Re: It is an absolute fact Hank
 

Re: It is an absolute fact Hank
 

Detail me, Homes.

Re: It is an absolute fact Hank
 

Ahh, here is where life comes full circle.

Ironweed's asshole friend could get a job as a driver for our car service if he (1) smoked more than 60 cigarettes a day in the car or (2) developed cataracts.

Race
 

So, I went to see Race on Broadway last night. Not the original cast (most notably, no Kerry Washington) and the new actors were awful.

Eddie Izzard - He was fucking drunk. Slurring his words, dropping lines, correcting himself. The guy walked right through the role. And I wanted to like him because I generally love Eddie Izzard.

Dennis Haysbert - What a fucking complete fraud this guy is. His whole career is based on him having a deep voice. Because it sure as hell has nothing to do with his acting, which is atrocious.

The loser playing the accused - A complete fucking joke.

The young, black female associate - Can't tell if she would have been workable if she had something to work with because she had nothing to work with. Other than her looks and figure, she did not impress.

Finally, let's talk about Mamet. I've never seen Speed the Plow, American Buffalo or Oleanna but I have seen The Spanish Prisoner, Glengarry Glenn Ross, The Verdict and The Untouchables. I thought Glengarry and Untouchables were fantastic. The Verdict was good and The Spanish Prisoner was god awful.

But this play is a new low. The twist at the end is pointless. The (presumably purposefully) disjointed message he is trying to send through his characters about race is so random and meaningless that I felt like the whole exercise was a complete waste of everyone's time.

But there the overwhelmingly white crowd was, eating this shit up. Mamet is clearly skilled at delivering sharp-tongued dialogue. But without the necessary insight into the subject matter he is tackling, he comes off as a smart guy trying to trick someone into thinking he knows what he's talking about. Here's a tip: Whenever you have a prominent black character talk about how he can't stand when people assume he is where he is because of affirmative action, check the credits to see if whatever you're watching was written by a white man (or Alan Keyes).*

Anyway, the play is about a rich white man accused of raping a working class black woman and how his lawyers tackle the case. Stereotypes are thrown around for no real reason and the payoff at the end, as I said, is a complete waste of time. Mamet is in way over his head. And the standing ovation given by the large and almost entirely white crowd (thrilled at being comfortable enough to laugh at the phrase "little nigger bitch") made me a little sick.

I read an interview about his approach to the writing of this play and he said he didn't want to draw any easy conclusions for the audience. Bullshit. He's hiding. And his cowardice manifests itself through the audience's comfort.

Contrast this play with August Wilson's Fences, starring Denzel, which was a powerfully written, brilliantly acted, look at the effect of racism on a working class man, and the resulting consequences of that man's bitterness on his family. Mamet should be ashamed of himself for putting that steaming pile of shit on stage for all the world to see in the same country, let alone in the same 3 block radius as Fences.

TM

*This argument against affirmative action fails because whether or not affirmative action exists (and it sure as hell doesn't in almost every aspect of life), the presumption for almost every black person is that s/he is where s/he is because they were given something. It was always be that way.

Re: Race
 

In the time it took you to write this post, six Mumbaikars were hit by trains.

Re: Race
 

I don't have much to ass because I've always thought David Mamet is basically a fraud (I liked the Untouchables and Glengarry Glen Ross but they are just flashy bits of entertainment) when it comes to substance. He's good with dialogue, but has really nothing to say beyond being provocative.

But I am disappointed to hear that about Dennis Haysbert. I really liked him in Far From Heaven.

Re: It is an absolute fact Hank
 

or doesn't wear deoderant/ fun time in 99 degree weather.

Re: Race
 

I haven't seen him in that. But he was just terrible in Race. Maybe it's because he couldn't possibly believe the crap that was coming out of his mouth, but I guess that doesn't help my opinion of him as an actor.

TM

Re: Race
 

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/mov...id-mamets-race

the orig folks would have been better james spader and richard thomas.
it did not look like they have changed signage.

Re: Race
 

Random and completely irrelevant factoid: August Wilson wrote Fences while living in St. Paul.

And based on your review I will pass on seeing Race if it makes it out here to flyover land.

Re: Race
 

that was a punchline?

maybe I'll see the play in the fall when I'm in TCOTU, but I've not seen it.

But I had a detailed conversation about AA with a black man a few days after my state decided to ban it for school admissions. the day of the vote a white associate at my firm told me he really hoped it passed because "rich black kids in Bloomfield Hills are riding on it into better schools."

the statement was so stupid as to make my head explode, and i told the guy as much, while trying not to be too big of a lecturing assholes to him, because too many white people have no real experience with black people as complete people, especially here.

But in my later conversation I said AA needs to exist, at least for schools. There are too many bright young black men that have never had a father, and have no family history of college, and their mom works silly hours to keep them where they are (e.g. out of Detroit schools as an example). I said, there is no way you can say that kid is on equal footing with my kids or any other of the white kids growing up around them all. The black kid needs a chance, if nothing else the promise that he will have a chance so he work through school.

The black guy had an entirely different take on it. He didn't change my take so much as make me realize we can agree on where to go, but see different reasons.

And that made me realize that, even though I'm beginning to write, if I write a play about race, and there are characters expressing a black man's view I'm going to look for a co-writer., or at least a sounding board The divides and different experiences are still to imposing.

p.s. who knew he wrote the Verdict. I do think Ironweed would be better off if he had never seen that particular role model.

Re: Race
 

numbskulls, they're all being reborn as calves as we speak. namaste!

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

I was getting mail on my gmail account all day until a little under four hours ago, since which time I don't think I've received anything. Anyone know if gmail is still working?

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

My gmail is working. Got an e-mail about 10 minutes ago. Seems to be delivering them on time. Hank will have a snarky comment about your lack of popularity within the hour. He'll e-mail it to you.

Re: It is an absolute fact Hank
 

The car/pedestrian interactions in Cairo were the worst I have seen. In that the pedestrians just walk out into traffic (because they have to), and somehow they seem to avoid each other.

Re: Race
 

Or Justice Thomas.

What I have seen of Mamet (mostly in movies), I have liked. But I view it is pop culture entertainment. August Wilson, on the other hand, had something to say.

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

Mines been working all evening, as far as I can tell.

Re: It is an absolute fact Hank
 

cities on speed- Cairo- how to handle the trash that's generated when a city doubles in size in a short period of time.

Re: It is an absolute fact Hank
 

I've been to Cairo, but I think Naples traffic was worse than that. Driving there is like a neverending game of chicken + bumpercars.

tm

Re: It is an absolute fact Hank
 

From what I was told, doubles in size (roughly) from 7 am to 9 am on weekdays.

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

AON - Cal Ripken is HOT. (Just ran into him coming into our building. Those blue eyes are amazing.)

Carry on.

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

he's yummy.

Idiomatic Malapropisms Redux
 

Since the board is quiet (blackout, anyone?) and I am procrastinating some exciting drafting, here is the newest addition to my idiomatic eggcorn collection:

"the question...just made my blood curl."

Link.

Re: Race
 

At this point, as a general matter, white people* see affirmative action wherever they look and feel like something is being taken away from them. The amount of fear behind the fact that they may not be getting a fair shake in .00001 of the situations in which they find themselves in life is amazing given the fact that they tend to rationalize all the advantages they enjoy as something they deserve.

Whatever. I don't want to talk about affirmative action. I just thought the play sucked and Mamet's take on the topic is laughable.

TM

*Obviously not all white people

Re: Race
 

See it all the time.

In hiring situations, I have a simple rule: I want the lawyer who wasn't spoiled rotten. I generally think suburban usually white kids who never worked but did "internships" don't make good lawyers. No hunger.

So I'm always arguing, let's hire X over Y. They are both smart. They both went to good schools. They both got good grades. But Y went to prep school and X went to an urban magnet school, and X got the grades while working. If X is black or hispanic, I'm charged with pushing affirmative action. No one ever sees the built-in bias for Y as insidious in its own right.

Of course, Y is usually, but not always hired.

Re: Race
 

That may work in a "who will work the hardest" sitch but I've learned over time, that the ones that came up hard [whites] from a socio economic standpoint are often the hardest to work for.

They break your balls the most and get the most princess or princely and insist that you serve them or rub in your face constantly that they worked harder and are deeply insecure. Or they do the opposite, only comfy around staff they sidle up to you to be buddies and then are needy and use what you tell them against you. They're the ones obsessed with staff overtime.

On the other hand, I've worked for a visiting atty that on the weekend with no support helped with catering, with loading the paper in the printer, carried all the food, opened door and I found out after his parents are from big money on Park Ave. it's how you are raised.

Re: Race
 

Why wouldn't the firm want Y to boost their diversity numbers in the associate ranks? They can always make sure he doesn't make partner if they don't feel he "fits in." It seems to work for them when it comes to their female associates.

Re: Race
 

nor did I. I was talking about the difficulty of writing about another race's take on race.

Re: Race
 

Why would you go there, Hank. I was wondering that the other night. In your garbled post you said something like if I ever write something I'd commission a co author from his perspective. what would make you an authority? you're not a minority perspective. I was spanked in college for speaking out on a minority persp and I am a minority.

Re: Race
 

I think that a lot of writers have that fear, and it ends up lilly-whitifying popular culture, because most writers in hollywood tend to be white. To watch California on television, you'd think that there wasn't a Hispanic within a 500 mile radius. Used to bug the shit out of me in both Buffy (set more or less in the Santa Barbara area) and Angel (set in Los Angeles). I remember reading some interview with a writer* fretting about the issue but being too afraid to do anything about it because he was afraid to get it "wrong." The solution, of course, is to hire Hispanic writers. Not because of any affirmative action bullshit, but because clearly their perspective is desperately needed.

*Can't remember which one. Pretty sure it wasn't Whedon. May have been Fury or Minear.

Re: Race
 

seinfeld, set in NYC? although eventually touched on it lightly with George's boss and his "friend" the exterminator.

Re: Race
 

The chair of the hiring committee at my olde shoppe used to argue for boosting diversity numbers. He's the only one I've heard make the argument in an actual hiring situation, where it came down to X versus Y. Otherwise, I've always find people forget about the diversity numbers when it comes down to bankers son versus teamster's daughter. Unless the teamster's daughter is a scratch golfer or the teamster's son has a good jump shot. YMMV, and I'm pretty cynical about the process.

Of course, Olde Hiring Committee Chair also decided to give a call back to Miss Texas despite qualifications the rest of us found laughable. He still owes me that 1/2 hour of my life.

Yes, hire but not promote seems to have a particularly big impact on women in firms. I always thought it was the difficulty of finding mentors, but I've mentored a couple women and not been successful in getting them promoted. Probably just the wrong mentor...

Re: Race
 

it depends on firm, and region. some firms are known for the good old boy, country club trust fund environment and some are known similar to Bear was known on the street to hire young, hungry poor and super smart and they battle. It is often said people would rather hire a motivated, incentivized individual from Brooklyn Law or St. John's than someone that feels entititled and doesn't want to work.

this is a huge pet peeve of mine. often it is who you know. I see it all the time, letters of recommendation from alumni etc. children not of money don't have access to connections like that. the playing field is not level

also: the last airbender

http://www.racebending.com/v3/act/pledge/

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5360134

Bosh plus Wade is not enough anymore is it? But maybe it forces LeBron to give Miami better consideration?

Again, if I'm D Wade I really don't want to be on LJ's team. unless they change the rules to allow two balls.

Re: Race
 

You don't remember The Cookie?

(Why I remember it, I can't say. I was never particularly into that show; I thought it was good but seriously overrated.)

Re: Race
 

I can't quarrel with your assessment that her qualifications were laughable, but how can you not find a way to entertain yourself for 1/2 hour simply by staring at Miss Texas?

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

Please, let's change the subject. On another note, what's the best way for me to get the taste of cock out of my mouth?

Re: Race
 

This ^ comment is going to anger TM more than Mamet's play did.

I have probably seen the Hamptons episode ("I was in the pool!") 20 times. Just saw it again last week. Still hilarious.

Re: Race
 

There are two possible ways for a white writer in Hollywood to include blacks and Hispanics. One is to write a character where minority status is the essential characteristic, and is CONSTANTLY called out for dramatic tension or laughs. I think most writers' rooms are now uncomfortable with this. The second is the Affirmative Action avatar, where a supporting character is selected in order to demonstrate the good faith of the show and to advance the social agenda that blacks are just like us etc. Every show you've seen where the teen computer whiz is black is guilty of this. And now writers are growing past this stage, too, leaving them to find a new third way: a character whose race is an element of their identity, but who is not overly exploited for that, at least not in comparison to other characteristics. I guess this must be hard to do, because there are few examples I can think of. Wanda Sykes on "New Adventures of Old Christine" comes to mind, but it's a little bit guilty of Magical Negro stereotypes because she's the go-to voice of wisdom even though she's supposedly as flawed as the other characters. They go a little too far out of their way to avoid making her, of any of the people on the show, act ridiculous, ever, and that tells me they're still walking a racial tightrope in the writers' room. Fortunately Wanda Sykes is funny.

Unsurprisingly, Hollywood writers were able to achieve this level of plot integration with gay characters sooner. We went from Billy Crystal on "Soap" to any number of characters that are gay but that fact is not the go-to punchline for the character. ("Will & Grace" was an embarrassing throwback.) Seems there might be a gay or two in the writer's room.

Re: Coltrane's gone suburban
 

Yeah. I've always wanted to live in either (a) a big city, or (b) a small town, and my suburb really seems like a small town. I can walk to downtown, the train, and to all of the good key parties.

And I can ride my bike to Trader Joes.