Grumpy Editor

Another whodunit: Who gave okay for illegals release?

Imagine, more than 5,ooo jailed illegal aliens are being released --- after the Obama administration announced only “a few hundred” were being freed because of sequestration, notes Grumpy Editor.

What is interesting, and worthy of further investigation, is that both the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano deny any involvment with the illegals being turned loose.

Those released are required to appear at later court hearings (if they can be found).

Alicia A. Caldwell, Associated Press writer, did some digging and finds Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “released roughly 1,000 illegal immigrants from jails around the United States each week since at least Feb. 15” and 3,000 more are set for release this month.

 

Sequestration also grounds Thunderbirds

Not too much has been reported by national media about sequestration being blamed for clipping the wings of the Air Force's Thunderbirds, the aerial demostration team that flies six F-16s at air shows in the U.S. and around the world. 

 

The Thunderbirds' last performances before the team's grounding will be in Titusville, Fla., March 23 and 24.

Seems strange to cancel the Thunderbirds precision aerial exhibitions that thrill young and old folks plus all in between, boosts interest in flying and is simply patriotic.

 

Something for TV, film producers to consider 

With television and motion picture producers always seeking nifty stories, one they should consider (but without the now overused multi-car crashes or shootouts aimed at attracting 21-to-35 year olds), would include true World War II action and survival:

The story would follow a navigator on a B-25 aircraft, part of the Doolittle Raid to bomb Tokyo just a little over four months after the Dec. 7, 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Bombers in the daring raid took off from an aircraft carrier, a very unusual "runway" for large aircraft at the time. 

After the effective April 18, 1942 bombing run (and U.S. morale booster), the navigator's B-25, as with others, lacked fuel to reach safe territory.  Some made forced landings, others crashed.

The navigator had to bail out, parachuted into a tree but managed to elude Japanese capture.

He returned to action in bombing runs on the other side of the world in North Africa but was shot down in 1943 which led to spending two years in a German prison camp.

The navigator, Major Thomas C. Griffin, who later lived in the Cincinnati area, died Tuesday at 96, leaving only four surviving Doolittle Raid members out of the original 80.

Services will be held Saturday --- with a planned B-25 flyover, hopefully with coverage by national TV and print media.

 

In case you missed these:

Wrong number:  Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.), with 22 years in the House and ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, faced print and TV media to declare (a highly inflated) “over 170 million jobs” could be lost because of federal spending cuts…Chicago-based Tribune Co. is exploring the sale of its eight newspapers that include the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Baltimore Sun and Orlando Sentinel…The New York Times Co. plans to drop the name of its 125-year-old International Herald Tribune, distributed in more than 160 countries and territories, and rechristening it this autumn as the International New York Times…This just in:  The Washington Post reported an asteroid hit near Decorah, Iowa --- about 470 million years ago…Warren Buffet acquires his 28^th daily newspaper, the Tulsa World, second largest newspaper in Oklahoma…Variety will discontinue its daily entertainment print publication March 18 but has launched Variety.com providing free access to breaking news and analysis…Arnold Schwarzenegger, former California governor and noted for action roles in films, returns to being executive editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines.  

Vintage Kerouac, Monroe, Hepburn items attract buyers

Grumpy Editor is ready to dust off a vintage Underwood manual typewriter stored in the garage after noting that another brand from the same era yielded $22,500 at a Christie’s, New York, auction last week.

Meanwhile, other items associated with movie stars a half century ago brought in big bucks at other auctions.

The typewriter --- a working, seafoam-green Hermes 3000 manual --- was used by Jack Kerouac, father of the Beat Generation, from 1966 until his 1969 death.

He typed out his last novel, “Vanity of Duluoz,” on the machine.

More unusual was the sale on Sunday of three Marilyn Monroe chest X-rays from a 1954 hospital visit.

Those different shots of the Hollywood actress, noted for her (exterior) chest in publicity photos and on the screen, fetched $45,000 at a Hollywood Legends auction in Las Vegas.

A chair used in Monroe’s last photo session went for $35,000.

Another item that attracted a buyer at the same auction was a dress worn by actress Audrey Hepburn in the 1957 movie musical, “Funny Face,” when she starred opposite Fred Astaire.

It brought $56,250.

Meanwhile, anyone looking for a working “green” Underwood?

It saves energy because no electricity is required in typing messages --- or writing novels.  No batteries needed, either.  So it can be used anywhere:  at the beach, by the pool, in a mountain cabin or at the park.

Chimps take over camera for TV documentary on BBC

Television viewers able to tune in to BBC tomorrow night will be treated to a “first” in the animal --- and film --- world:  Footage shot entirely by chimpanzees as part of a natural history documentary, notes Grumpy Editor.

The film isn’t too different from some of the output from Hollywood these days. 

Viewers will see some jerky footage, about on par with some hand-held efforts by humans that wind up in motion pictures often hailed by movie critics.

Eleven chimpanzees, during an 18-month period, were involved in shots in and around Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland’s capital city.

Action was captured by a “chimpcam,” a special camera housed in a chimp-proof box.

The apes soon took to film making.

Using a touchscreen to focus on subjects and things, the chimps were fascinated with the image-capturing device.

They even learned how to select different videos to watch.

The chimps-behind-camera production was the idea of Betsy Herrelko, a primatologist studying for a PhD at Scotland’s University of Stirling.

Rumor has it that ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS, in continuing efforts to cut expenses, are interested in outsourcing work to the camera-experienced chimps.

Best of all, the large anthropoid apes, should quickly become top bananas in their field…or, rather, conclude each scene topped with bananas as rewards.

‘Over-the-hill’ television writers win discrimination case

The answer to why mature folks wonder why much television fare these days is aimed at the younger crowd, right down to teenagers, is found in a legal case settled Friday and mostly overlooked by weekend editors, notes Grumpy Editor.

In short: In their quest to lure younger audiences, 17 TV networks and production studios, plus talent agencies have snubbed drama and situation comedy writers older than 40 because they are “over the hill.”

Among defendants agreeing to pay $70 million:

ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC,  UPN, Columbia TriStar Television, Inc., Universal Media Studios, Regency Television, Spelling Television, Touchstone Television, Twentieth Century Fox Television, Warner Bros. Television, the Gersh Agency, Paradigm Talent & Literary Agency and the William Morris Agency.

While the class-action case, filed in 2002, was spearheaded by 165 writers, the legal battle affected thousands of Writers Guild of America members, victims of ageism. 

Complaints about age discrimination long have persisted in Hollywood.

TV decision makers have failed to recognize the U.S. population is getting older.  Almost 13 percent of the country is at least 65 years old.  With median income higher than the national average, they seek mature entertainment.

Yet, recent TV output frequently shows young characters, often at or below high school level.  And it’s not unusual to see electrical bolts shooting out from fingers or scenes showing humans disappearing into a mass of sparks.

That’s quite a contrast from earlier TV days when scripts featured dialog-heavy solid dramas, by veteran writers, spotlighting top Hollywood film stars.

AARP Foundation Litigation, co-counsel for the plaintiffs, called the settlement a bright spot “at a time when older workers are being buffeted by negative cross-currents of a sort they have not faced in many years.

“The importance of the settlement cannot be overestimated, given the fact that television shows --- even in this era of multiple entertainment platforms --- remain crucial in shaping our culture.”

3-D TV looms big, but will better programming follow?

A major push with 3-D television was one of the areas stirring up interest at the Consumer Electronics Show which concluded yesterday in Las Vegas. While an electronic hypo, indeed, is a way to boost TV set sales, solid programming and clever writing remain two key elements that need tinkering to add and hold viewers, notes Grumpy Editor.

Perhaps some “research and development” will turn to the production end from studios, too.

Companies unveiling 3-D TV sets included Sony Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc.

The Discovery Channel and ESPN announced plans to launch 3-D networks.

Viewing 3-D requires wearing special goggles.

Before 3-D excitement reaches a crescendo, however, Grumpy Editor recalls 3-D has had a bumpy road on the theatrical screen where the process goes back to the 1930s.

Hindered by World War II in the 1940s, 3-D returned to the big screen with force in the 1950s when 3-D “glasses” came in free cardboard frames.

The attraction got a boost when stereophonic sound accompanied some 3-D features in efforts to lure moviegoers back to theaters and away from TV sets that kept people home, socking movie ticket sales.

Major studios released a number of 3-D movies in the early to mid 1950s.  Even the Three Stooges got into the 3-D act for Columbia Pictures with two slapstick comedies in that period.

Then 3-D activity subsided and remained mostly dormant in the 1960s and beyond.

Another 3-D wave appeared in the 1980s, faded again, then popped back early in the last decade.

So the question now is:  Will heavy marketing of 3-D TV sets spur efforts for more quality programming.

Stay tuned.

Most media confused on when new decade starts

Print and broadcast media were confused going into 2010, calling the new year the beginning of a new decade, notes Grumpy Editor.

Since the calendar year began at 1, the new decade doesn’t start until January, 2011. 

Now, as for items missed or underreported during the year-end holiday period when attention was focused elsewhere: 

•  Many more bank failures indicated.  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. this year plans to add more than 1,600 staffers to cope with future expected bank failures that reached 140 in 2009.

•  Scrooges abundant in news rooms.  While many newspapers declined to acknowledge Christmas on front pages Dec. 25, The Bakersfield Californian captured the spirit of the season.  It designed its opening page to look like it was gift-wrapped with a wide, red "ribbon," running full length horizontally and vertically, with a bow in the middle.

•  Some eyebrows raised.  An Associated Press post-Christmas report on vacationing President Barack Obama and his family in Hawaii worked in a line that he and first lady Michelle Obama did not exchange gifts with each other.

•  Newspaper jobs continue downward.  More than 40,000 newspaper jobs were lost in 2009.  Equivalent to more than two Army divisions, that’s nearly double the 21,000 that vanished in 2008, according to Bureau of Labor statistics.

•  Movie talent shortage?  Despite the photorealistic 3D imagery of  the science fiction film, “Avatar” ---- passing the $1 billion mark worldwide over the weekend --- a Los Angeles Times Web site on Dec. 24 displayed a 50-year-old story by then Associated Press movie-TV writer Bob Thomas under the headline, “Movie Studios in Desperate Need of Talent.”  Thomas quoted producer Jerry Wald saying, “The movie industry has neglected building new talent, and it is paying for it.”  With many cartoon characters replacing humans on the big screen, that could be echoed this year.

•  No stimulus action for seniors.  Going into the new year, with seniors squeezed by higher costs ranging from travel to utilities, White House reporters didn’t seek an update on the status of one-time emergency payments of $250 proposed by President Barack Obama in mid-October for 50 million seniors one day after announcement that there would be no Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) in 2010.  But Congress is slated to receive a hassle-free, annual automatic pay boost this month, following a $4,700 hike last year.

•  Lots of Amelias and Aidans debut.  Most popular baby names for 2009, tallied BabyNames.com, were Amelia, for girls, and Aidan for boys.