Chrome

Chrysler defends Lingerie Bowl, calls it legitimate athletic contest By MARY CONNELLY | Automotive News DETROIT -- Scrambling to avoid being tackled for a big marketing loss, the coaching staff at the Chrysler group is changing its game plan. Chrysler executives insist that the 2004 Lingerie Bowl is a legitimate athletic contest, not a soft-core ballet of scantily clad beauties trying to knock each other out of their halter tops. "They have been training two times a week for the past several months," Julie Roehm, the Chrysler group's director of marketing communications, says of the contestants. "They've got real coaches." Dodge is the sponsor of the Lingerie Bowl, in which models will play tackle football on pay-per-view cable TV during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl on Feb. 1. In video clips on the event's Web site, the players suggest that "clothes are going to be flying" during the game, and that "the worry is losing our tops." But Dodge's sponsorship - which comes soon after a Dodge ad campaign called sexually suggestive and in poor taste - has been criticized. Last week, the Family Research Council, a conservative lobbying group, began protesting the event. Dodge and Horizon Productions Inc., the Lingerie Bowl's producer, are working hard to tone down the game's racy image. The players "were chosen based on athletic ability, although they obviously were already beautiful people," Roehm said last week. "What (Horizon) presented to us is that it is an opportunity to show that women can play the game and learn the game." The game may be frivolous, but the marketing implications are not. The Lingerie Bowl will be played just weeks before the Chrysler group begins selling updated versions of the Dodge Caravan and Grand Caravan, minivans aimed squarely at soccer moms and the family-values crowd. The growing controversy over the Lingerie Bowl underscores the challenge facing Dodge marketers. They are trying to reach both minivan moms and men who desire Hemi-powered Durango and Ram trucks. Rebecca Harris, a Horizon spokeswoman, says that Horizon and Dodge have had "a lot of conversations about how we can market this so that all aspects of the event can be highlighted, including the athletic aspect." "The girls have been studying playbooks since the summer and have been practicing twice a week," Harris says. The players will wear "sports bra-type tops with lace over them and short shorts with lace over them as well," Harris says. "They will be wearing helmets, shoulder pads and kneepads." The game uniforms have not been revised, Harris says. But in announcing the Lingerie Bowl in June the two teams were identified by pink or blue lace-trimmed lingerie, and the players' statements on video clips suggest the models anticipated wearing garments that are easily torn. "Those were for an initial photo shoot," Harris says of the outfits. Dieter Zetsche, Chrysler group CEO, and Joe Eberhardt, the company's marketing chief, were caught off guard when Dodge signed to sponsor the Lingerie Bowl. "It is not about refusing responsibility. I am responsible," said Zetsche at a press event Monday, Dec. 8. "But neither myself nor Joe (Eberhardt) were involved." Roehm says she is responsible for the Dodge Lingerie Bowl sponsorship. Roehm says she presented the Lingerie Bowl to George Murphy, senior vice president of global brand marketing, the way the event was presented by Horizon Productions. Asked who signed off on the event, Roehm says, "I did. I also reviewed it with George." Proceeds from the event will benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Genevieve Wood, spokeswoman for the Family Research Council, says, "Chrysler is selling sex, which is behavior that causes the majority of HIV and AIDS cases in America. Then they are trying to hide behind that by donating the money to an AIDS foundation."

THANKS!!!! That's a "thumbs up" for each CD I just ordered: Point of Departure Idle Moments Out to Lunch Wizard of the Vibes

Thanks!

Sony, Bertelsmann Sign Music Merger Deal Fri December 12, 2003 09:53 AM ET By Boris Groendahl BERLIN (Reuters) - German media company Bertelsmann and entertainment conglomerate Sony of Japan have agreed on a merger of their music units in the latest move to consolidate an industry grappling with a four-year crisis. The 50-50 joint venture, Sony BMG, would be the world's second-largest record label, combining the recorded music units of Bertelsmann's BMG and Sony Music, but excluding music publishing and CD production. "The foundation of a joint music venture with Sony is a clear proof of our commitment to the music business," said Bertelsmann Chief Executive Gunter Thielen in a statement. "The music business remains a core business for us." The creation of the joint venture, based in New York, should help cut costs as the industry grapples with weak retail sales, online file-sharing and fierce competition with other forms of entertainment. Sony BMG would combine the world's second-largest label Sony, which includes such artists as Beyonce Knowles and Bruce Springsteen, with the No. 5 contender, Bertelsmann's BMG, which is home to Britney Spears and Elvis Presley. The new label would rival market leader Universal Music's 25.9 percent share of global music sales, with a share of 25.2 percent based on 2002 sales. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't know much about Sony Music ... do they own any significant jazz labels? I'm wondering if this will add to what the BMG Jazz Club offers in any way.

Dave Holland Big Band: I've been leery for some reason about checking out modern big band music, but I saw "What goes around" @ Borders Outlet for $6.99 and picked it up yesterday ... and haven't stopped listening to it since then. Very nice stuff.

Diana Krall marries Elvis Costello Thursday, December 11, 2003 Posted: 1:23 PM EST (1823 GMT) TORONTO, Ontario (AP) -- Jazz singer Diana Krall has tied the knot with her beau of one year, Elvis Costello, in a wedding near London, Costello's public relations firm confirmed on Wednesday. The couple married Saturday night in a ceremony at Elton John's mansion in Surrey, England, Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported. "The wedding was a private event with close friends and family in attendance," Shore Fire Media, Costello's public relations firm, said in a statement. About 150 guests, including Paul McCartney and Canada's consul general to New York, Pamela Wallin, were sworn to secrecy, the newspaper reported. Krall grew up outside Vancouver, British Columbia. The 39-year-old jazz singer and Costello, 49, live in New York and have a home on Vancouver Island. Krall's management company, Sam Feldman and Associates, did not return a call, and her music label declined comment on the report. The marriage is a first for Krall. Costello's previous two marriages ended in divorce.

... and for all us Detroit Tiger fans, the pizza man has coughed up the money to sign Fernando Vina! I can't believe 1984 was 20 years ago.

CDs and books are my weaknesses, too. For music I'm a strict listener, couldn't care less about collecting per se. For books, I do a little "accidental" collecting. I don't put out big money to buy old first editions or anything like that, but if I find something interesting while I'm haunting the used book sales, I'll pick it up even if I already have a copy. For instance, I recently found a 1st edition of Hemingway's "Across the River and into the Trees" at a library sale and bought it even though I already had a paperback and a different hardcover version. Part of the problem for me is mental I guess. I have a hard time thinking of CDs as something collectable.

Ghost: I'll definitely have to keep an eye for both versions of "Nightmare Alley." I still can picture that page in "City of Glass" that shows an empty space on the wall where a picture of the narrator's family used to be ... heart-wrenching. I've read all of Gaitskill's stuff and love it ... did you see the recent movie "Secretary" based on one of her short stories? I rented it based on the Gaitskill connection but was pretty disappointed. A.M. Homes, who I mentioned in a different post, has a similar kind of vibe.

BruceH: Safe to assume you've read "Dune"? "A Canticle for Leibowitz"? If not, I bet you would like these.

Mary Gaitskill! She's indeed an excellent writer. Regarding Paul Auster, have you ever read the "graphic novel" version of, crap, I can't remember the name of it now. It was one of his books from the "New York" trilogy ... "City of Glass" maybe. Anyway, it was pretty incredible, even if the title escapes.

Another for Daedalus! Regarding Neal Stephenson, he also wrote "Snow Crash," which is well worth checking out if you enjoy William Gibson-type sci-fi. I read a little bit of everything ... my library is even bigger than my CD collection. One of my favorite current authors is A.M. Homes, who writes some pretty far-out stories/books about modern suburban living. There was one about this teenager who begins lusting and starts a "relationship" with one of his sister's Barbie dolls. Not for everyone, but if you like, say, Chuck Palahniuk, you'll probably like Homes, too.

I appreciate the responses ... regarding the costs, I guess I just thought that that would be pretty low, because they wouldn't have to store CDs, just the digital files, which I'm sure they store even if a disc itself is out of print. The artwork stuff I would think would be a lesser problem in this sense: If people had a chance to get some disc they were just dying for, they would be happier getting the music and perhaps low-res art then not being able to have anything at all because it's out of print. It's the music that matters, right? That's why I think that listeners would pay a premium for these kind of CDs that would otherwise go OOP, to help a company still make a profit. Or maybe the art/liner notes are digital files, too, that people could download on their own? I hear what's been said though about how BN fits into some big corporate structure that would prevent innovation, etc. I keep repressing that kind of thing and imagining BN as an independent still! I guess I'm just pretty pissed that I got into jazz so "late" that stuff I want is already out of print.

I'm no tech expert, but once a company has done whatever they do to create a CD, in terms of "digitalizing" the music, don't they just have this data on a computer somewhere? Or on some kind of master disc? Considering how easy it is to burn a CD, I'm surprised the "larger" companies like BN won't just burn discs individually to fill individual orders. I would think they could easily get away with charging a premium high enough to cover the cost of burning but low enough to still get people to buy. After all, people certainly pay premiums now for discs that are OOP.

Street Singer, you must have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more willpower than I do! (Of course, that's not saying much.)

Does anyone have any idea how BMG decides which re-issue jazz CDs to offer in the club? I've been in the situation a number of times where I've picked something up at a "real" store only to see it pop up much cheaper in the club a few months later. For example, I wonder how many of the 2004 RVGs will show up at BMG?

Ah yes, the Lingerie Bowl ... I wonder how that fits into the BCS?

I'm not a fan of stuff that's too far "out," but I've got a pair of Shepp CDs I love. One is called "Trouble in Mind" and it's just him and Horace Parlan doing a bunch of early blues-type stuff (St. James Infirmary, Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, etc.). It's an ideal late-night/early morning chill-out disc, w/both players doing a fantastic job. I also have a disc called "On Green Dolphin Street" w/Shepp, Joe Chambers, Sam Jones and Walter Bishop Jr. Here, Shepp goes just the right distance "outside" for me, and it makes a great complement to the more straight-ahead approach of the others.

... and for those not in the huge nerd club: The second half of the book [Foundation by Isaac Asimov], titled The Mule, is all about the rise of a myserious man called the Mule. He is a man who has the ability to sense and manipulate the emotions of others. He uses this ability take over one of the sovereignties bordering the Foundation, and has them wage a war against the Foundation. While his sovereignty is waging the war, he then travels under the guise as refugee clown with Toran and Bayta Darrell to different worlds of the Foundation, using his abilities to undermine the Foundations' war effort by destroying morale. In the end, the Foundation falls without much of a fight. While still under the guise of refugee clown, he travels with Bayta and Toran, along with psychologist Ebling Mis to Great Library of Trantor. They seek to contact the Second Foundation to help get rid of the Mule. The Mule, on the other hand, wishes to know the location of the Second foundation so he can use the First foundation to destroy it. The Mule surreptitiously stimulates Ebling's mind, allowing him to make powerful insights while using the library as a resource. As Ebling lies dying, the insights having come at the cost of his health, he is just as he is about to reveal the location of the Second foundation when Bayta shoots him. She had shortly before realized the Mule had been traveling with them. She kills Ebling to prevent him from revealing the location. The Mule, defeated, leaves them to go reign over the Foundation. NOTE: I "liberated" this info from a science site somewhere.

Add me to the "huge nerd" team, because I think about the same thing every time I see "The Mule" here. I loved Asimov when I was younger, and I even read some of the later Foundation books done by other authors (not too bad, really). Maybe I'm just stretched too thin now attention-wise, but there aren't a lot of current sci fi writers that pique my interest. A couple of semi-recent books I recommend are "Happy Policeman" and "Brother Termite" by Patricia Anthony. Also, although I might be the only person to consider this science fiction, John Barth's "Giles Goat-boy" is an incredible read. Hey, and anyone ever notice how many jazz lovers, myself included, are (Philip K.) Dick-heads?

Wow! I've never heard of that before, but it sounds pretty amazing. Do you know if this lives up to its AMG review?

The great song writer/bass player Willie Dixon came up on another thread and that got me wondering... considering all the jazzers who play the blues, how come there isn't more crossover among the musicians? Going in both directions? Are there any jazz sets that feature players more well-known for their blues work? I've heard Buddy Guy do "Moanin'" and I'm thinking about that kind of thing. Or the other way, like Jimmy Smith's "Dot Com Blues"? ...and yes, it's a VERY slow day at work.

You know, I considered just "Googling" this, but thought I'd get a better response here ... and I did! Thanks!

Just one of those things I'm curious about ... is it just like a slide but with trumpety kinds of buttons to produce the different notes? Does it sound just like a slide trombone? Are/were there any notable jazz players? Does anyone have a pic of one?

One of us ... one of us ... Has anyone actually seen this movie (Freaks)? It's creeeeeeepy. But I guess that must be pretty obvious from this photo, huh?