palewire

As it turns out, I am not too hot for the Los Angeles Times (see previous post). Or at least not anymore. The following company wide email from Sam Zell, our new owner, arrived this morning.

Everyone, 

I learned on the first leg of our tour of Tribune’s business units that some of them were filtering Internet content. I do not see how a member of the Fourth Estate, dedicated to protecting the First Amendment, can censor what its own employees and partners can see.

I have instructed that all content filters be removed. You are now exposed to the dangers of You Tube and Facebook.Please use your best judgment.

Let’s focus on what is important, and go for greatness.

Sam 

Have you seen the goofy new McDonalds commercial with the kid dancing to “The Cha Cha Slide?”

Funny stuff, right? And I bet you’ve heard the same song at weddings too, even if you didn’t know its name.

But did you know it was produced M.O.B. Records Inc., a Chicago record label controlled by Marvel “King Vel” Thompson, the reputed head of the Gangster Disciples street gang?

Or so said U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald back in 2004, before he became famous as the special prosecutor who convicted Vice President Dick Cheney’s aide Scooter Libber.

Doesn’t look so cute after you hear that, does it?

I wonder where the royalties for the commercial are going. Is M.O.B. Records still operating? If not, who is collecting off the track these days?

It looks like their Web site is down. Here’s what the homepage says:

Sorry our site’s broken… but we have had problems with our web server and a slow hosting company (yawn!) and we’ve had to take it out of service. We will resume normal service in the next day or so… Come back soon!

Thanks for being here for us…

Maybe I’ll send an email over to the McDonalds PR squad on this.

After perfecting the hell out of the electro angle they went after on Black Cherry with 2005’s Supernature, Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory have picked a pitch perfect change of direction. If the lead single, “A&E,” is any indication, they’re intent on moving into Kate Bush’s old territory. All airy longing and surging electronic burble. Oh, I’m thrilled.

Here’s the new thing:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VPyso87fZU[/youtube]

And the string it plucks in my brain:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRHA9W-zExQ[/youtube]

Who knows if the album can deliver on the single’s grand promise. But I’m eager to find out.

What follows is a screenshot from the Web site of the Las Vegas Sun. It was snapped from the comment rolls at the bottom of editor and president Brian Greenspun’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton.

Now that’s what I’d call divine intervention.

With the presidential primaries working up to their full fury, it can sometimes seem like dark forebodings are blooming all around us. I know all the political rancor can get people down. But look on the bright side, public angst always makes a good season for what my favorite comedian, Bill Hicks, dubbed “the comedy of hate.”

For instance, when I emailed my uncle a couple of the goofy tag clouds I’ve cooked up at work lately (ex. one, two), here was his response, unedited:

Maybe you can do one for me that shows the frequency of
words I use to describe politicians.
Like:

asshole
liar
ego-centric
disingenuous
opportunist
insincere
dishonest

Can you do thin in real time as I write? Huh? can ya?

His personal motto: “Never vote, it only encourages those people.”

I don’t agree with him. But, come on, that’s pretty funny.

So I’m looking for a new car out here in LA. To give you an idea of what I’m going through, consider the following Cars.com ad.

Yes, that’s right. The asking price for a 1992 five-speed hatchback Honda Civic with 278,942 miles is $5,800.

Here’s what happens if you try to access palewire.com using the Los Angeles Times internal web connection.

I have no idea what the filter is up to, but a search for the offending term yields only a reference to a certain punk rock band and a brief whine about becoming a professional geek, neither of which seem all that sexy.