It strikes me this blog has lost its way. Freed from my self-imposed obligation of a long, end-of-day data-dump, it’s noodled its way into irrelevance. I’m so glad I don’t have any site-statistic software; it would be too depressing.
On the other hand, one of the nice things about this year, after 18 years of being a columnist, is the freedom from having to say something about anything. “Shut up and learn” was my bumper-sticker resolution for this year, and while I haven’t always been successful at the first part, I think I’ve been pretty diligent about the second.
Also, the way the news is these days, commentary seems like such a dull sword. From the Department of You Can’t Make This Shit Up, today’s memo:
* NBC’s entertainment division made an offer to derail a story by its news division, in hopes of gaining an interview with — who else? — Michael Jackson. Read it and weep, in the NYT.
* I’m always saying that if Republicans and/or conservatives want more of a voice in pop culture, they ought to send their kids to film school instead of business school. Well, it looks like they already have a representative deep inside not only the movie business, but the indie/film festival movie business. The bad news: It’s Vincent Gallo.
* Perhaps you’ve been following all the brow-fanning over the MoveOn fete earlier this month, in which many of the speakers made the usual tired George Bush = Adolf Hitler connections. It shouldn’t surprise you to know this is a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do thing for some conservatives. Eric Zorn does the dirty work; scroll down to “the H word.”
With that, I’m off to my Bible as Literature class. Now that’s a whole entry on its own; later for that one.
alex said on January 21, 2004 at 11:55 am
Gallo might just be the next Leni Riefenstahl. Without the smarts or the talent, of course. Oops�did I just play the H card? Smack me.
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Brian said on January 21, 2004 at 1:19 pm
The read it and weep story about NBC and Michael Jackson raises a question: why should the NBC “News” Division be that concerned with the entire Michael Jackson mess? Had this been the same crime, committed by somebody’s hillbilly uncle in Sturgis, MI (I apologize for the cheap shot to any Sturgeons reading this blog), it wouldn’t have been national “news”.
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Maureen said on January 22, 2004 at 1:17 pm
I too would second the comment above, and like the phrasing of “waltzed away”.
If I may toss in my two cents, one thing that endeared me to NancyNall.com in the first place is the clear-eyed view onto the world, or at least The Fort. Even in fiction, the thing that grabs me is when I feel that a writer really gets it right, when the situation or dialogue represents or casts some light onto truth.
So it should be no surprise that one thing I find annoying in the current NN.com is how these Whoppers are passed along in your links, with no attempt to puncture the hyperbole bubble. Don’t get me wrong – you are no worse than most, but somehow I had come to expect more from you.
Today – case in point. Calling all queers. I think that the Mary Cheney situation could possibly be quite interesting, but the questions that Michael Signorile poses are hardly the ones that would provide any insight. I am an anti-fundamentalist, of all varieties. But I do know that biblical literalists, even of the GOP type, DO NOT believe that homosexuals are better off dead!
Still.
I allow myself two blogs before starting work, and most days, I pick NancyNall.com.
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Jenny said on January 22, 2004 at 2:09 pm
Maureen, I have to question exactly how MANY biblical literalists (and aren’t they almost always GOP?) you actually know. It couldn’t be many if you believe the majority don’t want homosexuals dead….or maybe you just mean they want them all on an island unto themselves (and away from everyone else)…not dead exactly, but…
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Peter said on January 23, 2004 at 9:24 am
Re:Eric Zorn’s “H” comments –
I think that the radio schmoe was on to something – I listened to Dean’s speech on NPR, and I thought of Hitler as well – not because of his speech, which was more comic than strange, but because of the NPR reporter – to hear him talk, you would have thought it was the Second Coming. This reporter was so gushing, I thought to myself “Isn’t this how Hitler and McCarthy got started? Guy spouts off at a meeting, some reporter thinks it’s hot stuff, spreads the word, and the next thing you know, they’re marching into Poland…”
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alex said on January 23, 2004 at 10:04 am
Maureen, I gave “waltzed away” ten points, but then knocked ten off for the “chagrine.” (Sorry but that’s the proofreader in me.)
As for Signorile’s so-called hyperbole, I don’t think it’s so far out. The fundies have toned down over the years because they realize what a PR disaster it is when they advocate doing violence to others. It scares away the politicians they want in their corner. And whaddaya know? As a tactic, it really works! Why, they’ve got the president eating out of their hand.
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