Category Archives: arts

Lumet’s gone, but ‘Network’ is forever

Posted on April 10, 2011 by oddmanout215

Reading of Sidney Lumet’s death, I thought of Al Pacino chanting “Attica! Attica!” to rouse the rabble in Dog Day Afternoon; of Henry Fonda, with Obama-like cool, shrugging off Lee J. Cobb’s bully tactics in Twelve Angry Men; of Jerry … Continue reading →

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On the road to Johnny Brenda’s w/ Nicos Gun

Posted on April 5, 2011 by oddmanout215

You’re achy and pissed when you pull into Roadkill, AL, or wherever, and sick of looking at each other, of the smell of each other in that RV you’re rattling around in. But South by Southwest in Austin was sweet … Continue reading →

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Snooki hits back at critic of her Rutgers gig

Posted on April 3, 2011 by oddmanout215

From nj.com: What’s worth more? A commencement speech by a Nobel-winning novelist? Or a pair of Q&A sessions with one of reality television’s biggest stars? At Rutgers University, Snooki edges out Toni Morrison by a couple thousand dollars. Last month, … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, fiction, NJ | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

This weekend — the Phillies or ‘The Loser’

Posted on April 2, 2011 by oddmanout215

From the late Austrian Thomas Bernhard’s novel The Loser, in which a fictional version of Glenn Gould has studied piano with two would-be virtuosos, Wertheimer and the narrator, who have both quit playing because they were psychologically damaged by the … Continue reading →

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Joe Bageant walked it as he talked it

Posted on March 31, 2011 by oddmanout215

Joe Bageant, the self-described “redneck socialist” writer who died this week at age 64, enjoyed exploring the great divide between the working class and the limousine liberal establishment. Sometimes he seemed one of the few progressive-minded author/social critics who even … Continue reading →

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MBS nuns wouldn’t have mourned Liz Taylor

Posted on March 23, 2011 by oddmanout215

The actress Elizabeth Taylor, who died today at age 79, was oft-mentioned in the Catholic grade school I attended. The nuns who taught at Most Blessed Sacrament in Southwest Philadelphia, lecturing on sin, used to tell us the “hussy” Liz … Continue reading →

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Anti-unions bill OK’d. (Don’t sit still for it, Tom.)

Posted on March 10, 2011 by oddmanout215

Because these wings are no longer wings to fly But merely vans to beat the air The air which is now thoroughly small and dry Smaller and dryer than the will Teach us to care and not to care Teach … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, Obama, Politics, pop music, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How wingnut radio really works

Posted on March 9, 2011 by oddmanout215

The company responsible for syndicating big conservative radio names like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity has been using paid actors to call in to their radio shows. According to a recent report in Tablet Magazine, Premiere Radio Networks, … Continue reading →

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Media likes Sheen, but angry workers? Not so much

Posted on March 2, 2011 by oddmanout215

Three blivets wreathed in American flags and automatic weapons could stand on a streetcorner with signs reading “Keep Your Damn Government Hands Off My Medicare,” and they would find themselves surrounded by camera crews from CNN, MSNBC and, of course, … Continue reading →

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Money for (next to) nothing on WXPN

Posted on February 27, 2011 by oddmanout215

But there’s nothing, really nothing, to turn off. — Bob Dylan, “Visions of Johanna,” 1966 I turned on the car radio this morning and noticed the DJ on WXPN was yakking for a long time between songs. “Oh no, a … Continue reading →

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