Monday, October 29, 2007

Running Down a Dream

Florida natives Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have been around for thirty years. Whatever you think about them, that's a pretty impressive achievement given that most bands burn out in a few years or have a revolving door replacing members or are tired shells of themselves on the nostalgia circuit. To celebrate, Peter Bogdonavich has directed a four hour (yes, you read that right) documentary about the history of the band. Is the band really good enough to sustain a four hour documentary? All Music Blog notes that it's longer than Sorcese's celebrated Dylan bio No Direction Home. Putting that aside, the film is named after a Petty song from the album Full Moon Fever. While it's a great song, perhaps Petty's best, Full Moon Fever is a solo album. While some of the Heartbreakers performed on the album, it's still a solo album and it doesn't seem appropriate to use as a title for a sprawling four hour film celebrating a band a single from the frontman's solo album. Imagine a Rolling Stones documentary called Primitive Cool.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

I will screw him in the ass!

This Dubya anecdote isn't exactly hot off the presses; it comes from a February Haaretz review of Uri Dan's book Ariel Sharon: An Intimate Portrait":
Speaking of George Bush, with whom Sharon developed a very close relationship, Uri Dan recalls that Sharon's delicacy made him reluctant to repeat what the president had told him when they discussed Osama bin Laden. Finally he relented. And here is what the leader of the Western world, valiant warrior in the battle of cultures, promised to do to bin Laden if he caught him: "I will screw him in the ass!"
Once again, he returns honor and dignity to the White House.