Saturday, December 25, 2010

Daft Punk: "Tron Legacy" Soundtrack

Daft Punk, the French duo, provides the classical electronic jazzy soundtrack for the fil "Tron Legacy."  Daft Punk is the sleek, futuristic, robot-mask-wearing Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter.
Then, a universal sigh. The orchestral soundtrack album arrived 11 days before "Tron: Legacy" hit theaters December 17.  Critics suggest listening to music in a theater because the music is so intimately tied to the film. where torrents of 3-D goodness can wash over your eyeballs while you pay very close attention to your They suggest tuning your ears to the cool synthesizer bubbling beneath the conversations. Focus on the digital pulse coursing through this movie.

The duo makes a cameo in a nightclub scene that seems to have been written into the script just so they could play "Derezzed," a high-gloss speaker-thumper in the Daft Punk tradition. Almost everywhere else, Bangalter and de Homem-Christo don't sound nearly as Daft Punky. Instead, they conduct an 85-piece orchestra through the drifts and swells practically necessary to give the film's various fight scenes, chase scenes and fight-slash-chase scenes the requisite va-voom. But even when the timpanis reach peak rumble, Daft Punk's electric cool never wanes. (Wash Post, 12/25/2010)

Friday, December 24, 2010

Schwarzenegger To Be White House "Energy Czar?"

Outgoing Republican Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has indicated that he would accept a position as an "energy czar" in President Obama's Democratic administration. Governor Schwarzenegger suggested he would like to go to Washington and influence national policy on clean energy use, and promote environmentalism. Should Carol Browner be looking over her shoulder?  She is the current energy czar in the Obama administration, but it is rumored that she might move to Deputy White House Chief of Staff.  Maybe he told her "I'll be back," the last time he was at the White House.

Schwarzenegger is also suggesting people would be more likely to listen to him about the need for reform because he would not be seen as a radical, adding: "People are very receptive when I talk about these things because I'm a Hummer driver not a tree-hugger."   The governator is planning a visit to Washington with George Shultz, former Secretary of State in the Reagan administration. They will call for a bipartisan approach on energy policy and focus on the need to reduce US dependence on foreign oil supplies. (The Telegraph, 12/24/2010)

Stephen Baldwin Sues Kevin Costner Over Oil/Water Separator


Stephen Baldwin, left, has filed a federal lawsuit against Kevin Costner, right, in New Orleans over the actors' investments in a centrifuge device that BP used in its efforts to clean up the company's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The lawsuit filed by Baldwin and a friend, Spyridon Contogouris, claims that Costner and a business partner duped them out of their shares in an $18 million deal in which BP purchased oil-separating centrifuges from a company they formed after the April 20, 2010 spill.

Baldwin and friend owned shares in Ocean Therapy Solutions, the company that marketed the centrifuges to BP. The two say they were deliberately excluded from a June 8, 2010 meeting between Costner, business partner Patrick Smith and BP executive Doug Suttles at which Suttles agreed to make an $18 million deposit on a $52 million order for 32 of the devices. Baldwin and Contogouris say they did not know about the deal when they agreed to sell their shares of the company. They claim Costner and Smith "schemed" to use the BP deposit money to buy them out. (Wash Post, 12/24/2010)

Monday, December 6, 2010

Kennedy Center Honors

By Holly Wood

Honorees:

Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Merle Haggard, Jerry Herman & Bill T. Jones

CBS will air its annual telecast of the ceremonies on December 28, 2010.


The Kennedy Center held its annual Honors, which started in 1978, on Sunday night.  Three of the honorees are pretty well known and Jerry Herman is being recognized as a composer-lyricist and Bill T. Jones is an avant-garde choreographer. Kennedy Center honorees get escorted through a weekend of events, from a State Department brunch to a White House visit to the evening's honoree gala.



Prominents participating in the event or attending included: Willie Nelson, Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury  Alec Baldwin, Steven Tyler, Norah Jones, Dave Grohl, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt (providing the Beatles covers), Julia Roberts, Claire Danes, playwright Edward Albee (speaking on behalf of honoree Bill T. Jones), Jennifer Hudson, Barbara Walters, Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, James Taylor, Mavis Staples, John Lithgow, Gayle King, Oprah, Nancy Pelosi, Kris Kristofferson, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson and Mary-Louise Parker, among others.

Tickets prices ranged from $350 to $5,000. (Wash Post, 12/6/2010)

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Billie Joe Armstrong on Broadway in "American Idiot"

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong is headed back to Broadway. The singer will take the stage for 50 performances of "American Idiot" between Jan. 1 and Feb. 27.  "American Idiot" is based on the Green Day album of the same name.

Mr. Armstrong had previously joined the production, a Tony Award nominee this year for Best Musical, during a one-week engagement from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3. During that week, the show's attendance spiked to 93% capacity, and its gross hit $1.09 million, according to weekly statistics complied by the Broadway League. (WSJ, 12/1/2010)