Tim Russert Dies

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I love politics and current events. Tim Russert was my favorite political analyst. I trusted his opinion and insight above all others. He was always fair, never took cheap shots, and asked tough insightful questions. One of my favorite things to do Sunday evening after the day is over and the kids were in bed was to watch Meet the Press. That show set the tone for what was going to be talked about in the coming week. You knew if a political figure was going to go on that show they weren't going to get a free pass. You could feel how seriously Tim Russert took the responsibility of getting these politicians to answer the tough questions. Even with the tough questions he let them speak. He didn't cut them off, or try to grandstand them. He treated each person with respect.

His intellectual honesty, humility, and love of the political process in America set him apart from anyone else in journalism. I will definitely miss journalistic insight during this incredible time of change and upheaval in this country.

May God bring peace to his family and those whose lives he touched.

Idol Gives Back

Watched Idol Gives Back last night, and I was super impressed by it. Two and a half hours of pushing and prodding people to give to charities that mainly go to benefit children all over the world. Heartbreaking stories and jaw dropping injustices were all on display on television's biggest show. You know in that Nooma Video called "Rich" where Rob Bell says "It's a dangerous thing to think that our world is THE world." Idol Gives Back worked to illuminate that point.

Yes having wealthy and glamorous people highlight the despair of the less fortunate can be a little off putting (see Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus visiting a family in the Appalachians). But arguing that point is a little being too cynical and judgmental. If Simon Cowell inspires me to give up some of my money to needy kids, then how can you really fault that.

I tell you one of the segments that hit home for me was the one Simon did in NYC. He was touting the Children's Health Fund which was started by Paul Simon and Dr. Irwin Redlener. Based out of the South Bronx CHF has several mobile hospital RV's that travel to undeserved areas in NYC to help families who can't afford health care. This resonated with me because since both boys are sick (cough and ear infections respectively) we had to go to see their doctor ($50) and get three prescriptions filled ($40). Not a problem, we could afford that and I am thankful for the great health insurance I have that prevented the bill from being $500 more if our only option was the ER.

I couldn't help but think about a family who wasn't in as fortunate of a situation as we are with a stable job and employer based health coverage. I can't imagine being the parent who looks at both their children who are sick who is forced to choose which one would get the medical attention because they don't have the money to get help for both kids. So would it be Zeke or Levi? A country who can come up with enough money to spend 9,000,000,000 a month to fight a war in Iraq, can surely find enough money to ensure CHILDREN for God's sake have all the health care they could ever need for free! If you don't believe that should or can happen then I think you should seriously examine your religious, ethical, and political beliefs.

Anyway if you watched the entire Idol show last night you know they ended with a rousing rendition of Shout to the Lord. Allison and I sat there with our jaws wide open at the choice of song the producers used to end the show on. It's particularly powerful considering that one of the central tenets of the show is song choice and what it conveys.

BUT...while Shout to the Lord was great, it was Carrie Underwood's choice to sing "Praying for Time" written by George Michael off the Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 album that brought tears to my eyes and fire to my heart. If Shout to the Lord was the equivalent of a nice feel good Psalm, then "Praying for Time" was like reading scripture out of Amos! It was cutting and damning of the tremendous wealth and security we in the developed world hoard for ourselves. And Carrie Underwood sang it that way too. She prophetically sang this song to the audience and millions of people watching at home. Check it out.

"These are the days of the empty hand
Oh you hold on to what you can
And charity is a coat you wear twice a year

This is the year of the guilty man
Your television takes a stand
And you find that what was over there is over here

So you scream from behind your door
Say what's mine is mine and not yours
I may have too much but I'll take my chances
'Cause God's stopped keeping score"

'Poser' Idol and New (2me) Music

If you watched American Idol last night you might have been impressed by David Cook's rendition of Billie Jean. Randy thought it was blazin hot, Paula thought it was brave and boundary pushing, and Simon thought it was amazing. You might infer that he took a big risk in taking a classic MJ song and put a rocker spin on it.

BUT HE IS A POSER!!

Astute readers of the J-Wild blog will remember that on April 2, 2007 Chris Cornell's version of Billie Jean was posted on the blog. If you read that post and watched American Idol last night you knew that David 'poser' Cook did nothing new or original. He merely followed the footsteps of Chris Cornell who should have been given credit for that song.

Now I will go on record as saying I would buy Brooke White's album tomorrow. David Archuleta has the most incredible voice for anyone, let alone a 17 year old. But the dude has to pick some better songs. I am a sucker for Carly Smithson and her accent, but she has the worst outfits ever.

Moving on!

Two nights ago I watched Allison Krauss and Union Station on Austin City Limits. They are just amazing. But the second act Kathleen Edwards blew me away too. I haven't purchased her album, but I am thinking about it. Check out her video from Austin City Limits. Anyone out there already a fan of hers and care to comment?

Zeke LOST the car debate.

What a week around the Isbell house. Wow, don't know really where to start. Ahhh yes I do. Congrats Zeke on turning six months old on Sunday the 27th. You're mom and I are so proud of how much you have grown and you really are the sweetest little boy. We love you so much and feel beyond blessed that you are part of our family. These six months have seen you start to eat food, sit up, pull-up, and grab everything in reach. Great work son! How about these next six months we work on crawling, walking, and sleeping. Let's start with the sleeping.
For those interested here is Levi at six months.
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Along with Zeke's half birthday comes the realization that LOST is back!! I can remember kvetching after that fateful final five minutes of last years season finale that we wouldn't get any more LOST episodes until my unborn son was six months old! The time has come. If you are a LOST fan permit me to direct you to the best LOST follow-up blog on the web, The Root. Get the DVR ready!!
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We sold our car! For the first time since we moved here in 1999 we don't own a vehicle and it feels great (at-least right now anyway). I sold it on Craigs List in literally an hour and a half. I listed the car for $800 which I didn't think I could get because of all the body damage on the car (two weeks ago someone ran into the fender and bent it in...didn't leave a note). But as soon as the ad posted my cell phone just started blowing up. I got thirty calls from very desperate people with cash ready to take the car without even driving it (shady right!). I was getting so many calls that I had to take the ad down after an hour. At 7:30 pm last night we sold our car to a very nice couple for $1,400 cash!!! That's right I got almost twice what I asked for it and it was done in just under four hours. This is how my friend Byron must feel, because deals like this happen to him all the time.
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Have a great weekend and GO OBAMA!!
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Wow punctuation does matter right (title)!

Dove - Onslaught

The ad above is the second film produced by ad agency Ogilvy & Mather out of Toronto for the Dove company. Their first ad was Evolution which most everyone with even the slightest addiction to YouTube has seen.

Bob Garfield an ad critic at Advertising Age has an interesting write up on the 'Onslaught' ad (read here). In the first part of the review he states that the 'Onslaught' video should win an Oscar. It's perfectly lives up to it's title (which I agree). But then he brings up the hypocrisy of the creators of the ad. Apparently Ogilvy is the U.S. agency for Barbie, Slim Fast, and AXE Body Spray (which are some of the most sexist and sexual ads you will ever see). Check out this video to see the visual extent of the hypocrisy?

But does the hypocrisy matter to you? Like Bob, I choose to believe that all those involved with the Dove ads are sincere in their motivations. But is the ad's power diminished for you because it was developed by a company that participates in some of the same things it's railing against?

Being honest, the 'Onslaught' ad just hurt my heart, and not just for little girls, but for boys too. Conceptually I understand how bombarded our kids are with this stuff, but presented like this I get the overwhelming nature of the problem on a very visceral level. For me the fact that an ad for AXE Body Spray and the Dove Ad comes from the same company doesn't diminish the truth of 'Onslaught'. If anything I admire the company even more for making an ad in which it impugns it's own work and speaks, with some authority, about the danger of this kind of marketing. I guess what I am saying is that I don't need someone to be perfect in order to illuminate truth. Truth still stands and the truth in 'Onslaught' is exactly what the title says. Our children can and will have their identity shaped and molded by the onslaught of the beauty culture, and left unchecked by parents and adults who know better, the consequences can disastrous.

LOST

Tonight is the LOST season finale and I can hardly stand the wait. By all accounts this is supposed to be a "game changer" episode. In reflecting back every season finale for the past two years has been a game changer.

Season 1:
Sawyer, Jin, Michael, and Walt are on the boat sailing in hope of rescue. When in the night a motor boat pulls up, shines a light and a voice says, "we need the boy." Up to this point "The Others" were thought to be primitive people who were also stuck on the island. They were in fact not isolated to the island and they had weapons....game changer!

Season 2:
Kate, Sawyer, and Jack led into captivity by Michael. We find out that the captured other, Ben was in fact their leader, and the hatch blows up.

Season 3:
I have no idea what's going to happen which means I am totally setup for a restless nights sleep.

But I do have an anchor to hold onto, a "LOST rock" so to speak. Jonathan no matter how disturbed I get tonight I will be comforted to know that your explanation will help me make it through.

God bless us everyone!

PS: Jordin's going to win American Idol. Melinda would have dominated her had she made it to the finals though. And my completely uneducated guess is that Liverpool will beat AC Milan in the UEFA Championship. Great night of television!

American Idol: Gives Back

I am having a hard time really expressing all the things I felt during last nights American Idol, "Idol Gives Back." In two hours they managed to be poignant, corny, moving, awkward, and powerful. I loved every minute of it.

In her post on Slate Katherine Meizel wrote:

This week, for one brief moment, American Idol put the reality in reality television. We saw the burden of reality on little tear-stained faces in New Orleans and the recognition of reality in the eyes of a genuinely devastated Simon Cowell in Kabira, Kenya. We've heard stories of suffering before on the show, but they usually lead to happy American Dream endings for single teenage mothers and abandoned children. This time it was different. I'd like to say something cynical about selling altruism for ratings and ad time, but you wouldn't be able to understand me through all the Kleenex and the sobbing.

I am sure some of the Idol haters out there will scoff at the notion that a big corporate, capitalistic, pop-show really wants and can make a measurable difference in the world beyond giving us Sinjaya. But perhaps this big show, full of superstars and super ratings does have people who lead it that care about the world at large. Perhaps all the money, fame, and success everyone has experienced hasn't gone to their heads as much as we think.

The highlight of the night for me was Kelly Clarkson and Jeff Beck performing "Up to the Mountain." To me it was an absolutely amazing performance and shows why Kelly is light years ahead of any previous Idol winner. Sis you were right, she has the heart and pipes to match!

I didn't like Carrie's video at all. Meizel wrote, "I thought the video with Carrie Underwood hugging African children was a touch icky in a post-colonial cliché way..." Totally agree, and Josh Groban came close to that line, but I think it was an issue of how he and the kids were placed on the stage. The kids should have been on risers to the side or behind him. But man were they adorable, inspiring, and convicting. At the end of their performance Allison, with tears in her eyes, handed me the phone and the debit card and told me to give some money. That's exactly what I did, and it was the best $50 I had spent all week!

Is charity enough? We know it takes more than just giving to make lasting change. But before that can happen people have to be willing to see that there is a problem in the first place. What is happening in Africa, as Bono puts it, is stupid poverty. Thank God there seems to be a desire and the will to do something about that. However, what was striking to me was the bureaucratic poverty here in the US. New Orleans, The Appalachians, food centers, all of it were highlighted last night in striking detail. Families, some of them with up to six children in them, still living a FEMA trailer almost two years after Katrina? That should be scandalous enough to get the Bush administrationn, Ray Nagin, and Kathleen Blanco thrown out of publig office right FREAKING now! But it's not, and that's where American Idol did it's most good last night. A show that's all about making a persons wildest dream come true made us look into the faces of peoples whose simplest dreams are nowhere near a reality, and moved us to change that.

The Georgia Bus Stop Law

As many of you probably already know prosecuters are going to seek the death penalty for George David Edenfield, 32, who has a prior child molestation conviction from 1997, and his parents, David (convicted of incest in 1994) and Peggy Edenfield. This is because of their involvment in the abduction, molestation, and murder of six year old Christopher Michael Barrios. I am sure as time passes we will learn more of the gruesome details of how this child died. Personally I believe it's important for those details to be made public because we should all bear witness to how this child mercilessly suffered and died at the hands of three adults. Hopefully it will motivate people to do something about the continued harvesting of our children by sexual deviants.

Apparently the Edenfield's lived less than six hundred feet from the school bus stop that Christopher used to go to school. There was a law passed in Georgia that stipulated no sex-offender could live within 1,000 feet of a bus stop, but a lawsuit prompted Federal Judge Clarence Cooper to block that provision from taking effect.

The law is somewhat controversial and will become even more passionately debated now. In the meantime arm yourself with knowledge about what sex offenders are living around you.

TV Commentary

UPDATE: Interested in more theories on LOST than you could even believe existed? Go here.
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