BLOG! Endorses Brewster McCracken for Austin Mayor

BLOG! by JM Dobies is pleased to announce that it is endorsing Brewster McCracken in the Austin Mayoral race. Nothing against any of the other candidates, but McCracken gets the nod based on two things: he's pro-arts and mostly because Brewster McCracken is such a great name.

Now, Lee Leffingwell is a pretty cool name, too, but it's just not in the same league as McCracken's, which brings to mind Robert Altman's 1972 film Brewster McCloud, as well as a bunch of filthy puns. Brewster also looks a bit like fellow Texan Matthew McConnaghey, who we'll forgive for all those shitty romantic comedies because of his brilliant performance as Wooderson in the made-in-Austin classic Dazed and Confused.

So, Austinites, when election day rolls around, pick McCracken!

Spitzer Swallows

Apologies for the title. According to Google, I'm the 58,903rd person to use that joke this week.

The absurd political theater currently playing out on the nation's TV screens is certainly a mind-boggling, and ultimately saddening, spectacle. At a time in our history when we teeter on the brink of disaster, the top stories were Elliot Spitzer's "Whoregate" and Geraldine Ferraro's matter-of-fact racism regarding Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, life, and death, go on. "Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends..."I haven't resided in New York State since I was a teen, except for brief periods in '96 and '01 (I also apartment-sat for my friend Marc in Brooklyn for three weeks in '89, trying to write a novel), so I didn't vote for Elliot Spitzer, but he didn't do anything that thousands of powerful men don't do every second of the day. In case you've been away, I'm talking about enjoying the services of high-priced prostitutes. He just covered his tracks very badly.

The soon-to-be ex-governor probably pissed somebody off during his days as a crusading attorney general, and is now paying the price in public humiliation and potential criminal prosecution. Throw in the media circus, and the overall disgrace factor is off the charts.

As far as the Presidential race, I don't know who to support. Obama's the best of a bad lot, but such an unproven commodity. Hilary is clearly insane, and McCain's time was eight years back on the Straight Talk Express.

If I had to cast my ballot tomorrow, I'd still vote for Ron Paul.

Madonna in R&R Hall of Fame?

I have written in the past regarding the so-called Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and the filthy politics that are involved in getting worthy artists inducted into it, thanks largely to Hall of Fame committee fuhrer Jann Wenner.

Last year, the Dave Clark Five got bumped from the list of inductees in favor of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, despite having more votes. Nothing against the Grandmaster, I mean sometimes I wonder how I keep from going under, but the DC5 should have been inducted in '07, rather than this year, because lead singer Mike Smith passed away in the interim.

Thanks, Jann.

While I have no argument with the majority of inductees throughout the years, this year's induction of Madonna is particularly absurd. How can they induct someone who has never made a rock & roll record in her life? I suppose "Beautiful Stranger" from the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack might qualify, the hook having been lifted from "She Comes in Colors" by Love, a band that should be in the Hall, but isn't.

I know that Madonna is a groundbreaking trend-setter, an icon of style and all that shit, but "Borderline" and "Vogue" ain't no "Heartbreak Hotel" or "Johnny B. Goode."

She deserves to be in the R&R Hall of Fame about as much as she deserved the Best Actress Oscar for Shanghai Surprise or Swept Away.

Gerberding Must Go

JULIE GERBERDING MUST RESIGN FROM CDC

Today we call for the resignation of CDC leader Julie Gerberding for ignoring the health and safety of our children. The following provides contact information for the CDC, White House and other organizations. (We can not guarantee all of these numbers will be reachable throughout the day.) Thank you to two A of A readers for these numbers.

Let's give our children the voice autism took away. Start "dialing."


Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

(404) 498-1515
(800) 311-3435
http://www.cdc.gov/contact/

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

Senator Obama 202-224-2854
Senator Clinton 202-224-4451
Senator McCain 202-224-2235

THE WHITE HOUSE

Main phone number: 202-456-1111

Switchboard: 202-456-1414

Fax: 202-456 -2461

First Lady Laura Bush's office: 202-0456-7064

Chief of Staff Josh Bolten: 202-456-6798

Presidential Scheduling: 202-456-5251

White House Counsel: 202-456-5257

Political Affairs: 202-456-5275/5277

President Bush: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
(There's a link to send message to President Bush)

Vice-President Dick Cheney: vice_president@whitehouse.gov
(Gee! There's email in the bunker?)

Idiot Culture

Carl Bernstein recently went on the record to complain about the "triumph of idiot culture," saying that much of today's news has deteriorated into gossip, sensationalism, and manufactured controversy. Good journalism, Bernstein said, "should challenge people, not just mindlessly amuse them."

I usually try to avoid writing about the vacuous pop culture of today, choosing instead to focus on the slightly less vacuous pop culture of the '60s and '70s. But even though I don't spend a lot of my time thinking about the misadventures of Lindsay, Brit-Brit, and others of their ilk, I must say I was amused by Alison Jackson's naughty PhotoShop fun seen above and here.

The WGA Strike

The writers' strike is going to mean a lot of really bad television in the weeks to come. More shite reality shows and other unscripted trash to keep the Lowest Common Denominator anesthetized. No Daily Show or Colbert Report. It's ugly and it's going to get uglier.

Brian K. Vaughn, one of the writer-producers of Lost, explained the whys and wherefores thusly:

"Because writers believe we deserve a fair share of the revenue generated by the stuff we helped to create, crazy as that sounds. But basically, writers are looking to negotiate modest residuals and protections for use of our TV shows and movies on the internet, where most of us will likely be getting the majority of our entertainment from in the not-too-distant future. We're are also asking for a share of about 8 cents -- that's eight stinkin' pennies -- for every DVD of our work sold, as opposed to the criminally insane 4 cents we receive today..."

"I got to hear firsthand how hard the Writers Guild worked to negotiate a fair deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, but after more than three months of talks, the AMPTP still hasn't come close to even meeting the WGA halfway on its most important proposals. It sucks."

Yeah it does, but I've got a lot of reading to catch up on, anyway.

Jann Wenner: Rock & Roll Fascist

Johnny Black at the Blizzard sent me this item about Rolling Stone publisher and notorious A-hole Jann Wenner pulling a fast one on this year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions, slighting the Dave Clark Five in favor of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five:

Rock Hall Voting Scandal:
DC5 Actually Won

According to sources knowledgeable about the mysterious ways of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, British Invasion group The Dave Clark Five and not Grandmaster Flash finished fifth in the final voting of the nominating committee and should have been inducted this year.

According to sources, Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, who recently appointed himself chairman of the Foundation after the death of Ahmet Ertegun, ignored the final voting and chose Grandmaster Flash over the DC5 for the 2007 ceremony.

"Jann went back to a previous ballot instead of taking the final vote as the last word," my source insisted. " He used a technicality about the day votes were due in. In reality, The Dave Clark Five got six more votes than Grandmaster Flash. But he felt we couldn't go another year without a rap act."

R.E.M., Van Halen, The Ronettes and Patti Smith were the top four vote-getters, with Grandmaster Flash finishing fifth when the votes were counted on the first date ballots were due in to the Rock Hall office. But when all the ballots were counted a few days later, the DC5 had pulled ahead. Wenner decided to ignore that and stick with the earlier tally.

"We begged Jann to allow all six acts to be inducted. But he insisted that he couldn't because there wouldn't be enough time," my source said. "He wanted to have Aretha Franklin come and perform in memory of Ahmet Ertegun."The Ertegun tribute, while very nice, was deemed unnecessary by members ofthe main committee because the Atlantic Records co-founder will be memorialized in New York on April 17. But Jann wanted to do his own tribute. It was insane, especially since he took over Ahmet's position on the board before Ahmet even had a memorial."

Jann simply sent papers around informing everyone that he was now the chairman," my source said. The Dave Clark Five ballot tampering, however, stings the most. The group, part of the British Invasion of the mid-'60s, should have been inducted long ago for their hits like "Glad All Over," "Bits & Pieces" and "Catch Me If You Can."

Making them wait has turned out to be a huge mistake, as their fortunes have not been great. In December 2006, sax player Denis Payton succumbed to cancer at age 63. Lead singer Mike Smith has been paralyzed since 2003 after falling off a ladder at his home in Spain. In August 2005, a terrific fundraising effort for Smith at B.B. King's in NewYork was supposed to be the prelude to finally recognizing the group that had several memorable hits in the mid-'60s. Wenner's cruel axing of them from the show and the Hall of Fame should be painful to many who are intimately involved with the Hall, like Paul Shaffer, who runs the Hall of Fame band and produced and emceed the Smith tribute.

So what happened here? My sources also say that Wenner's motivation may have sprung from a controversial speech that was delivered by new administrative head Joel Peresman to the nominating committee last winter."He stood up there and told us that we should vote for who we thought would be most commercial, and who would be best on the TV show," a source said. "It was outrageous. Some people tried to stop him and asked him to leave, but he wouldn't. He said, 'I'm not leaving.' The director is never supposed to speak to the nominating committee."

Peresman came to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation last year when Wenner arbitrarily ousted the long-time chief of the group, Suzan Evans Hochberg, after two decades of loyalty. "Peresman knows nothing about the business," a source said. Peresman came to the Foundation from gigs booking shows at Madison Square Garden and with Clear Channel, the radio giant that many feel has strangled the music business with intransigent radio play policies and suggestions — actually, government investigations — of payola. In the old days, such a hire would have been considered anathema by Wenner. None of this should come as any surprise to those who have followed the roller-coaster world of the Rock Hall. According to the group's most recent tax filing, for example, they gave only $9,000 to indigent musicians fromtheir $11 million in holdings.

And then there's the matter of who has left on the nominating committee. I'm told that nearly half the group is gone, leaving 32 members. Many of the remaining members are former or current Wenner employees, like Rolling Stone's Nathan Brackett, David Fricke, Jim Henke, Joe Levy, Brian Keizer andAnthony DeCurtis. Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen's manager and a former Rolling Stone writer, is the chairman of the committee and considered the last truly mediating influence on Wenner. There are only three actual musicians: Paul Shaffer, Steven van Zandt and Robbie Robertson. Three are female. One of them is black. There are only two other black members: journalist Toure and Reginald C. Dennis. Wenner, I'm told, "weeded out everyone he didn't like." He even got rid of the veteran New York Post and Vanity Fair writer Lisa Robinson."

This is the opposite of what Ahmet would have wanted," a source said. "He liked a big committee that reflected lots of different tastes."

I've recently been named to the advisory board for the Florida Music Hall of Fame. I sure hope that when it comes time to name the inductees that somebody like Fred Neil or Duane Allman doesn't get bumped in favor of 'N' Sync or the Backstreet Boys, for "commercial reasons." Luckily, we don't have Jann Wenner as our chairman. What a tool.

Finally, a Candidate I Can Support

Stephen Colbert announced his candidacy for president on "The Colbert Report," tossing his satirical hat into the ring of an already crowded race.

"I shall seek the office of the President of the United States," announced Colbert on his Comedy Central show Tuesday, as red, white and blue balloons fell around him.

Colbert had recently satirized the coyness of would-be presidential candidates by refusing to disclose whether he would seek the country's highest office -- a refusal that often came without any prompting.

Shortly before making the announcement, Colbert appeared on "The Daily Show" (the show which spawned Colbert's spin-off) and played cagy, claiming he was only ready to consider a White House bid. He entered the studio set pulled by a bicycle pedaled by Uncle Sam and quickly pulled out a bale of hay and a bottle of beer to show that he was "an Average Joe."

Colbert said his final decision would be announced on a "more prestigious show," which turned out to be his own.

"After nearly 15 minutes of soul-searching, I have heard the call," said Colbert.

His recent best-seller, "I Am America (And So Can You!)" allowed him to mock the now-standard approach to a White House run, complete with a high-profile book tour.

Colbert said he planned to run in South Carolina, "and South Carolina alone." The state, one of the key early primaries, is also Colbert's native state. Earlier this week, South Carolina public television station ETV invited Colbert to announce his candidacy on its air.

Exactly how far the mock conservative pundit planned to stretch his impression of a presidential candidate wasn't clear. Colbert rarely breaks character on camera, including at his memorable speech at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner last year.

The Comedy Central host has often mobilized his fans ("Colbert Nation"), encouraging them to vote to have a Hungarian bridge named after him, for example, or to vandalize Wikipedia.com with his version of "truthiness" and "wikiality."

The comedian said he would run as both a Democrat and Republican. He earlier explained the strategy: "I can lose twice." He claimed three running mate possibilities: Colbert-Huckabee, Colbert-Putin or Colbert-Colbert.

Minutes after announcing his presidential pursuit, Colbert welcomed CBS political analyst Jeff Greenfield to ask how he had changed the race.

"This is going to be one for the books," said Greenfield.

A spokesman for Colbert said he would be unavailable for further comment Tuesday evening.

In a guest column for Maureen Dowd in Sunday's New York Times, Colbert wrote: "I am not ready to announce yet -- even though it's clear that the voters are desperate for a white, male, middle-aged, Jesus-trumpeting alternative."

- Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer