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12.24.2003
You Scratch My Back
A story I've been following with some interest (and not a little black humor) since the beginning of the month:
At some time during the debate over the recent Medicare/prescription drug bill in Congress, it appears that someone tried to bribe Representative Nick Smith, a Republican from Michigan who's retiring after this term in office. Rep. Smith's son is running for his soon-to-be-vacated seat. As originally told by Smith, the story goes that "House leadership" pressed him for a "yes" vote on the bill by first promising financial help and leadership endorsements for Smith the younger and then threatening to make sure that his campaign failed if Smith refused to endorse the bill. When the press picked up on the story and pushed Smith to name names, pointing out that if true, the conduct pretty much equaled the textbook definition of bribery, Smith "recanted" and said it never happened. Problem is, Smith was all over the place talking about it before it became a legal issue... In the latest "development", if you want to call it that, the Justice Department is dragging its heels over opening an investigation into the matter. Personally, I don't know how long it takes for the wheels of Justice to grind into motion, but it does seem as if the information is out there just waiting for them to decide to jump into it. 12.23.2003
XMas Music Spectacularamundo
Here's the deal: in the 1960s, RCA/Victor used to press sampler albums with tracks from their catalog and give them out with the purchase of an RCA/Victor record player. Most of these sampler albums would, in today's parlance, be "Limited Editions", never to be made again; back then, it was just one more way to get the consumer exposed to the label.
So the story goes that my grandparents gave my father a record player for Christmas his freshman year of college at Ohio University. When they bought it, they were also given an RCA/Victor sampler album, entitled THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS. Which my dad apparently loved, because it's one of the few albums from their collection that I remember listening to every year when I was a kid. Dad loved it so much that he dubbed it to tape and gave the album itself back to my grandparents so they could enjoy it; that tape then became the Audio Tape What Gets Played the Most in the Dahlberg household. It got so I knew every one of those songs by heart, despite not even knowing, really, who the artists were. And so it comes to pass that now, as an adult with a family of my own, I'd like to have some Christmas music in the house -- all well and good, as it's not hard to come by, but what I want is that album I grew up with. But here's the catch: most of those samplers have never been pressed on CD. THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS, as a sampler album, exists only in its original form: a long-playing record. Which leaves me to turn to the internet. Help me, Internet. You're my only hope. I've been searching high and low for mp3s of the tracks from the album. Some I have; most, I don't. If you have any of these or can find them anywhere using this magical electronic box of knowledge, drop me a line at gus@dahlbergcentral.com and let me know. THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
(1) I actually have a version of this song by another choir which sounds remarkably similar, but I'd still like to have the Luboff version. I highly recommend these for your own Christmas collections, however. There's lots of fun to be had here; the Fiedler/Boston Pops "A Christmas Festival" has long been one of my favorite pieces (yeah, it's a medley, but it's a FUN medley), and The Cartwrights' "Merry Christmas Neighbor" is a hoot (yes, it's the cast of BONANZA doing a Christmas song...) Thanks, Internet. Merry Christmas. 12.18.2003
Genius/Madman/Genius
Your "comics in the mainstream media" link for the day: Slate takes a tour through the career highlights of writer Alan Moore, the Orson Welles of comics.
(Ignore the links to the SUPREME books -- here's what you need for a proper Moore library:
(and, if you can find cheap copies, of course: all three MIRACLEMAN books written by Moore...) 12.15.2003
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Behold Xtop
12.11.2003
You'll Shoot Your Eye Out
Cast reunion of A CHRISTMAS STORY in Los Angeles, December 2003: "Left to right, here's R.D. Robb (Schwartz), Ian Petrella (Randy Parker), Peter Billingsley (Ralphie), Bob Clark (director/co-producer/co-writer), Scott Schwartz (Flick) and Zack Ward (Scut Farkus)." Name, Rank, Serial Number
Think the information you provide as part of your voter registration is secret? Think again:
Unknown to many voters, election officials sell the information to political parties and candidates, as well as to data collectors, who combine it with census data, purchasing histories, credit reports and magazine subscription lists. And can just anyone in the world buy the lists without verifying their intentions? Why, yes they can. (And no, I'm not a privacy freak by any stretch of the imagination -- I've written my Social Security number in so many places that I'm under no illusions that it's an impossible-to-discover-secret -- but I'm not sure I'm all that happy that the state is helping marketers find out who I am and what I like, inadvertently or not.) 12.09.2003
Wellston
Deja Vu: 1988
“I’ve seen a candidate who has what it takes to reach out to the independent, mainstream Americans who will make the difference ... particularly in the South,” Gore declared as he endorsed Dukakis.
“He’s going to send George Bush packing and bring the Democratic Party home.” As he accepted Gore’s endorsement in Nashville on June 16, 1988, Dukakis said: “We aren’t going to concede one single state in this country . . . and that includes the states of the South.” Both Dukakis in 1988 and Gore in 2000 carried Iowa. But neither Dukakis nor Gore was able to win any Southern states. The South would be Dean’s toughest challenge in 2004, if he wins the nomination. ### More interesting analysis of the Gore endorsement and how Gore's politics are, in fact, closer to Dean's than many thought here. Double-cross
12.08.2003
Endorsed By
I tried to resist blogging this, which I pulled from Warren's this morning, but... but...
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA Lieberman: The Candidate for the Last Millenium
Lieberman versus Hollywood
Mon Dec 8, 8:19 AM ET - washingtonpost.com Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman remembers where he was (at home in Connecticut, sitting on the couch) and when (the fall of 1993) the notion first struck him: Television can be toxic, especially to young children. With his stepson, then 17, and daughter, then 5, beside him, Lieberman sat through an episode of the bawdy sitcom "Married . . . with Children" that night with a growing sense of discomfort. At first he was surprised and embarrassed. Then he was angry. It was, he says, "the moment that got me going." In the months and years that followed, Lieberman would become the Senate's, and arguably Washington's, leading pop-culture crusader. In news conferences and speeches, he repeatedly denounced the entertainment industry for selling "debasement," "garbage" and "cultural poison" to children. His targets quickly stretched beyond Al Bundy to the broader seep of junk media: Geraldo Rivera and "trash" TV talk shows, violent video games such as "Mortal Kombat," misogynistic "gangsta" rap music, sexually frank prime-time TV programs. "It's time," he once declared, "for a revolt of the revolted." ...This is a persistent criticism of Lieberman -- that he works with a broad brush and lacks direct knowledge of the products and programs he goes after. Several entertainment-industry lobbyists and reporters remember a news conference Lieberman and ["moral guru" and Lieberman adviser William] Bennett called in 1994 to condemn media violence. When a reporter asked Lieberman to name a favorite TV program, the senator cited "The McNeil-Lehrer Report" on PBS. Pressed for the name of an entertainment program, Lieberman hesitated, seemingly unable to come up with an answer. Several people then overheard an aide whispering, "Touched by an Angel ." Lieberman immediately named the wholesome CBS drama as a favorite. "I never mind having arguments with someone who knows the subject matter," says a lobbyist for an entertainment concern, who asked not to be identified, "but Lieberman didn't know what he was talking about. He was just using it for politics. I don't mind that, either, except when he got holier-than-thou on you." He adds, "Lieberman is better at holding press conferences than legislating [on culture issues]. He's better at wagging his finger. This is a wonderful political issue with almost no consequences." Lieberman defends his sincerity but concedes that his campaign schedule and Senate duties preclude him from paying much attention to current TV, movies or records. When he has time for TV, he says, he enjoys reruns of "Seinfeld" and ESPN's "SportsCenter," with Chris Berman (ESPN, however, says Berman has other anchoring duties and rarely hosts the program anymore). A self-described movie lover, Lieberman says the last three movies he saw were "Mystic River" with Sean Penn, the 1993 AIDS drama "Philadelphia" with Tom Hanks, and the musical "Chicago," which was released in late 2002. ### Reminding myself why this guy doesn't get my vote -- he claims he's progressive and liberal, often pointing out that he was once a civil rights activist, but anyone who emphasizes a return to "family values" has clearly missed the point of that particular movement. President Bush's comments regarding the flap between the Dixie Chicks and Toby Keith and his faux pas regarding GWBush.com during the 2000 election have been more well-publicized, but Lieberman's subtle push to return American culture to Ozzie and Harriet are just as disturbing, and just as damaging, in the long run. 12.05.2003
Home
Val's home. Surgery went well -- everybody's fine and (relatively) healthy and happy.
Let us hope that next week is a little more dull. 12.03.2003
Hospital
Val's been in the hospital since Monday night -- looks like she has to have gall bladder surgery, which will hopefully be scheduled today. From what I am told, this is pretty common after a pregnancy, though I'd certainly never heard the like before Carl was born. If you'd keep her in your thoughts and prayers, I'd appreciate it.
12.01.2003
Cowboy
It's my buddy's birthday. Happy 28th, Fraction. Everyone who likes good things and doesn't like bad things should check out his book: LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS, available on Amazon here. If you're waffling... here's a sample of the goodness therein.
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