Jay-Z at Glastonbury 2008

Jay-Z performed at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK this past weekend. Does this mean that he's out of retirement? =)

The background on the first song that Jay-Z performed is explained by the folks at Consequence of Sound. I guess the guys from Oasis don't think to highly of rap music at Glastonbury.

If you're not a big Jay-Z fan, at least wait it out until the 9 minute mark, and check out the shout out to Barack Obama and the resulting crowd reaction.

Wimbledon

Visit the BBC's Sports website for full coverage of Wimbledon, starting today.

The Foos

I picked up this video link of the Foo Fighters on SNL in 2003 from the Consequence of Sound blog. If you love music and haven't visited this site, you are missing out! One of the authors on the blog, Michael Roffman, wrote about his experience at a Foo Fighters show in Chicago and also posted the above video on the site.

I am incredibly excited to see the Foo Fighters in St. Louis on July 20. I've been a big fan of their work for years and I don't think they have ever stopped in St. Louis. Or, if they have, I completely missed them. I would have had the chance to see them a second time. They are the big headliner at the Austin City Limits Festival this year. However, my friends and I aren't going this year, but I'm happy to report that I found a buyer for my four tickets. I bought tickets a year in advance to take advantage of better pricing. It was risky, but I didn't want to miss out if someone pretty terrific would be playing at the festival. Anyway, I bought the St. Louis Foo Fighter tickets before I found out the lineup for the ACL Festival. It all worked out in the end. And, I'll be happy to see the Foos in an enclosed and air-conditioned arena instead of in the 99+ degree weather of Austin's Zilker Park.

_ruthiness

Lara Logan on The Daily Show

Lara Logan is tough, honest, and intelligent. I wish that more of her stories made it on the air. I've admired her work on 60 Minutes and her reports on CBS Radio. Maybe she needs to switch networks, because it's obvious in this interview that CBS is not giving her or her stories a fair chance.

Do You Believe?

Meet the Press in Heaven

Luke Russert led the memorial service for his father earlier today. You can see the rest of the memorial service on the Meet the Press site on MSNBC.

Stephen Colbert on Russert

Moment of Zen

At the end of every Daily Show, Jon Stewart shows a "Moment of Zen", and usually it's a funny bit from the day's news. Last night, Jon aired a very poignant part of his interview with Tim Russert in 2004, when Tim published "Big Russ and Me". The above clip shows the first part of the interview.



The second part of the interview is probably one of the most informative and insightful moments I've seen on The Daily Show. Please note that Tim and John are discussing the war in Iraq during an election year. Hmmm...does that sound familiar?

The new Meet the Press moderator?

On my way to lunch today, I flipped through a couple talk radio stations and stopped at one where the subject was Tim Russert. The commentators were throwing out ideas for the new Meet the Press moderator -- Keith Olbermann, Bob Costas, etc. Justin Webb, the North American BBC News editor, suggests David Gregory.

I'm going to throw out Charlie Rose's name. He's used to the roundtable show format and he's an experienced interview. I try to catch his show as much as possible, but our PBS station airs his show at 11:30 PM. My one reservation about Charlie is that sometimes he interrupts his guests, and not necessarily in a good way. Occasionally, Charlie will also talk over his guests. It's an annoying habit, but I think he could definitely work on it.

However, I don't think that Charlie would ever leave his own show in NY. It's a long-running staple on PBS and I don't think he would be satisfied to only talk about politics. Tim Russert had another show on MSNBC, but I believe that show only aired once a week. Charlie's show runs Monday through Friday. Oh well. It was a good thought. Maybe, NBC would make it worth Charlie's time.

The Kids

I attended a conference/trade show in Chicago last week. I flew up a day early to spend some time with my sister, her husband, and their three fantastic kids. It's probably been awhile since I've written about them, so here's a refresher: Megan is 9.5, Erin is almost 5, and Evan is 14 months old.





As the kids get older, I'm increasingly fascinated by their interactions with each other. Megan and Erin are close, but Megan is definitely the older and wiser sister. Megan is pretty good at telling her sister what to do. This is only amusing to me, since I am a little sister and it's great to see this dynamic in action. Erin and Evan are close and they love to wrestle with each other. Erin treats Evan a little bit like a doll, or maybe even a pet. She drags him around the living room, or tackles him and then kisses him. It's all very cute.

The next time I visit, I'll try to shoot a short video, then I'll post it here.

Amazing Grace - movie recommendation

I selected a movie randomly from Netflix, and I got Amazing Grace. It's a little-known movie about an even lesser-known historic figure. The movie is about William Wilberforce, the architect of the abolition of the slave trade throughout the British Empire. The movie is a little slow, but the subject matter is very inspiring. Wilberforce spent over half of his life fighting against slavery.

The song "Amazing Grace" plays a role in this movie. A link is made between the composer of the song with Wilberforce. I'm not sure if the connection is really true, but it moves the story along very well. Anyway, if you have some free time, I highly recommend this movie to lift you up and hopefully inspire you to do your part to make the world a better place.

John Cusack - The Bush-McCain Challenge

Thanks to my friend Pam for posting this on her blog.

A Pet Peeve

When I found out about Tim Russert's death this afternoon, I exclaimed and said, "Oh my God, Tim Russert is dead." I did not expect the following response from my colleagues, "Who's that?" Are you kidding me? An hour or so later, another co-worker came up to me and told me and I thanked God that someone on my team is informed. I really have a hard time dealing with the fact that so many people do not pay attention to what is going on in our political world, or even the rest of the world. I get that most people are not as obsessed about television than I am, but I think they should at least watch the really good quality shows.

Ignorance is not bliss.

Thoughts on Tim Russert

I didn't get up early enough every Sunday morning to see Meet the Press (it airs at 8:00 AM in St. Louis), but when I did catch it, I always felt a little smarter after watching Tim Russert's interviews and analysis. I admired his tactful, yet tough interview style. He respected his guests and made them give us honest answers. In the heart of this political season, I always turned to NBC for their political news coverage, because I knew that Tim Russert would be fair and insightful.

I don't know how I'll get through the rest of the presidential campaign without Tim. I know that sounds silly, but he made the whole crazy mess make sense. I can't watch CNN anymore. Their constant insistence on being "the best political news team on television" is so grating. I'll have to stick to The Newshour or start watching Face the Nation.

I watched a couple hours of tributes to Tim Russert tonight -- NBC news, Larry King Live, Nightline, and Charlie Rose. He is someone that everyone genuinely loved and they told stories about how he genuinely loved his friends and their families. In our current plastic media world, we have very few genuine people reporting the news, and even fewer who are as respected as Tim Russert. He had a real passion for his work and it was evident in every word he spoke.

I will miss him.

Tim Russert

NBC just broke the news that Tim Russert, of Meet the Press, died this afternoon, at age 58. He will be missed.

I'll write more later.

T Lo on SATC

I've been at a conference the last few days, so I haven't had time to blog. I'll report about the conference in later posts, but I'll give you this tidbit for now. The guys at Project Rungay report on the SATC movie on their other blog, Tom and Lorenzo. I must say that I agree with their review. I liked the movie a lot, but some aspects were kind of crappy, i.e. Jennifer Hudson's role. I take particular offense that her character is from St. Louis and is treated like a country bumpkin. I think Tom and Lorenzo's take on her character is spot on.

Enjoy!

Fired Up!

I really had a great birthday. I had lots of good wishes from family and friends, a delicious steak dinner with my parents, wonderful dessert and conversation with one of my closest friends, and the joy of Barack Obama clinching the Democratic Presidential nomination. One of the presents I received today was very appropriate and I love it -- an Obama campaign shirt in Cardinal red. Well, I think it's Cardinal red. =)


Anyway, please enjoy Senator Obama's speech in St. Paul, Minnesota.



If you have problems streaming the video, you may read the full text of the speech at Obama's website.

Christian Siriano at the MTV Movie Awards

Ok, I'm a sucker for the Fashion Police and others who rip on or praise celebrities and fashion. However, Christian Siriano, winner of the latest edition of Project Runway, takes the cake when he reports from the red carpet at the MTV Movie Awards. Be sure to watch for his reaction on the ladies from The Hills. Hilarious!