Sean says...
I actually agree with this proposal...what do you all think? The electoral college should really be tied to the result of each district in terms of pluralism. Regardless of whether Democrats like it or not, this is truly the responsible way in determining our President and forcing competition in all areas of our country and not just a few districts. Maine I believe already does this. Point or counterpoint?
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/07/31/california-could-sway-2008-race/
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Republican-backed ballot proposal could split left-leaning California between the Democratic and GOP nominees, tilting the 2008 presidential election in favor of the Republicans.
California awards its cache of 55 electoral votes to the statewide winner in presidential elections — the largest single prize in the nation. But a prominent Republican lawyer wants to put a proposal on the ballot that would award the statewide winner only two electoral votes.
The rest would be distributed to the winning candidate in each of the state’s congressional districts. In effect, that would create 53 races, each with one electoral vote up for grabs.
California has voted Democratic in the last four presidential elections. But the change — if it qualifies for one of two primary ballots next year and is approved by voters — would mean that a Republican would be positioned the following November to snatch 20 or more electoral votes in GOP-leaning districts.
That’s a number equal to winning Ohio.
The so-called Presidential Election Reform Act is being pushed by Thomas Hiltachk, a lawyer in a Sacramento firm that represents the California Republican Party and has worked with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He did not return phone messages left Monday at his office.
A Schwarzenegger spokeswoman said the governor is not involved with the proposed initiative, and party officials said they have no connection to it.
Democratic consultant Chris Lehane called the plan “an effort to rig the system in order to fix the election.”
“If this change is made, it will virtually guarantee that a Republican wins the White House in 2008,” Lehane said in an e-mail.
Nineteen of the state’s 53 congressional districts are represented by Republicans. President Bush carried 22 districts in 2004, while losing the statewide vote by double digits.
Only Maine and Nebraska allocate electoral votes by congressional district.
A draft of the proposed initiative says nixing the winner-take-all system would give presidential candidates “an incentive to campaign in California. … Many of the geographic
areas of the state would be as important to a candidate’s chance for victory as many of the smaller states.”
“We’ll take a serious look at it, once it qualifies for the ballot,” state Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring said.
If it does qualify, Democrats probably would have to spend millions of dollars to defeat it, which could drain money from other races. And there are expected to be additional ballot
proposals on abortion and other social issues that could drive up GOP turnout.
The state already moved its presidential primary to Feb. 5 in an attempt to increase its clout in national politics.
In that primary, Republicans will award delegates only to the top vote-getter in each congressional district. A Democrat can qualify for a delegate by winning at least 15 percent of the vote in a district.
Sean says...
Nancy Giles' editorial on CBS Sunday Morning July 29, 2007 has resonated with me for some reason today. Here is a transcript of her words. Love to hear what you all think of her rhetorical question!
Can you imagine dinner conversation at the Clintons?
"Well, Bill, you were leader of the free world, and that was good, and now it's my turn to be leader of the free world."
"Okay, Hill. I owe you. Let me give you a few pointers."
But wait. The Clintons had a President in the family. They had their turn. And look what's happening with that other family that's hogging the White House, and all the messy father/son dynamics that are in the mix. Saddam was mean to his daddy years ago? George W's gonna git 'em, even if it means going to war with the wrong country! Dad's old team has some advice? George W. ignores 'em, 'cause he's his own man. It's a little bit "Dallas" with a sprinkling of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," but as this psychodrama plays out, who suffers?
Only the entire free world!
There have been fathers and sons and husbands and wives who've done good: John Adams — father — and John Quincy Adams — son — didn't do too badly as presidents; Nobel-prize winning scientists Pierre and Marie Curie were married and still managed to unlock the mysteries of radium and polonium; and we can only imagine what Posh and Becks will achieve.
Look, powerful people can be as nutty as the rest of us…and we live in a democracy where all of our voices should be heard.
Isn't it time to maybe shake up the political establishment and bring someone new to a table that's been monopolized by the same two families for the last 20 years?
© MMVII, CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Sean and Stefan say...
This is a Saturday Night Live digital short that tickles us funny since Carolyn (Stef's mom) was an exercise teacher for a long while... and plus the 1980s nostalgia is too much!
Sean and Stefan say...
The Las Vegas banner is in honor of our trip August 18th to Las Vegas with our friends Joe & Matt! We have neither moved nor become gambling addicts! More later once our trip is done...
Sean says...
When my Nanny passed in 1995, I pondered during my eulogy of her what she would say at that very moment. "Well it's something different anyway!" was her catch phrase that had all of us wondering if she really did like or dislike something when asked. It frustrated and delighted us when she said it! The mention alone of that phrase brought smiles and guffaws at the buriel site during a time of mourning. It was then that I realized that memory is much stronger than death as long as the memory is passed on. It is through memory that someone is celebrated as they should be regardless of how they were or who they were.
And therefore, Stefan and I will from time to time post stories or at least make notes about the people in our lives and talk about them as they are or were so they will always be remembered. In addition, Stef and I are posting some of these stories in our Ancestry.com site so that the memories of our family members will be passed on!
For instance Stef just found a long forgotten great aunt that died at age 1 after immigrating to this country in 1914 (or something). Riva is now remembered again!
In that spirit, I want to mention my great uncle Milton and my friend Tim's daughter Elena.
Milton passed Sunday, July 22 at the age of 79. He was my Nanny's brother - one of 13 siblings she had.
Elena, on the other hand, was born Thursday, July 19 to her parents Tim and Roxanne. Tim was my roommate in college and friend of 18 years. Congrats to them! Let the memories begin!
Sean says...
The film musical version of Hairspray didn't pay homage to the dances of the 1960s as the 1988 original did unfortunately. One of the highlights was The Madison. Here is the original clip from the 1988 film and another one of people in the 1960s dancing it as well. This is for our Mom's to enjoy!
Sean says...
Debbie Harry (yes, Blondie herself) is responsible for my love of camp. Harry co-starred in the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray as the evil beauty Velma Von Tussle. The late Sonny Bono and she plotted and schemed to ensure that the revolutionary dance teen Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake) didn't upturn their daughter Amber's ride to the top of Baltimore's TV dance teen throne and that segregation continued in Baltimore. Instead Velma ends up with a self-built bomb going off in her wig, while Tracy wins the day with her new dance "The Bug," ironed and streaked hair, and her roach print dress from Mr Pinky's Hefty Hideaway! With the addition of the legendary Water's collaborator Divine as Tracy's mother Edna (Jerry Stiller as the father), the film just rocks. I loved it all and "camp" was my new friend.
A clip of The Bug dance is below! Divine's presentation of it would be what I would use as my template!
My induction into "camp" cinema became a Broadway senstation with the 2003 Tony-Award Winning Marissa Jaret Winokur (Tracy Turnblad) and Harvey Fierstein as her mother Edna.
Now the Broadway show has become a movie in its own right! So how does the 2007 film directed by Adam Shankman turn out? Not bad! Overall I would give it a B+ or a 3 1/2 star rating. Let's examine further shall we!
I am not one to jump on the band wagon when it comes to remakes, especially musical remakes of films (aka The Philadelphia Story becomes the unwatchable High Society), but this version slides in nicely next to its earlier incarnations. Not as biting and historically mindful as the original film or as jubuliant as the live version, the 2007 film just makes you smile with giddiness as you move through it. Mind you I love a good musical (damn gay gene!) and am quick to pan a bad one. Shankman's version, with its incredible dance sequences and committed core cast members, had me grinning and toe tapping throughout.
The opening song "Good Morning Baltimore" (which in its lyrics launches its "wink" at the absurdity of it all) gives us a great entry into the world of the film. The new Tracy played by newcomer Nikki Blonksy has the fun and life of the Lake and Winokur incarnations. She is truly a breath of fresh air to see on screen simply because of her shape and raw talent. To many times, they give parts like these to young starlets who barely can sing and don't fit the part because they know they will bring the money in. Instead this film stays true to the ingenue role of the part and Blonksy delivers. Only later in the film does the Hollywood syndrome of star power over talent eclipse Blonsky for a bit with a stronger focus on Edna...but more about that later. This film is Blonsky's to deliver though and she does it with style and incredible talent. You'd think she was on screen long before this but this is her first film.
Blonsky's best song, in my humble (yeah right) opinion), is "I Can Hear the Bells". How this song flows through the setting of Tracy's day as she pines about her crush on Link Larkin (Zac Efron) is a gift to the audience from Shankman. Some critics have mentioned that this could have been edited a bit, but I truly feel it shows Blonsky's comedic talents and gives us a great look at Tracy and how she is just an average high school girl interested in boys, bored with school, and somewhat of the lovable social misfit. I keep singing the song in my head so the performance and Marc Shaiman's and Scott Whittman's music. The song also captures the mischief of Waters the best.
The cast member getting the most attention though is John Travolta of course playing Edna Tunblad. In Divine tradition, the part of Tracy's mother is always a man playing a woman, straight out. The gag of course is that its a man in drag, but its a man in drag playing a woman as reality not as a drag queen. Travolta and his makeup are good and he makes the best of it. His quiet song and dance with Christopher Walken is a sweet moment as well. Why he is the only one in the film with a Baltimore accent I don't know. However, he takes a shot at it and the audience I saw it with seemed to like it. I am a little miffed with Travolta because of comments he and Scientology have made in the past about gays and lesbians - finding it ironic as many have that he is playing this part in particular. However, he does pull it off and after the first few minutes mkaes it quite funny. I would have loved to have seen another actor in the part though - say Jim Broadbent or Phillip Seymour Hoffman - but altgoether he does a good job.
But Travolta's performance aside, the Edna character is one of the issues I have with the film and the reason it gets a B+. It is nice that they made the film about the mother daughter relationship but in the end the film is not about the mother it is about Tracy. Sure, Tracy inspires everyone to get out there and be themselves. But, the attempt to chronical every character's change is a bit clumsy. Tracy is somewhat given a back seat for the 2nd half of the film and not allowed to steer the ship. Sure, the other characters need to shine to make it fun but Edna's awakening as a woman overwhelms the other story of segregation which was true intent of the original 1988 film. Some may argue its Edna's awakening that brings women's lib to the forefront, but it just seems to clutter rather than support Tracy's tale. Tracy awakens the masses to arms. Toward's the end of the film this whole aspect is caught up with Edna's side story and waters down the social commentary. Maybelle Motormouth's (Queen Latifah) story especially suffers here because of this as well.
As for the rest of the cast, Zac Efron, James Marsden, and Elijah Kelley are great supporting players for Tracy's story. Efron comes from the High School Musical shop and keeps his train rolling well. His best moment the song "Without Love" with Nikki Blonsky's photo (an fun technical presentation). Marsden suprises with an energetic and strong performance as teen dance show host Corny Collins. There is no ounce of cheese with him. He plays the part to the hilt and just delights. Kelley is a great dance addition and really can move. They should have given him more to do.
Allison Janney does the best with her part as Penny Pingleton's mom and makes the best lines in the film at times adn could have been a great stand in for the original Joann Havrilla. Christopher Walken (the gorilla mask is hysterical) and Michelle Pfeiffer have their moments but they are a distraction over all from the main Tracy story. Pfeiffer (Velma Von Tussle) especially isn't allowed to build anything and is a weak villain since her part is changed from the 1988 original to the TV station manager and Amber's mom as a single parent. This makes her predictable downfall look like a slap to stage and working mom's if you think about it. But Pfeiffer does have pipes and looks incredible. Her first song is very funny and had me laughing outloud, and then she becomes one note. The disappointment is Amanda Bynes who just seems to be there to fill the role and bring in her fans. She barely dances or sings which may be the nature of Penny's role as Tracy's best friend, but all and all she is a wasted part. Brittany Snow is a good pouter but her part isn't allowed to be evil enough and her perforamnce of it doesn't seem committed to her brattiness like Colleen Fitzpatrick's over-the-top original.
In the end, the film is defintely worth the watch and rewatch. The music is strong and the dancing ranks with the best movie musicals. A little off on focus in terms of what I mentioned before with Tracy's tale taking a back seat for a while, but all and all a show you should all go see again and again. Review: B+ or 3 1/2 stars
I stress though that seeing the 1988 original is a must. A true pleasure still worth watching and snickering at. It taught me: 1) to avoid women with large hair... a bomb may be inside! and 2) the dance sensation The Bug!
Sean says...
Did you all know I am a klutz? (Pretends to hear and believe "fake" shout outs of NO!) Well, I really topped it this weekend by injuring Jacque (Sean's Mom) during her visit! Y'all read below about the Moms' meeting and the Hairspray viewing (review following this blog entry). But what you didn't read yet about was the conclusion of the whole party!
Well in my infinite klutziness, I ended up closing the car door on Jacque's fingers! Luckily the Lezbaru's (aka my Subaru Forester) car doors don't have the door frame extend around the windows. She came away with some bruises and torn skin rather than any breakage. Don't worry she is still able to use her middle finger as a response to this very comment as she of course swears she would never do such an action. :-P
But, I CAN say that I had a little closure amongst the guilt! In 1977, I was beginning my klutzy days in the sun in Reston, VA. I decided that I could jump a sewage ditch near home on my bike but ended up missing with the bike landing on top of me in the ditch. The only injuries I received were scrapes from the bike pedal and some pricker snags from Devil's Walking Stick bushes in the ditch. In the interest of keeping it all clean, Mom pulled out the iodine to clean the wound... let's just say Dad and her had to hold me down because the pain from the iodine was so bad (exaggerated from the perspective mind you of a 6 year old) that I am sure the screams were heard down the street as well as my own memory to this day. I also remember them laughing at the hilarity of my poor little self screaming as the drops of liquid red acid hit the wounds! Years after they would jokingly pull out the red bottle or I would plead during future injuries for them NOT to pull out the evil red bottle.
Well! Revenge is always cyclical! With Mom's injury, we had to apply some liquid band-aid that contains the expected antiseptic. Seeing her squint with pain brought up the old memory and just made us both laugh as I wiped the liquid pain on with a brush. "Revenge!" I cried. And Mom just laughed through the pain and Stef just looked on in odd amazement.
Sean says...
No one loves camp like I do but this is just TOO much! I have learned that there is now a Broadway show based on the horribly-bad-its-good Olivia Newton-John film Xanadu! GROAN!
Here is the latest reviews from THE NEW YORK TIMES Xanadu: Heaven on Wheels, and in Leg Warmers. What's next Can't Stop The Music?!
You know it won't measure up to this incredibly gloriously bad Xanadu film finale!
Stefan says...
With Sean's mom visiting us for the first time for a long weekend, we decided it would be a good time for our moms to meet. So, on Saturday, we treated Jacque (Sean's) & Carolyn (Stefan's) to a post-Mothers' Day outing - a matinee showing of "Hairspray," then on to dinner at The Helmand Restaurant (Afghan cuisine) in downtown Baltimore. All of us very much enjoyed the movie. "Hairspray" is set in the very early 1960s, which had the moms recalling the styles and sensibilities of their teenage years, like not being allowed to wear pants to school (dresses & skirts only!), saddle shoes and penny loafers, and crinolines (Carolyn remembers her mother having to stretch them over open umbrellas and starching them, and Jacque remembers them sometimes being uncomfortably itchy...but anything for fashion, I guess?). Funny to think that both women were wearing the same styles, listening to the same music, and watching the same tv shows simultaneously on opposite coasts of the country (Jacque, born in July 1944, was raised in San Diego, California, while Carolyn, born in October 1944, was raised in Baltimore, Maryland).
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