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Throughout this campaign, Mitt Romney has received a lot of criticism for his position switches, from both the right and the left. However, last week he outdid himself, changing position on abortion multiple times (beginning with his interview in Des Moines). Say what you want about pandering, politicization, etc., and agree or disagree with him, but you’ve got to admit, there hasn’t been a public figure this good at rebranding since Madonna. She’s gone from punk-ish urban girl to Marilyn-esque blonde to Anglophile director (complete with faux British accent), and people applaud her ability to keep up with the times, anticipate public taste, and remain relevant for 3 decades and counting. So give Romney some credit – at least he’s showing his awareness of pop culture, on some level, and maybe his flexibility can be inspiring to the rest of us! If Romney can use flip-flopping to pass himself off as “Moderate Mitt”, then this suburban Jewish mother can rebrand herself as a teen popstar to sing about said flipflops (and to thoroughly embarrass my teenage kids in the process) – “Oops, You Did It Again!”
On a Saturday night in the fall of my junior year in high school, I was at a friend’s house who took out an album and handled it with the reverence and care that might be expected if he were handling the Hope Diamond. Carefully, he placed the needle on the vinyl and announced we were listening to one of the greatest albums of all time…..and proceeded to read excerpts to me from a book about the Beatles and the White Album. 16 year olds aren’t supposed to be reverent about much of anything….so I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or listen with rapt attention as my friend went into this hypnotic Beatles mode. So I did neither. I finally just gave in and listened, somewhat reverently, to the music. And got it. “Dear Prudence” was my favorite song on album. And ever since that night I still to this day speak of the White Album in hushed tones. ; ) In last week’s debate, Mitt Romney opened a can of worms, threatening to cut PBS funding even though “he loves Big Bird”. People started tweeting, chirping, and otherwise chiming in almost instantaneously – sure, there were plenty of comments about the basic math mistake (PBS funding is .012% of the national budget, so it hardly counts as responsible for our borrowing from China), misplaced priorities (how come adding a $5 trillion tax cut and boosting an already inflated defense budget don’t also concern Romney), and more, but the biggest outcry came on behalf of the big yellow bird himself. Now even without public funding, Sesame Street would go on, thanks to generous viewers, sponsorship, and highly successful merchandising (“Tickle Me Elmo”, anyone). But it was a fascinating illustration of the huge impact of public television for children, now that a couple of generations have grown up with Sesame Street and the other popular shows. I’m going to date myself here by admitting that Sesame Street didn’t go on the air until I was already in elementary school, but I still remember it vividly (and loved to watch the other shows from my day, including the original Electric Company). My husband was 3 at that time, so he was the absolute perfect target audience and watched avidly. (Yes, I’m a cradle-robbing cougar, and I love it!) And I was re-introduced to PBS kids’ shows when I had my own kids – they particularly loved the music videos, like “Put Down The Ducky (If You Want To Play The Saxophone)”. I loved the puns that were clearly designed to keep us bleary parents entertained, like Ethel Mermaid singing “I Get a Kick Out Of U”. And PBS was great about generally making sure its kids programming appealed to parents – I can’t be the only mother who noticed that the adorable young men who hosted Blues Clues were pretty easy on the eyes.
Whether you agree or disagree with him, Romney clearly touched a nerve – so in tribute to PBS programming in general, Big Bird in particular, and the Sesame Street tradition of fun music, here’s a musical plea for our favorite large yellow non-flying bird . . . All the election news lately has been about arguments traded back & forth between Obama & Romney, or Romney’s campaign woes, or Paul Ryan’s getting booed at an AARP convention. Sort of makes me feel sorry for Joe Biden. First of all, he’s running for an office once famously equated with “a warm bucket of spit”. And he can’t even stand out in those races – four years ago he was totally overshadowed by Tina Fey’s look-alike, and now he’s running against someone who makes a whole different set of headlines. (Apparently, the week Ryan was announced, that week’s most frequent google search was “Paul Ryan Shirtless”, and more than one comic hypothesized that the week’s least frequent google search was “Joe Biden Shirtless”.) But do a little research about Biden, and you’ll find that his ‘everyman’ cred is genuine. He graduated near the bottom of his class in both college & law school, he is one of the least wealthy members of Congress, and he’s well-known for making verbal slips (or at least prematurely ‘outing’ Obama’s support for gay marriage). (He’s had quite a distinguished career, including being one of the longest serving senators in history.) So I decided poor Joe deserved a little musical love . . . Apparently, the South Korean sensation, “Gangnam Style,” is going global. Just yesterday, during the United Nations General Assembly meeting, Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took to the streets of New York City, and was joined by Hafaz Assad and the late(?) Ayatollah Khomeini for a stirring rendition. Let’s go to the videotape (h/t Daily Beast): There have been so many moments in this election cycle that I hope my kids will remember, and tell my (as-yet-unborn-but-my-kids-had-better-provide) grandkids someday – Herman Cain’s speech quoting the Pokemon movie, Joe Biden’s prematurely spilling the beans about gay marriage, Clint Eastwood claiming an empty chair was swearing at him – I could go on & on. But no one has provided more of those moments than Mr. Romney – in fact, his missteps and ‘oops’ moments are the stuff of legend, the type of epic ballads that Johnny Cash might once have song. (So this week I’m morphing from the old southern blues singer of last week to a Jewish-mother-version of ‘the Man in Black’)
Many pundits are looking for clues from the 2008 debates to try to predict who will win and why. But I am taking a different tack. I think what Election 2012 really comes down to is whether you were more of fan of Donny Osmond and the Osmond Brothers, or a fan of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. And I have found some historic footage that may be the best preview available of what we can expect when Mitt Romney and Barack Obama take the stage together next week. And near the end of the video clip they even give a sense of what it will be like to appear with their running mates. Which returns us to the most important question at hand. Are you more of a Michael or a Donny kind of voter? Sure, both have music with a good beat, and you can dance to it. But in November, when we enter that voting booth all by ourselves, we can only choose one.
Vienna waits for you. I’ve never been to Vienna, but I think I know what he means. What is your Vienna? I’m asking myself this lately. What is that dream of yours that you might be missing because you’re “so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need”? Slow down you crazy child! It’s so weird- we have to slow down so we can speed up our dreams? Hard to understand but it’s true. You can get what you want or you can just get old.
In 1996 when I was single and about to open my dating-café, Drip, I chose an architect for the project who was also a college classmate of mine. We’ll call her Amanda, because that’s her name. I won’t say her last name, because this story could be a little embarrassing but it’s totally flattering. So I’m walking with Amanda and she realizes she has to go to her apartment to get some architectural plans. She invites me up to her apartment, but stops first for some instruction: “When we go up to my apartment, you’re probably going to meet my husband. So, I have to warn you, he’s a babe.” Well, I have heard a lot of things in my life, but that one was without a doubt the coolest thing I had ever heard anyone say. Still is. I really don’t even know why she felt the need to say it but it was so cute. (And, yes, he is a babe.) Read the rest of… This year’s biggest YouTube obsession — earning the recent Zeitgeist-confirming attention of Saturday Night Live — is the South Korean pop sensation “Gangnam Style,” a truly phenomenal phenomenon for those of us who are vocally and lyrically challenged, and for those of us whose best dance move is imitating a jerky horse ride. If you’ve been living under a virtual rock, here are your five minutes of infamy: Of course, YouTube is besieged with parody versions. Our favorite is “Jewish Style”. To rock in the new year South Korean style, enjoy it here (a bit NSFW): |
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