Scapegoating Masquerading As Science

Dr. Brian Primack, a University of Pittsburgh professor, surveyed 700 teens about their music preferences and sexual behavior. The study, set to be published next month,  links lyrics in rap music to teen sex . Primack avoids declaring a causal relationship - Rap Music Makes Teens Have Sex - but the headlines reporting the research come dangerously close.   Strictly speaking, you'd need to know if the tendency to engage in sexual behavior at age 15-16 led the teens to seek out music with explicit lyrics.  (I suppose you'd also need an adjustment factor to account for any predisposition to have sex at age 15-16.)

The study doesn't say that teenage fans of Daughtry and ColdPlay and U2 aren't having sex. And while the explicit lyrics include describing "degrading sex acts", there's no indication that the teens are engaging in "degrading sex acts."

Then

After interviewing 95 tween-aged girls, researchers at Iowa State University, led by Prof. Douglas Gentile, concluded that cartoon violence leads to acts of aggression in children . "The study also found that youngsters tended to mimic the negative behaviour they saw on TV such as rumour-spreading, gossiping and eye-rolling." Puh-lease!

The research fails to explore the effects of distress one may experience when he discovers that wearing a dress and batting fake eyelashes while holding a lacy handkerchief will not fool his enemy into falling in love and facilitate his escape from said enemy.

Sadly, I still don't know whether it's Rabbit Season or Duck Season.

Tags: [Dr. Brian Primack]
[Explicit Lyrics]
[Professor Douglas Gentile]
[Cartoons & Violence in Society]

Herb Alpert Still a Chart Topper

The Giving Back Fund has released its list of Most Generous Celebrities. GBF looked at public records of donations in 2007 and ranked the stars' philanthropy. Oprah Winfrey tops the generosity chart, donating more than $50 million to various charities throughout 2007.

Herb Alpert is ranked #2 in giving, surpassing the benevolence of power couple Brangelina (6), Hugh Hefner (14) and Tiger Woods (18).

The Herb Alpert Foundation sponsors awards in the arts ranging from elementary students through to fellowships for professionals. At California Institute of the Arts, the foundation provides annual fellowships of $50,000 to five artists.

In 2006, Herb Alpert released a re-mastered version of Whipped Cream and Other Delights. It went to #5 on Billboard's Jazz Chart.
Herb Alpert and former business partner Jerry Moss received the Lifetime Achievement Award and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Forty-six years after The Lonely Bull broke into the top 10 and Alpert's still there. Makes me wonder where Chuck Mangione is.

GBF'S 10 Most Generous Celebrities
1. Oprah Winfrey
2. Herb Alpert
3. Barbra Streisand
4. Paul Newman
5. Mel Gibson
6. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
7. (tie) Lance Armstrong
7. (tie) Michael Jordan
7. (tie) Eric Lindros
10. Rush Limbaugh

Tags: [Giving Back Fund] [Herb Alpert] [A & M Records]
[Oprah] [Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie]
[Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame] [Jerry Moss]

Finding Hope In A Strange Place

It ain't easy. It ain't easy.
Well all the people have got their problems,
That ain't nothing new.
With the help of the good Lord
We can all pull on through.

(written by Ron Davies,
performed by David Bowie on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars)

It sure ain't easy.
It must be August since Andrew had surgery again; but it's all good, because I found Hope where I least expected it -
the refrigerator.

I was making a path to get something from the back of the fridge. I shifted the bag of meds to on top of the milk, moved the bowl of melon salad up one shelf, relocated the yogurt containers closer the juice carton and there it was:

OK, so it's just a magnetic word tile, but surely it is a sign.

Usually the word tiles are put together like this on the fridge door:

I am fuzzy with cheer and we be sunny giggle

Right now, we have he is Goofy and

I AM Lucky Amazing Special and Silly

It has to be a sign; because two days later, I saw this:

You don't have to clobber me over the head.

Tags: [Hope] [Omens] [Rainbows]
[Ron Davies] [David Bowie] [Ziggy Stardust]

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Sweeping Up Detritus, Cleaning in the Corners

I was vacuuming under the blog topic production table and found these among the debris.

Jackson 5 Reunion Tour?
In November 2007, Jermaine Jackson announced that the quintet would hit the road with a Reunion Tour in 2008. Jermaine Dupri, Janet's beau, announced that the brothers would appear on stage for the first time since 1990 at his private New Year's Eve party at Studio 72 in Atlanta.

The Jackson 5, featuring brothers Tito, Marlon, Jackie, Jermaine, and lead singer Michael found fame in the 1970s with hits I Want You Back and ABC. Later, youngest brother Randy joined his brothers onstage and the band was renamed The Jacksons.
I don't think the warm up reunion happened in Atlanta; I doubt there will be any Jackson Tour soon.

(Photo: The Jackson 5 & Randy with The Summers 5 et. al, ca. 1972)

Biddell Wins Project Runway Canada
I started watching Project Runway Canada's encore broadcasts in the wee morning hours. One Canadian designer would take away $100,000 to start his/her own line and receive a feature in Elle Canada.

I saw just 4 of the 11 episodes, and caught the announcement of the winner during the prime time finale. Because I didn't watch the entire 2-hour finale that featured the designers' collections at L'Oréal Fashion Week (I flipped it back just in time to see the judges' comments), I was shocked that judge Rita Silvan was moved to tears by the embodiment of hope that Lucien's collection exuded.

PRC was hosted by Iman. Brian Bailey acted as mentor to the contestants and the other judges were Shawn Hewson and Rita Silvan.
I know who Iman is (from I Am African and she's married to David Bowie). The other pros on the panel? No idea.
Crying over an evening gown? I don't get it. Up until now, my fashion runway exposure primarily came from Zoolander.

Project Runway Season 4 premieres tonight with host Heidi Klum. Emmy nominee Tim Gunn is back as mentor.

Gladiators Ready
The Writers' Guild of America's prolonged strike is good news for Hulk Hogan. Hogan returns to prime time television as host of American Gladiators. NBC announced AG as a possible mid-season replacement in October. With shows forced into hiatus from the lack of scripted material, NBC slotted the Weekend Warrior vs. Athlete remake in early.

Hogan was pursued to host not just because of his WWE success, but also the success of his VH-1 reality series Hogan Knows Best (2005), still the highest-rated debut of any VH-1 series.
Questions: Will the Challengers dodge tennis balls as they run through the obstacle course, or has this challenge been updated à la The Running Man?

Is it true that people are pre-ordering the action figure dolls?

American Gladiators debuted last night. A new episode airs tonight.

Tags: [Jackson 5]  [Michael Jackson]  [Jermaine Jackson]
[Jermaine Dupri]  [Reunion Tours 2008]

[Project Runway]  [Iman]  [Biddell]
[Lucien Matis]  [I Am African]  [Heidi Klum]  [Tim Gunn]
[Derek Zoolander]

[American Gladiators]  [Hulk Hogan]
[W.G.A.]  [WWE]  [Hogan Knows Best]
[The Running Man]  [Richard Dawson]

Remembering The Fabulous Moolah

Lillian Ellison, known to wrestling fans around the world as "The Fabulous Moolah," passed away at her home in Columbia, South Carolina, on Nov.2, 2007. She was 84.

The Fabulous Moolah began wrestling in the late 1940's. She took the women's championship belt in 1956 after defeating Judy Grable in a 13-woman Battle Royale.

Moolah held the title, except for a two-week period, until 1984, when she lost to Wendi Richter, in a match that was aired on MTV.

In 1984, The Fabulous Moolah was managed by Captain Lou Albano, who was involved in a feud with Cyndi Lauper. Their dispute was settled in the ring by their wrestlers, Moolah and Richter, in The Brawl to End it All. That bout marked the beginning of Rock'n'Wrestling in Vince McMahon's W.W.E. (which was known as W.W.F., at the time).

I hope Moolah didn't hit St. Peter with a folding chair on her way through the pearly gates.

Tags: [Fabulous Moolah]   [W.W.E.]   [Wendi Richter]
[Vince McMahon]   [Lou Albano]   [Cyndi Lauper]

Colbert's Man of the Year Challenge Undone

Comedian and late-night host Stephen Colbert was proclaimed the Favorite Son of South Carolina on Sunday. At a ceremony at University of S. Carolina, Columbia Mayor Bob Coble presented Colbert with a key to the city and a framed proclamation as South Carolina's Favorite Son. Coble then declared October 28th Stephen Colbert Day.

The executive council of South Carolina's Democratic Party met November 1^st to review all potential candidates. In order to be included on the ballot, each candidate must have national viability and demonstrate that he/she has been campaigning in the state.

Last night on his show, Colbert took a call from Carol Khare Fowler, chair of the state Democratic Party. She informed Colbert that he had not been successful in his quest for the presidency.

Originally, Colbert was going to run as both a Democrat and a Republican candidate, but the $35,000 filing fee required by the Republican party was too steep a price for his campaign. Colbert's campaign was sponsored by Doritos, the first time in history that a presidential candidate's campaign was funded by corporate sponsorship.

Colbert appealed to viewers to help him win by donating to a school in South Carolina at donorschoose.org. Over $40,000 has been raised so far.


Tags: [Stephen Colbert] [South Carolina]
[2008 Presidential Candidates] [Doritos]
[Donors Choose] [Schools in South Carolina]

Colbert in ' 08

During his appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert officially announced that he was officially announcing that he would officially consider making an official announcement about his candidacy for President of the United States.

Later, on The Colbert Report, Colbert confirmed that he would, in fact, enter the Primary in his home state of South Carolina as a Favorite Son. He will run as both a Republican and a Democrat candidate and floated the idea of sponsorship (advertising on his suits) in lieu of traditional fundraising.

Colbert's show parodies news broadcasting and political punditry. He has used the publicity tour for his book I Am America (And So Can You), to mock the process by which many candidates declare - Christopher Dodd (D) while a guest on Imus in the Morning; Rudy Giuliani (R) announced during a guest spot on Larry King Live; Mike Huckabee (R) on Meet the Press; Sen. John McCain (R) in New York on The Late Show with David Letterman, and Ron Paul (R) on C-SPAN.

It's been done before, a comedian running for U.S. President. Man of the Year (2006) starring Robin Williams as comedian Tom Dobbs. Wait, that wasn't real.

Colbert stated, "it will be a success for me if at the Republican or Democratic convention, someone stands up and says, 'The great state of South Carolina, home of the finest peaches, home of the finest shrimp, casts one delegate for Stephen Colbert.' "

Colbert surprised me...I figured he'd only run for President 30 minutes after Jon Stewart threw his own name into the ring (and Stewart's too smart to do that).


Tags:  [Stephen Colbert]   [2008 US Presidential Candidates]
[Jeff Greenfield]   [The Colbert Report]
[South Carolina Primary]   [Favorite Son of South Carolina]
[Jon Stewart]   [The Daily Show]   [Comedy Central]
[Robin Williams]   [Barry Levinson]

Bank on It

"Hello, is this Christine?" the caller asked at about 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
"Yes," I replied. "Who am I speaking with?"

"This is Anna. I'm calling from BMO Bank of Montreal. I'm calling to notify you that BMO has suspended your debit card privileges. Our Security Division made the decision to freeze your debit card at 12:06 p.m. today."
"What are you talking about?" I pay for 99% of all my purchases using the debit card. I hadn't been out since 11:00 a.m.

"Sometime during the past 4-6 weeks you made a purchase at a business that is part of a criminal investigation," she explained. "That business is alleged to have recorded information from some consumers' debit cards. I am not authorized to disclose any information about the identity of the operation or persons involved.
"There does not appear to be any suspicious activity in your account since the transaction at that location. I can't be certain that your debit card information was obtained by the alleged criminals when you completed your purchase.
"Your card and account information has been compromised. As a precaution we have restricted your debit card."

I'll straighten it out at the Branch.

Three years ago, BMO's transaction security shut down John's card after they suspected the card data had been ripped. Three "unusual" transactions were completed at an "unusual" location which triggered a red-flag at the bank.

Two years ago, my credit card was cloned. The bank called us after their warning system detected activity that was "out of the ordinary". Within hours of the first fraudulent transaction, it was completely resolved.

We continue to receive outstanding service from BMO and its banking professionals.

Some may say that they're protecting their money, but I prefer to regard it as BMO taking care of their clients. Thanks, BMO.

Tags: [Bank of Montreal] [BMO]
[Debit Card Fraud] [Credit Card Fraud]

Endless Imus

After major advertisers pulled out of his popular morning show, Imus in the Morning, MSNBC dropped its simulcast of Don Imus' WFAN show on April 11, 2007. The following day, CBS radio, owner of Sports Radio 66AM, cancelled his show altogether.

Over the next 4 days, the U.S. news was consumed with talk of The Don Imus Firing. Imus had already begun his N.J./N.Y. apology tour, but it was too late.

In the past year, we've heard about Mel Gibson's rant, Michael Richards' tirade, Isaiah Washington's repeated use of the f-word and now Imus.

Still, it seems we haven't learned. Take the case of the NYPD Sergeant who is alleged to have insulted his officers by referring to the three women as "hos", during roll call. The alleged incident is said to have occurred April 15^th.

And Pennsylvania's WSBG-FM Morning Man, Gary Smith, who turned Imus' tasteless insult to the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team into the daily Phrase that Pays. The station awarded prizes to 3 listeners on April 12^th who called in to claim prizes using the winning phrase.

Today, CBS Radio suspended (without pay) another morning show. WFNY-FM's Dog House on-air personalities J.V. & Elvis, twice aired what was described as "a racially charged prank call". Where was the producer on this one? Hard to believe not even one person on the crew ever said, What could possibly go wrong with this?

At least Mel and Michael went away. Isaiah would, if he ever stopped raising it. But Imus, Imus! It seems I can't escape Imus references.

My fear is that the Imus references will fade and the very next day, Sirius Satellite Radio will announce a show featuring [ta-da] DON IMUS!

[Don Imus] [CBS Radio] [J.V. & Elvis]
[Mel Gibson] [Michael Richards] [Isaiah Washington]
[Sirius Radio]

The Scoop

Ben and Jerry's has announced their newest flavor:

Seems to me, Marketing missed the boat. Shouldn't they have looked for a Colbert tie-in to a sherbert?

Over the past 8-months, Colbert has

• been rumored to host The Grammy Awards (he didn't) ;

  
  

• had a mascot named in his honor: Saginaw Spirit's Steagle Colbeagle of the Ontario Hockey League ;

  
  

• had a day named in his honor: Oshawa will celebrate Stephen Colbert Day on March 20, 2007 ;

  
  

• forced Wikipedia to shut down access to its entry about elephants, after Colbert suggested viewers of his show modify the information about the worldwide Elephant population, and

  
  

• coined the word 'truthiness' and seen it named Word of the Year (2006)
  

Colbert is said to be donating his earnings from the ice cream to The Americone Dream Fund, a newly-formed charitable foundation that will distribute money to as-yet-unnamed causes.

You know what happens when ice cream is over-exposed? It gets freezer burn and loses its flavor.

Tags:
Ice Cream/	Saginaw Spirit/	Stephen Colbert/	Ben & Jerry's

Note: The use of sherbert above is deliberate. Goes with Colbert.
Sherbet is the more widely-used term that describes a fruity frozen dessert similar to an ice. Sherbert is also accepted, as is sorbet.

The Princes of Malibu

Normally, this isn't the type of show I watch on TV. I was cruising the dial looking for something that was mindless. We had just ended an absolutely brutal Pinochle game. I was feeling pretty crummy before my -87 score! I stopped on The Princes of Malibu. I recognized David Foster and stayed tuned in.
Funny show. Not funny in an Arrested Development - way, but the antics on Princes are just so dumb, it's funny. Here's what happened: David Foster had Brody's Escalade towed because the 23 yr old had parked in "his spot" again. Not so outrageous, then you learn he had it towed to Phoenix! From Malibu to Phoenix! So then Brody retaliates by flying to Vegas with his brother and friend on D.F.'s plane. They run an enormous tab under the pretense of being with D.F. But the truth is uncovered by the Concierge and the boys have to pay for their shenanigans. Brody wonders how D.F. is going to react when they get home.

Brody's friend says, "What? Are you afraid of the guy from Canada who plays the piano?"

Follow up: I guess it was just that particular episode, matched with my mood or something. I've seen the show since then, and it's really terrible television!

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Me and Jamie Lee

Carmen says I remind her of Jamie Lee Curtis. Thank you, Carm, but is that Jamie Lee Curtis defending against a psychotic murderer in Hallowe'en? A double-crossing crook named Wanda? An adventurous secret-agent from True Lies? Slapstick comedy of Nora Krank?

I get it! Our mothers were each in a film featuring a hotel/motel. Our fathers have been honored for lifetime achievement in the industry.

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