What I’m Checking Out This Month (July 2011)

Here are the various entertainment things I’m listening to, watching or reading this month.

Movies:

Bad Teacher: Based on the title and premise from the previews (Cameron Diaz plays a teacher who is only there to find a rich husband so she can lounge away the rest of her life.), I was hoping this would be a schoolroom equivalent of Bad Santa. It was. It’s a little less anarchic than “Santa” but it goes down a little smoother. To sum up the tone and spirit of the film, I’ll quote Diaz’ character who says, “I thought I was getting into [teaching] for the right reasons- shorter hours, summers off and no accountability.”

Captain America: I really liked this movie. Yes, it is another comic book movie and it isn’t as deep or complex of a plot as X-Men: First Class and the visual effects are more low key than those in Green Lantern and Thor but Captain America is more sincere and earnest. The movie doesn’t just giving the appearance of nobility and do-gooding, it believes what it is saying. There are some basic human standards of behavior and if you don’t meet them, you’ll pay the price. Maybe a costumed superhero won’t be there but karma will. A couple friends have complained that the movie was too slow. The reason it might feel that way is because it goes more into exposition and character motivation than other comic movies have. This is more of a comic book drama and less of an action movie but there are several good action scenes towards the end. I’ll admit I wanted a few more myself but for a movie that is already two hours long, I can see why some things got downplayed.

As for the performers, both Chris Evans and Hugo Weaving take their roles seriously and do a good job acting and the secondary people did great also (Stanley Tucci, Haley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones). I would like to see a sequel to this (and I don’t mean the Avengers movie next year) with all the same people involved, particularly Chris Evans and the director, Joe Johnston. It doesn’t have to be a period piece, though I did enjoy that element of it. In fact it might make a better picture to juxtapose Captain America/Steve Roger’s 1940’s ideals with modern day greed and self-involvement. Either way, more Cap!

Cowboys & Aliens: I’m tempted to just review this movie by saying it’s about cowboys and aliens, because it is and because the plot is not much more complex than it sounds. There is more to the movie though. For instance, the title is at once simple and clever. It boils the movie down to an easily understandable framework while also ridiculing movies that go through tons of marketing studies to find the “perfect” title to appeal to an audience. It’s like Snakes On A Plane. The title describes the movie while also telling the audience “This is what we are about. Come see it if that appeals to you.”

They do hedge their bets a little because the cast has Daniel Craig (James Bond!) and Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones!) in it, just to expand their potential audience. Who wouldn’t want to see these two go after aliens, which they do, and rumble with each other, which they do, in a Jason Bourne meets True Grit sort of way? Both actors commit to their roles. Craig is excellent as the dangerous loner who tries to work through his amnesia and figure out why he has an alien gun attached to his wrist. He scared me sometimes, he was that edgy. I also wondered what his workout routine was because he was ripped to the point he flirted with being gaunt. Harrison Ford is amazing as well- he drops the laconic attitude he sometimes has and plays a balls-out hardcase. Not a lovable grumpy old man like in Morning Glory or Hollywood Homicide but an angry, complex, demanding, conflicted, domineering and dangerous hombre. You aren’t sure whether he is the bad guy in the movie or the aliens. Eventually you see the human behind the nutso rancher but it takes awhile.

I enjoyed seeing Ford loosen up so much and play a bit contrary to type. The director, Jon Favreau of Iron Man fame, also does a good job- the fights/gun fights are staged well, the dramatic moments evoke emotion and the parts with aliens had tension and didn’t look ludicrous. He did a great job shooting a western and an okay job making a science fiction movie. The picture itself worked the same way- great western, good sci-fi movie. I hope it does really good business- not because I want to see a sequel (which would be called what? More Cowboys and More Aliens?), but because I want to see Craig and Ford get some more roles that let them stretch and show us a different side to their talents.

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2: Strangely, I liked part one better even though this had much more action. This was the Return Of The King of the Harry Potter movies and Part 1 was the Fellowship Of The Ring of the split movie based on the last Harry Potter book. The last book was better than either movie but the two-parter is one of the better Potter movies. I won’t bother to summarize the movies or the books because if you don’t know about Harry Potter already, there is no point in discussing it with you now. As always, the books in the series should be where you start and then watch the movie just to see how the visuals bring the plot to life.

I love the way the movie Hogwarts looks, from the exterior shots to the hallway scenes and the dinners in the Great Hall. I will add that aside from Richard Harris as Dumbledore, my favorite thing about the whole film series has been watching Alan Rickman play Severus Snape. He has been a joy to watch and to hiss at. He gives his role a depth equal to the books, unlike the other actors who merely mime their literary counterparts. Once I first saw him in the first movie, I pictured him as Snape in all the subsequent books I read.

Grown Ups (DVD): An Adam Sandler movie in the vein of Big Daddy or Remote rather than Billy Madison or Don’t Mess With The Zohan. A group of former childhood friends gathers at the lake for a week-long get-together to catch up and try to reconnect with their own families. The kids are typical spoiled brats who are into their own lives and their electronic gadgets and ignore their parents completely. Eventually they learn the pleasure of family activities and the great outdoors. The best part of this was the huge number of what must have been spontaneous one-liners, not surprising considering the cast includes Sandler, David Spade, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider and Kevin James.

Horrible Bosses: This is the black comedy version of Office Space. Well, the grey comedy. It’s kind of funny and kind of interesting but not as much of either as it should have been. Definitely worth a watch on DVD though. The standouts here are Charlie Day as the hapless and put-upon victim of his boss’s sexual harassment, Colin Ferrell as the comb-over drug-addled boss’s son and Kevin Spacey as the evil nexus of the movie. You can see why Day, Jason Bateman and Jason Sedakis plot, ineptly, to kill their bosses. I was extremely surprised though that halfway through the movie I had no idea how the movie could possibly end happily. Yes, it was a dark comedy but the tone was still light enough you knew it wouldn’t have a Heathers type ending. (Did you know that Heathers made less than a million dollars at the box office? Even for the time it came out, a million bucks in grosses meant it was a major box office failure. That surprised me when I saw that.) It took a third act twist to point the way to the exit and I guarantee you the twist is not one you are expecting. Between this and Bad Teacher, movies got a welcome little dose of nihilism. I like this trend.

Killers (DVD): Have you seen Mr. & Mrs. Smith with Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie? Knight & Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz? The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie? If so, watch them again instead of this weak re-tread with Katherine Heigl as the clueless spouse/stranger who gets sucked up against her will into a world of espionage and danger by secret agent Ashton Kutcher (no, really- he plays a spy!) and has to learn to adapt, quickly and humorously, or die. If you haven’t seen those others, watch them now and skip this. Plus there is a plot point in the ending that is so ridiculous it ruins what enjoyment I’d gotten previously. You can thank me later.


TV Shows:

Platinum Hit: This is a show on Bravo (?) (Lifetime?) that focuses on songwriting. Contestants have a theme each week and have to write song hooks in thirty minutes and then the winning hook writers select their team from the other contestants and then have two hours to write a whole song. The judges, including Kara DioGardio from American Idol, decide the losing team and who gets booted from the losing team. I like this show because I like seeing songwriters get their due. Singers are only as good as their songs so glorifying someone who sings but doesn’t write songs is a bit misguided. In the echelon of musical acclaim, songwriters should be more valued than guitar players, drummers and singers who don’t write. But they aren’t, which is why no one is watching this show.

The Voice: This was a fun show. It was a bit like American Idol but it was based on vocal talent, not looks, because the judges didn’t see the contestants until after they chose them to move forward. I liked the idea of pitting contestants against each other, like American Gladiator, but I think it should have been one judge pitting his person against another judge’s person, instead of two of the same judge’s people duking it out. That way it would be have more of a strategy element to it and really continue the theme of battling judges. The judges were interesting too- Adam Levine is actually not an idiot, Cee Lo Green was pretty cool and apparently just as talented as DangerMouse, something I hadn’t realized before. Christina Aguilera was sane and Blake Shelton seemed like a good guy who knew his stuff. I didn’t actually watch the last three shows so I don’t know who won.

USA Channel’s Shows- It’s summertime so there is a whole crop of fun shows with new episodes. I watch all their series because they are all interesting in their own way. Whether it is the espionage element of Covert Affairs and Burn Notice, the criminal hijinks on White Collar, the family bonding amidst house calls on Royal Pains, the frothy shrink dramedy Necessary Roughness or the legal machinations of Suits, every show delivers what you want it to. In fact, I’m getting quite fond of Suits, which actually seems to have more real-life legal elements than many of the “serious” lawyer shows. Necessary Roughness is a bit light-weight right now although the main actress, Callie Thorne, does a good job. I’m also looking forward to the buddy detective hijinks on Psych, which doesn’t arrive until October but is being extensively previewed now so I feel like I’m already watching it.

Women’s World Cup: It just started the last week of June so the big matches are yet to come but it will be a good tournament because all my favorites are there- the U.S., Sweden and Norway, with Australia, Germany and Brazil thrown in just to make it interesting. From the looks of things so far, Norway won’t get far, so I’ll be rooting for the U.S.A. and Sweden but basically anyone but Brazil or Germany. So now it’s a few days later and the round-robin part is done. USA lost to Sweden in that phase which means they will play Brazil instead of the less dangerous Australia. Talking to my Mom on the phone the day of the Brazil/USA game, my Mom said that she hadn’t realized that Sweden was in the tournament and asked me who else was a Cup contender now that the USA lost.

I had slept in really late today, like until 1:00 PM, and I knew the game had started earlier in the day so I set the recorder to tape it. Now Mom just told me that the U.S. lost! What a bummer. When I finally do make my way to living room, I see that game is on TV so they must be doing a replay of it. I decide to watch the replay since I already knew the outcome and by watching from the overtime period right now, I’d keep myself from wasting time watching the earlier part that I’d taped. The score is two-to-one in favor of Brazil and it’s nearing the end of overtime so I can see why the U.S. lost- they are not getting any breaks and Brazil is wasting time. In fact, a player just fell down on the field acting like she was shot and when she was finally taken off the field on a stretcher, she waited until the stretcher got to the sidelines and then hopped right off and walked away easily. She was deliberately wasting time.

This added another four minutes to the overtime period but to what avail. Here comes a final push by the U.S.… there is a cross and Abby Wambach goes up for it… and it’s in the net. She tied the game in the final seconds of overtime! Impressively done! I guess they lose in penalty kicks then. Hope Solo is in the goal for the USA and I know Briana Scurry is conflicted about wanting her to do well after the criticism Hope leveled after the last World Cup. Wait- Solo stopped one of the goals so the U.S. is up a PK. How on earth do we lose this? Okay now it’s down to the last USA kick so I guess this gets stopped and we lose in extra kicks. Wait- it went in. what? No- that would mean we win. But Mom said we lose! WTF? I flipped over to ESPN and they reported the same thing.

Later, I find out that Mom meant the U.S. lost to Sweden in round-robin play. She was talking about a game earlier in the week, not the one going on today. Who cares about the old game? That makes the win even more amazing, considering I thought they had lost. That is a sports experience I haven’t had yet. The following game is France and the same thing happens in that one- a last minute header to win the game. Who were those people talking about Wambach’s dry spell? I am hyped about this Cup- it has been very exciting. The only thing that diminishes my enthusiasm is that Sweden lost so I won’t get my dream match-up of a Sweden/USA final. That would have been a win-win scenario for me because those are my two favorite teams. I wouldn’t feel bad about either one winning. At least the stats are on our side- The U.S. has never lost to Japan in 22 games and Japan has never been to a World Cup semi-final, much less won the whole thing. They are on a roll so this bodes well, right? From playing poker, I know stats are always accurate indicators of success. Always. Except if I’m in the hand. Or it is a day of the week ending in “-day”.

So now it is the game against Japan. The USA misses a shot at goal in the first minute of the game. They are really pressing! By half-time there have been 5 or 6 shots for us and nothing for Japan. Still, there are no goals. That’s disconcerting. In the second half, we get a goal! Yay us! Yay U.S.! Japan tries to counter attack but we get to the ball and clear it. No, we push it back across the face of the goal. Get it out of there! Whew- another U.S. defender gets to it and clears it away. No, they kick it right at the Japanese player’s feet and she calmly tucks it past Hope Solo. Are you kidding me? Two defenders get to the ball and they best they can do is pass it to someone standing right in front of the goal?

Now we have to go to over-time. At least it isn’t golden goal anymore. I hated that. Wait- we just scored. Maybe it should be golden goal. Can we just top now and be declared the winner? Okay, fine. It doesn’t matter anyway. We are going to bunker up and keep Japan out of our half of the field until time runs out. That’s what all the Asian teams used to do to us, so turnabout is fair play. I guess that isn’t the strategy because we are still moving a lot of people downfield. An awful lot. Okay another goal would clinch it so let’s get that goal. Um, I’m still waiting for that goal. Still waiting…

Now there is only five minutes left in the game. Let’s start bunkering. Come on, let’s do it. Why aren’t you running out the clock? Pull a Brazil and waste tons of time. Get the ball to mid-field and start passing it back and forth. Pretend it is that episode of The Simpsons. Oh come on, stupid clock. Great. There’s the Japan goal. It’s tied again so now we are going to penalty kicks. That’s fine- we do good at these. It’s how we won our last Women’s World Cup Title. Our first shot is blocked but the second shot sails through the uprights. Or it would if this was football. Unfortunately, this is soccer so the kick missed the goal by a mile. Japan made their shot. The next U.S. shot is…blocked. This is making it kind of hard to win here, gals. Japan gets a shot blocked. Yes, that means we are still in it. Our next shot is blocked. Again? This wasn’t a replay? So we are 0-3 versus 2-3? Solo has to block two more and we have to make all three of ours to go to extra kicks? Easy.

Actually, blocking a kick because isn’t an easy thing to do. In five kicks, you are happy to get one block, like Solo did. Getting, two, like Japan, is a monstrous advantage. That’s why you can’t bang them way over the goal like Carly Lloyd did. That’s the same as giving away a save. Expecting Solo to stop all the rest is expecting a miracle. As with most miracles, it doesn’t happen. We lose the World Cup again. This time it wasn’t to Norway, or some other powerhouse team. It was to Japan, a country who had never been to the finals before. And we had led the whole way going into the Penalty kick phase. The U.S. just couldn’t put away their numerous goal opportunities. They gave up their leads through poor defensive work. They could have won. That’s the killer- after getting past the teams that were supposed to take them out they were ahead twice in the game. They had it won and gave it away. I’m so bummed out right now. This is three days after the game and I’m still bummed.


Books:

Burn Notice- The Reformed (By Tod Goldberg): This is like watching an in-depth episode of the show. Since I like the show, I like the book.

I would have read more this month but I’ve been consumed with the Scrabble app on my iPhone and have been playing that before going to sleep instead of reading. It might even help me get to sleep sooner actually because I’ll be staring at the screen trying to find a way to play a word that gives me more than 12 points and eventually my eyes start to glaze over and I go to sleep. I don’t get caught up in the excitement of a computer Scrabble game and stay up late like I would reading a good book. Plus I learned a bunch of new two letter words.

Concerts:

Dennis DeYoung (w/ Pat Benatar): I already posted a set list earlier along with some comments. This was a great show even the Pat Benatar part (which is good, since she was the headliner). What I most enjoyed was how hard some of the songs rocked during DeYoung’s part. Blue Collar Man, Renegade and Rocking The Paradise are rockers, sure, but somehow they cranked up the energy for them this time. I really felt them and usually I don’t get very excited when Blue Collar Man gets played. This time I was riveted. Even though this wasn’t a Styx show, it felt like it because Dennis was his usual cornball, lovable self and in fine vocal form, especially for a 64 year-old man, and the band was great. Plus the guitarists and co-vocalists looked just like JY and Tommy Shaw. I mean down to the scraggly beard and weird pants (JY) and the vest and fly-away long hair (Tommy).

I think either they were hired because they looked and played like their counterparts in Styx or else Dennis got some really good musicians and “suggested” that they cultivate a look similar to JY and Tommy. It was a better Styx show than the last (non-Dennis) Styx show. Plus Dennis had no problem doing songs Tommy Shaw wrote (or co-wrote) whereas the current Styx avoids songs exclusively written by Dennis DeYoung, which means two-third of their catalog. (And before the show we went to the Baltimore Aquarium, which was fun. I hadn’t been in awhile. It wasn’t quite as good as I remembered so now I’m stuck- I have no favorite aquarium. I think an ideal one would be something I pieced together from all the ones I’ve been to.)

Songs/Albums:

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti- Before Today: I heard a song on Sirius by these garage rockers and liked it. The album had been sitting on my buy list for a long time and when Amazon had it as a $5 digital download, I got it. It wasn’t quite worth $5 so I’m glad I bought it digitally instead of as a regular priced CD. It wasn’t bad but there was nothing interesting about it. I’d much rather get something by Spoon, who sound like a struggling garage band even though they aren’t (not anymore.)

Spoon- A Series Of Sneaks: This is an Austin band focused around main songwriter/singer Brit Daniels. They are very lo-fi. It sounds like everyone is sitting around a chunky, old-fashioned microphone in a ramshackle studio. It always takes me several listens to get into one of their albums because there isn’t lots of overdubs and heavy production to immediately wow me so I have to scale my expectations down to really listening to the guitar or the lyrics or a drum sound. All of these are distinctly noticeable, due to the lack of layering, unlike a Britney Spears song where you can’t tell if a sound is a distorted guitar, a keyboard sound effect or an auto-tuned vocal. This album is an early one from the group that I got since it was a $5 special and it has several gems on it, like Metal School, Quincy Punk Episode (which sounds like Nirvana and Pixies simultaneously), Laffitte Don’t Fail Me and the Minor Tough, which has a nice little guitar sound towards the end.

Was (Not Was): Boo- I like W(NW) and have a couple greatest hits collections but this album was after all most of their greatest hits albums came out so there was hopefully a lot of new and interesting stuff on it. Well, to paraphrase the best song on the album (Semi-Interesting Week), “it was a semi-interesting album.” Nothing blew my socks off except that song, which was the only thing that I already had on a G.H. album. There was no wacky stuff like I Blew Up The United States or any funky, wacky stuff like Walk The Dinosaur or Freaks Come Out At Night. Just reasonable, so-so R&B based pop-rock. Get an earlier album or hits collection and skip this. Even if you are a fan of W(NW).

Airborne Toxic Event (self-titled)- Same story as Ariel Pink. Heard a song on Sirius, liked it, bought the album used, except this wasn’t $5. More like $7 and also not worth it. I liked a couple songs on it, particularly “Does This Mean You're Moving” but I wished I had waited just a little longer because there new album is out now and I really like the song “Changing”. That would almost have been worth $7, maybe even just for that one song.

Adele- 21: Just when I’m about to go off on a rant about the need for getting whole CDs instead of cherry-picking singles, an album like this comes along. The whole album is okay but the only songs worth a second listen are Rumour Has It and Rolling In The Deep. To be fair, I gave the whole CD several listens over a period of several weeks but still didn’t get into any other songs. Rumour will be a good radio song but the reason I got suckered into buying the CD, which is a certified worldwide smash, was because Rolling In The Deep is such a phenomenal song. I heard it late last year but decided to hold off on buying an MP3 because if that was the lead-off single, then album must be fantastic. Wrong. That song is the fluke- a powerful, moving tremendous song with a massive vocal performance. It has an interesting flow to it; it’s not just a ballad- it throws in some 60’s girl group moves too. Whenever it comes on the radio, I turn off the station because I don’t want to hear the song so often that it loses its’ impact. I’m putting this on my end of the year mix CD because everyone should hear this song without having to buy the album.

Aloe Blacc- Good Things: A relative stranger I was talking to mentioned this artist and I had never heard of them. That’s kind of rare- an artist I have never even heard OF, much heard stuff BY them. I filed the name I the back of my head and a couple months later I started hearing this song lyric “I need a dollar, a dollar, a dollar is what I need” in a commercial and thought it had a nice sound. Turns out it was Blacc. When I saw the digital download for $5, I got it and it was definitely worth it. This is an old-school R&B artist, in the vein of Al Green or Marvin Gaye. Although some songs blend together into a pleasant pastiche, there are several standouts that will keep you humming all day- I Need A Dollar, Loving You Is Killing Me and Green Light. Definitely a good thing.

Amy Winehouse- One thing I definitely am not listening to is Amy Winehouse. Not because she died this weekend of a likely drug overdose & joined the 27 Club (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/27_Club). Not because she only had two albums- one really good album (Back To Black) and her first mediocre album (Frank), lending credence to the thought that she was a great singer but her successful second album was the result of a great producer, not her singing or songwriting. Considering she hasn’t done anything of note since then, except do drugs and walk around half-naked, I’m not that surprised or upset by her death. Sure, I don’t wish death on anyone but if someone courts death by abusing themselves, I’m not going to get heart-broken when it inevitably happens, especially if they haven’t really left any significant legacy. The real reason that I’m not listening to her though is because none of the radio stations seem to be playing her stuff. She only had one hit but there were several good songs on her good album (Back To Black, Rehab, You Know I'm No Good, Tears Dry On Their Own) so I don’t know why they aren’t getting any play. If they were, I’d listen but I wouldn’t shed any tears.

The Green Thing

Subject: Green Thing
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:33:12 -0400
From: William Leggett
To: 'piper265'

The Green Thing

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.


The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."


He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.


Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.


But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.


We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.


But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.


Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.


Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana .

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.


But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.


But we didn't have the green thing back then.


Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.

We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.


But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartbutt young person.

Sandra Bullock Movies- Love, Like, Loath

“Actress chosen for me by Val Maas-
My choice of either Francis McDormand or Sandra Bullock”:

This is so not a choice- I have to go with my hometown crush, Sandra Bullock.

Movies of hers I love- Thing Called Love & While You Were Sleeping (When I first developed my celebrity crush and when it was solidified permanently).

Movies of hers I like- Forces Of Nature & Murder By Numbers (When she stretched in the roles she took and displayed her innate talent and charm).

Movies of hers I loath- Speed 2 and In Love & War (Because they suck so bad, despite Sandra’s efforts although honestly, she did suck in In Love And War.)

So, anyone else want to play? “Like” my status and I’ll select someone for you.

Dennis DeYoung Set List (2011)

Dennis DeYoung- (Opening For Pat Benetar)
July 15, 2011 ($70.00- Pier Six Pavilion, Baltimore)

Dennis wore sunglasses & casual, all white clothes, like a rock & roll Steve Martin.

Songs (From Album)

1 Grand Illusion (Grand Illusion)
2 Lady (Styx I)
3 Loreli (Equinox)
4 Blue Collar Man (Pieces Of Eight)

Sung by the Tommy Shaw "clone". It was a thunderous, awesome version!
Kudos to the JY "clone" (even the hair & scruffy beard was the same!)

5 Show Me The Way(Edge Of The Century)
6 Mr. Roboto (Kilroy Was Here)
7 Too Much Time On My Hands (Paradise Theatre)

"Tommy" did all the Tommy parts

8 Babe (Cornerstone)
9 Fooling Yourself (Grand Illusion)

"From Styx's greatest album- Abbey Road" ... Dennis said tongue-in-cheek

10 Rocking The Paradise (Paradise Theatre)
11 Best Of Times (Paradise Theatre)
12 The End (Beatles cover- Abbey Road)

Encore: -------

13 Renegade (Pieces Of Eight)
14 Come Sail Away (Grand Illusion)

Why Feud With Zooey Deschanel? Is She Evil Somehow?

For some reason, an LA Times writer decided to personally attack Zooey Deschanel. She wasn't making a point about spoiled celebrities, she just felt compelled to unload on Zooey for no apparent reason. This just seems mean and spiteful because her "opinion piece" had no point except to call Zooey a cow and dump a load of bile on her. Is this the new kind of journalism that the internet culture is going to bring us?

Downtown L.A.: Good Enough For The Royals, But Not For Zooey Deschanel?
(Patt Morrison, LA Times, July 10, 2011)

I can't believe Zooey Deschanel is really the snobby cow she came off sounding like Saturday evening.
The actress was a guest at the black-tie Hollywood BAFTA gala in downtown Los Angeles for the royal Cambridges, William and Kate. To my friend and former Times colleague Claudia Puig, now the USA Today critic and film writer, Ms. Deschanel worried aloud that the neighborhood around the fabulously restored Belasco Theatre might look shabby to the regal couple. "I just don't want them to see the worst of L.A.," said Deschanel. Excuse me? Downtown, the worst of L.A.?

What, Ms. Deschanel, you don’t have any homeless people there near your Westside home? Or does that not count, because they’re on the beach, not the sidewalks? Of course there are thousands of down-and-out folks in downtown L.A. I cannot apologize enough to Ms. Deschanel that in some places, the sidewalks do not smell like Jo Malone candles. There are also million-dollar lofts downtown -- like the ones in the Eastern Columbia building, not far from the Belasco theatre. There is the venerable Grand Central Market, the spectacular Central Library, the Oviatt Building, the jewelry district and the fashion district and MOCA. The royals might have marveled, "Oooh, what’s that?" as they helicoptered downtown above the splendid Disney Concert Hall.

Beyond the polo and the Hollywood glam events in California, in their less than 48-hours here, the royals may have seen more of "real L.A." than many Angelenos have. Just as William’s aunt, Princess Anne, the princess royal, visited Para Los Ninos on Skid Row a generation ago, and put that program on the map, the Cambridges went to an inner-city arts school downtown and to a jobs program for unemployed veterans on the Sony studios lot. This was a working trip for William and Kate; it was, in the main, about good deeds, not good times. And isn’t it possible the royals get tired of red carpets and roses? People naturally want to spiff up for a royal arrival -– there’s the story of an old English lady who got down on her hands and knees with a toothbrush and a bottle of ink to spiff up a carpet for the Queen Mother’s visit.

Maybe these young royals probably actually want to get a look at real reality once in a while. For decades, the royals have had to put in very public good-deed time to help to justify who they are and how they live. Queen Mary, the present queen’s grandmother, supposedly told her daughter, when the girl complained that she was so tired of visiting all those icky hospitals, "We are the British royal family. We all love hospitals, and we are never tired." Prince William has spent time at British charities for the luckless; a couple of years ago, he stayed out a night, "sleeping rough" among London’s homeless, to get a taste, and a smell, of living on the street. Of course it was a staged event. Of course he had security, and of course he could walk right back into a luxurious life the next day, which his fellow street dossers could not. But he did it.

Ms. Deschanel’s remarks are all the more gob-smacking because the success of her 2009 film "[500] Days of Summer" is chiefly thanks to … downtown L.A. The Times said the architecture is the star of the film, from the Music Center to the towering California Plaza and the haunting [and maybe haunted -– it was built on the advice of a Ouija board] Bradbury Building. Did Ms. Deschanel not look any farther than her trailer door? Maybe spending a little time at the inner-city arts school, or at the downtown women’s shelter, might do her even more good than it could do to help out those laudable places. I mean, if it’s not too hard for her to set foot once again in "the worst of L.A."

http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/07/downtown-la-good-enough-for-the-royals-but-not-for-zooey-deschanel.html

An Open Letter To Los Angeles Times Writer Patt Morrisson
(By Zooey Deschanel, HelloGiggles website, July 11, 2011)

This is an open letter in response to a piece entitled Downtown LA: Good enough for the royals, but not for Zooey Deschanel?, written by columnist Patt Morrison, which appeared in the publication on July 10, 2011.

Dear Ms. Morrison,

I feel compelled to respond to your recent blog post regarding comments I “allegedly” made outside the BAFTA dinner on Saturday night. I never spoke to you at this event; in fact, you weren’t even there. I am completely and utterly shocked that a professional journalist, whom I have never met, would take a partial quote out of context and use it as the basis for a misguided personal attack. Further, I find it appalling that you would resort to name-calling to get your point across. In a court of law this would be called hearsay, and in journalism, I believe this should be the beginning of an investigation, not the end of one.

Let me be clear: the quote from USA TODAY that you used as the foundation of your piece was taken completely out of context. I NEVER said that Downtown LA was “the worst of LA”. I did make a reference to a parking lot adjacent to the theater that had a lot of trash in it in an attempt to be humorous. I simply said, “It’s funny they brought royalty here, there is a parking lot with trash around the corner.” It wasn’t an opinion. It was true. There was indeed a parking lot with trash around the corner. I thought that the juxtaposition of British Royalty and trash was amusing in a high-brow + low brow sort of way, but I never said that I, personally, didn’t like downtown, the Royals, or even trash.

I LOVE DOWNTOWN LA and I relish any opportunity to spend time there. I have pride in my city, that’s the reason why I thought it was kind of funny that they didn’t clean up the immediate surroundings before the Royals came through. In the end, of course, it didn’t actually matter since those two crazy kids were flown in by helicopter anyway. Silly me. Regardless, I don’t even think I need to defend my love of Los Angeles. I am a native Angelino, and had you done any research at all, you would have found that I have been quoted in the press on numerous occasions talking about how much I love Downtown.

In your piece, the character you’ve created of “me” is actually pretty funny. I don’t know who this person is, but it seems as if you’ve borrowed her from the Susan Lucci repertoire. You make so many far-fetched conclusions; for one thing, you state, “go back to your house on the Westside.” Well, I can’t do that because I do not live on the Westside. You also open your piece by calling me a “cow”, which might be your opinion, but I wish a journalist for the Los Angeles Times and KPCC had found a more sophisticated way of sharing a difference in perceived opinion.

It’s hard for me to comprehend why you launched such a vile and toxic blow in my direction over a sentence fragment that you did not even hear for yourself. I do hope that in the future when writing about something, especially a human being, you will consider both the facts and context before publishing your opinion.

Sincerely,
Zooey Deschanel

http://hellogiggles.com/an-open-letter-to-los-angeles-times-writer-patt-morrisson


In Zooey Deschanel Feud, L.A. Times Writer Sticks To Her Guns
(By Jen Chaney, Washington Post Celebritology column, July 12, 2011)

First L.A. Times columnist Patt Morrison wrote an opinion piece slamming Zooey Deschanel for making what she characterized as snobby comments about downtown Los Angeles during Saturday’s BAFTA gala featuring Prince William and Duchess Catherine. Then Deschanel wrote an open letter on her Web site slamming Morrison for writing a column that Deschanel described as inaccurate (she noted that she does not live on the Westside of L.A., as Morrison contended) and a “vile and toxic blow in my direction.” Morrison has issued a response to that, via an e-mail to Celebritology and an open letter of her own. The upshot: she stands by what she wrote. In the open letter, posted to the L.A. Times Web site yesterday evening (July 11, 2011), Morrison writes:

Because I love downtown L.A., warts and all, and because Zooey Deschanel is a talented and charming actress, I am happy to hear that she really does love downtown Los Angeles. After all, my post on Deschanel's observations began with my surprise at what she said to reporters Saturday evening at the Belasco Theatre, where the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, or BAFTA, hosted a party for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. In addition to her saying "I just don’t want them to see the worst of L.A.," she said, "This is such a big deal and there are, like, parking lots filled with trash all the way here. I hope they helicopter them in past that."

Downtown can be a tough place to love, but as I wrote, I think the royals, with their insulated lives, may actually appreciate getting a whiff of something other than roses once in a while. I also wrote that Deschanel lives on the Westside -- not so, say her people. But it's not like it wasn't checked: Voter registration records show that as of last November's election, she was registered to vote at an address in Pacific Palisades. I hope Deschanel will head back to greater downtown L.A. one of these days. The vegetarian breakfasts at the Homegirl Cafe? I can't recommend them enough.

In a response to my e-mail request for comment, the L.A. Times issued this statement, “As a Los Angeles Times Op-Ed columnist, Patt Morrison’s job is to voice opinions. Like our other columnists, her tone and choice of words reflect her own feelings.” As for Deschanel, she has not responded to Morrison’s response but she has tweeted thank yous to several of her Hollywood colleagues who voiced their support for her open letter. Among them: Jonah Hill, Mindy Kaling, Minka Kelly and “Glee’s” Lea Michele.

What I'm Checking Out This Month (June 2011)

Here are the various entertainment things I’m listening to, watching or reading this month.

Movies:

Pirates Of The Caribbean- I wasn’t expecting much when I went to see this because the reviews weren’t very positive but I was bored and wanted to see something. Turns out it was the right choice for that day because it was loads of fun. The story was pretty basic- searching for the Fountain Of Youth- and much simpler than the convoluted plotlines of the second and third Pirates. Apparently Johnny Depp worked with the producers on getting the script right. It works because the movie highlights what you like about the series- quests for enchanted items, Captain Jack Sparrow improvising amazing escapes and dropping saucy comments and colorful secondary characters keeping things lively. Here, Ian McShane’s Blackbeard is a compelling character and pretty terrifying and Geoffrey Rush is back as the amusing Barbosa. No Orlando Bloom though. Not that I care though that does mean no Keira Knightley either and I always enjoy watching her. The one disappointment is the swordfights but I’m always disappointed by sword fights these days, in any movie. They all suffer from ADD editing. There is no build up in tension or sense of danger. It’s 5 seconds of fighting, then a cut to some other angle or incident, then back to another series of clanging swords. I want to see drama in the fighting, I want to see close calls and strategy. I want a real sword fight, like in the movie Rob Roy. If you aren’t going to play it seriously, at least make it protracted and visually stirring like in the 1974 version of The Three Musketeers.

Kung Fu Panda 2- No, I didn’t see this. I was just seeing if you were paying attention. Why would I pay to see 1) A movie with Jack Black in the lead, 2) An animated kid’s movie not made by Pixar, 3) Um, I think the first two items pretty much say it all. I’ll watch this on cable just like I did the first one. I don’t need to pay $10 to see it now. Even if it is in 3-D.

Super 8- The trailer for this made it seem more like Cloverfield than The Goonies but in reality it is a movie made for kids. This is not to say it is a kid’s movie. A kid’s movie is one that is specifically designed to contain the elements a producer thinks kids want to see, like cute animals or wisecracking sidekicks or slapstick and bathroom humor or simplistic plotlines. Super 8 is a normal movie that will be appreciated the most by ten-to-fifteen year-olds. Adults will find it too simplistic and predictable, little kids will find it too scary while teenagers will find it to be too sincere. It’s a combination of modern day monster movie and boy meets girl story- kind of E.T. meets Stand By Me meets Platoon.

X-Men: First Class- Awesome. This is a great looking, engrossing X-Men movie. I was appalled with the previous one (Last Stand) by director Brett Ratner, mainly because it royally screwed up the Dark Phoenix saga. Yes, this movie screws with the Marvel Comics storylines too but does it properly. The essence of the back history remains the same, just some of the events and characters are adjusted. The tone of the story is true its’ source material. Besides, none of the movies were entirely faithful to the comic books. This movie follows a young Charles Xavier, before he becomes Professor X, and how the X-Men came to be. The interplay between Xavier and the future Magneto is interesting and the Cold War backdrop fits well with the ethos of the series. The exploration of the characters and their motivations was fascinating and engrossing. I wouldn’t have minded another half-hour added to this movie, which is already two and quarter hours long. If I had any complaint, it would be that there isn’t enough action. I wanted to see more fighting and the mutants using their powers in action, not just learning how to use them. I’m really looking forward to the next movie and hope it builds on this one.

Green Lantern: I enjoyed this for what it was. It didn’t have any of the gravitas you’ve come to expect from The X-Men movies, but at least it wasn’t as stupid as Thor. From reading the comic books as a kid, I don’t recall Green Lantern/Hal Jordan being as flippant and dissolute as he’s portrayed in the movie. I think that was done to “modernize” the character or maybe to make the goofy ring projections seem less jarring than if they were juxtaposed with a serious character. The sets and special effects worked, and the sstory was a bit stronger than I thought it would be although the ending was pretty perfunctory. I expected more visual fireworks and drama after all the build-up. Props to the director too- Martin Campbell (Goldeneye, Casino Royale, Zorro)- for making it work. He got good performances from the actors- especially the guy playing Sinistro- and kept the special effects from overwhelming the more dramatic parts of the movie.

Hangover 2: If you liked the raunchy humor of the original movie, you’ll like this. If you liked the “WTF” moments from the original, you’ll be less enamored with this iteration. Rather than shocking you with unexpected plot twists and bizarre humor, this time the filmmakers try to shock you with just plain disturbing scenes. In the first movie, when Ken Jeong jumped naked out of the trunk of a car, you were surprised and astonished. In the second movie, he jumps out of an ice chest but you see that coming from a mile away and the nakedness is done by transsexuals in a club, also something you see coming from yards away (not quite miles but at least a few feet away). Both of these are in here just to recreate what worked well in the first movie and since it is gratuitous (on so many levels) it doesn’t work as well. It’s not a bad movie it just not original, something that should not surprise me considering there is a 2 in the title of the movie.


Plays:

Venus In Fur (Studio Theatre)- I loved this play. It was an examination of the treatment of women in the theatre, and by extension how they are treated in life by the men they interact with. Are they whores or submissives or equal partners or superiors? Are people only what they seem like on the surface or if you look deeper will you find their real essence? The plot is straight-forward- a women arrives late to an audition for a part in a play and the director is so tired of seeing the same pathetic actresses vying for the role that he just wants to go home. The late-arrival seems like a stereotypical actress but every time the director is about to leave, she surprises him by showing another layer to her character and her acting ability so he stays a little longer. The actress impressively switches between her characters Marisa Tomei-like “real” personality and her Kate Winslet-like acting ability. Right there you know I would like the play since the main character is channeling the wonderful and adorable Marisa Tomei. What hooks you though is how she controls the situation even though she is the aspirant, the one trying to win the role and keep the director from leaving. It reminded me of Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story, the way one person kept drawing the other back into conversation.

TV Shows:

French Open- Going into the first weekend of June, we have the top four players in the world competing for the men’s title. Oops- Nadal just beat Murray in straight sets, no tiebreaks either, to get to the finals. I’m not sure if I want Federer to beat Djokovich and then lose to Nadal in the final or if I want him to lose now and be forced to watch two other people play for the title. Either way, I ultimately want Federer to lose in a painful way. About the only scenario that would make me unhappy is if he won the whole thing. (Hope God wasn’t listening just now. Although God can’t be a Federer fan, can He? Even so, I’m too insignificant for Him to waste time making me unhappy or else He would already have gotten me a shrew-ish wife to torment me.) [Editor’s note- Nadal won. Stomped Federer in 4 sets and took his record tying 6th French Open win.]

Breakout Kings- This isn’t a bad show considering it is on A&E but it is so derivative of so many other things, particularly Leverage, a TNT show about cons with special individual skills working together to help stop bad guys. That’s the premise of Breakout Kings as well, except that the main characters are just criminals, not specialized criminals and I’ve watched three episodes now and none of them were compelling enough to make me seek out this show.

NBA Finals (Miami Heat vs. Dallas Mavericks)- Mavericks sucker-punched a Heat team that got lazy in the 4th quarter and went on a 22-5 roll to sneak out a win on Miami’s home court. Now we have a real series going on and the Heat better watch out. I kind of want them to lose although not for the reason everyone else has (hating LeBron James). I am disappointed that they beat the “new Utah Jazz”, i.e. the Chicago Bulls- home to Carlos Boozer, Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver, all Jazz players last season.

Miami threatened to pull away in the second game and go up two games to zero but they got stomped by Dirk Nowitzki in the fourth quarter when the Mavericks went on a 22-5 run to win the game on the final shot and even the series at one game each. The third game ended with a decisive last second shot but this time it was Miami to win at the last second on the Mavs home court. For the fourth game, the Heat had a decent lead going into the fourth quarter. Then they floundered again and the Mavericks caught up, got ahead, and Dirk kept them ahead by three points with 5 seconds left. The last second shot by Miami…missed so it’s two games each. Wondered what will happen in game five tomorrow?

Apparently, the same thing that happened in the first game- the Mavericks came from behind in the fourth quarter to win the game. It was tied with about two minutes left and then after Jason Kidd- yeah, that old guy- the Mavs pulled away to get 9 point lead with a few seconds left. Three games to two is a good place to be if you are playing the last two games on the road. And in game six, the Dallas Mavericks took it all and won the championship. The only bad part of that is that Jason Kidd now has a ring and John Stockton doesn’t. Stockton is still the better point guard though, by far. No ring for LeBron either and he has to spend the off season defending himself. I wouldn’t care so much about him getting stomped except for the fact that he felt like he was entitled (a state of mind that always bothers me) to a championship but most of all, when Dirk mentioned he was a little bit sick, LeBron and his teammates started coughing in interviews and making fun of Nowitzki. Acting like bratty little kids didn’t endear the Heat to me at all. So it was a great series and I’m thrilled with the winner. It’s the first championship series in the last three years that I actually watched consistently.

Wimbledon- Tennis season is in full swing and I’m ready to see who wins this tournament. All I’m hoping is that it isn’t Federer. And it isn’t because the semi-finals just wrapped up today. Things almost went as expected- Nadal beat Mardy Fish, the lone American left (Roddick fizzled, like usual), in four sets so it wasn’t a rout. Djokovic beat someone and Andy Murray beat Feliciana Lopez. So you would figure the top four ranked players moved on right? Especially since Roger Ferder started out his match up two sets to none and his record is 178-0 when starting a match up by two sets.

Nope- he wasn’t inspired and didn’t seem to play hard in the last set. No energy at all so Jo-Wilifred Tsongasgot a break and held onto it to make it a surprise upset of the six-time Wimbledon winner. Now I don’t care who wins- I’d be happy with any although I’ll root for Nadal because it will make Roger more upset than if Djokovic wins because Nadal is starting to challenge Federer’s Grand Slam record. Okay, just watched the final and Djokovic won in four sets. Good tournament and Novak has now only lost one match the entire year (to Nadal at the French?) so it will be interesting to see how he does the rest of the year and in the US Open come August. I think he’s gonna accrue the best winning streak in tennis history.

Women’s World Cup: It just started the last week of June so the big matches are yet to come but it will be a good tournament because all my favorites are there- the U.S., Sweden and Norway, with Australia, Germany, China and Brazil thrown in just to make it interesting. From the looks of things so far, Norway won’t get far, so I’ll be rooting for the U.S.A. and Sweden but basically anyone but Brazil or Germany.

Books:

Outwitting Trolls (by William G. Tapply)- This is his final finished mystery story and I was quite sad to get to the end. First because there are no more Brady Coyne stories coming and also because the character didn’t get a fancy send off. It was an optimistic send-off though. I’m not sure if that’s how the author wrote it or if the editor tweaked it after the fact but here’s a quote from the last page.

She said, “Tomorrow this time you’ll be here tucked in with me.”
“If we can outwit the trolls”, I said.
“I’m not sure I believe in trolls,” said Alexandra. “I’d rather believe in fairies.”
“I think we can have it both ways.”
“Trolls and fairies?”
“And wicked stepmothers and fairy godmothers,” I said. “It’s a more interesting world with all of them, don’t you think”
“A more complicated world, anyway.” She chuckled softly. “I’m at a good place with my novel. I’m not going to think about it all weekend. I’m just going to hang out with you and the dog. Walk in the woods, paddle our kayaks, cook good food, watch some old movies, and snuggle in bed. I can’t wait.”
“I’m at a good place too,” I said.

Food Rules: An Eaters Manual (By Michael Pollon)- I can see why people would stop buying books if they had to pay $15 like the list price on this slim little tome suggests. There is nothing of any interest here to someone who has read his “In Defense Of Food”. Basically, Pollon takes that previous book, removes all the science, social critique and background history to present some 60 food rules which are really common sense rules anyway. Without understanding why we should do them, there is no impact and hence no reason for this book to exist. Other than to make more money for Pollon by repackaging his previous efforts.

Zombie Spaceship Wasteland (By Patton Oswalt): I was curious to see what Oswalt would write about. I’ve kind of disliked him for years and only part of that is a result of jealousy. Yeah, we graduated the same year from the same college and he went on to become rich and famous and I didn’t. Discounting that pettiness though, I still don’t find him to be funny in the least. (It’s not just because of jealousy either- Jon Stewart also graduated from my college and is rich and famous but I think he’s funny. Yeah, I’m still jealous of him but I think he has real talent and I admire his success.) So what Oswalt writes about is a little of everything. He does some “comedic” essays, he does some memoir type stuff, he writes some spoofs of wine reviews, he does a short comic book, he makes lists. Basically he does the same stuff I do but for a lot more money. I was surprised to find that I liked some of the stuff he wrote. He doesn’t seem to be too much of an egotist, he has a good grasp on story-telling and he likes some of the same comedians I do (e.g. Maria Bamford). Most of the things were well-written and enjoyable. I found my distain for Patton Oswalt softening quite a bit. I don’t recall really laughing much while reading the book though so maybe I’m not sophisticated enough to appreciate his humor. Or maybe he just isn’t that funny! Still, I’ve developed some empathy for him and think he might be a decent human being after all. One I’m still jealous of, by the way. More so now that he’s a published author.


Songs/Albums:

The Cars: Move To This- The reviews were right; this sounds like classic Cars stuff. The problem is that it is classic Cars album cuts, and not even the good ones. It’s the Cars stuff you skipped past to get to the best songs that were not released as singles. If you loved the song “You Might Think”, you won’t particularly like this. If you loved the song “Since You’re Gone”, you will hate this.

Black Keys- Brothers: A two man band playing minimalist sounding music but injecting it with intensity to make up for the lack of sonic layers. Kind of like the White Stripes do. Or did. I’d heard the song Tighten Up on the radio but was reluctant to buy the album because it’s just one song. The rest could suck. After getting the album as a gift for my birthday, I was thrilled to find several other great songs on there. I also liked the rootsy stomp of Howling For You and the songs The Only One and Ten Cent Pistol.

Whitesnake: Forevermore- Don’t ask me why I bought this or their previous album because I never bought any Whitesnake albums during their heyday. How is it? It’s Whitesnake. It sounds just like you expect it to sound. It’s knuckleheaded arena rock songs that have lots of guitar solos and go on for two minutes too long. It’s harmless fun. Nothing as good as Slow And Easy or Here I Go Again but nothing that embarrassing either, aside from being Whitesnake in the first place.

Mom's Mixed Message

Sometimes I wonder about my parents and what message they are trying to send me. Below is something my Mom emailed me on Valentine’s day. I’m not sure where she found it and at first, I thought she was sending me another “subtle” hint to get married (like it is just that easy- Mom prompts me, I snap my fingers, and a marriage happens.) Then I read further along and the article started talking about socioeconomic advantages of marriage. Okay, I suppose that makes sense…. Then it moved on to political policies and welfare statistics and I started getting confused. Am I supposed to get married or run for political office? Then it wrapped up with a knock on ObamaCare. Huh? How the heck am I supposed to interpret this email? I am very confused. What exactly is my Mom saying? Yes, I’m an unmarried loser but is that my fault or is it somehow now the government’s fault? I like that answer but I don’t think that’s what her intention was. Does anyone else have any ideas?

Here's what she emailed me:

On Valentine’s Day, Share the Word About the Benefits of Marriage
Posted February 14th, 2011

As millions of rose bouquets grace kitchen tables and office desks across America and dozens of chocolate delicacies are savored after candlelight dinners, card companies, jewelry stores and candy makers will be singing the praises of St. Valentine and raising their own glass of champagne to love.
But the economic benefits of celebrating lifelong love are not simply for card stores and florist shops once a year. Marriage not only pays emotional dividends as men and women commit themselves to each other, focus on their children, and face the challenges of life together. The institution that forges unique personalities and lives together in the hearth of loving commitment can also provide notable economic benefits. Married couples tend to have a higher average income, more assets, and a greater likelihood of owning their own home than families led by single adults.

Men and women aren’t the only ones to benefit from lifelong, married love. Children raised in families headed by a married couple have a greater chance of experiencing economic stability, high academic performance, and emotional maturity. Children living under the promise of marital commitment are six times less likely to experience poverty and can display the positive social effects of having both parents in the home, potentially avoiding the many hindrances to social mobility that tend to plague children raised in single-parent households.

Unfortunately, the personal joy and socioeconomic advantages of marriage are often lost on those who arguably need those benefits the most. With the national unwed birth rate reaching 41 percent in 2009 and almost three-quarters of African-American children alone born outside of marriage, millions of children are at risk of experiencing the financial difficulties and social challenges of living in single-parent households. The same children (and their parents) are also more likely to need government financial assistance. Of the nearly $400 billion in annual welfare funding spent on low-income families, three-quarters goes to those led by single parents.
Financial assistance alone will not help needy families avoid poverty and long-term dependence. Demonstrating the personal fulfillment of healthy relationships, which no government check can provide, and the economic benefits of marriage to low-income communities can increase the chance of self-dependency and more stable families.

Just as the greatest Valentine will not be the most expensive diamond or the richest three-course meal, the greatest gift of compassion and justice for poor families is not more money and federal handouts. It is the opportunity to learn about the emotional, social, and economic advantages of marriage and potentially share in the promises of lifelong, married love. Rather than continue a cycle of dependence with streams of anonymous government checks, policymakers can take steps to remove disincentives to marriage and demonstrate how healthy marital relationships can lead to self-sufficiency.

For example, lawmakers could remove penalties on marriage imposed by Obamacare by repealing the legislation once and for all. Obamacare could cost certain married couples upwards of $10,000 a year. Congress must immediately reduce or eliminate the welfare marriage penalties that punish low-income recipients who choose to marry. And they can work to ensure federal programs adequately explain the economic and social benefits of marriage to communities who have a high risk of having children out of wedlock.

If they do so—and President Obama’s budget released later today will offer some initial clues to the tenor of this year’s debate—our nation can experience a springtime of marriage. More personal happiness and smaller government will make a very attractive couple.

Quick Hits:
• The White House projected Monday that the federal deficit would spike to $1.65 trillion in the current fiscal year, the largest dollar amount ever.
• According to the Treasury Department, interest payments to service the national debt are poised to triple to 3.1 percent of gross domestic product by 2016.
• According to The Hill, 77% of likely voters believe Social Security is in trouble.
• The real estate crash is not over and is now spreading to previously unaffected cities like Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Seattle.
• Cities in southern California are beginning to crack down on illegal immigration by using E-Verify