Sunday, June 12, 2011

Today's Video Link

Paul Rubin, not to be confused with the guy who plays Pee-wee Herman, is a master in the art of flying actors around on stage. Once upon a time, it used to be "Flying by Foy," an old family business that specialized in this art. Rubin started with them, then branched out on his own and he's taken the skill to (the puns are unavoidable) greater heights. Here's a little montage of his work, which has included devising and staging flying scenes for theme park shows and Broadway productions, including Cathy Rigby's Peter Pan.

Ms. Rigby, by the way, is soon to embark on her — how many is this? Ninth? Fifteenth? — farewell tour in the role. I don't care how many times she says she's going to stop doing it just so long as she doesn't stop doing it. She's really wonderful in the role...and the more she grows up, the more impressive it is that she can play a boy who doesn't grow up. She'll be hovering at Madison Square Garden in New York this December and out in La Mirada (which is probably as close as she'll get to Los Angeles) for June of 2012. I'm not sure where else she'll be soaring yet but wherever she flies, it'll probably be with the help of Paul Rubin, the man who can make performers do things like this...

• Posted at 3:36 PM · LINK

Sunday Afternoon

This last week, I think I've seen more of Anthony Weiner's genitalia than I have of my own. There is, alas, a powerful argument out there that he oughta go away because we all can't stop talking about this. It's like his big sin is giving us an issue that's dominating the press and news-like programming and he has to fall on his sword (no penile reference intended) so we can get on to other matters. I don't think that's a good argument but it's powerful.

A much better one is this: He represents New York's 9th congressional district. They hired him. They oughta be the ones to decide if they want him out of the job. Right now, polls say that by a wide margin, they'd like him to stay on...but of course, that's a poll, not a real vote and it's conducted with no alternative. Supposing the choice was "You can have Weiner or you can have this other guy who is identical on the issues but doesn't have this scandal eroding his effectiveness and causing you to question his judgement." Offered that, a lot of Weiner backers would probably throw him overboard. Or what if the likely replacement was like Michele Bachmann but without that strong tether to reality? They might keep him even if he started robbing convenience stores.

Keith Olbermann had an interesting idea: Weiner ought to resign, then run for his seat in the special election that would be called. The trouble with that of course is that it wouldn't be an election about anything of substance. It would be Weiner running on a platform of "I'm sorry...I'll never photograph my crotch again" competing with a slate of candidates whose platform would be "Well, I've never photographed my crotch."

I suspect this "seeking therapy on how to become a better husband" routine won't change anything and that he'll quit, disappear for a while and then come back as some sort of broadcaster. I tweeted that Current TV oughta grab him for the slot after Olbermann's, not that I expect that to happen but I'll bet he'd be good at it. My sense is that Weiner was a lot more effective at arguing on newstalk shows than he ever was at getting things done in Congress. Maybe TV is a better venue for him. It certainly is for most people who like to expose themselves, one way or the other. Eventually, down the line, he might well get back into public service, possibly running for Mayor of New York. The worst interpretation of his transgressions doesn't fare too poorly when weighed against some who've held that position.

I think the moralizing bothers me more than anything he's said to have done, especially when it comes from folks who had no problem with David Vitter or John Ensign. It also bothers me that so many folks seem to feel we have a right to see all the photos and read all the correspondence in a private consensual exchange between adults. Years ago, Larry Flynt was offering to write some pretty large checks to anyone who could come up with dirt on Senators and Congressfolks, especially Republicans. It didn't matter how you got it. You could have hidden a camera in their bathrooms or broken into their homes and stolen their diaries. If it embarrassed some public official, Larry had money for you. Andrew Breitbart is just Larry Flynt without the budget.

The main reason I'm thinking Anthony Weiner should go away is because he was foolish. After all the politicans who've been caught doing this kind of stuff, he did this kind of stuff. He must have realized what his political foes would do if they ever got their mitts on it. He did it anyway. I still think his constituents oughta decide if he remains in office but if I were one of them and I felt his seat would be filled by someone good, I'd kick him outta there...but it would not be for moral transgressions. It would be for being stupid.

• Posted at 2:37 PM · LINK