valsadie's blog

Marilyn Monroe Sex Tape? As if!

nobody@vox.com(valsadie) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:57:43 -0500

Hollywood's The Erotic Museum may now be gone, but through Archive.org, it lives on!

Part of The Erotic Museum's permanent collection was a grainy clip from a black-and-white film that supposedly showed Marilyn Monroe engaged in intimate relations (ahem!). The clip from the film, which was said to have been made in the late 1940s, was on a continuous loop within the Marilyn Monroe exhibit and was just a slowed-down close-up of the woman's face (and just her face). The close-up was directly compared to Marilyn's brief appearance in the Marx Brothers film, "Love Happy," which was made around the same time.

Basically, the exhibit asked you to believe that the women in the two photos below are the same person:

I could never see it. And still don't.

Read the Marilyn Monroe Collection page from this 2005 Archive.org version of the former The Erotic Museum web site.

You can even see what the exhibit looked like in the museum, thanks to this old A Current Affair news story video, also saved from the page by Archive.org.

See what you think.

Remember, the other film that was supposed to be her, The Apple, Knockers, and the Coke Bottle, was quickly debunked, found to be lookalike model Arline Hunter...

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What's Missing from Both Lipstick Jungle and Cashmere Mafia

nobody@vox.com(valsadie) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:13:46 -0600

I wrote a letter to Time magazine in response to their article on ABC's Cashmere Mafia and NBC's Lipstick Jungle, Becoming Ms. Big, by James Poniewozik (for which there's also a Tuned In blog entry and an iTunes podcast, Women in Power, and TV) and its sidebar, Reality Check: Women, Work and Money, by Tiffany Sharples, which shows the real-life percentage of women in the professions of the characters on both shows, along with the average salary of the jobs. My question:

Why are there no African American female leads in neither Lipstick Jungle nor Cashmere Mafia? Of all of the aspects for both programs to take from originator Sex and the City, this one is most disappointing.

There are certainly real-life African American female counterparts of the various professions represented, including Mellody Hobson, the UCLA Four Sisters (Felicia D. Henderson, Gina Prince‑Bythewood, Sara Finney-Johnson and Mara Brock Akil), Pam Veasey, Susan L. Taylor, and newly elected New York Junior League president, Gena Lovett.

================================

The e-mail has bounced back (twice!) because the Time magazine letters@time.com inbox is full--probably full of letters about their Senator vs. Senator cover story on Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's presidential campaigns!

It can't be said that the shows neglect actresses of color--Chinese-American actress Lucy Liu stars in Cashmere Mafia, and I don't know whether the character will be portrayed this way, but the mother of actress Lindsay Price of Lipstick Jungle is Korean.

But doesn't it make the shows just all the more unrealistic that it shows a Manhattan so lacking in black women?

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Things mumble-stumbling 'round the ol' brain... (also at LJ)

nobody@vox.com(valsadie) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:51:05 -0600

WGA Writers Strike. The AMPTP's willful, decades-long myopia about the importance of writers in Hollywood now seems rooted in a maleficent as well as artificial view of the world, bent on blind, arrogant self-destruction. I don't see what's so impossible about the WGA demands. It is labor and the writers should be paid accordingly; the content is being used again and again and the writers especially should be paid accordingly.

I have personally found no fewer than three web sites that have near-identical collections of NBC/Fox TV series available online, old and new. There's hulu.com, to which you need to submit your e-mail address to be a part of its private beta group--which is essentially defeated when you access Hulu on AOL, which is free to anyone. And then there's the new Comcast Fancast, also free to anyone. But you want to know what they all have in common, beyond their content (which range from "House" to "Cleopatra 2525" to "Nanny and the Professor," bless their hearts)? They all have SPONSORS, "limited commercial interruptions" from Intel or Saturn or Nissan or Toyota, etc etc etc! In other words, the studios are making money from these--every last episode of every show!

Meanwhile, I simply cannot imagine all the studio drones who must "just happen to be" strolling through the tree-sheltered pathways of UCLA and USC screenwriting programs these days. It is sick and disgusting and I hope the students aren't falling for it. I have refused to understand the lack of professional courtesy extended to writers as opposed to the directors and actors and other crew in that town. And it has always been this way! I don't know what Hollywood's problem is. It all starts with the script. Without the script, there's nothing to direct, nothing to act, nothing to light, nothing to costume--there's nothing to shoot, period. And this whole "blame the victim" mentality has always been an old, old, old anger for me. I'm not impressed, AMPTP. Work it out! I don't care if there's no Oscars--and if someone would take five seconds to remember the ever dwindling TV ratings for the annual program, they'd realize how little anyone else cares, either! Pay the writers and move on.

Although I can't help but wonder what the networks will do as the strike goes on and maybe the truly impossible will come to light--like reruns of "Monk" and "Psych" show up on the networks. Fox shows "Firefly" after "American Idol"--and in the right order this time!!! NBC starts showing episodes of "Doctor Who" in the "Heroes" time slot, starting with its 2005 premiere and calling it "that show from overseas that stars Claude"--! CW starts showing "Life on Mars" in the "Supernatural" time slot. CBS completely swallows its pride and apologizes to those who sat through the ultralame "Viva Laughlin" by showing the original "Blackpool" series and its sequel (albeit with somewhat necessary subtitles). ABC, not to be left out of the BBC feeding frenzy, picks up "Hotel Babylon"--and just for good measure, nicks "The Librarians" from Australian "ABC" TV!

Now THAT would be fun TV :)!!!

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Barack Obama at Google!

nobody@vox.com(valsadie) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:10:53 -0600

Google is hosting the candidates for talks at the company--and we get to see them, too! See Candidates@Google: Barack Obama via YouTube:

Candidates@Google: Barack Obama

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Dr. James Cone on PBS Bill Moyers Journal

nobody@vox.com(valsadie) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 01:25:47 -0600

(cross-posted)

Dr. James H. Cone of Union Theological Seminary expressed some brilliant teachings on Bill Moyers Journal this week, describing Whites and Blacks in America by linking the beliefs of the Christian cross with the reality of the lynching tree. The entire one-hour program is streamed online at:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11232007/watch.html

and

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11232007/watch2.html

Also, see the transcript at:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11232007/transcript1.html

Video clips via YouTube Playlist.

More info, video at The Cross and The Lynching Tree at TrinityWallStreet.org

November 23, 2007 - Bill Moyers Journal

James H. Cone
With the noose and the lynching tree entering the national discussion in the wake of recent news events, Bill Moyers interviews theologian James Cone about how these powerful images relate to the symbol of the cross and how they signify both tragedy and triumph.

Watch

Transcript

Bernice Johnson Reagon
Performer, activist, songwriter and scholar, Bernice Johnson Reagon has for over 40 years been singing, preaching and teaching traditional African American music and its cultural history.

Watch

Transcript

The Legacy Of Lynching
"...blacks and whites and other Americans who want to understand the meaning of the American experience need to remember lynching."

On the blog

Bill Moyers Asks: What is the Meaning of the Nooses?

Bill Moyers Rewind: The Songs are Free

Full Show Transcript (print)

Download MP3

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Barack Obama Live Chat on Monday, October 29 at 1:30 pm ET/10:30 am PT

nobody@vox.com(valsadie) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 16:01:23 -0500

From MySpace -

U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois; www.myspace.com/barackobama) will be the next participant in the MySpace/MTV Presidential Dialogue series. The Dialogue with Sen. Obama will take place October 29 at 1:30 pm ET/10:30 am PT on the campus of Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA, be streamed live on MySpace (www.myspace.com/election2008), MTV’s www.ChooseOrLose.com and MTV Mobile, and exclusively premiere on air on MTV at 7 pm ET/PT that night. Make sure to tune in on 10/29 and tell him what you think!

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Barack on Harry Potter!

nobody@vox.com(valsadie) — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:42:42 -0500

Because everyone wants to know, it seems, and Barack and his daughters are no exception--!

Barack Obama on Harry Potter

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Barack Obama Headquarters in Second Life

nobody@vox.com(valsadie) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 19:50:53 -0500

I had posted this elsewhere, but it works here, too :>!

FYI: There is a Grassroots Barack Obama HQ in Second Life on Blacktail Ridge Island (24, 135, 148). You can see my avatar visiting the Obama HQ over on my Flickr account. You can pick up a free flag and free t-shirts and hats for your avatar, plus watch video of Obama and learn more about his various positions. Enjoy!

Barack Obama's HQ - Front Door

Barack Obama HQ - 2nd Floor

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The best Depeche Mode song they never did?

nobody@vox.com(valsadie) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 20:23:55 -0500

It's ridiculous how much I like this song... even the bridge, when Diddy tries (and fails spectacularly!) to sing--!

Diddy Featuring Keyshia Cole - Last Night Featuring Keyshia Cole (Video) [main & BET version]

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"Stony Island" Movie?

nobody@vox.com(valsadie) — Sat, 19 May 2007 13:06:04 -0500

I tried to get into next week's free screening of the forgotten late 1970s Chicago film, "Stony Island," at the University of Chicago but it's completely full. Anybody out there old enough to remember this movie--and have seen it??

It is not out on DVD, it never even got released on video. I found out about the film kind of accidentally in the 1980s, while going through some 1970s Ebony magazine issues and stumbling upon an article about it. It was filmed completely in Chicago and featured local musicians. It was directed and co-written and co-produced by Andrew Davis, who had already worked on "Medium Cool" and afterwards went on to direct "The Fugitive" and "Holes" as well as last year's "The Guardian," which featured many of the actors that had leads and supporting roles in "Stony Island." Co-writer and co-producer was Tamar Simon Hoffs, who went on to direct the film, "The Allnighter," which starred her daughter, Susanna Hoffs, lead singer of The Bangles. Susanna appears in "Stony Island," along with other future stars Dennis Franz and Rae Dawn Chong. The film's soundtrack featured future stars Patrice Rushen and David Sanborn. Davis was quoted as saying about the film--“It’s my first movie and I want to get it out on DVD,” Davis told us. “People will get a chance to see a real interesting view of growing up in Chicago.” In 2003, the Chicago Sun-Times reported --

Before making his directorial debut with 1978's "Stony Island," which he co-wrote and produced, Davis acted as cameraman on 15 features and television productions. "Stony" a locally shot street musical featuring Davis' younger brother Richie, a musician who still lives in the city, and, in a much smaller role, their father Nate, a part-time thespian and World War II vet, marked the first of many times Davis would use his native city as a cinematic backdrop.
"It's funny," Davis muses. "[Sun-Times film critic Roger] Ebert, in one of his earliest reviews of my work, talked about how the city became a character in the movies I make here. And that's how I feel about it. The environment comments on the people and vice versa."

After the death of Mayor Richard J. Daley, who ran a notoriously tight ship when it came to allowing his city (and it was his city) to appear in films as anything but squeaky clean (i.e., no gangsters, no corruption), doors opened. Little by little, movie production burgeoned. Eventually, Davis took full advantage.

Though nowadays he enjoys international renown as an A-list crafter of action flicks (he prefers to call them "political action" flicks) set in locales the country and world over, Chicagoans most appreciate him for his unflagging hometown loyalty. If he can shoot here, he does. Over the past quarter century, he has set six films in Chicago, including "Stony," "Code of Silence," "Above the Law," "The Package," "The Fugitive" and, most recently, "Chain Reaction," starring Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman. Each of them, to varying degrees, makes the place sparkle. Or at least subtly shimmer, particularly if you live or walk or work amid the urban grit that Davis so deftly manipulates onscreen.

"[Davis] does Chicago locations better than anyone alive," assesses Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, citing "Code of Silence" as a prime example. In his most glowing critique of Davis' work to date, Ebert hailed "The Fugitive" as "pure filmmaking on a master scale," doling out four stars in print and, on television, a presumably enthusiastic Thumbs-Up.

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