The loudest breeze in town.
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Meanwhile, at another awards show ....
For the record, the opening number at the British film/TV awards two weeks ago.
It's the 60th anniversary of the James Bond franchise.
Shirley Bassey hasn't sung in public in three years. She's 85.
Clip: Live 2022 BAFTAs, Diamonds are Forever
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Boys in the bubble
Today's skill-testing question:
This weekend at the Grammy Awards,
Kanye West gets up out of his seat,
walks to the stage,
and smacks Trevor Noah in the mouth.
What happens in the next 30 minutes?
1. Kanye returns to his seat and enjoys the rest of the show.
2. Kanye preps tears for his upcoming award and weepy my bad routine.
3. Kanye is hugged and counseled by Denzel Washington over a Kardashian joke.
4. Kanye sends Pete Davidson a quick screen grab of his Grammy slug.
4. Kanye flees Vegas in a Bronco out the I-15, trailed by six cop cars and a KABC chase helicopter.
Take your time.
The future can be so iff-y...
Grammy art: Elizabeth Brockway/DailyBeast
Chart topper
Always good to know what folks are thinking about.
But talk about burying the lede...
Academy Awards:
"While we would
like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and
refused, we also recognize we could have handled the situation
differently."
Clod squad
_Donald Trump claims he shot a hole in one.
Doesn't want to brag about it.
Never heard the words "burner phone"
Life is good.
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Jim Carrey : " A Selfish Moment"
_
“I’d have announced this morning that I was suing Will for 200 million dollars because that video is going to be there forever, it’s going to be ubiquitous. That insult is gonna last a very long time. If you want to yell from the audience and show disapproval or say something on Twitter, you do not have the right to walk up on stage and smack somebody in the face ‘cuz they said words.”
Clip: CBS, This Morning
LOST SONGS: Siberia
Oh for the old days, before rebel Russians faced face-peeling poisons and Vlad's assassins.
For ex-pat oligarchs, a happy place.
The tune? Who else? Cole Porter.
Jules Munshin is the tall guy, Joseph Buloff the middle one, and Peter Lorre--who can't quite remember the lyric or the choreography.
Clip: Silk Stockings, MGM musical of Ninotchka
Доброе утро русские тролли!
В Сибири приятно -12С.
_
_
Monday, March 28, 2022
Gag me now
What did they find when they dusted Chris Rock's face? Fresh prints.
"The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night's show...
"We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our bylaws, standards of conduct, and California law."
Sunday, March 27, 2022
ASSAULT AT THE OSCARS
_
"Keep my wife's name out your fuckin' mouth."
Deadline's Mike Fleming:
Will Smith walked up on the stage and looked like he slapped Chris Rock. “Will
Smith just slapped the shit out of me,” Rock said. “Keep my wife's name
out your fuckin' mouth,” Will said. When Chris retorted that it was a
nice joke about G.I. Jane 2, Will repeated “Keep my wife's name out your
fuckin' mouth.” It did not seem staged. One of the craziest moments I
have ever seen on the Oscars. I got to see it all on the Sky feed. It
was not censored. Wow. Wonder if Will will reference it when he wins
Best Actor?
(Jada Pinkett Smith revealed her alopecia diagnosis in 2018.)
Deadline's Joe Utichi:
"The craziest moment in Oscar history. Ever."
Video clip: The Guardian/Sky TV
Telecast photo: Variety
Twoshot: Deadline
Flickering flicks
"Consider two Top 10 lists.
On one, the 10 movies from 2021 that were nominated for this year’s best-picture Oscar.
On the other, the 10 movies from 2021 that led the U.S. box office in ticket sales.
The overlap between the two: Zero."
--Wall Street Journal
Sticks! What Can’t They Do?
Elizabeth Zephyrine McDonough welcomes you to Stickworld in this comic short film.
Adopt a stick.
Clip: New Yorker screening room, 3 mins
HOUSE PARTY: ISN`T SHE LOVELY
A little Brazilian jam...
Hamilton de Holanda & Mestrinho, musical party pals.
Song: Stevie Wonder
Going, going, but not gone yet
_I've been aware of the 70 Over 70 podcast for several months,
but didn't sample it til this weekend.
Seventy 70-plus guests talk about the road out of here. Living. Aging. The exit ramp.
It's fascinating.
Even hopeful.
Each pod is in two parts: an interview with a "real" person, then a conversation with
better-known guest.
David Crosby, Dionne Warwick, Dan Rather, Susan Lucci, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Twiggy, Raffi, Russell Banks, Norman Lear and Bob Iger
have each done an episode. "It's a remarkable portrait, with the elderly appearing just as petty, reckless, lusty, zealous, difficult, vulnerable ... and scared to grow up as anyone else," a magazine piece observed.
"It's not because the guests spout wisdom. It's because they're--for lack of a more eloquent term--endearingly awkward."
"You don't know this yet, because you're young" sez swimmer Diane Nyad, 72,
"but time actually speeds up as you get older. Every month, every day, every hour."
If this strikes you as interesting,
rather than morbid,
you might be intrigued by the pod.
70 Over 70 is on all platforms (Amazon, Apple, Spotify, etc) and--below--at its production homebase, where all the episodes are indexed for listening at a click.
Link: 70 Over 70 podcast index (pineapplefm)
Link: 70 Over 70 article (New Yorker)
Illustration: David Crosby
FLASHBACK: Toronto in 1935
Old Toronto's YouTube channel puts up unique T.O. flashbacks, restored archival footage.
This one is mostly streetcars and ferries.
Saturday, March 26, 2022
Burp burnout
_Quick, toss a twitter to Pepsi's food chemists.
Maple Syrup Pepsi is not a thing.
Just as their previous work--
Apple Pie Pepsi, Easter Peeps Pepsi
and Crackjacks Pepsi--are not things.
You could mix your Pepsi half-and-half
with teriyaki sauce. Would you?
P.S. You know those little flavor squirt
squeezies they sell at groceries
to flavor water?
With ice cubes, they're pretty good.
Muddy Waters & The Rolling Stones .
Chicago's Checkerboard Lounge is home base for virtually every great blues artist of the last half century.
It's a temple of shit-happens song.
It has the bulletholes in the ceiling to prove it.
Here's a long clip of The Stones crowding in the little southside club to pay homage to Muddy Waters.
How do you get 25 minutes out of a song with only 14 words? Apparently, if you're trailing a film crew for a DVD extra, you can.
Friday, March 25, 2022
Russian Corner: Sting - Russians (Guitar / Cello Version)
It was decades ago that Sting wrote Russians.
He re-recorded it last week.
The proceeds from music platform plays go to Ukraine aid charities.
Song at 00:33 if video starts earlier.
SOPRANOS SINGALONG: Woke Up This Morning
Woke up this morning, got yourself a gun
Mama always said you'd be the chosen one ...
You a gangsta, chief.
Sing it out... just karaoke-read the screen.
The Sopranos ran from 1999 to 2007.
Song: A3
Put on your pants
Yes, Bridgerton is back.
But fans of Call My Agent on Netflix, should check out Drôle on the same platform.
It's about a group of stand-up comedians at a Paris comedy club, produced by the same French team that gave the streamer its Call My Agent sleeper.
Ace English dubbing & subtitles.
Top GIF: Jonathan Bailey in Bridgerton, Netflix.
Movie music
Original movie scores is one of the categories kicked off Sunday's Oscar telecast. Editing too?
That's a shame, since music's a prime element of memorable flicks. And there's damn little exposure for soundtracks.
But each week, there's a new hour of movie music on Saturday Cinema, on demand at the link below.
It's one of the feature offerings at yourclassical.org, the 24/7 web stream from Minnesota Public Radio. On demand at....
24/7 Classical Radio feed (MPR)
_Thursday, March 24, 2022
A $735,000 Kitchen reno?
Justin Trudeau's country house "renovations" cost $11 million.
The kitchen update alone ... $ 735,000.
--news report
* * *
Extra fridges
to keep Tories on ice?
MUSIC BREAK: Days Of Wine And Roses
If you could do this, would you ever leave the house?
Nelson Faria, Romero Lubambo tickle the Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer standard.
Clip: Um Cafe la em Casa
Lights are on, but ...
Offices may not be half full, but half empty for good.
I'm intrigued by an axios item this morning that surveys office workers.
75% of executives want to come back to the office at least three days a week.
But only 37% of rank-and-file employees do.
50% of workers would rather quit than return to offices full time.
City skylines are bright with towers 24/7. God forbid you think they're empty days too.
Thank goodness there's an underclass of working stiffs to keep the lights on.
So the rest can stay at home?
That would seem like a problem.
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
HUMP DAY SINGALONG: Bare Naked Ladies - One Week
"It'll still be two days til we say we're sorry ... "
Can you read a karaoke machine this fast?
Singalong and speed-read exam.
Let's sit on Bill Shatner's lap
Eventually everybody will have a podcast.
"I've never been to a Hollywood party," claims William Shatner on Bill Maher's first episode of Club Random. (YouTube and pod platforms)
It's an odd hour in which weed and wine are obviously guest hosts. A fan of both guys, I bailed at about the fifteen minute mark.
But it may have the clumsiest opening ever, in when Maher tries to sit on Shatner's lap.
Awkward. It's here.
Morning paper
_I've joked before about the four Russian readers of this blog.
(I'm sure they're spooks in St. Petersberg, exiles from the BuzzFeed IT room.)
But three dozen Russians are now here weekly. Is Dr. Evil' cyberwar center hiring?
Or is there a better explanation?
(Blogger, owned by Google, is still unblocked in Putinland.)
доброе утро тролли!
(Good morning Russian trolls.)
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Live from Kyiv
_KrainaFM is a Kyiv commercial music station that feeds
about 30 other stations in Ukraine.
You can hear it here.
Takes a few seconds to load.
When the war began, they moved to safer digs outside the city, and declared themselves the voice of the resistance, offering news of
troop movements, escape routes, etc.
There's a 15-minute interview
with a station official on the
New Yorker's weekly radio hour
Andrew Schulz's Trudeau & Toronto jokes
One of New York City's hot comics charms the T.O. locals (5 mins) with Canuck laff lines.
TWO YEARS LATER: Jacob Collier
Jacob Collier's covid-delayed world tour kicks off in Portland in a 10 days.
The celebrated one-man band actually has one.
They're intro'd in a promo (8 mins) that's up on YouTube in recent hours. The editor deserves a shout-out.
Toronto, second show added Tuesday May 10 at Danforth Music Hall.
Other Canadian dates: Vancouver April 4 and 5, Montreal May 11.
A complete list of current stops scrolls at end above clip.
Two dozen stops in North America, then UK, Ireland, Paris, Stockholm, etc.
Clip: Debut shows in 2021, Las Vegas
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