Fiorello and Baldini & other: June 2008

Thursday 26 June 2008

Mourning September

Artist: Mourning September

   Genre(s):
Other

Discography:

A Man Can Change His Stars

Year: 2004
Tracks: 10

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Courteney Cox's controversial TV drama Dirt has been cancelled by network bosses at FX after just two seasons. The second season of the show, in which Cox played a feisty tabloid editor, was shortened by the Writer's Guild of America strike, and viewer figures slipped to just over one million per episode, prompting the decision to axe it. Cox made the announcement, telling Tvguide.com, "It just got cancelled." But the former Friends star, who produced the show with her husband David Arquette, already has other projects in the pipeline. She says, "We're developing all kinds of stuff right now. We'll be producing more stuff together, for sure."

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Tuesday 24 June 2008

Reality shows get new life in rerun marathons

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - If reality TV is junk food, then the full-season daytime reality marathon has become the equivalent to a daylong, couch-bound Del Taco binge.

Networks are increasingly airing entire seasons of reality programming in large, seemingly indigestible chunks. Morning-to-dusk stretches of "The Bachelor" on VH1, "Top Chef" on Bravo, "Rock of Love" on MTV.

The marathons have solved what was once considered one of the major drawbacks of the reality genre. Unscripted shows, went the mantra, have no repeat value. What's the point of watching "America's Next Top Model" after you already know who wins?

Turns out, encores do work, as long as fans don't have to wait for the next episode.

"You can start watching TV at 8 in the morning and follow Season 2 for 'Project Runway' all the way," says Andy Cohen, Bravo's senior vp programming and production. "It's exciting to watch the progression of creativity and excellence in a competition setting and makes for an amazing arc to follow in one afternoon."

During a marathon, a producer often gives permission for the network to cut off a show's credits, so a story rolls from one episode to the next.

"Marathoning is a great way to hook people," said Mark Cronin, executive producer of VH1's "I Love New York," "Flavor of Love" and others. "I've had people say to me, 'I got into your show in a marathon.' They start watching and they've seen three episodes before they know what happened."

Reality marathons typically air during daytime rather than primetime, on weekdays or weekends. The ratings are often on par with regular programming, which is nonetheless a victory of sorts given that reality shows were once considered next to useless after a season concluded.

Barbara Morgenstern

Artist: Barbara Morgenstern

   Genre(s):
Dance
   Electronic
   Rock

Discography:

The Operator CDM

Year: 2006
Tracks: 3

The Grass Is Always Greener

Year: 2006
Tracks: 12

Nichts Muss

Year: 2004
Tracks: 11

One of the basal producers on Gudrun Gut's Berlin-based electronic-pop label Monika Enterprise, Barbara Morgenstern debuted in 1999 with the Vermona ET sixty-one album. Through 2000's Fjorden and 2003's Nichts Muss, her melodious sense became more marked, and with sentence she too began fielding remix requests (Dntel, Station 17, Ellen Allien, Malaria!, Smash TV). Tesri, a collaborative discharge with To Rococo Rot's Robert Lippok, came verboten in mid-2005. The Grass Is Always Greener followed in 2006.

Rainer Bloss

Artist: Rainer Bloss

   Genre(s):
Electronic: Progressive

Discography:

Drive Inn Vol. 3

Year: 1998
Tracks: 13

Drive Inn Vol. 2

Year: 1990
Tracks: 9

Ampsy A Mythodigital Fairytale Of A Kinky Computer

Year: 1984
Tracks: 10

Traum-Toters Knecht

Year: 1982
Tracks: 9

Illdisposed

Monday Movie Buzz: Hindu prof on new Mike Myers film 'Love Guru'

In the run-up to the release of "The Love Guru," self-described Hindu leader Rajan Zed began blasting e-mail releases to media outlets (including The Associated Press) from his Nevada home, stating his objections to the Mike Myers comedy when it was still a two-minute trailer.

While the movie avoids explicit connections to Hinduism, Zed's concerns centre on the frivolous use of Hindu terms - gurus, the ashram, karma, yoga - and crude allusions to its traditions. The potential for stereotyping was great, he argued, because the culture is not widely understood in America.

Paramount, which has previewed sensitive films to select audiences in the past, said in a March statement that "It is our full intention to screen the film for Rajan Zed and other Hindu leaders once it is ready." Zed said his repeated requests for an early screening were unmet, however, and he continued his campaign after buying a ticket this weekend.

In search of another perspective, the AP asked Vasudha Narayanan, a distinguished professor of Hinduism in India & the Diaspora at The University of Florida, to see the movie with one question in mind: Could "Love Guru" be seen as an affront to Hindus?

Narayanan, who is not connected to Zed and is too quick with a laugh to seem easily offended, was game. She thought she knew what she was getting into when she and her 22-year-old son went to a Saturday matinee in Gainesville, Fla.

"What can I say?" she said shortly after leaving the theatre. "Having raised two boys, I think I could handle the most puerile sense of humour. I wasn't offended, I was just ... it was sick!"

At only one point did Narayanan, who holds a Ph.D. from The University of Bombay, say she truly cringed: "When I saw the guru peeing into the bucket - it's easy for people to take offence at this, especially, if this is associated with guru behaviour," she said, offering the caveat that "by that time it was so over-the-top that it almost didn't register."

In her own words, here are Narayanan's thoughts on "The Love Guru."

-

"Guru," in many Indian languages, means "heavy" or "huge," suggesting the profound nature of a spiritual teacher's advice. The tag line for "The Love Guru" is "His Karma is Huge," but alas, the only thing heavy about the movie is the puerile humour.

The new Mike Myers movie is so obviously a farce that it is hard to take it seriously. How else can one view a guru riding an elephant named Bodhisattva (a primarily Buddhist figure), surrounded by Hollywood glitz, and who longs to be on "The Oprah Winfrey Show"?

There are, of course, some traditional messages embedded in the story, but they are crusted with toilet humour that borders on the fetid.

The movie spoofs gurus, pop-psychology, Freud, self-help czars, Bollywood movies - all classic targets for lampooning - and had it not been for the continued scatological lines, could have even been amusing.

Audience members over 40 will recognize several references that recall the gurus and movements of the '60s: Rajneesh, TM (transcendental meditation), etc. - people and organizations that became famous in India after gaining popularity in the West. Some of the rare moments that evoked spontaneous laughter were those that showed starlets dressed up in Hindi-movie costumes and doing Bollywood dances.

One such "Guru" moment - one that many Indians will immediately find familiar - is the scene in which Guru Pitka (Myers) meets Jane Bullard (Jessica Alba). Recognizing her as a soulmate, the guru's mind drifts into a classic and oft-repeated Bollywood movie scene, where Lord Krishna and his girlfriend, Radha, frolic in a pastoral set against the backdrop of Hindi film music. (This is a traditional trope in Indian culture - earlier this year, an Internet cartoon making its rounds in India portrayed Barack Obama as Krishna and Hillary Rodham Clinton as Radha.)

But there are others - like the moment the master guru in India urinates into a bucket, or the several graphic portrayals of boogers - that not only Hindus would find distinctly puerile (a word, by the way, from the Latin "puerilis," etymologically connected with the Sanskrit-Indian word "putra," or son).

But is this movie offensive to Hindus?

In answering the question, one has to remember that the Hindu traditions are exceptionally diverse; there is a wide range of opinion on practically every issue. Just about everyone I know loves the character Apu from "The Simpsons" and are happy that an Indian character has become part of mainstream entertainment. Still, there are a few who think the animated convenience-store owner is just another outrageous stereotype.

Most Hindus, however, have a good sense of humour and can make fun of their religion. From Sanskrit texts to the many vernacular movies, from dramas to even temple sculpture in India, religions are the subject of not just respect, but also satire and parody.

However, all that is "in-house" humour, and Hindus feel comfortable laughing at themselves or an imagined "other." When a movie is made by outsiders and comes with all the clout of Hollywood, and this becomes a lens through which Americans may perceive Hinduism - like the second "Indiana Jones" film - some Hindus in the diaspora become concerned. And unlike the "Harold and Kumar" films, which poke fun at the "model-minority" Asian stereotype, "The Love Guru" ostensibly deals with religion, one that is frequently misunderstood by the media.

That said, the movie is not overtly anti-Hindu - or even anti-guru. It is as much a spoof of American followers as it is of gurus, Indian or American. In the end, it is just crass - and does a good job offending many sensibilities, not just Hindu ones.

One could argue that there are some traditional messages embedded in the plot - these illustrate lines that we hear in many religious traditions (including Hinduism) and New Age movements, or from self-help teachers.

Darren Roanoke, the Toronto Maple Leafs star, cannot be victorious unless he controls himself first; and to do this, he has to face his insecurities and his fears. Guru Pitka must learn to put others before himself, succeeding only after passing up a coveted slot on "Oprah." We have to love ourselves before we can love others. One has to have confidence in one's abilities and not fear evil.

And one has to learn to laugh, really laugh, to let go and be natural and in harmony with life.

Too bad there are few such real laughs in the movie!

-

On the Net:

Vasudha Narayanan: http://tinyurl.com/3tuvk

See Also

David Morales

Artist: David Morales

   Genre(s):
Other

Discography:

How Would You Feel

Year: 2004
Tracks: 3

Known (and often derided) for his occupation as remixer to the stars during the nineties, David Morales was one of the pioneers of house music in New York, an original head from the seventies world Health Organization weathered the change over from disco to house and teamed up with Frankie Knuckles to mannequin the in the lead early remix team, Def Mix. During the '90s the dancing mainstream became aligned to many of his stylistic trademarks -- vocal breaks, uptempo piano riffs, plentitude of string section -- resulting in clichÃ©s attributed to both of them. Also, Morales hasn't been involved in own-name track record product as a good deal as his few peers (Brass knucks, Junior Vasquez, Todd Terry), merely Morales establish a dancefloor hit with the 1994 individual "In De Ghetto."

His beginnings were certainly non so polished; born in Brooklyn to Puerto Rican immigrants, Morales lived his early aliveness in quite a pugnacious section of the Brooklyn projects and was once guessing while maturation up. He dropped out of senior high school shoal afterward ninth grade, and worked as a fudge piece supplementing his meagre living with a job as a DJ (he had been collecting records since the eld of 14). Turned on to discotheque at all-important clubs like the Loft and the Paradise Garage, Morales was shortly working at the Garage as well afterward draw up with For the Record, an early DJ management firms. His report spread during the late '70s and early '80s until he had DJed at every major nightspot in the New York area. One of the first resistance house hits in the New York area, "Do It Properly" (by 2 Puerto Ricans, a Black Man and a Dominican) was a production helmed by Morales, with Chep Nunez, Robert Clivilles and David Cole. Moving on to remix and production work during the '80s, he strung-out up with some other major house legend, Frankie Knuckles (through For the Record) to form the Def Mix Productions gang, and his Red Zone remixes became known as important sign-posts in the developing progressive house apparent movement.

More and more though, as dance music began appealing to a wider patronage, Morales' mixes attuned themselves more to the mainstream of dance and his material often garnered airplay on daylight radio as well as in nightclubs. After making his name in the bulge out charts with an early Def Mix for Seal, he began working with a office call of the era's major pop stars: Mariah Carey, Madonna, Michael Jackson, U2, Janet Jackson, Tina Turner and BjÃ¶rk, among them. A major-label foreshorten with Mercury resulted in the 1994 single "In De Ghetto," a sane club strike, and Morales' debut record album, The Program. He's as well a top-flight DJ, known for pushing a sound much harder than that found on his possess remixes.

Ana Popovic

Remy's Victim: It's Everyone's Fault!

The woman who got shot by Remy Ma is suing everyone and everything -- looking to score some cash.

In a lawsuit filed in the Bronx, Makeda Barnes-Joseph doesn't just go after Remy, she wants coin from Remy's music label and even the pizza joint where she and Remy were boozing before she got shot. She claims that Universal Music received "financial profit and economic benefit from the unlawful, violent and anti-social conduct" of Ma.

As for The Pizza Bar, Makeda says they kept serving Remy even though she was "visibly" blotto. Remy's people didn't immediately return a call for comment.

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