Remembering and appreciating someone who captivated me as a kid, and then later proved the maxim about what's old becoming new -and popular- again! Actor Michael Parks, from 'Then Came Bronson' and so much more...

"A Harley Roadster, a bedroll, a lonely stretch of highway: Jim Bronson (Michael Parks) is traveling where the road and the day take him, trying to make sense of things after the suicide of his close friend (Martin Sheen). He doesn't go far along a magnificent stretch of California's coastal Big Sur before he meets Temple Brooks (Bonnie Bedelia), a runway bride just as adrift as Jim is. Together, they'll ride that Harley all the way to New Orleans. Together, they might find what they're looking for."

Actor Michael Parks, known for "Twin Peaks" and his work with Quentin Tarantino, dies at 77 https://t.co/k1tD2IePzn pic.twitter.com/rzwZUAWbWe

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 10, 2017

Character actor Michael Parks, dies at 77 https://t.co/W4zseaH2dr pic.twitter.com/qiyrNdlXUi

— Variety (@Variety) May 11, 2017

Trending at Hallandale Beach Blog: What's old becomes new -and popular! again! Actor Michael Parks is finally getting the overdue respect and attention he was due; from 'Then Came Bronson' to the 2012 actor in demand in Hollywood

 

Then Came Bronson (Intro) S1 (1969)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYsztoaU9Ls

 

"Then Came Bronson" NBC Fall Preview for 1969, narrated by Hugh Downs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW79P5jLoU4&t=9s

Michael Parks as 'Jim Bronson,' a former San Francisco newspaper reporter turned motorcycle-driving vagabond, seeking to make sense of his own life and connect-the-dots in an ever-changing world around him. 

Shown above in still of video, the delightful and beguiling Bonnie Bedelia. 😍😍😍😍

I hate to report that my cinematic muse #michaelparks has passed away. Michael was, and will likely forever remain, the best actor I've ever known. I wrote both #RedState and @tuskthemovie FOR Parks, I loved his acting so much. He was, hands-down, the most incredible thespian I ever had the pleasure to watch perform. And Parks brought out the absolute best in me every time he got near my set. From the moment I saw him steal the opening scene of #fromdusktildawn at an advance screening at the Sunset 5 back in the mid-90's, I said to @samosier "Could you imagine what it must be like to work with a Yoda of acting like that guy? I gotta write for him one day." It took me 15 years but my dream came true on Red State (for which Parks won Best Actor at the @sitgesfestival) and then again years later with #tusk. Only Michael Parks could have delivered the line "Is man indeed a walrus at heart?" and make it scary as fuck. My favorite memory of Michael is watching him and #johnnydepp act with and at each other, like a couple of dueling wizards, in their shared scene in Tusk. Parks was in Heaven that day, sharing the screen with another brilliant actor and creating an unforgettable performance. He elevated any flick or TV show he was in and elevated every director he ever acted for. I was so fucking blessed to have worked with this bonafide genius. But really, I was just lucky to have known him at all. My heart goes out to James (Michael's son), Oriana (Michael's wife), Quentin Tarantino (Michael's biggest fan) and any movie or music lover who was ever dazzled by the talents of Michael Parks. Farewell, old friend. I'll see you farther along... #KevinSmith #actor #genius #rip #walrusyes

A post shared by Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) on May 10, 2017 at 8:13am PDT

A confession: this TV show from 1969 remains one of my ten favorite all-time American TV shows. I was only eight years old when this first aired on TV, yet I was smart enough even then to realize that THIS is what compelling acting was. 
I completely believed everything Michael Parks said and did in his Jim Bronson persona. 
It ALL made sense to me.

Especially the way that he would use the anger or upset that other people he encountered along the road had kept bottled up and carried with them for years, like an open sore, and inevitably find a timely way to turn that anger and hurt or resentment on its ear by making that other character see that maybe-just-maybe, they and their own choices (or lack of action or emotional support) actually bore a larger share of the blame for their particular present misfortune than they were willing to acknowledge.
That was especially the case when another family member who was the person being blamed for the present unhappy circumstances.
Someone almost inevitably needed to forgive someone else, but first, they had to forgive themselves! #kaboom! 
(Presaging Michael Landon in Highway to Heaven? Yep!) 

They are the very qualities that so thoroughly captivated me as a kid in 1969 -and all my friends at Fulford Elementary School in North Miami Beach. Though I was just eight years old when this TV show, yet I was smart enough to realize even then that THIS is what compelling acting was. 
I watched every episode religiously every Wednesday night on NBC-TV, and was thoroughly captivated!

If VCRs and DVRs had existed then, I surely would have watched the episodes over-and-over trying to make sure that I had drained every nuance and anecdote I could out of it before I went to school the next day at school.
Though you may find it hard to believe now, my friends and I talked about the show the next day in detail like I later would talk about sports and politics -with enthusiasm and great curiosity about what others thought about what we'd all seen, and most importantly, what it all really meant.

Like it was philosophy!

For those of you who never saw the show in the first place and who'd like to know more details about it, see this Wiki entry which seems pretty accurate to me:

"Curiously, though the opening promises a journey of self-discovery, the premise of each episode is that Bronson enters someone else's life at a crucial point and acts as a catalyst for change."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Then_Came_Bronson

Yes, but that's one of the main things I loved about the show!

I haven't always seen eye-to-eye with film director Kevin Smith on various subjects or even liked all of his films, but the words and qualities he uses above in his Instagram post to describe his friend and film muse Michael Parks could not possibly be more spot-on to me.

This show is when I first fell in LOVE with Bonnie Bedelia!  The first time I saw her, when she was just twenty-one, I was smitten like a kitten! 😍😍😍😍

In retrospect, I sometimes think that the entire time I was at IU, I was looking for a Bonnie Bedelia doppelgänger, hoping that one of my smart and clever friends at the IU sororities which would have strong competitors for that Bonnie comparison -Tri-Delt, Delta Gamma 
and Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Alpha Theta-  would come thru for me.
Nope. 
I was set-up with lots of amazing sorority "sisters" of friends that were close to capturing her spirit and personality, but ultimately, alas, no cigar. 

The talented and lovely Leighton Meester reminded me of the sweetness of a young Bonnie from the first time I ever saw her in NBC's cute sci-fi show "Surface" in 2010 when she was 19. Now, every time I see BB I think of LM and vice-versa.

 

BLAKE LIVELY AND LEIGHTON MEESTER OF GOSSIP GIRL, 

ROLLING STONE 1075, MARCH 2009.

You scream, I scream, we all scream for... Gossip Girl. Photo by Terry Richardson.

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/8818/52599 

Me in 2011: Michael Parks -What's old becomes new again!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/michael-parks-whats-old-becomes-new.html

Read all about the great Michael Parks in the LA Times:  http://t.co/uHmw2TJ  Then see the man's genius on display:  http://t.co/XyOdVRi

— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) September 5, 2011

9/5/11 LA Times: Michael Parks goes from nowhere to go-to guy The actor remembers when his phone rarely rang. Now he's coveted by directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Kevin Smith.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-michael-parks-20110905,0,2472053.story

-----

1/ Remembering & appreciating an actor who captivated me as a kid and who had a great #SecondAct, #MichaelParks. 📺📽️ https://t.co/yf0Yvc1yzo

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) May 12, 2017

#Sublime as always, #MichaelParks in intro of NBC-TV's "Then Came Bronson" in 1969. https://t.co/iFjOJZnGsR

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) May 12, 2017

3/ "Then Came Bronson" starring #MichaelParks via 1969 @nbc Fall Preview, narrated by #HughDowns; #BonnieBedelia 😍.https://t.co/WgpHb9LDNT

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) May 12, 2017

Dave

http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @hbbtruth, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth

https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/with_replies

https://www.youtube.com/user/HallandaleBeachBlog

2013 NFL Draft: Another Draft day with Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland squandering opportunities left and right; Give me more playmakers! The best defense is a big lead!; @nfl, @SI_PeterKing, @BuckyBrooks

pmanis09 YouTube Channel: ABC's Monday Night Football, opening (1973), with Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford and Don Meredith. Uploaded on October 16, 2008. http://youtu.be/m8fkMkE2Yjg
and over at NBC, largely featuring Dolphins guard Bob Kuechenberg, and with other Dolphins appearing, including Larry Little, Vern Den Herder, Larry Csonka, Bob Griese and at 0:57, the late Jim Mandich, who sadly died almost-two years ago tomorrow...

beaverstuffers YouTube Channel: NFL on NBC, opening (1973). 

Uploaded August 20, 2009. http://youtu.be/nv-datkQYUU

Yes, 1973, the last year the Dolphins really WERE the best team.

2013 NFL Draft: Another Draft day with Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland squandering opportunities left and right; Give me more playmakers! The best defense is a big lead!; @nfl, @SI_PeterKing, @BuckyBrooks

Another Draft day that Dolphin fans hope will be decisive in changing around the fortunes of a once-proud football franchise that has been plagued for too many years with bad management, uninspiring coaching and mediocre personnel that lacks playmakers and a killer instinct. But look who's in charge?

Since we're all friends here on the blog for the most part, I'm going to fill you in on something
you won't be reading elsewhere today on one of the most-magical albeit-unofficial American holidays of the year -the first day of the NFL Draft.

Last night after the watching the Miami-area 11 O'clock news, I had to run some errands and hop into the blog's Time Machine, a.k.a. the South Beach Hoosier Time Machine, to finish something I had actually started a few weeks ago, though technically, is actually still in the future many months from now.

You know how it is with time travel, some words only cause more confusion, which is why star dates are so useful.

So anyway, one of the errands involved finally seeing the new upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness that opens in May, which I'll be seeing in-person next month when it opens, on DVD this December, when the Dolphins 2013 season has pretty much played itself out.


Star Trek Into Darkness - Official Trailer #3 (HD) Benedict Cumberbatch

I bought it to watch it again and then send it to my mother, who is a longtime Star Trek fan, but not so crazy about going to theaters anymore, unless she comes down here to see my sister and I, in which case we'll watch it at my sister's at some point on her visit.

My plan, then, is to watch it after the NBC Sunday Night Football game if that game is a good one, or, instead of the game if the game is not so interesting. 

(Like usual, I'm taping Once Upon a Time, The Good Wife and The Mentalist on the other TV's DVR.)

So, I'm watching the pre-game highlights package and listening to Dan Patrick, Tony Dungy and Bob Costas talk and talk about the various games that took place earlier in the day and sort of wondering what led the Time Machine to this scene of me watching myself lying on the couch, with some newspapers and a can of Coke on the table nearby. 

And how is this trip in any way connected to tonight's NFL Draft?

Well, the Dolphins will have the chance tonight to draft and add polish to a dynamic game-breaking player, but because Dolphins well-meaning but misfiring General Manager Jeff Ireland is who he is -there's no changing those spots- he goes the safe route yet again and the player who could be and should be one of the Dolphins biggest stars of the future, will instead drop some more and ply his trade for another team drafting after the Dolphins.

Ah, Jeff Ireland and the Safe Choice!

It almost sounds like the name of a neighborhood band from North Miami Beach circa 1974, a band where the lead singer is the older brother of one of my friends, but his last name really isn't Ireland, but he just likes the way it sounds.

Lots of class!

In the future highlight I see, Dan Patrick prefaces his pithy comment by saying, "Oh, no. Jeff Ireland may want to close his eyes again because Miami passed on this guy."

And there on the TV screen, on TVs of various sizes and shapes all across the country and all across South Florida, the video is showing someone scoring against the Dolphins late in a heretofore close ballgame, and making the big difference in another Dolphin loss.

Because, as always, there are nice dependable players and then there are difference-makers, and the Dolphins have been plagued for the past 15 years by NOT having enough of them on the field on either offense or defense.

It makes me think after watching videos on YouTube of the NFL in the 1970's, the seasons with the games and scores I still remember because I was there in-person at the Orange Bowl for almost every one, that IF Jeff Ireland had been the Steelers GM in 1974, he'd have passed on drafting John Stallworth in the fourth round because, well, after all, they already had drafted a very good one out of USC in the first round named Lynn Swann.

So let's draft another offensive lineman!

But given who's making the choice, that offensive lineman is NOT named future Hall of Famer Mike Webster.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_NFL_Draft

Four of the Steeler's first five draft choices eventually are enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame.

Such is the difference between GMs who are in-the-know and on draft day, literally, in-the-zone, seeing things that others don't see, and then there are nice guys who still have their jobs after doing a consistently mediocre job because the boss doesn't really like to fire people.

What will be written on Ireland's personnel file after his exit interview?

"Dolphins lack of playmakers!"

Here's a hint: offensive linemen aren't playmakers:

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

http://video.nbcsports.msnbc.com/nbc-sports/44208463#51651903

Look up the phrase "Dolphins lack of playmakers" on Google Images and tell me whose photo shows up first.
Really,.just try it.
See, it's not just my opinion, it's an algorithm's learned opinion.

I hope that I'm wrong about this prediction about the Dolphins draft today, and that Ireland, like George Costanza once did, does the exact opposite of what he usually does, but if you know anything about me from reading this blog fairly regularly over the years, and my predictions while at IU and in Chicago and in D.C., you know that I have a ridiculous degree of accuracy when I've had some time to analyze the empirical data, accent the positive, eliminate the negative and throw in some intangibles and just noodle everything through.  

Three teams on December's Dolphins schedule draft after the Dolphins: the Steelers at 17, the Patriots at 29 and the Jets immediately after the Dolphins draft at 12.
Just saying... the best defense is a big lead!

2013 NFL Draft: The perfect strategy for each team to follow

By Bucky Brooks, Analyst, NFL.com and NFL Network
 Published: April 22, 2013 at 03:57 p.m. 
Updated: April 23, 2013 at 05:38 p.m.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/0ap1000000162320/article/2013-nfl-draft-the-perfect-strategy-for-each-team-to-follow

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/

@SI_PeterKing   https://twitter.com/SI_PeterKing
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/-nfl-draft/news/20130424/2013-nfl-draft-mock-draft-peter-king/

Oh, Charlie! Trending at Hallandale Beach Blog -for good reason!: Tracy Spiridakos in NBC's "Revolution" and Jordana Spiro in Fox's "Mob Doctor"; #RevolutionNBC, @trspiridakos

Revolution, Pilot: After 15 years of darkness, an unlikely trio sets out on a journey to save the world. Above, Tracy Spiridakos as "Charlie Matheson." Originally aired September 17, 2012. http://www.nbc.com/revolution/video/pilot/1415378/
Learn it, live it, love it!

In case you missed last week's pilot episode, here it is up at the top, so get your homework done in time for tonight's new episode, Chained Heat, with guest star C. Thomas Howell, most recently seen on TNT's "Southland," another favorite of ours, which returns in February.
http://www.tntdrama.com/series/southland/





Monday, September 24 10/9c "Chained Heat". Miles leads Charlie to a Militia prison camp to rescue an old flame. 
http://www.nbc.com/revolution/video/chained-heat/1417331



http://www.gq.com/video/videos/tracy-spiridakos-gq-video-august-2012

Yes, another All-American girl -from Canada!
http://www.nbc.com/revolution/





And don't forget to watch "Mob Doctor" on Fox-TV at 9 p.m. starring the immensely-likable and moxie-filled Jordana Spiro, whom we at the blog have liked for the longest time, and want to see stay on network TV. All I'm saying is give the show some time to find its legs and get into more character development, and don't be so hasty with your evaluations based on what you may've heard. It has a lot of potential and has an excellent cast.

Jordana Spiro reminds us SO MUCH of one of our very best friends from IU, a Midwestern girl don't you know, whom we miss terribly, but whose name we do NOT dare mention here for fear that she will start blushing. http://www.fox.com/the-mob-doctor/

Then flip back to TNT at 11 pm after Revolution to see the new episode of Major Crimes.

And speaking of "Charlie's" we like -Tracy Spiridakos as "Charlie Matheson" on Revolution- when we were younger, another "Charlie" we liked very much was so popular and ubiquitous that if you just hummed the first few bars of of the Revlon commercial tune, EVERYONE in the room knew exactly what that it was. EVERYONE! 
Now there was a Madison Avenue ad campaign for the ages!

Revlon's "Charlie" fragrance TV commercial with model/actress Shelly Hack and singer/musician Bobby Short from 1976. 
Uploaded March 16, 2009. http://youtu.be/9Sn8H42FZcI

This was the sort of TV commercial that made every normal 15-year old boy in America who saw it wish that he was already 25 -and had a charming and sexy woman like Shelley Hack, who couldn't wait to see him. 
And trust me, everyone in the place envies you!

The closest I ever had to having this sort of "Charlie" moment came when my then-girlfriend, a brilliant and blonde stunner named Joanie, danced into a J.B. Winberie restaurant in downtown Evanston for our second date. 
Only one of the greatest second dates of all-time, all four hours of it.

(Afterwards, when we were at her place, the second thing I remember about that night was that it was the night of a Dolphins-Raiders nationally-televised pre-season game, which is how I came to be able to watch it in the Chicago area.)

But only ten years later, in 1986, it just wasn't the same...




Why someone hasn't come up with a variation of the original 1976 simple-but-wildly-effective ad for Norah Jones as the singer, the pianist and the "Charlie" -or whatever- I can't say, because she'd be absolutely PERFECT!
http://www.youtube.com/norahjones
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norah_Jones

Obama economy claims newest victim -Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. to close - Obama blames digital technology for loss of jobs; TheWrap's Tim Molloy & Tim Kenneally report on NBC-TV pulling plug on "The Office" after this coming season, Season 9

MittRomney video: These Hands: Virginia 
Melissa Ball of Ball Office Products of Richmond, VA tells what she knows from first-hand experience and how she feels about small companies like hers -in her case, a woman-owned company- being held-up as objects of ridicule under President Obama. Uploaded August 2, 2012. http://youtu.be/sfn6axtWH-I

As one American company that serves office products survives, another beloved one shuts down for good...


Photo from Photobucket.com

Obama economy claims newest victim -Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. to close - Obama blames digital technology for loss of jobs; TheWrap's Tim Molloy & Tim Kenneally report on NBC-TV pulling plug on "The Office" after this coming season, Season 9

'The Office' to End After Season 9
By Tim Molloy & Tim Kenneally
Published: August 21, 2012 @ 11:46 am
http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/office-end-after-season-9-52916


As It happens, Dwight reminded all of us in the episode from Season 6 that ran on WTBS early this very morning what the employees could do if the company shut down, 

"You can all have jobs at Schrute Farms as human scarecrows. Although it doesn't pay much, and you can't unionize."

-----

"At Ball, we don’t just take orders – we build relationships."

2100 Westmoreland St. Richmond Va 23230

info@ballop.com 

Phone: (804) 204-1774 or 1-800-719-8748

Fax: (804) 204-1597

http://ballop.com/

http://ballop.com/blog/

#London2012 - Deadspin offers up video clips of what you missed at the 2012 London Olympic Closing Ceremonies because of NBC's editing, and the Tom Brokaw one-hour documentary that allowed him to reclaim his title of "voice" of "The Greatest Generation" -his personal kitsch marketing niche

Deadspin offers up video clips of what you missed Sunday night at the 2012 London Olympic Closing Ceremonies while people because like me continue to question  NBC-TV putting Tom Brokaw front-and-center Saturday night to showboat a bit, and to reclaim his title of "voice" of "The Greatest Generation" -his personal kitsch marketing niche- during a completely unnecessary one-hour program about 1930's Britain and WWII and the economic and social aftermath, "Their Finest Hour."

Nice original title(!) and contrary to what's been reported, I HAD seen much of the footage before.

And if you insist on doing something like this, why would you schedule it on the last weekend the Olympics instead of the first weekend?

It's completely illogical, even on its own terms -even if you support something like it airing on U.S. television.

There's a very good reason why so many smart people in the U.S. saw the original "The World at War" anthology by ITV about WWII when it first aired in the U.S. came out in the late 1970's, with Laurence Olivier's narration.
Because of its quality and clarity and depth, unlike most high school and college textbooks.

It aired here in South Florida on Channel 10 on Sunday nights before ABC-TV's entertainment  programming began. I never missed it and have seen every episode about a dozen times thanks to the Military Channel, DirecTV Channel 287. http://www.theworldatwar.com/ )

NBC Cut Nearly An Hour From Its Closing Ceremony Telecast. Here’s Everything They Didn’t Show You (Including The Kinks’ Ray Davies)

By Timothy Burke

August 13, 2012 1:44 PM 

We knew NBC would heavily edit its broadcast of last night's London Olympics closing ceremony; they cut out a bunch of stuff from the opening ceremony, too, in the name of "tailoring programming to our American audience."

Read the rest of the post at: http://deadspin.com/5934166/%20nbc-cut-nearly-an-hour-from-%20its-closing-ceremony-telecast-heres-everything-they-didnt-show-you-including-the-kinks-ray-davies

IF you are one of those rare Americans who had somehow missed the point for the last forty years that Brokaw was from South Dakota, you couldn't have missed it during this self-indulgent one hour.

Since it was all recorded, there was no actual reason for Brokaw to even physically be in London save high self-regard and him throwing-his-weight-around and/or NBC wanting to trot him out to how how serious they were, and in any case, wasn't the latter role actually Bob Costas' role as Everyman, who felt it necessary to state the obvious, sometimes, in grave tones?

Meanwhile, these are the same NBC geniuses that waited until the 15th day of the 17-day Olympics to do a segment on Roger Bannister, when it should've been done the first weekend.

The same geniuses who DIDN'T show the medal ceremony for the Men's Marathon winner, the last contest of the Games, and always a highlight.

Thank goodness an American runner didn't do something silly and win and throw NBC's minute calculations off.

Me, foolishly, I thought that the hour of coverage that NBC promised us after the Local NBC affiliate newscast would be what we missed.
Instead, they re-played what they'd already run, awkwardly picking it up during the narrative of the U.S. Women's gymnastics team battle for the team gold against Aliya Mustafina, Victoria Komova and the rest of the Russian team.  

See clips of the rehearsals of the Closing Ceremonies at

http://www.youtube.com/user/london2012

My grade for NBC for the whole Olympics is C-.
In a nutshell, with plenty of examples I could cite jere, probably just like you: The winner of the Women's 100 Meters speaks English, being from Jamaica, but NBC chose not to interview her - THE fastest women in the world.

-----

http://olympicclosingceremony.tumblr.com/

"Listen, do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell... The Daily Telegraph on how film director Danny Boyle was able to get 60,000 volunteers to keep Olympic Opening Ceremonies on the QT; #London2012, #TeamGB

London2012 video: Dove Bike Rehearsals London 2012. July 27, 2012.
http://youtu.be/zZmyp3zcm4I



London2012 video: Mary Poppins Rehearsals London 2012, July 27, 2012
http://youtu.be/BZEYCRWpsZk


"Listen, do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell... The Daily Telegraph on how film director Danny Boyle was able to get 60,000 volunteers to keep Olympic Opening Ceremonies on the QT; #London2012, #TeamGB 


The Daily Telegraph

London 2012 Olympics: How Danny Boyle got 60,000 fans to keep mum over opening ceremony dress rehearsal
In the age of Twitter, Facebook and 24 hour news, getting 60,000 people to keep details of the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony secret should surely be an impossible task.
By Gordon Rayner, and Jack Taperell
4:28PM BST 24 Jul 2012

In the age of Twitter, Facebook and 24 hour news, getting 60,000 people to keep details of the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony secret should surely be an impossible task.

But Danny Boyle appears to have done just that by appealing to a crowd invited to a dress rehearsal on Monday night not to spoil the surprise for the rest of us.

Read the rest of the article at: 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/london-2012/9423842/London-2012-Olympics-How-Danny-Boyle-got-60000-fans-to-keep-mum-over-opening-ceremony-dress-rehearsal.html


Which nation in the March of Nations in tonight's Opening Ceremonies will be the subject of the most condescending remark or anecdote from NBC-TV hosts tonight in London?


http://www.youtube.com/london2012

Even more on the dueling Marco Rubio biographies: this time, multiple videos of Rubio discussing his autobiography, "An American Son"; #MarcoRubio

MarcoRubio video: Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on NBC News' "Meet the Press"  speaks with host David Gregory regarding his new autobiography, "An American Son," and his current stance on immigration, one day before the Supreme Court's ruling on Arizona's laws re illegal immigration. June 24, 2012. 

http://youtu.be/27wpkpkHdWE

MarcoRubio video: Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on CBS' "This Morning" speaks with hosts Charlie Rose and Erica Hill regarding his new autobiography, "An American Son," his being considered as Mitt Romney's VP choice, and his current stance on immigration. June 21, 2012.

http://youtu.be/mlZxtPgo0ao

MarcoRubio video: Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on ABC-TV's The View, regarding his new autobiography, "An American Son."June 25, 2012 

http://youtu.be/zcavXkI0ewI

Marco Rubio's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/MarcoRubio

http://twitter.com/#!/marcorubio

http://www.amazon.com/An-American-Son-A-Memoir/dp/1595230947/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340658202&sr=1-1&keywords=An+American+Son

http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Marco-Rubio-Manuel-Roig-Franzia/dp/1451675453

U.S. Mainstream Media's manufactured "War on Women" campaign is fine with them up until it actually backfires on Obama, then, surrogates are tossed overboard and MSM shakes head disapprovingly like they weren't willing participants. Same old after-the-fact moralizing and editorializing...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

NBC-TV News video: Meet The Press, April 15, 2012: Democratic media spokesmodel Hilary Rosen's controversial comments about Ann Romney’s lack of employment and stay-at-home Mom status, and the Obama Administration's forceful distancing of themselves from her remarks via Social Media, perhaps too forcibly to be believable, are analyzed for future portent by former Democratic congressman from Tennessee and DLC Chair Harold Ford, Jr., GOP campaign strategist Mike Murphy, and Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie and MTP host David Gregory.


As regular readers of the blog may recall, I'm a longtime fan of Savannah but had to give-up watching her on MSNBC after Obama got elected once it became largely a West Wing echo chamber, and as others have noted, became both too predictable and chick-ified thru the likes of not-as-bright-as-she-thinks Contessa Brewer. I rarely watch NBC's Evening News broadcast, and if I watch Meet The Press at all, which is not that often anymore, it's always the repeat on MSNBC. 

National & Florida MSM reach unanimity: Undecided voters, Early voters, Hispanic voters, Anglo voters, I-4 voters and Older voters "may hold key" to 2012 Florida GOP Presidential Primary

Newt Gingrich campaign video: Newt Gingrich discusses "the Facts and Florida" on his campaign bus with Greta Van Sustern of Fox News. January 28, 2012. http://youtu.be/mpOg027vWp4

National and Florida Mainstream Media reach unanimity: Undecided voters, Early voters, Hispanic voters, Anglo voters, I-4 voters and Older voters "may hold key" to 2012 Florida GOP Presidential Primary."

Gee, thanks for clearing that up!

Who did they leave out, left-handed blue-eyed Veterans?

Last weekend I watched Meet the Press for the first time in a long time when it first airs instead of the early morning encore on MSNBC.

It was an embarrassing spectacle that I think would've made the late Tim Russert fume, since more than anything, he liked genuine competition!
That alone separates him from what seems to be the majority of the American MSM in the year 2012.

Meet the Press played the role of elite Beltway MSM and Obama-backer to the nth degree, had guests struggle to out-do one another in their predictions of their dread of Newt Gingrich as nominee -less-than-24 hours after he won the South Carolina primary.

The Republican National Convention in Tampa isn't until the end of August, so how about taking a chill pill on the forecasting and simply let the process play itself out instead of constantly gazing into your crystal ball?

But in the year 2012, the MSM don't want to leave the elections results up to mere voters.

(And really, despite all the undue attention he's received of late because he used to be a member, the last time I checked, nobody in Florida was saying how much they missed seeing smarmy Joe Scarborough in Congress.

And honestly, for what it's worth, I don't know a single person who watches his MSNBC show due to its smug shallowness, even fair-minded liberals I know.

They're either watching C-SPAN or driving to work or on a train to work somewhere.

MSNBC's programming is like a well-appointed tree-house, except the kids that nobody on the block likes have it in their backyard, so nobody wants to be in it save the unpopular kids who are eager to be there under any circumstances, and who thus try to make it seem more important than it is  It's actually pretty funny, but unintentionally so.)

And did I mention yet that the MTP telecast, airing the day after South Carolina's primary and in advance of the Florida primary, had ZERO guests on from South Carolina or Florida?

Really.

The roles that once upon a time under Tim Russert might've seen then-Miami Herald political editor Tom Fiedler or someone from The State newspaper on, dispensing some carefully-rehearsed nugget of insight for the rest of the country to make sense of, instead had dopey Katy Kay of BBC America on as a guest, a past target of much-deserved criticism here on the blog.

Kay, who from what I have seen and heard of her in the many, many years since she was first stationed over here -and used to be on The Diane Rehm Show on WAMU a little too much when I listened to her show everyday at work in Washington- has seemingly NOT challenged the Conventional Wisdom since she took her A-Levels.

She hardly ever says anything that is not entirely predictable based upon her past.

http://youtu.be/IPBl370Zpe8

If you can believe this, after only two states had participated, and with more absentee ballot requests from Florida than all the cast votes in Iowa and New Hampshire combined, David Gregory and his guests actually raised the issue of "favorite son" candidates and "brokered conventions."

Talk about putting the cart before the horse... Jesus, it's not even the end of January!

You can just imagine what they would say as football analysts at halftime.

Yes, that the team leading by a field goal at the half is the "inevitable" winner.

But there's a reason we play four quarters in a game not two, especially for the Super Bowl of U.S. politics.

Not surprisingly, the assembled geniuses on the set could NEVER quite explain why GOP voters in upcoming states, especially those who are unhappy with the establishment of both parties, would find voting for an establishment favorite son candidate a better alternative than voting for someone who is, you know, ACTUALLY running for President.

It seems counter-intuitive, right, but they never explained.

And that's what passes for news analysis these days!

The track record of the Beltway-based GOP Establishment that Mitt Romney is joined-to-the hip to -or alternatively, has made a blood pact with- especially when it comes to picking congressional candidates the last few years when personal or health matters have led to 'special elections,' is NOT an encouraging sign.

But for Beltway media elites, the non-candidate is preferable to an energized and emboldened Newt Gingrich who consistently articulates why he believes fundamental social and fiscal changes will be necessary to get this country moving again, and out of its deep psychological funk.

Newt Gingrich campaign video: Sarah Palin: Newt Best Candidate to Articulate Ideas and Solutions for GOP. January 28, 2012.
http://youtu.be/FTRqc9Sq-vs


Remember when one of the cherished-if-cliched notions of American journalism was the news media challenging the establishment and the-haves?

I know, I know -it's a case of collective hysterical amnesia. 


Today, if David met Goliath, the MSM would not only be picking Goliath, they'd be openly rooting for him and tut-tutting David's "incivility."
Then, they'd tell David that Goliath's victory was, yes, "inevitable" and he ought to just give-up.
This sycophantic mentality of the news media rooting for the establishment and the-haves instead of the upstart, has been rapidly making its way into the sporting press for the past 20 years.


As I've stated here previously, you see it clearly when nationally-known TV and print sportscasters, reporters and columnists all claim they want to see some upsets before the NCAA basketball tourney actually starts, but once they have to reveal who they select to make it to the Final Four, far too many pick 'all chalk' because what they really want is the status quo to reign. Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Ohio State... so very predictable.
Like their political brethren, they can't think outside-the-box, just ask Virginia Commonwealth University.


If everything goes as expected, I'll likely have some photos and maybe even some video here on the blog tomorrow of election activities taking place here in Broward County, and maybe some other places, too.

Weather forecast hereabouts is mostly sunny with a 100% chance of the MSM raining on Newt and being eager to count him out if he doesn't win Florida tomorrow.

But if he loses, and were foolish enough to listen to the news media experts who say he should then drop out, what do we need THEM for until after the end of August?
Exactly. 


-----
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/index.html