National Post - The Ampersand

Recap: Glee, Season 1, Episode 10

Maryam Siddiqi — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:42:00 GMT

By Asmahan Garrib, National Post

Mini review: Rachel briefly and unsettlingly falls for Mr. Schue. Kurt rears a manipulative head in an effort to steal Finn from Quinn. And finally, Finn reveals Quinn’s pregnancy to his and her parents.

Recap: They have the power to evoke emotion, induce tears and express the most secretive of feelings. They help relate to any pain, problem of even joy. They somehow manage to convey the significance of their message with an intrinsic eloquence. They are power ballads, and this week’s episode of Glee was filled with them.

A ballad is a form of self-expression. A story set to music to express feelings that one can’t get out any other way, according to Mr. Schue (or a male duck, as Britney understood it to be). In that case, this episode was one big ballad comprised of a number of mini ballads. Mr. Schue decides to randomly pair the Glee group off and each will perform a ballad to their partner at week's end. With one member out sick, Mr. Schue steps in to even out the numbers. Rachel chooses Mr. Schue’s name out of the hat. And so the crazed, teenaged girl, in love with her dreamy teacher saga begins.

As a demonstration, Rachel chooses Endless Love by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, to show the club how it’s done. The highly inappropriate and love inducing song does it’s job, through voice over Rachel shares her new found affection for Mr. Schue. She later gives him a star embroidered tie, stating, “Every time you wear it you can think of me and the star you are helping me become.” Creeped out, Mr. Schue runs to Emma with his problem and confesses to her the story of Suzy Pepper, a previous student with a Fatal Attraction-esque crush. She also gave him a tie. After rejecting her, she ate the world’s hottest pepper, which burnt holes in her esophagus and put her in a three-day coma. Emma’s advice to Mr. Schue: Let Rachel down gently by singing her a song that portrays his message.

Mr. Schue sits Rachel down and sings a very convincing mash-up of Gary Puckett and the Union Group’s Young Girl and Don’t Stand So Close to Me by The Police. Swooning in his charm and unparalleled ability to combine songs, Rachel completely misses the obvious subtext and understands his message to be an endearing one. Rachel then repays the favour in a misguided and overstated gesture of affection by showing up at Mr. Schue’s house to cook him dinner. Terri quickly exploits this crush and puts Rachel to work cleaning the bathroom.

In another unrequited love ballad pairing, Kurt and Finn work on their song choices. While Finn’s baby frustration gets the better of him, Kurt takes advantage of his vulnerability, in hopes that Finn will finally give up on girls and run into Kurt’s girly arms. He tells Finn to pretend he is singing to his unborn baby. This method works to release his sorrow, until Finn’s mom walks in on him singing I’ll Stand By You by The Pretenders, to a video of the sonogram. She puts two and two together; Finn cries in her supportive arms. Kurt then advises Finn to tell Quinn’s parents through a ballad when he attends her family dinner.

The dinner started off pretty normally, until Finn began serenading Quinn at the dinner table with Paul Anka’s You’re Having My Baby. It took her parents a few minutes to decode the heavily concealed message before realizing that their chastity princess is in fact pregnant. They admonish her and then promptly kick her out. Finn’s understanding mother allows Quinn to stay with them as long as she wants.

All the baby drama pushes an aggravated Puck to admit to his ballad partner, Mercedes, that he is in fact the father of Quinn’s baby. Mercedes tactfully and in wisdom beyond her years, responds by telling Puck that Quinn made her choice with Finn and he must respect it. In an effort to show their support, Mercedes plans a surprise ballad performance for Quinn and Finn.

In her own supporting way, Suzy Pepper confronts Rachel to give her some insight from two years of psychotherapy and an esophagus transplant. She warns Rachel to stay away from Mr. Schue. Suzy helps Rachel understand that they are not so different and that Mr. Schue is not a path that she should continue on. Seeing what lusting after Mr. Schue did to Suzy, Rachel smartens up. Before Rachel can apologize to Mr. Schue, he puts the ballads aside and in plain, clear words puts Rachel in her student/teacher relationship place.

Finally, all of New Directions surprise Finn and Quinn with their perfectly in sync rendition of Bill Wither’s Lean on Me.

Defining Scene: No sweat suit-clad, insult-throwing, tongue-lashing Sue Sylvester this week means no scene worth defining.

[Rachel, played by Lea Michele, is hot for teacher. Photo courtesy Global.]

Retail Therapy: Designer slippers, Upcycling and the Fascinator

NP Editor — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:48:00 GMT

Nathalie Atkinson, National Post

New & now: Designer...Slippers?

What? Designer footwear that make it acceptable to wear slippers in public. Specifically: NewbarK leather slippers, the brainchild of stylists Maryam Malakpour and sister Marjan (they’ve worked with everyone from The White Stripes to the Rolling Stones).

Where? NewbarKs are the dernier cri among the fashion cognoscenti -- spotted on in-the-know stylists and editors at the recent caravan of shows (New York-Paris-Milan), who wear pair them with skinnies when their ‘dogs’ are barking from mincing around the Tuileries in those killer statement shoes (hence the name, new-bark). Until now, the slip-ons have been available exclusively on Net-A-Porter but true to its promise of exclusive merch, The Room at The Bay Queen Street just snagged a few shipments and is now the exclusive purveyor in Canada ($465 a pair, only at The Room at The Bay, Toronto, 416-861-6251). Instead of ending up dancing & barefoot in the wee hours of the upcoming office Christmas party or charity gala, die-hard fashionistas will slip these on (they roll up into a ball and stow in a matching leather pouch).

Why? They're handmade in the U.S. from American leather and if they're for aching "dogs," they're also something of a design mutt: the love child of a Japanese house shoe and moccasin, crossed with ballerina slippers and the traditional Moroccan babouche. They come in metallic gold or silver, and they're supremely comfortable. Read more.

Should you invest? Only if your closet’s already full of red-soled Loubs and Manolo spikes. If not? Might I remind you that The Bay also carries a wide array of Isotoners.

Something old, something new

I recently moderated a panel at The Textile Museum on the subject of repurposing vintage materials and mementos (like moth-eaten sweaters, antique linens and costume jewellery) into something new -and often, improved. Now, no tablecloth in the house is safe because I’ve got upcycling on my mind. So does New York-based stylist and designer Kelly Framel, whose popular fashion blog The Glamourai serves as an inspiring journal of all things fabulous, vintage and often, recycled. Framel’s chosen more fabulous raw materials to repurpose, however: fresh from her stint as guest blogger for Lucky magazine, her latest brainwave is a capsule collection of “glamourwraps” cut from traditional Japanese robes. The vintage kimonos (dating from the 1930s) are cut and reconstructed into a multi-purpose garment that can be worn as a a jacket, dress or vest. $375 exclusively at Canadian vintage boutique Shrimptoncouture.com.

Style word of the week: Fascinator

The festive season looms, sadly minus the budget for a brand new outfit to wear to the office holiday party. So instead, pair last year’s dress with this year’s accessory: the fascinator --or hatinator, as it’s sometimes known. Don’t know what thing either is? Quick lesson in millinery vocabulary. The fascinator is a headpiece that’s not quite a cocktail hat but more than a headband - it lives in that in-between place between Madonna’s goofy Louis Vuitton bunny ears and Blair Waldorf’s headgear. It’s the adornment of choice at English weddings, horse races and perhaps most famously, Ladies Day at Ascot. Basically it’s a hairband or comb extravagantly embellished with feather, wool, ribbons, felt, fur, net or fabric (or all of the above) and worn asymmetrically for dramatic effect.

My favourite fascinators this season come from Corine Serruya, the creative director of Ophélie Hats of Montreal; she’s been crafting hats and fascinators since 1989. The latest Ophélie styles include tufts of feathers that spray out rakishly from one’s coiffure, embossed fabric pieces that resemble angel wings and elegant clusters of overlapping felt leaves (from $60 at Frock and Fashion Crimes in Toronto, Simons in Quebec City, Delano in Montreal and Lou Lou Luv in Vancouver, 888-701-0589, opheliehats.com). Newcomer Midence Oliu is also making a name for himself with the swirling headpieces for Brandon Dwyer’s recent spring runway show. Need cheaper still? If you hurry, there might still be some left at Le Chateau for about $20.

Recap: Survivor Samoa, episode 10

Michael Bolen — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:17:00 GMT

Mini-review: Russell finds yet another idol, but avoids using it by playing Galu’s members against each other and eliminating Laura. Like watching a master at work.

Recap: Does it get any better than this? Over 18 seasons I cannot remember a character as compelling as Russell. Only two episodes ago it seemed as if he was completely doomed, and now he is in complete control of the game. He has managed to achieve this feat with a combination of guile and industry that puts every other player on the island to shame. Although his profile is likely too high now to allow him to win the big prize, he certainly deserves it more than anyone else. To find three idols, two of them without clues, and to be able to peal not one, but two members away from what seemed to be an unbreakable Galu alliance cements his status as one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. Let’s just hope this ride doesn’t end any time soon.

If someone is to engineer the master’s demise it is likely to be one of the two Galu players who have turned against their former tribemates, Shambo or John. Now that Shambo has achieved her dream of eliminating her arch-rival Laura she no longer has any motive to remain loyal to Russell. And John, who is likely the second most crafty player remaining, will undoubtedly see that engineering a revolt against Russell may be the only way to secure his future. If he sticks with the Foa alliance and helps eliminate all the remaining Galu players he will end up on the bottom of a tight Foa alliance and will likely only make fifth or sixth place. Now is the perfect time to turn Foa against Russell and form a new and more powerful alliance that can take him all the way to the final three. Hopefully, Russell’s idol will protect him so that we can continue to enjoy wildly entertaining episodes.

Thursday night kicked off with reactions to Russell’s masterful idol play at Tribal. Dave seeks to ingratiate himself with Foa, congratulating them on their audacity. Laura plays the role of the sore loser, deriding Russell for his sneakiness, as if he should have just lain down to die. Shambo is overjoyed and laughs hysterically about Laura’s predicament.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Russell is up before dawn searching for the replaced idol. He knows that now that Shambo has flipped the alliances are equal at five apiece. The idol could be crucial in cementing a lead that could take his alliance all the way to the end.

Shambo, displaying previously absent acumen, moves to give her alliance the advantage by approaching John about the possibility of joining her and Foa. John is now the only Galu member to know for sure that Shambo is the traitor. He is receptive but hesitant, not yet knowing what his best play is.

The reward challenge pits two teams of five against each other. One member from each team lies in a harness suspended by ropes that must be manoeuvred by teammates so as to collect 15 flags. The winner take a plane trip to a neighbouring island where they will eat a feast and get the chance to relentlessly plug Sprint’s Palm Pre. Russell is determined to be on the winning side so that he can get a look at the next idol clue.

The Yellow team’s Shambo, Jaison, Monica and Mick support John, while Purple’s Laura, Russell, John and Brett support Natalie. Purple leads throughout and takes a decisive lead when Yellow accidentally knocks a flag out of its mooring. Purple continues to be the colour of victory.

The reward is plagued by cheesy product integration for the Pre, with the winners taking snapshots of each other on the phone. The setting and food are typical — a beautiful waterfall and lots of fatty American picnic fare. The immunity clues are presented via the phone, including a video that reveals the idol is hidden under a mossy rock.

Back at camp, Jaison and Mick plot to bring Monica over to their alliance. Monica is confused when they tell her she would be the sixth to join, but Jaison and Mick won’t tell her that Shambo is the one who has flipped. It doesn’t matter because Monica figures it out all by herself. Monica says that if she flips she wants John to go.

Back from reward, Russell shares the clues with Foa and the idol search is on. Dave shadows Russ, but the oil millionaire, despite his heft, is surprisingly quick and loses his pursuer. Russell finds the idol, again, and I’m so astonished that I actually pause my PVR to laugh for about five minutes. He has to be the most entertaining player ever.

Monica tells Laura that Shambo has flipped and that John may be on the fence. Laura now knows she needs to win immunity.

The immunity challenge gives each survivor a single rock to throw at a set of three closely hung tiles. Each broken tile yields a spear to be fired at an archery target using a crossbow. The closest spear will win immunity. When Laura misses her throw Shambo openly laughs and high-fives Russell; so much for secrecy. Only Jaison, Monica, Mick and Brett make it to the second round, and only Brett gets two spears. Mick bests Brett and wins immunity.

After the challenge Shambo lets a seemingly tearful Brett know she is voting for Laura, telling him “there is no more Galu.” Does he even have a personality?

Laura and Dave consult John about their plan to vote Russell, which they think will at least flush an idol or result in a tie. John is flabbergasted at their stupidity and tells them, rightly, that Natalie is the logical choice, since she is least likely to have found the idol. John is so fed up with his team’s stupidity that a flip begins to seem possible.

Monica comes up with a dubious plan to trick Foa into thinking Galu is voting John in order to peel off four Foa votes from Laura. She figures Shambo will still vote for Laura, thus breaking the five-five tie.

Without consulting John, Laura takes her lie to both Russell and Mick, neither of whom is convinced. Russell immediately sees that Shambo will still vote Laura, splitting his five votes. Monica’s plan could only have ever worked on Galu. Russell tells Jaison that they now have the motive to make John flip.

John is furious when Brett tells him about Monica’s plan. He can’t believe his tribe is willing to throw him under the bus to save Laura. All this shows the importance of initiative in the game. The teams are effectively tied, but instead of trying to convince Natalie, Mick or Jaison to flip, Galu’s members needlessly scramble to save themselves, giving Russell just the opening he needs.

Russell pulls John aside and lets him know that he has figured out Monica’s plan. John says he will let the vote go to a tie, but will consider voting Laura on the second vote. He may be willing to let elimination go to a random draw. He tells Russell that if he flips he wants to eliminate a Foa next and Russell readily consents, which probably only plants seeds of doubt in John’s mind about his trustworthiness.

At tribal, Jeff prompts discussion of the merits of being the underdog alliance after watching Foa orchestrate two upset votes in a row. Shambo says Galu is no longer a coherent group, a claim that Laura idiotically disputes. Dave says he is ready to take it to a tie and see where the chips fall.

Only Shambo’s vote is revealed, and we get a delicious, if grammatically suspect, gem when she tells the camera that Laura is a “viperous poison.”

The vote is indeed a tie, with Laura and Natalie both receiving five votes. On the second round John flips and Laura goes home. Erik is overjoyed and the rest of Galu looks positively shell-shocked. In her exit interview Laura illustrates the blind egotism that got her eliminated when she states that her immunity wins obviously made her a target.

Defining scene: Monica’s self-destructive drive to alienate John, first with her plan to vote Russell and then by using the rocket scientist as bait, changed the direction of the game even more than Russell’s astonishing idol find.

Next week: Russell releases the chickens in a bid to create chaos. Oddly, Shambo seems to be calling the shots, gathering Mick, Jaison and Dave to her cause. Could she be plotting against Russell? Wouldn’t it be ironic if someone as dense as Shambo were to take out a mastermind like Russ? She may be the only person capable of making him feel safe enough to leave his idol un-played.

The After Blog critiques The After Show critiquing The Hills and it's addictively meta

Vanessa Farquharson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:07:00 GMT

There are fans of MTV Canada's The After Show — which sees Dan Levy and Jessi Cruickshank deconstruct The Hills with painstaking detail and smart-ass hilarity — who are so in love with their hosts that they apply to be featured on the show via webcam for all of five seconds and sit waiting with handmade signs reading "I love you, Dan!" or even "Dan, I want your babies!" And there are other fans who watch The After Show without even watching The Hills because it really doesn't matter how well you follow the lives of Kristin, Audrina and Justin Bobby — Dan and Jessi are entertaining in and of themselves (in fact, some ratings stats suggest that more people tune in to The After Show than to The Hills).

But to add yet another level of meta to the mix, the folks at Eye Weekly (one of Toronto's alt-weekly newspapers) have created The After Show After Blog, which takes Dan and Jessi's sardonic nit-picking and flips it around to analyze their own performances on The After Show. Caroline Lock takes great pleasure in making fun of the hosts' outfits (and rightly so — Dan's tight-fitting patterned shirt this week was the wrong choice on many levels), pointing out their slip-ups (Jessi recently got the last name of Brody's mom wrong) and giving the thumbs up when they do good (she loves that Jessi has visible difficulty trying to restrain her intellectual feminism, and also loves that Dan recently name-dropped chicken tetrazzini).

For those addicted to either TV show, the blog adds yet another layer to the mix and yet another excuse to procrastinate. Now all we need is The After Show After Blog After Pod Cast! Who's starting it?

Read an interview with Dan and Jessi (also known as Dassi) here.

Wish List: Souvenir of Canada

Nathalie Atkinson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:16:00 GMT

There’s aviation nostalgia in the air (heh), what with the big Amelia Earhart biopic and fashion’s ongoing taste for retro leather bombers like those worn by flying aces. For just such nostalgia there's Red Canoe Brands, the Canadian company that makes t-shirts, sweaters and caps emblazoned with authentic heritage brand logos like De Havilland and Avro. Forget designer luggage: what patriotic maple leafer wouldn't want a replica kit bag of RCMP-precursor the Northwest Mounted Police or the Royal Canadian Air Force? The RCAF kit bag looks much as it probably did 85 years ago when they were founded, in rugged twill complete with crest stamp and signature roundel. And unlike ‘designer’ luggage, this is one duffel you can safely throw in the back of the truck - it’ll only get better with a bit of dirt and scuffing. Tuck one under the tree and all that's left is to learn the U.S. Airborne rangers marching chorus that Judd Nelson immortalized in The Breakfast Club (poetic license to Canadianize the lyrics encouraged). $149.99 at stores across Canada that stock Red Canoe National Heritage Brands or directly from their online store (where a portion of RCAF item sales benefit the Air Force Association of Canada)

Unpopped Kernels: In the spirit of Pirate Radio, our Popcorn Panel discusses its favourite movies about music

NP Editor — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Chris My favourite "musical" has to be The Blues Brothers — fantastic soundtrack, oodles of memorable lines and about 170 cars destroyed. I was so happy when DVDs came along because my VHS copy was so warped from repeated viewings that the music was sounding all warbly.

Ben Almost Famous is probably my seventh favorite movie of all-time. Hedwig and the Angry Inch is my number one favourite movie — that, with an all-original score — shows how music can redeem.

Alison School of Rock (yes, the ridiculous Jack Black vehicle) never fails to bring a smile to my face (you’re not hardcore unless you live hardcore!). Even better, though, is the documentary its allegedly based on, Rock School. The instructor is a bit of a disturbing figure, alternately heroic and cruel. But ultimately, the kids totally rock, and it’s so exciting to see them play with former bandmates of Frank Zappa at Germay’s Zappa Fest. Another reason Rock School is probably the greatest documentary of all time is that I learned about Zappa Fest, aka the Zappanale.

Sniff Test: D&G Fragrance Anthology - #18 La Lune

Nathalie Atkinson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:59:00 GMT

Italian design duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are the latest fashion house to release several prestige perfumes in a clump. But where the others come in threes, D&G’s Fragrance Anthology is a quintet. Because why have three when you can have five? Each Anthology ($85 for each 100ml eau de toilette at The Bay, Holt Renfrew and Sephora) comes in a plain apothecary bottle and riffs on one of the classic tarot, with a model to match (supe Naomi Campbell personifies #3 L’Imperatrice, for example). #18 La Lune is embodied by Claudia Schiffer. What does the moon + a Teutonic bombshell smell like? Dave Lackie (the editor of Cosmetics magazine) and I find out.

He Says:
This exquisite scent opens with a green accord and bergamot. I can smell the rose notes and hints of green apple. Moments later the soft musk and leather come through. It’s fresh and sensual without being overwhelming. And it smells expensive. A beautiful scent. 4 / 4 noses

She Says:
Talk about overthinking a concept! Numbers and tarot, plus a model and fable for each. Why couldn’t D&G just keep it as simple as the bottles? Still. La Lune manages to take iris root, a smell that I find inherently sad and dusty, and perk it up with green apple and lily, and faint violet and honey notes mixed in. Although the intention was to evoke the mercurial moon, it’s all rather cheerful and sunny while it lasts. But for lack of staying power, this light floral might have been perfect. 3 / 4 noses

Oprah to end show in 2011

Ron Nurwisah — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:38:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES —- Oprah Winfrey will end her popular television talk show at the end of its 25th season in September 2011, her production company Harpo Inc said on Thursday.

Harpo President Tim Bennett said in a statement posted on websites of TV stations airing the program that Winfrey would make the official announcement on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” on Friday, as well as disclose the reasons behind the decision.

“The Oprah Winfrey Show,” broadcast from Chicago on ABC stations across the United States and on various channels worldwide, is one of the TV industry’s biggest money-makers and the top-rated U.S. daytime talk show, averaging 7.1 million viewers this year.

Winfrey, 55, is regarded as one of the most influential opinion-makers in the United States, and just this year was No. 45 on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s most powerful people.

She had been expected to move her show to her own cable network OWN, a Los Angeles-based joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc, when her current syndication deal runs out. OWN will be available in more than 70 million homes.

The move would hit CBS Corp’s CBS Television Distribution arm, which syndicates the show, and Walt Disney Co’s ABC’s owned and operated TV stations that broadcast the show.

Photo: Oprah, seen here at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. (Mark Blinch/Reuters)

In Studio: The Wooden Sky

Brad Frenette — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:51:00 GMT

The Wooden Sky started as the bedroom recordings of Gavin Gardiner while he was attending Ryerson University. A band, called Friday Morning's Regret, formed around those songs, and a few years later they band, with a few new members, changed their name to The Wooden Sky and in 2007 released their debut album, When Lost At Sea. Their second album, If I Don't Come Home, You'll Know I'm Gone, was recorded in Montreal with Arcade Fire producer Howard Bilerman and released late this past summer.

In our latest In Studio podcast, Gardiner, along with his bandmates Andrew Wyatt and Simon Walker, joined me in the Post's multimedia studio for a chat and to perform a few songs.

Click here to download the podcast.

And for more, here's our video with Gardiner:

Wish List: Shake it up

Nathalie Atkinson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:11:00 GMT

You don't have to be practiced in Cocktail-level flair bartending or even a certified mixologist to show off behind the bar this season. All you need is this glitzy snow globe cocktail shaker. It's double-walled plastic and the decorative outer layer contains a mix of glitter and snow-like confetti (which according to regular Post contributor Derek McCormack, a noted Christmas expert, snowglobe aficionados call 'flitter'). One good shake adds pomp and circumstance to any recipe. $35 at Pottery Barn in Calgary, Toronto & Vancouver, visit potterybarn.ca for locations

How the last veteran of the First World War sparked off a battle between indie rockers Beck, Radiohead, The Fiery Furnaces

Adam McDowell — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:57:00 GMT

If you pay attention to the independent music press — particularly the press of the controversy-conscious British persuasion — you’ll likely have heard by now of the feud between Radiohead and The Fiery Furnaces, which so far has culminated in a clever musical retort by Beck. If not, you’re probably thinking, “Huh?” We’re here to help. Below, Adam McDowell attempts a point-by-point explanation of a three-way discord involving Scientology, 43-tone musical scales, f-bombs and dead men named Harry, one of whom battled the Kaiser.

• Briton Harry Patch, the last surviving serviceman to have served in the trenches during the First World War, dies on July 25 aged 111.

• Radiohead records tribute to Patch.

• Matthew Friedberger of New York indie duo The Fiery Furnaces mishears the news; thinks Radiohead have recorded a tribute to avant garde composer Harry Partch, known for devising a 43-tone scale (as opposed to the usual 12).

• Friedberger uses press to telegraph critique of Radiohead’s gesture. “F--- you!” he suggests via music web site Spinner. “You brand yourself by brazenly and arbitrarily associating yourself with things that you know people consider cool. That is bogus.”

• According to The Guardian, “Friedberger’s diatribe blazed across the blogosphere.”

• All the same, Radiohead does not respond.

• Friedberger issues dubiously diplomatic statement: “Matt has not heard the Radiohead song about Harry Patch, but if he did, he is sure he wouldn’t like it. No doubt Radiohead and their fans can ignore his opinion on this matter and continue with their triumphant artistic interventions. Matt would have much preferred to insult Beck but he is too afraid of Scientologists.”

• Beck responds in gentlemanly fashion with tribute to Harry Partch — yes, the 43-tone-scale Harry this time. It can be heard in all its incoherent splendour at beck.com. The music is arguably easier to follow than Beck’s description of it, however, which we can assume is abstruse by design: “A thruway from the external to the internal, in tribute to California-bred composer Harry Partch’s concept of ‘Corporeality’ — the integration of the body with all art forms. The song uses a 43 tone scale in reference to Partch’s innovations with alternate tonalities. A peregrination across disparate territory to ascertain an unassumed frame of reference.”

• Ball bounces into The Fiery Furnaces’ court. May we suggest a tribute to Harry Patch in the style of Harry Partch, ending in a big F-you to Beck?

[Photo: First World War veteran Harry Patch in 2008, before he died and started all of this. Don McCullin / Reuters]

Jason Segel joins forces with The Swell Season

Mark Medley — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:52:00 GMT

And now for your unexpected collaboration of the day: Jason Segel joins forces with The Swell Season. WTF?

The How I Met Your Mother star jokes that he thought his film Forgetting Sarah Marshall -- which ends with a kick-ass Dracula musical -- would win the Oscar which eventually went to Once, whose stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, form The Swell Season.

"That's not how things worked out," he says. "It's very political."

Sitting at a Steinway, Segal says that afterward he approached the pair for advice on how to write a song; Markéta's said he should include as much personal information as you can. It's only once Segel launches into the song that you realize he took her advice to heart: the lyrics feature his (supposed) telephone number.

Fight Club director David Fincher has Never Been Kissed

Mark Medley — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:37:00 GMT

Those buying the new Blu-Ray edition of David Fincher's cult-classic, Fight Club, are in for a bigger shock than the film's ending when they get to the disc's menu screen: instead of images of Brad Pitt or Edward Norton or, heck, even Meat Loaf, viewers will be surprised to find the menu for the 1999 Drew Barrymore comedy, Never Been Kissed.

But don't rush to Best Buy trying to return the movie: these aren't defective. Reports The Onion's A.V. Club:

So, what the what? We talked to Fox and it turns it’s a late-arriving Fight Club-style gag from Fincher himself, who chose an un-Fight Club-like movie from the same year that Fight Club bombed at the box office. Barrymore, a friend of Norton’s, approved the gag.

Jeanne-Claude, artist and wife of Christo, has died

NP Editor — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:26:00 GMT

The artist Jeanne-Claude, who collaborated with her husband, Christo, on such projects as The Gates, a 2005 project that saw portions of Central Park decorated with frames hung with bright orange swaths of fabric, has died. She was 74. From Bloomberg:

Jeanne-Claude, the artist who collaborated with her husband, Christo, on large-scale public works that included wrapping Berlin’s Reichstag in aluminum and decking out New York City’s Central Park with sheets of yellow-orange fabric, has died. She was 74.

She died last night at a New York hospital from complications of a brain aneurysm, the Associated Press reported, citing her family.

The couple’s 2005 project in New York, “The Gates,” placed panels of free-flowing fabric suspended from gateway frames along 23 miles of the park’s walkways. Officials estimated the two-week exhibition drew 4 million visitors and generated $254 million, AP said.

Other projects by Jeanne-Claude and her Bulgarian-born husband included the 1995 Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, the 1983 transformation of islands off Miami into lily pads using pink fabric, and, in 1991, a simultaneous display of huge umbrellas in Japan (blue) and in California (yellow). The display was taken down early after one umbrella uprooted by a wind gust north of Los Angeles struck and killed a woman.

Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon was born on June 13, 1935, in Casablanca, Morocco, to a French military family, according to a biography on the couple’s Web site. She was educated in France and Switzerland and earned her university degree in Latin and philosophy from the University of Tunis.

[Jeanne-Claude, left, with husband Christo, in 2005. Chip East / Reuters]

Michael Moore's latest doc left off Oscar shortlist

Mark Medley — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:56:00 GMT

Michael Moore's latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, has been left off the shortlist of 15 films still eligible for the Oscar for best feature-length documentary.

The year's highest-grossing documentary was among several surprising omissions, including The September Issue and The Ampersand's personal favourite, Anvil! The Story of Anvil. Maybe the guys in Anvil will still be nominated for Best Original Score or Best Original Song...

The shortlisted films are:

• The Beaches of Agnes
• Burma VJ
• The Cove
• Every Little Step
• Facing Ali
• Food, Inc.
• Garbage Dreams
• Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders
• The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
• Mugabe and the White African
• Sergio, Greg Barker
• Soundtrack for a Revolution
• Under Our Skin
• Valentino The Last Emperor
• Which Way Home

Eighty-nine films originally qualified for the award.

The nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards will be announced February 2, 2010.

[Photo by REUTERS/Molly Riley]