What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception

 

THE ENTERTAINMENT CRITIC BOOK REVIEW, BY JAMES MYERS

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WHAT HAPPENED: INSIDE THE BUSH WHITE HOUSE AND WASHINGTON’S CULTURE OF DECEPTION

By Scott McClellan

Published by: Public Affairs Books, a Division of Perseus Books

Publication Date:  May 28, 2008

Price: $27.95

368 Pages

ISBN-13: 9781586485566

Four Star Rating ****

 

SCOTT MCCLELLAN SERVED AS WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY FROM 2003 TO 2006, BEFORE THAT HE SERVED AS THE PRINCIPAL DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY AND AS TRAVELING PRESS SECRETARY FOR THE BUSH-CHENEY 2000 CAMPAIGN. EARLIER IN HIS CAREER, MR. MCCLELLAN SERVED AS DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR IN THE TEXAS GOVERNOR'S OFFICE AND CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR THREE SUCCESSFUL STATEWIDE CAMPAIGNS. HE IS NOW A SENIOR ADVISER TO A GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY FIRM AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIST. BORN IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, HE NOW LIVES NEAR WASHINGTON, D.C

 

 

 “The University of Texas has always been special to my family and me. My grandfather, the late Page Keeton, was the legendary dean who led its law school to national prominence. I was born and reared in Austin, Texas, where it is located, and earned an undergraduate degree from the university.

 

I am very familiar with the UT Tower, the main building in the center of campus, with words from the Gospel of John carved in stone above its south entrance: “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

 

Those powerful words have always piqued my curiosity, as a person of faith and as an ordinary human being keenly interested in the larger meaning of life. But not until the past few years have I come to truly appreciate their message.

 

Perhaps God’s greatest gift to us in life is the ability to learn from our experiences, especially our mistakes, and grow into better people. That uniquely human quality is rooted in free will and blossoms in our capacity for knowledge, based on understanding the truth — not as we might imagine or wish it to be, but as it is. And that includes recognizing our faults and accepting responsibility for them. Through contrition we find the truth and the freedom that comes with it, even as we improve ourselves and grow closer to the image that God our Creator has in mind for us to become.

 

My mother, who began her career in public service as a high school civics and history teacher, likes to say, “It is people, not events, that shape history.” She couldn’t be more right. History is rooted in the choices made by people — flawed, fallible people.

 

This is a book about the slice of history I witnessed during my years in the White House and about the well-intentioned but flawed human beings — myself included — who shaped that history. I’ve written it not to settle scores or enhance my own role but simply to record what I know and what I learned in hopes that my account will deepen our understanding of contemporary history, particularly the events that followed the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001.

 

I began the process of writing this book by putting myself under the microscope. In my efforts on behalf of the presidential administration of George W. Bush I fell far short of living up to the kind of public servant I wanted to be. Having accepted the post of White House press secretary at age 35 and possessing scant experience of the Washington power game, I didn’t fully understand what I was getting myself into. Today, I understand it much better. This book records the often painful process by which I gained that understanding.

 

I frequently stumbled along the way and failed in my duty to myself, to the president I served, and to the American people. I tried to play the Washington game according to the current rules and, at times, didn’t play it very well. Because I didn’t stay true to myself, I couldn’t stay true to others. The mistakes were mine, and I’ve suffered the consequences.

 

My own story, however, is of small importance in the broad historical picture. More significant is the larger story in which I played a minor role — the story of how the presidency of George W. Bush veered terribly off course.

 

As press secretary, I spent countless hours defending the administration from the podium in the White House briefing room. Although the things I said then were sincere, I have since come to realize that some of them were badly misguided. In these pages, I’ve tried to come to grips with some of the truths that life inside the White House bubble obscured.

 

My friends and former colleagues who lived and worked or are still living and working inside that bubble may not be happy with the perspective I present here. Many of them, I’m sure, remain convinced that the Bush administration has been fundamentally correct in its most controversial policy judgments, and that the dis-esteem in which most Americans currently hold it is undeserved. Only time will tell. But I’ve become genuinely convinced otherwise.

 

The episode that became the jumping-off point for this book was the scandal over the leaking of classified national security information — the so-called Plame affair. It originated in a controversy over the intelligence the Bush administration used to make the case that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq represented a “grave and gathering danger” that needed to be eliminated. When a covert CIA officer's identity was disclosed during the ensuing partisan warfare, turning the controversy into the latest Washington scandal, I was caught up in the deception that followed. It was the defining moment in my time working for the president, and one of the most painful experiences of my life

 

 

 

 

 

When words I uttered, believing them to be true, were exposed as false, I was constrained by my duties and loyalty to the president and unable to comment. But I promised reporters and the public that I would someday tell the whole story of what I knew. After leaving the White House, I realized that the story was meaningless without an appreciation of the personal, political, and institutional context in which it took place. So the story grew into a book.

 

Writing it wasn’t easy. Some of the best advice I received as I began came from a senior editor at a publishing house that expressed interest in my book. He said the hardest challenge for me would be to keep questioning my own beliefs and perceptions throughout the writing process. His advice was prescient. I’ve found myself constantly questioning my own thinking, my assumptions, my interpretations of events. Many of the conclusions I’ve reached are quite different from those I would have embraced at the start of the process. The quest for truth has been a struggle for me, but a rewarding one. I don’t claim a monopoly on truth. But after wrestling with my experiences over the past several months, I’ve come much closer to my truth than ever before.

 

 

Many readers will have come to this book out of curiosity about the man who is a leading character in my story, President George W. Bush. You’ll learn about my relationship with him and my experiences as part of his team as you read these pages. For now, let me observe that much of what the general public knows about Bush is true. He is a man of personal charm, wit, and enormous political skill. Like many other people, I was inspired to follow him by his disarming personality and by his record as a popular, bipartisan governor who set a constructive tone and got things done for the people. We all hoped and believed he could do the same for the nation.

 

Certainly the seeds of greatness seemed to be present in the Bush administration. Although Bush attained the White House only after an extended legal battle over the outcome of the 2000 election, he began his presidency with considerable goodwill. He commanded a rare, extended period of national unity following the unimaginable national tragedy that struck our nation in September 2001.

 

On paper, the team Bush assembled was impressive. Vice President Dick Cheney was a serious, vastly experienced hand in the top levels of government. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had already enjoyed one successful run at the Pentagon and boasted a résumé listing a string of business and government achievements. Secretary of State Colin Powell, an able and widely respected military leader, was easily the most popular public figure in the country and could well have been the first African American president of the United States had he been interested in the job. Even Bush’s chief political adviser, Karl Rove, had a powerful reputation as a brilliant strategic thinker who was helping to make the Republican party the nation’s greatest political force.

 

I believed in George W. Bush’s leadership and agenda for America, and had confidence in his authenticity, integrity, and judgment. But today the high hopes that accompanied the early days of his presidency have fallen back to earth.

 

Rumsfeld and Powell are gone, their tenures controversial and disappointing. Vice President Cheney’s role is widely viewed as sinister and destructive of the president’s legacy. And Rove’s reputation for political genius is now matched by his reputation as an operative who places political gain ahead of the national interest.

 

Through it all, President Bush remains very much the same. He is self-confident, quick-witted, down-to-earth, and stubborn, as leaders sometimes need to be. His manner is authentic, his beliefs sincere. I never knew Lyndon Johnson (another Texan with a stubborn streak whose domestic accomplishments were overshadowed by a controversial war) or Richard Nixon (a president whose historically low poll ratings following Watergate have been rivaled only by Bush’s). But according to historians, both men were consumed with defensiveness, anger, and ultimately anguish as their presidencies unraveled under the pressure of war and scandal, respectively. George W. Bush is different. He is very much the man he always was — though not quite the leader I once imagined him to be.

 

It was the decision to go to war in Iraq that pushed Bush’s presidency off course. It was a fateful misstep based on a confluence of events (the shock of 9/11 and our surprisingly — and deceptively — quick initial military success in Afghanistan), human nature (ambition, certitude, and self-deceit), and a divinely inspired passion (President Bush’s deeply held belief that all people have a God-given right to live in freedom). For Bush, removing the “grave and gathering danger” that Iraq supposedly posed was primarily a means for achieving the far more grandiose objective of reshaping the Middle East as a region of peaceful democracies.

 

History appears poised to confirm what most Americans today have decided — that the decision to invade Iraq was a serious strategic blunder. No one, including me, can know with absolute certainty how the war will be viewed decades from now when we can more fully understand its impact. What I do know is that war should only be waged when necessary, and the Iraq war was not necessary.

 

Waging an unnecessary war is a grave mistake. But in reflecting on all that happened during the Bush administration, I’ve come to believe that an even more fundamental mistake was made — a decision to turn away from candor and honesty when those qualities were most needed.

 

Most of our elected leaders in Washington, Republicans and Democrats alike, are good and decent people. Yet too many of them today have made a practice of shunning truth and the high level of openness and forthrightness required to discover it. Most of it is not willful or conscious. Rather it is part of the modern Washington game that has become the accepted norm.

 

As I explain in this book, Washington has become the home of the permanent campaign, a game of endless politicking based on the manipulation of shades of truth, partial truths, twisting of the truth, and spin. Governing has become an appendage of politics rather than the other way around, with electoral victory and the control of power as the sole measures of success. That means shaping the narrative before it shapes you. Candor and honesty are pushed to the side in the battle to win the latest news cycle.

 

Of course, deception in politics is nothing new. What’s new is the degree to which it now permeates our national political discourse.

 

Much of it is barely noticeable and seemingly harmless, accepted as par for the course. Most of it is done unconsciously or subconsciously with no malicious intent other than to prevail in the increasingly destructive game of power and influence.

 

Some of it is self-deceit. Those engaging in it convince themselves to believe what they are saying, though deep down they know candor and honesty are lacking. Instead of checking their political maneuvering at the door when the campaign ends, they retain it as part of the way Washington works. The deception it spawns becomes the cancer on our political discourse, greatly damaging the ability of our elected leaders to govern effectively and do what is best for America.

 

Too many politicians and their followers have become passionately committed to a preconceived, partisan view of reality that allows little room for compromise or cooperation with the other side. The gray nuances of truth are lost in the black-and-white ideologies both parties embrace. Permanent division, gridlock, and a general inability to constructively address the big challenges we all face inevitably follow.

 

President Bush, I believe, did not consciously set out to engage in these destructive practices. But like others before him, he chose to play the Washington game the way he found it, rather than changing the culture as he vowed to do at the outset of his campaign for the presidency. And like others before him, he has engaged in a degree of self-deception that may be psychologically necessary to justify the tactics needed to win the political game.

 

The permanent campaign also ensnares the media, who become complicit enablers of its polarizing effects. They emphasize conflict, controversy, and negativity, focusing not on the real-world impact of policies and their larger, underlying truths but on the horse race aspects of politics — who’s winning, who’s losing, and why.

 

In exploring this syndrome and the way it helped damage at least one administration, I’ve tried to contribute to our understanding of Washington’s culture of deception and how we, the American people, can change it.

 

Although my time in the Bush White House did not work out as I once hoped, my optimism regarding America has been strengthened. I’ve met many, many people who are eager for positive change and are ready to devote their lives and energies to the future of our country. I still believe, in the words of then-Governor Bush, that it’s possible to show “that politics, after a time of tarnished ideals, can be higher and better.” I’m convinced that, if we take a clear-eyed look at how our system has gone awry and think seriously about how to fix it, there’s nothing we can’t achieve.

 

This book, I hope, will contribute to that national conversation.”

            Scott McClellan, former Press Secretary to President George W. Bush, has written an explosive, new book, What Happened that does not ask the question as much as it supplies the missing pieces of the answer.  At the age of 30, he accepted what appeared to bed the job of a lifetime, press spokesman for Texas governor, George W. Bush.  Bush was just beginning his candidacy for President.  Scott identified with GWB due to his strong record of successful bipartisan leadership, as a compassionate, committed conservative.  He was particularly inspired by his promise to restore dignity and honesty to the Office of The President of the United States after the tumultuous years under Bill Clinton’s scandalous and partisan administration. 

 

            McClellan served the “W” White House for over 7 years as part of the inner circle of trusted advisors to the President, as well as his Press Secretary.  From his position and vantage point, he witness the events of the most challenging and contentious periods in American history.  He witnessed the day to day operations of the Bush White House, and observed it veer disastrously and irretrievably off course.  In this startlingly, candid book, he shares his provocative story with the American people.

 

            What Happened provides a one of a kind prospective of all of the events, policies, and personalities of the Bush administration, including the Iraq War, 9/11, the Valerie Plame leak scandal, Hurricane Katrina and all of the propaganda and marketing campaigns designed to exculpate the White House and mislead the American people. 

 

            What Happened demonstrates what President Bush knew or should have known, how the Bush White House operates, and how the goals and priorities of the Bush Administration were shaped and focused.  Scott offers completely unique opinions about the roles and personalities of the top advisors including, Karl Rove, Andy Card, Karen Hughes, Condoleezza Rice, and VP Dick Cheney.

 

            More importantly, this book is a true confession of Scott’s understanding of exactly how our political culture became so toxic and intolerable.  His compelling case against ‘politics as usual’ in the process of campaigning, governing, or covering politics for the media is the most unique insights offered into modern politics currently in written form.  He has also offered potential solutions to make institutional changes to reform the Washington policies of deception that he feels poisoned the Bush Administration for within.  He offers sound advice to the American people concerning the selection of a new leader.

 

            This book blows the lid off of the incredibly secretive and manipulating workings of the Bush administration, and comes at a time when the President is still in office.  His writing shows the painful truth that the powers to be were ultimately deceiving themselves.  It is an often all too painful acknowledgement of what occurred, and his role in it.  This is the most open, vivid and disturbing political book so far this year, giving incredible insight into the upcoming Presidential elections.  Don’t miss this one.  It is a political fireball of an eye opener.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYGweWr2YiI

 

 

Movie Review:  Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull

The Entertainment Critic Movie Review

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In Theatres Now Review

Opened May 22, 2008

By James Myers

 

Rating: 7 of 10

 

Directed by

Steven Spielberg  

 

Writing credits

(WGA)

David Koepp   (screenplay)

George Lucas   (story) and 

Jeff Nathanson   (story)

George Lucas   (characters) and 

Philip Kaufman   (characters)

 

Cast (in credits order)

 

 Harrison Ford ...  Indiana Jones

 

 Cate Blanchett ...  Irina Spalko

 

 Karen Allen ...  Marion Ravenwood

 

 Shia LaBeouf ...  Mutt Williams

 

 Ray Winstone ...  'Mac' George McHale

 

 John Hurt ...  Professor 'Ox' Oxley

 

 Jim Broadbent ...  Dean Charles Stanforth

 

 Igor Jijikine ...  Dovchenko

 Dimitri Diatchenko ...  Russian Suit #1

 

 Ilia Volokh ...  Russian Suit #2 (as Ilia Volok)

 

 Emmanuel Todorov ...  Russian Soldier #1

 

 Pavel Lychnikoff ...  Russian Soldier (as Pasha D. Lychnikoff)

 Andrew Divoff ...  Russian Soldier #3

 Venya Manzyuk ...  Russian Soldier #4 (as Veniamin Manzyuk)

 

 Alan Dale ...  General Ross

 

 Joel Stoffer ...  Taylor

 

 Neil Flynn ...  Smith

 

 V.J. Foster ...  Minister

 Chet Hanks ...  Student in Library

 

 Brian Knutson ...  Letterman #1

 

 Dean Grimes ...  Letterman #2 (as Dean L. Grimes)

 Sasha Spielberg ...  Slugger

 Nicole Luther ...  Diner Waitress

 Sophia Stewart ...  Malt Shop Teen

 Christopher Todd ...  College Brawler #1

 

 Dennis Nusbaum ...  College Brawler #2

 

 T. Ryan Mooney ...  Teenage Boy

 

 Audi Resendez ...  Teenage Girl #1

 Helena Barrett ...  Teenage Girl #2

 Carlos Linares ...  Fast Speaking Inmate

 Gustavo Hernandez ...  Shouting Inmate

 

 Maria Luisa Minelli ...  Sanitarium Nun

 

 Nito Larioza ...  Cemetery Warrior #1

 

 Ernie Reyes Jr....  Cemetery Warrior #2

 

 Jon Valera ...  Cave Warrior

 Kevin Collins ...  M.P. in Guard Hut

 

 Robert Baker ...  M.P. Sergeant

           

 

            The most anticipated film of the early summer season opened May 22, 2008, to sold out crowds of enthusiastic fans, who wanted to see Indiana Jones again after a 19 year hiatus.  George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg, and Harrison Ford did not disappoint with their latest effort, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull.  This fourth installment of Paramount Pictures wildly popular, fun action adventure series lived up to it’s advanced billing, as a vehicle for summer fun in a throw back to the Saturday afternoon serials of the 1950’s.  This one pits an older and wiser Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) against agents of the Soviet Union, led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), in the search for a crystal skull. Indy is aided by his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), the greaser Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf), and fellow archaeologist Mac (Ray Winstone). John Hurt and Jim Broadbent also play fellow academics.

 

            The film opens in 1957 with Colonel-Doctor Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) leading a convoy of Communist Russians infiltrating a military base in the Nevada desert called "Hangar 51", where they force Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) to lead them to an object he had previously studied. When the crate holding it is opened, it contains the remains of an extraterrestrial creature that crashed ten years before in Roswell, New Mexico. When Jones attempts to escape, he is foiled by his old partner, George "Mac" McHale (Ray Winstone), who reveals that he is working with the Soviets. Jones then escapes on a rocket-propelled vehicle into the desert, where he stumbles upon a nuclear test town and survives a nuclear blast by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator. He is brought to a facility where he is debriefed and discovers that because Mac is a Soviet agent, and  Jones himself is under investigation by the FBI for his association with him. Jones returns to Marshall College to find that because of the FBI investigation, he is being offered a leave of absence to avoid being fired. As he is leaving, Jones is stopped by Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) and told that his old colleague, Harold Oxley (John Hurt), disappeared after discovering a crystal skull in Peru.

 

            In Peru, Jones and Mutt discover that Oxley was locked in an insane asylum until Soviet soldiers broke him out. In Oxley's former cell, Jones discovers clues to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador who went missing in the 1500s while seeking Akator (also known as El Dorado). Jones finds the crystal skull that Oxley hid in Orellana's grave in the Nazca Lines. The skull is elongated in the shape that indigenous peoples formed their own skulls into. The Soviets capture Indy and Mutt and take them to the camp where they are holding Oxley and Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen). The Soviets believe the skull is from an extraterrestrial life-form, holding great psychic power. The four escape from the camp, but Indiana and Marion become trapped in dry quicksand. Marion reveals that Mutt is Jones's son.  (There is a line of jokes that run through the picture concerning Mutt’s education.  Before Jones knows he is his son, he tries to tell Marion that Mutt may not be cut out for school, after he finds Mutt is his son, he continually asks her, “How could you let that boy quit school.”) After a lengthy vehicle chase, several Soviet soldiers are killed by army ants, and finally Mutt, Marion, Mac, Oxley, and Jones ride a truck over a cliff and down three waterfalls. The four then find the Temple of Akator. While being choked by Jones, Mac reveals that he is a double agent working against the Soviets and goes into the temple with Jones and the group.

 

After entering the Temple, Jones uses the skull to open the door to a chamber tomb. Inside, thirteen crystal skeletons are seated on thrones, with one missing its skull. When the Soviets arrive, Mac reveals that he lied about being a double agent. When Spalko places the skull onto the skeleton, it begins communicating to the group through Oxley using an ancient Mayan dialect. Jones translates this to mean that the aliens want to give them a great gift. Spalko demands to know everything, and the skulls begin firing knowledge into her eyes, causing her to shake. As a portal to another dimension appears over the room, Oxley regains his sanity and explains that the aliens are inter-dimensional beings who taught the Maya their advanced technology. Indy, Mutt, Marion, and Oxley escape from the temple, but Mac is sucked into the portal. The skeletons form into a single alien who continues to feed Spalko with knowledge. However, the knowledge overwhelms Spalko, causing her to ignite into flames and disintegrate, with her essence being absorbed into the portal above. The temple crumbles, and a flying saucer rises from the debris and disappears. Back home, Jones is made the Associate Dean and marries Marion.  In a scene where the torch appears about to pass, Mutt bends down to pick up Indy’s famous hat, but Jones takes it from him.  Nevertheless, rumors persist that there will be a new Indiana Jones film, and that Shia LaBeouf will play the lead role.

 

My favorite new character in the film is Mutt Williams, a motorcycle greaser with a thing for switchblade knives.  He is a great foil in the picture for Jones, and is action personified.  He just looks like a guy you want with you in that dark alley when the fight starts.  His leaning curve with Jones make for some of the best scenes in the picture.  Cate Blanchett as Irina Spalko is wonderful in this picture.  The blonde haired beauty is disguised as a Russian with a few Order of Lenin to her credit in a Dutch boy, black haired, do that has me fooled from the start.  It is impossible to take your eyes off of her when she is on the screen. Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood gives a steady performance.  It was great to see her again.

 

The film is well directed and written.  The sets were perfect, the customs were right on, and the special effects at times were breathtaking.  There are some lulls in the film, but from the time that Indy hooks up with Mutt until the conclusion, the action is non-stop.  This picture reminds me very much of the other Jones pictures and the serial type films that you used to see on Saturday afternoons in the 50’s when Flash Gordon left you hanging with a cliffhanger every week and keep you coming back to see how it would come out.  According to business reports, the film will need to gross at least $400 million to make a profit for Paramount. Unlike other film franchises, they are only the distributor of Indiana Jones, whose copyright is owned by Lucasfilm, and their original deal entailed they would only earn 12.5% of the film's revenue. As the $185 million budget was larger than the original $125 million estimate. Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford turned down large upfront salaries so Paramount could cover the film's costs. Paramount will only see a profit beyond its distribution fee if it grosses over $400 million. At that point Lucas, Spielberg, Ford, and those with smaller profit-sharing deals will also begin to collect their cut. On its opening day in North America, the film grossed around $25 million, the fourth biggest Thursday opening yet.  This weekend it will be interesting to see how the film does.  Roger Ebert, who gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, said it best, "I can say that if you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one, and that if you did not, there is no talking to you.” This film is worthy of its predecessors and is great way to spend a summer evening.

 

 

Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ60n9DiAEM

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music Review:  Hard Candy

The Entertainment Critic Music Review By James Myers

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HARD CANDY

Format: CD

Release Date: 04/29/2008

Label: WARNER BROS / WEA

Catalog No.: 421372

UPC: 093624988496

Sales Rank: 6

 

Album Credits

Performance Credits 

Madonna:  Primary Artist

Stevie Blacke:   Strings

Wendy Melvoin:   Guitar

Dan Warner:  Guitar

Hannon B. Lane:  Keyboards

Timbaland:   Drums, DJ

Andrew Coleman:   Guitar

Justin Timberlake:   Guitar, Background Vocals

Monte Pittman:   Guitar

 

Technical Credits 

Madonna:   Producer, Executive Producer

Chris Gehringer:   Mastering

Mark "Spike" Stent:   Engineer

Hannon B. Lane:   Producer

Timbaland:   Producer

Andrew Coleman: Engineer

The Neptunes:   Producer

Justin Timberlake:   Producer

Giovanni Bianco:   Art Direction

Ron Taylor:   Digital Editing

Alex Dromgoole:  Engineer

Marcella "Ms. Lago" Araica:  Engineer

 

Hard Candy’s Tracks

 

1 Candy Shop 4:15

2 4 Minutes / Justin Timberlake 4:03

3 Give It 2 Me 4:47

4 Heartbeat 4:03

5 Miles Away 4:48

6 She's Not Me 6:04

7 Incredible 6:19

8 Beat Goes on / Kanye West 4:26

9 Dance 2night 5:03

10 Spanish Lesson 3:37

11 Devil Wouldn't Recognize You 5:08

12 Voices 3:39

 

 

REGARDED AS "ONE OF THE GREATEST POP ACTS OF ALL TIME", SHE HAS BEEN DUBBED THE "QUEEN OF POP" BY THE MEDIA

 

BEGINNING WITH THE RELEASE OF HER SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM IN 1983, MADONNA ROSE TO STARDOM PRODUCING THREE CONSECUTIVE NUMBER ONE STUDIO ALBUMS ON THE BILLBOARD 200; LIKE A VIRGIN (1984), TRUE BLUE (1986), AND LIKE A PRAYER (1989). THOUGH THE ENTERTAINER FACED COLDER CRITICAL RECEPTION AND MORE MODEST SALES ON SUBSEQUENT ALBUMS EROTICA (1992) AND BEDTIME STORIES (1994), SHE GARNERED CRITICAL ACCLAIM WITH THE RELEASE OF HER SEVENTH STUDIO ALBUM RAY OF LIGHT (1998), WHICH OPENED AT NUMBER TWO. MADONNA CONTINUED TO REMAIN IN THE FOREFRONT OF POP MUSIC WITH FOUR MORE CONSECUTIVE NUMBER ONE STUDIO ALBUMS; MUSIC (2000) AMERICAN LIFE (2003) CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR (2005) AND HARD CANDY (2008).

 

MADONNA IS RANKED BY THE RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA AS THE "BEST SELLING FEMALE ROCK ARTIST OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY" AND THE SECOND TOP-SELLING FEMALE ARTIST IN THE UNITED STATES (BEHIND BARBRA STREISAND) WITH 63 MILLION CERTIFIED ALBUMS. ACCORDING TO GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS, SHE IS THE "WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL FEMALE RECORDING ARTIST OF ALL TIME” AND THE TOP EARNING FEMALE SINGER IN THE WORLD WITH AN ESTIMATED NET WORTH OF OVER $400 MILLION, HAVING SOLD OVER 200 MILLION ALBUMS WORLDWIDE. BILLBOARD REPORTED THAT HER 2006 CONFESSIONS TOUR HOLDS THE RECORD FOR THE HIGHEST GROSSING CONCERT TOUR BY A FEMALE ARTIST. ON MARCH 10, 2008, SHE WAS INDUCTED INTO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME.

 

MADONNA MADE HER ACTING DEBUT WITH THE LOW-BUDGET FEATURE FILM A CERTAIN SACRIFICE (1979) AND WENT ON TO STAR IN THE 1985 BOX OFFICE HIT DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN, HER FIRST STARRING ROLE. SHE THEN STARRED IN THE RELATIVELY UNSUCCESSFUL SHANGHAI SURPRISE (1986), BODY OF EVIDENCE (1993), THE NEXT BEST THING (2000) AND SWEPT AWAY (2002) — IN ADDITION TO NUMEROUS SUPPORTING ROLES AND CAMEO APPEARANCES. SHE ALSO STARRED IN THE BOX OFFICE HITS DICK TRACY (1990), A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992) AND EVITA (1996) — BASED ON THE MUSICAL OF THE SAME NAME, WHICH EARNED HER A GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS - MOTION PICTURE MUSICAL OR COMEDY.

 

 

HARD CANDY SOLD 100,000 COPIES IN THE UNITED STATES UPON ITS FIRST DAY OF RELEASE

THIS CD IS THE 7^TH WHERE MADONNA HAS DEBUTED AT #1

THE RECORD IS HELD BY BARBARA STREISAND WITH 8 #1 DÉBUTS

THE ALBUM HAS SO FAR DEBUTED AT NUMBER ONE IN 27 COUNTRIES

 

“Borderline feels like I’m going to lose my mind
You just keep on pushing my love over the borderline”

 

                                    Chorus from Madonna’s “Borderline”

           

            There are 2 distinct phases to Madonna’s career; the first was her wildly popular dance music of the 1980’s when we first meet the free spirit, sexy dresser that revolutionized women’s popular music; the second is the social, modern impressionistic political/religious commentary that many of her older listeners struggled to understand.  Her new album, Hard Candy, represents a fusion of the 2 with a return to definite dance music, mixed with deep, searing lyrics that may be best listened to alone at home in the dark. Dance fever meets the urban legend in Hard Candy. This is her last studio album to be released under her contract with Warner Brothers, and last week it debuted at # 1 to an accepting audience that has been waiting for her eventual return to moving dance and pop music.

 

            Not that this album doesn’t have a hip hop feel; it clearly does, but at its heart it is a pop/dance record with “an urban direction.”  Her collaborator, Justin Timberlake in a recent interview stated, “It's kinda like 'Holiday' with an R&B groove." He went on to say "It’s an R&B/pop/dance record, but it’s still Madonna... A couple of times I pushed her in a direction where it took a minute before we saw eye to eye. Her approach was, 'Well, I just haven’t done that' and I was like, 'Yeah, that’s why you should do it.'  This is why the album has pop/dance music reminding us of her origins and sharp, edgy, pointed lyrics that make you feel ever so slightly uncomfortable.  But as a mix, it works and for those old dance music fans, it seems to be close enough.

 

            The album features vocal appearances by Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Pharrell Williams and Kanye West along with production credits from Timbaland, Timberlake, The Neptunes, and Nate "Danja" Hills as well as co-production from Madonna. Wendy Melvoin is guest guitarist on "She's Not Me".

 

 

            My favorite song on the album is "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake. "4 Minutes" has reached number one in twenty-three countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, Italy, Finland, Greece, Switzerland and Norway and the United World Chart. Madonna holds the record for the artist with the most number one hits worldwide.  The beat and production are unmistakably Timberlake, and this one borders on a rocker.

 

            The other great songs on this one are “Candy Shop” and “Give it to me” which will be released as a single in July.  “Candy Shop” in particular proves my point.  It has a dance number sound that reminds you of songs, “Like A Virgin” and “Material Girl,” but if you listen closely to the lyrics and check out the Madonna the sadist bombshell on the cover, (did you know that she is 49 years old, sure couldn’t tell by that cover), you get the feeling that we are discussing dominatrix behaviors, and thus she has somehow managed to maintain her controversial content.  The first time you hear, “Give it to me” it definitely identifies itself right away as a classic Madonna song.  Rhythmic, moving and fun, this one sounds like a perfect dance number; one you will be hearing blaring out of car windows all summer long.  It has that “let’s play it again,” over and over and over quality to it.  I may well be the biggest smash on this CD. 

 

            Overall this album is off the hook.  You cannot listen to the music and sit still and maybe that’s what her fans want from her.  Rolling Stone said it best, “Hard Candy is the work of "a songwriting team of American chart royalty" that help "revisit her roots as an urban-disco queen.”  Watch for her new tour to start around August.  For all you dance fans, the material girl is back, but she’s leaner and meaner; older and wiser.  I think you’re going to like it all the same.  This one is a reminder of the original greatness of a uniquely American artist that had young girls all over the country “Going Madonna.”  This one is a keeper for a hot, summer day.

 

           

 

Music Review:  E=MC²

The Entertainment Critic Music Review By James Myers

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E=MC²

Format: CD

Release Date: 04/15/2008

Label: ISLAND

Catalog No.: 001027202

UPC: 602517507586

Sales Rank: 18

 

Album Credits

Performance Credits 

Mariah Carey:  Primary Artist, Background Vocals

Crystal Johnson:  Background Vocals

 

Technical Credits 

Mariah Carey:  Producer, Executive Producer

Jermaine Dupri:  Producer

Bernie Grundman:  Mastering

Benny Medina:  Management

James Poyser:  Producer

L.A. Reid:  Executive Producer

Manuel Seal Jr.  Producer

Scott Storch:  Producer

Damian "Junior Gong" Marley:  Guest Appearance

Kuk Harrell:  Engineer

Michael Richardson:  Management

Chris "Tricky" Stewart:  Producer

Doug Joswick:  Package Production

Brian Garten:  Engineer

Swizz Beatz:  Producer

John Horesco IV:  Engineer

Bryan-Michael Cox:  Producer

Tor Erik Hermanson:  Instrumentation

Mark Sudack:  Executive Producer, Management

Kelly "Becky 4 Real" Sheehan:  Engineer

Carol Corless:  Package Production

Derrick Selby:  Engineer

Mikkel S. Eriksen:  Engineer, Instrumentation

B.M.C.  Instrumentation

James "Scrappy" Stassen:  Engineer

Nick Banns:  Engineer

Bishop Clarence Keaton:  Guest Appearance

Gina Rainville:  Management

Melissa Ruderman:  Management

 

 

E=MC² Tracks

 

1 Migrate / T-Pain 4:17

2 Touch My Body 3:24

3 Cruise Control / Damian "Junior Gong" Marley 3:32

4 I Stay in Love 3:32

5 Side Effects / Young Jeezy 4:22

6 I'm That Chick 3:31

7 Love Story 3:56

8 I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time 3:01

9 Last Kiss 3:36

10 Thanx 4 Nothin' 3:05

11 O.O.C. 3:26

12 For the Record 3:26

13 Bye Bye 4:26

14 I Wish You Well 4:35

 

 

E=MC² DEBUTED AT NUMBER ONE ON THE BILLBOARD 200 WITH 463,000 COPIES SOLD, MAKING IT THE BIGGEST OPENING WEEK SALES OF HER CAREER. WITH SIX NUMBER ONE ALBUMS, CAREY IS NOW TIED WITH JANET JACKSON IN THE U.S. FOR THE THIRD MOST NUMBER ONE ALBUMS FOR A FEMALE ARTIST, BEHIND MADONNA WITH SEVEN AND BARBRA STREISAND'S EIGHT CHART TOPPERS. IN ITS SECOND WEEK, THE ALBUM TOPPED THE CHART AGAIN WITH 182,000 COPIES SOLD. E=MC² IS CAREY'S FIRST ALBUM TO SPEND TWO STRAIGHT WEEKS AT #1 SINCE 1995'S DAYDREAM.  THE ALBUM HAS SOLD 827,000 COPIES TO DATE.

ON THE UK ALBUM CHART, IT DEBUTED AT NUMBER THREE, SELLING 34,800 COPIES. THIS WAS HER HIGHEST PEAK POSITION IN THE UK SINCE BUTTERFLY, WHICH PEAKED AT NUMBER TWO. IT DEBUTED AT THE TOP ON THE UNITED WORLD CHART WITH 617,000 COPIES SOLD AND HELD THE TOP POSITION FOR ANOTHER WEEK, SELLING 1,075,000 UNITS TO DATE.^[ IN THE PHILIPPINES, THE ALBUM REACHED GOLD STATUS SELLING OVER 15,000 COPIES IN JUST EIGHT DAYS.

ON APRIL 15, 2008, THE SAME DAY THE ALBUM WAS RELEASED, MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA PROCLAIMED APRIL 15 OFFICIALLY AS "MARIAH CAREY DAY" IN LOS ANGELES. IT WAS IN PART OF CELEBRATING CAREY'S EIGHTEENTH NUMBER ONE SINGLE, "TOUCH MY BODY".  ALSO, ON APRIL 25, 2008 THROUGH APRIL 27, 2008; THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING WAS LIT UP IN CAREY'S MOTIF COLORS — LAVENDER, PINK, AND WHITE — IN CELEBRATION OF HER ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE WORLD OF MUSIC. CAREY IS THE FIRST PERSON IN HISTORY TO BE HONORED IN THIS EVENT.

 

 

 

           

            The issue with Mariah Carey has been and always will be the same; is she a great pop artist and singer, or is she a diva with too much pretense and French pastry in her music to be taken seriously?  All too frequently in the past, the gifted singer with the 8 octave range has taken us on a joyride, a “need to decorate every damn song with more octaves than Maria Callas,” and very little emotion or substance.  Her last album, The Emancipation of Mimi was a near perfect album that featured more of her emotional rather than her vocal range.  E=MC²  is a better album, if that is possible, where we see a free and easy Mariah, that has produced a pop album, that is, "equal parts levity and gravity.”  If Mimi was her coming out party, than E=MC² is her coming home party; an artist that is in control and is totally comfortable in her skin.  To be blunt, this is one of the year’s best.

 

E=MC² is the eleventh studio album by American pop and R&B singer Mariah Carey. The album was released on April 15, 2008 in the United States.  The album name means "(E) Emancipation (=) equals (MC) Mariah Carey (²) to the second power". It is a play on Einstein's famous mass–energy equivalence formula and is the sequel to her 2005 album, The Emancipation of Mimi. 

 

            The album's music appeals to a lot of genres such as Pop, R&B and Hip hop, but some of her songs also include Gospel and Reggae beats. She experiments for the first time with reggae tones on "Cruise Control" and also uses a Jamaican patois during the second verse. On "Side Effects" she speaks about her marriage to Tommy Mottola describing it as a "private hell", the "emotional abuse" she saw during this time and the side effects from which she still suffers. MTV's author Jennifer Vineyard said it's "like a rock power ballad" and compared the music style to that of Bonnie Tyler and Pat Benatar. Two songs from the album sample melodies of other songs: one of them is the Seventies-soul-recalling "I'm That Chick" which samples Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall". The other song is "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time," which samples DeBarge's "Stay with Me" and recalls the melodic riff of the "Hill Street Blues" theme music.  Her second single "Bye Bye" is about the loss of her father, Alfred Roy, who died of cancer in 2002, and his absence during her childhood. Although the lyrics of the song mostly seems to be personal, she tries to keep the topic universal, so that everybody "who just lost somebody" can refer to it. The closing track "I Wish You Well" is a piano ballad kept simple with gospel influences. In the song she quotes some parts from the Bible.

 

            Her music has this floating, ethereal quality to it.  It is a soothing experience that makes you feel rested, peaceful.  A fluttering warbler, this music soars.  It is a quiet, reflective, emotional experience that leaves you wanting more.  Mariah dresses like a diva, but she sings like an angel; a gift that reminiscent of some of the best female singers of all time.  A girls girl, her personality and warmth is reflected in ever single song.  Guaranteed to make you imagination drift, this one is like a warm summer breeze.  One of a kind, dreamy and romantic, Mariah the singer has finally emerged. 

           

 

 

Hold Tight

 

THE ENTERTAINMENT CRITIC BOOK REVIEW, BY JAMES MYERS

www.theentertainmentcritic.com

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HOLD TIGHT

By Harlan Coben

Published by: Dutton, a Division of The Penguin Group (USA)

Publication Date:  April, 2008

Price: $26.95

416 Pages

ISBN-13: 9780525950608

Five Star Rating *****

 

HARLAN COBEN (BORN JANUARY 4, 1962) IS A JEWISH AMERICAN AUTHOR OF MYSTERY NOVELS. THE PLOTS OF HIS NOVELS OFTEN INVOLVE THE RESURFACING OF UNRESOLVED OR MISINTERPRETED EVENTS IN THE PAST (SUCH AS MURDERS, FATAL ACCIDENTS, ETC.) AND OFTEN HAVE MULTIPLE PLOT TWISTS. BOTH SERIES OF COBEN'S BOOKS ARE SET IN AND AROUND NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY, AND SOME OF THE SUPPORTING CHARACTERS IN TWO SERIES OF NOVELS HAVE APPEARED IN BOTH. HIS NOVELS ARE MOST POPULAR IN THE UNITED STATES AND FRANCE

 

LAST 7 NOVELS HAVE APPEARED AT THE TOP OF ALL MAJOR BEST SELLER LISTS, INCLUDING THE NEW YORK TIMES, BOOK SENSE, THE TIMES (LONDON) LE MONDE, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY,  USA TODAY, & THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

THE WOODS WAS ON THE BEST SELLERS LISTS ACROSS AMERICA AND ALONG WITH PROMISE ME WAS NAMED ONE OF THE BEST THRILLERS OF THE YEAR BY LIBRARY JOURNAL

 

HIS BOOKS HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED IN 38 LANGUAGES AND OVER 40 MILLION COPIES HAVE BEEN SOLD WORLDWIDE

 

HOLD TIGHT PUBLISHED IN THE US ON APRIL 15, 2008 QUICKLY ASCENDED TO THE TOP OF THE NY TIMES BEST SELLER LIST THE WEEK OF MAY 1-8, 2008

 

AWARDS: 2001-TELL NO ONE:  NOMINATED FOR EDGAR, ANTHONY, MACAVITY, NERO, BARRY, AUDIE, # 1 HARDCOVER ON BOOK SENSE 76 LIST, MOST DECORATED THRILLER OF 2001

 

2003-NO SECOND CHANCE FIRST EVER INTERNATIONAL BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR BOOKSPAN

 

SINCE 1995:  WON AN EDGAR, SHAMUS, AND ANTHONY ---FIRST WRITER TO WIN ALL 3

 

ON THE SHORTLIST FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS AUTHOR OF THE YEAR (OSCAR OF THE BOOK TRADE).  THE 1ST AMERICAN TO MAKE THE LIST

 

FILMS:  TELL NO ONE RELEASED AS A FILM IN FRANCE IN 2006, GROSSED OVER $32 MILLION; TO BE RELEASED IN US IN THE SUMMER OF 2008; VARIETY CALLS THE FILM, “A SHARP, EFFICIENT PACKAGE.”

 

TELEVISION:  FOX TV HAS PURCHASED THE RIGHTS TO THE POPULAR MYRON BOLITAR SERIES FOR A PILOT BY BONES

 

 

 

 “The van was white with tinted windows.  The back doors were open like a mouth waiting to swallow her whole.  And standing there, right by those doors, now taking hold of Marianne and pushing her up inside the van, was the man with the bushy mustache. 

 

Marianne tried to pull up, but it was no use.

 

Mustache tossed her in as if she was a sack of peat moss.  She landed on the van’s floor with a thud.  He crawled in, closed the back doors, and stood over her.  Marianne rolled into a fetal position.  Her stomach still ached, but fear was taking over now.

 

The man peeled off his mustache and smiled at her.  The van started moving.  Straw Hair must be driving.

 

“Hi Marianne,” he said. 

 

She couldn’t move, couldn’t breath.  He sat next to her, pulled his fist back, and punched her hard in the stomach.

 

If the pain had been bad before, it went to another dimension now.

 

“Where’s the tape?  he asked.

 

And then he began to hurt her for real.”

 

            “HOW MUCH SHOULD PARENTS REALLY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THEIR KIDS?”---Dutton Publishing

 

 

            One of the greatest thriller writers in history is back with a provocative new novel, Hold Tight.  Harlan Coben weaves of tale that combines intrigue and technology in this incredible page turner.  Seemingly divergent plots weave a tale of sex and death in the best edge of your seat story of 2008.  Coben has a knack for taking the mundane occurrences in life and turning them upside down into scary thrillers that are among the most compulsive page turners in writing history. He singled handedly has invented what has been referred to as “the family thriller.”  The family thriller involves tingling situations where ordinary people are forced to confront modern day fears when they are placed in situations that rapidly become beyond their control. You always have that, “but for the grace of God, there go I,” feeling when you read Coben’s books.  His newest effort, Hold Tight is just such a book.  Coben boldly expands on the family thriller in this joyride of a book.

 

 Hold Tight asks the simple questions:  what would you do to keep your kids safe?  Are you willing to spy on your kids to keep them for harm?  How far is too far?  How far is not far enough?  Are the