Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 185

Premiere of Our Beethoven Movie Last Night--Now Moving Downtown!

We had a terrific sold out evening last night at Lincoln Center for the NYC premiere of Following the Ninth, our unique film on the amazing influence of Beethoven's final symphony (I am co-producer).  After it drew multiple bursts of applause from the audience, I moderated a panel with director Kerry Candaele and conductor George Mathew.  Now the film opens for a full week at the Quad Cinema downtown on 13th St. starting Friday.   It's old home week for me, as the Quad is still half a block from my old Crawdaddy office and I was there for its opening--in 1972.  Kerry and I will be speaking Friday, with Robert Jay Lifton added Saturday, all co-sponsored by The Nation.  Full details, trailer, ticket info here. (Photo at left of the panel by Hal Weiner)

Where's John Hodgman?

Don't miss series of new commercial vs. Obama featuring, you know, big fat sloppy Obamacare guy and sleek Private Sector Guy.   Four spots here but check out the one below.  Funniest bit is how easy, as you know all know, it is to get your insurance company on the line right away and fixing your issues in a flash.

Lou Reed, Getting Electro-Shock, Just Over the Hill

Just learning today that there's a local connection, so to speak, to Lou Reed here in Nyack, N.Y.: As a teen, his parents sent him to the Rockland Psychiatry Hospital, just over the hill a few miles from my home, for electro-shock treatments--to cure him of homosexual tendencies.  (How did that work out?) He wrote about it in an interview for a history of Punk, naturally slamming it for causing some memory loss and more.  And he later wrong a song about it, titled, "Kill Your Sons."

Premiere of Our Beethoven Movie Tonight

Tickets nearly gone so act fast if interested.  At 6:30 tonight at Lincoln Center, I will be chatting with director.  Then opens for a week at the Quad downtown on Friday.  Full details, trailer, ticket info here. 

Keller vs. Greenwald

My new piece at The Nation on the great debate over future of journalism, and reaction to it.

When Lou Returned to Doo Wop Roots

Few may know that Lou Reed's first love was '50s doo-wop and in 1987 he got a chance to back up Dion on the classic "Teenager in Love."  Oh he had a little help: Paul Simon, Springsteen, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Ruben Blades.

Lou Reed's Rock 'n Roll High School

Amazing but true, but Mickey Kaus, as class president, somehow got the Velvet Underground to play an assembly and lunchroom in 1968 at...Beverly Hills High.  They had just recorded their third album and, as few know, they were NOT a popular band at all.   Steve Wasserman stood up and danced and was disciplined, Kaus says.   There's even a photo that he directs you to here.  It shows a post-concert rap at the school where the school shrink complains to Lou that his music is too damn loud. 

If Politico Covered Lincoln

Very funny parody at The New Republic imagining how Mike Allen's Playbook would have covered Lincoln on the day he issued the Emancipation Proclamation.  Too many highlights to mention but here's a bit: 

FORMER GEN.-IN-CHIEF GEORGE MCCLELLAN, on 'MORNING JEHOSEPHAT': “Lincoln has flip-flopped once again on emancipation…. Washington politicians are doing an end run around the Constitution… I think we need less polarization and divisiveness during a civil war. A leader needs to stand up to extremists and reach out across the aisle. Lincoln has not led.” 1864 TEA LEAVES: “I am not ruling anything out, but I’m not ruling anything in.”

**A message from Union-Pacific: Manifest destiny is within reach. But Congress needs to act fast to enable ambition and economic growth. Tying up railroad innovators in red tape will cost jobs***

NEW BATTLEGROUND POLL: Lincoln’s negatives are “through the roof” in Va., N.C., S.C., Ga., Miss., Ala., Louisiana, Ark., Tenn.  PLAY-BOOK TRUTH BOMB: Lincoln is not going to improve these numbers if he refuses to press the flesh. A playbooker telegraphs: “I don’t know what happened to the gregarious guy we saw in 1860. Jeff Davis hasn’t been invited to the White House for cocktails once since Abe became president!”

Lou Reed at Play

My son Andy Mitchell sends along something I would, of course, miss:  60-second official commercial for PlayStation 4 featuring Lou's "Perfect Day."  Hysterical.

Lou Reed, Roadrunner, With the Radio On

Earliest overt Velvet Underground tribute, from Jonathan Richman.   Jonathan crashed on couch of Velvets' manager when he came to NYC in '69 and John Cale later produced the first Modern Lovers sessions.