Music that lingers

Checking out Rolling Stone's 100 Best songs of the decade list -- non-definitive, but fun; and interesting how one-of-a-kind most of the top ones were. Threw in some random, recent picks of my own:

Beyoncé - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)


Shakira - She Wolf


M.I.A. - Paper Planes
#5 on Rolling Stones' decade list; this version with Maya Arulpragasam herself is better, but the Slumdog Millionaire one is fuller.


White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
Simply hypnotic... and the anthem of soccer hooligans everywhere


Kanye West - Gold Digger
Music and a moral!


Coldplay - Yellow
It has a timeless quality to it; reminds me of 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up." Like the Chinese version as well.

Worst of Times, and best

I've never liked the Times' TV critic, Alessandra Stanley; too often I feel like she was watching a different program than me, and inattentively at that.

So I wasn't surprised to reach this by the Times' public editor, Clark Hoyt:

THE TIMES published an especially embarrassing correction on July 22, fixing seven errors in a single article — an appraisal of Walter Cronkite, the CBS anchorman famed for his meticulous reporting. The newspaper had wrong dates for historic events; gave incorrect information about Cronkite’s work, his colleagues and his program’s ratings; misstated the name of a news agency, and misspelled the name of a satellite.

“Wow,” said Arthur Cooper, a reader from Manhattan. “How did this happen?”

The short answer is that a television critic with a history of errors wrote hastily and failed to double-check her work, and editors who should have been vigilant were not.

Hoyt doesn't mention Stanley's name until the seventh paragraph; I guess his point is it was an institutional failure, but I don't think it is, based on years of reading Stanley.

She has a singular disregard for the facts, getting things consistently wrong in both small details (the order of events in an episode, the interpretation of a character's words) and the overall big picture.

The full article, "Cronkite's Signature: Approachable Authority," is worth a read just for the kicker... which in the online version consists of:

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: July 22, 2009
An appraisal on Saturday about Walter Cronkite’s career included a number of errors. In some copies, it misstated the date that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed and referred incorrectly to Mr. Cronkite’s coverage of D-Day. Dr. King was killed on April 4, 1968, not April 30. Mr. Cronkite covered the D-Day landing from a warplane; he did not storm the beaches. In addition, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, not July 26. “The CBS Evening News” overtook “The Huntley-Brinkley Report” on NBC in the ratings during the 1967-68 television season, not after Chet Huntley retired in 1970. A communications satellite used to relay correspondents’ reports from around the world was Telstar, not Telestar. Howard K. Smith was not one of the CBS correspondents Mr. Cronkite would turn to for reports from the field after he became anchor of “The CBS Evening News” in 1962; he left CBS before Mr. Cronkite was the anchor. Because of an editing error, the appraisal also misstated the name of the news agency for which Mr. Cronkite was Moscow bureau chief after World War II. At that time it was United Press, not United Press International.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: August 1, 2009
An appraisal on July 18 about Walter Cronkite’s career misstated the name of the ABC evening news broadcast. While the program was called “World News Tonight” when Charles Gibson became anchor in May 2006, it is now “World News With Charles Gibson,” not “World News Tonight With Charles Gibson.”

Two Michael Jackson memorial moments

Rahm's drive

An interesting if possibly over-long profile by the Times' Matt Bai, "Taking the Hill," illuminates President Obama's strategy for pushing comprehensive health care reform through Congress.

Of course it's the personalitites that jump through, most notably Rahm Emanuel; it seems like there's an endless supply of stories about him, and the piece does its part to burnish the legend:

OBAMA’S AGGRESSIVE COURTSHIP of Congress is plotted and directed by Emanuel, who despite his legendary personality flaws — his penchant for profane mockery is now so well documented that you sometimes have the sense he’s cursing at you so as not to disappoint — is freakishly well suited to the job. Emanuel served as a senior aide in Clinton’s White House before running for Congress and then overseeing the Democrats’ successful drive to take back the House, which means he is that rare politician who feels equally at home on both ends of the avenue. “Rahm is family to all of us,” Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, told me recently. ...

When I asked Emanuel if he would prefer that the president have someone around while negotiating with individual lawmakers, he smiled tightly. “I prefer whatever he prefers,” the chief of staff said, sounding uncharacteristically diplomatic.

Obama's gonna get health care reform passed; some network should document it all, it'd make a heck of a movie or TV series.

Christianity gone wrong

It's an art form to write a good web headline and teaser that gets someone to click and read a story they might not otherwise think they have an interest in. The Washington Post has a great example: "How the Faithful Justify Torture," The more you go to church, the more you approve of torture.

The essay, by Professor Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, is interesting:

The more often you go to church, the more you approve of torture. This is a troubling finding of a new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Shouldn't it be the opposite? After all, who would Jesus torture? Since Jesus wouldn't even let Peter use a sword and defend him from arrest, it would seem that those who follow Jesus would strenuously oppose the violence of torture. But, not so in America today.

Instead, more than half of people who attend worship at least once a week, or 54%, said that using torture on suspected terrorists was "often" or "sometimes" justified. White evangelical Protestants were the church-going group most likely to approve of torture. By contrast, those who are unaffiliated with a religious organization and didn't attend worship were most opposed to torture -- only 42% of those people approved of using torture.

One possible way to interpret this extraordinary Pew data is cultural. White evangelical Protestants tend to be culturally conservative and they make up a large percentage of the so-called Republican "base". Does the approval of torture by this group demonstrate their continuing support for the previous administration? That may be.

But I think it is possible, even likely, that this finding has a theological root. The UN Convention Against Torture defines torture as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person..." White Evangelical theology bases its view of Christian salvation on the severe pain and suffering undergone by Jesus in his flogging and crucifixion by the Romans. This is called the "penal theory of the atonement"--that is, the way Jesus paid for our sins is by this extreme torture inflicted on him.

I'm not sure I agree that Christians are okay with torture because Jesus was tortured--but I think it's a pretty big problem that Christianity seems to have evolved to a point where its staunchest adherents don't think it gets in the way of supporting torture.

That's kind of a big tent, by any measure; with some problematic tent poles.

I'm curious if the very Christians who are so eager to flog Islam, regardless of their degree of knowledge or sincerity, will look in the mirror.

Binghamton tragedy, doubled

There's an astonishing response by the Binghamton chief of police, and city DA, after this week's massacre.

The first 911 calls came in at 10:30 a.m., Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said at a news conference. The callers spoke broken English, and it took dispatchers two minutes to sort out what was happening, he said.

The first patrol cars arrived at 10:33 a.m.

Officers were on the scene five minutes before a wounded receptionist called police to report a gunman in the building, Zikuski said. Police had earlier said it was that call that brought them to the immigration center.

A SWAT team entered the building 43 minutes after the first call to police.

When police got there, the gunfire had stopped, so they believed there was no ''active gunman'' in the center and decided to wait for the SWAT team to arrive, Zikuski said.

He compared the scene with the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, in which 15 people died, including the two teenage gunmen.

''At Columbine, there were numerous shots ringing out and law enforcement stood by,'' he said. ''I was quite frankly horrified when I knew that.''

Zikuski said his officers would have gone into the building if shots had still been flying.

''If you arrive on the scene -- the first two to four guys -- and there's an active shooter, they enter,'' he said.

Pressed on why police didn't go into building, Zikuski said information they were getting from the receptionist was still uncertain enough to warrant caution.

''He was dead. We didn't know it,'' Zikuski said. ''If there's a bunch of cops laying on the floor shot trying to rescue somebody else, it's not going to help anybody.''

When reporters repeated the line of questioning, Mollen jumped in to defend the police chief.

''I don't think it's fair to ask Chief Zikuski to respond to hypotheticals,'' he said, adding that there would be a full review and report on the shooting, including the police response.

"If there's a bunch of cops laying on the floor shot trying to rescue somebody else, it's not going to help anybody."

For cops to wait outside a building because they don't hear gunshots, not knowing if people are bleeding to death or if a shooter is still on the loose, is ridiculous.

It's precisely the job of cops to risk their lives every day trying to rescue other. That's why we honor them.

Michelle Obama vs. Diana vs. Jackie

I never understood why people were gaga over Diana; maybe because I have no conception of nor do I care about how different she was from past British royalty.

For me, that always seemed more a deficiency in her predecessors than any notable distinction in her.

Besides which, Diana always seemed so much more about herself, her clothes, her loveless marriage, then any sort of real issues.

Unlike Michelle Obama, as the Guardian's Carole Cadwalladr pointed out this week:

There was a strange stillness last week in Islington's Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Language College on the last day of term. It wasn't just that the school had finished a day early and it was a training day for staff and a revision day for pupils soon to take their GCSEs. Nor even that the sun had finally decided to shine for the start of the Easter holidays.

It was that, 24 hours earlier, an event so surprising and extraordinary had happened in this very ordinary-looking London school that the few people milling around its lobby had the air of having experienced some freak natural phenomenon - a hurricane, perhaps, or a tidal wave or, as actually happened, a visit by the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.

At the culmination of the Obamas' first visit to Britain, she visited the school on Thursday and, the next day, staff and students all seemed to be suffering some sort of post-traumatic international celebrity icon syndrome. In the hallway, I met Nuria Afonso, 15, and Shereka Phipps, 15, both wearing the dazed expressions of people who still can't quite believe what has just happened.

"She hugged us!" said Nuria. "Can you believe that? She. Hugged. Us! It was amazing. Amazing." ...

Newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic endlessly commented on her clothes, her shoes, her fashion choices, the "controversial" blue plaid cardigan that she wore to visit the school, even though the only remotely "controversial" aspect of it was that certain female, waspish fashion writers decided not to like it and, which, according to Google, has so far drawn 1,925 news articles all its own, including one from the Huffington Post, which gave it the inevitable moniker "Argyle-gate".

And yet, what the fashion commentators nearly missed was that the visit to the school not only produced the most emotional moments of her entire visit, but that the speech was also a profoundly moving, very personal statement of her political purpose and the new role that she is still in the process of creating as the president's wife.

It was the only speech she made during her trip, and the school had, apparently, been deliberately chosen: girls-only, inner-city, its pupils, of whom 20% are the children of refugees or asylum seekers, speak a total of 55 different languages and 92% of whom are from a black or minority background. It was her first speech, she pointed out, as first lady on a foreign visit; she mentioned it several times, in fact, as if she was having problems believing it herself. And then, carefully, using personal stories and anecdotes, she drew parallels between her life and those of the girls in front of her, at times appearing close to tears.

"I want you to know that we have very much in common. For nothing in my life's path would have predicted that I would be standing here as the first lady of the United States of America. There was nothing in my story that would land me here. I wasn't raised with wealth or resources of any social standing to speak of...

"If you want to know the reason why I'm standing here, it's because of education. I never cut class. Sorry I don't know if anybody here is cutting class. I never did. I loved getting As. I liked being smart. I loved being on time. I loved getting my work done. I thought being smart was cooler than anything in the world." ...

Both Nuria and Shereka closely followed the US presidential election and said that, even before her visit, Michelle Obama had inspired them both, girls born thousands of miles away, personally.

"You can relate to her story. She said, 'I'm a working-class girl.' And more or less all of us are working-class. She made it. And it made me think: if she can do it, so can I."

For a lesson in how to empower young women, you could do no better than to listen to Michelle Obama's speech in its entirety. The news bulletins picked up its highlights, the point where, very close to tears, she said: "When I look at a performance like this, it just reminds me that there are diamonds like this all over the world. All of you are jewels. You are precious and you touch my heart. And it's important for the world to know that there are wonderful girls like you all over the world." ...

But for all the hugs, Michelle Obama is no Diana and it was her visit to the school, and more particularly the speech that she delivered there, that thwarted the attempt by the Anglo-American press to reduce her Democratic politics and feminist principles into nothing more than a fashion cypher whose sole purpose is to have her clothing choices beatified by their mutual consent.

She's as much an ideologue as her husband and, while Barack Obama is having to make hard choices in an ever-worsening economic climate, what the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson speech demonstrated is how Michelle Obama has become the political yin to his yang; the up to his down.

Really, the dumbing-down of our society occurs when blogs like the Huffington Post and papers like the Washington Post choose to feature breathless pieces on Michelle Obama's outfits or lack thereof, rather than pay real attention to what she says and does while wearing clothes.

One of the great things about the Obamas is how focused they are on substance; aware of style and symbols, but always more interested in reality.

I think it's slowly starting to dawn on people around the world that they're a once-in-a-lifetime political phenomenon, not because of the glitz or celebrity-like coverage, but because of who they really are.

They're no Kennedys--they're much better.

AP photo

Obama's America vs. Old Europe

A.A. Gill has a pitch-perfect piece in the Times that captures what President Obama's visit to Europe has been all about.

IT’S invariably the little things, the unconsidered, off the cuff, in passing, unrehearsed things that snag our attention, and seem to be telling of the bigger things. In the case of Barack Obama’s first visit to London and the Group of 20 conference to save the endangered habitat of bankers and real estate salesmen, it was the handshake with the bobby that seemed to be emblematic. In a forest of waving palms, this handshake meant more.

As the president stepped up to 10 Downing Street, he leant over, made eye contact, said something courteous, and shook the hand of the police officer standing guard. There’s always a police officer there; he is a tourist logo in his ridiculous helmet. He tells you that this is London, and the late 19th century. No one has ever shaken the hand of the policeman before, and like everyone else who has his palm touched by Barack Obama, he was visibly transported and briefly forgot himself. He offered the hand to Gordon Brown, the prime minister, who was scuttling behind.

It was ignored. He was left empty-handed. It isn’t that Mr. Brown snubbed the police officer; he just didn’t see him. To a British politician, a police officer is as invisible as the railings.

But the rest of us noticed. Because in this country that still feels the class system like a phantom limb, being overtly kind to servants is the very height of manners, the mark of true nobility. Being nice to the staff is second only to being nice to dogs as a pinnacle of civilization. Remember: a butler’s not just for Christmas. Apparently, the Obamas searched every cupboard and closet in Downing Street to personally thank all the servants for looking after them. That’s classlessly classy. ...

The Obamas were likely also surprised at how black the old white colonial country is. Ethnic diversity is shamelessly and embarrassingly pushed to the front of every publicity shot. Michelle Obama went to a girls school where a gospel song was performed and where she made a surprisingly moving speech. All the world leaders’ wives are herded together in cultural outings of excruciatingly bland probity, but Mrs. Obama rose above it, and seemed to really inspire this group of young girls. It was noticed. The rest of the women grinned and clutched their handbags, apparently wondering when they could get away to Harrods.

Reading into Obama

One of the worst-headlined Times article of all time, "Obama Calls on Security Council to Punish North" -- it's about President Barack Obama's comments about North Korea's rocket launch today during his speech in Prague -- has a great kicker from one of the thousands of Czechs in the crowd.

Not all were effusive about Mr. Obama’s appearance. Miloslava Krulova, 76, who worked in a bank before she retired, said she was worried that Mr. Obama’s disarmament drive could prove detrimental to global peace.

“I came here today because I admire Obama’s intelligence. He is also a good husband and father. But I am skeptical of his words because trying to get the world to disarm might have the opposite effect.” Noting the throngs of mesmerized youth, she added: “I was shocked that I seemed to be the only elderly lady here. Maybe people of my generation are afraid, that they might not understand Obama and his policies.”

I love how she says he's a "good husband and father"!

American Idol's final semifinal

It's the final semifinal for American Idol; watching it on tape delay the next day.

Von Smith up first, no real opinion about him so far -- nothing memorable, except Simon saying his Hollywood song choice was "indulgent nonsense." He seems happy just to be here, so not sure how he'll do. Ugh, song right away is bad, totally wrong for his voice; Marvin Gaye's "You're All I Need." Hmm, as it goes on, a bit better; his voice is still too thin for this, but he's really into it, and is performing it well. I'm liking this a lot more than I thought I would.

Randy says a hot performance, you're finding yourself here. Kara says you seem to know what you're doing out there, it had meaning. Paula says a memorable first, calls him a seasoned showman. Simon says you remind me of Clay Aiken, "spicier" says Paula. "You look appalling, but actually you sang quite well." I like him, hope people remember him by the end of this. "Finally, to have done something right, somewhat, is amazing," he says.

Taylor Vaifanua, doing "I've Got You," interesting dress--white and black on top, grayish skirt, high, high black boots. Ugh, not good; bad choice, song doesn't fit her voice, it's jerky and just doesn't build to anything. She can definitely sing, belts out the chorus; just not crazy about the choice. Outfit was cool, though.

She's emotional as the judges start talking to her, Kara wanted more of her personality in her song, performance was a bit cold. She's exactly right; there was distance there, unlike in Von's. Paula says you sang this already in Hollywood, why not do something new. Simon makes fun of Kara's "wanna see what it's like to go shopping with you," then says generic, not memorable, bland. Don't try to be older than 17. Randy says great voice, but you didn't tell us anything special about you.

Alex Wagner-Trugman up next, he talks to Ryan, says he's been reading people think he's dorky, so he's been trying to go to the gym to be more like Simon. He's hilarious. In the clip Randy calls him "Joe Cocker," Simon says more like "cocker spaniel." Then Simon says his voice is a 3, Alex says to the camera, "I can only assume that's on a scale of 3."

Doing "I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues," he's really got a great personality. Not the greatest singer, but sincere, and totally likeable. A weird song choice vocally, guess he was going for the whole thematic thing. Kicks away the mike stand, it's great, actually. I really like him.

Lots of girls screaming, Paula says you certainly are the showman as he says he didn't mean to knock over the stand. Simon laughs at him, "you're like a hamster trying to be a tiger," "ridiculous growling," calls it "a bit stupid." Randy says a bit crazy in a "buck-wild style kind of way," didn't like the vocals tonight, song kind of screamed. "At least you do you," says Kara, as the audience screams.

He's really nice talking to Ryan, "I was just trying to have fun, throughout this whole process we sometimes forget about that." Yup, he's now officially my favorite contestant of this season.

Arianna Afsar doing ABBA, first time ever on Idol Ryan says. Says she's glad during Hollywood they didn't say anything about her being cute or anything, after beforehand that's all they said. I like her because of that.

"The Winner Takes It All," tricky pick, ABBA's version is so iconic. She's trying to put her own stamp on it, not that great at the start; cool blue dress though. Out of tune, languid performance. I really wanted to like her, she's just butchering this song though. It may be the worst thing this year, she's totally off-key and is trying to make it too weird. Has a big voice, but ugh, so out of tune. Even her parents looked pained.

"Absolutely terrible in most parts," says Simon, song was way too big for you, dreary arrangement, awful. Randy says just not good, Kara says you were like a beam of sunshine, but dark and depressing tonight; "be young, touch people." You know, Kara is really right on with some of her comments. Paula says you should've just stuck to the melody.

Ryan says "you wanted to be un-buttoned," makes me laugh. So far this is my favorite show of the season, everyone's been really likeable if not great at singing.

Back with Ju'not Joyner, who I really like from before. Doing "Hey There, Delilah," again, which from Hollywood snippet may have been my single favorite performance of the year. Slows it way down, all in black with a pair of handcuffs off his belt?! It's soulful, electrifying. So smooth, passionate; nice vocal range. Very still during the performance. My favorite vocal of the night, although no real personality; and I may actually have liked the Hollywood snippet better.

Randy likes how he pulled back, good interpretation. Kara liked his fluid, smooth spin on the song, next time just bust it out, go for it, "I know you got ridiculous pipes," he says "that's what's up." Paula says same song, but you changed it up, nice vocal. Simon says that was better than I thought it was going to be, wish you'd stripped it down, you could've had a moment, a bit safe but you're nervous and I know how much this means to you. Simon's right, this could've been amazing, but it was just good.

Ju'not explains he had to take a cortisone shot, had reaction to all the smog out in Hollywood he says.

Kristen McNamara, who's actually a karaoke host?! She seems a bit dumb; they revisit the drama from Hollywood, again portraying her as a victim of a mad black woman -- when actually a lot of that was her fault. Big, bold, red dress; nice smoky country voice, actually. A bit subdued rendition of "Give Me One Reason," and it's just the same thing the whole song through, getting boring. Ugh by the end; just nothing memorable, not a great voice. And no personality.

Kara actually says you are a great singer, but not a great pick; should've done something more rock-edge. Paula with the great memory says you sang a Kelly Clarkson song in Hollywood, should've done something more like that, less safe. Paula is in some ways the most professional of all of them, she remembers everything and the show is actually really important to her. Simon says you don't seem quite comfortable, not sure quite who you are. Randy dittos, easy song but you tried to do too much, karaoke thing. Up close she has too much makeup on, looks a bit haggard.

Nathaniel Marshall, who could totally flame-out or be really good. I've hated him, liked him, just hopes he does his best; wants us to see "goofy, good-natured, humble Nate," a great video intro. Doing "I Will Do Anything for Love," claims nobody's ever done it before on the show, I'm not so sure.

Oh my god, it's a crazy slowed-down, light jazz version, so weird. Crazy spiked hair, weird tattoos or something all over his body. This is like a bad parody, it's not good.

"I think you probably would," quips Simon at the end. Most people will think it was verging on excruciating, almost uncomfortable, and a weird song choice. At least people will remember you. Randy says curious about the song choice, turns out he and his mom danced around to it. Randy's not sure what kind of record he could make, "a keep fit video," says Simon. Kara says if you wanna be taken seriously, pick something that shows your good voice. They talk to his grandmother, then Paula says, "not to be the historian here," but in Hollywood you were cool, bold and relevant. But this song was more the Boy George version, took away your coolness. Hmm, good comment from Paula.

Ryan brings Nate over to Simon to "make him feel comfortable," it's so forced, he takes off his headband for him to put on, Simon keeps shaking his finger at Ryan.

Felicia Barton next, who's the fill-in for the one who got DQed. I like her based on the interview, really sweet. "No One," by Alicia Keys, hope she does well. All in black, shiny top; a bit uncomforable/nervousish at the start. But very passionate, and she can totally sing. Not really connecting with the audience for some reason; her style is a bit jerky, and weird, she's so intense. A bit off-key too.

Paula praises her in general terms, nothing about the song at all. Simon liked the first part more, a bit copycat, not as enthused as Paula. Randy says great voice, go with your different tone. Kara says great look, attitude, presence, a few problems with some of the notes, noticed you though.

Scott MacIntyre, who gets shrieks during his video. Oh no, actually doing "Mandolin Rain," so cheesy, but a great melody. He's sitting, mostly in black. A brilliant pick, I think, fits his tone so well; you can see his experience performing and singing coming through. It's a bit too smooth for me, he's also over-singing; it's okay, but not great.

Randy says not great vocal, but good story; Kara totally sells out, says who cares about the vocal, your passion goes through; Paula says nothing really. Simon didn't like the song, says he's growing on him though, you're starting to believe in himself. There are better singers, you're memorable, will be amazed if you don't sail through. I'm not really a big fan, he keeps talking about how he can't wait to get back on the piano, that's when he'll really shine. Gets Ryan to give him a high five.

Randy plays Ryan as they come back, Kendall Beard up next. I think she could be a wild card, has a great look, that traditional Southern girl demographic. Doing "This One if For the Girls," great yellow scrunchy dress. I like her passion; she looks old, all dolled-up; very sincere song choice. Not a great voice, lost at times. Gets better as it goes on, I just like her even though she's out of tune.

Kara starts with the positives, big personality and all that; but flat. Paula says best outfit of the night, she says her mom put it together; calls her adorable. Simon says you did the right thing tonight, you are what you are. A bit kind of shrilly, says Simon, not a great choice. Randy says not great vocally, bit of nerves, not bad.

Jorge Nunez, says the judges said he needed to work on his accent, so he did. I like him, doing "Don't Let the Song Go Down on Me." Classic sportcoat/jeans look. Nice voice, slow and controlled, very sincere. Wow, great song choice; totally soulful; big voice too. So passionate; purely vocally not great maybe, but performance-wise and overall, hard not to keep watching.

Paula says you've worked so hard on your accent, sounded so good, just wants to squeeze him. Simon says we were wrong to say you shouldn't sing with an accent, why not; be who you are, you're a very, very good singer. "Actually, I don't think I have an accent, but if you think I do," he says. Not the perfect vocal says Randy, but really good. Kara says you're a singer, born to sing, you have that gift of touching people. He starts crying, "this is so amazing to me." Wow, he just sealed up a spot in the finals. The audience loves him, it's really a very special moment, he has a huge smile, is so obviously happy. This is what Idol is all about.

Critic's favorite Lil Rounds is last, I totally like her. "Be Without You," great yellow top to her black dress. Man, she is great; just a pro from the get-go, really authentic and comfortable. Totally in control, smooth. The other contestants are totally into it. She's on a different level than everyone else tonight, yo. Audience goes nuts at the end.

"Brilliant," says Simon, my favorite by a mile. Too much like the original, but you have great, great prospects. Randy loved it, great vocals and you know who you are. Kara says you're a powerhouse, you are great, have been yourself the whole time. Paula calls her first-class, we're going to see you for many more little rounds.

It's been a great semifinals, the best of the the three. Not merely vocally-wise, just interesting people giving good performances.

Alex Wagner-Trugman
Jorge Nunez
Lil Rounds
Ju'not Joyner
Von Smith
Kendall Beard
Scott MacIntyre
Felicia Barton
Arianna Afsar
Taylor Vaifanua
Nathaniel Marshall
Kristen McNamara

Slumdog Millionaire's night at the Oscars (with some NASCAR too)

-And the winner is... Slumdog Millionaire! A bunch of people come up on stage, after some initial hesitation, including the kids from the slum. Wow, what great television, the cute little kid is right up behind the podium. Christian Colson, producer, speaks for them all--"when we started out we had no stars, we had no power or muscle... but we had a script that inspired mad love."

A movie that almost went straight to DVD... doesn't exactly inspire confidence in Hollywood's ability to tell good stories, especially when the stories aren't filled with the same-old characters and faces.

And that's it, awards are all given out, 5 minutes shy of the clock striking midnight. Only appropriate that in the year of Barack Obama "Slumdog Millionaire" wins -- and of course, there is a connection.

Interesting, the montage at the end over credits is of upcoming releases; a great idea; makes me wish summer would hurry up and get here.

-Stephen Spielberg comes out, solo, to introduce a montage of past best pictures alongside this year's nominees. Wow, they do something really clever, using past best pictures intercut with clips from each of this year's nominees, like they're using documentary footage. Hardest with Slumdog.

-Best actor is next. The presenters get the standing O, all the old lions are there. I hope Frank Langella wins for Frost/Nixon, I saw him on stage and he was great. Robert De Niro says, "being a movie star can get in the way of acting; but not for Sean Penn." It's a great line, and captures Penn exactly--he wants to make films, not be a star.

Sean Penn wins, to big applause. Speech should be interesting. "You commie, homo-loving sons of guns!" is how he starts. At the end he tells those who voted for the ban on gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and those of their kids and grandkids if they continue in that way....

"I'm very proud to live in a country that's willing to elect an elegant man president," and a country that in all it's toughness creates the kind of artists it does, with a shout-out to Mickey Rourke, "who is my brother."

-Wow, Sophia Loren, among others, on stage to present best Actress. They all get a standing ovation, as well they should. Loren looks regal. I like this personalized presentation where each nominee gets a little speech from a previous winner; can be a bit cheesy and over-the-top, but is also just interesting to watch.

Loren does Meryl Streep; she doesn't look very good, too made up and too much surgery; but you have to keep watching, she has presence. Nicole Kidman does Angelina Jolie, who's wearing emeralds apparently.

And Kate Winslet wins, which is cool; I like how she's grown over the years. It's her first win after 6 nominations. Tells her dad to whistle so she can see where he's sitting, and he does, to loud applause; it's a great moment.

Thanks a lot of people, is a pro at this; but the emotion shows through, a little shriek at the end even.

-Reese Witherspoon oddly enough is presenting the Best Director award. Man, hope Danny Boyle wins, very curious to hear him speak. And he does win, jumps up and down on stage, in the spirit of Tigger he says. Thanks his kids and his wife, his dad and sister, bunch of execs; thanks the guy who choreographed the dance at the end of the film who was left off the film's credits.

And thanks Mumbai, "you dwarf even this guy," referring to Oscar. 7 for Slumdog.

-Queen Latifa sings "I'll Be Seeing You" as they roll the notable deaths from the year; ah, how times do change, she has a pretty good voice for this. Hate how they show the people on screens inside the auditorium, it's such a self-conscious technique. And you can barely see some of the names as the camera moves around.

Charlton Heston doesn't seem to get either extra time or applause, which is a crime given his place in Hollywood history; Paul Newman appropriately does, they end with him. Heath Ledger was in there I guess, I didn't notice.

-Japanese movie wins best foreign language film, Departures. "I am here because of films... and we will be back, I hope," says director Yojiro Takita.

-Wow, a bunch of Indian dancers all in pink run up on stage to perform the first of two original songs from Slumdog, Rahman takes the mike and sings. It's an amazingly powerful and important moment. Wall-E's song is next, sung by John Legend; it's pretty cool too, with African dancers and chorus. Curious what the majority of white Americans who voted for John McCain are thinking and saying watching all this.

They sing the second Slumdog song; it just busts out through the stage, as John Legend and Rahman mesh their songs into a duet.

And the winner is... Jai Ho! 6 for Slumdog tonight, how great is that. Rahman's just been on stage continuously for the last 10 mintues. Thanks everyone from Mumbai, as an emotional Danny Boyle looks on; "all my life I've had a choice between hate and love -- I chose love, and here I am."

L.A. Times' blog, of course, is still writing about Bob Hope..... Classy Hugh Jackman gives the performers another hand.

-Alicia Keys looks resplendent in a purple gown, sounds regal in reading the nominees--properly pronouncing A.R. Rahman--for best original score. And he wins! 5 for Slumdog. He's one of my favorite composers today; says God is great at the end.

-Eddie Murphy presents a special humanitarian award to Jerry Lewis, whose work with the muscular dystrophy telethon will outlive everything everyone in the audience tonight has ever done. He comes out to a standing ovation; really, who cares about Heath, this should be the signature moment from tonight. What a great guy; gives a heartfelt speech, classy words from a throwback to another era.

-My god, 10:30 already and we haven't even gotten to the big 6 yet. "Slum dog Millionaire" wins again, its fourth, for Film Editing. Chris Dickens says he had a great time working on this film; and thanks his sisters -- Sally, Allie, Lizzy.

-Best Sound Editing, "Slumdog Millionaire" is up for it, "Dark Knight" wins. Hmm, interesting. Sound Mixing, "Slumdog Millionaire" wins for this. Nice to see some non-white faces speaking; Resul Pookutty. Is clearly overwhelmed, mentions the two others up there with him. Dedicates it to India, "sincere and deepest gratitude" to those he worked with on the film, and all the sound mixers.

-They do a super-long montage of, no kidding, car crashes and chases. Really, it's just pointless. "Curious Case of Benjamin Button" wins for best Visual Effects, beating out "Dark Knight." Uh, okay. Cause making one guy seem old is more impressive than creating Gotham.

-"Smile Pinki" wins best documentary short, the filmmaker Megan Mylan, all in red, seems like a real person, is all out of breath after running up there. I like her right away; the film is about kids with cleft lips, she talks about the subjects of her film, including Pinki Kumari.

-Documentary filmmakers get a video montage where they talk to the camera, which is appropriate. Hmm, the video was made by Albert Maisles, Bill Maher tells us afterwards. Documentaries are our "windows to the world" Maher tells us, while promoting his own; hmm, odd thing to say, considering theoretically we live in the world--why would we only see it when framed through small holes cut by others?

"Man on Wire" wins, which is great, since I actually saw and liked it. And up runs Philippe Petit, who the film's about; the shortest speech in Oscars history "Yesss." Then he keeps on talking, amkes a coin disappear, balances the Oscar on his chin, makes it bow; the man's frenetic, and absolutely unique.

-The winner of Heath Ledger's award, Best Supporting Actor, is about to be revealed. I didn't see the film so no idea how much of this is sentiment, but he wins, of course. Everyone stands as his parents and sister come up. Hmmm, no wife? Let's see if they dedicate it to the fire victims in Australia.

Audience is pitch-quiet as his dad thanks people. It's a classy speech by the dad, Kim; now his mom says they're choosing to celebrate; and his sister says they accept the award on behalf of his daughter.

It could've been a moment for the ages--his death reminds us of the death of hundeds in Australia... but nothing like that.

-Somehow Cuba Gooding Jr. is allowed back on stage, makes fun of Robert Downey Jr. for playing Tropic Thunder in blackface.

-Matt Kenseth takes the Auto Club 500, 3rd driver in history to win Daytona and the next race. Nice job.

-4 to go, Gordon's right front tire is smoking announcers say. They've been on top of that for a while; NASCAR announcers are great, entertaining and knowledgable.

-6 laps to go, Kenseth and Gordon are about to lap some of the slower-cars, again....

-10 laps to go, Kenseth's lead looks to have expanded even more. Announcers think Gordon has one more run in it, Busch now 6 seconds back. Now just hope some idiot back in the pack doesn't crash for nothing.

-Oscars are doing some idiot musical spoof with Jackman and Beyonce, so I'm still watching NASCAR.

-Kenseth and Gordon are waaaay out in front of the rest of the pack, 3.5 seconds ahead of Busch. 19 laps to go. Wow, with 15 to go Kenseth has really put down the hammer, his lead is up.

-Toyland wins best live action short, continuing the well-known rule that if you wanna win an Oscar, make something about the Holocaust. Wow, the director says he spent "4 years of my life on this 14 minute movie."

-There's some sort of skit with white stoner guys making fun of a bunch of films, it's probably funny to certain frat boys but kindof weird given that the films are all up for Best Picture. It goes on waaaay too long and is just dumb; yup, they have time for this, but cut off Oscar winners halfway through their speeches.

-Oscars take a second to thank the winners of the Academy's Scientific and Technical awards, handed out two weeks ago without TV coverage.

-36 laps to go, still under yello; Kyle Busch trying to win his third race of the weekend, which would be historic, Matt Kenseth leading though, after taking Daytona; folowed by Jeff Gordon. Lots of big names in the top 10....

-Anthony Dod Mantle wins best cinematography for Slum Dog Millionaire; it was shot really well, he takes a wry British shot at Natalie and Ben, "I found that really inspiring". The audience at least has stopped laughing. I like Mantle, seems like a normal guy; thanks his "ma and pa".

-Whoah, Natalie Portman comes out with a Phoenixish Ben Stiller, with the wild hair and crazy beard and shades. She looks great in a purple dress. It totally detracts from the cinematography intro, the audience is just cackling. "You look like you work in a Hasidic meth lab," she says. It's really quite stupid and insulting as she starts cracking up and the audience too as Stiller wanders the stage as each of the nominated films is described.

-Hugh Jackman's been a boring host so far; it's like an extended presentation slot.

-Flip out of the Oscars' cheesy romantic montage or something back to NASCAR on Fox; the race is down the road from the theater in Hollywood, there's another yellow, lots of little rain delays tonight. Nice counter-programming.

-Domo Arrigato, Mr. Robot says Japanese filmmaker Kunio Kato after winning the best animated short for "La Maison En Peitits Cubes." (Of course the LATime's snarky blog, The Envelope, doesn't mention Kato's name or even the full name of the short--it only quotes a voter dumping on the film. Hollywood; where the establishment speaks for the rest of the world).

-Simon Beaufoy of "Slumdog Millionaire" wins Best Adapted Screenplay; hopefully this is a good sign for the film. Although my nightmare would be all the whites involved with the film winning and speaking, while the South Asians get shut out.

-Penelope Cruz wins for best supporting actress; she's one of my favorite actors, thanks Woody Allen in her speech for writing good roles for women.

Spinning racism as conservation

The New York Times has a startling article centering around a shuttering ice cream shop, The Great Divide, that unflinchingly presents the racist views of some residents of a rapidly-changing Queens community as some latter-day version of Jane Jacobs:

The closing of the beloved neighborhood spot strikes many residents as simply the latest sign of the death of old Bellerose. The bowling alley, another local hangout that some considered the beating heart of Bellerose, closed a few years back, to eventually be replaced by a Staples, among other stores. Several years ago, the nearby movie theater closed, and the building now houses a martial arts supply business.

There have been other changes, even more unsettling to some residents in this neighborhood, long a mostly white enclave of families of Irish, Italian and German stock. ...

The transformation has come as a shock to many of the neighborhood’s earlier settlers, some of whom say they wonder whether magazines tucked into seatbacks on flights between Mumbai and Kennedy Airport advertise homes in Bellerose.

And many residents are not surprised that the developers who plan to tear down the Frozen Cup are Indian immigrants. Some of the same developers recently opened a Quality Inn down the road in Floral Park, an establishment, Mr. Augugliaro said, that “stands out like the Taj Mahal.”

Nice start; nevermind that the shuttering of long-time neighborhood institutions is normal in all neighborhoods -- where was the Times when the bowling alley and movie theater closed. Or was that not a story because it wasn't bought by the same people who created the Taj Mahal?

And yeah, let's call it a divide and morally equate the people on either side; nevermind that one side is racist against the other. Let's just call it a he said, she said thing.

While New York is often praised as a gorgeous mosaic, ethnic tensions are hardly unknown in the city, especially in neighborhoods that undergo rapid demographic shifts. Sometimes tensions are expressed overtly; other times, they lurk under the surface, revealing themselves in conversations that can be heard in local bars and living rooms.

That is the case in Bellerose.

Yeah, racism is presented as two-sided ethnic tensions! And note the understated language -- "ethnic tensions are hardly unknown in the city". Ha! The killing of black kids by whites, the killing of Sikhs by whites, the killing of hipsanic kids by whites -- just tensions that are hardly unknown.

Harshad Patel, who lives with his family in Floral Park, immigrated to the United States in 1981. Before entering the hotel business, he worked as a restaurateur, a metal lathe operator, a water plant operator and a sewage treatment worker. He also ran an electroplating business.

He said he was perplexed by the veneration of the Frozen Cup.

“If they have so much feeling,” he said of the establishment’s devotees, “let them buy it. Let them run the Frozen Cup if they want to.”

But the business would not survive, he insisted. “Nowadays,” Mr. Patel said, “there are so many flavors on the market and so many places to go.”

To drive home his point, he made a public offer. If someone wanted to run the Frozen Cup for the next 10 years, he promised to sell the place at a $100,000 loss.

“Let me see,” he said with a grin. “Who is coming forward?”

See, Patel's views aren't the centerpiece of the article, because it's what some white residents think that really matter. So there's no response to what Patel says in the piece, the Times just quotes him and moves on.

As officers of the Queens Colony Civic Association and members of other community groups, Angela and Michael Augugliaro have been among the most vocal opponents of the plan to replace the Frozen Cup with a hotel.

But as they sat in their living room, they expressed unhappiness with what they see as other undesirable changes in the neighborhood: street vendors selling halal gyros; traffic congestion near the Indian and Pakistani grocery stores on Hillside Avenue; newly created mini-mansions, many of them occupied by extended South Asian families.

“They’re turning the neighborhood into a third-world country,” Mr. Augugliaro said. “We don’t want it over here to look like Richmond Hill or Jackson Heights,” he added, speaking of Queens neighborhoods with sizable South Asian populations.

As he spoke, Ms. Augugliaro shook her head in disapproval at some of his remarks, and he seemed to pick up on her unspoken criticism.

“I’m not a racist,” Mr. Augugliaro quickly added. In fact, he said, he was tired of the subject of race coming up so often. “What does race have to do with it?” he asked.

The couple later recalled a morning years ago when they saw an old man in an orange turban walking on the sidewalk with a curved sword slung from his waist like the one they remembered from the Ali Baba cartoons.

The man was a Sikh, and the object was a Kirpan, a sword carrying religious symbolism and worn by some adherents of the faith, though often a smaller version of the Kirpan is worn on a necklace under a shirt. The couple laughed as they recalled the scene.

“It was like a total shock,” Ms. Augugliaro said.

Yup, he's no racist.

Many of the South Asians who live in Bellerose have only good things to say about the neighborhood. On a snowy Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Francis Thomas, the Indian-born owner of India Kitchen, a restaurant on Braddock Avenue, stood at the counter and said relations between the races in Bellerose were good. “They’re tolerant,” Mr. Thomas said of the people of Bellerose.

Yes, because tolerance is the highest value we aspire to here in America; it's weird for the Times to insert this paragraph, when so much of the article shows the residents aren't tolerant, and that'd it'd be weird for any South Asians to think that.

Instead the Times takes ordinary politeness, an unwillingness on the part of South Asians to speak ill to a newspaper about their neighbors, as a 'there's nothing here to see, move along' sentiment.

Next door to the India Kitchen, however, at a pub called Fuzzy’s Bar, where a grill called Wolf Dawg serves burgers and “hot dawgs,” patrons griped about their immigrant neighbors as “Jeopardy!” played on two small television sets.

“Everybody wants to bring their country here,” said Bruce Holloway, one patron who lives in Bayside, Queens. “They don’t want to look like Americans, they don’t want to dress like Americans, and they don’t want to speak English.”

“But they do come for the benefits,” volunteered his drinking buddy, who gave his name as Franco and said he grew up in Bellerose and used to go to the Frozen Cup for strawberry ice cream with chocolate sprinkles. And of the South Asian grocery stores, he added, one of which opened a month earlier down the block and had the word “bazaar” in its name, “It’s not the kind of store an American goes into.”

Of the newcomers, a group he describes simply as “the Indians,” he said, “They change everything that’s been here.” And he wondered aloud, “Where the hell do they get the money from?”

This is one of the things that drives me crazy about the Times -- they habitually think it's okay to use white as an euphemism for American. So the article is structured so that quotes about how no 'American' would go into a store, that South Asians don't want to look like 'Americans', aren't juxtaposed by a different view, they just float by.

Imagine if the guy was saying Jews aren't Americans or no American would go into a Jewish deli; it wouldn't be buried in the midst of a paragraph, there'd be an expert talking about how this kind of anti-Semitism is engrained among certain subcultures -- there'd be some sort of overt recognition that this statement isn't normal or correct.

But for the Times, apparently it's normal and no cause for alarm that an established, declining ethnic group is racist toward neighbors who are saving their community.

Heck, maybe racism really is just the new family values!