[Radio] What has become of cat-lovin' X96 afternoon DJ Artie Fufkin? It's as if he dropped off the face of the earth; listening to the hits of '90s bands who've similarly evaporated just ain't the same without that soothing voice honed by years of a Mountain-Dew-and-fiberglass-insulation diet. Pick your favorite Artie theory:
He's shuffled off to Idaho, as speculated in Friday's Deseret News.
He's undergoing experimental surgery to finally become a kitty.
He's joined the touring company of Flintstones: The Musical.
He finally snapped after the 5,934th spin of Bush's "Glycerin" and left to assassinate Gavin Rossdale.
[Media] The D-News needs to bone up on its Emily Dickinson:
In a column fretting that prescription painkillers "have become more plentiful than popcorn," it quotes Dickinson as having written: "First we seek excuse from pain."
Actually, excuse from pain was second on Dickinson's list. Here's the poem:
The heart asks pleasure first, And then, excuse from pain; And then, those little anodynes That deaden suffering,
And then, to go to sleep; And then, if it should be The will of its Inquisitor, The liberty to die.
Also, wouldn't "excuse from pain" be the fortunate lot of those who don't need painkillers? It's "those little anodynes" in the third category that the D-News worries are too ubiquitous.
I've got a toothache today, so I can totally relate to Dickinson.
[Music] "When an angel fucks a whore," Park City goes wild. At least, when David Byrne is delivering the news in his distinct, persuasive voice. The former Talking Heads frontman greeted his Utah audience Saturday night with a head-to-toe white uniform to complement his shock of white hair.
Accompanied by three backup singers, two percussionists, a bassist, keyboardist and three interpretive dancers, Byrne soared through a seamless set of material culled from his work with Brian Eno, both 27 years ago with My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts and the 2008 (now) digital-only release Eveything That Happens Will Happen Today(physical copies will be shipped to stores later this year).
Byrne stepped onstage following a lengthy introduction by the evening’s organizer who preached to the choir, encouraging the sold-out crowd dominated by liberal baby boomers to vote for the maverick—in Utah, that is. Which is to say, Obama.
The concert, held in the Eccles Center—which doubles as Park City High School’s auditorium—at first received a rather modest response from audience members who are apparently accustomed to behaving themselves. After two or three songs most of them realized who they’d come to see—a man who has never played by the rules and continues to march however he pleases to the most unexpected beats of his own drum.
And so bodies began popping in and out of seats, at first resulting in the occasional hushed “sit down!” until the whole room stood to salute Byrne and Co with wild, varying interpretations of dancing.
Onstage dancers, who could have proved distracting, fell in lockstep with Byrne’s quirky aesthetic and infused added spunk to the already festive evening, particularly during the brilliant, slightly unnerving “I Feel My Stuff.”
Byrne wrapped up the night with material from Talking Heads’ heyday, including “Once In A Lifetime,” “Take Me To The River” and “Heaven.” He closed out the night—three encores later!! Way to step up and surprise a touring band with your unexpected enthusiasm Park City!—with the predictable, but always pleasurable, “Burning Down The House.”
“Some things sure can sweep me off my feet.”
Indeed.
Here's a clip of "I Feel My Stuff" live at Austin City Limits. Pretty much a carbon copy of last night
[Let them eat steak] Here's a bumper sticker I spotted on the wall behind the bar at the strangely wonderful Kitty Pappas' Steak House:I didn't claw my way to the top of the food change to eat vegetables!(Ted Scheffler)
[The Gays] ... Recognizing equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians, that is. First Massachusetts, then California and, now, Connecticut: It's one of those lovely little New England states, roughly the size of Box Elder County, except it's got about a kajillion trees. (Pictured: Connecticut's state flag.)
Now it's a race to avoid being the last state without equal marriage laws. Wouldn't it be embarrassing to get left in the dust by, say, Arkansas or Utah?
[Politics] Since the '80s, Republicans have stood on a platform of anti-intellectualism, taking the position that being smart makes you an "elitist." Being dumb makes you "mavericky." We are now witnessing the natural result of decades of an anti-intelligence, pro-idiocy policy: McCain's support now seems to come primarily from morons.
They must be very proud.
I especially like the woman who keeps poking her head into the shot before realizing that what she has to say isn't quite as galvanizing as it sounded in her head.
The economy? Big deal. Health care? More like "Who cares." Energy? The environment? I'm not worried. What keeps me up nights is the thought of a gay scoutmaster.
By "swallowing camels," I'm sure you know what I mean. And a wink is as good as a nod to a blind bat.
I don't really follow the candidates' "policies" and "positions" so much as I base my vote on these random, itchy feelings I get.
Cheap wine alert: I came across some very tasty wine on clearance at the Bountiful State Booze Store: DeLoach Merlot 2005. It's selling for the bargain basement price of $6.75. Plum, cassis, ripe cherries, chocolate, spice, and oak typify this silky, round Merlot. I'm not sure of the inventory elsewhere but it's worth scrounging around for. Hell, you can use it for cooking if nothing else. (Ted Scheffler)
[Panel Recap] Today, the local chapter of American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and the U of U's Center for Public Policy and Administration featured panels on the presidential race. Organizers brought together the opposing views of state GOP chair Stan Lockhart, state Democratic Party chair Wayne Holland, Obama Utah campaign director Suzanne Gelderman and McCain's Tim Bridgewater.
In his reverent, oh-so-paternal voice, GOP chair Lockhart kicked things off explaining what Republicans believe in ... which is essentially: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (which would presume that Ds don't?). Since Rs believe such inalienable rights are God-given, Rs are also "proudly" anti-abortion. He stressed Rs want to be free; they want a minimum of government interference in their lives.
He listed all the good things Utahns can thank its Republican leadership for: transportation, balanced budget, a Triple A bond rating.
Later on, an audience member tripped up both McCain's Bridgewater and Lockhart when he asked why McCain did not vote for SCHIP (a federal program that gives states funds to provide health insurance to families with children) especially when McCain himself had benefited from life-long federal health insurance for himself and his own family. Bridgewater admitted he didn't know enough about SCHIP and passed the hot potato to Lockhart.
Lockhart tried to reply by invoking the independence of Republicans, asking rhetorically: Do we really want government making health-care decisions for Americans?
To which the majority in the audience replied, "Yes!"
He stumbled around trying to find his footing, claiming that Obama is promising everything to everyone, and that Obama's health-care-for-all pledge is doomed to failure. Nobody in the audience seemed satisfied with the answer.
Bridgewater only seemed to underscore the health-care crisis by noting that his own small business recently had to decide between laying off employees and dumping health-insurance benefits. They chose to drop insurance so people could keep their jobs. Yet he still supports McCain's health-insurance solution!
In the wake of Wall Street bailouts (another example of our Republican-led government not intruding on our lives, Mr. Lockhart?), health care is not the hotly contested issue I thought it might be in this race. But underestimate its importance at your peril, candidates. (Jerre Wroble)
[Election 2008] There are alot of good bullshit detector sites popping up through the various news media that are worth checking out. Especially since it seems that election time is really when you learn the least about a candidate after sorting through their bullshit.
CNN has a great overall campaign site here, the Annenberg center out of the University of Pennsylvania has one very clued into campaign ads (being the beacons of insight that they are) and NPR does good post debate fact checking like this one from the snoozer debate in Nashville.
I would also like to throw two of my own yellow flags into this whole presidential shit throwing fracas. One regarding Obama and the 2005 energy vote and McCain's beloved troop surge strategy in Iraq.
Did Obama support the 2005 Bush Cheney energy bill loaded with tax breaks for Oil and Gas robber barons? Hell yes he did! Was it, as Biden and others have said because it also gave critical support for alternative energies...yes, but let's qualify that. You'll notice Obama and Biden don't get too specific on what kind of "alternative" energy that is. That's because while there wereprovisions for solar and wind a major component was that refiners be required to produce $7.5 billion gallons of ethanol. And for Obama representing a major corn producing state like Illinois, this little mandate amounted to some delicious pork barrel for the constituents back home. This analysis is from 2007 of voting records between Hillary Clinton and Edwards and Clinton and Obama, go to the second page for info on the 2005 energy vote.
Did the troop surge strategy work in Iraq? Yes...among other factors. The authors of the Economist magazine here point out that Iraq has really started making progress this past summer and credit is due to the surge, but not just that. One factor they point out that you don't often hear is that the reason there is less sectarian violence in Iraq is because the rivalling ethnic factions are actually running out of people to kill. Essentially their ethnic cleansing has gone so unchecked that they've actually succeeded in clearing whole neighborhoods of rival factions, killing them or forcing them into exile.
Anyways stuff to chew on as we prepare to enter another debate of pointed fingers, tall-tales and fuzzy numbers and statistics. (Eric S. Peterson)
[Media/Podcast] In this week's edition of UtahFM.org's Pinpoint SLC podcast, Bill Frost (some assclown from City Weekly) interviews local nerdcore hip-hoppers Rotten Musicians about their new CD release on Oct. 17, then Utah Opera's Crystal Young-Otterstrom talks Madame Butterfly. Rap and rhapsody, makes perfect sense.
In high school, we called this "the psych." Now, if McCain were to execute "the ultimate psych," he'd have followed up this maneuver by looking away, lifting his hand to his head and smoothing back his hairplugs. But, of course, he can't--y'know, hero injuries.
The fact that McCain is physically incapable of the ultimate psych may be why he, oddly, seemed to offer his left hand after it was too late.
[DellWatch] Oh, joy! The SuperDellForGovernor.com blog is so full of great/crazy quotes, it's hard to believe it's for real. A sampling of the hits:
"If you don’t vote for SUPERDELL you WILL suffer the wrath of GOD and the consequences of your own ignorance and stupidity."
"Hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorism and other destruction will continue to escillate until America is humbled before God."
"The vast majority of media in Utah is controlled by satan. Their fraud and deception must be stopped!!!"
"There really isn't a choice for Governor in Utah for those that believe in God. ALL, 100%, every single Christian in Utah will vote for Dell Schanze as governor."
Well, it's official: The vast left-wing media conspiracy now extends to your local theater's box office.
The conservative-themed satire An American Carol opened nationwide last Friday, and according to industry box office reports earned $3.6 million from its 1,600+ screens. But that couldn't possibly be accurate? Could it?
The official website for the film -- on a page subtly titled "fraud" -- suggests that the official box office numbers have been skewed by people who bought American Carol tickets being given tickets TO OTHER MOVIES ENTIRELY. Maybe even that Bill Maher movie!
The site even scare-quotes "mistakenly" to make it clear exactly what they think about the likelihood that their anecdotal reports are in fact the result of a "mistake." Maybe it's even a mistake like the grammatical delight, "There has been some isolated incidents." (Scott Renshaw)
UPDATE 5 p.m. Tuesday: Looks like the page has been removed from the site. Conspiracy?
[Legislative Sleaze] In the ongoing contest over which Utah legislator is more unethical--Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, or Rep. Phil Riesen, D-Salt Lake City--it's looking like the calendar will win this one.
Rep. Todd Kiser, R-Sandy, and co-chairman of the House Ethics Committee, says he must follow a legislative rule and keep an upcoming hearing surrounding Hughes and Riesen closed to the public. Lawyers for Hughes and Riesen would like a court ruling to open the hearing, which was originally scheduled for later this week at the State Capitol. But both attorneys concede that cost and time are working against them.
The original charge in question focuses on an allegation that Hughes in 2006 offered then-Republican Rep. Susan Lawrence $50,000 to change her vote on the school vouchers bill from no to yes. Riesen got hold of documentation about the alleged bribe, and leaked the information to KSL-TV reporter John Daley last week. Now Hughes faces ethics charges for the alleged bribe. He's arguing Riesen breached legislative ethics rules and brought disrepute on the body (!!) by leaking the story to the media. Most Republican legislators, including House Speaker Greg Curtis, are painting the whole thing as an election season stunt orchestrated by Democrats. While it's gratifying to see a little grease applied to the rusty spokes of legislative ethics in Utah, don't hold your breath waiting for an outcome. Hughes and several other Republicans who tried to force-feed vouchers on Utahns are locked in very competitive re-election battles this year. Kiser told The Salt Lake Tribune yesterday the task of getting to the bottom of this story will be terribly laborious:
"I think it could be a very long and drawn out committee meeting that lasts many days." Translation (for those of us who didn't just tumble off the turnip truck):
"Uh, with only 29 days till the election we could really string this sucker out!"
[Movies] As a Salt Lake Film Society member, I’ve grown accustomed to the ample elbow room inside the theaters. So this weekend was a surprise with lines stretching out to the street and sold-out shows. The commotion wasn’t a Sundance event but opening weekend for Bill Maher’s documentary “Religulous.” It took three trips to get tickets which were some of the last seats, right in the front row. And this was for an early Sunday evening showing.
Sure, the movie was entertaining and hilarious, but was light on substance. Based on Real Time with Bill Maher, I was hoping for something more engaging. Regardless, Religulous beats some of the drivel out there. But maybe that's just preaching to the faithless. (Joseph Bateman)
[Radio] What has become of cat-lovin' X96 afternoon DJ Artie Fufkin? It's as if he dropped off the face of the earth; listening to the hits of '90s bands who've similarly evaporated just ain't the same without that soothing voice honed by years of a Mountain-Dew-and-fiberglass-insulation diet. Pick your favorite Artie theory:
