by Monte Holman

Dear Teenage Fanclub:
Please forgive the sterility of the medium. Were we in the UK , we would do this in person. It’s been a while since your last solo effort. 2000 brought us Howdy!, and you released the collaboration with Jad Fair, Words of Wisdom, in 2003, which was great‚Äîdon’t get us wrong. But it’s been a quiet half-decade for new Teenage Fanclub material. Since you’re one of our very favorites and have been for quite some time, we were worried.
So you can imagine our excitement after hearing your latest, Man-Made. And on top of that, you collaborated with John McEntire on this one. Twin powers unite—form of wonderful addition to already stunning discography!
Anyway, thanks for answering our questions. So nice to hear from you again.
(Teenage Fanclub is Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Gerard Love, and Francis Macdonald. Norman Blake wrote us back.)
****************************

Norman Blake
This is the first album in five years – why the wait?
We released a compilation in 2003 to fulfil a contractual obligation that we had with Sony, after they inherited the remainder of our Creation contract. That precluded us from releasing a new album.
Why’d you choose John McEntire as a producer, and how did he affect the songs on this album?
Gerry had worked with John on an album that the Pastels had recorded for the soundtrack of a Scottish independent movie called the last great wilderness. When it came time to think about who we would like to work with, Gerry suggested John. We all liked the work that John had done with Stereolab, so he seemed like a good choice. John saw his role as primarily an engineering one (which he did very well). Leaving the song arrangements to us, however; he did some pretty creative stuff when we were mixing.
How do you feel about how Man-Made has been received? Lots of reviews note the album’s pop-ness‚Äîis that a compliment?

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And the irony is, Dems were looking for a way to end terrorism, Neocons like Bush were looking for an excuse to go to Iraq….

From NYTimes
Rove Criticizes Liberals on 9/11
By PATRICK D. HEALY
Karl Rove came to the heart of Manhattan last night to rhapsodize about the decline of liberalism in politics, saying Democrats responded weakly to Sept. 11 and had placed American troops in greater danger by criticizing their actions.
“Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers,” Mr. Rove, the senior political adviser to President Bush, said at a fund-raiser in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State.

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The AFI just released their 100 best film quotes. We can’t believe they excluded Fight Club’s “My God… I haven’t been fucked like that since grade school.” Here’s the top 25. Add your favorites in comments.
1. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Gone with the Wind, 1939
2. “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” The Godfather, 1972
3. “You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.” On the Waterfront, 1954
4. “Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” The Wizard of Oz, 1939
5. “Here’s looking at you, kid.” Casablanca, 1942
6. “Go ahead, make my day.” Sudden Impact, 1983
7. “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.” Sunset Blvd., 1950
8. “May the Force be with you.” Star Wars, 1977
9. “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” All About Eve, 1950
10. “You talking to me?” Taxi Driver, 1976
11. “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” Cool Hand Luke, 1967
12. “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” Apocalypse Now, 1979
13. “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Love Story, 1970
14. “The stuff that dreams are made of.” The Maltese Falcon, 1941
15. “E.T. phone home.” E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, 1982
16. “They call me Mister Tibbs!” In the Heat of the Night, 1967
17. “Rosebud.” Citizen Kane, 1941
18. “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” White Heat, 1949
19. “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Network, 1976
20. “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Casablanca, 1942
21. “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” The Silence of the Lambs, 1991
22. “Bond. James Bond.” Dr. No, 1962
23. “There’s no place like home.” The Wizard of Oz, 1939
24. “I am big! It’s the pictures that got small.” Sunset Blvd., 1950
25. “Show me the money!” Jerry Maguire, 1996

Clifford the Big Red Dog, with Representative Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and others, headed to a Capitol Hill news conference to protest proposed financing cuts for public broadcasting.
We couldn’t agree more with Representative Markey, but he definitely needs a more intimidating posse.

From NYTimes
WASHINGTON, June 21 – Sixteen Democratic senators called on President Bush to remove Kenneth Y. Tomlinson as head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting because of their concerns that he is injecting partisan politics into public radio and television.
“We urge you to immediately replace Mr. Tomlinson with an executive who takes his or her responsibility to the public television system seriously, not one who so seriously undermines the credibility and mission of public television,” wrote the senators.
They included Charles E. Schumer of New York, Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, Jon Corzine and Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey, Bill Nelson of Florida, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California.
Also on Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers joined other supporters of public broadcasting, including children and characters from PBS children’s programs, to protest House Republicans’ proposed cuts in financing for the corporation.
The Democrats’ letter follows a series of disclosures about Mr. Tomlinson that are now under investigation by the corporation’s inspector general, including his decision to hire a researcher to monitor the political leanings of guests on the public policy program “Now,” the use of a White House official to set up an ombudsman’s office to scrutinize public radio and television programs for political balance, and payments approved by Mr. Tomlinson to two Republican lobbyists last year.
Mr. Tomlinson said he would not resign.

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In addition to The New Pornographers show at the Prospect Park Bandshell on Saturday, our friends over at cakehead have listed some great picnic ideas for those of us feeling a little stir crazy inside our cramped apartments:

With that fluke of a heatwave far in New York City’s past and with free the concert season kicked off, it’s time to mark your calendar and prepare your picnic basket.
This week’s free picnic-friendly events include:
Tonight, June 21, 2005, 7 PM: The Metropolitan Opera performs Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Sa√´ns in Prospect Park’s Long Meadow.

Read the full list here

This isn’t until September, but worth mentioning:
9/24 – Coney Island, NY (at Keyspan Park)
White Stripes with The Shins and Brendan Benson

Now that the Jacko trial is over, CNN president Jonathan Klein is once again claiming that it’s time to buckle down and start reporting real news. A recent Newsweek article on Klein even poses the question in regard to CNN: “Will a more highbrow plan work in a tabloid era?”
We’ve been hearing since November 2004, when Jonathan Klein took over the sinking ship known as CNN, that he was going to make CNN “more highbrow.” You know, less Brangelina and Wacko Jacko in favor of real journalism. So when is this supposed transformation going to happen? Over the last 8 months we have seen countless hours devoted to Jacko, not to mention the runaway bride on CNN. Still major news outlets continue to buy Klein’s promise of a more highbrow CNN:

From Newsweek:
Klein has moved aggressively to make CNN’s prime-time producers shift their focus to longer, more-polished pieces, eventually creating a sort of “60 Minutes” every night.

Where’s the evidence of this aggressive shift? When Klein waxes poetic about CNN going highbrow, it’s simply spin. A bluff. The old advertising adage applies, if you say something enough times, people will begin to believe it. (At least the dense people who write for Newsweek). Given Klein’s fluff-filled Jacko/Brangelina-friendly track record, does anybody believe Klein for a second? Here’s a choice chunk from the Newsweek article:

[Klein] was concerned that their evening coverage of the not-guilty verdict was destined to be stale. “We have a less interesting story now,” Klein told his deputies. “What is there original to say about Michael Jackson at this point?”
“Michael dressed like Captain Crunch, walking out of the limousine.” He marveled at opportunities lost: “We could have done 60 stories during that time.”

Yes, you sure could have Mr. Klein.
At this point, Klein reeks worse than a cheating husband who comes home smelling like cheap perfume swearing that it will never, ever happen again.

click me
Don’t know what this is about? Read the Downing Street Memo here.

That’s right, believe it or not they’ve turned Jonathan Safran Foer’s book into a movie. It stars Elijah Wood no less….you know, the guy who will come to hate the nickname Frodo more that Rob Reiner loathes Meathead. Here’s a taste of reader of depressing books‘ review: [Via Gawker]

after the screening, we were given ‘grade’ sheets
where it asked us if the ending should be changed, if anything should be changed, if there was anything we didn’t like and how to change it so we would like it
i wanted to punch someone in the face
but i wasn’t sure who exactly

you can read the whole review here.

Brand Nubian
The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival is an all-day outdoor event celebrating Hip Hop music and culture in New York’s most beautiful borough. Brought to you by Room Service, Seven Heads, and The Brooklyn Brewery.
When: Saturday, June 18th, 1-7pm
At the Brooklyn Brewery
Featuring Brand Nubian, Little Brother, Rhymefest, and Leela James
Get tickets and info here

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