Sunday, December 16, 2007

Sunday Stuff

It's blizzard time in Cleveland, and the Browns just won, so all is good. Here are just a few quick things for your Sunday reading pleasure.

Important news for those of you who only read the articles.

Permission marketing guru Seth Godin rightly calls Whole Foods Market "an amusement park for food."

I'm glad someone's still keeping the pressure on Don Rumsfeld, who's arguably a war criminal. Earlier this year, we told you about his possible legal difficulties, and now comes this update. I'm guessing that this fellow is related to the Forest City Ratners, since there's a New York branch of the family. We'll try to find that out.

The Nation offers up an interesting new coinage: permalancers.

And finally, L.A. Times rock critic Ann Powers (who previously served as rock critic for the NYTimes) thinks this year's new Rock Hall inductee class is pretty weak. We wouldn't really know about these things, because we're about as up to date on rock music as we are on sci-fi, but perhaps a few readers might educate us about this. After all, there's been one hell of an interesting conversation going on about science fiction in the comments section, if you skip down just a few entries ago. I've found it quite enlightening.

20 Comments:

At 6:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I remember taking the Playboy Music poll very seriously. It seems absurd in retrospect. You might have had Ringo vs. Carl Palmer vs. Ginger Baker. Or Eric Clapton vs. Steve Howe vs. Robert Fripp. How can you reasonably talk about "the best"? They are very dissimilar, even supposedly within the same genre.

The Hall of Fame is about the same deal.

 
At 6:42 PM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

When it comes to Playboy, I only recall taking the female breast seriously. I was absolutely hypnotized by those photos as an adolescent.

 
At 7:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I took the photography very seriously, too. I even remember the names of many Playmates to this day.

 
At 7:53 PM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

Wow, that puts me to shame. But let's change the subject, before our wives catch wind of this conversation.

 
At 7:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Right you are.

 
At 2:26 AM, Blogger Cleveland Carole Cohen 3C said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 2:28 AM, Blogger Cleveland Carole Cohen 3C said...

Hmmm, me thinks you need a female commenter to interject (and yer supposed to say you only read the interviews lol)

It is weak; I keep thinking of all the 80s punk bands who could be inducted; Madonna makes sense, because of her influence though. What do you guys think? Ut oh, I already can hear comments about the bustiers LOL

 
At 7:10 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe it should be renamed "The Rock and Pop Hall of Fame" or "The Rock and Roll Plus What Replaced It Hall of Fame."

 
At 8:49 AM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

I can't say that I've ever taken any of this Rock Hall stuff very seriously, because I'm not among the cohort that thinks this stuff is high art, or even all that important. And like Feagler, I don't much care for how the induction ceremonies are held in New York each year.

 
At 9:02 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, let's hope you haven't become equally cavalier about the female breast!

 
At 9:04 AM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

Not hardly, but I was hoping to move past that delicate subject, doubly so since the lovely Carole (whom I haven't met yet, but hope to soon) has subsequently joined us in this conversation. But my fault for teasingly bringing it up in the first place. I suppose there's just a randy adolescent boy in all of us men.

 
At 9:14 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And wasn't "Cavalier" a men's magazine, too? (he queried, ignoring the gentle dissuasion.)

 
At 9:15 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

OK, that's really it.

 
At 9:45 AM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

I believe you may be right, but as you no doubt know, the word Cavalier has only one meaning in Northeast Ohio, doubly so since the dawn of the Lebron James era. Interestingly enough, there's a small tie-in with you down in Tulsa, Oklahoma, since the first star of the Cavs franchise, Bobby "Bingo" Smith, was a product of the University of Tulsa.

 
At 3:03 PM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

Carole, now that you mention it, the Q&A interviews were pretty good. I don't recall reading them at the time, but I have since admired many of them in book collections. Not long ago, I quoted from one with Walter Cronkite.

 
At 2:03 PM, Blogger Chris McVetta said...

What? No Level 42 or Crowded House??? I'm kidding.

Well, unless of course you AGREE with me ...then I'm deadly serious!

These are two '80's bands I grew up with (although I'm not certain of their timeline status in regards to induction) but I love 'em nonetheless!

That's just my 2 cents to add to your 401(k) plan, John. Take it for what it's worth...

 
At 2:16 PM, Blogger Cleveland Carole Cohen 3C said...

Crowded House, I remember them! And hey, the just announced that at least the ceremony is going to be here this year blog.cleveland.com/plaindealer/2007/12/cleveland_to_host_2009_rock_ha.html

 
At 3:14 PM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

Wow, Chris, how great to see your name back here in the comments after a long vacation away. You're the expert on all things '80s. I'll have to trust your judgment. And Carole, that's quite a big deal that they're going to have the induction ceremony here. I'm quite sure it's the first time, and directly addresses Dick Feagler's longtime complaint (with which I happen to agree) that until they have the glitzy induction ceremonies here rather than in NY, we've only got half a hall. Thank you both so much for adding to the conversation.

 
At 10:17 PM, Blogger Chris McVetta said...

John,

I haven't been on vacation (although some may argue that my entire life is a vacation) ...just writing my ass off! I missed you at the writer's conference at Lakeland (which I attended for a lecture on Superman - Go figure!).

Whatever the case, I believe I owe you a lunch at (the name of your favorite Cleveland eatery) ...if you're not too busy, of course.

- Chris

 
At 7:30 AM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

Chris, I'm ALWAYS into lunch, and especially with you, whom I've been trying to meet forever. Please do follow through. Just buzz me at john.ettorre@gmail.com and we'll get something scheduled.

 

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