Rocci Fisch

October 18, 2011

I FELL INTO THE GAP, NOW WHAT?

… They're closing 189 of its stores in the U.S. by 2013 but expanding overseas (China, Hong Kong).
… They're struggling with tough competition and sluggish sales, reports the Associated Press.
…If you ask me, it's bad management and stupid ideas.
… THEORY: They got the latest "hot," high-paid designers and let them take over product and marketing campaigns, all the while confusing the consumer as to what merchandise they carried.
… They've been off-track for years now, moving away from their tried and true staples (T-shirts, khakis, accessories) and instead, stocking new, ‘hipper' duds and turning customers away.
… Have you been in a Gap lately? In disarray; shirts falling off the racks; clothes rummaged through and not folded up like they should be; dressing rooms stacked sky-high with clothes that don't fit right.
… They changed their original mission, lost focus.
… Another One Bites the Dust - Queen, on Elektra Records, 1980)
Those popular Occupy Wall Street demonstrations are spreading all over the place, and not just the U.S. Rome was burning with violence over the weekend but other locations (London, Taiwan and Madrid) were peacefule
… Now there's even a Wikipedia entry about it.
… You know you're big when you get that.
Rosie O'Donnell seems to have returned to her Queen of Nice persona for her new talk show (The Rosie Show) on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network. That's the way she started out back in the day on her first talker, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, which ran from 1996 until 2002, and later on The View, before she got all out-spoken and opinionated and alienated everyone.
… JUST ASKING. How long's it gonna last? How long is she gonna suck up to the Queen of All Media?
… Everything's all hunky-dory now but how long will the honeymoon go on?
… And that new Oprah show, Lifeclass, the Biggest Classroom in the World! (touts her website), which is simply a retread of her original Oprah Winfrey Show …How's that gonna play out?
… Part of the reason why the OWN network isn't doing so well and suffering low ratings is the fact that, #1, it's cable and cable doesn't get the big numbers like syndication and the big guy networks do; and #2, Oprah's not on regular TV anymore and it's sort of a matter of "out of sight, out of mind."
Eric Cantor's (R-Va.) hair looked less stacked up on Fox News Sunday this week and more sedate for a Sunday morning public affairs show.
… Usually he has that cock-a-doodle do hair going on when he's working up on Capitol Hill but that day it was neatly combed back.
… The new Fox News Sunday show theme is nice and sounds less harsh and jarring than the long-time used original one. An improvement.
… And have you noticed? This Week With Christiane Amanpour's show theme has changed from pop trumpeter Chris Boti's mood-filled, solo-sounding composition to the more traditional, original theme from when the show was "With David Brinkley." A fuller, more dignified orchestral arrangement.
… A BIG improvement.
… David Axelrod's (Obama's chief campaign advisor) hair - usually disheveled - looked neater and more in place on This Week than it usually does when he's working in the field.
"When you take the 9-9-9 plan (Herman Cain's) and turn it upside down, the devil's in the details," said fellow Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann at Tuesday night's New Hampshire debate.
… That was in reference to the sign of Satan (6-6-6) as stated in the Book of Revelations.
… And which was spookily depicted in the scary movie thriller The Omen (1976) when Gregory Peck (U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain Robert Thorn in the film)creeps into his son Damien's bedroom, searches through the hair on his scalp and discovers the mark of the beast, the sign of the devil engraved thereon.
… So Bachmann insinuated that the devil made him (Cain) do it. Ha Ha Ha.
… And in another reference to Herman Cain's economic tax plan Texas Governor Rick Perry's wife Anita said, "When I hear 9-9-9, I want to call 911" while stumping for hubby in Spartanburg, S.C.
… That was funny to me but she's been caught in other not-so-clever comments about Rick and the campaign and burning bushes.
COOL MOVIE. The Ides of March: Good thriller about idealistic young campaign worker (Ryan Gosling as Stephen Meyers) and his initiation into the real world of politics by working for Mike Morris, the governor of Pennsylania (played by George Clooney). Great all around acting, including Philip Seymour Hoffman as the governor's campaign advisor and Paul Giamatti on his opponent's side; Marisa Tomei as a relentless New York Times reporter hot on the trail of a story; and, of course, an eager intern, played coyly by Evan Rachel Wood (who's great). Jeffrey Wright plays a North Carolina senator that Morris's team tries to cut a deal with.
… The title of the movie derives its title from the Shakespeare play ‘Julius Caesar,' in which the Roman dictator is warned by a soothsayer to "beware the ides of March," the 15^th of the month in which he was assassinated by members of the Roman Senate in 44 B.C.
… In this case it refers to the movie's themes of honor and loyalty and forboding events that are about to happen .
EXCELLENT ALBUM. Glen Campbell's ‘Ghost on the Canvas,' the country pop singer's self-admitted final full album (he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease). In great voice with meaningful songs and stellar guitar playing, it's not maudlin or too sentimental about his condition or oncoming death. It is personal but has a universal appeal
… Producers Julian Raymond and Howard Willing combine Campbell's voice with orchestration and chorus that evoke an emotional appreciation of life, longing and honesty.
… Download it or buy it in its physical form. (Are people still buying CD's?)
Michaele Salahi (remember the White House gate crasher?) got eyelash extensions made of mink (animal cruelty?) and a spray tan in preparation and anticipation of new beau Neal Schon, rock guitarist with Journey, and his upcoming Hollywood Bowl concert.
… She says she has a "glow" because she's so happy and in love.
… Poor Tareq (Salahi). Guess he was dumped.
Diane Sawyer was seen galloping on a horse on an Indian reservation on Friday's World News and 20/20 broadcasts in her A Hidden America: Children of the Plains.
… She really demonstrated her equestrian skills (or was it a stunt double?) and reminded me of Barbara Stanwyck in The Big Valley or something.
… The Sawyer reports were about poverty and neglect at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and featured the children who lived there.
…It was a ratings grabber for the network (ABC).
DISAPOINTED. When I heard Ho, Ho, Ho (which sounds a bit off-key) on TV I expected to see the Jolly Green Giant standing up proudly in his leaf tunic in the "valley"amongst all the vegetables but he didn't make an appearance in the new commercial, darn it.
… I was disappointed.
… "In the valley of the Jolly - ‘Ho, Ho, Ho' - Green Giant."
Johnny Depp looks like he's about 16 on the cover of this month's Vanity Fair magazine, for crissakes. How much Photoshopping did that take?
… Come on, the guy's 48 years old.
BLUNDER. "May we have the "track" please," asked Aretha Franklin,(justifiably) impatient, when she was ready to start singing at the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial on Sunday and the music didn't come up.
… She stood at the podium waiting for it to kick in so she could begin "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," a favorite of Dr. King's.
…Ree Ree (nickname) looked good, had sunglasses on and was dressed nice. … She sang like she was in church, complete with organ accompaniment.
… She wailed at times and toward the end of the song bounced up and down like the spirit was in her.
…Obama at times swayed in his seat.
… When she was finished, she picked up her purse, hugged the president and left the podium.
… She was standing there, flanked by the presidentand Michelle Obama on one side and VP Joe Biden and Dr. (not a medical doctor but a Ph.D. recipient from the University of Delaware) Jill Biden.
… But you could barely see the Queen of Soul because she was blocked by two big microphones. She's not that tall and and was practically hidden.
… Couldn't someone have anticipated that, for crying out loud, and given her a higher platform to stand on or something?
… Stevie Wonder brought some lightness to the ceremony by singing his "Happy Birthday to You," a song he wrote and recorded for Dr. King in 1981 when the Motown star was campaigning to have the civil rights leader's birthday become a national holiday.
… That "track" came up when it was supposed to. And it sounded good with a galloping arrangement and rhythm to it, very upbeat. People in the gathered crowd were happy and grooving.
REQUIREMENT FOR THE JOB? Scarlett Johansson's cell phone was hacked and naked pictures of the actress were leaked.
… Why did she have naked pictures of herself? Were they for an audition for a part in a movie? Seems like risky behavior came back to bite her in the ‘you know what.'
…ADVICE: Play with fire and you're gonna get burned.
Jenna Bush Hager, one of the president's daughters, interviewed rocker Ozzy Osbourne for the Today show last week about his book, ‘Trust Me, I'm Dr. Ozzy,' which is based on letters he has written for his newspaper and magazine columns giving advice about drug abuse, parenting, grief and more.
… I thought she was hired to do feature pieces on education and other important issues facing the country and not chasing rock stars around the planet. She's a far cry from that.
… I guess things have changed in her ‘mission.'
…UH …Mission Bell - Donnie Brooks on Era Records, 1960.

rocci.fisch@gmail.com

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