Blogging Break

Been a bit busy and tired this week, so I'm taking a break today. I should return tomorrow. Maybe Friday night. We'll see. And no, I haven't forgotten to update the blog rolls for the Axis of Weevil and the Rocky Top Brigades. Really, I promise. Check's in the mail; no, it's not broken; I'll respect you tomorrow; all the girls do it....

Quick bit of content for you: I saw the DVD of "A Mighty Wind" last night. So/so movie; like the last two from this bunch ("Waiting For Guffman" and "Best Of Show") but slightly weaker in the jokes department. Even with a solid plot structure, it still manages to be a tiny bit flaccid. I guess it helps a lot to be a folkie and I'm not.

Some of the actors seem a bit tired; some are at the limits of their improv ability and it shows. That said, kudos to Parker Posey, who maintains a relentlessly perky attitude throughout which had to be brutally taxing to maintain; to Jane Lynch, who makes chipper maturity look sexy; to John Michael Higgins, who plays her husband with equal parts religious fervor and wary fear; and most of all to Eugene Levy, who gives a career performance.

Levy plays a burned-out space case who lost it when his duo partner (Catherine O'Hara, also great) fell out of love with him and broke up the team. He usually plays his character, Mitch, as baffled (think a confused Jerry Garcia channelling Gordon Lightfoot) and a little scared. But when he practices again with Mickey (O'Hara), you suddenly see the man he was: confident, wise, a bit controlling. Sometimes, during their songs, he shoots this bemused, paternalistic, loving look at Mickey that is so perfect, it takes your breath away. Then the song ends and the mentally damaged Mitch returns with a sudden shocked look. And you laugh. When he predictably wanders off right before the performance, his excuse why is both charming and surprising. Damn, he's great.

Not only that, but the songs of the movie are terrific! "Do What The Good Book Says" is Christian religiosity made absurd, but eerily familiar. "A Mighty Wind," the movie-closing anthem sung by everyone, actually is a rousing tune, not unlike "This Land Is Your Land," but with slyly twisted lyrics. ("A mighty wind blows you and me.") Guaranteed that you'll tap your toes to this one and want to join in. The Mitch & Mickey songs are suprisingly beautiful. The parody is the inherent sappiness of "our love is forever and perfect." But the songs really will tug your heart and the music doesn't disappoint.

The real surprise, though, can be found in the DVD extras. Look under "Television Performances" for the Folksmen tune "Children of the Sun." From their disastrous "electric" era, it is still a perfect evocation of the late Sixties. The lyrics are the solemn "listen to your children you square parents" kind that sounds so silly today, but the song is a note-perfect wonder. The melody soars, the chords hit the right minor note at the right moment, the guitars chime and ring. Very Byrdsian, in a way. It's almost worth the whole DVD price alone.

Anyway, later on, y'all. Be good or be careful.

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Now They Are Coming For Your Name

Interesting story on the front page of the Commercial Appeal today, about how "black-sounding" names are the new frontier of job discrimination. The article reports from two studies, one showing no effect and the other showing an effect. The article accepts the reality of the effect study and proposes a remedy, of course: removing names from applications. Or, alternatively, having applications handled initially by someone not connected to the hiring process. Sounds like a nascent government program to me!

The study purporting to show effect had some suspicious methodology:

The authors took the content of 500 real resumes off online job boards and evaluated them, as objectively as possible, for quality, using such factors as education and experience. Then they replaced the names with made-up names picked to "sound white" or "sound black" and responded to 1,300 job ads in The Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune last year.

There's room for subjectivity there. They also don't seem to have taken into account the race of the application evaluators, which might show more clearly a bias. No doubt more than a few of the 1300 jobs they applied for in chicago and Boston had blacks in the decision-making role. Are they arguing that blacks would discriminate against black-named blacks? It requires more investigation before we accept the results.

There was another fascinating passage:

Researchers who have looked at Census records have found that 100 years ago, the 20 most popular names were largely the same for black people and white people; now only a handful are among the most popular with both groups. Names like DeShawn and Shanice are almost exclusively black, while white people, whose names have also become increasingly distinctive, favored such names as Cody and Caitlin.

One can argue, based on the results of the other study, that when you don't have much but your name, you want it to stand out. Also, they note that the trend increased since the Sixties, when Black Pride came to the fore.

Too early to accept, but some interesting reading, anyway.

Careful Photography Makes The Story, or
Come See The Liberal Oppression! Come See The Liberal Oppression!

Back on Saturday, I blogged about the living wage movement coming to Memphis and the sudden, heavy Commercial Appeal coverage, including some comment on the groups involved. One was the Mid-South Interfaith Network for Economic Justice, a small but active group, part of a larger, more general movement of Liberals in the old Seventies "To the barricades!" and street-theater mode.

They are involved with the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride, a bit of theater trying to take on the aura of the old days of civil rights demonstrations. The Riders arrived in Memphis on Saturday, at the National Civil Rights Museum, and it made the news, sort of. The television story I saw this morning on Channel 5 (NBC) only showed the "crowd" from a ground-level angle, making it hard to tell how many folks were there. The CA story had a tightly focused shot of the crowd, also making it hard to judge numbers. But look closely at the people in that crowd and I'd bet money it was almost entirely folks from the Ride busses.

The paper said they "had plenty of support from Memphis civil rights activists and immigrant workers." But the CA put the attendance numbers at 200. Considering that the Riders are said to number around 100 this means that the NCRM and the unnamed (but you know who they are now) "activists" could only scare up another 100. Pretty lame support, I'd say.

And for those ninnies who are insisting that no one on the Left ever calls Bush or Republicans Fascists or Nazis, I leave you with this quote, from one of the Riders speaking to the crowd:

Shirley Smith, a home care worker in Los Angeles, also spoke about the buses being detained last week by the U.S. Border Patrol in Texas.

Though some are apparently illegal immigrants, all 100 riders were released after questioning and reboarded the buses for Dallas, then Memphis.

"We were lined up like they were in Germany when Hitler killed everybody," Smith said.

Interesting how she talks so well, for a dead woman. Note that they were questioned and released, unmolested, and no one was deported. Note, too, how again historical accuracy is missing ("Hitler killed everybody"), but emotionalism runs real high. For a dead woman, of course.

Sheesh, and they expect to be taken seriously by thoughtful people.

Fresh Eyes, Part Two

I blogged a bit yesterday about the "Fresh Eyes" project of the Commercial Appeal, and some of the shortcomings that have been evident. Today's installment continues to argue my case.

It's about ZIP code 38115, part of the Hickory Hills area. It's a vast area full of industry, commercial and retail stores, and a changing mix of black and white. So what does the CA "Fresh Eye" see? Why the 20 Hispanic members of an area church!

Ask most folks, and the big story of that area has been white flight as more blacks move into the area, and a continuing rise in crime. Most folks accept that the two are related. But, the CA wants to note that there are Hispanics in Memphis now -- no! really? -- so here's where they choose to do so.

Anyone who drives out along Jackson Avenue, or parts of Summer, already knew that.

Whoa!

While waiting for "Alias" to come on ABC, (I'm a huge fan. You should be too. Fast, frothy, high octane. And sexy.) I'm watching some other program on another network, "Cold Case." In the space of just a minute or two, one character uses the words "asshole" and "prick" and shoots the bird! Network television, just before 8PM CST! Is this what television is these days? Lord, I'm glad I choose my viewing. I make a point of trying to catch about four shows, down from seven last year. (One series ended; two others dropped from the schedule.) I might watch another two or three if the television's on. That's it.

After this display on "Cold Case," I remember why I started down this path.

Fresh Eyes, Or Same Tired Eyes?

The Commercial Appeal, in yet another of new Chief Editor Chris Peck's moves to "get in touch" with the community, sent its reporters, photographers and other staff out into the ZIP codes of the Mid-South to talk to the folks there, to see with "Fresh Eyes" the people and problems of the community.

It's part of Peck's ideas to make the paper more a part of the lives of the readers and to make the readers more a part of the paper. I think this is a terrible idea, as the paper is devoting more and more space to the opinions of those readers and, in the process, devoting less and less space to the very things that only a newspaper can do. For every "Readers React," "Fresh Eyes," or reader television review they print, we've been seeing less and less coverage of Tennessee and Mid-South news.

The CA has long had a heirarchy: national and international news in the front, A, section, except very important or heart-tugging local news. Even then, the local items only carry over to Page Two, for completion. Everything else is New York Times stories; AP, UPI and Reuters wire stories; or stories pulled from other prominent papers.

You have to go to the Metro, or B, section for most local stories. This slim section carries the Op-Ed pair of pages (columnists, editorials, letters to the editor, guest columnists, etc.), obituaries and formal notices, regional news/crime briefs, etc., as well. In the tiny space that's left we get news from Mississippi, Arkansas, Nashville and the rest of Tennessee. The CA used to do a moderate job of state coverage, but no more. Things have gotten slim since Peck came aboard last Fall.

So, any space stolen from this pinched allotment is a valuable theft. How does "Fresh Eyes" compare? Let's look at today's example -- Somerville. It's a great, small town due east of Memphis and one county over. It's been rural Tennessee until a few years ago when the most adventurous of Shelby Countians began to filter in, the first scouts ahead of the hordes of suburbans looking to move farther and farther from the very sprawl they create.

The article talks to three people and they all seem worried about the encroachments of Memphis and Shelby County. It's the main focus of the article. The people interviewed are all worried about managing it. You'd think this was the big worry out there, that "Fresh Eyes" have looked anew and this is what they've found.

Until you look at the three folks interviewed: a bank vice-president, the manager of the local airport, and the Mayor. Well, changes things a bit, doesn't it? Naturally, these are the folks who would likely most have this near the top of their minds, especially when the Big Local Newspaper comes a-calling.

One wonders what might have happened if the "Fresh Eyes" team had just knocked on some doors, talked to the regular folks, gone to the local small stores, or hit up a church or two. I'd wager the story might have turned out differently if they had.

This series is not a confidence builder in the ability of the CA to connect to the average Memphian.

Undocumented Legislators

The next time some politician comes out in favor of social services or governmental services for illegal aliens, note what office they hold. Then, show up at that House or Senate or City Council meeting and just take a seat with the rest of them. When they look at you funny and ask what you're doing there, tell them you're an "undocumented legislator."

Vote, take part in the questions, make motions, do it all. Act just like you belong. Before the police pull you out, make a point that just because you aren't there legally doesn't mean they can deprive you of your rights as a legislator! When they point out that you aren't a legislator, ask them "Sez who? I have as much right to be here as anyone. You can't throw me out."

Of course they will, since you violated the law, or at least the law they care about, the one that negatively affects them. But your point will be made.

Try to get your pension before they toss you out.