Archive for February, 2008
An Obit worth reading
By Tom Teicholz at 13 February, 2008, 2:47 pm
Martha Blum, author of the Walnut Tree has died. Her obit in The Globe and Mail is worth reading…..read all the way to the end and read her last words….
MARTHA BLUM, 94: WRITER
Pharmacist survived the Holocaust to publish her first novel at 86
All told, the Saskatoon teacher and musician wrote three
books — all in [...]
Grammy Album of the Year
By Tom Teicholz at 12 February, 2008, 10:22 pm
My congrats go out to the Grammy winning album of the year — Herbie Hancock’s “The River: The Joni Letters”, Herbie Hancock’s riffs on Joni Mitchell’s songs with vocals by Mitchell herself, Tina Turner, Luciana Souza among others.(Between us, Tina Turner’s vocal is amazing — who knew that the woman who never did anything [...]
Read More >>Covers Dylan has performed
By Tom Teicholz at 11 February, 2008, 11:00 am
Although much has been made of the fact that Dylan’s work has been covered– Dylan himself has covered a great many songs, beginning with the covers he did early in his career.
One of my favorites early on was Dylan’s cover on his first album of Eric von Scmidt’s “Baby let me follow you down.” Dylan [...]
MICHAEL POLLAN, ALOUD at the LA Central Public Library
By Tom Teicholz at 11 February, 2008, 12:37 am
As I was checking in to the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley with my family this weekend, I saw a familiar face sitting in the lobby — Michael Pollan, the now well known author of such books as “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” I haven’t seen Michael in several years (I still think of him as “Mike [...]
Read More >>DYLAN DU JOUR
By Tom Teicholz at 7 February, 2008, 10:34 pm
For today’s Dylan du jour item, in honor of the opening of the Skirball exhibit today, “Bob Dylan’s American Journey, 1956-1966″ I would like to tell you about one of my favorite artifacts in the show.
It’s a typed letter to Joan Baez’s mother that Dylan wrote as if from Joan Baez, and got Joan [...]
The Ghost of Vanity Fair Oscar Parties Past
By Tom Teicholz at 7 February, 2008, 2:11 pm
Vanity Fair has canceled its Oscar party – Given that the party had gotten so big and had become such a big production, taking a year off must come as a relief to many, certainly at Vanity Fair.
The stated reason is the writer’s strike — a feeling that regardless of the outcome, even if [...]
DYLAN WEEK AT TOMMYWOOD
By Tom Teicholz at 6 February, 2008, 3:08 pm
Last night I went to the opening of the Dylan exhibit at the Skirball. Let me say this –I’ve now been twice and I still haven’t had the time to look at everything I want to as deeply as I’d like.
My Tommywood column on the exhibit will appear in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles [...]
Give Leno his due — Let him host the Oscars
By Tom Teicholz at 5 February, 2008, 12:39 pm
Leno, as reported just about everywhere, continues to dominate the late-night ratings, despite his writers being on strike, and in spite of the fact that Letterman, who signed an interim pact with the Writer’s Guild, is supposedly supposed to be getting “better” guests.
Comedy mavens. and not a few comedy snobs, prefer Letterman– but the public [...]
Earl Butz, so long…
By Tom Teicholz at 5 February, 2008, 12:25 pm
Earl Butz, the former Secretary of Agriculture in the Ford administration, who resigned over racist comments he made aboard a plane trip after the Republican convention, died on Saturday at 98. He also was convicted and did jail time for misstating his speaking income in 1978.
Butz’s remarks were reported by John Dean in Rolling Stone, [...]
INCREDIBLE: I TURN INTO FOOTBALL FAN
By Tom Teicholz at 3 February, 2008, 11:24 pm
As some of you know from reading my column on Roger Director’s “I Dream in Blue: (Harper), I have never been much of a sports fan. And yet.
And yet interviewing Roger and reading his book taught me a lot about the Giants — enough that I actually could name the players and voice opinions about [...]