Still Thinking About Brangelina

Yes, Brad and Angie really did get married in France, almost a week ago now. Thoughts:

No pictures = no news. Although it was really big news yesterday (at 2.30 p.m. I counted seven separate Brangelina items on people.com) the frenzy has died down faster than I would have predicted. The reason for this, presumably, is that there are no available pictures of the event and no video. Although reporters like Lama Hasan at ABC have been sent to France and are reporting from outside the gates of the castle, there's not much to report on that wasn't covered yesterday.

How's Jennifer taking it? For better or for worse, the former Mrs. Brad Pitt is forever locked into a pop culture triangle with the new Mrs. Brad Pitt and her husband. Although it's almost certainly a coincidence, the big wedding news broke the day after not only the premiere of Aniston's new movie (Life of Crime, which opens today) but also the very funny Friends reunion segment on Jimmy Kimmel Wednesday night. And yes, Jennifer's moment in the spotlight did get swallowed up in the tsunami of wedding coverage.

Why five days? So why did the Pitts pick this particular week-end, then wait five days to announce the news? No one knows for sure but Soraya Nadia McDonald at the Washington Post has an intriguing theory: it's because of the NFL.

First off, the Hollywood press was fully occupied by the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday and the Emmys on Monday, two glitzy, star-studded events where the couple wouldn’t be missed... 
 Normally, the Emmys are in September, and they air on Sunday. This year, they were bumped up a month and to a Monday because of one thing: professional football. The big networks (NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox) air the Emmys by rotation, and this year, the duty fell to NBC, which is also the home of Sunday Night Football. There was no way NBC was going to dump perfectly good football money for the Emmys, nor bother putting it up against Monday Night Football later in the fall.

So that’s how we ended up with back-to-back award shows, the Emmys airing on a Monday for the first time in 38 years, and no one paying attention to Hollywood’s biggest couple. 

Waiting until Thursday also screwed the tabloids and McDonald says this was not a coincidence. New issues are published on Wednesday and start to appear on newstands on Thursday. By the time next week's editions are published the wedding will be old news, especially if no pictures are released. Really. Read the entire article here. 

Who benefited most from this whole thing? Josh Shaw gets my vote. Who's Josh Shaw? He's the USC football player who jumped off a second-story balcony to save his nephew who was drowning in a pool. He sprained both ankles in the process and was hailed as a hero. Except he didn't and wasn't. Questions about what really happened started to bubble up on Tuesday and by Wednesday afternoon Shaw had confessed. He made the whole up. He also hired a big-deal criminal defense attorney, which of course made it look as though there had to be more to the story. This was covered in detail on the Thursday morning news shows, but by the time they went off the air the wedding news had broken and the mainstream media quickly pivoted. People in the sports world, and bloggers (including me,) are still curious about how Josh Shaw really hurt himself, but I'd guess he's very grateful to Brad and Angelina for getting married and blasting him out of the spotlight, at least temporarily.  

Keeping It Secret

When John Kennedy Jr. pulled off his secret wedding back in 1996, someone, whose name I don't remember, was quoted as saying, admiringly, "John Kennedy could run the CIA." I have somewhat the same feeling this morning about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

They got married in France on Saturday and the world didn't find out until this morning, a very impressive act of secret-keeping for one of the world's most famous couples. Between Twitter, the morning news shows and the tabloid covers I read at the supermarket, not to mention people.com, I keep a pretty close eye on mainstream entertainment gossip and there was nothing, absolutely nothing about this anywhere until it was officially announced this morning by a publicist. So far I haven't seen any pictures from the wedding, although I'm assuming a few will be released eventually. In the meantime, this picture of Brad wearing his wedding ring, taken in England today, will have to do.



So congrats to Brad and Angie, not so much for the wedding as for the private low-key way they pulled it off. They're not really as important or as wonderful as their press coverage makes it seem, but still. This very private wedding is a nice classy contrast to that other Americans-in-Europe wedding that happened in Italy a few weeks ago.

Who's On The Cover This Week?

I don't know yet.

It's been a hot, hazy, sticky "dog days of summer" week here in Chicagoland and I admit that I hadn't given too much thought to this week's People cover. (An Emmys recap is one possibility.) I got up this morning and realized that it was Wednesday morning and I hadn't done a Guessing Game post. Oh well, I figured I'd just check people.com at 7.00, which is when they usually post the new cover, then do my usual Wednesday morning post.

Apparently the magazine's off their normal schedule too, because the new cover wasn't there. I checked a few more times and as of about 8.15, still no picture of the new cover.

So this isn't a Guessing Game post and it isn't a People Cover post. Right now, it's nothing. Presumably the new cover will show up eventually and when it does I'll add it to this post. Stay tuned...

Mid-morning update:


An interesting choice. The picture of Sharon Tate is mesmerizing and MURDERED BY MANSON, bright red and in all caps, is provocative, but this news is 45 years old. Apparently People secured an interview with victim Sharon Tate's sister Debra, who's now 61, but does she really disclose "Chilling New Details"? Still, Tate is a Dead Gorgeous Blonde Woman, one of People's favorite cover topics.

Media Literacy note: The cover implies that People actually interviewed the sister (and I used the word "apparently") but it's possible that the magazine is simply quoting things Debra said to other media outlets. It's also possible that this cover story is tied to a new book about the murders, although the headline language doesn't refer to one.

One more thing: After posting the cover and my comments above I googled "Sharon Tate Murder" and sure enough, Debra Tate has written a book. It's titled Sharon Tate: Recollection and you can buy it at Amazon.com.

Comic Relief

My new post is up at Blog To Work; read it here.

Who?

Jill Duggar? Really? This week's cover is so dreary that I couldn't even bring myself to post it for a few days. I know about the Duggars but I didn't realize one of the daughters would rate a People cover. I'm more interested in the other Duggar news, which is that mom-of-19 Michelle recorded a robocall encouraging people to fight an ordinance that would protect the rights of transgendered individuals. I think she's ignorant in the extreme, as well-expressed by Rebecca Stokes at The Stir:

I genuinely dig this lady. She's truly gifted when it comes to interacting with children, and I think every human being should be allowed to live their life in whatever way they see fit. In theory, someone in Michelle's position should believe the same thing! She's received her own share of criticism from the country (and the world) about her decision to continue having children. You'd think as such she'd be more sensitive to the feelings and rights of others.

This ordinance (which passed, by the way, in spite of her call) would be preventing other human beings from being persecuted for no crimes other than asserting their identities.Michelle's ignorance is the only thing this call revealed. Promoting the false idea that every member of the transgendered community is a pedophile is just unspeakably stupid. I wish there was a nicer word I could use, but there isn't. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Read the whole article here.

The Guessing Game

What will be on the cover of People magazine this week? 

A few possibilities:
Ferguson, Missouri: The dead teenager, Michael Brown, and/or the police officer who killed him, Darren Wilson
Erin Corwin: Three weeks ago she was a Missing White Woman on the cover of the August 11 issue. Now her body's been found and her alleged lover, Christopher Lee, has been charged with murder.
Mo'ne Davis: The 13-year old Little League pitching phenom. I'd also love to see a feature about the Jackie Robinson West team, a group of Chicagoland kids who are also playing in the LL World Series.
Ice Buckets: Lots of people, famous and not, are pouring buckets of ice water over their heads.

What I Didn't Expect In Job Search

My new post, a follow-on to last week's thoughts, is up at Blog To Work. Read it here.

The Summer Of Ice Water

Have you dumped a bucket of ice water on your head? Me neither, but a lot of people, from Ethel Kennedy to Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates to Oprah, have. Years from now when we look back on the summer of 2014, we'll sigh nostalgically and say, "Oh yeah, that was the year everyone was pouring ice water over their heads."

You probably know that the #IceBucketChallenge is connected to raising money for the ALS Foundation. What's been somewhat obscured as the Challenge has gone viral is that originally getting doused with ice water was a way to avoid donating to ALS. The Challenge was phrased as either get dumped with ice water or donate $100 to ALS. Donations to the Foundation are sharply up over last year, so presumably lots of people are donating money as well as taking an ice bucket to their heads, and that's worth cheering about.

The silliness of the Ice Bucket Challenge, plus the serious shower of money to fight a horrible disease, is a nice break from all the bad stuff going on this summer, so crank up the ice maker and grab a bucket. It's all for a good cause.

There's Absolutely Nothing We Can Do About It

The Daily Beast has a great article about Kim Kardashian's current place in pop culture. Is it possible Kim's really in on the joke?

Read it here.

She's Back...

Sarah Palin, that is. Did you know that she now has her own network, kind of? It's actually a subscription-based online video channel, which you can access for about $100 a year or $9.95 a month.

If you're willing to pay $9.95 a month to hear what the quitter half-term former governor has to say, feel free to skip this next part, because people who don't admire Sarah are having a lot of fun:

The New Yorker calls it a new digital act in an on-going passion play
Stephen Colbert has locked down "thesarahpalinchannel.com,
The LA Times, pondering the potential influence of the new site, says "we're not in Walter Cronkite's America any more,"

So what do people get for their money? As an example, check out Sarah's response to part of Elizabeth Warren's speech at Netroots Nation in July.

Here's what Warren said: "We believe that no one should work full-time and still live in poverty and that means raising the minimum wage... we believe that fast food workers deserve a livable wage and that means that when they take to the picket line, we are proud to fight alongside them."

And here's what Sarah Palin said, as transcribed by Ben Dreyfuss at Mother Jones:

"We believe?' Wait, I thought fast food joints, hurh. Don’t you guys think that they’re like of the Devil or somethin’ I was. Liberals, you want to send those evil employees who would dare work at a fast food joint then ya just don’t believe in, thought you wanted to, I dunno, send them to Purgatory or somethin’ so they all go VEGAN and, uh, wages and picket lines I dunno they’re not often discussed in Purgatory, are they? I dunno why are you even worried about fast food wages because dha." 

And note, as Dreyfuss points out, this wasn't recorded live. Palin had three weeks to figure out what she wanted to say.

I believe that in politics, smart people can disagree. Many issues, including fast food wages and the minimum wage in general, are complicated, with no easy answers. It's possible that raising the minimum wage would have an effect on small-business owners. It might result in higher prices for consumers. It might result in fewer minimum wage jobs. It's an issue worthy of smart, fact-based debate.

So you tell me. Did Sarah's fans get their money's worth?

Cool New Words

Do you humblebrag?

Do you binge-watch? 

Are you adorbs? 

Those are just a few of the new words in the August update to OxfordDictionaries.com. 

More:

Cray

Mansplain

Side boob

Listicle

YOLO

Hate-watch

Hot mess

Douchebaggery

Catfish

So WDYT? 

Check out the full list here. 

The Sincerest Form Of Flattery

Do you remember "Firms"? It was a devastatingly effective ad run by the Obama campaign in 2012, featuring Mitt Romney singing America The Beautiful while info about his business and financial practices ran on the screen.



Now an organization called Taxpayers For Quinn is running a similar ad against Bruce Rauner, the billionaire who's the Republican candidate for governor in Illinois (and a heck of a lot richer than Mitt Romney.) This one features My Country 'Tis Of Thee, thankfully not sung by Rauner.



My understanding is that Rauner is currently polling better than Republicans usually do in blue Illinois. Will this new ad change that? Stay tuned.

Robin Williams

People was messing with my schedule again this week. After Williams' death was announced Monday, it was pretty much a no-brainer what the cover story would be, so much so that they posted the cover at people.com Tuesday afternoon. So no guessing game post this week. I barely know who Blake Lively is and I have zero, truly zero, interest in what her "new passions" might be.

The Good Old Days

My new post is up at Blog To Work; read it here.

Nixon's The One

My blog readers know that I'm fascinated by the view of the world that appears through the lens of People magazine covers. Now here's another tidbit of history, this time from Time. Could you have guessed who has appeared on the cover of Time magazine more than anyone else? Answer: Richard Nixon. Check out this cool video at Time.com.



And do you remember why Nixon is in the news this week? It was 40 years ago that he resigned the Presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

Back To School

My new post went up Monday at Blog To Work; read it here.

A Different Kennedy Story

I got it right, just a few weeks early. Beyoncé and Michael Johns get sidebar stories.

The Guessing Game

What will be the cover story on People magazine this week?

The Kennedy Wedding: I've been debating whether or not People will put Bobby Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines on the cover. They've had several stories on the website ("Exclusive:"  the cake, the dress, etc.,) but I'm not sure if Bobby and Cheryl have enough pop culture "juice" to warrant a full cover story. 

Jennifer Huston: Up until yesterday afternoon she was a missing woman in Oregon. Unfortunately they've now found her body, so People may go with a Dead Blonde Woman story. 

Michael Johns: A one-time American Idol finalist, also found dead. 

Michael Strahan: Splits from his fiancée, who was Eddie Murphy's ex-wife, and get inducted into the pro football Hall of Fame. 

Beyoncé: Singing about the elevator incident. And are she and Jay Z splitting? 

Jennifer Lawrence: Breaks up with her boyfriend 

Kristin Chenoweth: A mysterious illness

The Ebola Victims: Two Americans return from Africa for treatment in Atlanta