Category: Media Watch

* It’s Gasparilla International Film Festival time again. The six-day event that begins next Tuesday (March 19) will play mostly at Centro Ybor 20 as well as Cinebistro in Hyde Park. GIFF is also officially celebrating the 10th anniversary of The Punisher that filmed around Tampa Bay. The movie’s star, Thomas Jane, will be in attendance.

But there is a bit of a down side. While The Punisher, an action flick based on a Marvel Comics series, was filmed locally, including Ybor City, it was not particularly good. In fact, it stunk. Worse than Cop and a Half. But it was cool seeing those local venues like the Columbia Restaurant and the Beer Can building.

* Speaking of bad movies, Spring Breakers, apparently a classic druggie-gangbangers-meet clueless-bimbos send-up, opens today. In case you missed the trailer, you’re not alone. It was deemed too explicit (in all the ways movies can be explicit) for theaters to show. Among those officially offended: mayors and police chiefs of Pinellas beach communities. No, they can’t all be Dolphin Tale.

*”President Karzai has never said to me that the United States was colluding with the Taliban. I don’t know what caused him to say that today. It’s categorically false. We have no reason to be colluding with the Taliban.”–Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, commander of the U.S.-led military coalition.

*”At this challenging time of President Hugo Chavez’s passing, the United States reaffirms its support for the Venezuelan people.”–President Barack Obama.

* “Here are some representatives that we greet and value.”–Newly sworn-in Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, referencing by name Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., former Massachusetts congressman William Delahunt and the Rev. Jesse Jackson who were in attendance at the funeral of Hugo Chavez.

* “I look at what’s happening right now, I wish I were there. It kills me not to be there, not to be in the White House doing what needs to be done.”–Mitt Romney.

* “Businesses and consumers have begun to look away from the histrionics and the battles going on in Washington. They’re beginning to realize that organic growth in the private economy is beginning to pick up speed.”–Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group.

* “I’m not saying yes. I’m just not saying no.”–Jeb Bush.

* “Books written by people thinking about being president are nearly as weightless as the press release, but because they take the shape of a respected medium, they claim more attention.”–John Dickerson, Slate.

* “Jeb Bush’s clear discomfort with his own book reminds me of Charles Barkley complaining about what was in his memoir.”–John Podhoretz, author and editor of Commentary magazine.

* “I’m not an entertainer. Classical music is a science. … You’re dealing with pure sound.”–The late Van Cliburn.

* “Business leaders want people who read books, know things about history and politics, spot flimsy arguments and write well.”–Mark Bauerlein, Emory University English professor and author of The Dumbest Generation.

* “Too many people are looking at public office as an opportunity for private gain instead of public service.”–Florida Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville.

* “This is the best deal going in health care today.”–U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, in urging Florida legislators to expand Medicaid.

* “I oppose the Washington plan, and I want a Florida plan.”–Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, chairman of the Florida Senate committee that voted against Medicaid expansion.

* “You can’t just buy teachers with $2,500. Our members are going to look to see where the governor stands on charter schools, on the trigger, on merit pay. Then we’ll decide whether to support him.”–Jeff Wright, the Florida Education Association’s director of public policy advocacy.

* “Think about it: You can go to Iran, to Syria, to the Sudan. But you can’t go to Cuba.”–Al Fox, anti-embargo activist and president of the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation.

* “I think this confirms the economy is, indeed, rebounding.”–Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Bob Henriquez, commenting on the projection that property values for tax bills in the county are expected to grow by about 3 percent.

* “Fred Karl dedicated his entire career to good causes and to the betterment of this city, this state and this country. He put his heart and soul into everything he did. He was 100 percent honest.”–Former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco.

* “To try to convince the big national retail companies that downtown is ready to have you, it’s a tough sell. But we’re certainly a lot closer. Five years ago, I couldn’t even get them to return my calls.”–Downtown Tampa residential developer Ken Stoltenberg.

* “Everybody is replaceable. The cemetery is filled with people who thought they were indispensible, mayors included.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “We want to be average in attendance and well above average in on-field performance.”–Tampa Bay Rays’ owner Stu Sternberg.

*Ever wonder about that white guy behind Rosa Parks in that iconic Montgomery, Ala., bus photo? He looks like an awkward prop as he stares off in an opposite direction. He is. That’s Nicholas Chriss, a UPI reporter, who was participating in a staged photo in December 1956–shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that segregation on Montgomery’s bus system was illegal. Rosa Parks was arrested on Dec. 1, 1955 after having refused to give up her seat to a white passenger.

Last week President Barack Obama helped unveil a statue of Parks, the first black woman so honored in the Capitol.

* Imagine, the highest-profile American to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is Dennis Rodman. While he could have done more pre-visit homework–no, that “Gangnam Style dude (Psy)” is actually, uh, SOUTH Korean–perhaps the outrageous, erstwhile “Worm” was actually an appropriate ambassador to a country that is in a pathetically parallel universe. For what it’s worth, Rodman seemed genuinely impressed with the chubby, young despot. “Guess what, I love him,” pronounced Rodman. “… really awesome.” Maybe he meant Lil’ Kim.

* Every journalist appreciates the need for a good, attention-grabbing lead. But you don’t expect that principle to apply to memos. Well, give it up for Groupon co-founder Andrew Mason who stepped down as CEO recently. His employees-only memo began: “After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding–I was fired today.”

* Australian billionaire Clive Palmer has eye-catching plans to build his own, historic throw-back, luxury cruise liner with state-of-the-art amenities and safety features. In fact, some 40,000 people have expressed interest in tickets for the maiden, England-to-America voyage targeted for 2016. But marketing could still be a challenge: The ship will be named Titantic II. It’s a replica of the original–only with air conditioning and plenty of life boats, safety chutes and slides.

Seemingly, the public relations campaign has already set sail. It’s now being pointed out that the period piece vessel, which harkens back to the most famous maritime disaster in history, could be an ironic beneficiary of global warming–fewer icebergs. Obviously, the PR campaign will have to do better than that.

* Acclaimed Olympic amputee-athlete Oscar Pistorius, now out on bail for murder, is not due back in court until June. When he returns, we will be reminded that as pushy, obnoxious and celebrity-driven as our media here can be, we draw the line a little higher than they do in South Africa. Our paparazzi will hound suspects in vehicles and corridors as well as on street corners and courthouse steps. But there is relative refuge inside the courtroom. The judge has discretion. That’s why there are courtroom artists available for sketching.

But notice those bail-hearing photos of Pistorius at the magistrates court in Pretoria. Talk about in your face. He was in the dock and that gaggle of shutterbugs, vying for positioning, couldn’t have been more than two feet away. Guilty or not-guilty–the punishment had begun.

* If you’re looking for a page-turner for you nightstand, look no further than The Patriarch by David Nasaw. It’s the biography of Joseph P. Kennedy. Whether you believe Kennedy was a tragic Shakespearean–or Faustian–figure or not, you’ll likely not find the man you thought you knew enough about. Regardless of your side of the political spectrum, you’ll likely find this patriarch’s skills, ambitions, charms, vanity, popularity and impact across generations  impressive and imposing.

*Word is the Vatican wants a new Pope by next week–before Holy Week ceremonies begin. Moreover, in the U.S. it would also avoid overlap with NCAA basketball’s “March Madness.” The papacy has enough distractions, and the conclave process can do without late-night American comics trafficking in “Sweet Sistine” references.

* “It is paramount, essential, urgent that the Egyptian economy get stronger.”–U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

* “Drones kill fewer civilians, as a percentage of total fatalities, than any other military weapon. They’re the worst form of warfare in the history of the world, except for all the others.”–William Saletan, Slate.

* “When we debate health care policy, we seem to jump right to the issue of who should pay the bills, blowing past what should be the first question: Why exactly are the bills so high? … Why should a trip to the emergency room for chest pains that turn out to be indigestion bring a bill that can exceed the cost of a semester of college? … Why does simple lab work done during a few days in a hospital cost more than a car?”–Steven Brill, Time magazine.

* “We are the only developed economy that does not have a national rail plan.”–Adie Tomer, author and senior research associate, Brookings Institution.

* “What I can’t do is force Congress to do the right thing. The American people may have the capacity to do that.”–President Barack Obama.

* “The president understands that to get anything done, he needs a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives. … If 2012 was a referendum on President Obama, then 2014 will be a referendum on the tea party Congress.”–Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y.

* “The market psychology has clearly shifted. It’s no longer sell the rally; it’s buy the dips. The economic data continues to be strong.”–Dan Veru, chief investment officer, Palisade Capital Management.

* “Businesses and consumers have begun to look away from the histrionics and the battles going on in Washington. They’re beginning to realize that organic growth in the private economy is beginning to pick up speed.”–Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group.

* “It is time for Congress to pick a side, and I am hopeful that it can be on the side of law enforcement. We need to recognize that we can protect our Second Amendment rights without unnecessarily and unreasonably infringing on our free society’s right to public safety.”–Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

* “Reurbanization is here to stay. Young people are prepared to pay enormous rents in order to have a walkable community outside their door.”–Mark Toro, managing partner of Atlantic Station, a dense, mixed-use development in Atlanta.

* “We need to be one Yahoo, and that starts with physically being together.”–Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer in her ban on employees working from home.

* “I’m not an entertainer. Classical music is a science. … You’re dealing with pure sound.”–The late Van Cliburn.

* “The law is the law. A lot of my friends don’t want to believe that. They believe that they can nullify Obamacare or we can pretend that it didn’t pass … but we are a nation of laws, and not a nation that develops our public policy on the passion of the moment.”–Florida Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville.

* “I don’t think what the governor’s done has harmed the state’s recovery, but the recovery has not outperformed to date the national recovery.”–Sean Snaith, University of Central Florida economist.

* “If we’re going to say ‘no’ to Medicaid expansion, let’s say ‘yes’ to something.”–Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart.

* “This is the best deal going in health care today.”–U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, in urging Florida legislators to expand Medicaid.

* “This was a TECO electrical system failure. This was not a water system failure.”–Brad Baird, Tampa water department director, on the recent power failure at Tampa’s David L. Tripping Water Treatment facility.

* “To try to convince the big national retail companies that downtown is ready to have you, it’s a tough sell. But we’re certainly a lot closer. Five years ago, I couldn’t even get them to return my calls.”–Residential developer Ken Stoltenberg.

* “Everybody is replaceable. The cemetery is filled with people who thought they were indispensible, mayors included.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* A big issue in the movie biz is the pattern of theater owners increasingly charging movie companies to run their trailers. For example, Regal Entertainment Group has now cut the number of trailers that studios may run free with each movie from two to one.

Here’s a suggestion: How about theater owners remitting some of that trailer income to customers. Ever go to the theater because you really want to see a given movie, say, Lincoln or The Artist or The King’s Speech–only to be initially assaulted by multiple, high-decibel, over-the-top action, violent trailers of movies you would never consider seeing? Good, I’m glad I’m not alone.

* As a way of marking the centennial of the birth of Richard Nixon, the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, Calif., has put out an exhibit of newly declassified documents. Some of them reveal behind-the-scenes relations between Nixon and the Clinton White House. Nixon-as- elder-statesman provided Bill Clinton with welcomed post-Cold War advice.

In an accompanying exhibit video, Clinton pays tribute to Nixon at his 1994 funeral. “May the day of judging President Nixon on anything less than his entire life and career come to a close.”

How ironic. And how applicable.

* “We believe that nuclear weapons must be eliminated. We don’t want to build atomic weapons. But if we didn’t believe so and intended to possess nuclear weapons, no power could stop us.”–Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

* “I was not chosen to be president to restore capitalism to Cuba. I was elected to defend, maintain and continue to perfect socialism, not destroy it.”–Cuban President Raul Castro.

* “The dark secret is there is no such thing as a secure unclassified network. Law firms, think tanks, newspapers–if there’s something of interest, you should assume you’ve been penetrated.”–James Lewis, Center for Strategic and International Studies cybersecurity expert.

* “Across-the-board cuts are an ethical abdication.”–Michael Gerson, Washington Post.

* “I believe the Obama administration should approve the Keystone pipeline, which would transport oil mined and processed from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. Like it or not, fossil fuels are going to remain the world’s dominant energy source for the foreseeable future, and we are far better off getting our oil from Canada than, say Venezuela.”–Joe Nocera, New York Times.

* “Buy a shotgun, buy a shotgun.”–Vice President Joe Biden’s advice to those considering a semi-automatic weapon to protect their homes.

* “One of the paradoxes of solitary confinement is that, as starved as people become for companionship, the experience typically leaves them unfit for social interaction.”–Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon who writes on public health issues.

* “Most persons now in solitary confinement will someday be back on America’s streets, some of them rendered psychotic by what are called correctional institutions.”–George Will, Washington Post.

* “In the House, the sitting president’s party has gained seats only twice in midterms since 1938. The GOP should be very worried about 2016, but for 2014 things look pretty good.”–Mike Murphy, Time magazine.

* “Argo was so top secret that the film’s director is unknown to the Academy.”–Oscars’ host Seth MacFarlane.

* “I know what Floridians care about. People generally are not hard right. Nor are they hard left. They just want to get the right thing done for most people.”–Former Gov. Charlie Crist.

* “To get Florida on the right track, the Legislature must repeal the nuclear tax and create laws that will allow for a transparent utility planning process that will bring us affordable energy options such as energy efficiency and renewables. This keeps precious energy dollars and jobs right here at home.”–Rep. Dwight Dudley, D-St. Petersburg.

* “Is the university’s need for money that great that they’d be willing to put up the name of a corporation that has the worst reputation in the world for the treatment of people in their care? It’s a sad day when money trumps morality.”–Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, commenting on Florida Atlantic University’s football facility being named GEO Group Stadium. GEO, which paid FAU $6 million, is the nation’s second-largest prison operator.

* “If sequestration hits and you’re planning on flying out of Tampa International Airport to a major city like New York or Chicago, you should expect that your flight will be delayed.”–TIA spokeswoman Janet Zink.

* “If you are reasonably well-organized, then you can accomplish more in life.”–Kip Tindell, CEO of The Container Store, which is opening its first Tampa Bay store–across from International Plaza–this month.

* “New businesses are growing here, so it’s a very vibrant city.”–Gary Prosterman, owner and principal of Memphis-based Development Services Inc., the lead company in the team developing Tampa’s vacant federal courthouse into a 130-room, Le Meridien boutique hotel.

* “If it were up to me, the state bird would be the tower crane.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* Sen. John McCain dropped in at Meet The Press last Sunday to put the nomination of Chuck Hegel as secretary of defense into context. He’s “confident,” he said, that Hegel “will probably” have the votes for confirmation. But he couldn’t resist being McCain. “No, I don’t believe he’s qualified,” he added. No one bothered asking if he had ever gotten over erstwhile Republican Senate colleague Hegel backing Barack Obama for president in 2008.

* More often than not, Saturday Night Live misses the satirical mark. No exception last Saturday with its opening skit lampooning that Carnival cruise from hell. Maybe the subject was just too cringe-able for quality spoofing. But then they come back with a “Fox & Friends” interview with Ted Nugent that was demonically spot on and a faux trailer for Djesus Uncrossed that had to be hilarious to all but the blasphemy sensitive.

*The Tampa Bay Times is pulling out all the marketing stops in heralding its newly redesigned–make that “reimagined”–tampabay.com website. Yes, it’s impressive. But one question is begged in the Times’ serious foray into digital journalism. Where have you been until now?

*Always interesting when the two local dailies give the same story different play. Last Saturday’s Tampa Tribune accorded page-one, above-the-fold status to the “Poly Wants Another $25M” story. It reported that Florida Polytechnic University’s new trustees “are asking” the state for $25 million in extra funding. The Tampa Bay Times played it more conservatively–“Florida Poly Might Request $25M” on page 7 of the B section. Hedging (“preparing to ask”) is usually the better journalistic call–no matter how tempting the headline potential–but the Trib’s placement better reflected local interest and relevance. Just ask Rep. Mike Fasano. Both dailies did–and he pulled no “boondoggle” punches in his scathing reaction to the Poly folly update.

* “We believe that nuclear weapons must be eliminated. We don’t want to build atomic weapons. But if we didn’t believe so and intended to possess nuclear weapons, no power could stop us.”–Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

* “With the election of John Paul, with the election of Benedict, one wonders if the former boundaries seem not to have any more credibility.”–New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, discussing papal successor scenarios.

* “What is the status of an ex-pope? We have no rules about that at all. What is his title? What are his powers? Does he lose infallibility?”–Ken Pennington, professor of ecclesiastical and legal history at the Catholic University of America.

* “In the House, the sitting President’s party has gained seats only twice in midterms since 1938. The GOP should be very worried about 2016, but for 2014 things look pretty good.”–Mike Murphy, Time magazine.

* “In 1982, banks were lending out 80 cents for investments for every $1 they were lending for consumption. By 2011, they lent only 30 cents to fund investments for every $1 of consumption.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “Not only do these (credit rating) companies still hold sway in securities markets, they’ve also hung on to their lush profits from the glory days of mortgage origination. During 2005 and 2006, for example, Moody’s made $238 million by rating complex mortgage instruments. Investors who trusted those ratings lost billions.”–Gretchen Morgenson, New York Times.

* “The 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15.”–President Barack Obama.

* “The government can’t change the weather. We’re a country–not a planet.”–Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

* “The greatest news that has happened since the commercialization of the Internet is that the United States has the potential in the very near term to become the largest producer of oil and gas in the world.”–Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

* “Assemble your top tier team. Target venture capital firms in Boston, Research Triangle and San Francisco. Your return on that effort will probably be pretty good.”–Advice of Bob Ingram, Hateras Venture Partners of Durham, N.C., to improve Tampa Bay’s chances for successfully courting venture capital.

* “This is the most watched corner in all of Tampa. It is the gateway to airport arrivals. That’s literally tens of millions of people every year.”–Real estate attorney Ron Weaver’s description of the southwest corner of Spruce Street and West Shore Boulevard, across from International Plaza.

* “New businesses are growing here, so it’s a very vibrant city.”–Gary Prosterman, owner and principal of Memphis-based Development Services Group, the lead company in the team developing Tampa’s vacant federal courthouse into a 130-room, Le Meridien boutique hotel.

* “If it were up to me, the state bird would be the tower crane.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

The Gasparilla Parade was a convenient hook for Town & Country magazine’s rehash of SocialiteGate. Tampa, it is noted, has its share of “characters,” charm, tacky touches and non-prudish quirks. It fares much better than the Khawam twins, who are referenced as “The Kartampians.”

Local, quoted sources include Norma Gene Lykes, Tampa Bay Times social chronicler Amy Scherzer, former Mayor Sandy Freedman and anonymous “matriarchs”–obviously far less enamored of the Kartampians than their husbands were. “Tampa needs to be more careful about vetting people,” underscored Freedman. “It cannot go on like before.”

Something on HuffPost caught my eye the other day. Amid Oscar talk, someone had blogged semi seriously that he would like to see an Oscar for “best line.” Examples were the iconic likes of “Quite frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” and “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

It got me thinking beyond Lincoln and Argo, which were both wonderfully scripted. I conjured up my co-all-time favorite movie (along with The Graduate) Casablanca. It’s a veritable trove of Oscaresque lines. But my favorite is not among the standards.

Remember the scene where Claude Rains (as Vichy Captain Louis Renault) is asking Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine character how he ever wound up in Morocco? The cryptic, cynical ex-pat says he “came for the waters.” Cpt. Renault seems dumbfounded. He responds that this is the desert; there are no waters.

“I guess I was misinformed,” deadpans the not-as-neutral-as-he-appears Rick, as only Bogart can deliver it. It’s still my favorite line. Although “Plastics” remains in the running.