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Showing posts with label L.A. Times. Show all posts
Showing posts with label L.A. Times. Show all posts
1.21.2012
12.08.2009
You Must Be Joking.
12.08.2009
1
So...that whole thing about the Russian government controlling the weather? Umm...it's true.
No. Really.
So apparently now the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, has decided that clearing snow costs too much money. Instead of shelling out the big bucks to city employees, he'd rather it just didn't snow at all. So he's proposing "a plan to seed the clouds with liquid nitrogen or dry ice to keep heavy snow from falling inside the city limits."
Am I the last person to find out about this? Somehow this seems like it should be a much bigger deal than an article on the L.A. Times website. Haven't we already destroyed our global climate?
Tad creepy, people. Just a tad.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-moscow-snow8-2009dec08,0,2120312.story
No. Really.
In Russia, nobody rains on the parade -- because the Russian government doesn't allow it.
"Victory Day is the most sacred holiday for us," says Bagrat Danilian, deputy chief of cloud seeding at the observatory. "When veterans go out to celebrate in Moscow, we create good weather for them."
All it takes, he says, is sacks of cement -- 500-grade, to be precise. Drop the powder down into the clouds, and they vanish.
So apparently now the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, has decided that clearing snow costs too much money. Instead of shelling out the big bucks to city employees, he'd rather it just didn't snow at all. So he's proposing "a plan to seed the clouds with liquid nitrogen or dry ice to keep heavy snow from falling inside the city limits."
Am I the last person to find out about this? Somehow this seems like it should be a much bigger deal than an article on the L.A. Times website. Haven't we already destroyed our global climate?
Tad creepy, people. Just a tad.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-moscow-snow8-2009dec08,0,2120312.story
2.24.2009
Everyone's a Critic
2.24.2009
5
Am I the only one who loved the Oscars this year? The way the media is talking you'd think I was.
In a downright depressing post-Oscar piece, Mary McNamara of The Los Angeles Times posted this scathing review of the show. She writes...
First of all, Hugh Jackman was great. I loved the opening number, I loved that he almost started laughing half way through the number. I thought it was a clever and fun way to start the show.
Quick- watch it below, before AMPAS takes this down.
What's wrong with blurring the line between Broadway and Hollywood? Are they not both anchors of the entertainment industry? Are movies and theater so entirely different that they can't blend harmoniously? This show, for the first time in years, felt like a true celebration of the glitz and glamour associated with yesterday's Hollywood.
The L.A. Times author also concludes that Hugh's performance took "years off the lives of the poor folks preparing to launch publicity for "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."
I'm pretty sure X-Men's target audience won't be swayed by Jackman's Oscar stint. If anything, he just convinced a whole bunch of ladies (this one included) to hit the theaters on opening weekend.
McNamara continues...
Actually, I'm pretty sure Rogen was giggling at the fact that his co-star, James Franco, completely butchered the name of the film. And really, it was funny.
Yes, Kate Winslet won her damned Oscar, and she deserved it.
McNamara goes on...
Apparently, McNamara, and other critics who wrote similar reviews, would prefer the Oscar ceremony to be completely void of music, dance, tributes, speeches, and humor. Just stand there, announce the winner, take the statue and leave. In that case, is there a point in televising the event? What's the point in having it at all? Why not just mail out a statue to the winner's home? Oh right, because the whole point of the Academy Awards is to honor achievement in the film industry. An industry based entirely on the concept of "putting on a show."
In a downright depressing post-Oscar piece, Mary McNamara of The Los Angeles Times posted this scathing review of the show. She writes...
"Interpreting all the best picture nominees in a way that seemed way more Broadway than Hollywood, Jackman wound up on Frank Langella's lap, which was just as weird as it sounds. Yes, Anne Hathaway acquitted herself quite well, but dancers in Sprocket-like body suits? We knew that with Jackman involved, metallic lamé was a real possibility, but to make fun of the Nazi-war-crimes/pedophilia-themed "The Reader"? A choice indeed."
First of all, Hugh Jackman was great. I loved the opening number, I loved that he almost started laughing half way through the number. I thought it was a clever and fun way to start the show.
Quick- watch it below, before AMPAS takes this down.
What's wrong with blurring the line between Broadway and Hollywood? Are they not both anchors of the entertainment industry? Are movies and theater so entirely different that they can't blend harmoniously? This show, for the first time in years, felt like a true celebration of the glitz and glamour associated with yesterday's Hollywood.
The L.A. Times author also concludes that Hugh's performance took "years off the lives of the poor folks preparing to launch publicity for "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."
I'm pretty sure X-Men's target audience won't be swayed by Jackman's Oscar stint. If anything, he just convinced a whole bunch of ladies (this one included) to hit the theaters on opening weekend.
McNamara continues...
"Seth Rogen, you cannot laugh at the winner of best live-action short just because the title is in German. German, you will be stunned to learn, is an actual language."
Actually, I'm pretty sure Rogen was giggling at the fact that his co-star, James Franco, completely butchered the name of the film. And really, it was funny.
"At least Kate Winslet finally won her damned Oscar -- such a real sense of closure, isn't it?"
Yes, Kate Winslet won her damned Oscar, and she deserved it.
McNamara goes on...
"The mini-mentoring sessions that replaced the standard "and here are the nominees" for the acting categories must Never Happen Again.
Yes, it's wonderful to see all these great performers on stage together, but having Adrien Brody describe Googling Richard Jenkins (because, apparently, he had no idea who he was?) or Shirley MacLaine offer motherly support to Anne Hathaway . . . well, life is short and by the time they were done, we didn't care who actually won, we just wanted the talking to end."
Apparently, McNamara, and other critics who wrote similar reviews, would prefer the Oscar ceremony to be completely void of music, dance, tributes, speeches, and humor. Just stand there, announce the winner, take the statue and leave. In that case, is there a point in televising the event? What's the point in having it at all? Why not just mail out a statue to the winner's home? Oh right, because the whole point of the Academy Awards is to honor achievement in the film industry. An industry based entirely on the concept of "putting on a show."
1.22.2009
Morning Roundup 1.22.09
1.22.2009
1
My top stories of the day:
President Obama is off to a running start, having already signed an executive order to close down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and create a task force to reevaluate interrogation methods.
Citing "personal reasons," Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn her bid for the New York Senate seat.
Oscar noms include posthumous supporting actor nod for Heath Ledger, best picture for Slumdog Millionaire (my fave!), and best original score AND song for Thomas Newman.
I'm not about to pretend that anyone other than Ledger will win that supporting statue, but I love that Robert Downey Jr. was nominated for Tropic Thunder!
Researchers say more British passengers died on the ill-fated Titanic because of their manners.
George Clooney rejoins the cast of ER- at least for a couple of episodes.
(btw- I thought ER was canceled...)
and, last but not least, the boyfriend's latest LAist article gets an L.A. Times mention, AND a correction! Very proud.
President Obama is off to a running start, having already signed an executive order to close down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and create a task force to reevaluate interrogation methods.
Citing "personal reasons," Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn her bid for the New York Senate seat.
Oscar noms include posthumous supporting actor nod for Heath Ledger, best picture for Slumdog Millionaire (my fave!), and best original score AND song for Thomas Newman.
I'm not about to pretend that anyone other than Ledger will win that supporting statue, but I love that Robert Downey Jr. was nominated for Tropic Thunder!
Researchers say more British passengers died on the ill-fated Titanic because of their manners.
George Clooney rejoins the cast of ER- at least for a couple of episodes.
(btw- I thought ER was canceled...)
and, last but not least, the boyfriend's latest LAist article gets an L.A. Times mention, AND a correction! Very proud.
1.16.2009
Another economic tragedy
1.16.2009
1
The L.A. Times is reporting that the Motion Picture and Television Fund home in Woodland Hills will be closing it's doors by the end of the year.
Funded almost entirely by entertainment industry donations, the Motion Picture hospital was a place for aged and ailing entertainers to call home. A dear friend of my family lived there when I was a teen, and I visited once or twice. As far as these places go, it was rather lively- full of characters and famous names.
It's pretty sad when even the entertainment industry can't cop up a few mill to save their own.
Funded almost entirely by entertainment industry donations, the Motion Picture hospital was a place for aged and ailing entertainers to call home. A dear friend of my family lived there when I was a teen, and I visited once or twice. As far as these places go, it was rather lively- full of characters and famous names.
It's pretty sad when even the entertainment industry can't cop up a few mill to save their own.
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