We now know the date and the place for William and Kate's big day: Westminster Abbey on April 29. It's being reported that this is a victory for William, who wants the wedding to take place "sooner, rather than later," against the uptight and PR-minded members of the Queen's household, who wanted a summer date that presumably would ensure a brighter, sunnier day for the festivities. Apparently they're taking their chances and keeping their fingers crossed that the notoriously gloomy "Springtime in London" rain showers won't rain on the whole parade.
As all the various details are announced, I'm struck by the fact that William and Kate don't seem to be shying away from memories of Princess Diana. Conventional wisdom said that unhappy memories of Diana's funeral would preclude having the wedding at the Abbey, but obviously that's not the case, not to mention the fact that Kate is now wearing Diana's engagement ring. I would rate this as another victory for Prince William, because over the 13 years since Diana died, the royal family on an official level has seemed to want to erase the whole tumultuous Diana era from their collective memory, to pretend as if the whole thing never happened. Clearly that's not okay with William and it really is going to be fascinating to watch as the whole thing plays out over the next few months.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
No Boys On The Second Floor
If you think you've already heard enough about Sarah Palin to last you until doomsday and beyond, my advice is that you take to your bed, cover your head with a pillow and don't come out until Thanksgiving of 2012, because it's about to get a lot worse. Tonight TLC airs episode 2 of "Sarah Palin's Alaska", Monday is Bristol's Dancing With The Stars finale, and Tuesday brings the debut of "America By Heart, Reflections on Faith, Family and Flag," Sarah's second book. Wow.
With the amount of media attention this woman and her family get, you'd almost think she's the next President of the United States, which is a thought that drives me to despair and makes me want to pack up my stuff and move to Tahiti. When I calm down and think it through, however, sanity returns and I remember that Sarah Palin is a media phenomenon, not a serious politician. She gets media coverage because she's good for ratings, not because she's proposing good solutions to the serious problems facing our country. If you don't believe me, ask yourself this: Would any of this be happening if Sarah Palin looked like Susan Boyle?
Anyway, if you look beneath the surface of the nonstop media deluge, you'll see that some serious Republicans are beginning to state that the emperor (empress?) has no clothes. Peggy Noonan, Republican columnist for the Wall Street Journal and speechwriter for President Reagan, recently called Palin a "nincompoop." Mark McKinnon, who was a media advisor for George W. Bush and John McCain, said "Palin is getting close to her 'sell by' date... her stock is falling and pretty rapidly now, I think." Karl Rove recently expressed concern that Palin lacks gravitas, a perception not likely to be erased by shots of Sarah on television, wearing running shorts and hollering "No boys on the second floor" at her 16-year-old daughter Willow. Conservative blogger Mona Charen piles on, stating that Palin "quit her job as governor after two and a half years, published a book (another is due next week) and seemed to chase money and empty celebrity. Now, rather than being able to highlight the accomplishments of Sarah Palin's Alaska, we get "Sarah Palin's Alaska," another cheesy entrant in the reality show genre... Palin as a presidential candidate? Absolutely not." And I loved hearing former first lady Barbara Bush tell Larry King, in an interview to be aired tomorrow night on CNN, that Palin is "beautiful, and I hope she stays in Alaska."
Even the Weekly Standard, usually the usually the loudest and cheeriest of Palin's right-wing media cheerleaders, calls her TV show "tacky," and that's before we've even seen the very special episode co-starring Kate Gosselin.
With the amount of media attention this woman and her family get, you'd almost think she's the next President of the United States, which is a thought that drives me to despair and makes me want to pack up my stuff and move to Tahiti. When I calm down and think it through, however, sanity returns and I remember that Sarah Palin is a media phenomenon, not a serious politician. She gets media coverage because she's good for ratings, not because she's proposing good solutions to the serious problems facing our country. If you don't believe me, ask yourself this: Would any of this be happening if Sarah Palin looked like Susan Boyle?
Anyway, if you look beneath the surface of the nonstop media deluge, you'll see that some serious Republicans are beginning to state that the emperor (empress?) has no clothes. Peggy Noonan, Republican columnist for the Wall Street Journal and speechwriter for President Reagan, recently called Palin a "nincompoop." Mark McKinnon, who was a media advisor for George W. Bush and John McCain, said "Palin is getting close to her 'sell by' date... her stock is falling and pretty rapidly now, I think." Karl Rove recently expressed concern that Palin lacks gravitas, a perception not likely to be erased by shots of Sarah on television, wearing running shorts and hollering "No boys on the second floor" at her 16-year-old daughter Willow. Conservative blogger Mona Charen piles on, stating that Palin "quit her job as governor after two and a half years, published a book (another is due next week) and seemed to chase money and empty celebrity. Now, rather than being able to highlight the accomplishments of Sarah Palin's Alaska, we get "Sarah Palin's Alaska," another cheesy entrant in the reality show genre... Palin as a presidential candidate? Absolutely not." And I loved hearing former first lady Barbara Bush tell Larry King, in an interview to be aired tomorrow night on CNN, that Palin is "beautiful, and I hope she stays in Alaska."
Even the Weekly Standard, usually the usually the loudest and cheeriest of Palin's right-wing media cheerleaders, calls her TV show "tacky," and that's before we've even seen the very special episode co-starring Kate Gosselin.
Will Sarah Palin run for President? I don't think so. Running for President is really, really hard work. More to the point where Palin is concerned is that you do it as a volunteer. There's no salary that comes with declaring yourself to be a candidate for president. That fact alone reassures me that I probably won't have to move to Tahiti.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
No More Waitey Katie! William Pops The Question
I've turned out to be an on-again, off-again blogger and it's been a few months since my last post, so what did it take to get me back to blogging? Prince William's engagement, of course! For better or worse, the love life and romantic choices of a British king-to-be are once again big news, and yes, I admit, I'm watching.
Although there's certainly a "deja vu" element to all this, harking back to 1981 when the world was first introduced to Lady Diana Spencer, I'm struck as well by how much things have changed. William and Kate's courtship has lasted longer than the substantive reality of Charles and Diana's marriage, and apparently Kate is the oldest woman ever to marry an heir to the British throne. To put it another way, Kate is just short of her 29th birthday; at the same age, Diana had been married for almost nine years, was the mother of two boys and was no longer sleeping with or even speaking civilly to her Prince Charming. At that point both she and Charles had been having full-blown affairs with others for several years. When it comes to dating and choosing his bride, the royals have clearly worked hard to learn from past mistakes, and William has been allowed to do things differently. The hope, of course, is that the outcome will be different too.
So congratulations to William and Kate. Based on the BBC's saturation coverage of this story today, you would think the fate of the world hinges on this marriage. I definitely wouldn't go that far, but it is intriguing, and I'll be keeping an interested eye on all of it. More blogging to come, I promise!
Although there's certainly a "deja vu" element to all this, harking back to 1981 when the world was first introduced to Lady Diana Spencer, I'm struck as well by how much things have changed. William and Kate's courtship has lasted longer than the substantive reality of Charles and Diana's marriage, and apparently Kate is the oldest woman ever to marry an heir to the British throne. To put it another way, Kate is just short of her 29th birthday; at the same age, Diana had been married for almost nine years, was the mother of two boys and was no longer sleeping with or even speaking civilly to her Prince Charming. At that point both she and Charles had been having full-blown affairs with others for several years. When it comes to dating and choosing his bride, the royals have clearly worked hard to learn from past mistakes, and William has been allowed to do things differently. The hope, of course, is that the outcome will be different too.
So congratulations to William and Kate. Based on the BBC's saturation coverage of this story today, you would think the fate of the world hinges on this marriage. I definitely wouldn't go that far, but it is intriguing, and I'll be keeping an interested eye on all of it. More blogging to come, I promise!
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