Steinbrenner: Mr. American Yankee

George Steinbrenner died this morning of a heart attack. He was eighty years old.

I have been nearly a life time New York Yankee fan and so when I read on the Internet that George Steinbrenner, the guiding influence behind the team since 1973, died this morning about 6:30 am, I had to stop and pause.

George Steinbrenner born George Michael Steinbrenner III, on the 4th of July in 1930, made the legendary New York Yankees better, by keeping expectations high. In doing this he was not just Mr. New York Yankee, of the world famous baseball organization, he was the Mr American Yankee of our times. He wanted everything to be the best. To him, the best was the biggest -- big was best. Everything had to be the best..Everything had to be big. He thought big and spent big..He built big things, whether they were a shipping fleet or a sports media empire. He was full of energy, was a do-er, got things done, expected those on his team to get things done. He had his critics, builders who build big things do.

George Michael Steinbrenner III, R.I.P

Hugh Hefner

I saw the video below and I had to post a comment. Hugh Hefner, is in the news, rather his company Playboy is -- because there are some hawks who want to snatch the Bunny away, and he, a fighting octogenarian, said no way, let's fight.

I don't know the merits of the issues, as to which side in the fight offers the shareholders the best deal. I just want to comment on Hefner the man, an American icon and pioneer.

Mr. Hefner just isn't the founder of a classy girlie magazine, but is a pioneer advocate for personal freedom and for the enjoyment of life. There was a time in this country, during the pre-Playboy era, prior to 1953, the year the first Playboy magazine was published, -- the time before Hefner, when the flag of Puritanism flew high. In the pre-Playboy era, there were periods of fun, the Jazz Age of the 20s for example, but these were too brief isolated experiments of hedonism and indulgence, without a philosopher, serving as leader and guide. Mr. Hefner through his magazine and forums taught America that it really is okay to really enjoy life, to really enjoy ourselves, to really love to have fun, and that we shouldn't be ashamed of having fun and of enjoying ourselves. And Mr. Hefner encouraged music, free expression and thought. Here I am using the past tense, like the man has retired. It is good to be reminded that he is still active at 84, is looking good and has more to do.

Mel Gibson. -- Doesn't Sound Good

Today a new Mel Gibson audio tape was posted by RadarOnline.  This second audio tape is eight minutes of rage from Mel Gibson. His ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, recorded his rant to get back at him. On the tape Mel Gibson is behaving very badly, and admits to an earlier incident of domestic violence.

The best that can be said for Mr Gibson is that on the tape, he comes across as an angry lonely man, who complains of seeking love and not finding it, and of being used by women, and of alienation, and having no friends.

The tape could pose serious legal troubles for Mel Gibson. Unless he could prove that he was drunk and talking out of his mind, something that may be done. Based on his rantings, he could be charge with making a death threat and with willfully and intentionally striking his ex-girl friend and causing serious physical injury.

After hearing the tape I feel bad for Mel Gibson, that he would allow himself to get into such a destructive relationship. And I better understand why his ex-girlfriend, Ms. Grigorieva made the recordings. The second audio tape is found at this link.

Jungle Fever: Race Traitors and One Bedroom Apartments (Part Two)

Along with all the social commentary, Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever is rife with well defined characters – apart from the attempt to render an Italian family in realistic terms.

What’s made clear – but not until pretty far into the movie – is that while white racism is alive and well, but black folks even have to deal with degrees of pigmentation, a concept gone over in School Daze as well. Compounding that are the various characters attempting to explain this instance of jungle fever to their loved ones.

As a corner store managing schlub, John Turturro plays Paulie, the man ditched for Flip. Angie intones niceties that would work in most situations – she’s gotta get out of the neighborhood, she’s out grown him, etc. He seems to get it. And even winds up trying to date a customer, who happens to be black. Unfortunately, Paulie catches a beating from the local Italian ne’erdowells for his attempt at amour.

There are more riveting characters, though, in smaller roles.

Samuel L. Jackson plays Gator, Flip’s (Wesley Snipes) older brother. He’s a crackhead and does crackhead things like stealing his parents television and hocking it for drug money. And while that situation isn’t amusing when occurring in real life, it’s pretty funny in the film. Gator’s best scenes, though, involve him begging for money from Flip. While in the middle of a proper request for a few bucks, the character moves from plain speech into song and eventually starts dancing. Amazing.

Accompanying Gator is his girlfriend, Vivian (Halle Berry). She’s obviously a crack devotee as well. And when Flip meets her for the second time, she’s out on the corner offering up blowjobs for cash. It’s all in the interest of getting high, but still a disturbing – if not momentarily amusing – scene.

There’s an iteration of that encounter closing the movie, coming after Flip’s been momentarily reunited with his estranged wife, perhaps disavowing the probability that an interracial relationship is a worth while endeavor. Walking his daughter to school, the final moments of the film are given over to Flip casually talking to his kid just like every other day the duo takes the route.

They pause while coming up on a corner to wait out a light. A women approaches Flip and makes the same offer Berry’s character did earlier. And in traditional fashion, Lee attempts a grandiose and meaningful summation to his film with Flip grabbing the women, pulling her head to his chest, looking up and screaming ‘No!’ or some such similar phrase of disbelief.

If the movie wasn’t flawed up until this point, Jungle Fever’s closing scenes repudiate the thoughtfulness that preceded it. Bummer.

An Outrageously Wrong Act

Swiss rejects US extradition request.
Polanski Gets Away With Child Rape.

I am not surprised by the despicable Swiss action to release the child rapist Roman Polanski, to refuse to send him to the U.S for the sake of justice. The Swiss decision is not only a poke in the eye of the United States, it is a moral failure on the part of the Swiss government. That government has failed to do its part to protect the world's children from child predators.

Mr Polanski has money and friends in the well heeled and in the cultural circles of Europe, who spun a fable of Mr. Polanski's persecution by zealot American prosecutors. Mr. Polanski who has the morals of a mosquito, bites wherever he lands. In 1977 he landed on a 13 year old child. He raped her, after getting her drunk, and feeding her illegal drugs.

The self-serving statement by Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, that the "decision was not meant to excuse Polanski's crime, saying the issue was 'not about deciding whether he is guilty or not guilty, "' is ridiculous. Mr. Polanski plead guilty and was a fugitive fleeing sentencing. The Swiss duty was to send him back, so that he could face the justice that he fled.

Mel Gibson rant frenzy

In this mornings news, William Morris, the talent agency, drops Mel Gibson. In the morning speculation: Is this the end of Mel Gibson's career?

There are charges and counter charges. "Domestic violence! "-- scream the headlines and his ex-girlfriend. "EXTORTION," counter screams Mr. Gibson's lawyers. And to show the world just what kind of man Mel Gibson's ex-girlfriend thinks he is -- on the Internet, she or her side posted the infamous phone message he had with her, during which he calls his baby's mother a few unflattering things and uses the dreaded "n" word. Mel -- Oh, bad boy, Mel.

Here is a link to the audio tape on  RadarOnline.com. Mel Gibson's knows how to dis an ex-girlfriend, and she says a few profane words too, though she knows she is recording this, and is low-keyed during most of the recording, better to be the long suffering one, enduring the ranting rage of the big-time movie actor, so to be able to use the recording, to show to the whole wide world the sort of individual Mel Gibson is in private, when he is having a heated conversation with someone whom is the mother of one of his children.

I listened to the tape. Do I think Mel Gibson is a hateful, profaned, racist, SOB? No. I do think he is an angry man who said things he shouldn't have said, who said a lot of things that people say when angry. Who shows their best side all the time? Nobody? Especially when they don't think they are being recorded.

Mel Gibson should be criticized for using the "N' word in private.

In his public life, during his long career, has he done anything that one could point to and say there goes a racist individual? Has he made racist movies? How has he related to people of color during his professional career? Does he write racists articles? Make racist public speeches?

It is the public behavior of public people and officials that concerns me. What they do in private, for the most part is their own business. They can walk around in private butt naked and break wind -- that's their business, if they keep it private and it doesn't affect their public lives. Well, regarding Mel Gibson, if everybody's career tanked for saying something stupid, nobody would be working.

I understand that. Mel Gibson should be criticized for using racist, profaned and stupid language. He is a public figure and much of what he does in private becomes public. He has a duty to understand this and to conduct himself accordingly. But will I stop watching his movies? No.

Jungle Fever: Race Traitors and One Bedroom Apartments (Part One)

Just so we’re all on the same page, jungle fever is a term used to describe a white person lusting after a black person. Yes, everything about it is racist. Black folks don’t (all) live in jungles. But what’s the term for a black person lusting after a white person?

Oddly enough, that idea was discussed during one of the final Party Down episodes from a few weeks back. Any number of answers like, Continental Fever and Euro-Fever work, but not too well.

Regardless, Spike Lee’s 1991 film Jungle Fever discusses not necessarily the lusting after one another part of this, but the curiosity felt by whites and blacks about the other race. Lust isn’t totally removed – there is a scene of in-office, desk sex – but there are lengthily discussions by all of the film’s major players as to what attracts them to this ‘cultural other,’ white or black.

Lee, endlessly criticized for anything critics can muster, may have turned in an adroitly plotted commentary on race relations in the States. The problem is, the last forty minutes or so of the movie refutes the beginning. But we’ll get to that in a moment.

Over the two hour run time – a persistent problem with Lee’s films – Jungle Fever basically  explains that everyone on earth is confused about what race means, what’s attractive or repulsive about someone that doesn’t look like you and how different cohorts of people deal with these issues.

Using the work place environment to first aptly display these hang ups and perceived notions, Lee places Spike Lee’s Flip Purify in a design firm, which he’s had a hand in making successful. When viewers first find him, Flip’s in the process of being handed a new assistant. A white one. Immediately, Flip meets with his bosses in private and asks why, since he requested a black assistant, did he get a white women? An Italian women named Angie.

Made to cope with the problem, Lee begins working late nights with his new assistant and everyone knows where that’s headed. Two things, though. Being emasculated at work and made to take what he’s given instantly makes the racial component to the film more immediate than simply leaving it to the amorous side of the plot. More importantly, since we all know racism exists pretty much everywhere, what does the name Flip mean about the character – that he’s a race traitor?

It's Official: A NASA Physicist Confirms the World Cup Soccer Ball Sucks

The World Cup has been a wild ride- partly because of the referees, partly because of the nature of the game itself, and also because the Jabulani, which is the Official Soccer Ball of the 2010 World Cup has a tendency to veer off in strange directions- or so claim a number of goal keepers and now a NASA physicist. Watch the video below:

Lindsay Lohan: Sad Day In Court

It is never a happy day when anyone is sentenced to the slammer, unless they are a dangerous felon. It is a sad day when some one is slammer bound because of a drug addiction. It is a very sad day when some one young, who has shown such promise, so young, is being sent down to the slammer. Yesterday, Tuesday, July 6th, a LA Superior Court judge at the Beverly Hills courthouse, sentenced actor Lindsay Lohan to 90 days in the slammer for violating probation in a 2007 drug case, by failing to attend court-ordered alcohol education classes.

Ms Lohan burst into tears. What choice did the judge have? Little. But 90 days in jail, followed by a 90-day period of probation in rehab? What is the good purpose of sending non-violent, drug addicted people to jail? To get their attention? But 90 days seems excessive?

90 days of rehab? Yup. But rehab on works when the person doing rehab wants it to work.

Ms. Lohan is a trip. All this stuff would have gone away, if she had attended those classes. What would have sitting through a few classes cost her?. All of this would have been easier, if she hadn't been seen going around town self-imploding. All of this would have not happened, if she hadn't been the Lindsay Lohan that the media has been craving to see -- the bad, ass wild girl. She was followed right into the court room by the world wanting to see this girl squirm. She arrived early, smirking, and looked the bad ass Lindsay pretending to be nice -- Yes, pretending, like in acting -- pretending, even if she was sincere -- her persona has overtaken the person that she may be -- her persona has become her to the world -- so she went before the school marmish looking judge, and it was the bad ass girl faking being nice against the bench, and the court and law, with the whole world watching, which includes little girls looking for role models. The judge had to do the expected, -- slap the bad ass girl down, or the judge's judgment would have come into question, by America, and the world, and by the media vultures, whom followed Ms Badass into the court room, expecting, hoping to see blood and a corpse.

With the cameras rolling, in a live broadcast on the Internet, the Sheriff deputies gathered around ready to grab a hysterical actor, to drag a tearful, little, broken badass, to off to the slammer -- drama to tickle the masses. Then, the judge at Ms Lohan's attorney's request gave Ms. Lohan until 8:30 AM July 20 to turn herself in. Will this drama continue or will justice prevail?

Ringo Starr: Star Rocker Turns 70

Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 7, Ringo Starr turns seventy, 7-0, and he is still rocking. No rocking chair for this rocker. How does he plan to celebrate? The only way a rock 'n' roll star can celebrate the big 7-0, by a performance with his band. Ringo will celebrate with his band, the All Starr Band, on his birthday, at Radio City Music hall!

. “As far as I’m concerned, in my head, I’m 24,” Ringo Starr told The New York Times. “That’s just how it is. The number, yeah, it’s high. But I just felt I’ve got to celebrate it. I’m on my feet and I’m doing what I love to do, and I’m in a profession, as a musician, where we can go on for as long as we can go on. I’m not hiding from it, you know.. Butt when I was 22, actually, I remember this so well, and I was playing, and there was another band, and these people in that other band were 40, and I was saying, “My God, you’re still doing it?” [laughs] Which doesn’t look funny in black and white, but it was incredible, and now I’m waaaaay past 40. My new hero is B. B. King. I have a great line: B. B. is still playing, even though he is sitting down now. But hey, I’m sitting down already. You’ve just got to get on with it. I’d like to be out there pretending I’m only 55, but I’m not."

When you're rocker Ringo Starr or bluesman B.B. King, you can play on pass when you're a hundred. A thousand!

Ringo Starr, a happy 7-0, and many more.

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