Category Archives: internet
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus’ remains a leader in family entertainment. Her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards introduced American parents to a new power word for the day – twerking.
As usual, I missed the VMA show but, thanks to the web, still got to see Miley’s performance – and build my vocabulary. Her dance was weird. It reminded me of the guy in the creepy teddy bear suit in The Shining. But the full shock value was lost on me because, shockingly, I’ve never seen Hannah Montana.
So, for the choreographical merits I defer to the experts. Two of them Camile Paglia and Kathleen Parker, were not amused. But for different reasons.
Paglia found the perky twerky one’s attempted lewdness to be, “clumsy, flat-footed and cringingly unsexy, an effect heightened by her manic grin”. She considers Madonna, not Montana, to be the gold standard in this area:
“The greatest performers, like Madonna … know how to use suggestion and mystery to project the magic of sexual allure. Pop is suffering from the same malady as the art world, which is stuck on the tired old rubric that shock automatically confers value.”
Parker agrees with the mystery part:
“Provocation for the sake of provocation is rarely provocative. And sex in the hands of a Cyrus-gone-wild has all the appeal of rutting season at the zoo.
Whither mystery?”
What’s it all Mean?
The writer ladies part company on where this all leads.
Paglia laments, “Unfortunately, the media spotlight so cheaply won by Cyrus will inevitably spur repeats of her silly stunt, by her and others.”
But Parker hopes, “This time may be different. This time, even the young are offended…Just possibly, America has had enough. When all things are permissible, then permissiveness loses its allure.”
Here’s what a disillusioned and anonymous 11 year old Hannah Montana fan had to say, “I bet her dad is sorry he got her into music”.
Geraldo’s Weiner Interview
Copping fake handles seems to be all the rage in government. Anthony Weiner revealed himself as Carlos Danger. Before she threw in the towel, it was discovered that EPA administrator Lisa Jackson used an e-mail account as Richard Windsor.
Speaking of towels, here’s Geraldo’s “selfie” if you haven’t seen it.
Co-Conspirator
Eric Holder signed off on a warrant calling Fox News reporter James Rosen a co-conspirator even though he doesn’t think he is one and has no intention of prosecuting him. In an interview with NBC’s Pete Williams Holder bemoaned the fact that, despite his “great respect for the press”, it’s necessary to brand a reporter, “doing his very important job”, as a criminal in order to get a warrant against him. So, why did he want a warrant against such a swell guy?
Holder also says he has no intention of stepping down.
Data Mine
Ever get creeped out when you’re researching patio chair slings and the next time you log on to your favorite site there is an ad for patio chair slings? We’re used to having our minds mined by the likes of Google and Facebook. So I guess we shouldn’t mind when the government does it to keep an eye on terrorists. The NSA would never abuse its power like the IRS or the DOJ, right? Trust us.
Off the Record
President Obama has proclaimed himself a fierce defender of the First Amendment . On cue, Eric Holderman called for a meeting of news honchos to clear the air about his secretive and nasty behavior toward them. True to form, the meeting was off the record.
Strange behavior for a couple of guys who only know what they read.
Update: Here’s a great Nat Hentoff piece on two Obamas. (He mentions the efforts of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to lead the pushback for the first amendment. Nat’s a RCFP steering committee member and so am I.)
