Scribe Life

The Love Guru: Mike Myers Loses His Mojo

2008-06-20T13:57:00.002-05:00

Is Mike Myer's The Love Guru the worst movie of the year?

So far ... yep! Click here to read my review, as posted in Las Vegas City Life, or see the full review below.

TWO consecutive nights' worth of screenings of highly anticipated comedies -- Mike Myers vehicle The Love Guru and '60s TV remake Get Smart -- have led at least one critic to make a bold prediction: It's going to be a wildly competitive weekend at the box office. The big battle, of course, will be fought over which big-budget misfire will be deemed the dumbest and which will be rated as the least fun. Call it a dead tie.

The Love Guru, Myers' first film since 2003's misguided The Cat in the Hat (not counting his voice work in the Shrek movies) has been hyped as something of a comeback. Sadly, it amounts to little more than a string of one-note jokes not nearly as funny as the star/producer and his rookie director, Marco Schnabel, second-unit director on the Austin Powers films, apparently believe. But, hey, everyone's inner 10-year-old will be doing a whole lot of snickering, perhaps enough to turn the creaky contraption into a hit.

Myers and co-screenwriter Graham Gordy do a little with a lot, mixing an endless string of penis jokes and bodily-function gags straight out of fifth grade with a shaky narrative incorporating ice hockey; dance numbers a la Bollywood; amorous elephants; faux-spiritual gurus; references to the Beatles and EST, Brangelina and TomKat; short-people humor aimed at Verne Troyer (Mini-Me); sequences featuring the music of Steve Miller, Extreme and Celine Dion; an imaginary visit to Oprah; and cameos by Jessica Simpson, Val Kilmer and Deepak Chopra. It's a magical mystery tour, from India to L.A. and back, sans the magic but offering multiple enigmas. For starters, who greenlighted this thing? And even more distressing, where does Myers get off hiring Sir Ben Kingsley for such a turkey of a role?

The story centers on the angst experienced by Guru Pitka (Myers) when he realizes that he still ranks as the second-best dispenser of faux-Eastern self-help wisdom, just behind Chopra. The No. 1 guru is revealed as Pitka's childhood rival during flashback sequences employing predictable tomfoolery -- a cross-eyed Eastern teacher (Kingsley), a fight involving mops soaked in the master's urine -- and one quite disturbing visual effect incorporating an image of a young Myers. Pitka has created an adoring audience of regular folks and Hollywood celebrities, thanks to wisdom imparted through If You're Happy and You Know It, Think Again and other bestselling tomes. The Toronto Maple Leafs owner (Jessica Alba) offers a chance for Pitka to climb to the top of the guru heap: He needs to simply reunite a Leafs star (Romany Malco) with his wife (Meagan Good), lately distracted by an affair with Los Angeles Kings goalie Jacques "Le Coq" Grande.

On the plus side of the skimpy entertainment ledger are funny, over-the-top performances by Justin Timberlake as Grande, and Stephen Colbert as a hockey color commentator specializing in remarkably inappropriate on-air references to his own bizarre proclivities.

Still, neither compensate for Myers' failings. This one-time comedy guru seems to have lost his mojo.

Get Smart: Dumb, and Not That Much Fun

2008-06-20T13:52:00.003-05:00

(review by Philip Booth)

Viewers old enough to have experienced the original 1965-1970 television run of super-spy parody show "Get Smart" – in other words, not the target audience of the big-screen remake – likely will chuckle over the new film's multiple references to the old series of the same name.

There's the brisk walk down a staircase, through a series of cleverly designed sliding doors and into a telephone booth that mysteriously turns into a downward rocketing elevator, landing in the Washington, D.C. headquarters of a secret governmental organization, CONTROL.

And Steve Carell, as klutzy secret agent Maxwell Smart, gets to use that iconic shoe phone and mouth several of the lines Don Adams turned into catch phrases in the original program – namely, "sorry about that, chief" and "would you believe?"

Fans of Carell's work as incompetent but egotistical boss Michael Scott on television's "The Office" and the befuddled but sweet title character of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," may show up just to see the recently minted star take on a new challenge. But those patrons may leave befuddled, thinking, why the fuss over a would-be James Bond parody that's not nearly funny (by half) as the more recent Austin Powers movies? And is Get Smart a straight-up comedy, or more an action thriller with a comic edge?

The answer(s) don't much matter, as the movie, rather haphazardly directed by Peter Segal (The Longest Yard, 50 First Dates), mostly limps along, its derivative storyline goosed only by Carell's likable performance and assorted hit-and-miss sight gags and jokes – several involve Smart's inability to use his gadgets without injuring himself.

The story, such as it is, centers on Control analyst Smart's efforts to prove himself a worthy field agent. Paired with young, beautiful Agent 99 (Hathaway, a not-bad stand-in for the original's Barbara Feldon), he fumbles and bumbles his way through various, mostly random fights and chases in the Soviet Union and in and around the Frank Gehry-designed Disney concert hall in Los Angeles. His nemeses include his competition, rakish and successful Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson) and Eastern European KAOS baddies played by screen vet Terence Stamp and Ken Davitian (Borat).

Too many scenes fall flat, and too many sequences – including a montage of images already seen in the film, always a bad sign – come off as filler, intended to bolster a flimsy plot.

With Carell leading a cast that also includes Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, Stamp and James Caan, Segal couldn't have concocted something more inspired than this? Really? Too bad writing chores weren't assigned to "consultants" Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, who created the original series, rather than to paint-by-numbers screenwriters Tom J. Astle (the abysmal Failure to Launch) and Matt Ember

The Incredible Hulk: Mean, Green, Fairly Entertaining

2008-06-12T06:44:00.002-05:00

Headline tells all.

Click here to read my review, as published in Las Vegas CityLife.

Greetings from Jazz Fest (Billboard.com)

2008-06-12T06:07:00.004-05:00

Better late than never:

My review of this year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival has finally been posted at Billboard.com

Click here to read

And here are two of my pics -- tuba men Kirk Joseph, left, and Matt Perrine at the Jazz Tent; and Carlos Santana, on stage with the Neville Brothers.

New CDs: Esperanza Spalding, Stanton Moore Trio

2008-06-05T06:22:00.001-05:00

Two CDs sure to stay in my regular rotation for a long while:

Esperanza(Heads Up), the sort-of debut from superb young bassist-singer (and Berklee College of Music prof) Esperanza Spalding, the subject of my cover story for the issue of Bass Player mag now on newstands.

Emphasis! (On Parenthesis!)(Telarc), the latest jazzy jam outing from Galactic drummer Stanton Moore, who's joined on the trio date by B3 organist Robert Walter and guitarist Will Bernard.

I reviewed both for Las Vegas City Life. Click here to read the reviews.

BTW, Esperanza, on the bill at several major jazz festivals this summer (including JVC in New York) would be practically perfect for the Clearwater Jazz Holiday, a real coup for the festival.

She's a jazz star in the making, with superb skills as an acoustic bassist and composer, with leanings toward straight-ahead jazz, world music and sophisticated pop. Esperanza is a compelling singer, too, and she has great stage presence. What's not to like?

Newspaper Arts Departures (Part 999)

2008-06-04T06:02:00.003-05:00

Newspapers continue to lose the benefit of having experienced arts/entertainment reporters on staff. And readers interested in arts/entertainment continue to lose reasons to read newspapers.

Hey, newspaper publishers: See how that works?

Arts and features sections at the daily papers in my city -- and everywhere else -- are thinning out, if not disappearing entirely.

And now news of three more hits, two at a major northeast daily and one closer to home, at the Tampa Tribune.

First, my friend, down-the-street neighbor and former/(and soon-to-be current)* colleague Kurt Loft, the gifted classical music critic and science writer at the Tampa Tribune, is leaving the Trib after 27 years.

A safe bet: The paper won't replace him, and classical music in the Tampa Bay area will be hit ... hard. For more in Kurt's departure, see Wayne Garcia's column in Creative Loafing/Tampa. The Trib's last big arts/entertainment loss took place when longtime film critic Bob Ross lost his position at the paper.

Secondly, two film critics at the Washington Post are bidding adieu. One of them is the superb Pulitzer-winning writer Stephen Hunter. Hunter likely will stay busy, as he has a second, very busy career as a successful crime novelist. Hunter's collection of reviews of crime movies, Violent Screen, includes some of the finest writing on the subject.

For more information on Hunter and fellow longtime Post film critic Desson Thomson, check Salt Lake Tribune movie critic Sean Means' blog post, which includes a (sad) list of more than 30 film critics who have quit, been terminated or accepted buyouts in recent months.

*(yes, as Wayne points out, Kurt is leaving the Trib to work for the same great professional services firm that pays my salary)

Bye Bye Bo Diddley

2008-06-03T06:19:00.007-05:00

Bo Diddley is gone, but that driving, primal blues-rock "jungle beat" will live on.

In addition to appreciating all that Bo Diddley did for rock and roll, I always counted my encounter with the man as one of my brushes with fame (wink-wink).

During my first year at the University of Florida, a violin-playing acquaintance -- I think his name was Dave -- asked me if I wanted to play bass with a pick-up band backing Bo Diddley. How could I resist?

So Dave and I drove out to the woods somewhere in Alachua County, probably near Hawthorne, and played a Rotary Club barbecue with Bo Diddley. All I remember for sure about that gig, which took place in '79 or '80, is that every tune was built on that famous beat. I'm pretty sure we did "Who Do You Love?" and "Bo Diddley."

Bo mostly paid no attention to the band: He just did his thing, cranking out nasty, chunk chords on his rectangular-shaped guitar. As usual, he wore a cowboy hat and boots.

I vaguely recall that Dave ate a plate of barbecue that was intended for the Mrs. Diddley of the moment. No, she never figured out who did the deed.

Bo liked my playing so much that ... he never called me again. Maybe it was because I used my fretless (Fender Precision) bass on the gig. As anyone knows (except me, at the time), you don't bring a fretless bass to a rock 'n' roll show. Then again, I was a jazz guy, playing with the UF Jazz Band on a small Friends of Music scholarship.

If only I had pix!

Below is a comprehensive piece on Bo Diddley's life and legacy, as published in today's Los Angeles Times. Scroll down to see a partial list of songs built on the Bo Diddley beat.

Bo Diddley, 1928 - 2008; His rhythm helped shape rock
Chris Lee
Times Staff Writer
2004 words
3 June 2008
Los Angeles Times
Home Edition
A-1
English
Copyright 2008 The Los Angeles Times

Primal rock and blues musician Bo Diddley, who helped cast the sonic template of rock more than 50 years ago with a signature syncopated rhythm that became universally recognized as "the Bo Diddley beat," died Monday. He was 79.

Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter, who often referred to himself as "the Originator" to emphasize his contribution to rock music, had long battled hypertension and diabetes, among other health problems, and was hospitalized for 11 days after suffering a stroke onstage in Iowa in May 2007.

In August, he had complained of dizziness and nausea during a routine medical checkup and was hospitalized with a heart attack.

Alongside Chuck Berry, Diddley is recognized as one of rock's most influential guitarists, expanding the instrument's vocabulary with a crunching, tremolo-laden sound. He played a rectangular "cigar box" guitar of his own design, an instantly recognizable visual counterpart to the distinctive chank-a-chank, a-chank, a-chank-chank rhythm that bore his name and provided the backbeat for his own songs, including "Bo Diddley," "Mona" and "Who Do You Love."

That beat -- fusing blues, R&B, Latin and African rhythms -- resurfaced over the decades in countless other rock and R&B songs, among them Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," Johnny Otis' “Willie and the Hand Jive,” Bruce Springsteen's “She’s the One,” David Bowie's “Panic in Detroit,” U2's “Desire” and George Michael's “Faith.”

"Bo's one of the guys who invented rock 'n' roll," said Eric Burdon, lead singer of the Animals, the British Invasion band that recorded the tribute song “The Story of Bo Diddley” in 1964. "He took two cultures that existed in separate forms -- country and western and the kind of blues that used to be known as 'race music' -- and put them together. His beat was a jungle beat. That's what he called it."

Diddley's most famous songs -- "Who Do You Love," “Mona,” "I'm a Man" and "Bo Diddley" -- are the foundation of a huge catalog of songs that have been covered by the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, the Grateful Dead and the Doors and even sampled by the rap group De La Soul.

In fact, Diddley is considered by some as a pioneer of rap with his 1959 Top 20 hit "Say Man." On that track, Diddley and maraca player Jerome Green trade jive-talking insults over a percolating beat, a precursor to rap performers' fondness for dissing one another. "That came out of the black neighborhood way back," Diddley told The Times in 1989. "We used to call it 'signifying.' "

He has also been cited as a progenitor of hard rock and heavy metal music for his distortion-drenched sound and near-brutal manner of attacking the fret board.

"He was a wonderful, original musician who was an enormous force in music and was a big influence on the Rolling Stones," the group's lead singer, Mick Jagger, said Monday. "He was very generous to us in our early years and we learned a lot from him. We will never see his likes again."

Bo Diddley was born Otha Ellas Bates in McComb, Miss., on Dec. 30, 1928. His father died shortly after his birth, and his 16-year-old mother was unable to support him. Diddley was later adopted by her first cousin, Gussie McDaniel. She legally changed his name to Ellas McDaniel and brought him north with her family to the South Side of Chicago.

There, he began studying violin at age 7 and taught himself to play guitar in the early 1940s. But it was in grammar school that the rambunctious young Ellas acquired the nickname that would provide his future marquee identity.

He circulated various explanations for the name over the years, but by most accounts, neighborhood kids started calling him "bow diddley" -- slang for "bully." The name also recalled the diddley bow, an African single-string guitar that was seminal to blues music.

After dropping out of Foster Vocational High School in Chicago at 15, he began playing his guitar on street corners for change and later joined a small-time group called the Langley Avenue Jive Cats. Around that time, Diddley held various day jobs -- truck driver, boxcar loader, construction worker -- and boxed as a light heavyweight. But he hung up his gloves at 19 because, as he put it, he "kept getting whupped."

By 1954 he was married and a fixture on the local music circuit when he decided to cut a two-song demo of his original songs "Uncle John" and "I'm a Man." Although he usually adhered to the restrained blues style of his hero, Muddy Waters, Diddley based his recordings on the exultant, frenetic music he had been exposed to in the Pentecostal church as a child.

In 1955, the demo landed him a deal with Chicago's Chess Records label, home to blues stalwarts Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf and the young Chuck Berry.

According to the biography "Spinning Into Gold: The Chess Brothers and the Legendary Chess Records," label head Leonard Chess was looking for a stage name catchier than Ellas McDaniel when a studio harmonica player blurted out, "Bo Diddley." The name stuck, and the title for "Uncle John" was changed to "Bo Diddley."

When the single was released that year, it shot to No. 1 on the national R&B chart. Diddley landed an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" before hooking up with disc jockey Alan Freed's rock 'n' roll revue that toured the country.

Diddley's raw, distorted guitar sound connected with audiences from coast to coast. Almost immediately, the singer-songwriter began making an impression on other musicians. Upon seeing Elvis Presley perform in 1956, a reviewer for the Harlem, N.Y., newspaper the Amsterdam News said he had "copied Bo Diddley to the letter." In 1957, Buddy Holly commandeered the Bo Diddley beat for "Not Fade Away." Some have suggested that Holly's horn-rimmed glasses were a nod to Diddley as well.

By the 1960s, the British Invasion threw the spotlight to an onslaught of performers from the U.K. who had been inspired by American blues musicians. In 1973, after the success of Chess' album "The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions," Diddley was teamed with several key British rockers on "The London Bo Diddley Sessions" album in hopes of a career resurgence. But the album failed to duplicate the commercial success of Wolf's outing two years earlier.

Diddley's panache and swaggering stage presence influenced musicians on both sides of the Atlantic, among them Jagger, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix. Diddley's early use of amplified electric-guitar effects -- including reverb, echo and distortion -- also played an important part in the evolution of the sound of rock music when they were taken to further extremes by Hendrix, the Doors and others.

Dressed head to toe in black cowboy regalia or loud plaids, Diddley had a high-kicking, hip-wiggling stage repertoire that included playing the guitar behind his head and with his teeth.

Although Diddley maintained a 76-acre property in Florida, he was rarely home. Touring extensively until last year -- he performed in Australia just a month before his stroke -- Diddley cut a striking figure, sporting a black cowboy hat and thick-rimmed glasses, coaxing space-age, effects-heavy sounds out of his rectangular Gretsch guitar.

"Bo Diddley was a music pioneer and a legend with a unique style," blues legend B.B. King said in a statement to The Times. "We always had a good time when we played together, but his legacy will live on forever."

Blues singer-songwriter Duke Robillard, who covered "Who Do You Love" on an album he released last year, recalls being impressed when the two performed on a bill together 11 years ago. He noted Diddley's mad-scientist approach to tweaking his sound with a customized guitar.

"His guitar had effects and delay built into it so when he'd play a line it would repeat in time with the music," Robillard said last year. "That's pretty futuristic. You wouldn't think of Bo as a guy who could do that electronically. But he had more to him than his one beat."

Even though Diddley helped establish rock 'n' roll's rhythmic bedrock, he never enjoyed the financial success or critical recognition of his two chief contemporaries, Chuck Berry and Little Richard. "Diddley remained firmly rooted in the ghetto," author George R. White wrote in his biography "Bo Diddley: Living Legend." "Both his music and his image were too loud, too raunchy, too black to ever cross over."

Until the end, Diddley remained embittered about both his musical legacy and being exploited by the music industry -- he received no royalties from his classic songs until 1989 -- becoming a vocal champion of fair treatment for veteran blues and R&B musicians.

"Have I been recognized? No, no, no," Diddley told the New York Times in 2003. "Not like I should have been. Have I been ripped off? Have I seen royalty checks? You bet I've been ripped off."

When he was inducted in 1987 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -- by the members of the Texas blues-rock trio ZZ Top -- he was part of the second group of rock pioneers granted entrance.

He also toured that year with Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood. And into Diddley's final decade, he never faded from the public consciousness, performing at President George H.W. Bush's inaugural gala in 1989 and the Democratic National Convention for Bill Clinton in 1992, collecting a lifetime achievement Grammy in 1998, opening for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on tour in 1999, performing at fundraisers for Hurricane Katrina and having his songs included on soundtracks for movies, including "Gone in Sixty Seconds," "Ghost Rider," "Joe Dirt" and "Wild Hogs."

As recently as a year ago, in a display of Diddley's determination to regain his health and return to his life on the road, his scheduled British tour was "postponed" rather than canceled.

Divorced from his fourth wife, Diddley is survived by four children, 15 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, three great-great-grandchildren and a brother, the Rev. Kenneth Haynes.

A funeral is scheduled for Saturday in Gainesville, Fla., at the Showers of Blessing Harvest Center. A memorial service at the Martin Luther King Jr. Multi-Purpose Center, featuring members of Diddley's touring band and guest musicians, will follow.

--

chris.lee@latimes.com

--

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The Bo Diddley sound

Here's a list of songs that have the Bo Diddley beat:

* The Who -- "Magic Bus"

* George Michael -- "Faith"

* U2 -- "Desire"

* Bruce Springsteen -- "She's the One"

* David Bowie -- "Panic in Detroit"

* Duane Eddy -- "Cannonball"

* Buddy Holly/Rolling Stones/Patti Smith -- "Not Fade Away"

* Johnny Otis -- "Willie and the Hand Jive"

* The Stooges -- "1969"

* Shirley & Company -- "Shame Shame Shame"

* The Strangeloves/Bow Wow Wow -- "I Want Candy"

* The Blues Rockers -- "Callin' All Cows"

* Elvis Presley -- "His Latest Flame"

* Steppenwolf -- "Magic Carpet Ride"

* The Guess Who -- "American Woman"

* Grateful Dead -- "Man Smart, Woman Smarter"

* Talking Heads -- "Ruby Dear"

* The Fall -- "Bo Demmick"

* Guns n' Roses -- "Mr. Brownstone"

Source: Times reporting

--

On latimes.com

Bo Diddley

For more on guitarist Bo Diddley's musical life, go to latimes.com/diddley.

Maybe

Victor Bailey Signature Acoustic Electric Bass Guitar

2008-05-20T15:44:00.000-05:00

Clearwater Jazz Holiday: David Sanborn, Joe Sample

2008-05-12T06:30:00.000-05:00

Saxophonist David Sanborn and keyboardist Joe Sample (of the Jazz Crusaders), who both favor a style of jazz heavily influenced by smooth jazz and funk/R&B, are among the headliners at this year's Clearwater Jazz Holiday, according to an ad in the new issue of Down Beat.

Sanborn (playing the festival on Oct. 17, according to his web site) and Sample are both solid players, but here's hoping that several major acoustic/straight-ahead artists will be featured at the festival, too.

The free-admission event is set for Oct. 16-19 at Coachman Park in downtown Clearwater.
The official announcement of the lineup will come in August.

Iron Man & Young at Heart

2008-05-08T21:48:00.002-05:00

I caught screenings of two of the pre-summer season's most entertaining films, comic-book adaptation Iron Man and heartwarming documentary Young at Heart, two weeks in a row.

I reviewed both for Las Vegas City Life and other publications. Below are links to the reviews:

Iron Man

Young at Heart

The Vanishing (Movie Crix Evaporating)

2008-05-08T21:18:00.005-05:00

Yes, they're disappearing before our very eyes - one by one, movie critics at major and lesser daily and weekly newspapers are vanishing. It's a real horrorshow out there.

In addition to giving loyal newspaper readers even less reason to subscribe (and advertisers less motivation to pony up dollars for a product with a shrinking customer base: how's that for smart thinking?), short-sighted publishers at the Tampa Tribune and other papers around the country are helping dismantle a once-lively film culture in the U.S.

It's a culture that has thrived in part due to the presence of multiple strong, informed voices discussing movies, in print.

Today on NPR, late-to-the-funeral reporter David Folkenflik covered this sad phenomenon. His report ends on a lighthearted note, belying the seriousness of the subject.

Sean Means, film critic for the Salt Lake Tribune (for now, at least) has pro-actively followed what's been happening, and his entertaining blog includes a post listing 28 critics who have lost their jobs over the last two years or so.

Bob Ross, by the way, continues to cover movies, with video reports on his own site -BobRossMovies.com -- and reviews on Tampa blog Sticks of Fire. And the Tampa Bay area market continues to benefit from the work of two experienced reviewers - Steve Persall at the St. Petersburg Times and Lance Goldenberg at Creative Loafing/Tampa.

(Full disclosure: I freelance for the St. Pete Times, and I was on the Tampa Trib's staff from 88 to 96)

Talking Jazz Fest: Quint Davis, Mark Samuels

2008-04-24T06:21:00.001-05:00

Several weeks ago, I spoke with Jazz Fest director Quint Davis and Basin Street Records president Mark Samuels, in connection with a feature story on the festival.

The story (as mentioned in the below post) was published in a couple of papers - click here for the St. Petersburg Times piece, which ran March 30; and here for the story that ran in the Gainesville Sun.

The Sun, by the way, was the very first professional daily newspaper where my work was published, way back in 1983. I previously wrote for the Independent Florida Alligator, staffed by UF students but not affiliated with the university, and another smaller student-run paper.

Pop Culture Clicks: Jazz Fest, Pacino & De Niro, Springsteen

2008-04-23T06:30:00.001-05:00

It's the locals, stupid. That's the theme of a Jazz Fest piece I wrote for the St. Petersburg Times, published several weeks ago. And that's the theme sounded by Edna Gunderson in her USA Today preview of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Longtime New Orleans Times-Picayune music critic Keith Spera will be joined by colleagues from his newspaper for a live chat on all things Jazz Fest, Thursday at noon.

And here's Offbeat magazine's always valuable A-Z list of Jazz Fest performers.

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, once at the top of their game, these days are merely phoning it in for big paychecks, while other older actors (Hackman, Eastwood, Nicholson, Caine) are aging with much more grace and style (not to mention solid performances in good movies), as Patrick Goldstein points out in a thoughtful piece from yesterday's L.A. Times.

The Boss came to town last night, after postponing three Florida dates in the wake of the death of longtime E Street keyboardist Danny Federici. Music writers for the Tampa Bay area's two daily papers loved the show, naturally*, with veteran Tampa Tribune pop critic Curtis Ross writing "If Springsteen generally plays as if his life depends on it, Tuesday night he played as if his soul and those of everyone in the arena were at stake." St. Petersburg Times reviewer Sean Daly weighs in here.

*It's one of the unwritten rules of rock criticism: Never dis Bruce! I know of few who've violated that policy, aside from a few mavericks who broke from the party line around the time of the simultaneously released 1992 albums Human Touch and Lucky Town.

Down Beat Gets Free Promotion in Feature Film

2008-04-23T00:08:00.001-05:00

Jazz bible Down Beat magazine - or, rather, a promotional item affiliated with the monthly -- makes an appearance in Young at Heart, an entertaining and surprisingly poignant documentary making the rounds at selected theaters around the U.S.

I caught a screening of the film tonight, and noticed that a black Down Beat baseball cap, atop one of the film's many elderly singers, is prominently positioned on screen during one sequence. The "Beat" part of the logo is noticeable for several minutes, and then the man shifts position and "Down Beat" is seen for several more minutes.

More on the movie later. But it's nice to see DB, a mag to which I've contributed for more than 20 years, get a little love.

IAJE: A Little Help from Oprah? Bill Cosby?

2008-04-23T00:06:00.000-05:00

Might as well spread rumors, just in case there's a chance they could blow up big and somehow turn into fact, right?

I don't have any inside information about the IAJE or, really, much knowledge at all about its structure, particularly the connection(s) between the national office and the local chapters. I don't know if it's too late to salvage the organization, in the wake of its devastating financial crisis.

But if the IAJE somehow COULD be saved, in some way, shape or form, by a sudden infusion of cash, then why couldn't that infusion be provided by, say, billionaires or multimillionaires uniquely concerned with and personally linked to African-American culture?

For example, how about jazz advocate and education activist Bill Cosby?

Or Oprah Winfrey, one of the world's wealthiest women, and for three years (ending in 2007) the world's only black billionaire?

(In a related a question, WHY won't Oprah take just one of her shows and devote it to jazz? Kenny G or the whitebread smooth-jazz stars don't count. Can't she spare even a bit of time for America's art form? does every show have to be focused on touchy-feely faux-Christian New Age religion or teens in trouble or how to get your beauty rest or how to get rid of unwanted fat?)

Or how about Bob Johnson, the founder and former president of BET (Black Entertainment Television)?

There are far worse things these folks could do with their money.

There are others who could contribute, of course, including Bill Clinton, aka "the nation's first black president" and the guy not-so-secretly working to torpedo Hillary's presidential campaign. The Clintons have earned more than $109 million since 2000. And doesn't Bubba kind of play the sax?

Or, say, why not Tom Hanks, aka America's actor?

Bill Gates?

If it's way too late in the game to do anything with IAJE, or what's left of that once mighty organization, why can't any of these people provide financial muscle and lend their high profiles to the cause of an international jazz and jazz-education organization?

Just saying ...

Billy Norris, Live on WBGO-FM (NY/NJ)

2008-04-23T00:01:00.000-05:00

Tampa Bay area local-boy-made-good Billy Norris will be heard live on heavy-hitter jazz radio station WBGO this Friday afternoon, according to an announcement sent my way. Billy is a very gifted bassist (and singer/guitarist) who also made a name as the teen movie reviewer for the St. Petersburg Times.

Below are the (unedited) details on his radio appearance:

This coming Friday, April 25th, you can listen online at WBGO to a one-hour long LIVE broadcast with the
MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC JAZZ QUINTET
Featuring...
Phil Markowitz, Ensemble Coach
Justin DiCioccio, Mentor
Remy Le Beouf, alto saxophone
Jonathan Barnes, trumpet
John Escreet, piano
Billy Norris, bass
Joe Saylor, drums
*(The New York/ New Jersey metropolitan area's finest JAZZ radio station)

There will be interviews with the musicians, and they will be performing
their original compositions
LIVE in the studio from 2:00-3:00pm w/ host Michael Bourne.

If you haven't had the opportunity to see one of their live performances,
this is the next best thing!
Tune in Friday @ 2:00!

www.billynorrismusic.com

Jazz Fest: Count Basin's (Gambit Weekly) Picks

2008-04-22T06:52:00.002-05:00

Gambit Weekly's annual jumbo issues devoted to Jazz Fest are among the best previews of fest music, along with those provided by Offbeat and the Times-Picayune.

Here's the intro to Gambit's guide, followed by a link to the entire preview of the fest's first weekend.

Uncommon Grounds

The 39th annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presents its most diverse array of musical talent ever.

by Count Basin™Philip Cartelli, Karen Celestan, Will Coviello, Alison Festerstock, Spencer Marr, David Lee Simmonsand Gabe Soria

Cheryl Gerber
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is becoming the big tent of musical fests. Besides all the trademark jazz, rock, funk, swamp pop, blues, Mardi Gras Indians, Cajun and zydeco, the 2008 festival has a showcase for New Orleans bounce, country, Latin sounds and visiting bands from Martinique and Mali to Sweden and Tokyo. An array of special tributes and all-star jams make for some unique sets as well. The Fair Grounds is the state's common ground for fans of all musical genres.

As I, Count Basin™, look over the daily schedule, I see seven days of incredible variety and stellar options. The first weekend alone includes performances by Dr. John, Irma Thomas, Ellis Marsalis, Pete Fountain, Nicholas Payton, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Michael Doucet and BeauSoleil, Buckwheat Zydeco and many more familiar faces. New to the fest are Robert Plant, Sheryl Crow, Billy Joel, Keyshia Cole and Tim McGraw. Meters guitarist Leo Nocentelli hosts a funk jam. There's a tribute to the Turbinton brothers, and the Ponderosa Stomp Revue presents some of the unsung legends of rock 'n' roll.

With all this to choose from, the Count is looking forward to an uncommonly good year at the Jazz Fest.

Complete preview

Chris Rose on Jazz Fest

2008-04-22T06:30:00.003-05:00

I've previously mentioned Chris Rose in this space. He's the award-winning columnist for the Times-Picayune, a veteran journalist whose writing about New Orleans post-Katrina has really captured the city's life and indomitable spirit.

With his recent column on Jazz Fest, he's done it again, really capturing the flavor of (IMO) America's best music festival. Here's a particularly resonant line: "This is the time of year when music falls from the sky like rain in New Orleans; just open your window and let it fall in."

Eight days to go -- and counting -- until we get back to the fest. So, as a pre-fest celebration, here's Rose's column, below, in whole. To link directly to the column, click here.

I've studied the positions. I've researched everything. I've talked with friends and others whose opinions I respect.

I want to make an informed decision. I want to make the right choice. It's important. You only get one chance at this thing.

The presidential election? Humbug. What I'm talking about is much more important than that.

I'm talking about the Cubes. The Jazzfest Cubes, those hallowed, nearly mystical linear graphic guides to whom is playing when and where at the Fair Grounds on any given day.

I've made my printouts. I've highlighted the "must-sees" and checked the "maybes" and scratched out the "been-there/done thats."

I've marked off the projected arc of the sun so I know when and where the shade will be.

I have noted with stars and asterisks where the coldest beers are sold and where those kiosks are in relation to the crawfish sack booth and which bathrooms are the cleanest to bring my kids to.

And I'm not going to share any of this information with you. It took me years to learn it and I don't want to encounter any delays by getting in line behind people who have stolen my secrets.

What is left, on paper, is a hieroglyphic amalgam worthy of the Rosetta Stone. Some years I laminate it, just in case of rain. It would mean nothing to anyone else but is sacred to me. My map. My Jazzfest map. My bible.

And here's the funny thing: I won't abide by a word of it. Not a lick. I never do.

Every day, I walk in the Fair Grounds with a stock and steady plan and a vow to follow it. And maybe I'll catch Susan Cowsill as scheduled at 11:20 Friday but then it will all fall apart, it always does.

At some point, I will hear some horn blowing out of a tent and say to myself: Don't look. You're supposed to be on your way to Big Sam's Funky Nation at 2:15 in Congo Square and it's already 2:25 (I have synchronized my cell phone to Gentilly Mean Time) but you're passing the WWOZ Jazz Tent and you hear James Rivers paying his bagpipe and who can resist a bagpipe?

So maybe you'll stop for just a second -- JUST FOR A SECOND -- and, well, might as well grab a beer and sit down and hey, look, there's your best friend from college, visiting from Chicago and one thing happens and then another and pretty soon it's 6:30 and you missed every act you came to see but saw five acts you'd never even heard of before and danced in the Gospel Tent with some crazy old lady with an umbrella and there's only one way to pronounce the day: glorious.

And plus, if you hurry, you can catch the end of Terrance Simien. But first, a quick bite to eat and, hey -- there's some more friends! -- and, well, now the security guys in golf carts are telling you that you have to leave. The music is over. The food and drink booths are closed. The festival is closed. Please find our way to the gate.

It's not fair. So tomorrow, you promise yourself, you're sticking to the plan. After all, you put a lot of work into this thing. You worked on this harder than your dissertation. Tomorrow you will follow the Cubes.

But tomorrow comes and, well ... you know how it goes. Crazy, how it works. The wonder of Jazzfest. The glory of it all.

I think most folks around here are divided into two camps: You're either a Mardi Gras person or a Jazzfest person but I fully believe it's possible to be both, to give everything you've got to both of the grand, defining celebrations of our city and then simply while away the rest of the year, reading blogs about one or the other and waiting, just waiting, for the Cubes to be published again the following spring.

This is the time of year when music falls from the sky like rain in New Orleans; just open your window and let it fall in.

There's music everywhere, busting out of the French Quarter, Wednesday in the Square, Voodoo, Essence, everything else giving this town a special pulse, a steady beat, the rhythms of life, energy and vitality that make you scratch your head when you read in faraway journals and periodicals that this town is dead and gone.

Well, if that's the case, you can just bury my heart in Congo Square.

Columnist Chris Rose can be reached at chris.rose@timespicayune.com; or at (504) 352-2535 or (504) 826-3309.

Howard Mandel on IAJE Bankruptcy

2008-04-18T21:44:00.004-05:00

Check out this thoughtful commentary on the IAJE mess by Howard Mandel, pres of the Jazz Journalists Association and author of several books on jazz, including the new Miles Ornette Cecil: Jazz Beyond Jazz.

So, as mentioned in my last post, will Jazz Improv mag, which last year held a conference in NYC featuring 80 panels/workshops and 100 performances, pick up where IAJE's conferences left off? (Here's coverage of that conference, from the All About Jazz site)

Or will Jazz Times, one-time host of major jazz conventions, get in on the action? How about the other big jazz mags - Down Beat? Jazziz? Do any of these organizations have the funds/wherewithal to put together a convention/conference as ambitious as the IAJE conferences?

One can only hope because, as Mandel points out, jazz needs an umbrella organization under which all of the music's various, sometimes competing parties can gather; and an affiliated annual international conference.

IAJE Declares Bankruptcy: Jazz Will Suffer

2008-04-18T07:23:00.006-05:00

I can't tell you how much I've learned about jazz, and how many great performances I've attended and how much valuable jazz-industry networking I've done in the course of attending several IAJE (International Association for Jazz Education) conferences over the years.

My first IAJE conference was in New Orleans several years ago, and performances of Astral Project at the conference hotel and at the Funky Butt nightclub were among the highlights of that trip. I also got to participate in a panel presented by Jazziz magazine, a publication for which I've written since the mag was established in the mid-'80s.

In January of 2007, I made the third of three annual trips to the IAJE in New York. And that last one marked the first time that my wife accompanied me, as well as my young children. Taking their first airplane trip, seeing NYC, and being exposed to some great jazz (I took my son to see Jason Moran at Birdland) was the experience of their young lives, I think.

(Above is a shot of Israeli-born bass great Avishai Cohen, in performance at IAJE in '07)

IAJE also has provided the opportunity for me to re-establish contact with my colleagues in the Jazz Journalists Association, many of whom I get to hang out with only occasionally.

On a much greater and more important level, IAJE has served as the world's largest jazz organization, a robust provider of jazz education, a real connecting point for college jazz professors and other teachers, jazz radio people, jazz journalists, assorted record-company reps, managers, agents and, of course, musicians.

And now, after several months of controversy in jazz circles over the organization's apparently devastating financial crisis, the IAJE is no more. The organization is filing for bankruptcy and closing its doors.

The planned IAJE conference in Seattle (it was on my list of great things to do next year) has been scratched.

Will the Jazz Improv convention in NYC, allied with the mag of the same name, be able to pick up where IAJE left off?

Who knows?

At any rate, here's to IAJE's many accomplishments over the years. The cause of jazz indeed will be hurt by the death of this once great organization.

Below is the note outlining today's actions, from IAJE president Chuck Owen. It's being sent out to the organization's membership.

Dear IAJE Family,

It is with a great sense of loss that I inform you that despite drastic efforts to cut expenses and raise emergency funds, the IAJE Board has voted to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the Federal Bankruptcy Law. I want to thank profusely those who responded with their generous donations and offers of assistance following my last communication. While over 250 individuals contributed just over $12,000, this, along with the many other efforts and contributions of IAJE staff, Board members, and association partners, was simply not enough to address the accumulated debt of the organization or its urgent need for cash relief.

In the next few days, a Kansas bankruptcy court will appoint a trustee to oversee all ongoing aspects of the association. This includes the ability to examine IAJE's financial records and mount an independent inquiry into the causes of it's financial downfall as well as disposing of the remaining assets of the association with proceeds distributed to creditors in accordance with Kansas and Federal law. The board will no longer be involved in operation of the organization and will at some point resign. IAJE as it presently stands will no longer exist.

Approximately a week after filing, all potential creditors of the association will receive notice of the association's filing from the court. Members who desire additional information regarding the petition, including a complete listing of association assets and liabilities, may retrieve this, as it is a public document, through normal court procedures. Undoubtedly, however, you will have more immediate questions deserving of responses I hope to address in this report.

Since the first communication to the membership outlining this crisis, there has been considerable public speculation as to its causes. As noted in that communication, years of dependence upon the conference as a primary (but unreliable) revenue stream and the launch of a well-intentioned capital campaign (the Campaign for Jazz), which generated a meager response but required considerable expenditures in advance of contributions, drove the association into insolvency. Sadly, the attendance at the conference in Toronto (the lowest in 10 years) exacerbated an already critical situation, depriving the association of the cash-flow needed to continue daily operations as well as the time needed to seek alternative resources.

While ultimately not able to skirt the financial land mines placed in its path, I want to assure you the IAJE Board has acted responsibly, ethically, and with a sense of urgency ever since it was blindsided last fall with the discovery of the extent of the accumulated association debt. Since that time, the board slashed spending, set specific performance targets for the Executive Director, sought outside consultations, and enlisted the services of several past-presidents and strategic association partners in attempts to raise funds - sadly, with minimal success.

It goes without saying, the board you elected is comprised of very accomplished, intelligent, and dedicated educators and professionals who have given generously of their time in service to this association and care about it passionately. Likewise, our entire professional staff, led by Associate Executive Director, Vivian Orndorff, and Executive Producer, Steve Baker, has worked heroically in the face of declining resources to meet the needs of the association and its members. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank both the board and staff for their service. I have been privileged and honored to serve with them. While there may be those who question specific decisions or strategies in efforts to meet this crisis, the dedication and integrity of these individuals should never be in doubt.

As we move forward, one of the most pressing questions is how the operations of individual chapters and affiliated associations will be affected by this filing. Since our chapters are either separate corporate entitles or voluntary associations with their own boards, constitutions and bylaws; IAJE views them as completely independent entities. Ultimately, however, the trustee and the court will make this determination and it is anticipated that the trustee may request certain information from the chapters in this regard.

Sadly, the 2009 IAJE International Conference in Seattle has been cancelled. However, there has been some discussion of mounting a regional conference in its place. At the moment, Lou Fischer, U.S. Board Representative is fielding inquiries: ljazzmanf@yahoo.com.

For the time being, the IAJE website will remain up. However, the international offices of IAJE will close their doors at the end of the day on Friday, April 18th. Should there be additional questions you may submit them to info@iaje.org and every attempt will be made to respond to these as staffing allows.

Today, we, the members of IAJE and the global jazz community, face an extremely important task. For, as we all recognize, the opportunities, impact, and work of this association are too vital to simply disappear. Whether you were first drawn to IAJE for its conference, its magazine or research publications, its student scholarship programs such as Sisters in Jazz or the Clifford Brown/Stan Getz All-Stars, its Teacher Training Institutes, the resources provided through its website or Resource Team, or any one of a number of other offerings; it is clear the mission of IAJE still resonates and its advocacy is needed today more than ever. We must, therefore, look at this as an opportunity to refocus the mission, scope, programs, and vision of IAJE (or whatever succeeds it) to better meet the needs of our members and the jazz community not only today but looking toward the future.

I am, in no way, suggesting the membership turn a blind eye towards the need for an independent inquiry into causes and ultimately assigning responsibility for this situation. I ask you recognize the court appointed trustee, who will have access to all necessary documents and facts, is charged with that task. Our efforts and our passion, should be to collectively rally the community to recognize the importance IAJE has had and continues to have in the life and development of jazz and jazz education - seeking new strategic partnerships, new government structures, and a revitalized mission that embraces current needs.

Already there are efforts to do just that. I know that Mary Jo Papich, who would have begun serving her term as President of IAJE beginning this July, is dedicated to recreating such an association. As many know, Mary Jo has been a tireless advocate for IAJE, serving it long and well. You will, undoubtedly, be hearing from her in the near future. When she does contact you, I urge you to join me in offering her every support and assistance. Of course, others may also seek to fill this void by promoting alternative visions for empowering, serving, and gathering the jazz community. While I generally believe such diversity is quite healthy, I would strongly encourage all such efforts and leaders to attempt to collaborate and seek ways to unite us in spirit and strength.

Finally, I would encourage you to recognize and remember IAJE for all the tremendous good it has done in the past 40 years. Many individuals have contributed along the way, often at considerable personal sacrifice of their time and resources, to establish and advance the work of this association. Much has been achieved that can never be taken away! Therefore, the vision, effort, and shared passion that have fueled the growth of IAJE and its programs should not be forgotten or considered in vain. Rather, the spirit that is IAJE must be rekindled into a new vision for the future.

Sincerely,

The IAJE Board - Chuck Owen, President

When Insults Had Class

2008-04-18T00:43:00.002-05:00

(courtesy of the Hemingway list-serv; wanna sign up? visit The Hemingway Society)

These glorious insults are from an era when cleverness with words was still valued, before a great portion of the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words, not to mention waving middle fingers.

The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor

She said, 'If you were my husband I'd give you poison.'

He replied, 'Madam, if you were my wife, I'd drink it.'

The Earl of Sandwich to John Wilkes MP: 'Sir, you will either die on the gallows or die of the pox.'
'That depends, my Noble Lord,' said Wilkes, 'on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress.'

'He had delusions of adequacy.' - Walter Kerr

'He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.'

Winston Churchill

'A modest little person, with much to be modest about.'

Winston Churchill

'I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.' - Clarence Darrow

'He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary. '

William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).

'Poor Faulkner, does he really think big emotions come from big words?'

Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

'Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it.'

Moses Hadas

'He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.'

Abraham Lincoln

'I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.'

Mark Twain

'He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.'

Oscar Wilde

'I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one.'

George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

'Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one.'

Winston Churchill, in response.

'I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here.'

Stephen Bishop

'He is a self-made man and worships his creator.'

John Bright

'I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial.'

Irvin S. Cobb

'He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others.'

Samuel Johnson

'He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.'

Paul Keating

'There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure.'

Jack E. Leonard

'He has the attention span of a lightning bolt.'

Robert Redford

'They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge.'

Thomas Brackett Reed

'In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily.'

Charles, Count Talleyrand

'He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.'

Forrest Tucker

'Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?'

Mark Twain

'His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.'

Mae West

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.'

Oscar Wilde

'He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination.'

Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

'He has Van Gogh's ear for music.'

Billy Wilder

'I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it.'

Groucho Marx

Black Crowes Coming to Town

2008-04-17T22:38:00.002-05:00

The Black Crowes are finally coming back to the Tampa Bay area, with a show scheduled for Nov. 10 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. Tickets go on sale June 20.

Last time I saw them was when they opened for Tom Petty a couple of years back at the Ford Amphitheater. Great show, as usual

The Crowes remain one of the most rootsy, greasy, bluesy and good-time jammy rock and roll bands out there, and their new CD, Warpaint, counts as one of their most impressive efforts yet.

As promised, here's my review of the disc, published in Atlanta Creative Loafing.

Rocksteady@8: Back in Action

2008-04-17T22:06:00.004-05:00

Rocksteady@8, the Tampa roots-reggae band co-founded by drummer Jonathan Priest, my old bandmate in Ghetto Love Sugar, is back in action after a brief hiatus.

The band returns to Yeoman's Road Pub on Davis Island this Friday, for a show starting at 10:30 p.m. or thereabouts.

That news comes courtesy of Bryan Zink, the band's guitarist and resident wit - and, not coincidentally, my old bandmate in Liz Back on Booze, an early-'90s Tampa "alternative pop" band that specialized in annoying cool people.

Here's Bryan's note, which arrived with the too-clever subject header, "Can it ever be too long?"

A: Yes it can! 5 months is too long to wait for a ROCKSTEADY SHOW!! But wait no longer--we're playing This Friday at Yeomans Road Pub!! We're all very excited about reuniting with our fans and playing together again.

Oh man, I feel cheap after that intro. Cheap and tawdry.

Which is making me even more in the mood for a ROCKSTEADY SHOW!! This Friday at Yeomans Road Pub!! 236 E. Davis Blvd., Davis Islands, (phone 251-2748). We start at 10, but probably not really. But either by 10:30 or by the time I get my guitar pedals connected and my beer and coke, whichever comes first.

So, anyway, be there. For what, you ask? Silly, forgetful you--for the ROCKSTEADY SHOW!! This Friday at Yeomans Road Pub!!

Be there!
Bryan

So go hear Tampa's finest roots reggae band, and tell Jason and the guys that Philip sent ya

(BTW, Jonathan is no longer in the band, as he has relocated to North Carolina)

Hindus Mad at Mike Myers? (Part 2)

2008-04-17T06:47:00.002-05:00

Another update to the below post on Hindus' alleged outrage over the new Mike Myers film, The Love Guru.

Apparently, the note of protest went out to film critics everywhere.

My question: How did the sender get all of the emails without a little help from his "friends" at Paramount?

(Sure, he could have done a little research on the Internet, but in his note to me he said that he didn't have a web site, so it doesn't seem as if he has a high level of web savvy)

Guess I must have missed the original round of negative reaction to Myers' film - here's an AP report, dated March 28, detailing the "controversy."

If Rajan Zed and the other offended parties had been paying attention, they would have realized that this type of response only serves to draw attention to a movie, often helping the film score success at the box office.

St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall made mention of Zed's letter in an item appearing this morning.

Diablo Cody: Advice on the Creative Life

2008-04-16T07:15:00.000-05:00

I've encountered fiction writers, musicians, filmmakers and other creative people who have lamented the intensity of the competition in their chosen fields of artistic endeavor.

So it's always great to come across inspiring advice offered by someone who has achieved success.

Here's what Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody says on the subject: "Don't ever agonize about the hordes of other writers who are ostensibly your competition. No one is capable of doing what you do. No one else can ever be you ... You were born with something that simply cannot be copied ..."

Cody's thoughts, courtesy of her introduction to the published screenplay of Juno, one of my favorite films of '07, are worth remembering.