Category Archives: Kultcha

The Medium is the Message

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

According to 8,702 news articles from literally around the world, Accenture is dropping Tiger Woods, but Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer stands by Tiger Woods, ‘the best in his domain’.

While it’s not difficult to understand why Accenture might want to drop an alleged serial philanderer with a taste for floozies, I wonder if doing so won’t undermine the exact message they were trying to send with their Tiger Woods campaign:

woods.jpg

Someone flunked a test?

(No points for speculating why a maker of luxury watches might not mind being associated with a notoriously successful philanderer.)

Posted in Kultcha | 3 Comments

Prisoner Remake On the Way

Posted on November 3, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

I confess, I am a fan of the (original) Prisoner. I am not the fanatical sort of fan, just one who has seen them all at least twice. I recognize they are dated. I admit the ending of the series is mostly stupid, and what is not stupid is mostly nuts, and what is not stupid or nuts is fun.

I don't say there should not be a remake. I just say I would really hate a bad remake.

The Original

The Prisoner TV Show Opening Theme 1967 – 1968

The Remake

New Trailer For The Prisoner (2009)

Is this going to be a bad remake? American prisoner – not ideal. Ian McKellen as Number Two – very good. Rover is missing? – not sure how I feel about that.

Posted in Kultcha | 14 Comments

Hiaasen’s Craziest Character is Real

Posted on October 4, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

I always wondered who could have been the model for “Skink,” my least favorite but perhaps most distinctive character in Carl Hiaasen's supposedly satirical but actually all-too-realistic novels about South Florida. I didn't like Skink because, unlike the other Hiaasen characters, he seemed too over-the-top to be real.

And now, thanks to St. Petersburg Times's article A lion builds a Cat 5 lair in the Keys, the secret is revealed. Skink is as true to life as everyone else in those books.

(spotted via Random Pixels)

[Note: “Cat 5” here refers to major hurricanes, not a gigabit LAN]

Posted in Kultcha, Miami | Comments Off on Hiaasen’s Craziest Character is Real

The Wasteland

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Tun Yin, Revenge of TV lovers! directs me to True Tales of Conversational Vengeance in which a writer for the Simpsons verbally dismembers a TV-hating snob.

As a TV-non-owner for over 20 years, a streak that ended only a bit over a year ago, my sympathies are mixed here. But I sure enjoyed watching that UM-FSU game with our giant projector. Football is actually fun to watch in giant HD. (Although it's less fun when the Canes get slaughtered.)

Posted in Kultcha | Comments Off on The Wasteland

Robotic Posting

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Was it A Good Year for the Robots …

or maybe It was a great year?

Either way The Robots are up to something.

As The Robots have been for some time.

Perhaps all that is left to do is sing to the robots

Posted in Kultcha | Comments Off on Robotic Posting

Go See Speed-the-Plow at the Gables Stage

Posted on September 3, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

My advice is to hurry to the Gables Stage to see Speed-The-Plow.

I saw it last weekend and I think it's one of the best productions I've ever seen in the area. It's a great David Mamet script, and the cast does a fine job of it (at least after the first five minutes which last Friday before they relaxed into it seemed worryingly stilted). Paul Tei, who despite his extensive local credits I don't think I'd seen before, plays Bobby Gould very effectively; Gregg Weiner, who I recognized from Summer Shorts, inhabits Charlie; and Amy Elane Anderson is a suitably ambiguous Karen.

The show closes Sept. 13. If you live in south Florida and like real theater, you should go.

We had such a good time that we decided to take the plunge and for the first time subscribe to the Gables Stage for an entire season's six plays. It's amazing what you can do when you don't need to worry about babysitters any more.

Posted in Kultcha, Miami | 1 Comment