New Orleans and a Battle in the Perception War

And so Mardi Gras went on. It was hard to have a party when so many died so recently. When so many have been dispersed to maybe never come home. When so many are homeless. When we don't even know -- still -- where over 2000 of our fellow Americans are. They are just gone.

But so it went on. At least for a few days in the perception war, America asked, "Is New Orleans still there?" The answer came back, "We're still here, baby, just like we've always been."

Without Mardi Gras, the perception may have been, "New Orleans really is dead."

Here's a great insight from the Voices of Katrina blog hosted by the Times-Picayune just to pull you away from the regular media template of comparing the Lower 9th with the French Quarter this week.

At my house we are going to have Jambalaya and King Cake while listening to Clifton Chenier and others tonight. We'll remember good times in New Orleans while hoping for the future. I hope you'll do something, too.

Here's a Rhapsody playlist for you. Just click on the link ...

New Orleans Rising:
1. Zydeco La Louisianne - Buckwheat Zydeco
2. Buck's Step Up - Buckwheat Zydeco
3. La Danse De La Vie - BeauSoleil
4. Give Him Cornbread - Beau Jocque & the Zydeco Hi-Rollers
5. La Danse De La Vie - BeauSoleil
6. Big Chief - Bo Dollis & The Wild Magnolias
7. Louisiana Man - Doug Kershaw
8. Home To New Orleans - Queen Ida
9. I'm Still Blinkin' - Chavis, Boozoo
10. Boozoo, That's Who - Boozoo Chavis/The Majic Sounds 11. That's What I Like About The South - The Red Stick Ramblers
12. Boppin' The Rock - Clifton Chenier
13. I'm The Zydeco Man - Clifton Chenier and His Red Hot Louisiana Band
14. Jambalaya (bonus track) - Jo-el Sonnier
15. Church Point Breakdown - Jo-el Sonnier
16. Mardi Gras Mambo - Zachary Richard
17. Louisiana Two-Step - C.J. Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band
18. Two Step Mamou - Wayne Toups & Zydecajun
19. Caravan - Dirty Dozen
20. Save The Last Dance For Me - Geno Delafose & French...
21. Johnny Can't Dance - Wayne Toups & The Zydecajun
22. J'Ai Vu Le Loup, Le Renard Et La Belette - Balfa Brothers
23. Three Keys - James Booker
24. Hometown New Orleans - Champion Jack Dupree
25. Tipitina - Professor Longhair
26. Smoke My Peacepipe - The Wild Magnolias
27. Turn The Page - Chris Ardoin/Double Clutchin'
28. La Danse De Mardi Gras - Steve Riley & The Mamou...
29. Bosco Stomp / Zarico Est Pas Sale - Steve Riley & The Mamou...

You want the new Pizza Hut ad campaign? ... Let me check your DBI

Well Miss Hilton, your "notice" is high but your "influence" and "trust" are in the tank. No publicity is bad publicity? Your DBI rating says otherwise ...

From New York Magazine:
The DBI, which was introduced February 13, goes a step beyond the 41-year-old Q rating—which is based on two factors, how many people have heard of Celebrity X and how many people name him or her as one of their favorites—by surveying 1.5 million Americans to score the boldfaced on eight key attributes: “appeal,” “notice” (their pop ubiquity), “trendsetter” (their position as such), “influence” (do they have any?), “trust,” “endorsement” (spokespersonability), “aspiration” (do we want his or her life?), and “awareness” (expressed as a percentage). The scores are then cross-referenced in a database that supposedly will help advertisers decide who among a list of more than 1,500 celebrities will help them hawk their wares. Access costs $20,000 a year.

You weren't like I thought ... give me my money back

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From Page Six:

JUST as Page Six predicted two weeks ago, some homophobic Clay Aiken fans have lodged a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over the marketing and promotional practices of Aiken's label. They charge false advertising and misrepresentation and conspiring to market and promote Aiken - the "American Idol" contender who allegedly had a tryst with a former military man - in a false and deceptive manner. A spokesman for the group said, "As consumers, we feel ripped off. It is obvious now that the private Clay is very different from the manufactured, packaged public Clay who was marketed to us."
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What are the legal and entertainment industry ramifications for a nasty little move like this? The public persona and private life of entertainers usually diverges, (just as you probably don't act at home as you do at work) but until recent years it was much easier to separate one from the other. Book after book has been written about this in the Hollywood community as the examples have filled volumes for decades.

But what if a rumor of your private life creates a legal action involving the public product you produce? The public wants their stars more accessible than ever before. And when they get the access and aren't happy with what they learn they can sue? I'm just asking ...

Bruce Hart and the Ability to Go Back to a Happy Place

When my friend and co-conspirator, writer/director/documentarian Mary Pat Kelly, told me about the passing of lyricist Bruce Hart, we talked a little about how one's legacy will be portrayed after their passing. In the end, it is something over which we may not have great control.

Mr. Hart will be forever known as then man who wrote the original Sesame Street lyrics. And anyone under 45 probably spent at least some time with the show that started with the forever happy lyrics, "sunny day, sweeping the clouds away... can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?"

I was reminded of an episode of the almost perfect television series "My So-called Life." Rayanne and Ricky and Angela were waiting outside a movie theater. Rayanne was clean and sober and exuberant and broke into the theme from Sesame Street for all to hear. And people responded. All these people in line, mostly in their teens and twenties smiled, laughed and joined in. Abandoning the burdens of their age for a simple time, a happy place.

And I suppose for as long as we have PBS and The Children's Television Workshop, the song lives on. And more people can be taken back to the happy place of Kermit and Fozzie and Big Bird. Lifted and carried there by the little song Bruce Hart wrote so long ago.

Bruce Hart, Lyricist
From Wire Reports
February 24 2006

Bruce Hart, 68, who wrote the lyrics for "Sesame Street" and "Free to Be … You and Me," died of lung cancer Tuesday at his home in New York City, said his wife, Carole. Hart and his wife were among the first writers on "Sesame Street" when it began in 1969. Hart, who had worked for "Candid Camera" and written lyrics to the Cass Elliott hit "One Way Ticket," was hired to write sketches and help with the theme song.

Hart and his wife left "Sesame Street" after the first season and went on to a variety of other projects for children and young people, including "Free to Be … You and Me," the groundbreaking album and television special created by Marlo Thomas that featured Mel Brooks, Harry Belafonte, Michael Jackson and others.

Born Jan. 15, 1938, in New York City, Hart earned a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University in 1959 and a law degree from Yale University in 1962.

The Harts also produced a short-lived but well-regarded 1979 television show, "Hot Hero Sandwich," and a series of educational films about psychology.

On The Positive Friday

"Beautiful" is the new video by Damian Marley, now available on Yahoo! Music. This is the Good Thang from Junior Gong.

" ... What we're trying to do is find a business model that works."

And that friends is Roger Ailes, chairman of a new Fox network called My Network TV. It's going to be the hot stuff, with shows like "Desire" and "Celebrity Love Island."

So, to my evangelical and conservative people who think Fox News is fair and balanced and that guys like Bill O'Reilly bring you the Truth, flip over to My Network TV and tell yourself, it's not about idealogy or saving America.

It's about money and "the business model that works" is feeding you flag icons and conservative messages with one hand while feeding everybody shows that promise "greed" "lust" and "blind ambition" with the other.

More coverage:
New York Times
Los Angeles Times

The 15 Minutes of Fame Girl

The New York Times reports that "Factory Girl," directed by George Hickenlooper, is wrapping up its shoot on location in Shreveport, La.

The term "15 minutes of fame" has become so battered, so over-used, that it's origins have been rendered meaningless. Maybe this film about Edie Sedgewick will remind us of the history of the phrase while reconnecting it to the celebrity world of today.

I love to find books or movies that tell the tale of the people who went through the down side of fame in previous generations, and seeing how little things have changed today. Roscoe Arbuckle went through it and so did Edie Sedgewick. Jerry Stahl's great "I, Fatty" chronicles the parallel, and maybe "Factory Girl" will, too.

"We're living in the time of the 'It' girl, and today, because of the technology, they're spat out much faster than before." - Captain Mauzner, screenplay, "Factory Girl"

What I Learned from Project Runway

- If I worked for Banana Republic I would hate dealing with Santino Rice if he were to win. And based at least on that criterion, I would choose Daniel Vosovic.

- Any type of judging can be so subjective. Zulema Griffin’s “unfinished” verdict from the judges compared to some other garments that got by is the first example that comes to mind.

- It was a pleasure to see some really inspiring TV about creative people working, watching them and vicariously going through the design process with them.

- I plan to follow the careers of several of the designers, especially Nick Verreos, Daniel Franco, and Andrae Gonzalo.

- Creative people are the best people.

- If we all could have had a Tim Gunn mentor us during our formative years …

And that’s a lot to get from a TV show! So thanks, BRAVO. I’m ready for more Blow Out and Being Bobby Brown.

Tracks for the Day

A few tunes for everybody's V. Day via Rhapsody ...

1. Weak - SWV
2. Say Somethin' - Mariah Carey (with Snoop Dogg)
3. Something In Common (with Whitney Houston) - Bobby Brown

"... a nation of gifted children who were parented by gifted children ..."

An intriguing take on the nature of celebrity as presented on television from yesterday's Washington Post magazine.

The 2006 Grammys: A True SAMO Moment

Back in the 60's Mick Jagger wailed "What a drag it is getting old." But not any more. Now it gets you a gig at the Super Bowl or an arm full of Grammys.

If you are young and in your prime and doing some of your best work (John Legend, Kanye West, Alicia Keys) just wait 20 or so years. Then some crusty voter will remember how much they enjoyed you in their youth and you'll win lots o' Grammys. (U2 has 22 Grammys? I must have stopped paying attention long ago.)

And maybe in 30 years the Super Bowl will be in London and the NFL will shrug off the legacy of Brit Pop and let you play halftime ... kind of like how they shrugged off Motown this year for the Stones.

Maybe.

One more thing: It's a shame that USA Today's Ken Barnes referred to Kelly Clarkson as "completing her coronation as Grammy's new female pop queen."

The lesson is get old or get on a reality show. On the positive, at least Damian Marley won ... but you wouldn't know that from watching TV.

Lighten Up, It's Just Fashion Week

From flickr gallery of dragonflyajt

Books and Movies and Docus that Motivate

A visitor asked for some examples of books or movies or documentaries about artists that have inspired me or provided motivation. Here are some 4 u:

Movies:
Fame
Basquiat
A Man for All Seasons

Documentaries:
Scandalize My Name: Stories From the Blacklist
Unknown Chaplin: The Master at Work

Books:
I'm Just a DJ But...It Makes Sense to Me
Martin Scorsese : A Journey
Republic of Dreams : Greenwich Village: The American Bohemia, 1910-1960