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Hillary Clinton Dropping New Book of Reflections Six Weeks Before Presidential Election

Roger Friedman
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Hillary Clinton Dropping New Book of Reflections Six Weeks Before Presidential Election

Hillary Clinton is back with a vengeance.

The former Secretary of State whose presidential bid was stolen by Donald Trump is publishing a book on September 17th to tell like it was…and is!

“Something Lost, Something Gained” is described as “reflections on life, love , and liberty.”

The timing is very important. The book should become a hot topic of conversation just a few short weeks before the presidential election. Clinton has lately been very vocal about the dangers of Donald Trump becoming president again. The book will likely not hold anything back.

Among what is discussed: “the threats we face, and the future within our reach.”

Expect to see Hillary everywhere — from “60 Minutes” t0 “The View” and all the morning and late night shows, taking the air out of Trump’s campaign.

According to the Simon & Schuster website: “She describes the strength she draws from her deepest friendships, her Methodist faith, and the nearly fifty years she’s been married to President Bill Clinton—all with the wisdom that comes from looking back on a full life with fresh eyes. She takes us along as she returns to the classroom as a college professor, enjoys the bonds inside the exclusive club of former First Ladies, moves past her dream of being president, and dives into new activism for women and democracy.”

The book should have been called, “Imagine what the world would have been like if I’d been elected.” What if the COVID virus had been taken seriously by the White House? What if domestic terrorism and white supremacy had been tackled early on? So many other crises instigated by the Trump campaign would never have happened. The world would look a lot better now!

Happy Birthday, Carly Simon, the Real Role Model for Confessional Songwriters Like Taylor Swift

Roger Friedman
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Happy Birthday, Carly Simon, the Real Role Model for Confessional Songwriters Like Taylor Swift

It’s Carly Simon’s birthday. Don’t believe Wikipedia. Simon was born in 1944. She turns 80 today.

When Carly exploded on the scene in 1971 with “That’s the Way I Always Heard it Should Be,” the era of the confessional songwriter began. If you’re looking for a precedent for Taylor Swift, it’s Simon, not Joni Mitchell or Carly Simon.

What set Simon apart from the beginning — and has preserved her music for all time — was the music those heartwrenching lyrics was set to. No two songs were exactly the same, but all of them featured very strong, catchy melodies and hooks that — sung in her sultry voice — sounded more sophisticated than anything ever heard before.

Carly has more hits singles on her CV than any of her contemporaries. Of course, “You’re So Vain” — maybe or maybe not about Warren Beatty — stands out, but there is a raft more including “Coming Around Again,” which should have won an Oscar, “Let the River Run,” which did, not to mention “Anticipation,” “Haven’t Got Time for the Pain,” “Jesse,” “It Keeps You Running,” “Mockingbird,” “We Have No Secrets,” and so on.

Because Carly is a confessional writer, and a keen reporter of her own life, we know a lot about her. Her father was the Simon from Simon & Schuster, her childhood included her family befriending Jackie Robinson. We know a lot — but not all — about her marriage to James Taylor that produced daughter Sally and son Ben. Carly is probably more identified with Martha’s Vineyard than lobster tails.

She has never been much of a touring artist. Crippled by stage fright, and a stutterer, a Carly Simon live performance has always been a rarity. We are the poorer for it. When she did do shows, the rooms were packed, lines ran out the door. If she announced a one off show now, it would shut down the ticketing service.

Carly may not be performing, but her Instagram account is constantly updated. We know she’s thriving on Martha’s Vineyard, and from what I know, her songwriting is not at all behind her. We may yet see some surprises soon!

So happy birthday, Carly, now a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a significant contributor to pop music!

PS Carly’s mother chose her name because a friend had it and she liked it. But now — from “iCarly” to soap opera characters, etc, when you hear that name, they all come from the one and only. Like Cher or Madonna, there is only one Carly.

Paramount Global Erases Archives of MTV Website, Wipes Music, Culture History After 30 Plus Years

Roger Friedman
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Paramount Global Erases Archives of MTV Website, Wipes Music, Culture History After 30 Plus Years

MTV.com is gone. Kaput. Wiped off the face of the Earth.

Parent company Paramount Global, formerly Viacom, has tossed twenty plus years of news archives. All that’s left is a placeholder site for reality shows. The M in MTV – music — is gone, and so is all the reporting and all the journalism performed by music and political writers ever written. It’s as if MTV never existed. (It’s the same for VH1.com, all gone.)

There’s no precedent for this, and no valid reason. Just cheapness and stupidity.

This follows the shut down of MTV News on the channel last year. MTV is now just a graveyard for reality show crap. All of its substance has been desiccated over time.

MTV News became a force in music, entertainment, and politics in the early 90s. As the channel’s popularity soared, the News division — including the faces of Kurt Loder, Alison Stewart, Serena Altschul, Sway, and John Norris — became incredibly important especially to political campaigns. Now all those interviews — hundreds of thousands of hours with rock stars and what we now call influencers of generations — have been replaced by a link to “Help! I’m in a Secret Relationship.”

Writer Kathy Iandoli posted: “MTV.com deleting all of our articles and replacing them with schedules for TV shows that can also no longer be streamed on their site is proof that no one has any idea of what the hell they are doing right now.”

She’s not alone. There is fury among MTV.com writers past and present who now see their histories erased, along with all the music and political reporting.

Patrick Hosken posted: “So, http://mtvnews.com no longer exists. Eight years of my life are gone without a trace. All because it didn’t fit some executives’ bottom lines. Infuriating is too small a word”

Michell Clark wrote: “I don’t even have the words. I was just a freelancer but I put so much blood, sweat, and tears into telling stories that I cared about, the right way, on that platform. What a gut punch.”

The end of the MTV.com archives is not unprecedented. When the former New York Observer was bought by Jared Kushner years ago, hundreds of articles disappeared.

As Paramount destroyed the library of articles, some writers managed to save a few for the WaybackMachine, which was just profiled for trying to hold onto evaporating information on the internet. But mostly the articles about pop culture will vanish now.

Paramount owner Shari Redstone has allowed something to happen here much worse than any of her recent fears about selling the company.

The greed of the company is obvious, as well as its lack of respect for journalism. But this is also a wake up call for anyone though the internet was forever. Not having print copies of a writer’s work is a big mistake. A big lesson is learned here.

Kevin Costner: “The Postman” Rings Twice as Poor “Horizon” Advanced Ticket Sales Echo Star’s Other Flops

Roger Friedman
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Kevin Costner: “The Postman” Rings Twice as Poor “Horizon” Advanced Ticket Sales Echo Star’s Other Flops

Kevin Costner’s “Horizon” opens Thursday night in previews. According to Fandango seat maps, not a lot of people have purchased advanced tickets.

In fact, most theaters in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles show just a few seats sold — like four or five at most.

The Thursday previews are wide open. So are Friday shows. I checked the 7pm show in all cities, and right now you can buy 20 at a time if so desired.

Costner is no stranger to huge flops. Two of the biggest in movie history are on his resume: “Waterworld” and “The Postman.” With “Horizon,” another vanity project, Costner may get to put his stamp on this category: The Postman always rings twice.

“Horizon” is a three hour part 1 of two films coming this summer, like it or not. In part 1, Costner himself evidently doesn’t show up in the first hour. Costner is relying heavily on Sam Worthington — whose screen profile is mostly as a blue Avatar — and the always welcome Sienna Miller to carry the show.

Audiences don’t seem excited. The really big hit of the weekend is set to be “A Quiet Place: Day One,” from Paramount, which already has sold out shows. This is the third chapter in a very successful series, which spells stiff competition for an unknown quantity. Original three hour film about the Civil War vs. scary, slimy aliens?

Costner also goes into “Horizon” with a lot of bad will from his “Yellowstone” fans. He’s finally conceded that he’s not going back to the hit show, although everyone knew that. Costner had been insisting up until last Friday that he could return. But the final episodes were mapped out long ago, and that ship has sailed.

“Horizon” Part 2 comes in August, although if Part 1 is ignored, Warners/New Line will really have a problem. Might they move it to Max? The film has a “rotten” 47% among critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

New White House Assistant Communications Director Already Apologizing for Past Controversial Tweets

Roger Friedman
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New White House Assistant Communications Director Already Apologizing for Past Controversial Tweets

Meet Tyler Cherry. He’s the new White House Assistant Communications Director.

Here he is:

Cherry has a checkered public past. He’s already apologizing for it. This is what he wrote on Twitter two hours ago: “Past social media posts from when I was younger do not reflect my current views. Period. I support this Administration’s agenda – and will continue my communications work focused on our climate and environmental policies.”

Cherry is the former Interior Communications Director. His new job is handling communications for the White House Climate Policy Office, working with the White House press office on climate and energy policy announcements.

According to reports, in 2015, he tweeted “the modern day police system is a direct evolution of slave patrols and lynch mobs.” And he prayed “even harder for an end to a capitalistic police state motivated by explicit and implicit racial biases.”  He also helped boost “Russiagate.” In 2018, he called for ICE to be abolished.

Here’s a full report.

This doesn’t seem like a good idea for the White House or Joe Biden right now.

Tom Cruise Parties at Taylor Swift Concert in London, Daughter Suri Graduates High School in New York

Roger Friedman
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Tom Cruise Parties at Taylor Swift Concert in London, Daughter Suri Graduates High School in New York

As you may know by now, it’s been a bittersweet weekend in Tom Cruise’s family.

The mega movie star’s daughter, Suri, graduated from La Guardia High School in New York on Friday. She now goes by the name Suri Noelle, and has dropped Cruise after 12 years of no apparent communication with her father.

Cruise didn’t keep a low profile during graduation weekend. Instead he attended Taylor Swift’s concert in London last night, where he was very aggressively public about making an appearance, seen dancing on video, and so forth. Cruise rarely goes out in public, so this was a choice. He was sending a message.

When Cruise and Suri’s mother, Katie Holmes, split in 2012, it was because the actress had escaped the situation. And what was that? In 2005, Holmes was persuaded by Cruise to leave her life, her family, and her Catholic religion, to join him on a whirlwind. He forced Scientology on her. She was monitored when he wasn’t around by the cult’s members. These were the years when Cruise was jumping on TV couches, promoting the cult wherever he could, even indoctrinating his mother and sisters.

Luckily, Katie Holmes came from a close family. Her father and brother are lawyers. Eventually they created a pathway out for Katie and Suri. I do not know the details of the separation agreement. But it does seem like because of their rejection of Scientology, Katie and Suri were labelled “suppressive persons.” Tom was ordered to disengage with them, which is Scientology doctrine.

As far as the public knows, and what I’ve been told over the years, that was the end of the relationships. Dropping Cruise’s name is as much a choice for Suri and going to the Swift concert was for Tom. What a shame for a daughter never to know her father. And for a father to choose a religious cult over his daughter.

Suri is going to Carnegie Mellon University in the fall, a school for teaching actors. She’s following in the footsteps of her parents, regardless of not knowing one of them. Down the road, there’s always a possibility of an awkward public meeting. Just wait til Suri has to do an interview for a movie.

As for Cruise, the public loves him despite all this. They flock to his movies with him jumping out of planes, climbing skyscrapers, etc. So far, his bizarre private life — very much out in the open — hasn’t cost him a career. Just a family. His framed pictures aren’t of his daughter growing up, but with other cult members at the group’s events (see this one, for example).

Cult: Fashion Designer Rebecca Minkoff Comes Out as a Hardcore Scientologist Dating Back to 1991

Boffo! Disney’s “Inside Out 2” Scores $100 Mil 2nd Weekend, Biggest Movie of 2024!

Roger Friedman
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Boffo! Disney’s “Inside Out 2” Scores $100 Mil 2nd Weekend, Biggest Movie of 2024!

“Inside Out 2” has turned the box office inside out.

Disney’s Pixar sequel made $100 million this weekend. It’s now the highest grossing film of 2024, beating “Dune Two.”

Total US box office is now around $355 million. At this rate, $500 million is around the corner.

Audiences are going back and back to see the sequel to “Inside Out.” Everyone loves it, and there’s no sign of it slowing down.

“Inside Out 2” is good for movie theater business. Snacks are being sold, there’s foot traffic.

Meanwhile, “The Bikeriders” made $10 million in its debut. But the wheels may come off these bikes. Each day — Friday, Saturday, Sunday — showed a diminishing return. Beautifully made, but plot deprived, “Bikeriders” is perplexing to audiences. Who do you root for, and why? I didn’t get it. But I did love Tom Hardy’s performance.

“Thelma” opened nicely with $2.2 million for Magnolia. There are Best Actress and Screenplay noms lurking. June Squibb, age 93, is just lovely. Go see it, it’s a crowd pleaser.

Bob Dylan Driving Festival Crowds Crazy with Obscure Setlists, No Hits

Roger Friedman
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Bob Dylan Driving Festival Crowds Crazy with Obscure Setlists, No Hits

Imagine that you weer at the Outlaw Music Festival tonight. Bob Dylan comes out and plays “Highway 61 Revisited.”

You say to yourself, Okay, last night was an aberration. We’re going to hear his best songs tonight.

Well, you would have been wrong.

After “Highway 61,” Dylan tortured the crowd with 13 obscure songs including covers of Chuck Berry, the Fleetwoods, the Grateful Dead, and Paul Davis (the singer of “I Go Crazy,” not my cousin, the radiologist).

Dylan has hundreds of well known songs in his catalog. But he also has a perverse sense of humor. He doesn’t care why you came to see him. Forget about early stuff like “Blowin in the Wind” or “Mr. Tambourine Man.” You’re not going to get anything from “Blood on the Tracks” or “Desire.” You might get “Things Have Changed,” which an Oscar.

Ypu’ll be so exasperated that by time he gets to the last two B level songs — “Ballad of a Thin Man” and “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight”

Maybe Bob is upset Willie Nelson took a few days off. In April, at least he threw in four to six better known tunes plus a cover of “Jambalaya.”

But mostly all Dylan sets these days are rebukes of the audience. Bob doesn’t care that he Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, or that damn Oscar. Sometimes he sings, “You gotta serve somebody,” but that may be advice to a waiter. Dylan serves no one.

If you have a sense of humor, too, then okay. The band is always spot on. But if you were hoping for “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” play the records instead.

Or pick up “Shadow Kingdom,” Bob’s sop to fans during the pandemic. (It’s excellent.)

Donald Trump Says You Can Drive With No Stopping from New York to Los Angeles in a Regular Gas Powered-Truck

Roger Friedman
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Donald Trump Says You Can Drive With No Stopping from New York to Los Angeles in a Regular Gas Powered-Truck

Donald Trump claims below that you can drive a truck with gas across the country from New York to Los Angeles without making a stop.

No refilling. All on one tank. (In reality, a semi would require three to four stops coast to coast.)

An electric truck, he says, would require several stops. In other words, maybe two or three more times than a petrol-fueled tank.

Trump hates electric vehicles because he can’t figure out how to charge them. I would say this is typical of Republicans and conservatives, but Elon Musk — the best known proponent of electric vehicles — is both of those things.

And yet, hearing this, Trump supporters — even truck drivers themselves — want him in office.

Truck drivers speak up!

I hope the Biden campaign will use clips from this speech in their commercials.

Donald Trump Attacks Bill Maher Audience Laughter as “Fake, Loud, Obnoxious”– Sound Familiar? (Plus, Watch Jiminy Glick!)

Trump Cognition Alert: Refuttal or Refutal? (Neither is a Word) Couldn’t Remember: “Rebuttal” (Watch)

Roger Friedman
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Trump Cognition Alert: Refuttal or Refutal? (Neither is a Word) Couldn’t Remember: “Rebuttal” (Watch)

This is a man who does not know what he’s saying. He couldn’t remember the word ‘rebuttal’ at today’s Freedom & Faith Rally in Washington DC.

He gets it confused for “reffuttal” or “refutal.”

“What the hell word would that be?”

Maybe it was covfefe.

Trump also calls his staff “stupid people.”

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