Bailing Out The Kids


(Illustration by Mark Matcho for Newsweek)

"A Pennsylvania mother says that after her 23-year-old daughter took on $20,000 in loans to help finance a $160,000 undergraduate degree, the best job she could get last year paid less than $40,000, failing to cover rent, expenses and loan payments. In hopes of helping her gain entry to a higher-paying career, her parents picked up her loan payments, paid off $2,000 in credit-card debt and persuaded her to move back home, where she's preparing to apply for law school."

A lemming-like push to get your kid into college, without regard for the return on your (and their) investment, is resulting in helicopter parents being grounded by boomerang kids.

What They Do For Love


A Chorus Line is my favorite Broadway musical, in the same way The Godfather is my favorite movie. Both are fresh every time I see them. So I was eager to see for myself if the 2006 Broadway revival of A Chorus Line was as good as I had heard it was.

The CD of the revival captures the energy and passion of the original, and surprisingly includes more of the actual play than the original recording did.

Most of the actors in this revival of A Chorus Line, which we saw last weekend at The Opera House in Boston, weren’t even born when the show opened off-Broadway at The Public Theatre in New York in May 1975.

The characters in the show have become so iconic – as in “a Cassie” or "a Morales" – that aspiring Broadway musical actors want to play them with all the fervor and passion the characters themselves demonstrate in “I Hope I Get It,” the play’s opening number. That's because the play is about them and will continue to be about every Broadway musical actor, past and present.

At our performance, an understudy (Julie Kotarides) played Diana Morales and nearly stole the show, in classic Broadway fashion.

Nikki Snelson took complete ownership of the role of Cassie and performed a thrilling "The Music and the Mirror," almost making you believe no one else had ever done it before.

All of this and more is what makes A Chorus Line unique, and has kept it fresh and relevant for so long, with no end in sight.

Seeing it at the Opera House was special; even though its seats are as small as Fenway Park's, it has been fully restored to its Roaring Twenties’ splendor, with exceptional sightlines and architectural details. Don’t miss any chance you get to see something there.

And don't miss the chance to see this production of A Chorus Line if it comes to a city anywhere near you!

Axe Dark Temptation

I don't think you're going to see this commercial anytime soon on "Oprah" or "Desperate Housewives," but you can't avoid it on just about every baseball and football broadcast -- right after the one for Captain Morgan Rum.

It will sell a lot of Axe body spray.

I'm including it here as an example of the kind of repetitive media messages men are bombarded with when most women aren't watching -- and also beacuse it's sick, twisted and kind of funny:

They're Baaack!

Let’s see if I’ve got this straight…you and I are about to hire many of the same people who made huge amounts of money (think “Trophy Houses”) getting us into this financial mess, and pay them large hourly fees to help get us out of it:

“Treasury officials do not plan to manage the mortgage assets on their own. Instead, they will outsource nearly all of the work to professionals, who will oversee huge portfolios of bonds and other securities for a management fee.

The government will hire only a bare-bones internal staff of about two dozen people with expertise in asset management, accounting and legal issues, according to administration officials, and will outsource the bulk of the program to 5 to 10 asset management firms.

The selected asset management firms will receive a chunk of the $250 billion that Congress is allowing the Treasury to spend in the first phase of the bailout. Those firms will receive fees that are likely to be lower than the industry standard of 1 percent of assets, or $1 for every $100 under management.

Administration officials said they would try to drive down fees with a competitive bidding process. But with $700 billion to disburse, the plan could still generate tens of billions of dollars in fees if the firms negotiate anywhere close to their standard fees.”

I guess we have to hire them, since they’re the only ones who know how to untangle the mortgage-backed securities they created in the first place.

The Kingston Trio

“Thirteen of the group’s albums reached the Top 10, and in 1959 alone four of its albums placed in the Top 10, a record matched only by the Beatles.”

Reading Nick Reynolds’ obituary today, I was surprised to learn that The Kingston Trio began in the late 1950s. Somehow I thought they begain in the Sixties - but then, the Fifties bled all the way through to 1964.

Anyway, I remember hearing them on someone’s portable radio at a beach party in Seaside Park NJ in 1960, and their sound was so refreshing, especially in the context of most of the pap that passed for "popular music” at the time.

At another beach party later that summer, someone broke out a guitar and suddenly we were all singing along to “Tom Dooley.”

Over the following couple of summers, our hair grew longer and the music changed to Peter, Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles.

And then things really took off.

The Kingston Trio had that buttoned-down ivy league look, like the early Beach Boys, and their songs were definitely not political. But they expanded the boundaries of popular music and made it OK to play guitar, sing along, and maybe even write a song or two.

They will never make it in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but The Kingston Trio was there at the creation.

What Would Homer Do?


If you purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you have $49 today.

If you purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you have $33 today.

If you purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you have $0 today.

If you purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, and recycled the aluminum cans for cash, you have $214 today

Based on this scenario, your best investment in these difficult times would appear to be the 401-Keg, which involves drinking heavily and recycling

In related news, recent studies have found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year, and drinks, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year

As a result, the average American gets about 41 miles to the gallon

Thanks to all who participated for doing your part in keeping America great!

Don't Misunderestimate Sarah Palin


"Repeating a stump speech is harder in a nationally televised debate, though, when moderators such as Thursday night's Gewn Ifill of PBS are likely to bore in and demand fuller explanations. Any apparent unfamiliarity with a topic also will prove problematic, and a glaring factual mistake will be difficult to overcome.

But Gov. Palin's telegenic gifts could help neutralize some shortcomings. Ms. Casey, the public-radio reporter, credits Gov. Palin's training as a TV sportscaster for her ability to connect with a broadcast audience at home.

In her debates during the 2006 campaign, Ms. Palin would often thank the reporters serving as debate moderators -- invariably addressing them by their first names, and adding a compliment for their insightful questions. She would then turn immediately to the camera to speak directly to a home audience.

"Like a sportscaster, she's learned to be good at dropping the g's, and relating to the viewer as a fan," Ms. Casey explains. "You know: 'It's a big game this weekend and it's gonna be tough. But we're all in this together.'"

I hope that Joe Biden doesn't fail to study her history in debates; we all know what happens when you fail to study history...

Across The Universe

I had resisted seeing "Across The Universe" because The Beatles were such a large part of my life in the Sixties, and I didn't want to hear anyone else perform their music. I couldn't imagine how it could be more than "tribute band" quality.

Last week my friend Donna reported that she had seen the movie and thoroughly enjoyed it. She thought I would, too. So that night I located it OnDemand and began watching, but when people who had been acting suddenly broke out into song, I had an "Umbrellas of Cherbourg" flashback, and went back to watching the Red Sox.

But this past weekend, on a rainy afternoon, I tried again, and Donna was right -- this is a lovely, magical movie with a refreshing lack of irony and a clear eye for what it really was like to live through those times. And it respects the Beatles' music.

Here's the point at which I knew I was hooked, with no choice but to watch until the movie ended:

McCain's Gambling Jones

"Senator John McCain was on a roll. In a room reserved for high-stakes gamblers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, he tossed $100 chips around a hot craps table. When the marathon session ended around 2:30 a.m., the Arizona senator and his entourage emerged with thousands of dollars in winnings."

It's not illegal and it doesn't bother me that John Mc Cain enjoys gambling (as long as it's not with my money), but those pesky Evangelicals don't like it very much.

For me, it's the steady "Drip, Drip" of his lobbying connections that are so troubling. (Plus, I'd be interested in Cindy's take on it.)

Tom and Gisele

This photo of Tom Brady and his girlfriend Gisele Bundchen returning to their condo in Manhattan after shopping last week makes me really, really sad.

No, not for the reasons you might be thinking -- supermodel girlfriend, Amex card with no limit, condo in Manhattan – well maybe the condo in Manhattan a little bit.

I’m sad because even though this is probably what he would have been doing anyway during the Patriots’ bye week, he’s not going to play again this season.

I know that the economic crisis is serious, but this is worse. Much worse.

Updo!


We were watching an episode of "Mad Men" last night and Gail, commenting on one of the characters, exclaimed "Updo!"

A few weeks ago, I spotted a sign in the window of a hair salon in Cambridge that read "Updos," and asked Gail what that meant. She explained it to me, but it wasn’t until a couple of days later, when Sarah Palin gave her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, that I really got the concept.

This photo from today's New York Times of her recent "briefing" by Henry Kissinger interweaves the style (and bad memories) of the 1960s with 2008.

And Henry The K looks like he's just had a little bit of a Jill St. John flashback

Fashion Update: Accessorize

"At hospitals, as at Tiffany’s, ruby-colored bracelets are far preferable to amethyst.

New York’s 11 public hospitals are at the forefront of a national movement to standardize color coding of hospital wristbands to designate patient conditions, in which purple — the color of amethyst — means “Do Not Resuscitate.”

Red, or ruby, indicates allergies, while yellow — call it amber — marks someone at risk for falling."

I will be shocked if this movement does not spawn a fashion trend, given the current ubiquity of colored bracelets commemorating everything from surviving cancer to preserving Social Security. I know that yellow is for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, but I couldn’t tell you anything about any other color.

I'm going to have to get one of the purple “DNR” ones to wear around the Office.

Robber Barons

As I've followed the latest news about the world economic situation, I have been struggling to understand what impact it will have on my own personal economic situation.

I recently read about Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers, whose salary and bonus added up to tens of millions of dollars last year. While I'm sure Mr. Fuld's Board of Directors felt that he was creating value for Lehman Brothers and its customers, it sure didn't trickle down to me. But I'm beginning to feel something starting to trickle down over me.

I've also been reading and thinking about all of the "Trophy Houses" (aka "McMansions") I've spotted over the past few years. Most of what I've read is "not in my back yard" stuff, although some of it has to do with public access and environmental concerns.The size and scope of some of these homes remind me of mansions built around the turn of the twentieth century by men like Andrew Carnegie and J. D. Rockefeller, who had amassed tremendous wealth during the Industrial Revolution, and created tangible evidence of that wealth in the form of houses and “cottages” that are visited and admired more than one hundred years later.

While history still characterizes these nineteenth century industrialist millionaires as “Robber Barons” for their exploitation of the working classes, today we love to visit their homes and estates, and we benefit from the work of the foundations their wealth created.

What about the modern Robber Barons – the brokers, bond traders and others who have benefitted so handsomely from the lack of regulation in the marketplace over the last several years, and in the process have done so much harm to the fabric of American life? What will their long-term legacy be, in addition to having the biggest, baddest houses in the neighborhood?

Emmys


It was very gratifying to see quality rewarded last night at the Emmys, amid all the dreadful writing that embarrassed many of the Presenters, and all the snarky political commentary with which several of the Presenters embarrassed themselves.

Mad Men (photo above), Pushing Daisies, John Adams and In Treatment deserved even more awards than they received, but I’m pleased they were recognized for the exceptional acting, directing and writing that characterize each of them.

I would love to have seen Weeds – and especially Mary Louise Parker – acknowledged with something more than only a nomination (Parker for Best Actress), but as we sports fans say, there’s always next year.

And the parade of fashion is always fun to watch on the Red Carpet in HiDef.