decide for yourself. YMMV). To start with I don't like Jersey Shore or the people on it. Everything I have seen and heard about them is repulsive (to me). I've never found vulgarity as a lifestyle particularly appealing. And that's what I see and hear from those folks. I grew up reading Family Circus and have a soft spot for it in my heart. Not a must read but if its there I check it out. It is simple and naive (in the best sense of that word) and innocent and a reminder of a different time and place. The concept of bringing the two together has a valid basis. As a former Theater major I was taught Goethe's three rules of Criticism - what was the artist trying to do, did they succeed and was it worth doing?
What were they trying to do - I can hazard a guess that they were going for social commentary.
Did they succeed - In the end I'd have to say they did. Look at the discussion that's popped up about it!
Was it worth doing - Here is where we part company. The Jersey Circus mission statement ends with this:
We think you'll agree that something important is being done here.And I'm afraid I don't. My impression is one of...sigh, this makes me feel bad because it sounds like I'm upset or angry or whatever with Liz and Co., which I'm not really. So I will attempt to disagree without being disagreeable. OK? This smacks of pre-teens giggling when they get their four year old cousin to saying dirty words. That's what I hear every time I read one of the cartoons. For me that is a violation of innocence. And as a youth minister in the Episcopal church that's not going to sit well with me. It is from that impression that my claims of smugness arise. It is that that I find perverse. And yes, I find people getting amusement from that kind of thing perverse. Again, YMMV. I tend to be hyper-protective of the younger brothers and sisters. Makes me a pretty good youth minister, maybe it makes me a less good media critic. I'm not so sure.
But Liz can clearly state what she and her friends are trying to do and I understand that and appreciate it. To the point where I'm willing to go back and look again.
Now as to some of the commenters. I thought I'd try and respond to some of them. My blog first.
Anonymous #1 - claims I missed the point. Could be. You think it's funny. I don't. Humor is subjective. How is your world view better than mine? I put my name on mine.
MP - ever heard of satire? Yep. Big fan. Didn't seem to make it for me. Satire is the most difficult and subjective of all forms of humor/commentary. Lots of people try and fail.
Anonymous #2 - oooh sarcasm. I'm cut to the quick. Care to actually offer something intelligent to the conversation or is snark the best you've got? I know which I'll bet on.
Liz - no hard feelings at all, :)
boojum - Had to go back several times to figure out what you're talking about. I think you're counting my intro as the first paragraph, yes? In that case go back and read the "second" paragraph again yourself. I "get" mash ups, I even acknowledge that I like some of them. I just don't "get" these. As a fellow father, writer, brother in Christ, et cetera I find very little in the way of "loving correction" here. Sorry that I make you feel bad but I think that says more about you than me. Apparently your view of how a father, writer, brother in Christ etc should think gets disgruntled when you find that it's not universally held.
Anonymous #3 - I actually like this simple comment. Could be taken a variety of ways and as being directed at a variety of people in the conversation. Even if aimed at me, bravo!
Young Structural - yes, you probably are too serious. I can also tend that way. I've explained above why I reacted the way I did. For the record I do this commentary show because I think people take all of the media too damn seriously. I'm also not sure that the Jersey Circus folks will take kindly to your assertion that their work is of so little consequence to be unworthy of any level of analysis. And if you think my comment rises to the level of either a doctoral thesis or a novel (it's only around 400 words for pete's sake!) then you've precious little experience with either.
Anonymous #4 - Yep, it's getting toasty in here! (I have a hunch I know who this person is. Just a hunch)
From the Jersey Circus comments
Someone named "ninjapirateben" would look down his nose at me because I have a soft spot for Family Circus. Really? Not up to your intellectual standards I presume?
Fan and Rob (two separate comments) - both make interesting points.
smokeyprimrose and thingsonthewestcoast (two comments) - fans of Liz's. Must be good people.
alphabet - "stuck up" and "prudey"? Really? Given that you know nothing about me that's a rather amazing comment on my person. Obviously I'm rather taken with my own opinions otherwise why would I do a public commentary? By the way I think you've missed the mark widely on your assessment of my personality.
heydave - oops seems dave doesn't like the description I offer of myself. Dave - two words. Too bad. In attempting to help people understand who I am I offer a very short listing of some of the roles I've fulfilled in my life. The ways that I interact with the other human beings in my sphere. Let me add to my list - person who isn't impressed by folks who spew pointless obscenity and name call as if they were still stuck in the 7th grade. My experience of people like you is that you wouldn't have the stones to say any of that to my face. So STFU yourself.
Dream Thiever - good advice. I shall try and follow it.
Joe in Philly - not sure why my title bothers you. Sure it's a pun. A play on an old school record term (the side of the single record that didn't have the hit tune on it was called a B side or the flipside) and a play on my last name. Folks in my family have been called Flip for a couple generations. I tweaked it for the name of my radio program almost 30 years ago. I left radio a decade ago then returned a couple years later in a different venue and form (public radio and commentary) but kept the name in slightly altered form for the recognition factor and marketability. And given that the 8 comments I got on the original post is one of my all time highs I'm not so sure we're not in the same ball park.
Phew! In the end I will simply remind you that commentary is just a form of opinion. My opinions are based on my education both formal and informal, my years of being a media consumer and a student of the media and my experience in the media. That makes me better qualified than some, less than others. Feel free to agree or disagree. But it's opinion, whether mine or yours. We are each entitled to our own.
Now if you'll excuse me I have a new weeks worth of scripts to write.
Peace
Thursday, September 9, 2010
View From the Phlipside - Digital Re-runs
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the Movies and more. I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View From the Phlipside.
There is a long standing fear about the speed with which technology develops. The fear that we won’t be able to keep up somehow. It’s always struck me as rather bizarre since if the technology suddenly gets ahead of the usability curve why does it suddenly become incumbent on me to keep up? Technology is there to serve me, not the other way around. As astounding as it may seem to some of us I know folks who are functioning perfectly happily and successfully without smartphones, social media or constant connection to the internet.
On the other hand I am disappointed when I see the opportunity for creativity being wasted. I don’t know why I let it bother me since it’s been going on for decades now. But once again I just have to shake my head in wonder when a whole horizon is opened for exploration and folks just stand there scratching their heads and saying “Well what are we gonna do with THAT?”
In the recent past television in the U.S. went digital. Remember the whole big hoo haw over getting the right antenna and then they ran out of antenna boxes and so on and so forth. Along with that local channels picked up digital sub channels. In other words whole new channels to be programmed with whatever they choose.
And this is where it gets sad. Because they’re doing what they always do. When new channels were added back in the dark ages (for those of us who remember having only 3 or 4 channels) what did they program? Reruns of old TV. When cable channels first started popping up what did they program? Reruns of old TV shows. So guess what you’ll probably find on the new digital sub-channels? That’s right, re-runs of old TV shows. In fact there are whole networks being offered just for the new digital channels. Networks that offer nothing but...re-runs of old TV shows.
And I can’t help thinking to myself “Is that really the best we can do? Is that really the extent of our programming creativity?” Because if it is I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble. We already have plenty of channels running plenty of re-runs. What we don’t have is very much in the way of interesting new ideas. No places for folks to try something different, no place to develop the next big thing.
One step forward in technology to provide one step back in programming. If this is the promise of the the technology age I’m not sure I’m impressed.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
There is a long standing fear about the speed with which technology develops. The fear that we won’t be able to keep up somehow. It’s always struck me as rather bizarre since if the technology suddenly gets ahead of the usability curve why does it suddenly become incumbent on me to keep up? Technology is there to serve me, not the other way around. As astounding as it may seem to some of us I know folks who are functioning perfectly happily and successfully without smartphones, social media or constant connection to the internet.
On the other hand I am disappointed when I see the opportunity for creativity being wasted. I don’t know why I let it bother me since it’s been going on for decades now. But once again I just have to shake my head in wonder when a whole horizon is opened for exploration and folks just stand there scratching their heads and saying “Well what are we gonna do with THAT?”In the recent past television in the U.S. went digital. Remember the whole big hoo haw over getting the right antenna and then they ran out of antenna boxes and so on and so forth. Along with that local channels picked up digital sub channels. In other words whole new channels to be programmed with whatever they choose.
And this is where it gets sad. Because they’re doing what they always do. When new channels were added back in the dark ages (for those of us who remember having only 3 or 4 channels) what did they program? Reruns of old TV. When cable channels first started popping up what did they program? Reruns of old TV shows. So guess what you’ll probably find on the new digital sub-channels? That’s right, re-runs of old TV shows. In fact there are whole networks being offered just for the new digital channels. Networks that offer nothing but...re-runs of old TV shows.
And I can’t help thinking to myself “Is that really the best we can do? Is that really the extent of our programming creativity?” Because if it is I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble. We already have plenty of channels running plenty of re-runs. What we don’t have is very much in the way of interesting new ideas. No places for folks to try something different, no place to develop the next big thing.
One step forward in technology to provide one step back in programming. If this is the promise of the the technology age I’m not sure I’m impressed.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
View From the Phlipside - Cartoons
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the Movies and more. I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View From the Phlipside.
This must be my week to be puzzled. Because I do not get this next bit, not in the tiniest little inkling do I understand the allure. I understand where it comes from. This is the land of the mash-up. A mash-up, if the term is new to you, is where you take ideas, information, words and/or images from multiple sources and “mash” them together to create a new thing. Most mash-ups are pretty boring and predictable but a small percentage turn out to be quite inventive and interesting.
Sadly I don’t think these next two make the grade. The two stories crossed my desk within a couple weeks of one another. The two concepts are very similar so maybe one fed the other. It didn’t get better with age. The first is the product of a comedy team called Paul and Storm and author Josh Cagan. What the movie industry would call the “concept” sounds interesting, take classic cartoons from the New Yorker magazine and team them up with tweets from the Twitter account of pop singer and moron Kanye West. Yeah, take some of the most sophisticated cartoons of the century and team them up with one of pop culture’s shallowest thinkers. It’s the kind of thing that the more you say it the less appealling it sounds. You’ll find it under the hash tag for kanyenewyorkertweets. If you don’t know what that means here’s the good news, it’s not worth worrying about.
Now we have the next addition to this,what? With two can we call it a trend yet? That would be Jersey Circus where the mash-up brings together the cartoons of Family Circus with the um wisdom of TV show Jersey Shore. That’s right Jeffy and Barfy meet Snookie and the Situation. The resulting love child is every bit as unamusing as Kanye and the New Yorker.
I think what really repels me about all this is the underlying feeling of smugness I detect. Mashing together the simple, clean humor of Family Circus with the current rulers of American Low Brow doesn’t add anything to the pantheon of literature. Seeing little Jeffy supposedly mouthing the words of some Jersey Guido isn’t amusing it’s perverse. Forcing the words from the bottom end of our cultural intellect in the mouths of our brightest or most innocent is simple vandalism. It is an anti-intellectual form of thuggery. The assault on the innocence of childhood would be rejected in the harshest terms in any other venue.
Instead of being funny it ends up being nauseating.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
This must be my week to be puzzled. Because I do not get this next bit, not in the tiniest little inkling do I understand the allure. I understand where it comes from. This is the land of the mash-up. A mash-up, if the term is new to you, is where you take ideas, information, words and/or images from multiple sources and “mash” them together to create a new thing. Most mash-ups are pretty boring and predictable but a small percentage turn out to be quite inventive and interesting.
Sadly I don’t think these next two make the grade. The two stories crossed my desk within a couple weeks of one another. The two concepts are very similar so maybe one fed the other. It didn’t get better with age. The first is the product of a comedy team called Paul and Storm and author Josh Cagan. What the movie industry would call the “concept” sounds interesting, take classic cartoons from the New Yorker magazine and team them up with tweets from the Twitter account of pop singer and moron Kanye West. Yeah, take some of the most sophisticated cartoons of the century and team them up with one of pop culture’s shallowest thinkers. It’s the kind of thing that the more you say it the less appealling it sounds. You’ll find it under the hash tag for kanyenewyorkertweets. If you don’t know what that means here’s the good news, it’s not worth worrying about.
Now we have the next addition to this,what? With two can we call it a trend yet? That would be Jersey Circus where the mash-up brings together the cartoons of Family Circus with the um wisdom of TV show Jersey Shore. That’s right Jeffy and Barfy meet Snookie and the Situation. The resulting love child is every bit as unamusing as Kanye and the New Yorker.
I think what really repels me about all this is the underlying feeling of smugness I detect. Mashing together the simple, clean humor of Family Circus with the current rulers of American Low Brow doesn’t add anything to the pantheon of literature. Seeing little Jeffy supposedly mouthing the words of some Jersey Guido isn’t amusing it’s perverse. Forcing the words from the bottom end of our cultural intellect in the mouths of our brightest or most innocent is simple vandalism. It is an anti-intellectual form of thuggery. The assault on the innocence of childhood would be rejected in the harshest terms in any other venue.
Instead of being funny it ends up being nauseating.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
View From the Phlipside - Snoop Dogg
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the Movies and more. I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View From the Phlipside.
When I saw this story I knew I wanted to share it but the longer I looked at it the more I thought “How to even begin”? Let’s call it the transforming power acceptance. So it’s kind of like a fairy tale.
Once upon a time there was a boy named Calvin. Calvin sang in the church choir as a boy but ran into some trouble when he grew up. He spent some time in jail. When he got out of jail a big producer heard him do his music thing and signed him. Calvin played up his criminal background early in his career and sold a lot of albums. And I do mean a LOT of albums. But as Calvin got older he saw that being a gangsta held him back from being some other things he wanted to be. So Calvin started going more mainstream in his life, became a certified youth football coach, did some acting and made some commercials. He still had the occasional run in with the law but eventually became the spokesperson for an anti-crime campaign.
Sounds pretty weird right? The Calvin in question is better known as Snoop Dogg and everything in the story is absolutely true. Snoop is now the spokesperson for the Norton anti-virus software anti-cyber crime campaign called “Hack is Whack”. Would be rappers get the chance to do an anti-cyber crime rap with the grand prize of two tickets to a Snoop Dogg concert, the chance to meet the man and his management team and a new computer.
Some folks will just shake their heads and think this is a terrible thing. Others will see it as a bit ironic. I think the reality is that we’re just watching a cultural process at work again. Elvis started at the edges of polite society. Remember he was thought so vulgar that the Ed Sullivan show refused to show those waggling hips. Within 15 years he was a lounge act in Las Vegas. Those rebellious rock stars of days gone by? Late middle age to early senior citizens with stock portfolios and retirement funds. It doesn’t work on everyone. Although even folks like Iggy Pop seemed to have mellowed a little as they’ve aged.
Most of us pushed back at least a little when we were growing up. Most of us settle in as we get older. Gangsta to pimp to youth football coach to anti-crime spokesman. The overwhelming force of acceptance tends to grind the edges down, even on Tha Doggfather
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
When I saw this story I knew I wanted to share it but the longer I looked at it the more I thought “How to even begin”? Let’s call it the transforming power acceptance. So it’s kind of like a fairy tale.
Once upon a time there was a boy named Calvin. Calvin sang in the church choir as a boy but ran into some trouble when he grew up. He spent some time in jail. When he got out of jail a big producer heard him do his music thing and signed him. Calvin played up his criminal background early in his career and sold a lot of albums. And I do mean a LOT of albums. But as Calvin got older he saw that being a gangsta held him back from being some other things he wanted to be. So Calvin started going more mainstream in his life, became a certified youth football coach, did some acting and made some commercials. He still had the occasional run in with the law but eventually became the spokesperson for an anti-crime campaign.Sounds pretty weird right? The Calvin in question is better known as Snoop Dogg and everything in the story is absolutely true. Snoop is now the spokesperson for the Norton anti-virus software anti-cyber crime campaign called “Hack is Whack”. Would be rappers get the chance to do an anti-cyber crime rap with the grand prize of two tickets to a Snoop Dogg concert, the chance to meet the man and his management team and a new computer.
Some folks will just shake their heads and think this is a terrible thing. Others will see it as a bit ironic. I think the reality is that we’re just watching a cultural process at work again. Elvis started at the edges of polite society. Remember he was thought so vulgar that the Ed Sullivan show refused to show those waggling hips. Within 15 years he was a lounge act in Las Vegas. Those rebellious rock stars of days gone by? Late middle age to early senior citizens with stock portfolios and retirement funds. It doesn’t work on everyone. Although even folks like Iggy Pop seemed to have mellowed a little as they’ve aged.
Most of us pushed back at least a little when we were growing up. Most of us settle in as we get older. Gangsta to pimp to youth football coach to anti-crime spokesman. The overwhelming force of acceptance tends to grind the edges down, even on Tha Doggfather
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)