Even bringing a Spanish flamenco troupe into the United States these days is a monumental hassle, OC Weekly's Jim Washburn learns. The endless War on Terror could starve American artists of the kind of cultural cross-pollination that brought James Brown to Africa's Fela Kuti and the recharged African rhythms back to artists such as Karl Denson (pictured). "Okay, I don’t mind flying without scissors, and I could get to like taking my shoes off at airport checkpoints. ... But it’s a bad, bad thing when we’re also bringing the steel shutters down on our artistic windows to the world."
Jim Crumley thinks about death. The recent losses -- both after prolonged battles with cancer -- of Missoula writer James Welch and musician Warren Zevon, an old Hollywood running buddy, have hit him hard. But if Crumley -- with nearly 64 years of good, hard living behind him -- is feeling his own mortality, he's not letting on. Not even with chronic gout, not with perpetual back problems (exacerbated by a recent car crash), and not with the mysterious malady that nearly killed him last year. Nick Davis talks to the Missoula author, who contemplates a large life, near-death and the company of a few good friends.
Smokers will still find Winston and Doral cigarettes on store shelves across the country. They just won't be seeing them much anywhere else. As part of a huge effort to cut costs that includes the layoffs of 2,600 workers, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings said yesterday that it would jettison advertising and promotion efforts for the once-popular brands.
Audience fragmentation is among the most significant challenges faced by the advertising industry, according to a just released American Advertising Federation survey of advertising leaders. Four out of five of those polled, or 80 percent, claim increasing audience fragmentation represents a significant change within the ad industry and 77 percent believe this fragmentation will continue to exert significant impact in the future.
"The air is thick with the smell of doughnuts. Every breath is a sugar-rush. An extra five pounds. A clogged artery. Although Krispy Kreme is only a short walk away from where I’m standing, I will not be tempted by the warm and inviting scent of sugar-slick lard. I will not be distracted. I came here to meet Chewbacca." Chris Haire of MetroBEAT searches for a Wookie, but he finds more: a man who fights flying snakes, a room full of Kit Culkins and the long lost Star Wars Holiday Special.
