Today's Pop Culture
Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
1:00 PM
If it's on the dial, over the air, on cable, or just plain Out There, it's fair game for Station Break with Paul Farhi. Bring your comments to the conversation on America's Fastest Growing Pop Culture Chat. He was online Tuesday, Sept. 9.
A transcript follows.
Farhi is a reporter in The Post's Style section, writing about media and popular culture. He's been watching TV and listening to the radio since "The Monkees" were in first run and Adam West was a star. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Los Angeles, Farhi had brief stints in the movie business (as an usher at the Picwood Theater), and in the auto industry (rental-car lot guy) before devoting himself fulltime to word processing. His car has 15 radio pre-sets and his cable system has 500 channels. He vows to use all of them for good instead of evil.
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Paul Farhi: Greetings, all, and welcome back...Well, I don't really want to turn this into a bash-the-media session (Esteemed Colleague Howie Kurtz has that territory ably covered), but I do think the massive ratings for the Dem and Repub conventions have told us something. And what they have told us is that some of the media's pre-convention--that the conventions are over-covered, news-free infomercials for the political parties--was really off the mark. "Over-covered?" Maybe, but there was obviously plenty of interest in what the candidates and the parties were doing and saying. "News-free"? Not a chance--Obama's speech at Invesco Field, McCain's naming of Sarah Palin as his running mate (and her convention debut), etc. were huge stories. "Infomercials"? Well, sure, but why denigrate infomercials? They sell stuff, often very cleverly and effectively. Tens of millions of people clearly wanted to learn more about the goods on offer. All in all, very much worth covering, and maybe worth covering more than the itty bitty hour handed over each night by the broadcast networks (and zero by Fox).
And now I await your why-is-the-liberal-media-bashing-Sarah-Palin queries. Let's go to the phones.
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Late night NPR listener: Are things so vapid now that Sarah Palin is now the most famous celebrity in the world? I'd love to see the Obama attack ad using Britney Spears and Paris Hilton now!
Paul Farhi: Not the most famous, and not the most vapid, and why complain in the first place? Palin was unknown just a few days ago; now she's the proverbial heartbeat away from the candidate who would be president. Inquiring minds (and even many lazy ones, too) want to know.
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MSNBC: Any thoughts on the Great Anchor Purge of 2008?
washingtonpost.com: Liberal Blogs Assail Anchor Changes (Washington Post, Sept. 9)
Paul Farhi: Good move for journalism, bad move for TV. There were no indications--ratings-wise--that the Olbermann-Matthews combo was hurting MSNBC. In fact, MSNBC has been staking out a niche as the anti-Fox News Channel, with O and M leading the charge. And no other network got as much buzz and publicity during the convention as MSNBC for all its off-mic antics. All in all, it made MSNBC watchable in a way that it has never been.
Journalistically, however, the whole circus is/was indefensible. Even Fox News knows it's a going too far to put O'Reilly and/or Hannity in the anchor chair for big news stories like primaries and election nights. I know the walls between commentary and reporting are falling fast, but let's at least try to maintain the appearance of standards.
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FRINGE: So... not so good, huh? Here's me: I love other JJ Abrams shows like ALIAS and LOST, but I hate sci fi stuff like X FILES. Is this a show for me, or no?
Paul Farhi: It's not entirely sci-fi-ish, but it definitely gets into the "paranormal" and other hogwash. I mean, the title tells you what you need to know about its take on science--i.e., "fringe" science. Which is to say, not science.
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washingtonpost.com: 'Fringe' Teeters On the Edge Of Nowhere (Washington Post, Sept. 9)
Paul Farhi: And here's a link to the review of the show, courtesy of my brilliant producer....
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Bashing?: She would have to come out from behind the Republican Curtain to be bashed. I mean, the sheer effrontery of me wanting to see her interact in a dynamic question and answer session! I am such an elitist.
Will the media do its job of calling this what it is, or cower in fear of being called names?
Paul Farhi: I think the media's doing just fine, thanks. There's been a healthy pushback against the McCain campaign's assertion that reporters owe Gov. Palin "deference." We don't owe anyone deference. Politeness/courtesy, sure. But no one has named Palin queen yet.
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Arlington VA: Is WJFK the last spot where local talk can be found?
Excuse me -- local talk not broadcast by Wee Danny Snyder, that is.
As someone who remembers WRC-980 ("Joel A. Spivak, speaking!"), the execrable Chris Core (but the -local- Chris Core), and numerous other spots, I'm left to the locker-room antics of WJFK. Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you.
I actually enjoy the midday show of Big O and Dukes; they have a LOT of preoccupations that I hate (martial arts and electronic games), but the chemistry seems genuine, and on repeated listenings, they're smarter than they act.
I wish the same could said of the Junkies, who are starting to sound tired. And although I like the fresh air of the PM drive show, O'Meara just doesn't seem to be able to carry a show -- there's somebody who's LABORING to entertain, always a bad sign.
What are your thoughts? Since they're the only local talk, they're all I've go to talk about. . . .
Paul Farhi: Yes, WJFK does a certain kind of talk--guy talk. And being a guy who likes to talk, I like the programs, generally. But there's plenty o' talk elsewhere. WMAL has Rush and Hannity and used to have Chris Core. WAMU has NPR and Diane Rehm and Kojo Nnamdi and Terry Gross. WPFW has all kinds of lefty talk. Even the news stations, WTOP and WFED have it, too. Check it out.
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Cleveland Park, Washington, DC: Paul -
You get the first page of Style and Shales gets C7? Who do you have compromising pictures of?
Paul Farhi: I'd like to think Tom had an off day, but Tom doesn't have off days. Next thought: Maybe I wrote a good review?
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NoVa: Why did 94.7 change their somewhat unique format to bland, top 40, cookie cutter classic rock?
Paul Farhi: Well, same answer as always: Ratings/money. The old eclectic format really wasn't moving the needle. As much as I'd like radio to take a few chances (and the old WTGB took 'em), the mass audience doesn't. The mass audience likes predictable formats and playlists. The old WTGB wasn't that, exactly...
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Alexandria, Va: You ready for some particle acceleration?
washingtonpost.com: Mysteries of universe to be probed in giant project (Reuters, Sept. 9)
Paul Farhi: We were talking about this yesterday. I don't really understand the whole thing except that there's a small chance that the collisions in the accelerator could lead to a black hole that will swallow the Earth and all life upon it. That kind of gets your attention.
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Waldorf, MD: I have to weigh in. The new Microsoft commercials with Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld are beyond horrible. Seinfeld is so insufferably smug he makes Gates seem likable, which should be an impossible task.
Paul Farhi: I'm sure Seinfeld would prefer "charmingly quirky" for himself and his new commercial. But I'd go your way on this one.
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Palin's Pregnancy Problems: What was the age of her daughter at time of the baby's conception?
I have not heard any media questions on statutory rape charges.
washingtonpost.com: Judging from a little Googling, Bristol (17) and Levi (18) have nothing to worry about, as the age of consent in Alaska is 16 and there is less than a 3-year age difference between them. Marriage is allowed at 18, or younger with parental permission - Elizabeth (producer, not lawyer...)
Paul Farhi: See, I told you my producer was brilliant...
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Baltimore, MD: Have you seen the pro-high fructose corn syrup ads that have been running on various channels, including ABC Family (paid for by the Corn Refiners of America)? They take appalling to a whole new level. I don't have the stomach to go to their web site but I'm sure it's more propaganda about how HFCS is just as healthy as honey.
washingtonpost.com: I'll do it for you:
Paul Farhi: I haven't seen the commercials, but I have seen the full-page ad (in today's Post), which makes more or less the same point. Thing is, I don't know enough about nutrition and HFCS to be appalled but I like these ads for one reason: They make me want to find out what's really going on. So, by raising the topic, the Corn Refiners of America may invite more outrage than support.
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Silver Spring, Md.: I really liked the old 94.7 format! Now I have to redo my radio station presets in my car. Which of course is why radio stations are right to pay no attention to me - I only listen to the radio when I'm in the car, which is for maybe an hour a week. Maybe. Tops.
Paul Farhi: I very rarely listen to radio outside of my car. But since I'm in a car for quite a few hours a week, it may be one of my most-used media sources.
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Herndon, Va: Mr. F: I'm not sure about Ms. Palin - if she's VP do the Station Break singers and dancers no longer have a choice? Since you're an expert on "pop culture," where's the geographic dividing line at which a Coke/Pepsi/7-UP/whatever changes from a bottle of "soda" to a bottle of "pop"? It's "soda" on the East Coast, but, someplace west of the Alleghenies, it becomes "pop."
washingtonpost.com: Ohio, I think. My college roommate was from Ohio and she would often come back to our fancy Northeastern school after break with several cases of soda and she insisted we call it "pop" since it was imported from Ohio. But then when does it change back to soda going west? - Elizabeth
Paul Farhi: Growing up on the East and West Coasts (Brooklyn and Los Angeles), it was always "soda." "Pop" does seem to be a mid-western thing. My southern friends add another wrinkle: A soda--of any kind--is a "Coke" (i.e., Dr. Pepper or 7-Up is generically a "Coke" when ordering in a restaurant or asking for it in a store).
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Herndon, Va: If anyone cares, until some time in the 1960s in Massachusetts, the minimum age for a "woman" to be married was 12 or 13 (the law went back to Colonial times and was finally changed).
washingtonpost.com: Here is a useful chart giving the age of consent, not only in the 50 states, but around the world. Stay safe, folks.
Paul Farhi: I'm wondering who exactly would need a chart like that. Those polygamist cult people in Texas maybe?
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Silver Spring: Did JJ Abrams sleep through the 90s? Guy+Girl+FBI+paranormal storylines... I think we all know what "Fringe" will be relentlessly compared to. All the rip-offs circa 1996/1997 didn't fare so well, so why does anyone think it'll fly now?
Although, they do say that there are no new ideas, and what matters is what you do with them. But from reading your review, it doesn't sound like they did much.
Paul Farhi: Well, of course, others can disagree. And from what I've seen elsewhere, "Fringe" has gotten very mixed reviews. So others obviously do disagree.
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washingtonpost.com: Here's that link to the high fructose corn syrup site: SweetSurprise.com
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HFCS: has a chemical in it that tells your brain you are not full, so you eat more and get fat.
one more reason not to eat it
and why of all things are they eating popsicles in a park to show a food with HFCS?
is this on the line of a viagra commercial and the shape of that pill?
Paul Farhi: See, I dunno about all this, and I'm certainly not vouchsafing for you. I DO know that a) we've had an explosion of obesity in the past 20, 30 years; and b) there's a lot of HFCS in the products we consume. I'm not asserting a causation between a) and b), but we do know that HFCS isn't exactly slimming, either.
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"Pop" Culture: Also, Rochester, NY...this wonderfully random pocket of the midwest where the word 'pop' is used, but extends neither west to Buffalo or east to Syracuse.
Paul Farhi: Noted...Let's start drawing our "Pop-Soda-Coke" map....
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Atlanta, GA:"A soda--of any kind--is a 'Coke'...."
This is greatly misunderstood by my Yankee friends, who like to use it to make the case that all southerners are brain-damaged.
Yes "Coke" is often substituted as a generic term for soft drink, but you wouldn't order a "Coke" in a restaurant when you really want a Sprite.
Paul Farhi: Oh. Now I'm so confused...
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Pop is not midwestern: I grew up in Buffalo and it was pop, not soda. Maybe it's a Great Lakes thing?
Paul Farhi: I think we can lock in the Great Lakes as pop-centric...
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Pop or Soda questi, ON:"Tonic" in at least parts of New England. Or at least it used to be that way; maybe the homogenization of American culture has made that another artifact of a bygone age.
washingtonpost.com: ooh... memories of hearing the Labor Day sale ads for "15 flavahs of tauwnic at Stah Mahket" signaling the end of summer vacation...
Paul Farhi: Okay, that's just weird. Tonic?
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Silver Spring, MD: The "pop line" is farther east than Ohio; I was confused when I went to school in Pittsburgh and that's all they referred to the beverage as. It must extend at least as far as midway through Pennsylvania.
Paul Farhi: Could the Mason-Dixon line have anything to do with this? ...Okay, I didn't think so, either.
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"Ms. Palin": Why is it "Ms." Palin but "Mrs." Clinton? Of the two, Gov. Palin certainly seems more "married."
Is the "Ms." simply being used to diminish her the way Angry Left commenters always use "Sir"?
Paul Farhi: Never thought of it, and certainly never thought of it THAT way. You're saying that "Sir" is a loaded partisan word? As Ross Perot might have said (maybe it was Dana Carvey AS Ross Perot): That's just sad. (If true).
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Co, LA: Re: "Pop" vs. "Soda" -- someone has done the research:
http://popvssoda.com:2998/countystats/total-county.html
washingtonpost.com: The link that chatter sent didn't work for me, but this Pop Vs. Soda Map is truly impressive.
Paul Farhi: Rats. I was hoping the Vast StationBreak Nation would wiki this subject to greatness. The people, united, will never be defeated. Unless the internet already has done it for the people.
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I'm wondering who exactly would need a chart like that. Those polygamist cult people in Texas maybe? : I had a friend who kept calling me while hiking the Appalachian trail, asking the age of consent in Virginia, then Pennsylvania, etc.
I learned more about my friend while he was off hiking the trail than I cared to know.
Paul Farhi: Oy!
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Soda vs. Pop: A couple of posts on this. First, when I traveled the rural South years ago some old-timers would call a soda a "dope", which hearkens back to the very beginning of the product's history ( "Coca-Cola" was named for the coca leaf, "Seven-Up" contained lithium, etc). Good times!
Also, when my father was a boy in the '50s, the corner grocery store once had the following ad posted in the window - "We don't know where Mom is, but we've got Pop on ice!"
Paul Farhi: Haha! Great sign.
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Arlington, VA: Paul, re: convention coverage, I actually got annoyed at the major stations and watched mostly on CSPAN, with PBS as my first choice for commentary. The other stations were wasting too much time with pundits repeating the talking point du jour instead of doing useful commentary or showing speeches that I actually wanted to hear.
By the way, please convey my appreciation to your colleagues who covered the convention and continue to cover the campaign. I realized last week that I am learning virtually nothing from the TV news but am getting much important information from the articles you folks are writing.
Paul Farhi: Newspapers: Still your best info-value!
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Decoding the Seinfeld Spot: Truth in Advertising:
Windows Vista is like The Conquistador shoe in the spot: it doesn't really fit, you have to manipulate it to get it into use at all, and you'll wind up coming back year after year for updates.
Paul Farhi: Plus, like the actual Conquistadors, it'll give everyone around it a virus, which could be fatal.
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"Ms. Palin": Shouldn't it be "Gov. Palin" anyway? Or at least just "Palin," it's not like anyone says "Mr. Obama" or "Mr. McCain."
Paul Farhi: If we're doing honorifics, maybe we should just stick to Sen. McCain, Sen. Obama, Sen. Biden and Gov. Palin. But I got no problem with Mr., Mrs., Ms. and Sir. Madam, on the other hand, does seem a bit much.
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Rats in DC: Have you seen the commercials from the Health Dept in DC talking about the rat problem? It is hilarious.
Paul Farhi: Not exactly a problem that shouts "hilarity," but do tell...
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Philadelphia: I assumed (broadly) that "Ms." Palin is an effort to appeal to progressive women who would otherwise be appalled by her policies, and "Mrs." Clinton was an effort to appeal to more conservative women who would otherwise be appalled by her policies...
Paul Farhi: Ah. Now I get it. "Mrs." Clinton also has an implied reference to Bill, whereas "Ms." Palin implicitly makes Todd Palin a non-entity. Don't know how that plays politically, if it plays at all.
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Alexandria: Equally bad as the Seinfeld commercial, I saw a clay-mation mess of a Chips Ahoy commercial the other day, that used Rod Stewart's "If You Think I'm Sexy" song. Now, I'm far from his biggest fan, but how could any self respecting artist allow their material to be used for such dreck?
Paul Farhi: But plenty of "self-respecting artists," including the Beatles, have sold out to sell dreck for years. This line was crossed many, many years ago, when "Revolution" was used in a Nike commercial.
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transplanted American (soda) in London: Over here, they're "fizzy drinks" (which makes me think of Alka Seltzer, although I'm only 30 - I don't think I ever actually saw those commercials as a kid, but I know the jingle!), and lemonades are often carbonated sodas.
Paul Farhi: Thanks, London. I noticed that the Brits also refer to the beverage industry as the "drinks" business. I mean, yeah, they're drinks, but this just seemed slightly off-center to my American eyes.
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Herndon, Va: The "soda/pop" map was great. As a native Nebraskan, though, I find it strange that there's one spot of yellow there (a not "pop" area) - however, that's Cherry County, with slightly more than 6,000 people in an area bigger than Connecticut - no doubt only 3 people were interviewed, and they had migrated from Back East.
Paul Farhi: So, you'd put all of Nebraska back in the "pop" column? Maybe our wiki soda-map idea still has a future!
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M(r)s. Pal, IN: Perhaps the reader is bouncing between the NYT and other papers/sites. The NYT still insists on honorifics in all of their articles, Ms. for women and Mr. for men. It leads to hilarious articles in the music section about Mr. Dogg (Snoop) or Mr. Rock (Kid). I have no idea what they call Ms. Cher or Ms. Madonna.
Paul Farhi: I wonder what the NYT's style is for various heinous and reprehensible historical people. Mr. Hitler? Mr. (Attila the) Hun? Mr. Ivan the Terrible?
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This line was crossed many, many years ago, when "Revolution" was used in a Nike commercial. : Yes, and who do we have to thank for that? Why, Michael Jackson, who bought their song catalog when it hit the open market. Got to pay for the Neverland upkeep and legal fees somehow...
washingtonpost.com: Michael Jackson, now 50 years old!
Paul Farhi: Actually, we can "thank" the Beatles (and their heirs) for putting the catalog on the market in the first place. They could have placed restrictions on the use of the songs (no commercials, no use in circus acts, etc.) but they apparently didn't, as this would have lowered the value of the catalog.
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Alexandria: Ah, but my point is, if you're going to sell out, then at least be a little discriminating. The Nike ads at least were sleek and well-designed. The Bob Seeger Chevy ads are catchy and appeal to their target audience. This Chips Ahoy thing was non-sensical and looked like it was done by an art class of schizophrenics.
Paul Farhi: Okay, how about the California Raisins and their use of the Temptations' likeness and "Heard it Through the Grapevine"? On paper, seems dreck-y. In practice, amusing and charming.
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Pop in Rochester: Mr. Pop in Rochester doesn't know ---- !
All Buffalonians say pop. All of Western New York does.
Paul Farhi: Mr. Chairman, the great semi-state of Western New York, home of Tim Russert, the thrice-Super Bowl-losing Buffalo Bills, and snowfall up to your eyeballs, casts all of its votes for "pop"!
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Pop vs. soda: Hope I'm not to late to get in on this. I think it breaks somewhere around the Great Lakes. I grew up with "pop" in central Ohio, and had a college friend from Buffalo who said it, but I lived briefly in Cincinnati and was mocked by "soda" people just as much as at my East Coast college. (I soon caved and adopted "soda." Conformist.)
Paul Farhi: So it appears that one of the pop-soda dividing lines may be somewhere west of Columbus... And "soda" people: More intolerant than kindly "pop" people?
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"I wonder what the NYT's style is for various heinous and reprehensible historical people. Mr. Hitler? Mr. (Attila the) Hun? Mr. Ivan the Terrible?": They don't use "Mr." for dead people. I often read the classical music articles, and they never say "Mr. Beethoven", it's just "Beethoven". Since Hitler, Attila and Ivan are dead... no Mr. for them.
You have to be a living heinous person, e.g., "Mr. Manson" (Charles) was used earlier this year.
Paul Farhi: Excellent distinction. Mr. Manson will be so pleased.
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Another drink-related question: Has anyone but a menu writer EVER called it a "soft drink"?
Paul Farhi: Haha! That's like weather-person talk: Does anyone but them call it "precipitation," or worse, "precip"?
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Wheaton, MD: Paul, is Lou Dobbs Howard Beale of "Network" come to life? CNN is running ads for Lou Dobbs' Independent Convention "now that the other parties have had THEIR say". Look up "chutzpah" in Webster's and there's Lou's picture.
Paul Farhi: He's got the same scowl as Howard Beale, that's for sure. I saw him the other night and he seemed to have developed three extra scowl lines. How does he do it? Practice, I guess.
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"Sir": It's how Olbermann and the commenters on Post articles refer to people they think are evil...you know, people who don't share their opinions.
O'Reilly probably does it to Libs too, but he's way too over the top for me for me to watch and verify.
Paul Farhi: What are we saying here? That "sir" has been hijacked by snide liberals to denigrate non-liberals? Calling someone "sir" is denigration? Should change the name of the 1960s Sidney Poitier movie to "To [Tool of the All-Powerful Teachers' Unions], With Love"?
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Herndon, VA: I was an Army brat and figure I've heard a hundred different distinctions for a soft drink. I find myself using Coke, pop and soda interchangeably. Try it, it's fun!
Paul Farhi: At the very least, doing so would irritate every region of the country equally. Fair IS fair.
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Burke, Va: I went to Penn State, and it was pretty evenly divided between soda-ites (from Philly) and poppers (from Pittsburgh). So I nominate State College, PA as the East/West continental soda divide.
Paul Farhi: Y'know, there's a bit of legit sociology here. Colleges, particularly big 'uns like Penn State, collect people from all around a region and from out of state. So, they become crossroads for stuff like this. Maybe they need to be excluded from the pop-soda-Coke map altogether as aberrations.
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Arlington, VA: If we're doing a pop-soda map, don't we also need a sub/hero/hoagie/poboy/what-else-am-I-missing map?
Paul Farhi: OMG. Can o' worms there, so to speak. I am both a hero (NY) and a sub (CA) guy....
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Arlington, VA: Actually I usually see and hear Governor Palin and also hear the very dismissive "Hillary" instead of Senator Clinton. I'm not sure what your poster is talking about. See how many times Senator Clinton is called Hillary and contrast that with anything like Sarah or Ms. Palin.
Paul Farhi: Yes, this topic got a good airing many months ago during the pre-primary days on the very fine NPR show "On the Media." There was much debate over whether calling Clinton "Hillary" was dismissive and disrespectful, or simply a way to distinguish her from Bill, another famous person who shares her last name. Personally, I am neutral, in a pop-soda-hoagie-hero sort of way.
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Paul Farhi: Folks, I know the pop-soda debate is ripping our country apart right now, but all this talk has made me hungry and thirsty. So I'm walking on you. But never fear. There's much more to talk about, and we'll do it again in two weeks. Thanks for this week's fun. In the meantime, regards to all....Paul.
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