Flipping through the current issue of the magazine I was once editor of, I noticed quite a few stories without a byline. This was a leftover from my successor, who wrote much of the magazine himself – after the publisher cut the freelance budget – and, understandably, didn’t want to look like a one-man band. There were also numerous stories without a personal voice. This was new, a product of the current editor. (My successor was an excellent writer.)
It occurred to me that the magazine, like others of its type – glossy, bland, luxury/lifestyle magazines – is ripe for AI, which demands no bylines and is incapable of producing a personal voice. Particularly since both are things readers of such publications rarely notice are missing.
Paul Reiser was at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival last night, where – after the showing of his 2024 film The Problem with People and a montage of his numerous roles over the years – he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award. I had forgotten that he was in Diner. During the Q&A, he told Wil Shriner that he got that role by accident, having accompanied an actor friend to the audition. He also said that one of his favorite films is Local Hero, and he always wanted to make a somewhat similar movie, about an American who goes to another, beautiful country. The Problem with People, which Reiser wrote and stars in, is set in Ireland. He admitted he likes the Irish sense of humor, which has a melancholy to it that resembles Jewish humor.
Shriner mentioned that the next night (tonight) Reiser was going to be appearing at The Parker and after that he was performing at The Villages. “From old to older to oldest,” said Shriner.
“And after that,” said Reiser, “I’m doing a cemetery.”
This week marks the four-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is sickening to think of all the people who would be alive today if not for one man’s monstrous greed. Soldiers and civilians, men and women, seniors and children. Because the largest country in the world believes that it is not large enough, more than half a million lives have been lost. My only hope is that there will be no five-year anniversary, and that the man who caused this tragedy will be brought to justice.
I felt a little sad this morning turning on the TV and not seeing people doing remarkable things in snow and on ice. I watched quite a bit of the Olympics, was cheered by many of the stories (Liu, Shiffrin) and thrilled by both the men’s and the women’s ice hockey finals. Because of the Panthers, I was familiar with a number of the male players, and thought of Seinfeld’s old observation that, watching sports, we’re really just rooting for a jersey. The American team, we were told, really doesn’t like the Canadian team – and vice versa – yet Marchand and Reinhart and Bennett (who received a penalty for high-sticking an American player and drawing blood) – will be BFFs with Tkachuk on Thursday when they all wear the image of a cat on their shirts.
Speaking of which, Canada not only was the better team yesterday, they wore the prettier uniforms.
The crowd for Tom Popa at the Broward Center last night was heavily white and middle-aged, with men in the majority. We sat in front of a woman with an annoying laugh. This, I realized, is one of the dangers of a comedy show.
Interesting Op-Ed piece in this morning’s Herald arguing that Bad Bunny’s halftime show was a failure. The author, Orlando Alonso, a “Cuban-American pianist, conductor and cultural entrepreneur,” makes the case that the Puerto Rican’s performance did not adequately represent Latin music, which has a rich and exemplary history, and asks: “When did we stop evaluating art as art?”
My question would be: When did the Super Bowl halftime show – or any halftime show – have anything to do with art? It’s about entertainment – and not just any entertainment, but entertainment that will appeal to the masses, particularly those who love football. It’s not a place for Yo Yo Ma.
I suspect that Alonso regrets (resents?) Bad Bunny’s phenomenal popularity. But his success is more as an entertainer than as a musician. (Personally, I enjoyed the halftime show because I thought it was riveting theater.) The great Latin artists – as well as those of other ethnicities – continue to perform, albeit in smaller venues and for smaller audiences. What Alonso was getting at in his article, I think, is that the vast majority of Americans have lost their ability to identify and appreciate artistic expression in music. Though he doesn’t say it, this is in large part due to the defunding of arts programs in schools, an initiative that is usually part of the Republican agenda. It’s interesting, then, that Republicans seemed to be the most vocal in their denunciation of the halftime show.