TurnerNordic video: TNT-TV.se's Mad Men Competition Spot SWE. Uploaded August 22, 2012. http://youtu.be/DnhH5naTt34
Now my friends there who don'twatch TV -yes, I really do have such friends, hard as that is to believe- will have a reason to watch TV again.
And soon, all will be right again with the world and Sverige as Matthew Weiner finds that Swedes love his insight into humanity, families, corporate life and 1960's consumerism.
It will be hugely popular in what is now home to one of the most consumer-driven countries in the world, which explains why it seems like every third 17-year old girl you see on the street there has a fashion blog that gets more eyeballs coming to it every day than almost all of the blogs in South Florida.
Yes, Amber's smile above at 0:44 is pure perfection! A friendly series of email flares sent up from both Park Slope and West End Avenue this morning alerted us to the exciting news:"Must-see Amber Heard photo essay in today's N.Y. Times "T" Magazine." ("T" being their Style magazine for those of you who are uninitiated.) Immediately, we got to work and relayed the message via our 24/7 communication network... This blog and its network of friends around the world thank our New York City friends who wish to remain anonymous for the thoughtful head's-up, and now have a must-buy Sunday Times print edition situation for the first time in quite awhile. No promises, but we might have some photos here later in the day, after a coffee run later this afternoon from you-know-where. Here's the basics:
The last time I saw such a beautiful woman with a cute pet in a photo was... oh, that's right, this morning.
It came when I was checking my email and saw that well-grounded fave of the blog, LA-based blogger -LA Life- singer andWilhemina NY model Jennifer Åkerman had just written about her latest magazine interview, withUniprice Sweden, which she did while she's back in Sweden for a few weeks on vacation, and was photographed with her journalist sister's cat.
This title is a reference to a very popular Swedish song by singer Lill-Babs in 1961, a song title that over the past 50 years has also gotten a life of its own as a saying or metaphor, usually as a positive. It helps, of course, that the word "brud" can also be used in Swedish for bride as well as babe and -wait for it- chick.
PontiacGrandPrix63 video: Lill-Babs - Tuff Brud I Lyxförpackning (1961)
What's old becomes new again in 2010 as Petter keeps it real with Lill-Babs watching from the dinner table. You don't have to know any Swedish to see why this is both clever and funny, so watch the whole thing!
YetAnotherStranger1 video: Petter Alexis Askergren sings "Tuff brud i lyxförpackning" on TV4 Sweden's "Så mycket bättre" (So much better) Full song! Uploaded November 14, 2010. http://youtu.be/dwWAR0-dfP8
Hon är en tuff brud i lyxförpackning. En tuff brud i snyggt fodral... (She is one tough chick in luxury packaging. A tough chick in the attractive case...) The best American pop culture comparison might be Ann-Marget in Kitten with a Whip, where the title of that 1964 film, co-starring John Forsyth, has been appropriated hundreds and hundreds of times for other purposes, especially as the title of an article in popular magazines of nearly every subject you can think of.
tonypatti video: Kitten With a Whip -Famous Someday -Ann-Marget and John Forsyth (1964). http://youtu.be/B9xrcZKvUUg
Here's the video for her newest solo single, from this summer, Silent Killer... , bellsoto video: "Silent Killer" - Jennifer Akerman, directed by Bell Soto, Uploaded June 2, 2012. http://youtu.be/iYtmjKodsUM
By the way, with the demise of the LA Times Magazine due to budget cuts at parent Tribune Company, one of the few places where yours truly could oftentimes find that delicious nugget of pop culture information that confirmed his intuition and sense of things in the entertainment universe while living in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. and South Florida, I now have one less dependable, albeit-celeb-heavy, source of information. The news about this forced me to shed a tear of sadness.
Regular readers of the blog might recall they ran that excellent piece in their April issue that I linked to here in my post of April 11, 2012 titled, After Stieg Larsson, whom? April 2012 LA Times Magazine features stories on amazing Stockholm and some prominent Swedish crime novelists -and explains why you should be reading them!
Video: As the first anniversary of British singer Amy Winhouse's death approaches next Monday, her father Mitch Winehouse discusses her struggles with substance abuse, her excitable nature, reflects on his last meeting with her while looking at family photos at her new home after she'd thought she'd lost them, when he misses her most -she phoned him five times a day- and how his family will commemorate her death next week in SoHo. From Sweden's TV4 Nyhetsmorgon "Abbey Road" morning show. Aired July 15, 2012. Mostly in English with Swedish subtitles. http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyhetsmorgon?title=mitch_whinehouse_om_sista_motet_med_dottern&videoid=2205356&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se
If video doesn't load or play the first time, please click "Ladda om" -reload.
SVT video: Synth eller hårdrock? Synth and Depeche Mode. Two-minute teaser for Episode 1 on 1980 and the introduction of synthesizers/Electronic Music and Depeche Mode starting their string of catchy hits. Originally aired June 8th, 2012. http://www.svtplay.se/klipp/107504/eighties-1980-och-depeche-mode
Someone FINALLY remembers The Eighties the way I do: Excellent 10-part series on music of 1980's on Sweden's SVT is mostly in English, and can be seen online from anywhere in the world. Swedish TV to the rescue of the Midsommar doldrums! Depeche Mode, Culture Club...
Today I've posted teasers for three of the ten 30-minute episodes. Each program is available on the website for only 30 days due to copyright reasons, so don't procrastinate and miss one! Once it's gone, it's gone for good.
http://www.svt.se/eighties/1984-frankie-goes-to-hollywood-och-pudelrock SVT video: Three-minute teaser for the fifth episode of The Eighties on 1984, a year that saw the group Frankie Goes to Hollywood make it big but see their huge hit "Relax" banned from BBC Radio, while LA-based groups like Van Halen, Whitesnake and Mötley Crüe wre making their presence known. This episode aired last night, June 26th.
The first time that I ever bought an album with a Depeche Mode song on it was in 1982, when I purchased the soundtrack for Summer Lovers about an hour after I saw that film starring Peter Gallagher and Darryl Hannah, the very first day it was out. I replayed it in my head as I walked thru the record store, thinking how mundane and boring everything in NMB seemed compared to that film, which showed people giving in to their unconventional side for a change.
That film, along with its title song by Michael Sembello, has always been a guilty pleasure of mine and many of my friends from IU, who wondered why in the world we didn't have the good sense to be in Greece in the summer instead of the heat and humidity of Miami, Indianapolis Kansas City and Long Island. The film has just awesome scenery of Santorini, which is a no-brainer, of course, and a potpourri of music interludes that seemed perfectly timed, includingDepeche Mode's"Just Can't Get Enough."
Trivia note: my personal high school graduation party for myself, my family and friends took place at a wonderful Greek restaurant on Lincoln Road in South Beach, following the ceremony at the nearby Miami Beach Convention Center. I wish we'd owned a video camera back then, because that was a hell of a party, and it'd be nice to replay it every once in a while.
Asha means Awesome with Personality Plus in BBC-speak: BBC America's Asha Leo makes her U.S. debut tonight and we are quite psyched! The Brit List 20 Sexiest Special airs tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern That's DirecTV Channel 264. Repeats on Wednesday at 1 a.m. and 10 a.m. and Thursday at 3 a.m., all Eastern.
Muirmaiden video: Far From The Madding Crowd (Suite); City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Director: Kenneth Alwyn. April 10, 2010. http://youtu.be/nuAeRsHtDgA
Claradarko2 video: Young Indiana Jones: Celtic Love. (from 1992, Season 1, Episode 2 of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, "London, May 1916")
A truly genius song, sung by someone with the pipes to deliver it on a silver platter.
After all these years, it's still impossible to hear this song somewhere and not start singing it or humming it yourself, within seconds -and notice that everyone else is doing the same.
Fascinating Danny Baker interview with the always-interesting Boy George (George O'Dowd) on his life: a worldwide music star, his fall, his rebirth, and his sudden interest in singing in foreign languages, esp. Italian; Judge on "The Voice" in Italy?
Audio of BBC Radio, 5 live, The Danny Baker Show: March 31, 2012.
The segment with Boy George in this two-hour audio is from 1:04:01-1:29:40, with a short three-minute news break between the two segments
Owing to some things that I needed to work on editing, I was up early Saturday morning and rather than have ESPN'sSportsCenter drone on in the background and be lulled to sleep by the fourth time I heard the same baseball spring training story, word-for-word, I turned the Tv off and flipped my computer on to BBC Radio 5 live for a jolt, and the Danny Baker Show more than delivered
Danny's weekly show, which airs from 9-11 a.m. GMT, is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting things airing in the English-speaking world, as his knack for dropping great trivia and pithy anecdotes on you spontaneously regarding almost any subject -and which give you some real context, is something I really appreciate.
Plus, Danny was great when reporting LIVE for 5 live from South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, with lots of fascinating stories, before and after matches that made the whole experience for me infinitely better than if I'd only relied on what I saw and heard on ESPN.
That was especially the case once England lost and lost in such humiliating fashion, since it seemed like there were seemingly hours and hours of angry, spot-on criticism coming from callers all over the world, but especially in the U.K., about what the English National Team and their administrators needed to do to be more competitive in future World Cups.
Chiefly, NOT appear to be standing in place while teams like Spain or Germany toyed with them, out-running them, out-finessing them and out-coaching them.
I originally recorded this interview on my camcorder by placing it in between my two computer speakers, but unfortunately, my rechargeable batteries died after I fell asleep, which makes this being online a good thing for everyone involved, esp. yours truly.
Boy George Trivia:
The first big concert he ever attended was David Bowie'sZiggy Stardust tour.
He likes raw food, hemp milk and tweets lots of photos of what he likes to eat.
He talks here about why he chooses NOT to be a TV music talent show judge in the U.K., discusses his life as a kid at school -reveals he isn't allowed back to visit- how prison taught him to love hard pillows
One of the more interesting things that George says, and this is certainly good news for fans, is that he says he's "more focused than [he's] ever been before in his life," but admits that he now is willing to admit that he has some regrets, unlike he felt years ago.
George candidly admits, "Moderation is not something I do well."
According to George, the new Culture Club album will be out in 2013, and his new solo album with foreign songs will be out later this year, when he will likely be appearing on the Italian TV version of "The Voice" -IF he learns enough Italian by November.
For more information about the Mark Ronson project at the Opera House he discusses, see
For the show, Danny uses an email address that includes the name "Lord Reith."
This is a reference to the first General Manager of the BBC, whose personal problems and behavior could best be described as hypocritical and odious according to this 2007 Daily Mail article
CBS News 60 Minutes: Taylor Swift: A young singer's meteoric rise. November 20, 2011. Correspondent Lesley Stahl profiles and interviews the dynamic 21-year old singer who keeps her feet firmly on the ground while entertaining and charming her millions of fans all over the world.
After all the summer teasing & titillation this summer, "The Playboy Club" premieres on NBC-TV tonight at 10 p.m. It's time to finally let the Bunnies out to play and the mid-Sixties Chicago seediness and music performances wash over us.
Mondays at 10 o'clock just got a LOT more interesting, as the Bunnies take on "Hawaii 5-0" and, starting next Monday night, "Pan Am."
I don't know about you, but I've missed seeing Amber Heard on the tube, having watched everything she was in, even when, as often was the case, she was its saving grace.
Since she has played the girl 'beyond her years' like nobody's business, it's going to be interesting to me to see how she plays the corn-fed small-town Midwestern girl, since part of her appeal has always been that you just don't know what she's capable of.
So often, writers in projects she was in had her use her beauty as a weapon with men and women to help her get what she wants -and to advance the narrative- knowing that people, esp. men, often can't help themselves when confronted by someone whose beauty is so incandescent.
Well, it's true.
Her sort of beauty is both hypnotic and dangerous, because rather quickly, things can escalate and the next thing you know, hypothetically, you realize you are infinitely more exposed to consequences while her character has split the scene in the fast car -with the loot.
That's usually when they'd inter-cut scenes of her getting away free as a bird and the police knocking on some poor guy's door, the latest person in a long line who was disoriented because he had chosen to fly too close to the sun that is Amber Heard.
Yes, there's a lot of Mata Hari in her.
Not that you were wondering, but I think that now that she's back on TV, she's now instantly vaulted into the ten most-beautiful women on the tube, scripted drama/comedy or news, as someone out there has just unceremoniously been kicked-out without even knowing it.
One thing is for sure, though, it's NOTRobin Meade of CNN who is falling thru the trap-door, as last week, I found myself watching more CNN in the morning than I have in years, since I'm usually tuned to Dan Patrick or Glenn Beck or Diane Rehm, and our old friend Robin is as stunning and personable as ever. http://mxp.blogs.cnn.com/
NBC-TV video: The Playboy Club - Welcome to the The Playboy Club
New Playboy Club Bunny Maureen (Amber Heard), already in a tight jam after a run-in with the Chicago Mob, tells club layer Nick Dalton (Eddie Cibrian) that she's no push-over: "You just don't know what I'm capable of."
So, finally, a provocative new sexually-charged drama from 20th Century Fox TV andImagine TV that will be a welcome antidote to so much of what I see on TV and turn away from -dopey reality shows featuring people I want to stay clear of, drab family comedies...
And now that my Monday night favorites on TNT, "The Closer" and "Rizzoli & Isles," are off for a few months, my Mondays are now open for bid again.
South Beach Hoosier Time Machine Flashback: In the early 1980's, Playboy magazine, in its "Girls of the Big Ten" issue, in describing the appeal of the coeds at the various schools that made up the-then pre-Penn State athletic conference, coined the phrase that quickly became a complimentary metaphor (and template) forever after amongst my IU friends and I in describing whatever social scene we found ourselves in.
They described IU's wave-upon-wave of beautiful women on the Bloomington campus as
"corn-fed Kappa cuties."
Yes, the ultimate in girl-next-door sexiness.
And that moniker became the highest-ranking we could ever bestow on anyplace we found ourselves with more than the normal share of bright and attractive women.
And yes, as always, we gave extra-credit for being from the Midwest.
And a richly deserved appellation it was, too, as the Kappa Kappa Gammahouseon Third Street in Bloomington was, like the Tri-Delthouse and the Chi Omegahouse were for me, the home to some great loyal friends of mine who were smart, funny, thoughtful and community-minded. And yes, damn attractive.
(Jane Pauley remains the best-known IUKappa alum, and the subject of a future blog post I'll share here again some day, which includes how a photo of me, literally at her feet while she spoke, made the front page of the independent school newspaper, the ids, the following day
At a Student Alumni Council-sponsored event at the IMU, she told some great revealing stories that had us laughing and shared some unhappy and poignant childhood memories that left many girls in the over-flow crowd with tears in their eyes. Jane Pauley REALLY REALLY knows how to tell a story!)
NBC-TV video: The Playboy Club -Meet the new Bunny Mother, Carol-Lynne (Laura Benati)
In the past year or so, I've probably only wanted to post something about Ace of Base'sThe Signalbum about... oh, 8-10 times, esp. when I saw a perfect example or analogy to the lyrics of one of the many singles that float around in my brain.
But each time, I 'pocket vetoed' myself -and you know how painful that can be.
That album, one I actually have on a shelf just a few feet away from me and my computer right now as I write this, is one of the building blocks of "Scandipop," to utter the word that is also the name of the very popular U.K.-based music blog that I've mentioned here before, which I follow and subscribe to via my Blogger Dashboard/Google Reader function, which allows me to see the first paragraph of any blog post I subscribe to within seconds of it going online, instead of waiting for an email -cool!
I subscribe and read Scandipop in large part due to Karl Batterbee's enthusiastic and wide-ranging eyes and ears for all things pop music, Scandinavian and schlager, plus so much more, namely, a keen and discerning sensibility for understanding of what music appeals to people and why. Even when music groups, singers or producers I'm personally not too familiar with on account of being located here in South Florida get mentioned, they're always mentioned with some helpful context for understanding them in the bigger music picture I do know very well.
Plus, well, and it's only my opinion, Karl's a bit of a Pied Piper on his blogand because people know inherently that he pays close attention, folks in the know in and around the music business let him know what's what, which is all to our advantage, no? .
He has an entrée to the music world that is VERY different than most bloggers or pop music reporters, because Scandipop doesn't just have enthusiastic readers who 'like' music, it has enthusiastic readers who actually BUY music, a difference WITH a distinction.
Record labels and media types in Europe pay close attention to what he says/thinks.
So, all that said, I've now got a good excuse to post something here about that album from 1993, thanks to the really expansive post Thursday at theVulture blog of New York magazine, which I've also given a head's up to others about as well, including Karl.
(You remember 1993, right? Dan Marino injured and the one-year era of Scott Mitchell as Dolphins QB?)
Posts about the the national debt limit, meaningful cuts in spending and President Obama's flip-flopping and gamesmanship will have to wait 'til later.
I saw the sign
And it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
No one's gonna drag you up
To get into the light where you belong
But where do you belong
New York magazine
Vultureblog
Nostalgia Fact-Check: How Does Ace of Base’s The Sign Hold Up
The band's official hemsida, I mean website, is at http://www.aceofbase-music.de/ but does NOT seem to be as well-maintained and updated as you'd think it ought to be considering everything. Like for instance, releasing a new CD, The Golden Ratio.
In the year 2011, you simply can'tgo four months without any new and original content on your website.
Pop culture kitsch and traditions straight from the heart of summer-loving Sweden -Lotta på Liseberg 2011 - A new year of music memories begin.
Yes, I have the whole sixty-six minute long first show of the summer here, above, plus the TV commercials that will no doubt give some of you some insight into the minds of what Swedish ad agencies think will catch the attention of savvy, consumer-friendly Swedes. Lotta's musical guests: Alexander Rybak, Orup & Le Kid, Loa Falkman, Sanna Nielsen, Matts Paulsson... with band conductor Curt-Eric Himquist.
Oh, and EVERYONE knows the lyrics.
Nobody loves celebrating sun-filled summer like Swedes, even when they have to wear jackets to a summer ritual like Lotta på Liseberg in Göteborg, a weekly Monday night music and pop culture get-together for eight weeks that's a middle-class family entertainment TV tradition that appeals to cute Soccer Moms, IM-ing teens and their younger siblings and blue-haired grandmothers -and everyone in between.
(Like the Indy 500. Feel the need, the need for speed.)
It's sort of like a combination of the current Live withRegis & Kelly TV show and the 1960's Lawrence Welk Show but on tour on a cruise ship-cum-beloved amusement park, yet with impressive audio and video technology and a pop sensibility that is uniquely Swedish, heavy on the cornpone -and schlager.
Yes, in that sense, it's got a lot in common with the next few months before the Iowa Primaries -especially the part closest to Minnesota!
The required rituals that make that political dog-chasing-its-tail routine what it is: national news reporters from New York and Washington complaining about the candidates, the summer heat -and corn- and the bicycle races -and their boredom- and corn- and pancakes breakfasts...
All of which is likely to be organized to a 'T" by someone whose last name is Petersson, Larsson,Luhrsen or Svensson, displaying some sharp organizational and logistical skills that are in very, very short supply in South Florida, as the evidence all around us clearly shows.
(Editor's Note: The Quad Cities in summer - with no ocean breezes: Good times! LOL!)
Because this particular episode of the show aired LIVE nationally on Monday night at 8 p.m., June 20th, it'll only be available to watch on TV4's Play website until probably about 6 p.m. or so Sunday U.S. Eastern.
There's currently a six-hour time difference between Sweden and Miami, and they DO keep to those time constraints, so if you are west of me and want to watch this, even for a few minutes out of curiosity, you best keep that deadline in mind.
TV4 Play'shomepage for Lotta på Liseberg is chock full of embeddable clips from the show if you want to just see the songs and not the banter. More get added with each show.
Par exemple, here's a clip of Sanna Nielsen from Monday singing I'm in Love, which was actually taped during one of the show's commercial breaks, since they want to keep the vibes going with the LIVE audience at the famed Gothenburg amusement park.
While there is, of course, no sign, per se, at the park's entrance that says "No Hipsters Allowed," it's just sort of assumed that they would never go anywhere so happily middle-class and fun, hence, the lack of signage.
Sanna Nielsen - I'm in Love - Lotta at Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden, June 20, 2011
I saw this story on Sunday night while looking for some other information on the Washington Post's excellent website, http://www.washingtonpost.com/
I repeat, this is a great idea!
As someone who spent hundreds and hundreds of hours at the National Gallery of Art over the 13 years I lived in the Washington area, there is absolutely nothing to fault in this idea from Central Florida congressman John Mica, whom I usually mention here on the blog in relation to transportation-oriented stories, as he has been both the Ranking Minority member and the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
More personal thoughts of mine on the NGA are below the article.
-----
The Washington Post
Congressman Mica’s quest pits FTC against National Gallery
By Ned Martel
Published: June 19, 2011
Rep. John L. Mica has what he calls a “weakness,” an obsession with art. He has fulfilled it as any aspiring connoisseur might. He scours odd shops and auction sites for objects treasured only by dust mites but still accruing worth with each passing year. He makes frequent trips to the National Gallery to research what he has bought and what he could buy. One day, while at the museum, he looked across the street and saw something old and undervalued: the Apex building, home to the Federal Trade Commission.
Back on May 1st, 2005, I wrote an email to a friend whose very popular non-fiction book was to be the basis for a then-forthcoming film, and this excerpt about the NGA seems a propos:
Hey movie star!
Found these two Enron movie related postings on pullquote.typepad.com, which, to my way of thinking, is one of the best written film blog/culture sites around, due to its smart and knowing sensibility and encyclopedic film knowledge.
It's smart not snarky, and since any site that -in one month- acknowledges the talent of the wonderful Jena Malone, blisters NYT film critics for both their fashion and literary faux pas, and intelligently discusses Italian docs, is MY kind of site.
A number of summers ago, maybe '96, the National Gallery of Art ran what amounts to a summer-long film course on Italian Masterpieces, and I must've spent just about every Saturday and Sunday afternoon there that summer, except for a few when I had tickets to Oriole games up at Camden Yards.
The NGA, while focused on art and sculpture, has a really great, though smallish film theatre, equipped with excellent sight lines, terrific speakers and a great A/C.
One that made me forget that it was about 96 very humid and miserable degrees outside most of those days.
Seeing practically every great Italian film ever made in just a few weeks, sometimes double-features, often on brand-new prints, was a great experience for me.
I gradually became a regular at their film series on weekends when they focused for 5-6 weekends in a row on French and other international hits as well as classic Westerns -American, Japanese & spaghetti- it was like cowboy heaven.
The famous scene of John Wayne standing in the middle of the door jamb in John Ford's The Searchers never looked like that on my TV screen.
Over the years, I've had the proverbial subscriptions to Premiere, Movieline, Film Comment, BFI, et al, and I used to read them the night before heading over to The Mall.
Those afternoons of great double-features on good film prints in comfortable chairs and a great A/C, while it was sweltering like crazy outside, are some of my best memories of DC.
Then, either going solo or with some friends in tow whose horizons I had just tried to expand, I'd head over to Georgetown or Washington Harbour for cool drinks and some quality people-watching.
After a French film, maybe head over to Au Pied du Cochon for some wine and great bread, and pretend there were actually a lot more people like me than there really were.
But finding parking in Georgetown quickly bursts any illusions that you're living la dolce vita.
Because the NGA theatre was, relatively speaking, towards the small size, I always liked to be there early and grab a seat in the first few rows, towards the middle if possible, so I could see and hear everything without too much distraction.
The few minutes before the film started always struck me as something straight out of a New Yorker cartoon or Will & Grace, before I finally stopped watching it.
Or, where Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David would overhear something they'd incorporate into a classic episode of Seinfeld about human behavior.
With few exceptions, I'd be surrounded by people straight out of Central Casting's bohemian/SoHo/culture vulture dept., complete with their all black ensemble or tweeds -and not just in the fall- berets and oversized egos.
Like a quarterback working the ball downfield in a two-minute drill, they'd wax philosophical in a short period of time about things they appeared to have memorized from some highbrow magazine they'd recently read.
It recalled nothing so much as the Marshall McLuhan scene from Woody Allen's Annie Hallm below.
