A Little of the Old In and Out



(image via berkeleydaily)

In: Cecilia Bartoli. One of the great passions of The Corsair's life, aside from our dear, brilliant blog wife, is "Early Music." For some unknown reason, Classical radio stations play, almost exclusively, Romantic era music, post-Beethoven (Averted Gaze). Sure, we love to listen to Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" while smoking a fatty, contemplating world politics, on a rainy Sunday afternoon as much as the next guy ... but what about the uneven otherworldy rhythms of Claudio Monteverdi's Combattimento Tancredi e Clorinde? What about Palestrina, Dietrich Buxthehude, Hildegaard of Bingen and Josquin de Pres? Priorities!

Why does the gooey emotional cotton candy of the Romantic era get all that goddam radio airplay while the far more intellectually complicated plinkety-plonk of the 17th century Playel harpsichord, or the rich, meaty sonic textures of the Viola da Gamba get remaindered to the trash heap of history? Let them eat counterpoint!

Fellow Gemini Cecilia Bartoli is championing the cause of forgotten excellence, engineering a rescue of ancient wisdom, and we applaud her for it. Liz Smith notes today:

"Grammy-winning and chart-topping soprano who has dedicated her life to championing little-known music from centuries past, will dazzle audience with her new Decca CD, 'Opera Proibita,' arriving tomorrow. This intriguing project offers newly discovered works from 18th-century Rome, a period in which the church actually put a ban on opera! Many of the songs have been unsung for centuries and never by a woman. Bartoli has one night only at Carnegie Hall on Oct. 19."

We are so there.



(image via secundaria)

Out: Big Knickers. Big what?! Oh, knickers ... we thought you said (well, never mind). According to TheSun:

"CURVY stunner Jennifer Lopez is baffled by the underwear her husband's female fans throw onstage at his concerts - because they're huge!

"J.Lo told US talkshow host David Letterman: 'They're always large.

"I'm like: 'Surely the woman who threw this does not have these things.'"

Perhaps not. But, how better to entice a confirmed "ass-man"?



(image via HBO)

In: HBO's Rome. Yes, the characters are still largely undeveloped and un-fleshed out; and, Yes, most people presently watching "Rome" are doing so for the graphic sex and the gore and not any sense of intellectual curiosity about the era or the drama. But The Corsair is not. We love HBO's "Rome," we are even re-reading Caesar's Bellum Civile to get a better handle on the backstory. So we took this as a sign of good news (via MedialifeMagazine):

"The network renewed the new historical drama 'Rome' yesterday for another 12-episode season, just three episodes into its run. Production won�?t begin until March, with episodes airing in 2007."

Then again, we thought K-Street was one of the most interesting shjows in the history of television (we still do, thank you very much).



(image via patriciafield)

Out: Patricia Field. While Patricia Field is a hugely influential clothier, her understanding of classical scholarship and the sacrificial nature of the Death ofSocratess (so that Philosophy might live) is ... dubious at best; spurious at least. At best! According to the September/October Yellow Rat Bastard Magazine (I know, I know):

"'I've got a scoop for you,' (Patricia Fields) says. 'I'm making a new T-shirt with a picture of Michael Jackson after his trial on the front and an image of Socrates on the back. Below Michael's image it will say 2005 AD, and underneath Socrates' picture it will say 399 BC.' As she motions over to a shop assistant to show me the design, she points out that 'both Michael and Socrates have the same pose -- the one where they are both pointing their finger. The rationale behind the T-shirt is that in 399 BC, Socrates was charged with corrupting the youth of Athens. I think there is an obvious parallel with the state of today's society and the injustice that resulted in Socrates' death,"

(A considerable pause; Arched eyebrow; Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment; Averted Gaze)



(image via vogue.de)

In: Andre Leon Talley. Olympus Fashionweek just wouldn't be fashionweek without some "ALT drama (tm)." According to the most excellent Chris Wilson of the NYPost, "DISSED designer Malcolm Harris has declared war on Vogue editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley. Harris is apoplectic that the Jolly Gay Giant skipped Harris' Mal Sirrah show in Harlem last week, and is threatening to stage a protest outside Talley's place of worship, the Abyssinian Baptist Church.

"'If it takes me protesting outside his church, then that's what I'm going to do,' Harris says." (More; full story here) And, as if that isn't enough "ALT drama (tm)," according to Fashionweekdaily:

"Kimora atoned for last season's sins Saturday night. After Andre Leon Talley was shut out of the Baby Phat show completely last year, he received the VIP treatment and was escorted to his seat before any other guest even Russell Simmons was allowed into the front-of-house."

To quote Ray Liotta in "Goodfellas, "One day the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother's groceries all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect."



(image via photos.blogger.com)

Out: Mariah's Wedding Dress Psychosis. What the fuck is up with Mariah Carey dragging around that wedding dress? There's something weirdly psychological playing itself out in Mariah Carey's fevered mind, in eight octaves, mark our words. She, like, went to Heidi Klum's Halloween party last year in a half of one (which, we cannot fail to note, exposed her "copper biscuits" quite nicely), she wore another in the "We Belong Together" video, and now, she discusses it at length. This, from TheScoop:

"Mariah Carey says she can�t believe she was ever married. That�s why, she claims, it wasn�t odd that in the video 'We Belong Together' she used the wedding dress she wore when she married Sony head Tommy Mottola. 'The wedding dress was a Vera Wang original dress from a while ago that I actually wore on a certain occasion and had it in storage and when we came up with the concept for the video that had the element of a wedding in it, I said, �well, I do have my old wedding dress,� Carey told a Canadian TV show. 'It�s still worth [sic] for me �cause I can�t believe I was ever married but whatever, end of story. And I knew that we wouldn�t be able to get a fabulous dress like in two days so I just took that dress out of the storage � it has a 27-foot train and it was just all hand-beaded and stuff and so I figured we might as well get a use out of it.'"

Use it, baby, don't abuse it. (The Corsair does a neck-roll with flava)



(image via nypost)

In: Tina Fey's Temporary Replacement. So, who gets the best comedy gig on television -- the gig that caused Al Franken, possible 2006 Minnesota Senate candidate, to quit from SNL after he was turned down for it -- namely: the fucking Weekend Update Anchor job. Cause, according to the NYPost:

"'SATURDAY Night Live' is going to wait until the last minute to replace Tina Fey as the anchor of its signature 'Weekend Update.'

"Fey gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Alice, last Saturday, and will be out on maternity leave for most of the season."

"The series begins airing new shows Oct. 1."

Our man Lorne is keeping it heezy, that's less than a month away. May we make some suggestions? Me (kiiidding; but not really); the brilliant Matt Besser of the hilarious A.S.S.CAT and Upright Citizen's Brigade; Toure; Michael Musto (in your heart, you know he'd rock); Jeesi Klein; and Sam Seder.



(image via NYPost)

Out: Rick Kaplan. The problem with MSNBC -- which was amazing during the Second Persian Gulf War -- is that at present it has no central philosophy. CNN is leftish; Fox is rightish; MSNBC is ... The Corsair has no fucking idea. According to Tim Arrango, who is a NYPost scoop magnet:

"After being passed over for a chance to replace NBC News chief Neal Shapiro, MSNBC boss Rick Kaplan's job is in jeopardy, The Post has learned.

"Sources say Kaplan is likely to be out as the head of the ratings-challenged cable news network by the end of the year.

"These sources say that Kaplan believes he should have been considered to replace Shapiro, despite failing to boost ratings at the network, which is ranked a distant third behind Fox News and CNN.

"... The turmoil at the news division comes as NBC has dropped from first to fourth in the ratings among broadcast networks-- and saw a drop of some $1 billion in advertising sales during the most recent upfront, the period when network execs unveil new shows to advertisers.

An insane amount of money for a cable news network to bleed. And, most interestingly:

"The NBC News chief is likely to have a wider portfolio than Shapiro, as the network is considering a move to combine its network news division with its cable news channels CNBC and MSNBC."