It’s starting to feel a lot like summer here in New Orleans. Jazz Fest came and went, and we only attended once for reasons I’ll outline in next week’s malaka of the week post. We went on the last day to see the lovely and talented Steve Winwood. He and his crack band delivered an elegant set of jazzy, R&B and bossa nova influenced rock. That brings me to this week’s theme song, one of the best Winwood-Capaldi tunes ever, from the eponymous Traffic album. I love the word eponymous the way a Cajun loves hot sauce:
More Saturday stuff after the break. Pass the Tabasco.
Arrivederci, Dave: I was a regular viewed of Letterman’s NBC show but somewhere during the early 2000’s I stopped watching the CBS show. It was probably the gosh darn consarn internet or some such shit. But it was always comforting to know that he was still on the air and I enjoyed tuning in from time to time. There are two pretty good articles inspired by Dave’s impending retirement that I’m giving an Ebertian thumbs up to.
First, Nell Scovell of New York Magazine’s Vulture interviewed a veritable plethora of former Late Night/Late Show writers about The Lost Laughs of Letterman.
Second, Letterman was snarky before the word was coined. He’s famous for his verbal pugnacity. Anna Silman of Salon has compiled a bunch of video clips documenting Letterman’s Nastiest Feuds. As a veteran Oprahphobe I regret Dave’s ending his feud with her. Btw, Dr. A and I recently saw an Oprah promo for a teevee nature show. She said either I or me 13 times in a 30-second spot. It gives an entirely new meaning to the term you go girl…
Basketball In France: Tony Parker is the best known French hoops star but he’s not the only one. Lindsay Sarah Krasnoff has the lowdown at the New Yorker.
Old Man Inside A Young Man is the title of a fine old Richard Thompson song. It’s also the theme of Ana Marie Cox’s post about a certain Florida Senator: Marco Rubio, Gen-X Fraud. The Wonkette founder has bounced around a lot in recent years and finally landed at The Daily Beast. Stay put for a while so we can find you, Ana Marie.
Hollywood’s Silent War on Women: That sub-head is something of an overstatement but the movie business has a gender inequality problem. Jessica P. Oglivie wrote a fascinating piece about it for LA Weekly: How Hollywood Keeps Out Women. Oddly enough, there are currently fewer female directors than there were pre-World War II. Rosie the Riveter must be pissed off about this turn of events.
Roger Ebert.com is still alive and well despite the late critic’s death. It’s edited by Matt Zoeller-Seitz and features some other estimable film writers including Christy Lemire and Glenn Kenny. Best of all, Roger’s Sun-Times reviews and his Great Movies series are all there.
Saturday Standards: The Divine Miss Sarah Vaughan is best known for belting it out in front of a full orchestra. 1957’s Swingin’ Easy features her with a trio: double bass, drums and piano. Her vocals shine even more than usual.