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As far as ideology, I expect that we will be something of a mix of moderate to liberal viewpoints, not necessarily loyal to a particular party. Nobody is their best self all the time, but I expect us to make a genuine effort to treat each other with respect, even when we disagree.
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Originally, I couldn't figure out exactly who or what exactly this billboard was advertising. A new perfume? A nightclub? A steamy erotic thriller directed by Quentin Tarantino? Duct tape? Maybe it was a secret cabal of crazed movie critics who kidnapped Jessica Alba to stop her from ever stepping in front of a camera ever again.
"It's probably a warning to all of the untalented non-actresses in Hollywood," I said to myself. I imagined Roger Ebert placing a note in Scarlett Johansson's mailbox that read, "IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE NEXT, PUT THE SCRIPT DOWN--NOW!"
No such luck.
Apparently this controversial advertising campaign is by the voter advocacy group Declare Yourself and their goal is to get the Facebook generation to step away from their XBoxes long enough to vote. "I think it's important for young people to be aware of the need we have in this country to get them more active politically," Alba explained. "People respond to things that are shocking. If you don't register and vote and make a difference and hopefully change the bad things that are happening in our country, you are essentially just binding and muzzling yourself."
Huh.
Good idea, lousy execution.
O.K., I still think Jessica Alba is a bad actress, but I have to respect her for being an intelligent woman trying hard to do the right thing. Unfortunately, she's wrong because the ad is stupid, creepy, exploitative, and offensive. It's politically correct cheesecake. Whatever marginal value it's supposed to have is negated by the blatant sexism. It reminds me of those dumb and outdated ads by PETA where sensitive new-age guys can ogle semi-naked celebrities without feeling guilty about it.
And do you know what's worse? It won't work. That's a big problem. Too many damned kids are probably gonna stay home in November. At a recent celebrity-populated shindig sponsored by Rolling Stone magazine, comedian Bill Maher observed, "The polls always bear it out: It's nice when musicians get involved, but they don't sway elections. Puff Daddy said, 'Vote or Die'--and Puff Daddy might actually kill you--but people still didn't vote."
Cynicism? Laziness? Indifference? Who knows? Only Republicans believe in the seductive allure of easy answers. What I do know is that this upcoming election is going to be decided by the narrowest of margins, and we saw what happened eight years ago when people stupidly deluded themselves into thinking that there wasn't a difference between the two candidates. And the idiots who can't be bothered to vote this time are going to have to live with the consequences of their non-decision a lot longer than old farts like me.
Norman Whitfield, the Motown writer/producer who died Tuesday at age 65, was one of those guys who could just plain flat-out make a great radio record.
That was the whole mission of Motown in the 1960s, of course, and while Whitfield did it a little differently than Smokey Robinson or the Holland-Dozier-Holland team, he did it just as well.
"People talk about Smokey and Berry Gordy and Holland-Dozier-Holland," says Bobby Jay, the former WCBS-FM deejay now heard on Sirius' "Soul Town." "Norman belongs right in there."
Whitfield co-wrote (with Barrett Strong) and produced the original "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," with Gladys Knight. Same with Edwin Starr's chilling "War."
He was mostly well known, starting in 1966, for producing the Temptations. He created their "psychedelic soul" sound, Jay notes, borrowing from Sly Stone for hits like "Cloud Nine" and "Ball of Confusion."
Where the Temptations were first known for great Robinson ballads like "My Girl" and "Since I Lost My Baby," Whitfield gave them a harder sound without losing the rhythm or melody.
On "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," their first single after Whitfield became their primary producer, David Ruffin's vocal blew out cheap car radio speakers all across America. It was raw power, a sledgehammer wrapped in sandpaper.
But Whitfield wasn't a one-trick musical pony. When the Temptations told him their fans wanted ballads to go with the psychedelic stuff in the early 1970s, he and Strong wrote the exquisite "Just My Imagination," which is pure and light as a September breeze. Eddie Kendricks never sounded better and, 36 years later, it remains a song that, once on the radio, is impossible to turn off.
While some fans associate Whitfield mainly with dark, dense message songs, he could also write pure pop love songs that make you feel like putting the top down, turning the volume up and just cruising.
"Pride and Joy" and "Too Busy Thinkin' 'Bout My Baby" for Marvin Gaye. "Too Many Fish in the Sea" for the Marvelettes.
Whitfield, who was born in Harlem and moved to Detroit as a teenager, had less success after Motown, scoring only with Rose Royce's "Car Wash."
But anyone who doubts his skill only has to compare the Rolling Stones' record of "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" with the one by the Temptations. Great as the Stones are, there is no comparison.
"He didn't get the credit he deserved," says Jay. "He was a genius."
With the biggest market collapse since 9-11-01 and the worst economy since the Great Depression, what DOES a bad economy look like to John McCain? That is the answer I want from the Straight Talk Express.
If he thinks things are glorious today, what does suck look like? Is it when billionaires start losing massive equity or has to work two jobs? Or maybe it is when Carly Fiorina gets fired from two jobs? Just what exactly?
Maybe a bad economy is when John McCain has to sell off 5 of his 10 houses? Maybe it is when his wife, Cindy, has to start wearing outfits that cost less than Joe Biden’s net worth?
Ohhh… the suffering. And you know, after being a POW where Buddhism once flourished, you would have thought McCain would have learned something about suffering.
