Julie & Julia reviewed

Julie & Julia is a new film starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. I watched the film yesterday alongside sixty or so other theater goers.

For anyone who loves Julia Child (as I do) the film is worth watching. Meryl Streep's depiction of the late great gourmand, is stunningly good. It's easy to replicate the oft parodied high-pitch voice, but Ms. Streep's cadence and accent on choice syllables is so faithful to the real deal, it's almost unsettling. It was a great performance.

The screen writer of this movie is Nora Ephron whose style I didn't care for before the film.  Before seeing the film, I listened to two separate Nora Ephron interviews. Her tone and lack of enthusiasm during both interviews left me with the distinct impression she felt she was doing us a favor by sitting for them. At least, that's how she sounded. However, while viewing the film yesterday I realized something else -- she takes cheap shots.

Example: In this movie, Amy Adams plays a character that works in a call center to help 911 survivors and takes a "sick" day to cook a Julia Child dish.  She then blogs about the experience to the dismay of her boss who calls her into his office to beseech her for writing the post. He ends his rant by saying, "a Republican would have fired you."

In my case, the theater audience was silent after hearing that little gem.  (Perhaps they cheered on the coast). Could Ms. Ephron have had any purpose other than to slam Republicans or Conservatives? Doing so is hardly unusual for Hollywood and inconsistent with the memory of Julia Child who was publicly apolitical. 

Finally, there is the weak ending to the film (which I won't disclose here) that leaves one wondering if Ms. Ephron was tired and decided to finish the script too quickly, or whether something else crippled her imagination before limping over the writer's finish line.

All this notwithstanding, the film succeeds on the strength of Meryl Streep's affectionate performance and the unique legacy of the woman she portrayed. On a five star scale, this blogger gives Julie & Julia three stars and a pinch of salt for the screen writer.

The Atlantic meets The Economist

public domain

Check out this article by Michael Hirschorn in The Atlantic (July/August 2009) in which Mr. Hirschorn examines how a printed magazine like The Economist can thrive, while other printed weeklies it competes with -- notably Newsweek and Time -- are languishing. Print publishing success in the digital age may lay in what Mr. Hirschorn describes as "razor-sharp clarity and definition" and owning a particular niche instead of trying to replicate one owned elsewhere. In the case of The Economist, Mr. Hirschorn asserts that the magazine "...canvasses the globe with an assurance that no one else can match" and "...prides itself on cleverly distilling the world into a reasonably compact survey.'' Mr. Hirschorn, a contributing editor at The Atlantic, made a frank admission that his own magazine, "...has never delivered impressive profit margins."  Impressively profitable or not, his piece is worthwhile for anyone interested in the devolution of paper-based, weekly news products and the ones that are still prospering.

Rather than add a new Palin post...

I'll simply provide a link to a CBS poll, taken this month, that reports an astonishing share -- 51% -- of the GOP views Ms. Palin as unqualified to be an effective President.  I guess I posted too early.  Here's the link, if you care to review the poll description.

I'm seeing more evidence to support my suspicions and I'll probably post no more about Ms. Palin as a VP choice because -- as the data increasingly shows -- I don't need to.

Nearly forty percent of GOP doubts Palin's abilities

Glad I'm not alone. A recently-released ABC News/Washington Post poll with a sampling error of plus or minus 3% shows that not only is Ms. Palin's support waning across the political spectrum, it is also slipping among Republicans as a whole.

Like the 83% of Republicans surveyed, I believe that Ms. Palin shares our values. However, almost four out of ten Republicans (and 57% of Americans overall) also say we doubt her ability to "understand complex issues." Which is another way to say what I first wrote last November - that, as much as we like what she stands for, she lacks credentials for national office.

Sarah Palin, Wikipedia

The Washington Post quoted one gentleman, thus: "Rick Buila, 38, of Sharonville, Ohio, who works in finance and voted for the McCain-Palin ticket in November, said his opinion of the governor has changed. `I don't think that she is cut out to be on the national stage,' he said. `I look at her education and her background and the way she carries herself and her [resignation] speech, and when you have someone who's out there saying 'You betcha' about 50 times, I don't think that's the person we want to have negotiating with other countries.'

Sadly, a few blowhards will seize on a remark like Mr. Buila's "You betcha" comment and dismiss any GOP criticism of Ms. Palin as elitist, or worse. That's unfortunate and wrong. We don't begrudge her for her style, we simply believe that she is not ready - and frankly might never be ready - for The White House.

We can do better. We must do better.

Peggy Noonan in today's WSJ & the Palin factor

Forward-thinking Republicans might thank Peggy Noonan for explaining what too few of us have the courage to say -- Sarah Palin -- was unhelpful for the party.

I can't match Ms. Noonan's eloquence, but I can identify with what she says in this piece entitled, "A Farewell to Harms" in which she pours some truth serum with her signature wit.

Peggy Noonan, Wikipedia

If you are one of my five six readers, you may recall when I just couldn't take Ms. Palin's performance any longer and consoled myself in this November 8, 2008 post. Yesterday morning, I called in to a local radio program to express similar Palin-related thoughts (Joy Cardin takes my call @ approximately 9 minutes and 42 seconds into the 8 AM program on this tape if you care to listen).

Look, I recognize and deplore the torrent of abuse leveled at Ms. Palin and her family by the vicious Left, but we can't trot out unqualified national candidates and expect the jerks that take cheap shots to remain mute. We have to plan for the jerks using more knowledgeable, more bullet-proof candidates that can do more on the trail than just say the`right' things on cue. We need depth and agility.

I admire Ms. Palin, but she was hopelessly in over her head last year. The aforementioned Noonan piece is not a tired rant to criticize Ms. Palin's work. It's more of a description as to what is needed to rebuild the GOP.

So let's end on a hopeful note - shall we? Yes we can!

Think of the Gopher State with it's schizophrenic voting populous that can elect Comic Al Franken but also install what may be our best chance for a 2012 run at the White House - Tim Pawlenty. There is hope.

Milwaukee County furloughs and remembering Reagan

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports today that a judge has allowed the furloughs (days off without pay) of some public union workers to commence in accordance with Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's order -- starting Monday.

It's unfortunate, that instead of supporting his fiscal responsibility, the County Board continues to jawbone the County Executive and the unions, of course, continue to file lawsuits. All this for a measly five hours off a week.

I have never understood why organized labor behaves as though pay (and benefits most of us dream of) ought to be guaranteed. I have not read their contract, but I cannot fathom any responsible authority agreeing on behalf of county taxpayers to anything more than the rest of us live with AKA an "at will" employment arrangement. The concept is quite simple. Either party (employer or employee) can sever their relationship with the other, for any reason, at any time.

This morning I recalled former President Ronald Reagan's decision to fire striking air traffic controllers in 1981. The union organization, known as PATCO, sought to express its grievances with a strike and jeopardize the safety of American travelers. After the President warned PATCO members that if they did not show up for work they would be fired, they tested him and he kept his word.

It was something of a milestone. Organized labor has continued its decline since. Baseless threats, lawsuits and strikes are not part of an effective career strategy.

Now flash forward to modern day Milwaukee County and consider its fiscal challenges. We see all the labor vitriol we had on a national level back in 1981. . . over five hours a week.

Somehow I think that if Mr. Walker's furlough order was twice as stringent, the sun would still come up the next day.  I commend Governor Doyle's plan for limited furloughs and wish only that he and the Democrat-controlled legislature, went further to reduce state spending and lower taxes. 

Taxes, polls and pols

Yesterday morning at the beautiful Discovery World facility at Pier Wisconsin, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett participated in a panel discussion on Wisconsin's transportation needs and how to fund them. The event was also attended by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, who had some decidedly different ideas than the Mayor.

Tom Barrett, Wikipedia

At one point, Mr. Barrett cited two separate polls to conclude: few citizens want services cut (one poll), yet few want to pay for them in the form of higher taxes (a second poll). Of course.

However, if you require people to choose between them (think one poll question), perhaps many would choose to hang on to more of their own money, even if the service pool shrinks.  Leadership requires one to make unpopular choices. That's why we see relatively little of it.