HBO’s new dpcumentary on Ronald Reagan (right). FX’s “Archer” and “Justified.” Bruno Mars on the CD cover of “Grenade” (third from right). The latest cover from The Vaccines and the CD cover of the Neon Trees’ “1983.”
Back in the Saddle
Sorry for last week’s ultra-brief Zeitgeist (although some of you might have deemed it a relief….) but I’m firmly back in the saddle again this week so here’s an extra-length Zeitgeist which has everything I’ve been wanting to share with you all for the past few weeks. First, let me extend my deep and sincere thanks to all of you who called and emailed with your good wishes on behalf of my brother Shane. Special thanks to those who mentioned him in their prayers. I’m happy to say that he, too, is back in the saddle, having been sent home from the hospital in what appears and what we all hope was a successful procedure. Time will tell, but we’re optimistic.
Speaking of saddles and cowboys, HBO released a nearly two-hour documentary on the life of Ronald Reagan to coincide with the 100th anniversary of his birth last week. You can order it on HBO On Demand or catch it on one of the seven HBO channels as they’re running it a lot. The first 60 percent of the doc is expertly researched with tons of archival footage and photos tracing Reagan from his birth through his election as Governor of California in the 1960s. There are interviews aplenty with family, friends, former staffers and pundits. A real paean to the former Prez. Then there is the back 40 percent of the documentary: The glow of nostalgia gives way to a fairly even-handed but heavy critique of his governorship and especially his presidency. Now, there is a tendency, especially among Republicans to beatify or canonize Reagan as the best there ever was, but the fact is he was only human and did make human mistakes and not everything worked out the way he wanted it to. Nevertheless, the HBO people focus just a tad too much on his shortcomings at the expense of his legacy. On the whole, Reagan was probably the best president we’ve had since JFK. The economy boomed as never before. We won the Cold War. After the malaise of the Carter years, he restored the spirit of America and of Americans; he restored our standing in the world and he was an inspiration to an entire generation. Well worth seeing. Kind of like how I enjoy “Ben-Hur” for 80 or 90 percent of the movie until they get mired in all the Jesus miracle stuff towards the end. This is just the opposite, at the end the producers try and bring Reagan back down to earth but it’s still a moving story.
Keeping with the cowboy theme, back on FX for a second season is “Justified,” the story of quick shooting U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens and his adventures in Harlan County, Kentucky which stars Timothy Olyphant (formerly Sheriff on HBO’s critically-acclaimed but short-lived “Deadwood”.) in the role he was born to play. This is tongue-in-cheek, quick-talking charming “good ‘ol boy” stomping around a Red State, white bread heartland but with the kind of characters (good and bad) who because they are such characters, remind me of all the guest stars on the old “Rockford Files.” This is aw-shucks detective work with an edge of skin-tight and 10-gallon hat sex appeal. The good guys always win but the bad guys are often adorable too. Like living in a Jack Daniel’s or Jim Beam commercial but the writing and acting are so good that even us Northeastern city-slickers can appreciate it. One of the best shows right now on series television (as are many of the productions on FX) so much so that I don’t mind the commercials. But you can DVR it and zap through them. Wednesdays at 10 on FX.
Secret Agent Man
The above sub-head(line) references the famous hit Johnny Rivers song of the same title which spoofed the whole James Bond secret agent movie and TV explosion in the 60s. (Rivers sounded black, kind of the way Dusty Springfield did, but he and Dusty were white. Here’s the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXGAif4dKhs) Spoofing the secret agent genre of the 20-teens is “Archer,” also (like “Justified” on FX) also back for it’s second season on Thursday nights. This show may be animated (as in it’s a cartoon…) but it is definitely, positively not for children. It is high camp married to high debauchery with a side of heavy locker room/U.S. Navy aircraft carrier-at-sea-for-a-year type of misogynistic humor which is also hysterically funny specifically because it is a cartoon. The show’s central character is secret agent Sterling Archer who whips out the puns with the speed of an Uzi submachine gun. Great supporting cast as well including Judy Greer and Jessica Walter among others. DVR it. Second season so far is just as funny as the first.
Pothole Patrol
At the end of the last great Ice Age, the glaciers that retreated from New York gouged huge craters in the landscape. Some became giant bodies of water like the Finger Lakes in upstate New York, some created big valleys like the Hempstead Plain. As the Ice Age of 2011 starts winding to a gradual conclusion (Global Warming, really???) and the ice retreats, craters are being left in the ice’s wake taking the form of multitudinous potholes in the asphalt. There are some places that are so bad this week that I feel compelled to share their locations with you if only to spare you the jarring agony of front axle breakage at worst and wheels out of alignment at best.
Look out on the Northbound Cross Island Parkway where it meets the Long Island Expressway, the ramp in particular to the LIE is a Swiss cheese like maze of holes, with more holes than pavement, Tiptoe through the potholes. Also, Searingtown Road Southbound from Northern Blvd to the LIE has some really bad pavement right around the Americana Mall. Francis Lewis Blvd in Rosedale just North of Sunrise Highway is an absolute mess as is Brookville Blvd between Francis Lewis and the Cross Island entrance which has more holes than pavement. The Belt Parkway between Exits 11 and 14 (Pennsylvania Ave and Flatbush Ave) has both construction (when, pray tell has this road NOT been under construction during the five decades of my lifetime?) and a whole lot of holes and bumps. And lastly, the Grand Central Parkway Westbound towards the Triboro/RFK Bridge and by LaGuardia Airport has construction and holes/bumps aplenty. Lastly, the Cross Bronx Expressway -- what's up with the no lights at night for the past year? Nothing like having a giant truck on your tuches in the left lane at 11:00 pm with no road illumination! Forewarned is forearmed.
Valentine’s Music
OK, some new tunes and some oldies to get you going on this romantic weekend. Feeling desperate? Can’t compare with Bruno Mars who has a song out called “Grenade,” where he professes such intense love for the object of his affections that he is willing to fall on a live grenade or endanger himself in other grizzly ways to demonstrate the depths of his feelings. Mars is after just the kind of “taking and no giving” type of girl I write about above. Mars (who looks a bit like a young Michael Jackson in his pre-nutty days) is a 26 year-old Hawaiian who attained recognition as a writer and vocalist on such recent hits as (I Want to Be a) “Billionaire” with Travie McCoy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aRor905cCw) and “Right Round” by Flo Rida. He’s up for seven Grammys (the awards are this Sunday night). Check out “Grenade” with 74 million hits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR6iYWJxHqs.
From the really Old School is Bobby Vinton who is still going strong at 76 (50 year difference between him and Bruno Mars) who had a string of early 60s hits like “Blue Velvet,” “Roses are Red (My Love),” “Mister Lonely” and “There I Said It Again” which went Number One in 1964.. Vinton's version of “There! I've Said It Again” is noteworthy for being the final U.S. Billboard Number One single of the pre-Beatles era, deposed from the Hot 100's summit by "I Want to Hold Your Hand." Vinton had a whole bunch of hits through the 60s and 70s but this is one of his biggest of all time and a great love song for Valentine’s Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJBMp18TT9g
Rocking back to 2011 there’s a very new British group called “The Vaccines” who will be releasing their first album on March 21st (“What Did You Expect from The Vaccines?”). I first heard their new soon-to-be-hit on BBC Radio 1 (Channel 11 on Sirius and Channel 30 on XM) where so many new new new things can be heard well in advance of what American radio is playing. The name of this song? “Post Break-Up Sex.” You read that right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU9hrd35Dsg&feature=related. “It’s that post break-up sex that helps you forget your ex.” This song rocks and will be a huge hit here in two months. You’re hearing it here if not first then at least early. Click on this link. You’ll love the song.
Hurtling down the break-up trail is a 1978 oldie from Brit Chris Rea who sold 30 million albums in Europe and the UK in the 70s and 80s but only had limited success here in the U.S. His ballad “Fool If You Think It’s Over” got all the way to Number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Save Your Cryin’ for the Day…” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26iubAguHu0. “This teenage dream is such a tragic scene…” Sends me right back to college and some of the slow dances we did back then…
Finally, The Neon Trees, a Utah-based band of Mormon American rockers have a new album and single out called “1983.” Now that was a significant year for me. I graduated from the University of Miami with a Masters in Publishing Management and also got married to my first wife (which lasted just under two years, that’s another story for another time). I was 24-25 and just really starting out in life in a serious way. This song doesn’t talk about my experiences. The Neon Trees had a big hit in 2010 called Animal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY--Yu4kzz0) which I praised very highly last Spring in this column. “Animal” went Platinum and hit Number One on the U.S. Alternative Rock chart and Number 13 on the overall charts. Now they’re out with a new soon-to-be-hit “1983,” “1983 is callin’ and I’m on my knees and crawling back to you…” This tune has a New Wave 80s retro beat that just gets you right out of your chair and off the couch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j51LRUjIdnE. “Me and you, you and me, let’s go back to 1983…”
Here’s a P.S. – great 80s love song, “Mad About You” by Belinda Carlisle, if you haven’t heard it in a while, you should: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmdtJWmR9zQ