1. Details about the U.S. remake of the Britcom “Absolutely Fabulous” are leaking out, and it looks like loyal fans of the show will be well-pleased. After a huge false start – Roseanne Barr once owned the rights to “Ab Fab,” quelle horror – shooting has begun with Kristen Johnston in the Joanna Lumley role (Patsy) and Kathryn Hahn in the Jennifer Saunders (Edina) role. The exploits of the booze-guzzling shopaholics will be quite as they were in the original. The show shifts its set to Los Angeles, but the overaccessorized get ups, Herculean efforts to avoid anything resembling work and age-inappropriate behavior will remain the same. UPDATE, 5/14/09: Looks like US Ab Fab is dead.
This story says the same thing but takes the opposite tack – that it’ll suck because it’s a lazy carbon copy. With an original so loved, there’s bound to be haters. It will be like “Sex and the City,” defying the laws of mathematics – moneymaking and popular, yet no one will admit to watching it regularly.
The magic of the British show came from the comedy team of Saunders and Lumley, something unlikely to strike twice, but Saunders is an executive producer of the American version, and it will be overseen by “Arrested Development” creator Mitch Hurwitz. So maybe it won’t suck too hard.
2. “Sex Degrees of Madonna” (or do you prefer “Madonna, You Ignorant Slut”?): MTV Brazil is using the sex lives of Madonna and Mick Jagger and a whole constellation of rock stars and actors to teach the safe-sex lesson. With this semen flow chart the network is hoping to scare youngsters out of unknowingly sleeping with whoever your lover’s lover’s lover slept with.
I never hear any studies showing how these PSAs cut down on infection rates (and do not get me started about the condom’s inefficacy as birth control, and God help those who end up staring at a pee stick with two lines wondering what could have possibly gone wrong) but it’s an interesting trip back through celebrity history. What were you doing when Madonna and Warren Beatty were an item? My hair was big, the waists of my pants were high and I wore a red blazer from Ann Taylor with jeans and Doc Martens everywhere.
I don’t know what I’m more keen on saving my daughter from – dubious sex education or tragic fashion judgments.
3. Dear Heaven, no. “Heathers: The Musical”? Already well under way. The guy writing the lyrics and the book is besotted with the “I love my dead gay son” line. Who isn’t? Doesn’t mean you need to write whole songs about it, does it?
Hey, the Heathers all wore blazers daily, too. With ankle socks and flats – I forgot about those. I wonder if soccer moms nostalgic about the movie will come dressed that way when the touring production of the musical hits their metropolitan area?
4. In a wordy think piece in the Atlantic, Hanna Rosin contemplates how breast feeding became so exulted in mom circles and how reviled was her announcement that she’d probably stop a month after her third child was born. Rosin argues that most of the health and bonding benefits of breast feeding might be exaggerated. That I can see.
Exaggerated in an attempt to keep women down? Maybe a little feminist conspiracy-mongering, but what about the facts? What if ALL the studies were available for the layperson to read online and it turns out that it’s not so black and white, that breast milk is good but not significantly better than formula? Forget the jockeying for best-mom-ever award, because women will turn their attention to some other realm of child-rearing and compete for superiority there; what about the babies? Are we ever likely to know what is truly best for children because of the competing voices of doctors and mothers and parenting experts asserting their conflicting agendas? What a mess to have to wade through on one’s own.
And while Rosin was damned if she didn’t, Salma Hayek was damned because she did. I don’t get the fuss. It’s not like she was at the playground with a friend and that friend needed to move out of earshot because she needed to scream at her husband on her cell phone (just an example), so she asked Salma to keep an eye on her 12-month-old, saying she’d be right back but if little Plum/Poppy/Peony/Fuschia* got hungry to give her one of the bottles filled with expressed milk sitting in a little portable cooler, and Salma instead jumped on the chance to put her boob in someone else’s child’s mouth. I have a few words for you: Africa and starving baby. Are you telling me you wouldn’t?
5. The boob Nazis aren’t the only ones insisting what’s good for you; what about oenophiles forever going on and on about the powers of red wine? Mike Steinberger explores Americans’ obsession with the health claims of red wine on Slate. Though in this case, the benefits of resveratrol are much easier to determine. Chalk up our chatter about red wine to our constant search for a magic health pill.
6. Why has no one said this before? “American Idol,” throw open that closet door. I don’t watch the show, but even I can tell it’s about as uncomfortable and in denial as “before” episodes of “Ellen.” Allowing contestants to post photos of them kissing men in drag probably will kill the show’s family-friendly image, but will that kill the show entirely? I don’t think anyone was surprised when Clay Aiken made his big announcement. Don’t you think people would watch anyway?
7. One frozen early March not long ago, C and I drove from one McDonald’s after another in search of a frosty, minty Shamrock Shake. It began with shared recollections about them from our childhoods and ended in bitter, bitter disappointment when we couldn’t find a McD’s with it on its menu. WTF? Aren’t some things sacred? Good luck finding an Arctic Orange shake either.
The person who came up with this site, shamrockshake.com, had the right idea, but man, that thing’s a mess. Maybe some alphabetical organization would help. I think Tink and I will go on our own search for one after school today.
* Yes, these are names I would consider naming a baby girl. Precisely why Mother Nature has taken away my ability to reproduce. And yes, the daughter that I have managed to make my own has a noun for a name. Consider it a favor to all you snarky moms out there. You’re welcome.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Liz A. 03.13.09 at 4:15 pm
I have no clue what either one of those shakes are specifically, but if you’re anywhere near Athens or Atl, GA, The Varsity has a Frosty textured drink like a Dreamsicle, but better.
I hope this Ab Fab is better than the American version of Coupling.
If your kid is healthy, then what/how you feed him/her is your business. The holier than thou attitude has gotten a tad ridiculous. You live your life, I’ll live mine.
If I ever have a girl, I want to use the name Ansley, but it was vetoed.
Liz A.’s last blog post..I’m never going to Europe.
eliz 03.13.09 at 4:19 pm
@Liz A. – I actually live not too far from Atlanta and have been to the Varsity, but I haven’t had the Dreamsicle-like thing. I have had their fried pies, however. Damn, that’s good eating.
suburbancorrespondent 03.14.09 at 12:28 am
I’m not for telling anyone whether or not to nurse, or for how long; people often have complicated reasons for their choices on this issue. But to listen to someone question whether human breastmilk or cow-milk-based formula is better tailored to a growing baby’s needs? That’s sort of stupid, isn’t it? It may be that in our civilization of safe water, plentiful food supply, and ample antibiotics that manmade formula is good enough for our babies; and mothers who cannot produce enough milk (among them one of my best friends), or adoptive mothers, have every right to be thankful for that fact. But for most women in the world, breastmilk is a safer (and cheaper) option for their baby’s survival. This, as far as I know, is undisputed scientific fact. It sounds as if Ms. Rosin is simply baiting her affluent, hyper-environmentally-conscious peers with her disingenuous statements.
On the other hand, the near-worship of breastmilk in this country almost ignores the importance of motherly closeness to the infant. Is pumping at the office really as good as being able to have onsite daycare, so that you could actually feed your own baby during the day? This question and others were brought up in an insightful (rather than purposely provocative) article in a recent New Yorker. Here’s the link:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/01/19/090119fa_fact_lepore
I think this article sensitively explores some of the issues in an intelligent fashion.
suburbancorrespondent’s last blog post..Sleepless in Wherever
eliz 03.14.09 at 11:02 am
@SC – I agree; Rosin’s deliberately provocative. She does concede that bf’ing is better, but she wants to be told qualitatively just *how* much better. As in, is it worth my inconvenience to keep nursing? And I think if that’s her attitude, she should just settle in for some judgments and raised eyebrows.
I do think women are subjected to some fear-mongering to bf longer. Or, at the very least, some inflated advertising (”children breastfed X number of months are smarter, stronger, healthier!”), but Rosin’s take that it’s a tool of the patriarchy to keep us down is so throwback. Just say your job makes it too troublesome. Or, hey!, even more novel, don’t say anything.
I found the serendipity of her complaining about her decision to stop bf’ing and the hubbub over Salma Hayek telling. Badly formed opinions being bandied about when what women need is objective medical information. I mean, hell, the scientists studying red wine do a better job of it.
Charlotte 03.15.09 at 2:00 am
Everything you wrote about here is why I love your blog!
Saunders being involved with the new Ab-Fab is the only thing that would make me want to watch it. The idea of a remake scares me. I’m not so sure that because redoing The Office in the U.S. makes it a good idea to try it with other shows. British humor is a specialized thing and most Americans don’t “get it.” FYI, my cat’s name is Saffie – named after Saffy. I figuerd myself as irresponsible as Patsy at the time I got the cat and thought it was a good analogy!
Breastfeeding. Man, don’t get me started. I have NEVER wanted to breastfeed, and because I was honest about this throughout my pregnancy the breastfeeding “police” were all over me. I did pump for 2.5 months (while HOME, he never latched), but when I quit, I’m telling you, people were shaking their heads at me. They can bite my a*s.
Charlotte’s last blog post..They Deserve Each Other
eliz 03.15.09 at 5:08 pm
@Charlotte – You’re a brave woman for admitting that! I was relieved not to have to make all the bf decisions: how long to bf, how long to pump, which pump, how I’d handle it at work, etc. Of course, if I had given birth to her, I’d have made a good effort, but not being able to bf her isn’t one of the things I mourn.
I was Saffy one Halloween. Easy costume – bad hair, glasses, frumpy skirt and cardigan. The funny part was, everyone knew who I was instantly.