Rest in Peace, George Carlin

Comedy pioneer and free speech advocate George Carlin has passed away at the age of 71. Rest in peace, Georgey boy, and give the Buddy Christ a hug for me, will ya?

Bring Europe to the Bronx

Join Fordham alum Kristin Nazario and her students at West Bronx Academy for the Future in raising money for a class trip to Europe. "Ms. Nazario" will be raising money to cover the expenses of 24 students to visit the great cities of Europe firsthand including Paris, Barcelona and Madrid for an expected April 2009 trip.

What you can do to help. Join Ms. Nazario and other volunteers on Sunday, July 6th on a walk along The Great White Way inspired by the PBS documentary A Walk Up Broadway which explores the historic avenue's presence in the lives of New Yorkers over the course of many eras.

Interested parties may visit Ms. Nazario's website at: WBAFF Europe Trip 2009! to learn about volunteer and donation opportunities.

Sound like a plan? Ask your friends if they want to join you for the walk. If they join you, they should get at least 2 pledges from one of THEIR friends.

**On the day of the walk, be sure to:

 Bring a minimum of $25 and your completed Sponsor Sheet
 Wear comfortable shoes and loose clothing
 Bring a water bottle
 Bring a camera
 Invite friends and family members

Holiday Roooooooooad!

Tim Russert, We'll Miss Ya

Esteemed author and political journalist Tim Russert has passed away at the age of 58 while doing what he loved most, working at the Washington bureau of NBC News. I first watched Meet the Press to not only learn about politics but to connect with my father, an investment banker who worked long hours and often traveled for business while I was growing up.

By spending time with my father having intellectual conversations and discussing each other's interests, I learned to pursue what I loved most: film and journalism (topics of our frequent discussions).

Russert not only helped me connect to my father, he wrote about it (well, not us specifically) as a best-selling author of Big Russ & Me: Father and Son: Lessons in Life and Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons from Daughters and Sons.

I looked forward to hearing Russert's insight and wry Irish-Catholic delivery on NBC and will miss his take on the state of affairs. Like a Fordham classmate challenging my political beliefs or a funny uncle or priest (yes, there are some) sharing a story, Russert had contagious enthusiasm his viewers and interview subjects couldn't deny. It wasn't hard to observe he relished meeting the press but he threw no softballs and stayed fair (and balanced, I might add) in the process.

To quote the Not Too Shabby boys at the Upright Citizens Brigade (where I'm a student of comedy), "This Sunday, there's gonna be a very special edition of Meet the Press with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and JFK. It's gonna be in heaven...our loss is God's gain".

We'll miss you, Little Russ.

(Happy Father's Day, Dad!)

How to Live Well Without Owning a Car

You might tell yourself, Self, this can't be possible*. But it is. Somehow. Yes, even in Los Angeles where freeways are parking lots and people only take jobs on their respective side of the hill to save time and gas money. (I should know, I've turned down many sweet gigs for that exact reason). With the soaring rise of gas prices, maybe journalist (and my good friend) Chris Balish is onto something.


(Fast-forward to 0:57)

The author of How to Live Well Without Owning A Car recently appeared on CNN's Morning Express to tell Robin Meade how Americans in major cities and rural areas alike can save literally thousands of dollars each year by selling their cars or at least going "car lite" to cut down on unnecessary driving where and when possible. (He even took the 304 metro to get from his apartment in Santa Monica to CNN's Hollywood studio for the interview!) He may be crazy but at least he has money left over to go out to nice dinners and concerts without worrying about his rent check bouncing. Hey Chris, you do have my number!

When this town rips the bones from your back as it is, your car shouldn't be a death trap or a suicide rap. While I won't give up my most blessed Malibu Barbie Jeep just yet, I can at least take solace knowing Howard and Bruce are looking after me via satellite somewhere out there.

*Shout out to John Galvin, Northern Highlands Regional High School, Math Department, Allendale, NJ

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

But I did. And I have to say, the results weren't as bad as I expected. Yes, the plot veered in unexpected twists and folds not unlike a loaf of challah but I couldn't resist. Sandler and challah are damn good. And is it just me or does Adam Sandler look hot in that Alf meets Flock of Seagulls 80's haircut (equally fashioned by Chandler Bing in those high school flashbacks on Friends )? On second thought, he kinda looks like Affleck. Hmm Alf-leck? But seriously, I think it was Zohan's denim cut off shorts. More specifically, his overstuffed Speedos. Yeah, that's the ticket. Or maybe I'm ignoring the fact that I fall helplessly in love with nebbish Jewish boys with musical talent (cough cough Josh Groban)? You know what they say about those Jewish boys. Oy, I'm shvitzing like a chazzer!

As an aspiring professional comedy writer, Adam Sandler has long been one of my greatest sources of inspiration. From Canteen Boy to Lunchlady Land to hike school and the professional wedding singer circuit, Sandler has delighted and impressed with his depictions of men-children struggling to make it in their respective worlds. Can't we all relate?

Perhaps fueled by a drunken bout of chanting the Billy Madison victory song at Liza's farewell party last weekend, I couldn't wait to mess with the Zohan all week long and I finally did. Perhaps the only movie to tackle the 2000-year old Israeli-Palestinian conflict with humor, Sandler's Zohan defies all expectations by abandoning the hatred and pursuing his dreams as an anything but feygele hairdresser.

In a reaching but earnest attempt to unite Israelis and Palestinians in a tacky Manhattan hair salon, Sandler shakes his best assets (literally...and quite well, I may add) in [SPOILER ALERT] reaching a settlement with his Palestinian nemesis brilliantly played by frequent collaborator and fellow Brooklyn native John Turturro by showing him he, too, can be the feyge shoe salesman he's always dreamed of becoming in America. If only Al Bundy had felt this appreciated, he wouldn't have been such a bastard to Peg!

Call your friend Veronica and head to your local multiplex. I may be one of, if not, the only blogger/s to approve of the Zohan, but you don't mess with it. You can do it!

I'll Take The Obama High Road

Let me just start off by saying, I'll take the Obama high road.

In his latest tirade against a fellow filmmaker, Spike Lee called out Clint Eastwood for not representing black soliders in Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima , while promoting the forthcoming Miracle at St. Anna in Cannes, which details Lee's telling of an all-black American unit fighting fascism during WW2 in Italy. While it's true that 900 black men served at Iwo Jima, as referenced in a 2006 editorial in The Guardian titled "Where have all the black soldiers gone?", Lee seemed to miss the point that the focus of Eastwood's films were the individual stories of the soldiers (one of which was Native American, natch) propagandized by the USO to sell war bonds and the individual Japanese general who wrote letters home to his family during the battle respectively.

While Eastwood could have included black soldiers as extras on the Japanese island to account for their presence, Lee's accusations that Eastwood purposely shortchanged history is irresponsible. I respect Lee's effort to honor the 1 million African-Americans who served WW2 in St. Anna and look forward to seeing it (I studied with one of the nation's leading African-American historical scholars during college, thank you). I regret that the so-called John Wayne version of historical events doesn't always credit the work of black men; but I get bothered that Lee criticizes Eastwood's defense by saying, "The man is not my father and we're not on a plantation either," further going on to say, "even though he's trying to have a Dirty Harry flashback, I'm going to take the Obama high road and end it right there."

If Lee were to, indeed, "take the Obama high road," he would not continue to use hateful accusatory racist and ageist metaphors to get his point across, but that's a lot to ask the founder of 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks. Lee again misses the message. When Obama distanced himself from his "spiritual advisor" Reverend Wright for saying "God damn America" and other choice expressions describing the negativity African-Americans far too often have encountered and continue to experience, it was for good reason. Obama personifies progress in America with his very success as the Democratic frontrunner to take on War, Inc. To paraphrase Obama, Lee's comments are destructive and show little concern for Obama and what he's trying to do for the American people.

To give Lee proper credit, he is one of the greatest living filmmakers and should be commended for his imagination which has "enabl[ed] us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared," as J.K. Rowling stated in her recent Harvard commencement speech, titled "The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination" . He is definitely someone I admire for his advancements to the world of cinema and I respect his work. I just wish he would not be so quick to point out the flaws in other artists' work while touting his own, particularly when someone like Eastwood has himself contributed a great deal to popular culture.

While I promised to also take the Obama high road myself, to play devil's advocate, what's so wrong with having a Dirty Harry flashback? The iconic role for Eastwood showed an authoritative shift in change from society's focus on the accused in favor of the rights of the victim during the turbulent '70's as a cop taking crime into his own hands battling criminals and the bureaucratic establishment when no one else would. (Though maybe that's what Lee, himself, is trying to do). Not to mention, Eastwood directed the Charlie Parker biopic Bird in the late 80's (which Lee reportedly had a problem with) and has a forthcoming Nelson Mandela project in development (which I'm sure Lee will have a fit over).

No one should be victimized in our society, especially not black Americans, particularly by one of their leading artists. I hope Spike will actually listen to the words Obama heeds and focus on positivity and progress instead of fighting the power. He already has the power as one of the most influential moviemakers around but somehow that's not good enough.

In any event, I applaud Lee's filmmaking and enjoy his envelope pushing even though it gets to be burdensome and meritless from time to time. I look forward to the time when we won't have to create seperate "black movies" to share history lessons not included in the mass "white" marketplace. I understand this was Lee's actual point but I wish he chose a better approach. I can't just ask Lee to change. We all have to. Yes, we can. We just have to ask ourselves one question: do we feel lucky?