Alan Waldman :
TELEVISION | ‘The Detectorists’ is a sly, deadpan Britcom with many unexpected laughs

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Thorne Dreyer

Two odd Brit zanies with metal detectors lead a fun cast in this ribald rural romp.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | May 29, 2017

[In his Rag Blog column, Alan Waldman reviews some of his favorite films and TV series that readers may have missed, including TV dramas, mysteries, and comedies from Canada, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Scotland. Most are available on DVD, Netflix and/or Netflix Instant Streaming, and some episodes are on YouTube.]

Mackenzie Crook, who performed in the three Pirates of the Caribbean flicks, Game of Thrones, and the original British version of The Office, wrote and directed all 13 episodes of the droll English sitcom The Detectorists, which won the 2015 BAFTA Best Scripted Comedy award. It also garnered his brilliant co-star Toby Jones a 2016 BAFTA Best Comedy Performer nomination and the 2015 Broadcasting Press Guild Best Actor Award. It’s very funny stuff that sneaks up on you from the side.
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Marilyn Katz :
To impeach or not to impeach? That is not
the question.

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Thorne Dreyer

Like a horrific accident on the highway, Trump now serves as a dangerous distraction.

Donald Trump. Carictature by DonkeyHotey / Creative Commons.

By Marilyn Katz | The Rag Blog | May 29, 1917

CHICAGO — The daily revelations of the entanglement of Trump’s entourage have Republicans squirming and Democrats salivating at the smell of blood in the water. Former boogeymen like the CIA and the FBI have suddenly become heroes to liberals. After years of relative quietude, Russia has emerged once again as the evil empire, as if we were living in the height of the Cold War.

Even progressives have not been immune, with thoughtful In These Times writers like Kate Aronoff and Jeff Alson spending their considerable brain power on weighing the danger, in the case of Alson, and benefit, as Aronoff sees it, of impeachment.

While the speculation is entertaining — and great for the bookmakers in Vegas — for progressives and others who take care about the future of the nation and the world, this almost singular focus on Trump and impeachment is both mistaken and dangerous. Like a horrific accident on the highway that commands everyone’s attention, Trump now serves as a dangerous distraction.
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Ivan Koop Kuper :
METRO | Filmmaker Eagle Pennell’s downward spiral in Houston

Posted on May 25, 2017 by Thorne Dreyer

Texan Pennell, a ‘patron saint of  American independent film,’ became his own worst enemy.

Texas filmmaker Eagle Pennell (1952-2002).

By Ivan Koop Kuper | The Rag Blog | May 25, 2017

HOUSTON — Independent filmmaker Eagle Pennell had become somewhat of a permanent fixture in the bohemian Montrose bar scene after he moved to Houston from Hollywood in 1982. A creature of habit, he could be found parked on a bar stool any given night of the week at any number of the neighborhood watering holes. There, he held court all evening, talking about film and filmmaking to anyone who would listen and buy him drinks.

Not one to be burdened by personal possessions or leases imposed by landlords, Pennell preferred the life of a vagabond filmmaker. The tall, blonde, and charismatic Pennell was always on the lookout for a new benefactor with deep pockets to fund his next movie, or a new girlfriend with an apartment who could provide him with an alternative to the four walls of his rooming house.
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David P. Hamilton :
How Emmanuel Macron won and how
he will govern

Posted on May 23, 2017 by Thorne Dreyer

Macron is a centrist neoliberal who favors unregulated capitalism.

Emmanuel Macron. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

By David P. Hamilton | The Rag Blog | May 23, 2017

PARIS — Emmanuel Macron is a clever guy, as befits his history of being an outstanding student at all the top French schools. He has recognized a central axiom of electoral strategy: that your approach to an electoral campaign depends on the relative vibrancy of your democracy.

If you are in a race that will have a 10% turnout of the eligible voters, you mobilize your base and forget the center, which is insignificant in a race between partisan activists. In that case, the electorate is not a bell curve. Conversely, if you are in an election where 90% of the people are going to vote, the center is indeed the most numerous sector of the electorate and one must moderate positions accordingly.
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The Rag Blog :
METRO EVENT | ‘Celebrating The Rag’ in Houston this Thursday!

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Thorne Dreyer

Editors Thorne Dreyer, Alice Embree, and Richard Croxdale are featured in a booksigning event at H-Town’s storied Brazos Bookstore.

Top, from left: Celebrating The Rag editors Thorne Dreyer, Alice Embree, and Richard Croxdale. Photos by Alan Pogue.

Event: Celebrating The Rag in Houston
What: Booksigning and discussion
Who: Editors of Celebrating The Rag
When: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 7 p.m.
Where: Brazos Bookstore
Address: 2421 Bissonnet St., Houston 77005
Telephone: 713-523-4701

HOUSTON — The editors of the acclaimed book, Celebrating The Rag: Austin’s Iconic Underground Newspaper, will speak, lead a discussion, and sign books at Houston’s storied Brazos Bookstore at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 18.

Brazos Bookstore, a Houston literary hub since 1974, is located at 2421 Bissonnet Street in Houston.

Thorne Dreyer, Alice Embree, and Richard Croxdale edited the book that Kirkus Reviews calls “A raucous, absorbing excursion back to the 1960s and and ’70s.”
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Allen Young :
BOOKS | ‘The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture’ reviews the ‘Rag’ book

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Thorne Dreyer

‘The book is a valuable resource, offering readers an excellent…overview of what the 1960s counter-culture and political movements…were all about.’

The prestigious Sixties journal has reviewed Celebrating The Rag.

By Allen Young | The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture | First published online 17 Apr 2017

This article was first published in The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture, Vol 9, No 2, and was published on The Rag Blog, April 28, 2017.

Celebrating The Rag: Austin’s Iconic Underground Newspaper, edited by Thorne Webb Dreyer, Alice Embree and Richard Croxdale, designed by Carlos Lowry, Austin, TX, Lulu, 2016, 316 pages, US$25.00 (paperback), ISBN-10-1365390543

Here are some of the words and phrases used by veteran radical journalist Thorne Webb Dreyer, to describe the underground press of the 1960s: “raggedy upstart newspapers,” legendary, trailblazer, freaky, raving, irreverent, revolutionary and more (4).

“And one uppity little tabloid way down yonder in Austin, Texas, would be a very influential player in the rich if relatively short-lived odyssey of the underground press,” Dreyer proclaimed in the first chapter of Celebrating the Rag. (4)

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Kerstin Johansson :
METRO EVENT | People’s Climate March at State Capitol on Trump’s 100th Day

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Thorne Dreyer

By Kerstin Johansson | The Rag Blog | April 25, 2017

Event: Austin People’s Climate March & Rally
Dates: Saturday, April 29, 2017, 1-3:30 p.m.
Where: Texas State Capital, 1100 Congress Ave., Austin
Sponsors: Austin People’s Climate Mobilization, 350 Austin, Public Citizen Texas

AUSTIN — I’m part of the group organizing the Austin People’s Climate March and Rally this Saturday, April 29, 1-3:30 p.m., at the Texas State Capitol.

Our climate and health, all of our communities, and the rights of people of color, workers, indigenous people, immigrants, women, LGBTQIA, and young people, are being seriously threatened.  Our fights are all tied together. That’s why we are planning a huge march to bring our demands to our leaders. We demand: slashed greenhouse gases, a clean energy economy, and climate justice.

People of Central Texas will unite to stand up for our communities and our climate. We will rally and march at the the Texas State Capitol from 1-3:30 p.m., Saturday, April 29th.
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Harry Targ :
The neocons, the humanitarian interventionists, and the new Trump

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Thorne Dreyer

His foreign policy combines the worst aspects of the two factions of the foreign policy establishment.

Donald Trump, warrior. Caricature by DonkeyHotey / Wikimedia Commons.

By Harry Targ | The Rag Blog | April 19, 2017

Although most progressives preferred a Hillary Clinton victory in the 2016 election, strong reservations about her candidacy existed because of her historic association with foreign policies promoting the globalization of violence, war, and covert operations in countries which challenged the neoliberal policy agenda.

Candidate Trump made bold statements about avoiding escalation of United States involvement in Syria, staying out of the perpetual tensions on the Korean peninsula, pulling the plug on NATO, and opposing the Trans Pacific Partnership and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Most of all Trump seemed to strike a rational chord with his call for improving relations with Russia.
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Carlos Rumbaut :
VERSE | Republic

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Thorne Dreyer

Public shore marker, San Francisco Bay, Burlingame, California. Photo by Michael C. Berch / Wikimedia Commons.

 

Republic

We are the public.
As in public health and public education.
As in public parks and public transportation.
Public safety, public libraries, public funding for the arts,
public assistance, public discourse,
public outcry and public demonstrations.
We are the public. We are growing stronger.
We are finding our courage and our voice.

There are a thousand paths to the Resistance.
A myriad different ways to say, No Way.
Countless things to do to counter what is brewing.

The best way to resist? To live your values
every day, no matter where you are.
Do that, and you sabotage the system
of one man claiming to have all the plans.
Every chance you get, speak truth to power.
Every time you can, call out their lies.
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Alan Waldman :
TELEVISION | ‘Marcella’ is a twisty 8-part U.K. mystery from a popular Swedish writer

Posted on April 8, 2017 by Thorne Dreyer

Anna Friel is a female detective with memory problems who suspects she may have killed her husband’s lover.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | April 8, 2017

[In his Rag Blog column, Alan Waldman reviews some of his favorite films and TV series that readers may have missed, including TV dramas, mysteries, and comedies from Canada, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Scotland. Most are available on DVD, Netflix and/or Netflix Instant Streaming, and some episodes are on YouTube.]

Marcella is a smart, involving, British eight-parter in which female former investigator Marcella Backland (Anna Friel) is called back to solve a multiple murder that closely resembles one she tackled 11 years ago. She is disturbed to learn that the serial killer’s fourth victim is a woman Marcella’s husband Jason (Nicholas Pinnock) was having a three-year affair with and whom she confronted the night before her death. Only now she can’t remember clearly.
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Glenn Scott :
THEATER | Gregg Barrios’ delightful ‘I-DJ’ was first play to be featured at Texas Book Festival

Posted on March 10, 2017 by Thorne Dreyer

‘I-DJ’ is a head-nodding, toe-tapping dance through Chicano and LGBT history.

By Glenn Scott | The Rag Blog | March 10, 2017

Author, poet, and playwright Gregg Barrios has broken many sound barriers in his life and career, and he broke another one at last November’s Texas Book Festival in Austin.

His new play, I-DJ (Hansen Publishing, 2016), was the first play to be featured at the Texas Book Festival. Barrios was a bit stunned that no other published plays had been on the program at the annual two-day book extravaganza at the Texas State Capitol.

“Why is it so rare to think people read plays?” Barrios wondered. But he hastened to add that he was very honored to have his play in the program.
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Lamar W. Hankins :
The ‘unvarnished truth’ of President Trump

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Thorne Dreyer

Texas Congressman Lamar Smith to constituents: Ignore traditional sources and get your news from President Trump.

Donald nose all. Image from Max Pixel / Public Domain.

By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | February 26, 2017

“Better to get your news directly from the president. In fact, it might be the only way to get the unvarnished truth.” — Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex)

SAN MARCOS, Texas — The words above were spoken on the House floor on January 23, 2017, by Congressman Lamar Smith, whose congressional district extends from Leakey, Fredericksburg, Kerrville, Boerne, and Northwest San Antonio, to New Braunfels, San Marcos, and on into South Austin. Apparently, he believes that his constituents should ignore all traditional sources of news and instead get their news only from President Trump.

One San Antonio journalist, Rick Casey, had the temerity to point out that this was pretty much the way it works in North Korea. His comments were censored, for a time, by the PBS station in San Antonio. The full story should serve as the canary in the coal mine for a free press.
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