Were we not entertained?
By Paulette Tobin
What a sad strange week it's been. Tuesday morning, we lost Johnny Carson sidekick and pitchman Ed McMahon. Today, actress Farrah Fawcett and singer Michael Jackson. All were great performers and household names, even icons of show business, and all lived lives that had their share of turmoil and tragedy.
I grew up watching Johnny Carson at 10:30 nearly every night. Ed always reminded me like a big Yogi bear, like a guy who (if you met him in real life) you'd really want to give a big hug. It's been written dozens of times since his death: He was Carson's perfect foil. Just last week I was watching some old clips of Carson, laughing at Ed and Johnny's antics. They were a pair, those two.
McMahon was one of those celebs of whom we say: He made millions of dollars -- what happened? In his last years, news reports made him sound all but destitute. They kept talking about evicting him from his house. With entertainers, I often wonder which is more difficult: Becoming famous and making lots of money, or holding on to it once you've made it.
I know people my daughter's age will have a hard time believing this, but the show "Charlie's Angels" was groundbreaking for it's time. How many young women today realize that just a generation ago, most women's career aspirations were relegated to housewife and mother, teacher, nurse or secretary?
Farrah Fawcett and the rest of the angels were athletic, sassy and led exciting, adventurous lives. Yes, their lives were controlled by an unseen daddy figure and they had to put up with Bosley -- but let's face it, their lives were lightyears ahead of anything we could see in real life.
Despite her beauty and talent, nothing Farrah did after "Charlie's Angels" really measured up to her early promise. Her personal life was messy as well. Tonight on the news, as they announced her death, they said her only son is in jail. And her on-again, off-again beau, Ryan O'Neal, was preparing to go on TV tonight and (according to the preview clips) blubber every cliche he could about how wonderful she was. I'm not saying she wasn't wonderful, or that O'Neal didn't love her -- it's just one of those things that feels more like a performance than anything real.
And Michael Jackson. I was a young girl the first time I saw the Jackson Five on television on the Andy Williams Show. What talent! What great music! Those perfectly synchornized dance moves! And those bell bottoms and matching Afro haircuts! I was enthralled. I cut out their picture from my Tiger Beat and put it up on the wall next to my bed with The Cowsills, Bobby Sherman and Kurt Russell.
You could write for days about Michael Jackson's contributions to pop music and not run out of things to say and stories to tell. I often think of how, really, he was instrumental in the launch of MTV. His videos, like "Billie Jean," were some of the first on MTV when MTV was all music videos all day long.
Then, from the highest of heights, he fell. A short-lived marriage to Lisa Marie Presley. Plastic surgeries that turned his handsome face into something -- I struggle to find the right word -- Inhuman? Space alien? The dangling of babies over balconies. The weird menagerie of animals. The strange goings-on at Neverland Ranch. Worst of all -- was he a pedophile?
Of the dead, speak no ill, or so I've been told. I hope when I'm gone my family will remember me as funny and charming, not for the time I threw a hissy fit in the Culver's Restaurant drive through. But if we don't examine the lives of others, how will we learn anything?
Then again, perhaps all noble talk of examining the lives of celebrities is, too, a performance. Maybe it was all just a big train wreck and we couldn't look away. How often do we regard the ups and downs of celebrities and sneer because for all their beauty, talent, wealth and fame, they're even worse than we are at managing our lives?
Too much introspection makes my head hurt. Were we not entertained? Yes, we certainly were.
Tobin is arts & entertainment reporter at the Grand Forks Herald.
Posted by: tobin on 6/25/2009 at 6:59 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
A passion for polka
By Paulette Tobin
There's good news and bad news in the world of polka this week. I'm going to do this a bit backwards and give you the bad news first.
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences has announced that it is eliminating the Grammy Award for "Best Polka Album."
As The Associated Press reported: "It’s enough to make any serious polka fan shove his plate of sausage aside, fling his lederhosen in the closet and go out and shed a few tears in his beer."
The Grammys have about a gazillion categories. The annual televised Grammy awards show the presentation of a very small portion of the awards categories. So why eliminate the polka category? The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences said it wanted to ensure that the awards show remained what it called “pertinent within the current musical landscape," and that the Best Polka Album category was attracting too few entries.
Jimmy Sturr (left), hailed as the King of Polka, has won the "Best Polka Album" Grammy for 18 of the past 24 years. The AP quoted him thusly: “Sure I feel a little bad, but I’m grateful, man."
And now, the good news:
No matter what those Grammy weenies have decided to do, area oompah fans still can get their polka on.
The 11th annual Stump Lake Polkafest will be June 25-27 at Stump Lake Park 12 miles south of Lakota, N.D., on N.D. 1. Matt Hodek & the Dakota Dutchmen of Lankin, N.D., will get things going from 7 to 11 p.m. June 25.
Three bands will alternate playing on June 26-27. They are Larry Rysavy & The Out of Town Czechs of Rochester, Minn., Mark Vyhidal Orchestra of Fremont, Neb., and Gordy Prochaska's Little Fisherman Orchestra of Montgomery, Minn.
If you'd like to find out more about the Polkafest, go to www.stumplakepark.com/.
For camping reservations and cost, call Dwight at (701) 351-1560 or (701) 662-3928, or e-mail elfmans@hotmail.com.
Or contact Matt Hodek at (701) 259-2138 or (701) 270-8197, or e-mail mathodek@polarcomm.com.
Tobin is arts & entertainment reporter at the Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks, N.D.
Posted by: tobin on 6/12/2009 at 1:53 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
David Carradine's legacy
David Carradine (right) as Kwai Chang Caine during the filming of "Kung Fu: The Movie" in 1986.
By Paulette Tobin
I had a great-aunt named Martha, a smart, vibrant women who spoke two languages, had perfect elocution, kept an exhaustive family geneology and taught school for years. She was talented, well-traveled and well-read and an assertive, take-charge lady, a born leader.
But there's another family story about Martha. As a girl, when it was time to do the dishes, she always seemed to have an urgent need to use the bathroom. Thus she managed to avoid that chore many times. Coincidence or calculated maneuver? Martha left this earth 10 years ago, so it's too late to ask now.
The point is that today, when members of my family say they can't dry dishes because they need to visit the restroom, they'll get a sarcastic, "Sure, Martha, no problem," from the rest of us. And every time, I think: Poor Martha, for all her talents, to be remembered by her family in this way.
Today the entertainment news wires are full of stories of the death of American actor David Carridine, best known for the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu," whose naked body was found in a hotel closet in Bangkok. Yesterday Carridine's death was being reported as an apparent suicide. Today, The Associated Press said, "mystery remained" about the nature of the death, reporting the police now believe he may have died from accidental suffocation after finding a rope tied to his neck and genitals.
The AP as this hour reports: "The circumstances of his death have set gossipmongers working overtime, speculating that the 72-year-old actor may have been engaged in a dangerous form of sex play known as auto-erotic asphyxiation."
OK, so I am the gossipmonger in this case. But I really feel sorry for Carridine's family and friends and for his legacy. I've been in the news business long enough to have seen the horror some survivors endure because of the circumstances of their loved one's death.
You may have been -- as Carridine's friends and family have described him -- a fine person, a gifted actor, a beloved uncle. But when your life and legacy are overtaken by tabloid headlines, what is it that people will remember about you?
Be careful what you wish for, a wise man said. From Susan Boyle's mental health meltdown to Jon and Kate Gosselin's marital woes to Carridine's seemingly ignominious end, we are reminded that fame in the entertainment industry can play itself out in ways we woulnd't wish on anyone.
Tobin is arts & entertainment reporter for the Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks N.D.
Posted by: tobin on 6/05/2009 at 2:28 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
An eye on the crown (and the scholarships)
Jaci Stofferahn, Miss Empire (left). (Dion Robert Photography)
By Paulette Tobin
A new Miss North Dakota will be crowned Saturday night, June 13, in Williston, N.D., so Miss Grand Forks Justine Kirkeide and Miss Empire Jaci Stofferahn surely are busy these days with last minute preparations for our state's lead-in to the fabled Miss America crown.
I was in contact with Marian Hamilton earlier this week about the Miss North Dakota Scholarship Pageant, and also Caroline Brost, who directed the 2009 Miss Grand Forks and Miss Empire scholarship pageants. Caroline let me know that the local pageants now have their own official Web site. And also that it's not too early for area women and teens to be thinking about the 2010 competition.
Justine Kirkeide, Miss Grand Forks (right). (Dion Robert Photography)
I checked out their site and was quite impressed. It has interviews, photos of the 2009 competition and the reigning queens, and information about entering the 2010 competition, in which four titles will be given: Miss Grand Forks, Miss Empire, Miss Grand Forks Outstanding Teen and Miss Empire Outstanding Teen. You can check it out at www.grandforkspageants.org/.
Caroline shared that Justine and Jaci will leave for Williston Saturday morning where, on Saturday evening, they will watch Alicia Patton, Miss Grand Forks' Outstanding Teen, compete in the Miss North Dakota Outstanding Teen contest. Then, their pageant week begins. The competitions begin the evening of June 11 at Williston High School with the crowning on June 13.
Organizers of the 2010 Miss Grand Forks and Miss Empire pageants will until after the Sioux hockey schedule is posted (probably in July) to name a date for the 2010 local scholarship competition.
Miss Grand Forks Outstanding Teen Alica Patton (left). (Dion Roberts Photography)
Caroline wrote: "Please encourage your readers to contact us for information on becoming a contestant or making a scholarship donation in each article you print."
Interested in a crown? Or a scholarship?
You can call Caroline at (218) 289-1414 or e-mail missgrandforks@yahoo.com.
Tobin is arts & entertainment reporter for the Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks N.D.
Posted by: tobin on 6/03/2009 at 12:59 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Lazy summer days? Maybe not.
By Paulette Tobin
One of my pet peeves in life is hearing people say, "There's nothing to do in Grand Forks." To which I say, "You have got to be kidding." Anyway, that's my polite response.
And so I started putting together a list of stuff that's happening in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks this summer. And I'm asking your help -- if you or your group or organization or venue has an event coming up between June 1 and August 31, please let me know about it. You can e-mail me at ptobin@gfherald.com.
These should be arts & entertainment events that are taking place in Grand Forks or East Grand Forks and they should be open to the public.
Here's what I have so far.
June 5-7: Quilting on the Red quilt show, Sacred Heart school, East Grand Forks.
June 13-14: Grand Cities Art Fest. Two days of great art and artists, music, food and more.
Tuesday, June 16: The Crimson Creek players open "Bat Boy: The Musical" at Fire Hall Theatre. Info: www.ggfct.org/.
Saturday, June 20: The Heritage Music Festival debuts at East Grand Forks Heritage Village with music by Bruce Elseth & Paul Tandberg, North River Ramblers, Castleisland, Tickwood String Band, Four Mile Portage, WoodPicks, O’Neil Family Band, Ogg Creek String Band, followed by a barn dance.
Saturday, June 20: The Outdoor Farmers Market gets under way in Grand Forks Town Square, continuing Saturday mornings through harvest season.
Saturday, June 20 and every third Saturday of the month until late fall: The Art & Wine Walk. Stroll through downtown GF and EGF, meet artists, see and buy their art, sip wine. It's awesome.
Wednesday, June 24: The Greater Grand Forks Fair opens and runs through June 28. Info: www.grandforksfair.com/.
Wednesday, June 24: The Art & Democracy film series will show "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” for free, at Empire Arts Center, Grand Forks. More films will follow. Info: E-mail ippl@und.edu.
June 24-25: Summerthing Kids Day in University Park. Info: www.gfparks.org/.
June 27: The first of three Blues on the Red concerts. The others are July 25 and Aug. 22.
Tuesday, June 30: The first concert of the summer at the North Dakota Museum of Art Sculpture Garden will feature the Brass Kings. More outdoor concerts will follow. Info: www.ndmoa.com/.
Thursday, July 9: Opening night for Summer Performing Arts “Bye, Bye Birdie” at Grand Forks Central High School. Info: www.spacompany.org/.
July 11-12: Prairie Rose State Games. Info: www.prairierose.org/.
July 12: Annual Ice Cream Social at Myra Museum.
Tuesday, July 14, and Wednesday, July 15: Summer Performing Arts presents its "Girl Power" revue at the Empire. Info: www.spacompany.org/.
Friday, July 17: Opening night for Summer Performing Arts “Damn Yankees” at Grand Forks Red River High School Theater. Info: www.spacompany.org/.
July 24-26: Chautauqua at Myra Museum.
July 28-29: Sesame Street Live "Elmo's Green Thumb" at the Alerus Center.
July 31-Aug. 2: Cats Incredible catfish days on the Red River. Info: www.gochamber.org/.
Tuesday, Aug. 4: Opening night for “Hair: The Great American Tribal-Love Rock Musical,” presented by the Crimson Creek players. Info: www.ggfct.org/.
Others that I'm in the process of checking out: Sertoma Fourth of July, East Grand Forks Heritage Days, Movie & More Saturdays at the Empire.
Tobin is arts & entertainment reporter at the Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks N.D.
Posted by: tobin on 5/28/2009 at 6:37 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
