Bailey Alexander: The Europhile

How far have we come, baby?

Pompidou in Paris showcases an all women show, finally, the largest of its kind. We've come a long way but nice to note the quote from 1989 by a group of women plastering posters across New York. "Do women have to be naked to get into the Met?"

Makes me grateful but nostalgic, thinking of the predecessor to the Women's Tennis Association, Virginia Slims. 

When I was a kid, I played competitive tennis.  As a ranked player in the PNW you got to be 'ball girl' when Virginia Slims came to town.  I ran after those yellow balls enthusiastically for Chris Evert and Navratilova, etc, it was such fun but not without its odd moments.

Whenever we had a break we'd view the matches from the isles. One night someone came up quietly behind me and asked for the score. She had a deep, 'female' voice and as I turned around I found my 13 yr old face inches away from Renee Richards, the controversial player who'd undergone a sex change.  No wonder I went on to direct Drag Shows in Seattle. 

But I digress.

It's 2009 and we've come a long way....even if I currently live in a country, a member of the EU, where both abortion and divorce are illegal, and unlike all other EU members, abortion is absolutely illegal under all conditions. GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL, DO NOT PASS GO.  Well, at least the women aren't stoned to death.

It simply makes me enjoy the american activists blogs a bit more, like Tennesseeguerillawomen, reminds me of the fight.   I was lucky to grow up around smart, strong women, like Muv, like cousins that became Superior Court Judges, growing up with close friends w/mother who lived on the lists like Who's Who of Women in America. They worked it, not relying upon sexuality, but instead, their intelligence, their femininity, c'est vrai, one works with what they've been given.

Hefner, Lolita and Dorothy Parker's review of Nabokov circa '58

Hugh Hefner acquires serial rights, but I've mixed feelings, like many, after reading so much ado about Nabokov's unfinished work.

Rewinds my mind to the time I read Dorothy Parker's review of Lolita. I'll go back to my portable DP, the other DP and capture some of Ms. Parker's review for your purview.

For Esquire, in '58, she starts by outlining the publishing troubles, in England, Paris, etc, then quotes one review by the English critic, John Gordon, of the London Sunday Express, "Without doubt it is the filthiest book I ever read.  Sheer unrestrained pornography."

Ms. Parker begins; "I do not think that Lolita is a filthy book. I cannot regard it as pornography, either sheer, unrestrained, or any other kind.  It is the engrossing, anguished story of a man, a man of taste and culture, who can love only little girls.  They must be between the ages of nine and fourteen, and he calls them nymphets." 

The middle bits focus on Lolita, "She is a dreadful little creature, selfish, hard, vulgar, and foul-tempered.  He knows that he knows all of what she is.  That the knowledge cannot turn away his obsession with her is his agony.  An anguished book, but sometimes, wildly funny, as in the saga of his travel across and around the United States with her; and in the account of that trek are descriptions of the American hinterlands that Sinclair Lewis could never touch."

Then she heads towards the end with "It is in its writing that Mr. Nabokov has made it the work of art that it is...his command of the English language is absolute, and his Lolita is a fine book, a distinguished book-all right, then-a great book. And how are you, John Gordon, Esq., of the London Sunday Express?"

This, I find, is the difference between reading a 'thrilling modern critic' critique the world  by keeping it average, like Ellsworth Toohey, and reading one writer's adroit review of another, so verily well.

The new N-word, exposing the man behind the curtain and elsewhere around the sphere.

Phil Bronstein notes the irony of Vanity Fair revealing Palin's Narcissistic personality disorder.  Most people could define Palin's personality in a myriad of ways, but almost all would agree she's fierce. Although perhaps more in the order of a Guy Ritchie movie; a fast moving romp with more attitude than content. 

However, my bet's still on Professor Higgins turning the flower girl into a duchess by the time 2012 arrives.  This makes me curious as to who's been cast as Professor Higgins but I think Robert Murdoch must be the force behind her fierce 'way', which makes sense because those Aussies are anything if pitiless, forget the beer and bar-b-que facade, those people hold nothing sacred.  In fact, Conor Friedersdorf provides the proof along with her inner media mafia on his blog at the Daily Beast; Limbaugh, Hannity, Bill O-Reilly..as if we didn't suspect the usual....

Sadly enough, Glenn Greenwald compiles more violations of conceptions of Western Justice by Obama's administration.

And, down in the land of IOU's, you've got wheelchair warriors taking a stand at the state capitol.  Makes sense if Arnie's going after the most vulnerable people in the State...and hey, like Sarah, don't misunderestimate the underdog folks.

Peter Daou has a point about Palin

Palin bashing too similar to Hillary bashing, you decide, but I applaud Peter Daou's points.  I don't agree with her on most issues, if any now that I think about it, and she's completely polarizing, but so is about every US pres since Clinton. 

America is too big and too diverse, now more than ever and the friction and economic fall out is compounding the challenging atmosphere.  Palin has a lot of followers, alot and the way she's  capturing the  three pathological diseases; 'litigiousness, evangelical and now victimology', well, who knows, she just may harness and capture a large piece of the current state of America's soul.

That's what I call hitting the trifecta....

Faith game shows in Turkey, Embassy parties and wishing I could miss the sun.

Religious quiz shows in Turkey would feel funnier to me if the atheists converted the faith leaders, rather than other way around.

Hmmm, what other musings from Malta, attended a lovely soiree at the Embassy to celebrate the 4th. Dress code: Lounge.  I was jazzed and really anxious to hear the surround sound of American accents, but alas, it was mostly Maltese pressing the flesh.

Gorgeous gig along the Med was hosted by charge d'Affaires, Mr. Jason Davis and his partner, Matthew Smith, both spoke with lovely accents and kind company, specially Matthew.  Wonderful we have a gay couple at the Embassy, but sort of suspicious the enormous size of the US Embassy being built...'for security' they say.

Malta may be neutral, neither of the east nor west, but strategic to be sure.

Newsy blessays along the blogosphere about Obama playing the long game. Fair enough, still think the American experiment could use a big jolt or two....an old friend sent weird article about Obamageddon, well, party til 2012 then.

Wouldn't mind the sun going away, if only so I could miss it.  Maybe I'm just a wimp but 3 months without a day of rain rather enhances the sensation of feeling landlocked. Good for writing, not great for socializing.  Was invited by a Maltese galpal to a Bar-b-Que to complete a social weekend, Libyans, Bulgarians et al but lethal combination of finger food, fests and sun proved too much, instead, yesterday was a day to do nothing but avoid the sun and Swine Flu that's finally arrived in Malta. 

Hung out with some Maltese characters at the local store, the boys regaled me w/stories about some of our compelling modern day rulers, ya know, the sort that have balls seen from google earth, like Cheney.

I've already posted that Berlusconi paid homage to ex PM Dom Mintoff, they guy that stood up to the CIA and kick started Silvio's career in the middle of the Med.  It's well documented the strong ties than bind Qaddafi with Mintoff, but I did not know that Kim Jong-il studied at the University of Malta.  Somehow I suspect he spent more time studying Mintoff's mindset than Maltese studies.

Well, Palin's taken over the press, Michael shall be put to rest soon and until then, I'll just carry on with my business and stay sane by swimming laps at the fresh water outdoor pool where I don my full diving kit, fins, goggles, snorkel and racing suit, if only to scare the wee ones out of my way.

I did finally deviate from my routine and venture into the warm Med, swimming with the fish, avoiding the jellies, enjoying the otherly divine culture of the underwater world....

Meeting Medvedev in Moscow

Russia suggest Obama study up a bit prior to his trip to Moscow.  Somehow I doubt the canny man Putin will be as 'in thrall' with our Prez, after all, we haven't heard of an any ex soviet dissidents occupying a branch of Barry's all inclusive family tree.

Not sure how they'll progress the relationship, both have internal troubles, and yet wide gaps remains betwixt the two; NATO including Georgie and Ukraine, deployment of US missiles in Central Europe aimed directly at Russia, this type of thing.

What I do know is that Russians harbor deep suspicions of America, almost as much as our government feeds the même chose to us...

Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I'll be There

The similarities are startling.  As I miss Michael Jackson I find myself thinking about Judy Garland.

Accents are odd, but Arnold Schwarznegger's is really, really off.

Digby's link to NYT magazine begins with...

“Our wallet is empty,” Schwarzenegger said in a speech a few days before my visit. “Our bank is closed. Our credit is dried up.” He called for cuts that would, among other things, eliminate health insurance for close to a million poor kids, stop welfare checks for more than half a million families and close 80 percent of the state’s parks. Then he pivoted into empathy mode. “I see the faces behind those dollars,” Schwarzenegger said. “I see the children whose teachers will be laid off. I see the Alzheimer’s patients losing some of their in-home support services.”

Then he finishes the interview with his inimitable esprit, “Someone else might walk out of here every day depressed, but I don’t walk out of here depressed,” Schwarzenegger said. Whatever happens, “I will sit down in my Jacuzzi tonight,” he said. “I’m going to lay back with a stogie."

God. The State is broke and this provides comfort?  Of what kind?  And to Whom. And just because he's being such a brute I'm going to pick on his accent.

Royal watchin and California dreamin...

Hard not to admire Queen Elizabeth but the Independent reports the Royal Family cost the taxpayer 69p per person last year - an increase of 3p, via Buckingham Palace accounts.  

I'm not very patriotic but is this proper flag prop protocol?

 Apparently Palin's a runner, not necessarily a news flash, but what's interesting is how the flag is so casually draped, crumpled and uncared for.  If she were in the kitchen and someone spilled a glass of orange juice, she'd probably grab the flag to clean up the mess.  

America is too big.

Some 20 yrs ago, an English friend I'd met while studying in London, traveled extensively throughout the US.  When he arrived in Seattle we talked about his lengthy sojourn and how much he liked the States, how convenient it was, how 'professionally nice' Satellites were, etc and then he said something I still think about, if only because it's so true; N. America is too big.

America's looking a lot like Italy. Al Franken? Finally? Si, Finito!

Mio marito's in Switzerland this week so I can't confirm, but I'm thinking my Italian guy must be ROTFL.  Whenever we caught a whiff from across the pond about the Al Franken/Coleman drama, many moments of mirth ensued.

Professor Higgens, "She's so deliciously low..."

Todd S. Purdum has a delightful piece in Vanity Fair on the wackjob from Wasilla, Sarah Palin.

Andy Sullivan is just obsessed, absolutely obsessed, in fact, he's so inspired he's come up with a bon mot like this; The narcissism, the pathological and incessant lying, the viciousness, the delusions of grandeur, the vindictiveness, the fathomless and proud ignorance, the opportunism, the vanity, the white trash concupiscence and fraudulence in almost every respect: these are now indisputable.

Yes, Andy, yes, I've seen the equation up close in America, devoted a chapter to it;  white trash + evangelical = concupiscence times 10. Sort a like the christianists you blog about incessantly.  Dawn Powell said seven decades ago, "willful ignorance masquerading as native wit" similar diff.

Still think she'll be prez; Higgins beat the bet against Pickering and passed Eliza as a duchess didn't he...

God just keeps on blessing America....

Germaine Greer and Xeni Jardin; two variant, skillful takes on the preternatural talent of M. Jackson

Want to know why we have a zombieconomy? Because the bean counters killed the incentives to create real value.  Accenture and Arthur Anderson anyone?  Previous post re Accenture drones

Xeni Jardin, clever editor of boing boing that she is, clips a post from Harvard Biz review to explain away just how we can learn lessons from M. Jackson's death in the digital age.

Thankfully, artistically, aesthetically, we have Germaine Greer to counterbalance the biz perspective and adroitly capture just why he danced better than anyone else, scaling Orpheus. finer than Nureyev, et al. 

Somewhere Anita Hill is muttering, "I told ya so..."

...but we didn't listen.  The intellectually challenged Justice Clarence Thomas provides the lone dissent.

The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that school officials violated an Arizona teenager's rights by strip-searching her for prescription-strength ibuprofen.

Clarence Thomas begs to differ, he doesn't see the issue with strip searching a 13 yr old for aspirin.

Thank you once again Papa Bush, thank you.

Pope's may come and go but there's only one Michael Jackson

I outta know, I waited for 12 hours to see JPII during my peaceful pilgrimage at the Vatican. 

But Michael, my beautiful man/boy Michael, well, if dance is the most natural means of artistic expression he was certainly the most naturally gifted, the craziest, and jazziest of them all. 

I've sat all morning, watching the videos, did he ever miss a beat, was he not always just 'on', perfect, fabulous.  Everyone else slips or fades or tries to override their arch of creativity, but that boy! from the age of 10!

Fred Astaire said he was a angry dancer, well, maybe, yes, and he certainly rocked my world, yes, he did at that.

Could give a hoot about his personal life, odd the land of Britishers and eccentric Lord Berners that painted their pigeons primary colors still refer to him as wacko jacko postmortem....in a world of freaks, I'd have to say, he was simply thee most gorgeous super freak of them all.

Loved the way he walked, the way he talked, the shuck and jive waltz while pursuing his prey, those graceful fingers as effortlessly effete as any ballet dancer when they flew behind or beside him to create space, the slight slump at the neck, as he tucked in, then exploded.

Loved the wee one in the purple hat, laughed out loud when 'he' was floating down the Thames, could perfectly understand his desire to look like La Liz...the only time I was jealous of Brooke Shields was when she dated him.

From start to finish, I was, am, forever mad, mad, mad about the beautiful boy....

Mother Nature's like a Fabergé Egg; Just Divine

volcanoes blowing holes or kisses, you decide...

Farrah Fawcett: you didn't have to ask your friend, "ya think she's pretty?"

Lovely, funny Johnny and now ebbulient Ed McMahon...

Ed McMahon passes on... a wee slice of my tvland childhood gone, passe, fini, expired.

Ed was so good natured, slightly forced, yes, yet adroit at creating the blueprint for sidekick.  Unlike Jerry Lewis, there was no threat to this powerful partnership, their roles were never fungible.  Only a satire like Larry Sanders properly provides a guide to how clever these kind of entertainers were....I've only seen 2 minutes of Conan's new platform.  I rooted for him in the beginning because he was funny with Andy, now maybe, not so much.

Dave Letterman is the last of the old guard, the old fashioned late nite American funnyman; stoic and silly, willing to play jester, yet stay contained.

I saw Leno live, twice, that's where he belonged, on 'the circuit', where people should and do pay to see you sweat it out for two hours, he was good at that, never found him funny on late nite.

Johnny, well, he played a large part, always had such a crush, we all did, and then Ed, enthusiastic Ed.

Arrivederci caro edwardo.

The view from the middle eastern street.

Iran Twitterer is interviewed by Al Jazeera, at the end of the interview she comments on western media.

"I am disappointed with the way the western media plays and is being picky.  It chooses information that only serves to prove their own wishful thoughts.  I did many interviews and when I read the edited published texts I realise how manipulative such a media is."

I wonder what Jordanians, Egyptians and Saudis think.  They can't even vote but we're fine w/them because they agree with us..I think they see through this and we make few friends this way.