Category: Pulp Media

Music by Joe WilcoxMay 25, 20062:25 pm

Starry Eyes

Maybe one reason we can’t elect a reasonable president is because so many people would rather vote for an American Idol. According to an Associated Press story over on CNN, Americans cast 63 million votes—”more than any president in the history of our country has received”—to pick Taylor Hicks as the new American Idol.

I chuckle at the absurdity of the show’s concept. Talent isn’t good singing. Real talent is songwriting and musical ability. Even a bad singer can have a pretty big hit with a really good song. But even the best singer will fail if the material is no good. Some American Idol failures, like, uh, William Hung, went on to success because of bad singing.

Pulp Media by Joe WilcoxMay 23, 20067:12 pm

Nworb Nad

The new issue of The New Yorker arrived today. We started subscribing last month after getting a full-year offer for 25 bucks. I do read the copy and not just peruse the cartoons.

In the current, May 29, issue, Anthony Lane makes mush of ridiculous book, the Da Vinci Code—and his objective was to review the movie! I consider the Dan Brown novel to be the worst fiction book I’ve read or likely will ever read. The writing has no style, the plot follows (yawn, yawn) obvious paths and the history is nonsense (and I say that with no gripe about Jesus marrying Mary M.). Anthony does better ripping the book than I did.

Pulp Media by Joe WilcoxMay 22, 200610:14 pm

J-a-a-a-ck!

I couldn’t not watch “24” this season, because the plot got so ridiculous there was need to see what would happen next. Each episode I hoped for better. Now, after 24 disappointing hours, I’m starting to feel like a drug addict hoping the next fix will finally satisfy.

Bad as things were, the show’s writers ended the season with the worst kind of cliffhanger. Good `ol Jack Bauer got captured by the Chinese. I guess the American president and Russian terrorists weren’t tough enough. Now, “24” addicts must wait until January 2007—eight freaking months—to see what happens to beaten and kidnapped Jack on Day 6. Geez.

Pulp Media by Joe WilcoxMay 17, 20063:41 pm

The Da Vinci Decoded

Well, the first reviews of movie “The Da Vinci Code” are in, and they aren’t encouraging. One of today’s best comes from TimeOut London. It’s good, because reviewer Dave Calhoun is perhaps harder on the book than the movie.

The Da Vinci Code is a dreadful novel. I would be ashamed as a writer to have something so bad be so popular. And I say that with no gripes about a married Jesus, as presented by author Dan Brown.

Gear by Joe WilcoxMay 10, 20067:24 pm

We Are TiVo, T-i-V-o

It was a rough “Lost” tonight. I recorded the episode for later viewing. Frustration: The Media Center in the living room cut off something at the end. Preview for next week’s episode is gone, too. […]

Living by Joe WilcoxMar 12, 20064:31 am

Twisted Tales for Girls

In today’s New York Times, author Naomi Wolf looks at “cute” books for teenage girls that are anything but sweet.

Teenage girl series, such as “Clique” or “Gossip Girls”, are fitting to the adage, “You can’t judge a book from the cover”. Beneath the banal paperback covers are pages rife with status, shopping, and sex. Excerpted from one of the “A-List” series novels, one teen describes sex with her boyfriend: “We used to jump each other, like, three times a night. When we went out to the movies, we’d sit by a wall and do it during the boring parts”.

Culture by Joe WilcoxMar 6, 20065:36 am

Hollywood’s Last Laugh is None

This morning’s MSNBC commentary by Andy Denhart gets right to what’s wrong with Hollywood. Andy pretty much described satirist Jon Stewart’s Oscar officiation as a flop. I agree, but not for lack of being funny. The audience had no tolerance for laughing at itself. Jon made fun of the stars, but they weren’t laughing at themselves.

Writes Andy, in one example: “An admitted and unashamed progressive himself, Stewart later made fun of the film industry’s perceived liberalness, telling viewers the Oscars are a chance to ‘see all your favorite stars without having to donate any money to the Democratic party’. Our favorite stars barely chuckled”. Self-deprecation wasn’t the humor of the evening.

Society by Joe WilcoxMar 6, 20065:29 am

See, Now It’s a Lifestyle Debate

I warned that a Brokeback Mountain loss would lead to a lifestyle accusation. Arthur Spiegelman writes for Reuters: “The victory for Crash suggested Oscar voters were more comfortable with a tale that exploited the seamy underbelly of racial conflict in contemporary Los Angeles than with a heartbreaking tale of love between two married men…

“No overtly gay love story has ever won a best picture award and, as of Monday morning, none has. The big question going into the Oscars was whether Hollywood, often in the forefront of social issues, would break another taboo”.

Society by Joe WilcoxMar 5, 20066:56 pm

The Winner Shouldn’t be Lifestyle

I won’t pick a winner for tonight’s Academy Awards Best Picture. But I will predict about the aftermath. Win or lose, Brokeback Mountain will be a gay platform. If it wins, gays will say “Yeah, […]

Society by Joe WilcoxFeb 25, 20064:19 pm

The Weatherman

Today, my daughter and I hauled off to the University of Maryland, College Park, for a Storm Watchers presentation. The NOAA meteorologist making the presentation grew up in Southern Maine—Biddeford, to be exact.

Mmmm, I wonder how many meteorologists are from Maine. It’s hard to grow up there and not be interested in weather. With no exaggeration, weather changes about every 15 minutes in the summer, from clear skies to breezy and cloudy skies to tree-ripping thunderstorms. Upways in Northern Maine, rapid winter temperature shifts are common. I’ve seen 45-degree Celsius shifts (that’s 80 degrees Fahrenheit) from plus five to minus 40 in less than 12 hours. That’s no exaggeration.

Digital Lifestyle by Joe WilcoxFeb 10, 20066:11 pm

Throttle Me, I Throttle You

Uh-oh. Netflix throttling is in the news this week, and I’m steamed about the tactic. I am so mad that service cancellation is one option. More likely, I will, eh, throttle down my number of rentals.

Throttling is a strategy whereby heavy users are penalized for using the service. Netflix reasons it loses money on these customers, so they get lower shipping priority.

Culture by Joe WilcoxJan 21, 20063:42 pm

More Battles Than Stars

From the critics corner: “Battlestar Galactica.” To recap, the last half-season concluded with some wicked female violence and an attempted rape (all in the name of killing the evil Cylons). Two weeks ago, the show opened with more violence against women and the young male fantasy catfight, where one woman (OK, robot) shoots the other woman (and evil authority figure) in the head. Maybe the presumably young-male audience appreciates the the show’s assault on women.

This week’s episode, “Epiphanies,” took position on some of the most fiercely-debated philosophical and moral issues dividing U.S. liberals and conservatives.