Copious Notes

Convention surfer: 'The Daily Show' & Sarah Palin

John Oliver's clever piece about vigilant Clinton supporters. (There is mild profanity.) Below: Van Halen's music rocked the introduction of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate. Copyrighted Associated Press photo by Stephan Savoia.

Here was the problem keeping up with The Daily Show this week: With most of the Democratic National Convention speeches ending after 11 p.m., and then analysis coming immediately after, it was pretty much impossible to catch the 11 p.m. showing. But, Comedy Central does rerun The Daily Show numerous times, including a Saturday morning marathon of last week's convention shows, and the show is available online. There were a bunch of funny bits, including Jon Stewart, aping Barack Obama imploring people to get to Mile High Stadium early because, "Hope don't park the (bleeping) car!" The part where he had the Stones, Hendrix and Mozart playing before Obama's speech was great, too.

The two best bits were Monday's Healing Clinton Supporters (embed above), in which John Oliver brought in a child psychologist to help the PUMA's and their ilk, and the faux campaign video, Barack Obama: He Completes Us.

Stewart and crew will be in St. Paul/Minneapolis next week, again broadcasting from Tuesday to Friday, like last week.

Surprise!: Credit John McCain for a masterpiece of thunder theft, announcing his historic pick for vice-presidential running mate just 13 hours after Obama's stadium speech Thursday that was reportedly watched by 38 million viewers.

The punditry, like Thursday night, was fairly predictable with folks like Sean Hannity hailing the choice of Palin as brilliant and Olbermann and Maddow dissecting it on MSNBC -- though they did allow that the probe into Palin's firing of an Alaska state official probably won't amount to much. To me, the potential masterstroke of the pick was evidenced in a Good Morning America promo Saturday that billed Palin as the Hockey Mom who could be the next vice-president. Forget the political junkies, appealing to the People magazine-morning chat show crowd with Palin's human interest story -- mooseburgers, half-eskimo husband -- may be the way this ticket attracts swing voters.

A little pop culture connection was explained to me in this morning's paper. John McCain and Sarah Palin's first appearance was preceeded and followed by Van Halen's Right Now, which is a pretty good choice for a campaign theme. Turns out, Palin and her husband Todd are big VH fans, going so far as to name their son Trig Paxson Van Palin in tribute to the band. Of course, considering Right Now is from the Sammy Haggar era for Van Halen, maybe Sam would have been the appropriate third name.

On the Copious Notes Twitter, we endorsed Kristen Wiig to play Palin on Saturday Night Live, though sources as dispirate as The Daily Show and The New York Times have noted the striking resemblance between Palin and former SNL Weekend Update host and head writer Tina Fey. Maybe some guest appearances will be in order this season.

The Mother Tongue weighs in on the Palin choice calling comparison's between Palin and former Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton "apples and oranges in pantyhose."

Kirk Franklin's Questapalooza gig a homecoming for his drummer

Terry Baker, photographed by guitarist Doc Powell, has played drums for Kirk Franklin since 2000.

When Kirk Franklin plays Questapalooza Sunday night, a Lexingtonian will be keeping the beat.

Terry Baker joined Franklin’s band eight years ago, fulfilling a dream to play for a gospel star.

“I’ve been playing drums since I was a young guy,” says Baker, a 1990 Bryan Station High School graduate. “I always wanted to play with a gospel artist. I never thought of going for a secular career.”

He first met Franklin when he was playing drums on a TV show, Bobby Jones Gospel on BET.

Baker moved away to be on the show, but the Franklin gig allowed him to come back to Lexington and his family: wife Elaine and three children, Amber, 15; Terry Jr., 12, and Lauren, 7.

He attends House of God Church on Georgetown Road.

That’s when he’s in town.

Beating the skins for a gospel superstar means a lot of weekends on the road, including overseas trips to Europe and Africa. Baker really treasures the hometown gigs, though.

He’s had the chance to play a couple of Ichthus Festivals in Wilmore and in Rupp Arena when Franklin came with Franklin ­Graham’s crusade in 2000.

“That was shortly after I started playing with Kirk,” Baker recalls. “It was pretty incredible to play in Rupp Arena.”

And Quest Community Church, which presents Questapalooza, won’t be bad either.

“When I got the e-mail asking if I was available for these dates, and I saw the Questapalooza date, I was really excited,” Baker says. “It’s always fun to play for your family and friends.”

Convention surfer: Democratic National Convention, day 4

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama addresses the Democratic National Convention at Mile High Stadium in Denver. Copyrighted Associated Press photo by Charlie Neibergall.

When Bill Clinton spoke on Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention, it seemed like 1992 all over again, with Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop playing him in, taking Democrats back to a time when they prepared to unseat a Bush.

Thursday night, as cameras chronicled crowds filing into Denver's Mile High Stadium, and the preshow started with highlights such as a Stevie Wonder performance and an Al Gore speech that might've gotten him elected if he gave it eight years ago, it was clear that this was a bigger political event than anyone Barack Obama's age has seen before. The Democratic nominee set a huge stage for his acceptance speech at the DNC, creating an event that looked more like a Super Bowl, Live Aid or the just finished Olympics than an ol' political convention. As cable news and PBS cameras chronicled the evening, the major networks seemed silly staying away until 10 p.m. for things like CSI reruns.

There was one way the venue did hurt Obama a bit -- sound. The crowd actually did sound louder for Clinton Wednesday, probably because the roof of the arena captured the cheers that went into the skies above Mile High -- skies which were not an answer to Focus on the Family's prayers. It did actually give an aural feeling of detachment. But as the cameras panned the crowd, you could see they were excited, enthralled and moved by the man and the moment of seeing a brilliant orator who is the first African-American major party candidate for President. That it was the 45th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech only added to the gravity of the event.

Of course, that will inevitably feed into Republican presidential candidate John McCain's charge that Obama is a merely a celebrity who can fill stadiums.

It is funny that is considered a liability. In most arenas, theatrical and athletic, being able to fill a stadium is considered an asset. Here, in Lexington, there is a pride that the University of Kentucky basketball team can pack more than 20,000 people into Rupp Arena even for exhibition games. We are fascinated with bands like the Rolling Stones and U2 that fill stadiums night after night. But, when it comes to the leader of the free world, this is a liability?

There are definitely debatable issues between Republicans and Democrats, but criticizing a candidate because tens of thousands of people want to hear him is strange.

But it is a charge that will probably be aired again, because as political theater goes, Obama has given McCain a tough act to follow.

Talking heads' reaction: Prior to the speech, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow seemed to be on the verge of tears having read it, and Keith Olbermann seemed to be in danger of stealing Obama's thunder reading passages. Meanwhile, at Fox, Sean Hannity was trying to re-air his talking-point criticisms of Obama. Afterwards, Fox's Brit Hume was grumbling a question about whether this was standard issue Democratic rhetoric while MSNBC's Olbermann and Chris Matthews were calling the speech "extraordinary." Last week, I contended, and stand by the contention that MSNBC is not ideaologically driven in its news coverage. But reaction to the speech clearly showed the differences in the pundits at MSNBC and Fox. It's a safe bet they'll have opposite reactions this time next week.

The final decision, of course, belongs to us, the voters.

Awkward: Clearly, surfing the channels this week, I've missed a few things like a testy exchange between Olbermann and Joe Scarborough, with an ellipsis from Chris Matthews. Then there was this one between David Shuster and Scarborough on Morning Joe. Wow. I'm not on the treadmill at the right time, though I did hear Scarborough mocking the MSNBC evening anchors for portraying everything as wonderful with Monday night's convention coverage. Hmmmmm. Makes me not want to surf and sit on the mini-Peacock, and maybe take an extra long walk on the treadmill tomorrow morning.

UPDATE: OK, no fisticuffs on Morning Joe today, but it was fun when Time's Mark Halperin came in reporting a charter flight had gone from Anchorage to Dayton last night, and suddenly Halperin and Mika Brezinski are sitting there on the air working their Blackberrys trying to see if Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was McCain's vice-presidential pick. A few minutes later, they cut to Kelly O'Donnell in Dayton cradling her laptop in one arm and checking her Blackberry with the other hand while trying to report what the buzz was. Later, they were showing shots of Andrea Mitchell working the phones in the diner they were broadcasting from and documenting at the bottom of the screen who was out: Pawlenty, Romney, etc. Nobody was as overtly working this story on the air as MSNBC, and it was very entertaining.

Convention surfer: Democratic National Convention Day 3

Chuck Todd cruches the numbers with Meredith Viera on the Today show. Would you want this man's face on your thong? Copyrighted photo by Virginia Sherwood | NBC. Below, you could rock this Chuck Todd trucker for $13.99.

It's the third day. The Cintons are still the spotlight act, though this is Obama's convention;  Democrats are cheering Pat Buchanan and Joe Scarborough is sure Hillary is really going to vote for McCain.

Let's get weird.

Probably the best thing I learned about watching Morning Joe Wednesday was Viva Chuck Todd. For folks who don't share my political TV addiction, Chucky T is NBC's political director, a man who can crunch poll numbers like a 3 year old crunches cereal.

At Viva, you can find things like an exhaustive chronicle of Chuck's Monday, a poll asking who's the best fourth wheel on Morning Joe (winner: Anyone who can tell host Joe Scarborough he's full of crap) and a chance to buy all manner of Chuck Todd merchandise, including T-shirts, thongs and a pet bowl -- maybe you can make it a cereal bowl. Wondering if Chuck gets a cut? Proceeds actually go to charities late NBC newsman Tim Russert supported, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Catholic Charities USA.

BTW, how about Luke Russert as the youth correspondent?

Fox News's Shepherd Smith was invoking Mystery Science Theatre 3000 promoting his Strategy Room webcasts. Tuning in during Vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden's speech, it did have a bit of that air: Three shadowed heads  -- Smith (right, Fox News photo), Fox News correspondent Bret Baier and (I believe) Politico's James Kotecki -- watching the speech on a big screen and throwing in comments. It was a bit more typical banter than witty banter, Shep making observations such as, "Imagine watching your son up there," as Biden highlighted his 91-year-old mother in the audience and, "he's not playing an every guy, he is an every guy."

The funny moment was when Biden talked about getting knocked down and Shep started sing a little Chumbawumba: "I get knocked down, but I get up again."

Maybe the most interesting thing though was simply the chatter between speeches. Smith carried on a conversation with a wireless microphone in one hand and the fingers of his other hand on his laptop. Prior to Biden's speech, the king of the track pad started an interesting conversation about the impact Hurricane Gustav may have on next week's Republican convention, both with public officials and news organizations that are scrambling reporters to the Gulf Coast.

"You cannot juxtapose partying in St. Paul with death and destruction on the Gulf Coast," Smith said, thinking aloud about what a Monday landfall may bring.

No Boss?: Listening to The Rising play after Biden's speech made me hope that reports Bruce Springsteen will not be on stage at Mile High tomorrow night prove to be as true as Biden's claim, "I'm not the guy," last week. I know John Clay does too.

'Mac Daddy: With former President Bill Clinton taking the stage to Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop it felt like 1992 all over again, which seemed to be the idea.

Breaking news: During the late afternoon roll call, MSNBC seemed to be most on top of what was happening, Keith Olbermann detailing how New Mexico would yield to Illinois which would yield to New York so Hillary Clinton could call for Barack Obama to be nominated by acclamation. Later in the night, they were on top of Obama speeding toward the arena to make an appearance after Biden's speech.

Kentucky did get its moment in the proceedings, Kentucky Democratic Party chair Jennifer Moore promising to try to turn the Bluegrass into a Blue State and Gov. Steve Beshear invoking the World Equestrian Games while announcing our votes.

Networks broadcast and cable were far from unified in their coverage of the roll call. MSNBC and CNN gave it uninterrupted coverage. Fox News let Brit Hume's show go on almost as normal and once 6:30 rolled around with the network newscasts, CBS and ABC were on it, while NBC barely got back from a Transitions Lenses commercial in time for Clinton's appearance.

Showtime: Next stop is Thursday night with the first major-party African-American presidential nominee, one of the most gifted public speakers of our time, giving his acceptance speech in a stadium on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's  I Have a Dream Speech. The expectations could not be higher.

Chamber Music Festival slide show

As promised Sunday, here is our slide show from rehearsals of Daniel Thomas Davis' Book of Songs and Visions for Piano Quintet, a new work commissioned for this years Chamber Music Festival of Lexington. Davis was in town yesterday and will be back at the end of the week to work with the musicians on the piece which has its world premier Saturday night.

• Click here for a larger version of the show
• here for our story about the composition
• and here for Sunday's post including an audio sample from the piece

Convention surfer: Democratic National Convention Day 2

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton soaks in an extended ovation before she addresses the Democratic National Convention in Denver,Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008. Copyrighted AP photo by Charlie Neibergall.

If Monday night was The Cosby Show at the Democratic Convention, Tuesday was more like some reality show with warring members of the same team or the cliffhanger of a favorite drama.

What would Hillary say?!

Will her supporters follow her?

Will it help Barack Obama's foundering poll numbers?

Just before prime time, on CNN, Carl Bernstein said Hillary Clinton was, "uniquely positioned to deliver the presidency," to Barack Obama. John King did follow up asking why, if she had that power, didn't she deliver it to herself.

But the drama was set for the second night of the convention: What would the close second in the primaries and her ardent supporters do to help the nominee? It was the story all the cable news nets  told.

Get this on a Daily Show loop: Who says the Democrats can't stay on message? With a whole day to kill, Dem after Dem was asked how they thought Hillary Clinton would do in her speech, and they all said she'd, "knock it out of the park." Maybe it was the thin air that makes Coors Field such a hitter's park. Or maybe that's just a really easy baseball cliché.

Hardest working man: Terry McAuliffe, Clinton's campaign chairman and most myopically passionate supporter during the primaries, was everywhere on the air Tuesday, on MSNBC at least twice and even venturing into enemy territory on Sean Hannity's radio show -- Hannity, like John McCain, trying to act like a Clinton supporter or something.

Speaking of strange bedfellows: Only in convention coverage could you get moments like this spirited chat on MSNBC between ultra-liberal Rachel Maddow and ultra-conservative Pat Buchanan, about the soft tone of the convention up to Hillary Clinton's speech:

Maddow: If you stand up and say, 'We are all things to all people, we are nothing really specific, we're going to move past all the specifics of fighting now,' you're going to offend no one, but earn no votes. You have to define who you are . . .
Buchanan: . . . and what you are against.
Maddow: Yes.
Buchanan: This what we don't want, we've had enough of this, we're against this, against him . . . Where's Cheney for heaven's sake?! Cheney's at 18 percent or something. It's a free shot.

At that line, the crowd behind the MSNBC perch erupted in cheers. Maddow and Buchanan agreeing and crowd of Democratic die hards cheering Buchanan? Dogs and cats living together . . .

By the way, Maddow is emerging as the most passionate, articulate liberal voice among the punditry. The convention is giving her a great ad for her new show.

Not so strange bedfellows: Attempting to plot strategy for John McCain on Fox News, Bill O'Reilly and Karl Rove imagined going into campaign consulting together with Rove musing, "O'Reilly and Rove, consultants to the very rich and powerful."

From the department of reading too much into things: While MSNBC's cameras lingered on Bill Clinton, he was handed a "Unity" sign and quickly put it down, continuing a conversation. Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews immediately seized on this as possibly a sign he was not on board with the whole unity message.

No more tears: That Hillary video to introduce the senator signaled an end to the weepy campaign videos -- or at least a suspension -- with much of it set to Lenny Kravitz and Tom Petty.

Make some coffee: Clinton went on at 10:41 p.m. I can't remember when Michelle Obama started Monday, but it was late in prime time too. These aren't sporting events with indeterminate time limits. The primary speeches could at least have been timed to being shortly after the broadcast networks sign on at 10 p.m.

Best pop culture riff: Hillary Clinton referring to her supporters as the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Suits."

What could have been: CNN probably had the most compelling delegate after the speech in a woman identified as Ann Price Mills (spelling not specified), who told Suzanne Malveaux, "You know that was a Presidential speech . . . and now everybody wants us to simply shift." Mills said she wouldn't vote for McCain, but, "Obama has two months," to get her vote. After weeks of talking head chatter and poll results, this delegate put a passionate, human face on the frustrations of Clinton supporters.

Best nightcap: Charlie Rose's interesting panels on KET, including presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on Tuesday, have the best post-show chats, delving into subjects like Obama's actual policies and the media's reluctance to address race, that are never cracked by the news nets in their hours and hours of coverage. And they can be fun. Last night we had Elvis. Tuesday, it was Rose introducing New York Times columnist David Brooks by saying he'd written a column he'd written before. Brooks folded his arms in mock offense at the fumbled intro saying, "I didn't come here to be insulted."

All about the Clintons:  The morning chatter is focusing on Bill Clinton's speech tonight. Hey, isn't someone else the headliner?

Convention Surfer: Democratic National Convention Day 1

Michelle Obama: Would Phylicia Rashad play her on TV? Copyrighted photo Associated Press Photo by Ron Edmonds.

The first day of the Democratic National Convention in Denver opened with an informative NPR report on how political nominating conventions evolved from being actual contests to coronations -- shows that many believe have dubious news value. Essentially, after disastrous 1968 and '72 gatherings, the last one including George McGovern giving his acceptance speech well after midnight, Democrats decided on a process to deliver a nominee to the convention and in turn make the convention a big ad for their guy or gal.

So, if the DNC is a show, what was Monday's show?

The Cosby Show, according to Rev. Eugene Rivers on the 5 p.m. edition of MSNBC's Hardball. In an interview with Chris Matthews, Rivers said presumptive nominee Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, Monday night's speaker, had to work to make Americans as comfortable with their family as Bill Cosby had made the nation with his fictional upper-middle class, African-American family in the 1980s. "They are the Huxtables," Rivers declared.

Or, is it the Clinton show? CNN's Jack Cafferty expressed exasperation at all the attention being paid to primary runner up Hillary Clinton, her ex-President husband Bill, and their contentious supporters  saying, "I hope I see some Barack Obama over the next four days."

~ Rachel Maddow, MSNBC's new 9 p.m. host, introduced "post-rational" as a phrase to describe disgruntled Clinton supporters threatening to disrupt the convention and vote for John McCain. We'll see how that catches on.

~ The big news story of the night was that the Obama and Clinton camps were trying to work  out a roll call that would make both happy.

Or, the Kennedy show? One surname that wields more power in the Democratic party than Clinton is Kennedy. And while Clinton "news" kept rumbling under the proceedings, it was Kennedys that preceded Michelle Obama on stage. Specifically, it was Sen. Ted Kennedy, just a few months removed from surgery for a brain tumor. That he occasionally halted or fumbled a word reminded us he was still battling back and that being on that stage was of paramount importance to the party's elder statesman. That was punctuated by his invocation of his brother's torch and Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream imagery. It was also the first time that action on the stage was more compelling than the talking heads on cable news. OK, it was substantially more compelling than that.

Interesting that Kennedy's speech, strident in its liberal politics, even drew praise from the Fox News crew. Chris Wallace said it brought a tear to his eye, just a moment after being reminded by Brit Hume how he had mocked Teresa Heinz Kerry in 2004, saying he was waiting for her to break into Don't Cry for Me Argentina, after her convention speech for husband John Kerry.

It wasn't the Jim Leach show: The former Republican congressman from Iowa's speech was billed as an aisle-crossing moment, but the the news nets quickly pulled away from his dry remarks.

No, it was the Obama show: The video preceding Michelle Obama's speech had the line of the night from Michelle, recalling meeting her future husband at a law firm: "Who names their kid Barack Obama? So, I figured this kid has to be weird."

Obama's speech made the Obamas seem like the great American family, more real than the Huxtables, with a dad who carefully drove their first child home from the hospital and lived like most anyone else. It was punctuated with a cheesy moment where Barack Obama appeared from Kansas City via satellite feed. But if the script called for making the Obamas seem like a regular family, it succeeded. Affirmation of that came on Fox News, not from a quippy Wallace, but from NPR contributor Juan Williams, who said, "Given all the tensions in black America over families, and to see that positive image there for everybody to see . . . man, that's just awesome."

In the end, night one felt as warm as The Cosby Show, though post-show reviews generally called for something closer to Celebrity Smackdown the next three days.

On the Charlie Rose show, there was unexpected humor when ABC News contributor Matthew Dowd poo-pooed the idea of presumptive Republican Presidential nominee John McCain picking his one-time  rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, as his vice-presidential running mate. "Mitt Romney has no Elvis," Dowd said, "and John McCain needs a little Elvis on his ticket."

Clinton, Kennedy, Cosby and Elvis. Maybe this wasn't such a bad show.

I'm off to listen to some Mojo Nixon, and contemplate whether Romney is the new anti-Elvis.

Daniel Thomas Davis' new piece for the chamber fest

In only its second year, the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington has commissioned a new work for the event. Daniel Thomas Davis's Book of Visions and Songs will premier Aug. 30 at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion. It's an 18-minute work for Piano Quintet that was created based on Davis' visits to Central Kentucky earlier this year and written in Italy, Virginia and his current home of Ann Arbor, Mich., where he teaches composition at the University of Michigan.

These days, of course, a lot of that work is done on computers, including creating facsimiles of the piece to give the composer an idea what the piece sounds like. As of today, the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington ensemble has not played the piece, but Davis has given us permission to post the sample version of the second movement of the piece. Keep in mind, this is just a sample of what it will sound like. (Click the play button to hear it.)

Read about the piece at LexGo, and this one from our first chat with Davis.

Photo of Davis, above, by Rich Copley.

Obama's new media moment bombed

Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden at a Chicago event earlier this month. Copyrighted Associated Press Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast.

3:28 a.m.?!

Barack Obama came at his selection for vice-president with a pretty cool new media idea: He would send a text message revealing his pick to anyone who signed up at his website. We would get the news on our cell phones at the exact same time the gate keepers in the political media did. 

And the Obama campaign kept the suspense going.

When I went to bed around 11 last night, there was still no official word on who the veep would be, though the choices were narrowing with Virginia Governor Tim Kaine and Indiana Senator Evan Bayh officially out.

Then I went out to pick up the paper this morning, and there it was, "Obama picks Biden" -- getting the news from the printed newspaper, of all things.

I checked my texts, and sure enough, there it was: "Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee." The time code was 3:28 a.m. So, if a text message is sent to the middle of  a forest, and no one's there . . .

Basically, it seems Obama fumbled this new media moment for two reasons:

1. He held onto the news so long, traditional reporting did eventually scoop him. If you stayed up even just a little after midnight last night and were plugged in, you would have known.

2. It was really no surprise. All signs had been pointing to Biden for days. Now, if everyone who signed up for the text got a message, say, Friday afternoon -- when people were obsessively listening for their text chimes -- saying it was Hillary Clinton, or some other surprise pick, that would have been a big moment in political new media. Once Biden was becoming obvious, the campaign should have sent the text.

But, with no surprise and people who signed up for the text not being the first to know after all, it just kinda bombed.

~ The Mother Tongue said her hubby joked that maybe Obama was trying to show he could take 3 a.m. phone call better than Hillary Clinton. Or maybe it was that he could make it as well.

MSNBC is not the liberal Fox News

Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann anchor campaign coverage on MSNBC. Below: Rachel Maddow begins a 9 p.m. show on MSNBC on Sept. 8. Photo copyright NBC.

With the announcement that Rachel Maddow will start hosting a 9 p.m. weeknight show, hardcore liberals and hardcore conservatives now have pretty clear cable news choices between 8 and 10 p.m.

Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity are on the right on Fox News. Keith Olbermann and Maddow, who starts Sept. 8, are to the left on MSNBC.

Even before Maddow got her new gig, MSNBC was being defined by many observers as the liberal answer to conservative Fox News.

That’s upset a few Republicans. Last week saw the latest flare up, as officials for presumptive presidential nominee John McCain lashed out at NBC news correspondent Andrea Mitchell. Her crime was airing an allegation by the campaign of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama that McCain might have cheated in a presidential forum at Pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church.

“We are concerned that your news division is following MSNBC’s lead in abandoning non-partisan coverage of the presidential race,” McCain campaign manager Rick Davis wrote in a Aug. 17 letter to the president of NBC News, Steve Capus.

Hmmm.

Is he talking about the same MSNBC where, after that Aug. 16 forum, three commentators tripped over themselves to declare McCain the winner, although the event could have just as easily been defined as showing McCain and Obama’s contrasting styles?

Is he talking about the same MSNBC that greets most weekdays with The Morning Joe, a political chat show hosted by former Republican Rep. Joe Scarborough, often with conservative icon Pat Buchanan literally and figuratively to his right?

Is he talking about the same MSNBC where every superficial question about Obama — Is he tough enough? Is he too skinny? — gets as full an airing as anywhere on the dial?

Or, are Davis and several other conservatives who have leveled similar charges at MSNBC engaging in that time-honored political practice of working the refs?

Methinks as the party conventions get under way this week and we start a sprint toward Nov. 4, we’ll hear this charge again.

But MSNBC is no Fox News.

Barnstable twins' 'Quark' coming soon on DVD

Quark was a 1978 NBC comedy series that was supposed to capitalize on the sci-fi craze that had launched the year before with the release of Star Wars.

Richard Benjamin played Adam Quark, captain of a United Galactic Sanitation Patrol Ship, in the sitcom from Get Smart co-creator Buck Henry. Members of his crew included Gene/Jean, a “transmute” with male and female characteristics, a plant-man named Ficus and Betty and Betty, a woman and her clone played by none other than Louisville’s Patricia and Cyb Barnstable. The pair argued regularly about who was the clone and who was the human.

The Barnstables are also known as the Doublemint Twins from the Wrigleys gum commercials and for their annual Derby Eve Gala at Patricia Barnstable Brown’s Louisville home, which attracts an all-star crowd and raises millions of dollars for diabetes research at the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville.

Well everyone can get a fresh look at the Barnstables’ past with the DVD release of Quark. All eight episodes of the short-lived series are coming out on Oct. 14. The packaging prominently features the twins in their intergalactic glory.

Summer classic: 'The Philadelphia Story'

Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart's great scene from The Philadelphia Story.

When I contemplate why The Philadelphia Story is my favorite movie, sometimes I'd say it's the witty dialog, or maybe Katherine Hepburn in her prime, or the whole Philly society story. I remember the first time I saw it -- on a big screen, like it will be shown at 1:30 and 7:15 p.m. today at the Kentucky Theatre -- being fascinated with the idea people actually swam in pools in the 1940s. Give me a break, I was still in high school.

But when I really, really level with myself, it's the guys.

In Cary Grant's C.K. Dexter Haven and Jimmy Stewart's Macaulay Conner, The Philadelphia Story has two terrific leading men that, depending on my mood, I wanted to be. There was Dex, the suave, sophisticated guy who didn't realize what he had until she was gone. Then there was Mike, the mercenary cynic who really had an honorable soul. OK, neither was perfect, but each was interesting and fun in the midst of a hilarious story. They both had things going for them and were played by some of the best screen actors ever.

So, did I ever figure out which I wanted to be? Well, you grow up and realize you're going to be you. But still, given a choice, which would it be? Maybe it's answered with one of their exchanges:

Mike: Doggone it, C.K. Dexter Haven! Either I'm gonna sock you, or you're gonna sock me.

Dex: Shall we toss a coin?

rc talk: Rick Warren excels in candidate forum

Republican presidential candidate John McCain (left) and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (right) with Pastor Rick Warren (center) during the Compassion Forum at the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., on Aug. 16, 2008. Copyrighted Associated Press photos by Mary Altaffer (above and McCain) and Alex Brandon (Obama).

I'm a little bit behind on my listening, so I'm going to pass on an album review this week. But there was a big event in Christian pop culture in the past few days worth mentioning.

Now, I don't call Saturday night's  Saddleback Church forum for presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain part of Christian pop culture to diminish it. At le blog, we give popular culture very serious consideration, and with the runaway success of The Purpose-Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren is undeniably a major name in Christian popular culture. And it was undoubtedly that big name that persuaded McCain and Obama to make Warren's church their first venue for a joint appearance since becoming their parties' presumptive nominees for president.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only guy who hasn't read Purpose-Driven Life and does not have tremendous familiarity with Warren, beyond the fact that his Orange County, Calif., church is one of the mega, mega churches in America.

But I came away from watching the forum fairly happy with Warren's choice of topics and selection of questions. After spending the first half of the year hearing TV anchor and political pundit after TV anchor and political pundit launching pointless, gotcha and inside baseball questions at the candidates, it was refreshing to see Warren ask some basic questions and hear how the candidates answered them.The forum probably didn't change the way many viewers would vote. But if, say, you came in thinking Obama was just an empty suit full of rhetoric, you maybe saw a more thoughtful and aware man than you believed he was. And if you thought McCain would just be a third term of Bush, maybe you saw someone who was more his own man.

In a way, Warren kind of sabotaged himself, because his approach didn't really produce any nuclear moments or break any news. (That said, the forum was all over the Sunday talk shows, and Warren was featured on Larry King Live and Nightline Monday.) The biggest news from the event was suspicion that McCain, who went second in Warren's parallel interviews, was apprised of the questions before he took the stage and not in a "cone of silence," during Obama's appearance, as Warren had asserted. McCain did indeed seem more precise and prepared than Obama, though that could also be because he was possibly better prepped by his staff or he was comfortable playing to an audience predisposed to favor him.

That showed most in Warren's question about abortion, which was phrased as, at what point does a baby have human rights? Obama had to tread lightly through a desire to see abortion reduced but support for Roe vs. Wade because he doesn't think women take abortion lightly.  McCain comfortably took the applause line, "At conception." In person, this was an easier crowd for McCain, because evangelical Christians have been a core constituency for the Republican Party for decades. And it was probably even easier on TV, because a lot of progressives were not interested in this forum because they see it as another blow to the separation of church and state.

I am happy religion has not been a centerpiece of the 2008 presidential campaign thus far because, as a Christian, I'm sick and tired of seeing Christianity prostituted for political gain.

But I didn't mind this forum.

Like any minister, Warren deals with real people and tough issues every day. He oversees ministries local and international and has a broad world view. It actually got me wondering who else could question the candidates who would come at it from outside the Washington political-and-news communities. Yes, there were a few slanted questions, like the phrasing of the abortion question. And I would have liked to have heard him work in a few more global issues, which he told Larry King he wanted to do, rather than revisit the gay marriage thing, again. But the candidates knew they were coming into a venue with a point of view, and should have been prepared for that.

Warren succeeded overall because he asked questions real people think about. He wasn't trying to extend the  bloodsport game of politics. He was trying to get the viewers and candidates to think, which in 21st Century politics, people don't do enough.

Despite no reviews . . . there are some marquee releases today that we're listening to: Charlie Hall's The Bright Sadness, Brandon Heath's What if We?, Bart Millard's Hymned Again, Jimmy Needham's Not Without Love, and This Beautiful Republic's Perceptions.

In the next week or so, watch out for coverage here and in the paper of Labor Day weekend's Christian music events here in Lexington: Lexington Christian Academy's back to school bash, featuring Jars of Clay, and Questapalooza, featuring Kirk Franklin.

Woodland Art Fair 2008 slide show

You couldn't have asked for a better walk in the park than this weekend's Woodland Art Fair. There was art, there was food, there was music and dance, and there was fellowship, both human and canine.

Herald-Leader photographer Pablo Alcala got out to the 33rd annual Woodland fair Saturday, and I went out Sunday to grab some pictures and comments. Click the play button above to watch our slide show or go to Herald-Leader Photo for a larger version.

Film review: 'Thank You, Mr. President'

Journalist Helen Thomas with filmmaker Rory Kennedy. Photo by Will Hart | HBO.

Read our feature on Rory Kennedy and making Thank You, Mr. President at LexGo.com.

Rory Kennedy has a great subject for her most recent documentary, Thank You, Mr. President, which premiers Aug. 18 on HBO.

Helen Thomas is a journalism legend. Born in Winchester, Ky., to immigrant parents, she went from very humble roots to be one of the first female members of the White House Press Corps. And she's been a member of that elite group since John F. Kennedy's administration, covering nine presidents first as a reporter for United Press International and now as a columnist for Hearst Newspapers. In the course of that career, she has held the distinction of asking the first question at presidential press conferences and closing them by saying, "Thank you, Mr. President." She is the dean of the White House Press Corps.

Unfortunately for Kennedy, she and Thomas have a mutual object of derision: President George W. Bush. And with Thomas providing Kennedy, niece of President Kennedy and daughter of slain presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, with a lot of verbal and archival clubs with which to beat W., the film often gets distracted.

At the Art League, look downstairs

Ronald Longsdorf's I Tried to Build Us a Home is on exhibit in the Lexington Art League's Project Gallery downstairs at the Loudon House. Below: C-City was the product of a workshop with middle school students this summer. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.

If you head over to the Lexington Art League to see Election or for Fourth Friday next week, make sure to look downstairs.

A pink glow emanates from LAL's Project Gallery as you walk down the hall. When you enter, you are in a room with tables, chairs, a bed, bookshelves and stairs all made from polystyrene insulation.

It's interesting being confronted by this room that initially seems crazy but quickly draws you into thinking about homes, how we build them and what we expect them to do for us.  The piece is I Tried to Build Us a Home, an installation by Delaware artist Ronald Longsdorf that is thought provoking for its craftsmanship and its concept.

Down the hall, you can see the results of the Castlewood Fun Camp with middle school students. C-City looks like a lot of cardboard and trinket towns we or our children have assembled as kids. But these kids were directed to be thoughtful in how they represented these buildings and locales and how they crafted them. The results are interesting, if you look at them thoughtfully.

You can also check out the work of Enrique Gonzalez, whose studio is in the basement.  It's a colorful collection with quirky takes on Bluegrass icons such as thoroughbred racing. Gonzales' work is for sale.

Lexington Art League's 'Election'

David C. Hufford's Under Surveillance, part of the Lexington Art League member's open, Election.

You walk through the upstairs gallery at the Loudoun House, look back and realize you have just contemplated sustainability and the environment, constitutional rights, religion, immigration, war, gay rights and poverty.

And that’s exactly what the Lexington Art League wants you to do with its ­current exhibit, Election, on display through Aug. 24. It will be up for the Fourth Friday party Aug. 22. The exhibit is the annual members open, for which people in the art league are asked to ­submit pieces ­pertaining to a certain theme.

This year, it is the looming presidential election involving Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.

To comment on the race, some people get on TV and sound off or write letters to the editor. These folks make art — and some pretty powerful statements.

There’s little mistaking what Transylvania University art professor Jack Girard thinks of Hillary Clinton’s treatment in the ­recent Democratic primary elections. His pieces Besieged and Wasp portray women torn and ­isolated in the midst of ­symbols of power.

In a similar vein, Ron Davis, working under the pseudonym upfromsomedirt, delivers a pair of digital images that contemplate the difficulties that African-Americans and women face in ­breaking through ­political and ­historical barriers. ­

2008 Rosa Goddard International Classics Festival

Tony Leung and Wei Tang in Ang Lee's Lust Caution, which will make its Lexington premier at the Rosa Goddard International Classics Festival.

Just a few days ago, we mentioned the Kentucky Theatre's annual Rosa Goddard International Classics Festival. Guess what we have, now. The lineup for the 2008 Rosa Goddard International Classics Festival, starting the day after the summer classics series wraps up. Here it is:

Sept. 4: if . . . (1968) -- This is a different sort of role for Malcolm McDowell: rebellious youth leading a violent revolt in Lindsay Anderson's classic. Showtimes 5, 7:20, 9:40 p.m.
Sept. 5: Lust Caution (2007) -- Ang Lee's first film since Brokeback Mountain is a World War II espionage thriller that sparked controversy for its explicit sex scenes and some brutal violence. This is the Lexington premier. 4, 7, 9:50 p.m.
Sept. 6 and 7:  The Red Balloon (1956) and White Mane (1953) -- These are classic children's films by French director Albert Lamorrise. 1 p.m.
Sept. 6: Diva (1981) -- Lexington resident Wilhelmenia Fernandez starred in Jean-Jacques Beineix's cult classic about a soprano who refuses to be recorded, a tape recorder, and the mob. This is a new print. 2:45, 5, 7:30, 9:40 p.m.
Sept. 7: Kagemusha (1980) -- In the late 16th Century, a thief tries to take the place of a fallen warlord in another Akira Kurosawa classic. This is a newly restored print. 3, 6, 9 p.m.
Sept. 8: Metropolis (1927) -- In 1927, Fritz Lang imagined a world still 18 years in our future. This movie always makes me think of Queen's Radio Ga Ga video. 5, 7:20, 9:40 p.m.
Sept. 9: Satyricon (1969) -- Federico Fellini's adaptation of Petronius' book can be a weird, perplexing ride. New Print. 5, 7:25, 9:45 p.m.
Sept. 10: Never on Sunday (1960) -- In Jules Dassin's film, an American philosopher attempts to redeem a Greek prostitute. 5, 7:30, 9:30 p.m.
Sept. 11: The 400 Blows (1959) -- Francois Truffaut's French New Wave classic looks at a child who turns to crime after being neglected by his parents. New Print. 5:50, 7:30, 9:40 p.m

It's always appropriate to note the festival is funded by a bequest from the late Rosa Goddard, a long-time Kentucky Theatre supporter. All seats for all showings are $5.

These shows must go on

Gil Thurman as Burl Sanders and Evan Sullivan as the Rev. Mervin Oglethorpe in Smoke on the Mountain. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo. Below: Ed Desiato in the 1950s.

Two hit plays from this summer are getting second runs on alternate stages.

■ Ed Desiato’s performance as John Barrymore packed Natasha’s Bistro in June. At 8 p.m. Aug. 21, he’ll give another performance of Barrymore at The Kentucky Theatre’s State Theatre. The show, by William Luce, portrays the stage and screen icon reminiscing at the end of his career. Tickets are $15 adults, $12 students and seniors. Call (859) 231-7924.

■ Smoke on the Mountain, the debut production of the Lexington Stage Company, played to sold-out crowds for most of its July run at Studio Players’ Carriage House Theatre. The gospel musical set in a rural North Carolina Church in the 1930s moves to Danville for four performances at Centre College’s Norton Center for the Arts. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Oct. 3, 3 and 8 p.m. Oct. 4 and 3 p.m. Oct. 5. Tickets are $30 each and available by calling 1-877-448-7469 or visiting the Norton Center website.

Project Runway: Good news and bad news

Brooke Shields was a guest judge on Project Runway Aug. 13, picking out an outfit for her show, Lipstick Jungle. With her is regular judge Nina Garcia. Below: Model Shannone in Keith's winning design. Farther below: Polina in Blayne's miss. Copyrighted photos by Barbara Nitke for NBC.

If you are among the competitors stuck on the runway representing, "the highest scores and the lowest scores," as Frau Heidi tells us each week on Project Runway, you want to hear the judges praise your work as simultaneously unique and well made. That's usually a win, which it was for Keith tonight.

What you don't want to hear is Nina or Michael questioning something as fundamental as your taste, which usually means goodbye. This week it was goodbye Kelli, though you could easily argue that Blayne failed more decisively and Daniel is cashing in lives quicker than a curious cat. Oh, well. It will probably be interesting to see what drama emerges after Kenley openly laughed at Daniel on the runway as he declared he had impeccable taste -- well, he was as declarative as one could be mumbling through their nostrils.

The challenge was to design an outfit for Brooke Shields to wear on the NBC series Sex in the . . . uh . . . Lipstick Jungle. Brooke picked six of the 12 designers' ideas to be executed, and then the designers were paired up to build the outfits.

She's supposed to be a business woman by day hanging with her musician husband by night, with a little bohemian flair. OK, you didn't have to look hard to figure out which contestant would have no concept of how anyone dresses in an office. The closest Blayne appears to have been to an office would be the office in the back of his favorite tanning salon. So, he offered up a completely inappropriate shorts thing that looked more tailored for rock climbing or wading into the ocean up to your knees than an office or a boho bash. But, Brooke did select it to be made, and the minute Michael Kors declared Kelli's outfit, "slut-tee," you knew it was over for her or partner Daniel. In what they showed us, Daniel seemed to be a pretty indifferent collaborator, but in these team efforts, the leader usually takes the fall. Bye, Kelli. Keep eating the 9 Lives, Daniel.

Also in contention for the top were Stella and Jerrel, who came up with a very cool, funky, adult outfit. They really seemed to compliment one another. But Keith's sculpted, high dress really was head turning, and apparently it will actually be worn on Lipstick Jungle. He just needs to hope it's not paired with a line like, "What is that?!" But it will probably be A HIT! -- whoops, wrong reality show.

Summer classic: 'The Magnificent Seven'

In the 1970s and '80s, Americans seemed somewhat hung up on finding warriors as cool as Japanese samurai and ninjas.

But back in the 1950s and '60s, it seems filmmakers knew the American equivalent: Gunslingers.

That, at least, is what we might derive from John Sturges' The Magnificent Seven (1960) and its source material, The Seven Samurai (1954). In both stories, a band of seven elite fighters is enlisted to protect communities besieged by marauders.

Samurai was written and directed by Japanese filmmaking legend Akira Kurosawa and is routinely included on lists of the greatest movies ever made. The Kentucky Theatre shows The Magnificent Seven on its Summer Classics series at 1:30 and 7:15 p.m. today. The theater actually showed the Seven Samurai as part of the Rosa Goddard International Film Festival last September, so if you saw the Kurosawa masterpiece last year, you can do a direct comparison of the big screen classics.

In most circles, Samurai fares better. While Magnificent Seven is seen as a classic western, it doesn't quite carry the ground-breaking, all-time great cachet of its Japanese counterpart. Having not been around when Magnificent debuted, it seems a little odd to have Yul Brynner as the leader of a band of gunslingers including Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn. All of them went on to noteworthy tough-guy careers, and while Brynner's filmography does include a number of Westerns (including the dreadful Return of the Seven in 1966), he is best known as the King of Siam and Pharaoh.

One thing that is undeniably classic about the Magnificent Seven is Elmer Bernstein's iconic, Oscar-nominated score.

I've included the trailers from both films, Magnificent Seven above and Seven Samurai below, if you want to do some trailer comparisons.

rc talk: Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken + Jars of Clay

As we are lulled into late summer, it feels like the right time to take a look at some recent EPs:

Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken | Ampersand

The ampersand has always been a cute, lo, romantic, way to join parties, particularly those in love. William Shakespeare may have penned it as Romeo and Juliet, but Romeo & Juliet is always the one that looks right. And Ampersand is an appropriate title for Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken's first duo effort. It is definitely romantic, though rarely cute. D&S are far beyond the puppy love of R&J. Ampersand is a chronicle of a couple that has had a few rough patches and fights, and even found that as ugly as those can be, perseverance over them can serve as confirmation that the bond is strong. This is an adult album, not in the sense that there's any R-rated material, but in the sense that people who are where Webb and McCracken are will most strongly identify with songs such as Watch Your Mouth, that ode to the affirming power of conflict which will have a familiar edge to Webb fans. If you've found Webb's solo material abrasive, this EP softens him, and it's a nice introduction to McCracken, if you haven't heard her before. The couple met when Webb was member of Caedmon's Call and he saw her playing at coffee shop near a recording studio. Ampersand is affirmation that they can make beautiful music together, particularly a cover of Bob Dylan's If Not for You.

Jars of Clay | Closer

This is our introduction to post-Essential Records Jars of Clay, and it's interesting, if not entirely satisfying. While Jars' recent albums such as their 2006 masterpiece, Good Monsters, and live efforts have been trending toward more rootsy rock and acoustic sounds, this EP is very electronic, starting with the chirpy looping keyboard sounds of the title track. There are also heavily ornamented versions of Flood and Love Song for a Savior. The EP's closing track, Prisoner of Hope, sounds the most like a progression from Good Monsters, both lyrically and stylistically, as opposed to a departure or even return to some early career styles, which is what you hear in most of this disc. This is just a brief offering before Jars' new album, slated for release next year. In many ways, Closer leaves you wondering what to expect from indie Jars of Clay.

Speaking of indies: GRITS, which has carried the banner for Christian hip-hop for nearly a decade, is striking out on its own with its forthcoming album Reiterate. It will be their first disc on their own label, Revolution Art, and away from TobyMac's imprint, Gotee. Lest we think there's any friction there, T-Mac will lend his voice to Reiterate as will Jars of Clay's Dan Haseltine and Third Day's Mac Powell. The album drops Sept. 16.

 U2 blast from the past: Many U2 fans' first encounters with the band was the Live Under a Blood Red Sky EP and video from Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheater. The pair are being rereleased Sept. 30 in a package that includes the remastered CD and the concert video on DVD for the first time. The new Live at Red Rocks DVD will feature several new tracks from the 1983 concert including Surrender, Two Hearts Beat as One and Out of Control.

Speaking of U2: St. Michael's Episcopal Church is holding a U2Charist, which is a Eucharist (communion) using the music of U2, at 5 p.m. Aug. 24. All the funds will go to Espicopal Relief and Development, a member of ONE, which U2's Bono founded to address poverty worldwide. U2charists started in a Maryland (see the comments section for a little more info). St. Michael's officials believe this is the first time this has been done in Lexington.

Lexington should take note of Olympic architecture

China's National Aquatics Center and National Stadium illuminated by fireworks during Friday night's opening ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Associated Press/Color China Photo. Below, the proposed design of the CenterPointe project in Lexington.

We've been treated to a lot of stunning images from Beijing over the weekend with the opening of the Olympic Games, including the exquisite opening ceremonies and the astonishing victory by the United States' men in the 400-meter relay, which I am so glad I stayed up to see last night.

Some of the most striking images we have been treated to over and over are new structures, built specifically for the games.

The National Stadium, aka the Bird's Nest, and the National Aquatics Center, aka the Water Cube, are the two structures we are seeing the most, and like most exceptional architecture, they never fail to fascinate.

The New York Times has a great interactive graphic showing some of the thought processes behind these structures as well as the new facility for China's state television network, the National Theater, and Airport Terminal. It's interesting to note the care that went into both tailoring these facilities to their purposes and making them visually stunning.

It's something for Lexington to contemplate as we discuss adding a new signature building to our skyline. While the primary argument about the downtown CentrePointe  development has been the demolition of what some regard as historic properties, there's also been a lot of discussion about the design of the proposed new structure -- a combination of a four-star hotel, luxury condominiums, and shops -- and what it will add or detract from Lexington's skyline. A July 22 Herald-Leader story offered up a trio of alternative designs from three teams invited by the University of Kentucky College of Design. They generally went over like a lead balloon with our readers.

But those ideas, as well as designs that can be seen in cities as close as Cincinnati, and the images we're seeing from China should prompt us and even CentrePointe's developers to think. The National Stadium and Aquatics Center, even that crazy state television building, will become signatures of Beijing's skyline, structures that will become synonymous with the city in years to come.

Here in Lexington, we of course have our postcard-perfect countryside. But what are and will be our urban signatures? What do we want them to say about us? And should we think about them a little bit more?

'History Boys' in 'Lord of the Flies'

Today's Arts & Life centerpiece is on the crew that starred in SummerFest's Lord of the Flies and is set to open History Boys at UK's Briggs Theatre this week. Here is a reprise of hour video of the guys at work on Flies back in July. Click here for a larger version.

Holly Henson: the show must go on

Click the play button to watch an audio slide show from Cookin' with Gus. If you hit the four-arrow button at the far right of the control bar, it will play in full screen mode.

DANVILLE — When Holly Henson was diagnosed with breast cancer in April, her first thought was, “Let’s go to New York and get the actors.”

OK. It isn’t a standard reaction to being diagnosed with a potentially fatal illness.

But theater has been in Henson’s blood a lot longer than cancer, and when it’s April, it’s time to head to New York and hire actors for the upcoming season at the Pioneer Playhouse. Henson’s father, Eben Henson, built the Danville Theatre in 1950 and directed it until his death in 2004. All 48 years of Holly’s life, summer and summer stock were synonymous, even before she became artistic director a few years before her father passed away.

So cancer or not, she left her home in Minneapolis, picked up her mother, Charlotte, in Danville, and headed to New York to audition a company.

Cancer, however, cannot be ignored. She got the ball rolling, but Holly has spent most of this summer away from the theater where she grew up, pursuing alternative cancer therapies in Minnesota and Oklahoma City.

“Somebody asked the question, ‘Is the Playhouse going to go on?’ and I don’t even see that as being a question,’” said Holly’s brother, Robby Henson, a Los Angeles-based film director. “If it’s summer, the Playhouse is here. We don’t think about it too hard, we just do.”
It just meant that Robby expanded his role from directing the first play of the season, which he has done for years, to staying at the theater to oversee the shows.

And Holly and Robby’s other sister, Heather, helped in the front office and with marketing despite a busy career. Heather is a children’s book author and has three titles coming out this year, including That Book Woman, about a rural Kentucky librarian, due in October.

“When one of us goes down, we come together as a family,” Holly said. “And there’s a larger family of the community and the actors and helping hands.”

1,000

I hadn't really thought about this milestone until I looked at the post counter on my TypePad home page and realized I was into the high 900s. Well, this post takes me over the top, into four digits. It's numero  1,000, which, considering I wondered how long this blog would last when it started Aug. 13, 2006, feels pretty darned good.

If you're doing the math, it's pretty easy: That comes out to more than 500 posts a year since I started writing Copious Notes. It's been an interesting process. There are things I started and then stopped, because maybe they weren't as great an idea as they seemed when I started. I've taken le blog to New York several times as well as excursions to Owensboro and Nashville, and spots all around Kentucky including the Derby and Ichthus. I've rediscovered a love of photography, made e-friends, and learned little computer tricks I thought were the sole domain of nerd herds.

I've had fun, and I hope you have too. That's really the most important thing to me, that this forum be a lively and informative place to get information and have conversation about arts, entertainment, and culture here in the Bluegrass and around the world. 

The 1,000th post is a milestone, but not a finish line. So rather than toot my horn, back to the beat.

Thanks for reading, and if I had one wish for the future, it would be great to hear from you more. Please feel free to comment, e-mail or even call, because the best thing this blog can do is generate conversation.

All the best,
Rich

Photo, above, taken by Aaron Lee Fineman, December 2006 in Times Square, New York City.

Norton Center 2008-09 lineup features Tony Bennett, NY Phil

Joshua Bell will perform Jan. 26 at the Norton Center. Photo by Chris Lee.

The Norton Center for the Arts at Centre College in Danville is coming off its most successful season ever and appears poised to top itself in 2008-09.

Season subscribers will soon receive a brochure with a lineup topped by legendary standards singer Tony Bennett; pop music legend Little Richard; the New York Philharmonic Orchestra with Lorin Maazel at the podium; the Kentucky premiere of The Drowsy Chaperone, the 2006 Tony Award winning hit; and arguably the hottest violinist in the world, Joshua Bell.

Here’s the complete lineup, in chronological order. All performances are at 8 p.m., unless otherwise noted:

Sept. 20: Little Richard.
Sept. 30: Olga Kern, pianist.
Oct. 3-5: Smoke on the Mountain, Bluegrass gospel musical, 8 p.m. Oct. 3, 4; 3 p.m. Oct. 4, 5.
Oct. 12: Spanish Brass, 3 p.m.
Oct. 14: Altar Boyz, off-Broadway musical.
Oct. 21: Cirque d’Or, Chinese acrobats.
Oct. 24: The Beach Boys, 8:30 p.m.
Nov. 12: Soweto Gospel Choir.
Nov. 18: Al Green.
Dec. 4: The King’s Singers.
Dec. 11: Movin’ Out, Broadway musical.
Jan. 12: 100 Years of Broadway, musical revue with Broadway veterans.
Jan. 13: Giselle by the State Ballet of Russia.
Jan. 16: Tony Bennett.
Jan. 26: Joshua Bell, violin.
Feb. 10: Drumline Live, African-American band show.
Feb. 17: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Broadway musical.
Feb. 19: Red Priest, irreverent early music group.
Feb. 26: Kodo, Japanese percussion ensemble.
Feb. 28: Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso, oratorio presented with visiting and local musicans.
March 1: Tempesta di Mare, early music ensemble.
March 5: New York Philharmonic with Lorin Maazel, conductor.
March 11: St. Petersburg Male Choir.
March 12: Moscow Cats Theatre, acrobatic cat show.
March 15: Orion String Quartet, 3 p.m.
April 11: The Drowsy Chaperone, Broadway musical.
April 15: Annie, Broadway musical.
April 23: Garrison Keillor.
April 27: Ain’t Misbehavin’, Broadway musical.
May 30-31: Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass, presented at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.

The performances are sold in a variety of season ticket packages costing $966 to $177, depending on performances. Single tickets already are available for some shows. Single tickets for others will go on sale later, depending on availability. Call 1-877-448-7469 or visit the Norton Center's website for information and tickets.

Surprise! 'Project Runway' wants versatility

No, I am not going to become a Project Runway blogger. But I am a fan of the show, and this week I heard a Runway cliche one too many times. It was Daniel Feld, a self-proclaimed Mr. Haute Couture, who stared down his nose at last night's challenge and said, "This has nothing to do with what I'm used to."

Every time one of the designers pops a variation on this line, I want to whack them with a bolt of fabric and scream, "Have you ever watched the show?! It's been on four seasons, now. There are like a dozen competitors and 10 challenges. Of course not all of them will be right up your alley."

That's part of the game. That's what makes a reality/competition show like Project Runway fun. Look, I know nothing about fashion. I've been wearing the same combo of a short-sleeved button down shirt and khaki trousers to the office the last two months. But Project Runway lets us in on the creativity of fashion and how designers apply their visions  to different situations.

That's what last night's winner, Korto Momolu, did. She took her urban chic sense and applied it to the challenge of creating an outfit for United States women athletes in the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games -- are we surprised a Peacock network created an Olympic-themed challenge for this week? What Momolu delivered was a sporty outfit in soft leather with the funky touch of flowing bell bottoms.

Feld was rightly mocked by Michael Kors for looking like he'd created something for the "Republic of Cocktail Land." The only thing that saved him was competitor Jennifer Diederich understood the challenge even less, offering up a mousy outfit that didn't even incorporate red, white and blue.

But Feld was the one who uttered the old saw, they're not doing what I like to do. Waaaaah. Well, if you watch the show, you know part of the challenge is being relevant enough in those competitions that aren't pitched right in your wheelhouse that you can make it to a week where you'll shine. If you don't get that, and you're still inclined to look into the confessional camera and say, "This isn't what I do," maybe you don't belong there after all.

Photo above: Daniel Feld not getting it on Wednesday's episode of Project Runway. Copyrighted photo by Barbara Nitke | NBC-Universal.

Summer classic: Swiss Family Robinson

By this time next week, the majority of Central Kentucky kids will be back in school. Hence, we give the Kentucky Theatre a good-timing award for scheduling Swiss Family Robinson as this week's Summer Classic. It shows at 1:30 and 7:15 today.

One of Disney's live-action greats, it's the big screen version Johann David Wyss' novel and it made tree houses hip for all ages.

In the film, the Swiss family of the title shipwrecks on a desert island in a storm and finds itself having to contend with tigers, anacondas and pirates, to name a few things.

The desert island theme certainly has been revisited many times since, most recently on Nim's Island, in which Abigail Breslin was the youngster communing with nature.

A 2009 remake of Swiss Family is listed on the Internet Movie Database with Terminator 3 director Jonathan Mostow designated to direct, though there's no further information. The story has actually been revisited several times, including a 1970s TV series starring Adam-12 and Route 66's Martin Milner, and featuring guest shots by Frank Langella and a pre-teen Helen Hunt. But none of those versions has replaced the original.

Smitty and Stevie on tour

In the grand scheme of contemporary Christian artists you could stick on a marquee together, it's kinda hard to top Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman. The chart-topping, award-garnering duo are teaming up this fall for the United Tour, which will hit the road for a month-long run starting Oct. 9 in Columbus, Ohio. The closest the tour will come to Lexington will be the next night, Oct. 10, when it  stops at Cincinnati's Aronoff Center. Most of the stops on the 21-city tour appear to be theaters like the Aronoff which aren't intimate, but will bring the audience closer to the artists than arenas, which Smith and Chapman usually play. The only Kentucky date on the itinerary is Chapman's hometown of Paducah, Oct. 21.

Tickets are already available at Chapman and Smith's fan sites. The tour will benefit Compassion International and Chapman's adoption ministry Shaohannah's Hope.

rctalk: Seabird's "'Til We See the Shore"

Seabird frontman Aaron Morgan wails at the 'Til We See the Shore album release party on the Belle of Cincinnati, June 27. Photo by Jon Willis | Seabird's MySpace page.

Traveling with Seabird, we see a lot. The Northern Kentucky band's debut album is a journey from pain to victory with strong images such as the beginning of a long-delayed romance, a victim claiming victory and a dying soul claiming its salvation.

And there is nary a moment that you don't know where you are on this journey, primarily because of frontman  Aaron Morgan's theatrical voice and his equally evocative keyboards. They start off jaunty in the lead-off track, Black and Blue, but can be haunting and turn those rhythms into rings on songs such as Patience. Seabird is hardly a one man band though. There are touches, such as a banjo intro that turns into a guitar riff on Stranger, from the rest of the quartet: guitar player Ryan Morgan, bassist Chris Kubik, and drummer Aaron Hunt.

What's most striking about this exceptionally accomplished debut are the images, both precise and abstract. Cottonmouth (Jargon) is the best of the bunch, with lyrics slowly rising in what sounds like a pump organ accompaniment:

The days, you said you were smarter, knew you were harder
They're over
And the days you told us to grow up, told us to shut up
They're over
But I promise, the words that you said, stuck in our heads
They'll haunt you

You listen, mesmerized, wondering if this is drawn from some specific event or something general, such as people persecuted based on their faith. Then you remember songwriting is an abstract art, and you listen more to this package of 12 captivating songs. And then you listen again and again, intrigued, hoping for more soon. It's a debut that already puts Seabird in league with some of Christian rock's most accomplished and literate acts, such as Jars of Clay and Switchfoot.

All of this is also a reason I've already marked the band's Oct. 8 concert at the University of Kentucky on my calendar. Seabird seems like it will be something to see.

State Fair: The Kentucky State Fair usually offers a Christian pop act, and this year is no exception. In fact, there are two: P.O.D. plays Aug. 14 and Newsboys Aug. 18. Both shows are free, at 8 p.m. in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Highbridge Fest star wins an Emmy: Brock Smith graduated from Asbury College in May, and he already has a head-turning item to put on his resume: Emmy Award winner.

Smith’s short film Visceral, which cleaned up at Asbury’s Highbridge Film Festival in April, snagged a student Emmy in the 44th Annual Ohio Valley Regional Emmy Awards. The action film is about a government’s failed attempts to create a clone soldier, and at Highbridge, it was lauded for its special effects and sound.

Smith, a Lexington resident, will be part of Asbury’s crew filming the Olympic Games in Beijing, this month.

Play piano, with Loren

I'd been meaning to post this for a while: Our classical music critic, Loren Tice, has posted a series of videos on YouTube demonstrating his piano-charting method that lets pure novices in on how to tickle the ivories. The first lesson is Oh When the Saints. It looks sort of like guitar tabs or chord charts that give a lot of us shortcuts to playing the six string. If you're interested in trying one of Loren's charts, you can download a pdf off of the YouTube page.

So, give it a look, and let me know when you book Carnegie Hall. To look for more of his videos, search for PianoCharter at YouTube.

Tasha Harris: A cautionary tale

Tasha Harris, shown here performing at Renfro Valley before her life was consumed by drug and alcohol addiction. Lee County drug court is giving her a chance to sing again. Photo provided by Renfro Valley.

Click here for Brad Luttrell's video of Tasha Harris talking about her situation and singing You Don't Know Me.

Amy Wilson has a story in the paper and LexGo today about Beattyville singer Tasha Harris. As a teenager, Harris seemed to have the world in front of her: Everyone loved to hear her sing, she had a regular gig at Renfro Valley, and the support of influential people who opened doors for her.

For me, this was the most telling part of the story:

“I thought it would come together for me," Harris said. "I thought it would just come and fall into my lap. I never sat down and did a plan.”

But Gabbard (TV executive Ralph Gabbard, who was Harris' primary booster) died unexpectedly in 1996, when he was 50. She was only 21.

She tells you she almost got that record deal. A lot of non-specifics follow. She was in Nashville in a record company office once, was just sure this was going to be her life. Her picture on those walls, her music in those elevators. Name of the building is a little vague. Did have her name mentioned in a Billboard magazine column. “We think we've spotted a star in Tasha Harris,” it read. Two more times she was mentioned, she says, in that same column. Then not again.

Soon, the story continues, she was filling the void of a career that was foundering with drugs and alcohol. That put her in drug court, where judges try to work with convicted offenders to clean up and get their lives on track without going to prison. In a stroke of judicial creativity, Circuit Judge Tom Jones has opened the door for Harris to sing a couple of numbers at Renfro Valley tonight, not so much to restart her career, but to give her a glimpse of what could be if she stays on the straight and narrow.

I've never met Harris, but I've heard her story before. Not her's, specifically, but the part about a performer being amazingly talented, having a lot of people interested, and doors that are just about to open. It's only a matter of time before you'll be hearing them on your radio or seeing them on the screen -- movie or TV.

If you're an arts and entertainment writer, you hear that a lot. You even write about about a number of these folks who truly seem promising, taking their first steps into what they hope will be lives of fame and fortune. That's where Harris' story becomes very familiar, and becomes a cautionary tale.

SummerFest 2008 among the best in the Arboretum

Tapping Sullivan Canaday White (center, with the script and yardstick) to direct Lord of the Flies was one of the choices that made SummerFest 2008 a success. Copyrighted LexGo photo by Pablo Alcala.

SummerFest is the new event that feels like its been around for years.

That’s because it is the immediate successor to the Lexington Shakespeare Festival, and since there was not a radical change of form, the event is inevitably compared to previous Shakespeare festivals, just like you’d compare the entrees at a restaurant that is simply under new management.

Did the new chefs spice things up, deliver something more pleasing to the palate? Or are we left wishing the old guard was still in place?

This summer is one of the most overall satisfying servings offered up in the Arboretum over the past decade.

There weren’t any highs as dizzying as 2004’s Jesus Christ Superstar, but there also wasn’t anything as low as 1998’s Two Gentlemen of Verona. It was a very even affair, marked by its directors.

Directors will often tell you that 90 percent of the job is directing, and maybe 90 percent of artistic directing is selecting directors, and playing to their strengths.

That may be the biggest reason this year’s SummerFest was so satisfying.