ysabellabrave

MaryAnne's father calls her Ysabella Brave because he says she is brave. She started singing a year ago; her ethnic background so various she says, “I could hold my own hand and sing We Are the World”. MaryAnne “YsabellaBrave” is a hit at youtube.com.

There aren't many professional performers who can be a foot from a camera for an extended period, let alone sing, and hold your attention without being slightly disturbing, but MaryAnne is so invested in the material that she pulls you in. With something of the penetrating presence of Illeana Douglas (her eyes), she is an actress/singer; without the range of Piaf or Streisand, she has a physicality and expressiveness that is unique. MaryAnne is filled with charm, a natural — the songs flow through her with all the feeling intact, in the moment. You can't help smiling when you watch her — MaryAnne's a star.

It doesn't hurt that she is singing great old songs. This one, most viewed today (1/30/07), is terrific.

John Burns

NYT reporter John Burns was a guest on Charlie Rose for a full hour discussing Iraq. Iraq is now like a weather system, changing unpredictably and significantly on an hourly basis, buffeted by a kaleidoscope of opinion and the fog of disturbing events; Iraq is a study in chaos theory at its darkest. For anyone interested in events on this horrifying stage, sorting it out requires great reportage.

Burns has the rare ability to report reliably (long-standing good sources); to knowingly assess the value of the information and without agenda, to apply a simple human wisdom to the facts at hand. His opinions are folded into the ambiguities of reality — offered modestly. Being on the scene can sometimes narrow your understanding rather than enhance it, but somehow Burns has managed to keep his balance and grasp of the greater context. You would think that this would be a journalistic default, but rather, it is so unique as to be worthy of a weblog entry by itself — in addition to the information that came out in the interview that warrants writing the Executive-Editor: Burns said he might be leaving Iraq — a venue he regards as the most important of his career and to which he would gladly adhere. Write Bill Keller and tell the NYT to keep Burns on in Iraq.

Mixed Messages

This discussion between Hagel and Lieberman reflected the frustrations over Iraq. Both bright and effective speakers, this was a substantive if short discussion. Hagel, the more animated of the two, was emphatic and sincerely convinced that the non-binding resolution condemning the “surge” was the right thing to do.

Lieberman countered, “If members of Congress are opposed to the troop increase, then I think what they should do is to use the power given to Congress by the Constitution, and that is to directly try to cut off funds for additional troops in Iraq… we're sending a mixed message here, to both confirm General Petraeus, and then to say we're not for the plan and the support he says he needs to achieve victory or success in Iraq. I think that's a mistake.”

Guillermo Del Toro

Just a great interview with Guillermo Del Toro @ Fresh Air. Amazingly articulate man. I saw the Devil's Backbone years ago and listened to the full DVD commentary by Del Toro after. He has matured a great deal; on the DVD he sounds full of himself and somewhat formularized: “this means that…” — the sort of thinking you hear in humanities/academic attempts to “explain” art by parsing symbols. But Del Toro's current self is most impressive. Terry Gross, as interviewer, was at her best.

American Idol

American Idol is off and running with the same old. The judges play cranky mom and dad characters, the contestants the court jesters. The few contestants that have talent are more skilled impersonators than performers. This never seems to dawn on the judges, who see the performers as tools to be molded by producers into product — the music industry in miniature.

And the contestants are yearning for the chance — to be famous, seemingly a desperate attempt at relief from their misery — with little evidence of commitment to their performance as individual expression. You're not going to find a Bob Dylan here. The mental health of many of the contestants is an open question. Jewel asked if one contestant was “just kidding”.

Jewel is a real boost to the show. She has the self-possession of an accomplished performer; she is the only judge that isn't playing to the audience but considers the performance technically. Of note is the unquestioning acceptance of the judge's authority by the audience despite the frequent self-discrediting behavior; it is media conformism — deference to a media-anointed authority. American Idol could be put into a time capsule to inform future generations of the mockery and sarcasm that marks our age.

The remarkable thing is that the show has paid off — it actually has made pop stars. If there is any genius to the show besides its self-marketing, that is it — they've somehow permeated the pop culture membrane and infiltrated their picks into the media pantheon.

iPhone

The iPhone coverage has been unremitting. It is a tribute to the cleverness of Apple and the showmanship of Steve Jobs. From reports the phone's interface is groundbreaking — leaving competitors flat-footed. Still, it is a little phone that plays music and lets you read web pages, little web pages. A tool, not content, not something that intrinsically expresses anything, other than the genius of capitalism in coming up with great new toys. There is a comical totemic quality to the coverage, with commentators reverentially discussing this little object.

The tendencies of pop culture are reminiscent of the specific functions of the Egyptian gods; an Egyptian god for every purpose under heaven — translated in our time into celebrities and consumer goods, providing a similar limited reassurance.

Some of the coverage did have some perspective…

Tom Krazit @ CNET was pretty funny in his coverage of Steve Jobs' presentation.

Jon Mayer plays a song. All the 12-year-old girls in the audience are screaming. Oh, wait, that's right, there aren't any, this is a technoology trade show.

Mayer praises Steve for making products that make people happy. An actual quote, “It's like the opposite of terrorism.” Yes, Jon, you're totally right.

He's playing again. Waiting on the world to change? Dylan, he aint. I'm waiting on the song to change.

Playoffs Aplenty

Playoff weekend: the best games of the year, usually. Teams that make it to the Super Bowl are seldom the best matchups. But you have a bunch of proxy Super Bowls in the playoffs. One of the better games is Dallas/Seattle, being played right now as these pixels dance. With Owens on one side, and a great coach in Seattle, you expect this to be the matchup it is turning out to be: 3 to 3 in the second quarter.

I feel pretty much as Ron Rosenbaum does about watching football:

I don’t root for a team, I root for overtime, for drama, for great games, heroic comebacks, underdog surprises, fantastic plays.

::::

Rosenbaum wrote a good piece about Iran and its nutcase leader:

… if you believe that the euphemism “wipe Israel off the map” refers only to eliminating a geographical distinction. Another all too easy excuse to ignore the threat, the exterminationist context in which those words are uttered. The real world conseqences of a “binational state” Hey, nothing to worry about, it’s just a policy proposal. Again, read the Hamas charter.

Anne Applebaum @ Slate had an earlier, more comprehensive piece about Iran:

Of course, Holocaust denial also has broader roots and many more adherents in the Middle East, which may be part of the point: Questioning the reality of the Holocaust has long been another means of questioning the legitimacy of the state of Israel, which was indeed created by the United Nations in response to the Holocaust, and which has indeed incorporated Holocaust history into its national identity. If the Shiite Iranians are looking for friends, particularly among Sunni Arabs, Holocaust denial isn't a bad way to find them.

Strange slogans adhere to discussions of Iran — media memes:

• The people of Iran don't like their leaders.
• Their leader is an aggressive bigot.
• The US shouldn't “do anything” about Iran — other than administering a talk-cure (appeasement) — because then the people of Iran won't like us.

The Orwellian logic is more grotesque than usual.

Seattle scored another field goal — it is anyone's game. Go teams — make it a good finish.

Dallas now with a first and goal…reach-in touchdown. 10-6 Cowboys.

SoulCraft

This article was recommended by David Brooks as one of the year's best magazine pieces. It's a bit abstract, academized, but the points by the writer, Michael B. Crawford, are well-taken and the conclusions surprising. The writer was a think-tank drone who tired of the work and opened a motorcycle repair shop, which was much more satisfying. (It's surprising think-tank work could be so soulless — Crawford doesn't explain.) He feels the loss of connection to the hands-on crafts is a serious loss — a cognitive loss, because he feels that crafts engender invention and independence.

These are arguments very sympathetic to someone like myself who creates paintings. Picasso said, “You do it with your hands.” That is indeed a power of art — in addition to the claims of cognitive value; art comes from the living body and if well done, has the pulse and breath of the artist. True art forms circle that connection between creator and audience; they speak comprehensively to the human condition — to the agency of consciousness. Art is craft made conscious.

The arts contain the human spirit and are the best vehicle for that soul-speech that boring, empty pop culture can't sate; movies, photos, teevee, “digital” art, prepackaged sampled music, all produced from mechanical contrivance — at a distance and with predetermined templates at their core; as Crawford notes: the knowledge workers are themselves being stripped of their cognitive value as systems are designed to have a small elite know while the others simply do as worker ants — mental factory work. You have to read the article to grok Crawford's reasoning but it makes sense to me.

…Lack of experience diminishes our power of taking a comprehensive view of the admitted facts. Hence those who dwell in intimate association with nature and its phenomena are more able to lay down principles such as to admit of a wide and coherent development; while those whom devotion to abstract discussions has rendered unobservant of facts are too ready to dogmatize on the basis of a few observations.