August Deaths

A couple of people passed away and felt I should mention something as I usually do.

Gore Vidal passed away. For brevity, go here for 26 great quotes by the man.

Vidal's life reads like "the most interesting man in the world'. on top of that, the Right attacked him as a gay socialist, and Vidal never ran away from his life or politics, instead embracing the barbs pointed at him.

I became a fan after seeing his interviews. He had an epic interview on Real Time with Bill Maher which a certain Box Office channel continually is taking down. you will have to do with only a snippet.

I read Vidal when he was in my 20s with a book a couple of friends loved, Live from Golgotha. I liked the idea, but didn't really get into the book that much. Comedy blasphemy is fine, but I felt like others (life of Brian, Christopher Moore's Lamb) have done it better.

I went back to Vidal after his Maher interview and read Burr, a book in his Narratives of Empire series. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It reminded a bit of Michener in the way the book developed (my experience with Michener is admittedly limited, so correct me if I am wrong), but it had all these great characters and moments.

I plan on revisiting Vidal in both his nonfiction prose and his other Empire stuff again down the road.

Of course, the big news the media took was that intellectualism was dead, and all these great minds who were huge celebrities- Vidal, Mailer, Capote- are all now dead and gone. I don't quite believe that- their are still a lot of great authors who are well known (. It's just their audiences (no surprise The Daily Show is a big booster) are just a tad bit smaller in a cable world.

I also felt I should say something about Tony Scott. I was a fan of his. I don't know that I share the love for Top Gun the rest of my generation does, but I did really like The Hunger, which may or may not be terrible. You have True Romance on the list as well, but you have a lot of movies that may not be classics, but were solid enjoyable films from the last decade or two (Man on Fire, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State).

My feelings for Scott are caught by his last film Unstoppable which was an exciting film despite having a plot that you knew from the beginning. The other reason I will always appreciate Scott (That is brother is Ridley, probably doesn't hurt) is that he may have put together the nine finest minutes of celluloid ever captured.

The Hire for BMW films

Apologies to defFrog who covered both of these deaths better already here and here.

There's plenty of more Vidal content on the web if you have time for it.  I would start with Democracy Now's remembrance.

Then there's this...

2016 Election Starts Now

The Des Moines Register's Kathie Obradovich has been covering the convention and if you didn't get the idea from Chris Christie, well, this might be about 2016.

A lot of focus has been put on Rand Paul, but it is apparent that he might not end up being the beneficiary of his father's supporters down the line.

I think it's fair.  He's got a bit of a Julian Lennon vibe to him.  I can't get excited by him.

Ryan, Scott Walker, and Ted Cruz were singled out as faves with the Iowa conventioneers.  Cruz (despite not yet being elected) seems to be the big winner, driving an hour to meet with the Iowa delegates.  Indeed, one gets the early impression that he might be the next Tea Party banner carrier.  Well, he already is, I suppose, but will he pull a Christine O'Donnell, if he is not successful.

Iowans bemoaned that the strong Paul support scared a lot of big names away, though to be fair, it's unseemly to look too ambitious, when ostensibly you are supporting a Romney second term in 2016.

New convention rules were put in place which should have an effect on 2016.  Most importantly, it appears Iowa's first-in-the-nation status looks secure.  The convention rules don't give the candidate the ability to reject delegates (as was discussed), but it does more strongly bind delegates to the actual winner (i.e. you won't get a third place finisher taking 22 out of a possible 28 delegates, because of post-caucus work).

In another bit of GOP-affecting news, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson will be on the ballot in Iowa.  There was a protest that invoked the law which says you can only be on the ballot if you have had a convention.  The protest stated that the Libertarian convention was more petition-signing than actual conventioneering.  The bipartisan group that makes such decisions held up the decision to put Johnson in the ballot (Yeah, I was bit surprised that a Republican and a Democrat decided in favor of the 3rd party guy).

Of course, though, many think Johnson will draw away from the GOP (Johnson ran in the caucus as a Republican).  Still, Johnson only got 8 caucus votes, so maybe that fear is overstated.

On the Shelf 072: Nick Cave projects

You've likely seen the ads for Lawless. The movie is written by Nick Cave, if you weren't aware.

While the movie is getting a hard time from critics, there's little doubt the soundtrack is getting a buzz. It is a bit O Brother Art Thou with new songs from Nick, and guest appearances from Emmylou Harris, Mark Lannegan, and Ralph Stanley.

There's a lot to discover, but undoubtedly, the idea of Ralph Stanley (famous for "O Death" from O Brother) singing the Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Hear" seems the most buzzworthy.

Speaking of Cave, it seems an appropriate place to talk about the second album of the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project- a trilogy of albums featuring friends and disciples of the late gun Club frontman. it features unused Pierce music, lyrics, and guitarwork.

We are Only Riders was one of my Best Albums of 2010. If Journey is Long suffers, it only suffers in that it doesn't have the shock of the new. it still has an all-star cast that includes Cave, Mick Harvey, Thalia Zedek, Lydia Lunch, Barry Adamson, Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, and the punk blast that is the Jim Jones Revue.

If you like the Goth Country Blues stuff that Pierce (and Cave)excelled in, then it is worth a look.

Here's Nick Cave and Debbie Harry dueting.