On this weeks episode of 3rd & Fairfax, the official podcast of the Writers Guild of America, the guests are long-time writing partners Michael Colton & John Aboud who wrote the recent Netflix movie, A Futile and Stupid Gesture, about the early days of National Lampoon. Their credits also include the film, Penguins of Madagascar, and the series Leverage and Children's Hospital.
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As I've noted, one of the fun things about the Mystery Guest segment of the old TV series What's My Line? is that you often get, not just major public figures, but often people you'd never expect to see on a game show. And this is one of those -- made all the more fun (at least for me) because while I don't have many "heroes" in the world of popular culture, this fellow is one of the few. Edward R. Murrow. Adding to the fun of this is that Murrow may-well be the most famous voice in U.S. radio history because of his renowned "This is London" broadcasts during World War II. And so clearly the challenge in the game here was to disguise that voice. And Murrow seems to be actually having great fun doing voices. (Fortunately, there's a lot of talk after the game end, so we get to hear a lot of Murrow as Murrow.) Further, he was known as someone who was VERY serious -- famously getting into arguments with management to protect his news broadcasts and commentary which were often controversial -- and he clearly has a good sense of humor on the show here. (As it happens, for a personal reason I know that those arguments with management were a real thing and not just rumored. When I was at Northwestern, I did an independent research study with a new professor who had just joined the Medill School of Journalism there, a fellow named Sig Mickelson. As it happens -- though my crossing paths with him wasn't coincidental, indeed it was probably the main reason I wanted to do the independent research study -- Mickelson had been the president of CBS News when Murrow was there, probably in the late-50s / early 60s. I had a chance to talk with him about Murrow a bit, which was a joy, and while Mr. Mickelson admired Murrow's work a great deal, he noted that he and Murrow often butted heads, and it was a difficult relationship. (If you saw the movie, Good Night, and Good Luck, about the See It Now broadcast on Joseph McCarthy, Jeff Daniels plays Sig Mickelson in the film. The two look nothing alike. Mr. Mickelson looked more like the character actor John Randolph, who played Tom Hanks' grandfather in You've Got Mail.) This is from very early in the TV show's run, airing on December 7 (a notable day in history), 1952, If you want to jump right to the segment, it starts at 16:38. And even though his appearance is just 7-1/2 long, you'll notice that he still can't go that long without his trademark cigarette. On Wednesday, retiring Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) was the keynote speaker at Harvard Law School for their Class Day ceremony. It was a blistering speech, particularly addressed at Trump, but with criticism directed at his body, as well. How blistering? Here's how he gets into it -- "I'm here today as a representative of a co-equal branch of government, a branch which has been failing its Constitutional obligations to counteract the power of the president. And in so doing is dishonoring itself at a critical moment in the life of our nation." Three thoughts immediately come to mind. The first is, great, it's about time hearing a Republican be so outspoken on what seems a pretty obvious reality. Sen. Flake has been critical of Trump in the past, but he takes this to new heights -- in large part because of new lows. Second, as has been said elsewhere, it's a horrible shame that the only Republican politicians we hear say such things are those who will be retiring or already have, so they have nothing to lose. The others in office are a profile in cowardice and complicit in enabling this fascist administration. And third, as much as I admire Jeff Flake's previous criticism of Trump and his withering word here -- and I admire them greatly -- one can't ignore that, even though he feels so strongly about the dangers of Trump, he pretty much has voted with Trump almost 100% of the time. I understand that he's a conservative Republican, representing his state, and vote for issues he believe in. But I also know that he's well-aware that by voting with Trump he is adding to Trump's sense of legitimacy, power, and normalization. If you feel someone is as much a danger as Flake clearly does and says bluntly that he does, I think it's in your state's and the country's best interest to not support that person -- far more than in their interest to get a bill passed. Anyway, here's the speech. If you want to jump past his opening comments, you can get to the meat of the matter about 2-1/2 minutes in. I've mentioned that I went to see Audra McDonald in the afternoon on Sunday, and that it was a long day. That's because in the morning I drove out to Agoura Hills (which is about 40 minutes west of me) for the 49th annual Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest. I know this isn't for everyone, but it's so different from expectations that I suspect a lot more people would enjoy the day than think so. I don't go every year, in large part because it's a drive to get there. Also, it's a fun thing to do with others and I just haven't usually been able to get others to join me. (Go figure.) Though sometimes. So, usually I head out on my own. But this is something I love. Hey, I even took banjo lessons! I think I've probably forgotten it all, but the trusty fellow is sitting there in the corner, and every once in a long while I take it out an strum away and annoy the neighbors. (I have a wooden device that mutes the sound, and it does that well. The problem is that it makes the banjo sound like a guitar. And if you're going to play the banjo, the Whole Point is that it sounds like a banjo...) Once upon a time getting to the Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest was much more convenient. The early years were held on the athletic field at UCLA, not far from me. The first time I went was probably around its 10th year. A lot of fun, though it was mainly just the main stage music, along with a few booths, and it has expanded greatly since then. Initially, they moved to another college athletic field, which wasn't that great, but eventually wound up in Agoura Hills at the Paramount Ranch, fairly near Topanga, so it's not only a terrific venue for the event, but now an appropriate one, at last. They've probably been there for about 30 years, give or take. What's best about the current location is that you're in the middle of Malibu Creek State Park, so you're surrounded by trees, which not only adds a wonderfully more-rich atmosphere than dormitories, college buildings and an athletic track, but there's also now shade around the outskirts of the main field, (if you choose to wander in them or take a hike), which believe me helps A LOT some years, when the sun pounding down can be brutal, especially if you stay there all day, which can about nine hours. But also what's nice is that the Paramount Ranch has been a location for a lot of movie and television filming, most notably as the town for TV series, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. And that too is part of what makes the area so good for the festival -- what with the Western town structure, it has an old-timey feel. The thing about the TB&FC is that while once upon a time it was mostly just that main stage for the contest, it's now really turned into a festival. The contest itself is made up of a massive range of categories -- divided into instruments, solo or group, singing, backup and more. And they further divide things according to level of performance: beginner, intermediate and advance. In the past, all those were mashed together, which was fairly fun to see, though the quality got a bit ragged. Now, though, they've gotten more clever -- they realized that they have all these structures, so the lower levels of beginning and intermediate have their own areas. That breaks things up wonderfully and lets you wander around more for variety. The main stage is for advanced. (I'm going to post a bunch of videos I took, but not to worry, none last more than 30 seconds. So, if you're not big into this kind of music, it's just for flavor.) Much of the fun of the festival transcends just what's on the stage. There are so many areas to explore. Lots of booths for arts & crafts. An area of food trucks, including some good aromas for barbecue. (I brought my own food, but maybe next year...) And one of my favorite things -- the jamming areas, where musicians gather together and start playing with one another. Much of the fun of the festival is that they also have performance areas that have nothing to do with banjo and fiddle. Rather there are structures for things like the Cowboy Storytelling competition, or Western dancing competition or Cowboy singing, or things like that. This was the latter -- When I wandered into the barn to take a look at the dancing competition, they were on a break, however another feature of the festivities is that there are professional groups performing throughout. And the group on stage were extremely good -- Good as these small, professional groups are, one of the highlights of the day is that – to break up the contest on the main stage (where the advanced musicians perform), they have serious professionals, some with national reputations, performing every few hours, maybe four times or so during the day, doing half-hour sets. I think the reason for this isn’t just to add variety, but it gives the judges some much-needed time off. When I was there, they had Jenna Moynihan and Mãiri Chaimbeul from Boston, who played celtic fiddle and harp. They were absolutely terrific, and charming with their banter. (At one point, Ms. Moynihan said they'd be singing a song by a wonderful singer-songwriter and asked the crowd if they knew of him. There was total silence. And after a proper beat, she added, "So, I'll take that as a Big No.") Here's only a very short 30-seconds of their playing, but if you want to hear more, you can find their new CD, One Two, which they were selling at the event, here. The day was great – and the weather (which is often blistering) cooperated lovingly and was in the upper-60s. I was sorry not being able to take full advantage of that, but as I said I had an hour drive back into the city to meet up with Mark Evanier so that we could go to the Audra McDonald contest. Er, I mean, concert.
It's a joyful festival, beautifully organized, and they've been doing this long enough that they've got the thing down to a T, running impeccably, a fine bit of cooperation between festival folk and the park rangers. If there's a part of it you're not enjoying, or have heard enough of one kind of music for the time being, you just walk around the spacious grounds to find something else. For those interesting in knowing more about the Topanga Banjo & Fiddle Contest, and live in the Los Angeles area (or plan to be there next year in late May…), and you might want to see it live, it’s a joy and you can find the link to it here. Plink, plank, plunk...
The moment I saw the news that Trump canceled talks with North Korea, my second thought was "Will 'Fox News' report it? And will they cover the story as if the talks were still happening?" Third thought was "Does Tucker Carlson have his sex-panda videos ready to show tonight"? (My first thought was "There goes the Nobel Peace Prize.
I think this may be a good time to once again promote my multiple Emmy-winning pal Rob Kutner's guide to surviving the Apocalpypse. Apocalypse How: Turn the End-Times into the Best of Times. Available here on Amazon while supplies last. Or the world does. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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