Their two cents.

The New York Times, that is. I can't comment because I was too preoccupied with last-minute Sotheby's jobs and getting over a bug to take a moment. A bad person?

The feelings of sadness and loss with which we look back on Sept. 11, 2001, have shifted focus over the last five years. The attacks themselves have begun to acquire the aura of inevitability that comes with being part of history. We can argue about what one president or another might have done to head them off, but we cannot really imagine a world in which they never happened, any more than we can imagine what we would be like today if the Japanese had never attacked Pearl Harbor.
What we do revisit, over and over again, is the period that followed, when sorrow was merged with a sense of community and purpose. How, having lost so much on the day itself, did we also manage to lose that as well?
The time when we felt drawn together, changed by the shock of what had occurred, lasted long beyond the funerals, ceremonies and promises never to forget. It was a time when the nation was waiting to find out what it was supposed to do, to be called to the task that would give special lasting meaning to the tragedy that it had endured.
But the call never came. Without ever having asked to be exempt from the demands of this new post-9/11 war, we were cut out. Everything would be paid for with the blood of other people’s children, and with money earned by the next generation. Our role appeared to be confined to waiting in longer lines at the airport. President Bush, searching the other day for an example of post-9/11 sacrifice, pointed out that everybody pays taxes.
That pinched view of our responsibility as citizens got us tax cuts we didn’t need and an invasion that never would have occurred if every voter’s sons and daughters were eligible for the draft. With no call to work together on some effort greater than ourselves, we were free to relapse into a self- centeredness that became a second national tragedy. We have spent the last few years fighting each other with more avidity than we fight the enemy.
When we measure the possibilities created by 9/11 against what we have actually accomplished, it is clear that we have found one way after another to compound the tragedy. Homeland security is half-finished, the development at ground zero barely begun. The war against terror we meant to fight in Afghanistan is at best stuck in neutral, with the Taliban resurgent and the best economic news involving a bumper crop of opium. Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11 when it was invaded, is now a breeding ground for a new generation of terrorists.
Listing the sins of the Bush administration may help to clarify how we got here, but it will not get us out. The country still hungers for something better, for evidence that our leaders also believe in ideas larger than their own political advancement.
Today, every elected official in the country will stop and remember 9/11. The president will remind the country that he has spent most of his administration fighting terrorism, and his opponents will point out that Osama bin Laden is still at large. It would be miraculous if the best of our leaders did something larger — expressed grief and responsibility for the bad path down which we’ve gone, and promised to work together to turn us in a better direction.
Over the last week, the White House has been vigorously warning the country what awful things would happen in Iraq if American troops left, while his critics have pointed out how impossible the current situation is. They are almost certainly both right. But unless people on both sides are willing to come up with a plan that acknowledges both truths and accepts the risk of making real-world proposals, we will be stuck in the same place forever.
If that kind of coming together happened today, we could look back on Sept. 11, 2006, as more than a day for recalling bad memories and lost chances.

Saturday night's alright for...

I'm cursed. Not only do I have some aches but I'm also snuffling and sore-throating. So instead of spending a Saturday afternoon in a cinema, I'm at home popping Lockets and looking at videos on YouTube - no one uploaded "Hands Across America" yet and the guy who put up Stealth still won't put up the last part with the credits (they're part of the movie, dammit! What are you, an ITV employee?), but hey, at least I don't have to worry about Abbey fees any more 'cause they already did the withdrawing and they left enough to pay for Inchon and 25 All-Time Greatest Bubblegum Hits.

It is time for other people to get geeky: Katie's theme.

Katie being Katie Couric, lately in the news for headlining CBS Evening News (and presumably on the verge of getting her name in the title) and becoming the first woman to do so in the process over there (since Katie is by all accounts a bit on the cuddly side, the main British equivalent would be something like Kate Garraway moving from GMTV to News at Ten, although over here there have been female hosts of Newsnight and the main news broadcasts. But then again, is there a British equivalent of Barbara Walters or Walter Cronkite? Or even the late Peter Jennings?) And since NBC called on the services of John Williams to write their long-lasting news theme, CBS brought on James Horner to write a new theme for the veteran presenter, which certainly isn't as bold as others. It's almost folksy... and it's very much in the Horner mould. One fan said it was a rewrite of Field of Dreams, but it's unfortunately not that good; I don't mind hearing it again, and it does suit her, but it ain't Williams, or indeed the theme from News at Ten ("Bong...").

Rashod D. Ollison from the Baltimore Sun writes: For someone who has composed songs for more than 100 movies, including the Academy Award-winning score for Titanic, writing a 10-second snippet of music should have been a cakewalk for James Horner.

But the assignment -- to create the theme that introduced Katie Couric on last night's CBS Evening News -- was anything but, at least according to a profile in yesterday's Wall Street Journal.

The network brass wanted "urgent and serious, yet light." Couric, said Horner, wanted "wheat fields blowing rather than Manhattan skyline."

So did Horner succeed?

Well, yes and no. The cough-and-you-missed-it clip was light on the strident drums and bombastic horns typical of the evening news. The music blows away without leaving an impression.

Jerry Del Colliano, a music industry professor at the University of Southern California, says the theme is "critical to a medium that routinely bombards audiences with sound effects, music bumpers, promos and theme music."

The music fits Couric: firm yet polite but ultimately boring. It complements the "warmth" of the orange-gold graphics. In a way, Horner, 53, accomplished his musical mission.

"Setting a this-isn't-your-father's newscast tone right from the start is important," says Vicki Kunkel of Leader Brand Strategists, a brand management firm in Chicago. "The theme song sends the message that this will not be an in-your-face newscast but will quietly and confidently deliver the news with a sophisticated air.

"Will viewers notice the snippet of majestic horns and strings?

"Older viewers shouldn't care," Del Colliano says. "An aging audience for evening newscasts and the proliferation of the Internet -- is anyone paying attention? ... The next generation listens to its own beat in more ways than music."

The Crawdaddy Empire Strikes Back

Further to this, from ContactMusic (and others, but I saw it from them first):

Cindy Crawford is fuming about reports in a French magazine that claims she confessed to having Botox injections to keep her looks from sagging. Style magazine Gala recently printed an article following an alleged interview with the US beauty, but Crawford's representatives insist the chat never took place and the ageing model is hurt and upset. In the article, Crawford is credited as saying, "I owe the quality of my skin to my cosmetic surgeon," but her angry spokeswoman Nicole Caruso states, "Cindy didn't make the statements attributed to her in the article. "We're investigating this matter fully and intend to take all appropriate action against the source of the falsehoods."

It sure sounded convincing, though. I'm still on Cindy's side, no matter what happens; it's not like she's Gary Glitter or Michael Jackson (or OJ Simpson, come to that).

A matter of impact.

In the wake of Steve Irwin's tragic (and as WWTDD? noted, cruelly ironic) passing, many fans have been understandably in mourning - but we've also had the inevitable harder thoughts. One, of course, was from professional shit-for-brains Germaine Greer so we won't pursue that any further (but you can read ithere and go to others from there) , and there are also the inevitable sick jokes (including an adjusting of the Wikipedia entry on Stingray to include a reference to the Hunter- now cleaned up), but another was on a blog that brought forward the inevitable "Why are the media going overboard over this death and not such and such?" response.
While it's understandable that some feel that way, there's actually a reason. Yes, it's appalling when masses of people die en masse. And yes, it's horrifying when people are murdered in savage circumstances. And no, they shouldn't have their tragedies neutered or watered down in any way. But... but how widely known was Stephen Lawrence before his racially-charged murder? Or JonBenet Ramsay? Or that girl who escaped after being held captive in Austria for years? And how individually known are the casualties of war? Or the 9/11, Bali, Madrid or London bombings? We can't put faces to all the victims, and that's probably a good thing - if we kept getting it in our faces at high levels of impact all the time sooner or later we'll all get desensitized to horrifying and undeserving fates. And I don't want to be desensitized; I want to be in horror at death, both fictional and real.
Being famous put Irwin more at a one-on-one level with people; they didn't know him, but in a sense they sort of knew him as a familiar face - as a character - as a hero. As a sort of friend. When you can put a face to someone and you admire that someone, hearing about his passing makes it hurt more than if it was as part of a natural disaster or war strike, and that's why there's so much news focusing on the end of the Crocodile Hunter. Domestic outrages are outrages, but they don't resonate much worldwide (again, not to imply they're not important, because they are); Steve did.

Remind me to start reading Neil Gaiman.

As Ken pointed out, I hated him long before he started dating a woman far out of his league; cheers to him (K, not Blunt) for this link. Everybody sing...

Bye, Steve.

Fuck me.

Saturday, Elisabetta and Jessica.

I'm a superstitious guy. I don't like going to the same cinema twice in a row; don't ask me why, I just don't. So it's a good thing I've got an Unlimited card for Cineworld cinemas (if for no other chain); yesterday I wanted to get over to Enfield for an evening showing of Nacho Libre or Miami Vice (or even My Super Ex-Girlfriend). Took ages to get there, and when I finally did... there was a load of people outside and a fellow with a walkie-talkie. Meaning an Incident there, and no one allowed in. And it's not like I live right next door or anything (and London's public transport isn't the greatest). I've been cursed this week, I must be (thwarted with Aquamarine as well). So just to make up for it, Elisabetta Canalis from GQ and Jessica Alba with her dog. Sorry to make this damn thing even slower...

John Williams and Pink, together for the first time!

Ah, American football. Say what you will about it, at least they go the extra mile to tempt people to tune in... can the same be said for the FA Cup? Can it hell. NBC's Sunday Night Football, as mentioned earlier, hired John Williams to write his first TV series theme since Amazing Stories (news themes don't really count in this context), but as per this article his intro will be followed by tattoo loving easy target attacking Alecia Moore, d/b/a Pink. To give Jen and the rest of you an idea of what's in store, here's Pink and here's the great man. Enjoy...

Oh grow up, Channel 4: the weekend update.

Cindy: Cindy, for Light The Night.

Vanessa: Channel 4, for their upcoming sub-fourth form bid for attention... er, drama about G.W. Bush's assassination. (As one wag noted, there's only one way it'll be pulled...)

Cindy:

Vanessa: The MTV Music Video Awards. Madonna, Kanye West and Christina Aguileraisacunt going home empty-handed and works by Shakira, the Pussycat Dolls, Beyonce and Kelly Clarkson managing to bag one each do not really make up for James Blunt winning two. He should never be the big winner at these things. Or any things not involving wusses.

Cindy: John Williams, proving yet again that he has no peers when it comes to making me even mildly interested in sports (along with Gayle "Where is she now?" Gardner, he can take all the credit for getting me to watch some of the 1988 Olympics) - he's written the new theme for Monday Night Football. Expect it to be out online by the end of the first game.

Vanessa: Work this week. Have you ever had to country-sort thousands of pieces of mail? And mailsort several more thousand as it comes off the printing line and bag them up? And have to rush through some of them rather than take the time to separate the letters that get stuck together? Better to be busy than go through a fallow patch, I admit, but that fallow patch is lookin' mighty tempting now.

Cindy: Keith Olbermann. (See Butch's blog, or here.)

Vanessa: Joseph Stefano, he of The Outer Limits and Psycho, passing on.

Cindy: The guy who wrote to me gushing over The Longest Weekend. If that doesn't inspire me to get a move on...

Vanessa: Adult Swim being classified on Bravo's EPG as one two-hour block instead of each show (including shows which I believe weren't part of it in America, like Kid Notorious and Stripperella) getting its own listing. Oafs...