Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 157

More Love at Christmas

The great Darlene Love--who got a lot more love this year as a star in likely Oscar nominee "20 Feet from Stardom"--did her annual Christmas barn burner on the Letterman show (as she has since 1986) and here's a mashup of her past versions (plus Darlene's induction into Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame).

John Miller on Critics

Photo at left displays how John Miller views critics (including yours truly) of his NSA "infomercial" for "60 Minutes" last week, according to David Carr in new NYT piece.

Disney's Racist Centaur

I was up in Hartford yesterday for a pair of screening of the film about Beethoven's Ninth that I've co-produced and a guy named Herb S. (sorry, don't have last name but@anechoic) who had traveled a good distance for  this joined a few of us in a dinner meet-up.   Herb informed us (this was news to me, oddly) that there was a black servant centaur--with big lips etc.-- in the original Disney Fantasia in one of the segments in its depiction of Beethoven's Pastoral symphony.  Passed muster in 1939 but was cut by 1969.  Anyway, found snippets of a few scenes at YouTube:  

What Was Greatest Concert Ever?

Let's return to that fabled night in Vienna when L.V. Beethoven rented out a hall on December 22, 1808, for the premiere of his Fifth Symphony--you may have heard of it (if you're not dumb-dumb-dumb-dumb)--and Sixth ("Pastoral") Symphony and, by the way, the greatest piano concerto written by anyone ever (his No. 4). And selections from a little thing called the Mass in C Major.  Plus: the Choral Fantasia, forerunner to the Nine Symphony.   For good measure: the maestro himself improvised at the piano. It lasted four hours in a frigid hall.  The next day  critics dubbed it too much of a good thing! Or complained about the cold.  Read all about it in my column from a few years ago. 

Below, the revolutionary "storm" section of the Pastoral.   And note:  our new film and book about the amazing political and cultural influence of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Claire Davis Dies

Driving up the interstate to Hartford, CT today for screenings of our Beethoven film I was taken aback when I passed a sign for NEWTOWN and then an exit for Newtown/Sandy Hook.  Of course, I knew the tragedy happened in the Danbury area but never thought I'd be passing by.  Now I see the girl, 17, shot seemingly at random in the latest (?) school shooting, out in Colorado, has died tonight.  But hey, guns did not kill these kids, right? 

Ninth for One

Sitting in lobby at Hartford CT theater as our film Following the Ninth plays (seen it), awaiting Q &  A, so why not post rarely-heard piano only version of the final movement of the Ninth Symphony (as famously transcribed by Liszt).

Cat Joins War Against Christmas

Where will it end?  Zoe attacks white Santa.  Though she does look slightly guilty.

Dr. Strange-She-Loves-You

This happened.  If you've never encountered:  The great Peter Sellers became friendly with the Beatles (who shared his sense of humor) in the mid-1960s, and in homage he did this reciting of "She Loves You"--in his Dr. Strangelove voice.

Under the Tree

Zoe inspects the new Xmas arrival.

Drone Strike on Yemen Wedding Party Still a Flashpoint

The NYT tonight with important story, though it downplays the number of such errors in the past and probably the number of innocents killed in this one.

The murky details surrounding the strike raise questions about how rigorously American officials are applying the standards for lethal strikes that Mr. Obama laid out in a speech on May 23 at the National Defense University — and whether such standards are even possible in such a remote and opaque environment.

In the speech, the president said that targeted killing operations were carried out only against militants who posed a “continuing and imminent threat to the American people.” Over the past week, no government official has made a case in public that the people targeted in the strike posed a threat to Americans.