Londonist » Governor

Elsewhere in the Ist-a-verse

Hazel — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 11:21:26 +0000

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton’s San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan’s cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a picture displaying the woes of cruising in a tacky limo on the streets of San Francisco.

Over at Chicagoist, readers weighed in with their favorite memories of a local concert venue celebrating its silver anniversary and railed about the passage f a statewide smoking ban for Illinois. The former Marshall Field’s department store received bad publicity in the form of fruit flies in the food court and someone falling from the upper floors. And local residents worried about the possibility of increased pollution in Lake Michigan from an Indiana oil refinery.

This week, LAist invited five Guest Day Editors from the blogLAsphere to join them: Green LA Girl, Fred Camino of MetroRiderLA, Zuma Dogg, the LA City Nerd and previous LAist editor, Carolyn Kellogg. On Wednesday, the DEA raided 10 local medical marijuana clinics while TARGET’s newest three-story store soft-launched to almost no one. Then there was Lindsay Lohan. Oh Lindsay.

Austinist welcomed the name change of a local lake to honor Lady Bird Johnson, and was surprised to find that Austin is a model for Iraqi reconstruction efforts. Nonstop rains of the past two months have led to a cricket infestation, plus A university professor claimed that obese girls are less likely to attend college, and another report showed that Austin’s suburbs are among the fastest growing in the nation. Meanwhile, locals are up in arms over a secret Spoon show.

Sampaist was shocked when they went inside the building slammed by an airplane for the first time. On July 17 an Airbus 320 with 187 people aboard landing at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport, Brazil’s busiest, skidded off the runway, across a road and slammed into an airport building. See the pictures here.

This week, Londonist found out that London loves Facebook – that’s a fact. We also learned that men can be burlesque as well as burly in the Male Tournament of Tease. With all the social networking and bare-bottomed men everyone is enjoying, Londonist held the first ever Londonist pub quiz – deemed such a success by one and all, the next one is already being compiled (with even harder questions and even better prizes…). Everyone went home smelling of roses, perhaps due to the smoking ban but sadly, it doesn’t suit everyone. A sad and shocking shooting took place leaving a former heavyweight boxer critically ill after he confronted three men who were smoking in a club.

Phillyist isn’t trying to tell you how to live your life or anything, but, well, they don’t approve of your breakup methods and they don’t think you should rule out the Counting Crows just because they’re so 1993. They’d like to encourage you check out The Swell Season, Irish rocker Glen Hansard’s side project or hot women covering classic rock, and maybe pick up a Spanish/English dictionary on your way. And, look! Pretty!

Bostonist was charmed by the prankster who re-programmed a road sign to announce to the driving public that penis was being served for lunch. All the news outlets were coy when forced to discuss the male member. Needless to say, Bostonist had no such qualms. The residents of the Boston area aren’t coy about anything, from getting free rides to auditioning for controversial reality shows to protecting a nearby 7-Eleven. Bostonist also went big with the sports this week. They found a link between German legend and baseball and helped dispel the bizarre rumor that Pats player Tedy Bruschi was dead.

Houstonist laughed out loud this week. 30 Rock funny man Judah Friedlander popped in for an interview and then Houston native Beyoncé took tumble during her recent performance. The mood was subdued when it was learned that fat girls are less likely to go to college. But, stories about aging hipsters failing to pick-up in trendy bars got us to smile again. Perhaps treating the hotties to a few cool lychee martinis would have helped.

DCist spent most of their week checking out all the offerings of the Capital Fringe Festival, but in between they contemplated adding trolley service to the city, thought about killing some pesky Canada Geese, and caught up with local band These United States out on the road.

Gothamist thinks it’s in a golden age of NY State and NYC politics, if golden age means totally insane goings-on. A controversial City Councilman and his former staffer accused the Council speaker of racism and white supremacy while Governor Spitzer’s staffers were accused of using the police to discredit a rival. Gothamist wondered if the 1 train really is the best subway of all and readied itself for likely subway and bus fare hikes. Redheads took the streets to demand their rights and during an mmminterview withTaylor Hanson, he told Gothamist that one fan got a larger-than-life-sized tattoo of his face on her back.

And check out other top stories from Seattlest, Shanghaiist, and Torontoist.

Arnie and Blair Save The World Together

Londonist_ben — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:45:56 +0000

Governor of California and Austrian über-man Arnold Schwarzenegger will be travelling to London on Sunday to meet Blair, reciprocating a visit Blair made to America’s most populous state last year where the pair announced a trans-Atlantic alliance to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.

Obviously, Arnie has experience of dealing with such global problems before, namely the T-1000, a super terminator that could morph into anything that it had had physical contact with. The T-1000 wanted to kill the young John Connor so that after Skynet had provoked a nuclear war with Russia, the war against the machines would be without its rebel leader and would be ultimately lost by the remaining humans.

Global warming should be a piece of cake.

Could it be that Arnie has been sent from a world 35 years into the future, in which global warming has taken its huge toll, in order to save us all? Is Tony really going to bother himself with discussing climate change when he’s about to finish his job? Won’t he just be nicking office equipment and clearing his desk? We’re worried about all this world leader meeting by Blair, it suggests that he isn’t going to go quietly and will still be making a nuisance of himself for years to come. You know, hanging around the UN, reminding everyone of the time they all got really drunk at the G8 and gave in to a campaign started by Bob Geldof. We blame Sarkozy and his crazy “Blair for EU President” plan. Can you think of anything worse?

Elsewhere in the Ist-iverse

M@ — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 12:06:28 +0000

With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we’d cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs.

It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay tribute to those who were lost. But somber thoughts came right along with optimistic ones, as we headed out to the streets to march in protest for a full voting member of Congress for the District. After live-blogging the debate on the House floor once again, the bill passed the House, and we celebrated by paying tribute Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton’s tenacity.

Bostonist has been watching as the murder rate in the city heads towards the highest level in over a decade. Boston Police have been looking for new recruits for the force, but it’s Scottsdale, Arizona looking for a few good men amongst the relievers at Fenway. Other fans were engaged in Pizza-gate (replaying in our minds and a YouTube near you) which included a Bartman move followed by an airborne slice. All the while political statements were made as art was protested and destroyed. And tens of thousands completed a soggy 26.2.

Austinist was baffled by Tom Delay’s crazy ramblings on Charlie Rose, and even more baffled by the antics of some local would-be art thieves. Tickets for Austin City Limits went on sale, with the first batch sold out in mere hours. Mean while, a massive new project is underway that might transform Central Texas into a powerhouse film industry hub. Austinist sat down for a chat with touring artists Hot Chip and The Books, and exchanged emails with technology guru Douglas Rushkoff.

Chicagoist had two big interviews this week: Radio shock jock Erich “Mancow” Muller and Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn. They also argued some more about the Olympics and came together to rejoice over the resignation of the CTA head, Frank Kruesi.

In the Big Apple, driving was a big topic. Gothamist was amazed that NJ governor Jon Corzine was not only unbuckled but speeding at 91 MPH when his SUV got into a car crash. In New York, the city is awaiting Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan to alleviate city traffic and raise money for city coffers. Also, the trial of four lesbians accused of attacking a man because he was straight ended with guilty verdicts. But the momentary bright spot of the week was the

http://www.gothamist.com/2007/04/19/brooklyns_sludg.php”>ventually died, but not without the well wishes of city folks.)

Houstonist had wacky celebrity stuff going down in their neck of the woods. Andre Agassi hit his wife in the facewith a tennis racket, Beyonce got sued, and George Clinton had a groovy video. To settle down all that craziness, they found the new mojito and a feng shui cemetary.

Phillyist wrapped up its very through and extensive two-festival coverage and celebrated by taking a much-needed hiatus. Meanwhile, the OHS-delayed Rodrigo y Gabriella show finally hit Philly, and the City of Brotherly Love is losing a musical institution.

Over at LAist, it may have been 4/20 week, but dozens of suburban pot growers are getting busted. Meanwhile, it is going to get easier for gang members in LA to get off injunction lists. Just as dangerous and rowdy are baseball games, so they provided a tutorial on baseball etiquette when rooting for the away team, but those rules are thrown out of the window when it comes to the hot chicks of the Derby Dolls. Also, lots and lots of interviews with the likes of the Daily Editor of MSN.com, CrooksandLiars.com, OutsidetheBeltway.com, Smoosh and the guy bringing the party back to Downtown LA.

Everything is outsized in Londonist’s world. The locals are going after world records, somebody’s scribbling random graffiti everywhere, and Londonist’s “Touch-Up London” photoshop contest has some giant residents of Buckingham Palace.

SFist wondered about cameras on buses spying on you and whether San Francisco was a great place to meet your mate or a lousy place. They also wondered what would happen if bloggers who ironically support the Mayor would do if they meet bloggers who ironically hate the Mayor. And speaking of the Mayor: is he about to get hitched?

This week, Torontoist rocked out…for science, gave props to music producer Bob Ezrin for his praising of Trent Reznor, and decided to engage in a bit of self loathing. Plus, they’re totally giving away Justin Timberlake tickets.

Want to know what’s going on in the rest of the Ist-A-Verse? Check out this week’s readers’ favorites on Sampaist, Seattlest, and Shanghaiist.

Photo from Londonist

Compiled and edited by Jon Shurkin

News From Around The Ist-A-Verse

sizemore — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 10:40:09 +0000

We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we’re sensational, but it’s very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we’ve decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week.

Torontoist Special Report: Rosie to Trump: “Fire 300 Bicyclists for Fraud!”

On DCist: Students Go Wild for Slogans, Secrets and Sexual Harassment

The action was thick and heavy at SFist: Mayor Discovers Public Transportation Not Very Good! War on Paper Bags and Food Critics Who Attack Food Bloggers! Town Hall Meeting With Mayor Turns Raucous When Chickens Attack!

Seattlest mentions McCain’s momentous MySpace same-sex marriage announcement, mumbles that their monstrosity of a library might be a Monet, and muses on the possibility of a drunken pitcher on the mound of last year’s All-Star matchup. Meanwhile, members of their lit group meet the author, a local musician questions the merits of the Pitchfork Effect and a man makes moves to get a MacBook Pro in the mitts of local radio.

Scandal galore on Houstonist this week: Killer Barbecues Ex-Girlfriend’s Remains! Senator Offers Women Cash for Their Babies! Man Fakes Kidnapping To Slip Ball and Chain! Antique sofa miraculously preserved! Hard-Working City Bloggers Get Screaming Drunk!

This just in from Londonist: Rutting Royal VS. Rocking Racer: Ready to Rumble!!!

Overheard outside the trash bin Chicagoist collects its news from: Obama’s Gay Gaffe Slightly Less Upsetting Than “The Man” Saturating a Hipster ‘Hood and Staining Their Lily White Belts. Breaking! Spire to the Sky or Fusilli Jerry? And, Marvel at the Transit System That Doesn’t Actually Transit!

Shanghaiist exclaims: Kenny G! Ziggy Marley! Sonic Youth! Giant Chinese Dragon! Crazy Sex Scandal Involving Shanghai Toys and Chairman Mao condoms! Yowza!

Breaking news on Phillyist! Flyers and Phillies Flock to Decorated Dormitories: Decency Dies, Defecates

Austinist crushes over cool “kustoms” while a crazy chick (who couldn’t kick the chronic) creeps away in a cop’s car. Meanwhile, the city reached a copasetic conclusion to a college controversy just as the climate turned calamitous.

Bostonist (who helped inspire the guidelines for this post) features: Out-Of-This-World Athletes and Angels, While Governor Derides Droopy Drawers

Next up on LAist: Man(cia) Bites (Veggie) (Dodger) Dog; Echo Film at 11, Music by Datarock

Extra, extra, hey look at Gothamist‘s headlines: Brooklyn Artist Cocoas Christ! Supermarket’s Super Opening Party! Wal-Mart’s CEO to NYC: Drop Dead! Neighbors want San Gennaro fest To Sleep With the Fishes! Splasher Tired, but Brusher Is Wired! Pachyderms Back in Big Apple!

Compiled and edited by Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey.

Collage by Londonist Editor Mike Atherton.

Elsewhere in the Ist-iverse

M@ — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 12:24:03 +0000

With the sun out, the temperatures high, one can only think of one thing– what’s going on in the World of the -ist’s?

Bostonist dug deep to uncover Barack Obama’s unpaid parking tickets, their Governor’s latest ethical lapse, and a plagarizing sports writer.

Chicagoist had everything in twos: two views on having the Olympics, losing two members of their Super Bowl team, and two music festivals.

DCist put their noses in legal books as they wrote about the Scooter Libby trial, the House possibly taking up a Voting Rights Act for D.C., and a court ruling against DC’s gun ban. To lighten up their mood from such weighty issues, they had their first photo exhibit and packed the house. Congrats DCist.

Gothamist would like to celebrate the opening of a Muji Store but not when taxi drivers are about to strike over the addition of GPS and after biking 100 blocks to work. Even worse, a plan to name a street after Jerry Orbach fell through.

People can’t hear in Houstonist’s world. Maybe it’s because they’re listening to iPods at work or a because a speaker blew out at a Hannah Montana concert. Some people can’t even listen to other people’s opinions and burn down radical bookstores. But as long as somebody hears you when you order a mint-julip martini, all is right with the world.

Despite itself, LAist was full of questions. Such as can a Free Culture group get fined for posting fliers all over a Free Speech Zone or can a size-queen be with, well, someone not so sized? Or why did a famous restuarant close for business and what happens if LA calls an election and nobody knows?

Londonist had money on their mind when they discovered they were all rich. So rich they could spend loads of money on Obi Wan Kenobi’s cloak (but not rich enough to buy some other Star Wars memorabilia as somebody made off with someone’s private collection). They might actually be too rich as developers might be doing too much developing around the Tower of London.

Parisist spent the warm weather discussing International Woman’s Day and the life and times of cultural theorist and philosopher Jean Baudrillard. But what really got them stirred up was a new law banning people from filming “happy slapping.”

Phillyist was concerned about what to do and what not to do. What not to do: leave drunken text messages and ejaculate on airplane passengers. What to do: take videos of imploding buildings, honor long-time baseball coaches, and have awesome Mayoral elections.

Seattlest had things big and small on their minds. The bigger things concerned their inept Governor and Mayor and a video series on Black History Month. As for the small things, donuts and fast food.

Despite the great weather, SFist was in a cranky mood. Cranky about litter bugs and cranky about bad public transportation web sites. Luckily for them, they have dragon-loving racist columnists still to make fun of and is that a picture of their Mayor in a kimono with his purple gloved stalker?

Shanghaiist saw China block LiveJournal and go after pet dogs. But they also saw an awesome show about a magic cellphone and some great beat boxing.

Torontoist was in a musical frame of mind. Perhaps because it’s so cheap to live there? They couldn’t decide on the video of an 18 year old songwriter, but were all over Canadian Music Week.

Photo of DCist Exposed from DCist

By SFist’s Jon Shurkin

News From Around The Ist-A-Verse

sizemore — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 13:02:27 +0000

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of “Friday Night Lights” production to New Mexico.

Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor spending a lot of money on drapes.

Chicagoist complained about a ban on foie gras hurting a high end hot dog restaurant, highway names, and their– gulp– TiVo breaking down!

DCist was full of debates. Like does the blogosphere hate their “American Idol” contestant. Or why the National Air & Space Museum has declined in popularity? Or the selling of a single beer and bad bus drivers.

Houstonist had a food fight get out of control, photographed a giant semi truck-eating armadillo, cooked a Mardi Gras staple, and saw that whole HPV vaccine controversy rage on.

Gothamist had serious things on their mind. Like the JetBlue meltdown or illegal immigration raids or rats in a fast food joint, and strollers on the subway.

LAist was all about the cool– cool gas stations, supporters of the uber-cool Barack Obama, an interview with the sister of the very Sarah Silverman, and the not so cool way the LAPD seeing the movie 300 and the view from the top of the Dome. They were less excited about a windowless apartment going for 400 grand and luke warm over graffiti artist Hugo Martinez.

Parisist was rocked this week with concerts from Les Guillemots, The Decemberists , and Rufus Wainwright, explored what Marie Antoinette wore to the revolution, and checked out a disturbing humans-as-meat demonstration.

Phillyist coined a new term, had a Mayoral candidate in jail, and saw gay civil unions in New Jersey. Also, a piano-playing cat.

Seattlest complained about people complaining about high housing prices and a local politician not knowing anything about NASCAR. They also pretended it was summer in their kitchen and enjoyed a High School basketball match featuring urban kids vs. suburban kids.

SFist was full of love this week. They loved the Amgen bike race, their favorite MUNI line and an interview with a MUNI driver, and apparently, they still love their maybe alcholic, womanizing Mayor.

Torontoist protected to save themselves so they went to an Al Gore lecture, a Tin Foil Hat party, and mucked up corporate logos. Maybe it was because an old marquee of a historical movie theater collapsed?

Photo of giant armadillo from Houstinist

By SFist Jon Shurkin

News From Around The ist-a-verse

Rob — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 11:56:50 +0000

Let’s take a look back at a week that raised this Zen koan: if Kevin Federline got into a wrestling ring with a wrestler, who would you root for?

Austinist was in an entertainment state of mind as they covered the dickens out of the Austin Film Festival, depicted all the Big 12 football coaches as South Park characters, and interviewed Jose Gonzalez.

Chicagoist talked about the passion as they bid adieu to Bell Beer, went medieval on vending machines, and loved some of Da Bears.

DCist went wonky this week as they discussed affordable housing and their probable new Mayor meeting with New York’s Mayor Mike to discuss schools. Oh, and puppies. Cute, adorable puppies.

Gothamist checked out a Strokes/Kanye West show, pondered how long one should wait in line for a muffin and had their hearts broken in real-time as they live-blogged Game 7 of the Cards/Mets series.

LAist was in a loving mood as they loved Howard Stern on satellite radio, a Keith Olbermann rant, and some photos of a Burning Man Decompression party.

Londonist was all about sex and violence as they got a vist by Hugh Hefner and LL Cool J pulled a Jim Morrison only to see an internet chat-room fight dissolve into one guy going after another with a pick-axe.

Parisist was all over the Euro Disney “sex-tape” (seriously, check it out), linked to a video of some home-made video of travel trips, and threw themselves into the middle of a big debate on blogging (in French).

Phillyist pondered some great ideas, ideas like New Jersey not being half-bad, or a web site that delivers beer online. They also gawked once again at pretty, pretty pictures.

Houstonist, however, pondered some really bad ideas. Like robbing a bank with really bad hair. Or tasering a SF indie band. Or gardeners refusing to work for gay clients.

Sampaist said hello and had cool footage of a Red Bull formula racer running around Sao Paulo (text in portugese).

Seattlest was in a party mood as they cheered getting free beer at the top of a Mt. Pilchuck, a John Hodgman reading, and their sports guy was nominated for an award.

SFist thanked the Heavens for providing them with such entertaining political leaders. Their Mayor’s 20 year-old girlfriend is got caught drinking, a state Assemblywoman was totally crushing on their Governor, and a fight over police foot patrols turned into a battle royale between the cops and a member of their Board of Supervisors.

Torontoist pondered all things silly this week, like silly Toronto Mayors in history or the U.S. Coast Guard taking live target practice over the Great Lakes and the silliest of sillies- a new Monty Python musical.

Image of the giant slides at the Tate Modern Turbine Hall from Londonist M@

Other image of funny-haired robber from Houstonist

Written by SFist Jon

Across the Ist-a-verse

Rob — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 15:51:28 +0000

We -ists are an eclectic bunch, but there’s a couple of things we all love: famous people, social causes, and wacky local facts. Join us as we starf**k, get virtuous, and learn across the -ist network!

Austinist starts us off right by filling the famous person quota by interviewing Lewis Black, covers the social cause with a non-profit car sharing company, and gives us more wacky local facts than we can handle with Austin by the Numbers. So far, so good!

Torontoist‘s famous person is a strangely dykey Wayne Gretzky, their cause is hate (they’re against it), and their fact: their National Film Board makes some wackily great animation.

Will Seattlest keep up the theme? Guess that depends on whether or not you think the Seattle Supersonics still count as famous if they’re decamping to Oklahoma. The social issue they take on is the trouble at Seattle’s LiveJournal community (check out the comments!), and they got the wackiest ever local facts off Google.

Bostonist brings us a picture of their arguably famous Governor doing something vulgar looking (we love that his name is “Mitt”!) , they recommend a wacky local-fact filled webcast, and the social cause for one interviewee is MassPirg canvassers (he’s against them!).

SFist sinks especially low by considering an Amazing Race winner famous enough to mention. Of all the social causes in San Francisco, the one that garners the most comments this week is sidewalk cafes, and their local fact is that they, themselves, are a wacky two years old!

Phillyist‘s famous folks are themselves, as they celebrate a birthday of their own! Their social cause is scary cars, and they have wacky local facts galore in the comments to these posts.

LAist‘s Little Loca isn’t that famous yet, but she’s a big star to us. Their cause is rejected CitySearch reviews (if you click on one link today, click on that one, it’s really godamn funny). Their local fact: In Hollywood, “There’s more than enough schadenfreude to go around.”

Shanghaiist is all over the undeniably famous Black Eyed Peas. In the not always gay friendly atmosphere of Shanghai, Shanghai Fag Hag bravely advances the social cause of their gay/lesbian community, Hooray! And they serve up a bunch of local music facts (watch that video for the wacky part).

Houstonist Alexandra tops their list of famous — or, at least, most popularly named folks. They mock a local TV station’s report on a “new” social cause, but, hey, maybe that’s what causing the seriously wacky local fact that Houston has somehow become the third-slimmest city in the country.

Londonist corners the market on bad ass famous people with this piece on an Iron Maiden member’s humanitarian efforts. Their social cause is (no we’re not kidding) wanking, and their wacky local facts center around their Great Eastern Walk.

Gothamist takes on the sartorial foibles of their famous mayor. Who isn’t concerned about the social cause of bad plastic surgery (they’re against it!)? Oh, and here are some wacky local facts you won’t find in the guidebooks — their drinking water is dirty and their subway’s full of poo.

Miamist gets double famous person points for their piece on a notorious criminal whose life will be made into a film. But will they shoot that movie in Miami, given the social issue of hurricanes endangering shoots in the area? And this seems like a wacky local fact to us — Soho house is building a club in Miami? But what about those hurricanes?

Chicagoist‘s most famous local, Oprah, is not gay. Speaking of powerful women, Chicagoist Rachelle lends herself to the women in blogging cause. If you can’t make it to BlogHer, how about learing some of those wacky local facts at Chicagoist’s private El tour?

DCist‘s extensive coverage of the Capital Fringe Festival contains more famous people than we can list here. They take on the social issue of transportation funding. And (in our final and absolute favorite link of the week) here’s a wacky local fact for you: someone doesn’t want DCist to write about Baltimore any more.

Images by Bostonist Josh Michtom

Links compiled by SFist Eve “My Favorite Famous Person Is Jen Chung” Batey

Tokyo London Team Up

sizemore — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 08:01:25 +0000

It seems the Wonder London single was just the opening volley in a new partnership between dusty old London and mega city Tokyo as Ken met up with Governor Shintaro Ishihara last week to establish:

a formal working relationship between London and Tokyo and enables each to exchange best practice and learn from each other’s policies with the aim of making the two cities better places to both live and work in.

It sounds like both cities will be looking at what each other does best and also where they trip up.

Interestingly enough both Tokyo and London are in the same neck of the woods according to the annual ‘World-wide Quality of Living Survey’. Tokyo is at 34 with London trailing slightly at 39 (Zurich comes out top again which always brings to mind Orson Welles in The Third Man pointing out the cultural significance of the cuckoo clock).

Off the top of our heads what we’d like to see in Tokyo is a Mildred’s style veggie restaurant, while London is in desperate need of Godzilla statues.

Let’s hope Ken and Ishihara can sort that out.

Thank God (Or The Fat Guy In The Nappy)

Rob — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 15:02:00 +0000

The BBC have decided not to uphold the 55,000 complaints they received over the screening of Jerry Springer – The Opera earlier this year.

You can read the full Governor’s report here (PDF document). But it’s nine pages long, so here’s some of the ‘highlights’.

A breakdown of the main ‘sticking points’:

• The portrayal of “Jesus” as a man in nappies who wanted to “poop in his pants”.

• the reference to “Jesus” being “a little bit gay”.

• “Eve” attempting to fondle the genitals of “Jesus”.

• the description of “Mary” as “raped by an angel, raped by God”.

• the portrayal of “Mary” as accusing “Jesus” of neglect.

• obscene language put into the mouths of members of the Holy Family.

• the portrayal of “Jesus” as offering violence.

• irreverent visual and verbal allusions to the crucifixion.

• the portrayal of “God” as needing Jerry Springer’s advice.

As we all know, the press claims that there were 8,000 expletives in the performance was entitely untrue. The BBC knows because they counted:

The reported figure was in fact a vast exaggeration. In reality, there were around 200 f-words and nine c-words. While a substantial number, this was not necessarily unacceptable in terms of late night terrestrial television.

Nevertheless, some use of swearing was extreme and shocking (for example, Satan threatens Jerry with being “f***ed up the ass with barbed wire”).

But how did they get away with references such as “f***ing Pope” and “raped by an angel… raped by God”?

Well because, like Dallas, it was all a dream:

Most (but not all) members noted that the religious portrayal was contained in Jerry’s nightmare vision, and hence felt the portrayal was different than had it been a literal portrayal.

What we found particularly interesting was the discussion of the play’s ‘artistic merit’ (you get to be more offensive if you’re ‘artistically exceptional’ you see):

One member of the Committee disagreed, and that while accepting that others had judged it an exceptional piece of work in the theatre, felt that Jerry Springer – the Opera did not translate well onto television.

And we have to say that we agree, we were pretty bored by the whole thing.

In the end, the complaints were not upheld by a majoirity of four to one…but the most interesting thing about the report (for us anyway)

was the revelation that the body which advises Offom and the BBC on religious matter is called the the Central Religious Advisory Committee…or CRAC for short.