The Zeitgeist

          

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 100^th 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 21^st (“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

The Zeitgeist

    

I Come in Praise of Rex, Not to Bury Him

Jets Coach Rex Ryan is getting skewered and put on the rotisserie by many New York area sports fans, columnists, pundits and viewers of last night’s AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers for the miserable way his team performed in the first half of that game, and justifiably so.

The Jets played 30 minutes of some of the most terrible football I’ve seen since, well, 60 minutes of the worst football I ever saw just in December against New England when they lost 45-3. In the first half of the last night's Game the Jets gave up 24 points and went into halftime with only a field goal (three points) to its credit – and that was garnered in the last two minutes of the first half.

It was as though the Jets did no homework, were caught completely flatfooted and unprepared to defend against Pittsburgh’s running game in the first half. Second half – different ballgame, literally. The Jets gave up no additional points to the Steelers and managed to score 19 points of their own, dominating time of possession, but while doing so wasted many precious minutes and most significantly, failing to score at second, third, fourth and goal after spending more than eight minutes on that drive only to come up with nothing.

Huge disappointment to get to the AFC Championship two years in a row and come up short of going to the Super Bowl. Or not. Let’s remember that the Jets have only gotten to this game only four other times in their entire history and two of those were these past two years under Rex Ryan. Rex Ryan has put fight into a team that was essentially a laughingstock forever. He’s made them interesting, fascinating and compelling. He’s inspired his players and energized his fans.

Let’s also remember that professional sports are not some holy pursuit like The Crusades or capturing Osama or something. Sports are just live, unscripted entertainment, which is what makes sports so exciting.  You don’t know what’s going to happen and you get to watch athletes perform nearly superhuman feats trying to win. In this regard, Ryan is the best showman we’ve seen in New York in decades in any sport. He and the Jets are very entertaining and while they didn’t get to the Super Bowl, they got pretty far and most New Yorkers had a fun season because of it. And Ryan is still being Ryan, “Again, our goal for next year, I have news for you, it won’t change and it’ll never change,” Ryan said. “We’re going to chase that Super Bowl, we’re going to chase it until we get it and we’re going to chase it after that again.” Great stuff. 

Way more interesting lately than the Giants, the Mets, the Nets, often the Knicks and most every other sports franchise in The Big Apple, Rex and the Jets are a lot of fun and I’m sure they’ll make for compelling television next Fall as well. Speaking as a sports fan, all I expect and demand of my teams is to fight and be in contention, anything above that is gravy on the potatoes, cherry and sprinkles on the ice cream. I’m sure I speak for many New Yorkers when I say I’m grateful for the effort and the excitement from Gang Green this year. Final word – this was only Rex’s second year ever as a Head Coach and Mark Sanchez’s only second year ever as a starting Quarterback. These two guys (and the rest of the team) have a lot of great years ahead of them and have I’m sure, learned a lot from this season. Meanwhile, baseball Spring Training starts in five weeks…

Some Brief Sports Observations

Maybe I’m imagining this from having watched sooo much football this winter, but nearly every Quarterback worth a damn in the NFL has been sporting a full-out shaggy beard since December and through the post season. Is there some locker room lucky karma associated with facial hair? Are sports agents pitching these guys to Gillette or something for a big payday shave-off? Would someone please clue me in as to what’s happening with this trend?

Having spent the last week to 10 days fighting off a nasty sinus infection (cured, thanks to Dr. Howard Rosenfeld, his Sunday office hours and CVS’s 10-minute filling of a Z-Pack prescription) I had the unique (for me) experience of watching a whole lot of football without my usual accompaniment of beer from across the globe. I do tend to associate professional sports with beer consumption (I’m hardly the only American male with this predilection). This was tea and honey football. A lot of it. Actually, it was pretty soothing and I found that I enjoyed watching the games just as much as with beer. Does that portend a foregoing of malt and hops down the road? Absolutely not. Just good to know that I can actually watch professional sports without any alcoholic stimulation or sedation of any kind.

In the NFL Wild Card race to the Super Bowl, these teams are forced to play three playoff games on the road. This can be a Herculean task, just ask the New York Jets who came up a tad short in their third road game in a row this past Sunday. Each of these games were against three of the five best Quarterbacks in the game, so it was a daunting challenge for the Jets. The Green Bay Packers did accomplish this, becoming the first NFC Sixth-seed team ever to surmount this hurdle and make it to the big game. I like that if you don’t win your division, you’ve got to slog it out a bit harder than those teams who do. There has to be some reward for coming in number one in your division. In professional baseball however, the Wild Card teams get to play some of their games at home. I vehemently disagree with MLB’s policy in this regard. Don’t win a division, make the Wild Card? Then just as in football, Wild Card baseball teams should be compelled to play all their games on the road to make them deserving and worthy of arriving at the World Series. Otherwise, division champs are being cheated of the fruits of their victory and of their winning records.

The Zeitgeist

          

From left: The new hosts of “American Idol:” Randy, Jennifer lopez and Steven Tyler. The new USA show “Fairly Legal,” PIX 11’s Jodi Applegate, Christina Applegate, Ben Affleck as a nun in “The Town” and Thomas Kretschmann as Adolf Eichmann.

Winter Media Ramblings

One of the few consolations in coming down with a 48-hour bug is being able to spend a lot of time on the couch nursing the malady with soup, hot tea, Halls, tissues and a ton of television. Thanks to the strength of Allegra-D, concentrating on work or the computer was seriously impaired, leading me to the couch and the joys of television and On Demand. Safely semi-horizontal in front of the big screen, wrapped in my favorite blue wool blanket, box of tissues at my side, I devoured a lot of TV. Here are some of my top observations:

Idol

That singing sensation “American Idol” is back for its tenth season sans Simon Cowell and since last year without Paula Abdul or her replacements Ellen and Kara. Randy Jackson (who probably has not a thing better in the world to do with himself except say “dawg” and “dude” all day long) is joined by two bona fide big stars, Jennifer Lopez (“Jenny from The Bronx”) and aging antiquarian rocker Steven Tyler. Tyler will be 63 on March 28^th (save the date) and looks every day of it. Makeup can’t disguise the vida loca he’s lived through the 70s, 80s and 90s as the lead singer of Aerosmith. His musical accomplishments aside, I think his best achievement was fathering his daughter Liv Tyler who is a great actress. Tyler looks like one of the villains from “The Mummy” movie series. This visual mortification is broken up by his crazy outbursts and antics which can only be ascribed to medication of some kind. Lopez is filling Paula’s sweet encouraging role and it’s nice enough looking at her glorious tresses. Innocuous. The show’s audition phase has always been my favorite part where people without a shred of talent and looking for their two minutes of fame will humiliate themselves before a nationally televised audience. Problem here is the lack of edge to the humiliations. Without Simon Cowell as the resident tart bad guy, the show just lacks bite. So there are embarrassments, but no pain, no jabs, no thrusts. Way too nice and that’s not nearly as entertaining. Also, no give and take and bad chemistry between Simon and Paula or Simon and anyone. I watched mostly for Simon and with him gone, I don’t think it’s worth the time.

Fairly Legal

The USA Network has created a quirky drama called “Fairly Legal” with the premise that a young burnt-out late twenty-something plucky cute female attorney can make it in San Francisco’s legal world as a mediator, not a litigator, tweaking the noses of that city’s legal establishment. The show stars Sarah Shahi who is 30, was Number 66 in Maxim magazine’s “Hot 100 of 2006,” a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader (1999-2000), the great-great-granddaughter of the 19th century Iranian king Fath Ali Shah Qajar and is half Mexican on her mother’s side. A delight to look at, Shahi appeared in “The L Word” and “Life,” so she’s not an acting neophyte. What the producers did was essentially create a “Veronica Mars” for the legal set. Our heroine is spunky, edgy, charming, cuts corners when it comes to adhering to the letter of the law and plays off a cast of characters which include her eternally tormented ex-husband who is a D.A. and her tormenting gold digging 40-something hot stepmother who runs her now deceased father’s big law firm. The show also features black people in roles as minstrelsy and stereotypical as anything you might have seen in the 1930s which is actually kind of offensive. In “Veronica Mars” one could forgive the coy behavior, the teasing, flirting and bratty ness because the lead character was supposed to be a high school student. In “Fairly Legal” we have someone pushing 30 and all this immature behavior strikes me not so much as cute as annoying. Why other adults in the show put up with her mishegoss is beyond me, so if you’re going to watch the show you have to suspend disbelief that adults would act this way. David E. Kelley does legal parody much better with “Boston Legal” and “Ally McBeal.” You can catch the first show again this Saturday night on USA.

Pix 11 News at 10

Anchoring Channel 11 (New York) News at 10:00 p.m. now is Jodi Applegate, formerly of News 12, formerly of Channel 5’s “Good Day NY”. This woman gets around. WPIX has her not at an anchor desk but rather in front of a green screen so she appears at times to be floating in space or they have her flittering about the newsroom leaning over desks and chairs. Very casual. News for the new generation. They also show the story lineup YouTube-favorites style. The producers have done this to feature Applegate’s full body for the viewing public, because she is very pretty. They also have her dressed in very tight things (hey, Fox News does this too) and revealing things (hey, Fox does this too, works for them). Kind of fun news to watch. Spunky reporters too. Jodi is absolutely, positively not related to actress Christina Applegate but they look a whole lot alike and share a last name. For a local news change of pace, check her out.

Jets-Steelers

Sunday at 6:30 is the AFC Championships game between the NY Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Jets beat the Steelers already a few weeks ago. Having plowed through Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in the past two weeks, I’m  cautiously optimistic that the Jets can melt the Steelers (in Pittsburgh) and move on to the Super Bowl. Karma just feels right this time. Even if they don’t make it for any reason, they have everything to be proud of this year. At 3:00 on Sunday is the NFC Championship game between two veteran teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. I predict a Packers win which would pit them against the Jets for a dual Wild Card team Super Bowl on February 3^rd.

Movie Briefs

On demand and from Netflix is a docudrama on the interrogation of Adolf Eichmann by the Israelis in the early 60s. It’s called appropriately, “Eichmann.” In the title role is Thomas Kretschmann as Adolf the younger looking stylish in his black SS uniforms and as Adolf and older behind bars in Israel’s Ramle Prison. Aside from Kretschmann, who gives a great performance especially as the younger Eichmann in all his perverted sadistic glory, the rest of the cast is weak to a point of comatose. Playing Eichmann’s interrogator Avner Less is Troy Garity who is devoid of passion or emotion. This is no ‘”Judgment at Nuremberg.”  Produced in 2007, the films meanders on a lot of wasted sub plots on Less’s family life and Israeli politics. In this case less of Less would be more. Best parts of the film are flashbacks to Eichmann’s glory days running The Final Solution. Oddly, the film fetishizes Eichmann’s extra-marital affairs and wartime sex life and presents us with vivid and graphic scenes which are in their own way more disturbing than images of concentration camp inmates. What that has to do with the Holocaust, I have no idea. 100 minutes. Wish it were 80, but worth seeing. 

Also On Demand is Benn Affleck’s “The Town,” from 2010 which is the story of a gang of no account po’ Irish white trash bank robbers from the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston. In nearly every film, whether by Mark Walberg, Matt Damon, Tom Cruise or TV series such as “Rescue Me and “Lights Out,” Irish-Americans are portrayed as alcoholics, drug addicts, abusers, criminals, violent, sluts and worse. If I were Irish-American I’d start an Irish-American Anti-Defamation League to combat this plethora of negative imagery. Why do we never see smart, accomplished Irish-Americans (other than the Kennedys)? Having vented on Behalf of Irish-Americans, let me say that the On Demand version of this film is well worth seeing because of the additional 26 minutes of footage that was cut from the theatrical release and for the stellar performances of Affleck (who has needed a great role for a long time now), John Hamm (“Mad Men”) as the lead FBI agent stalking his gang, Jeremy Renner as the psychotic James Caughlin, Blake Lively as James’ sister and Affleck’s sometimes love interest Krista – Lively shows that she’s way more than a “Gossip Girl” in this role – she shows real reach and depth in her portrayal of a drug-addicted tramp and lastly Chris Cooper in a small role as Affleck’s life-imprisoned father Stephen MacRay. A lot of suspense, great directing and cinematography make all 151 minutes of the extended Director’s Cut well worth your time. Opening in theatres this week is Affleck’s “The Company Men,” which looks promising.

Lets Go JETS! 

*****

The Serious Stuff:

Great/Funny Video:

Why Are You Protesting Against Israel?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmerYYdJDv0&feature=related

•••••

Important Video Interview:

 "Son of Hamas"

A penetrating & insightful interview with Mosab Hassan Yousef, author of the new book, "The Son of Hamas". As the oldest son of a founding member of Hamas he had access to vital information that helped thwart dozens of terrorist attempts.

Mosab Hassan Yousef born in Ramallah, just north of Jerusalem, the son of a major Hamas founder, grew up in typical Israel-hating form. Arrested numerous times since age 10, Yousef switched sides in 1997 after Israel's secret service, Shin Bet, proved that Hamas brutally tortured civilians. His top-tiered access hindered dozens of assassination attempts and suicide bombings over a 10-year period. Yousef was granted U.S. asylum this past year for publicly revealing his conversion to Christianity and denouncing Hamas and the Arab leadership.

http://www.jewishtvnetwork.com/?bcpid=533363107&bctid=935463440

•••••

Tunisia's Lessons for Washington:

By Caroline B. Glick

‎"ON THE face of it, the Tunisian revolution vindicates former president George W. Bush's policy of pushing democratization of the Arab world. As Bush recognized in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the US is poorly served by relying on dictators who maintain their power on the backs of their people."  Tunisian president’s regime was not the only thing destroyed. The two main foundations of ‘expert’ Western analysis of the Mideast have also been undone.

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=204051