Everything’s coming up Ethel
November 14, 2007 § Leave a comment
So the other day, I’m watching “Sesame Street” with my kids and Harvey Fierstein comes on. He’s passing out noses to a parade of schnoz-less Muppets, selling the heck out of a slightly altered version of a show tune made famous by Ethel Merman in the Broadway musical “Gypsy.” “Everything’s coming up … noses!” belts Fierstein, punctuating his delivery with the broad arm gestures that were a Merman trademark. “There’s no business like the nose business,” he concludes, “but that’s another story” …
Review: “Ethel’s Turn” (The Barnes & Noble Review)
Racy dolls, little hotties?
April 1, 2007 § Leave a comment
For years, the makers of Barbie caught flack for her sexed-up shape; in real life, her measurements would be about 38-19-33. But now My Scene Barbies and Bratz—more bustalicious and hoochie than those old-school dolls—are being marketed to six-year-olds (since their 2001 debut, 125 million Bratz have been sold). Similarly disconcerting: Several years ago, Abercrombie & Fitch sold preteen-size thongs with messages like Eye Candy and Wink, wink. And last fall, tesco.com came under fire for a new toy offering: a pole-dancing kit (now sold solely as a “fitness” item) …
Happy music for tall, small and all
September 1, 2006 § Leave a comment
I woke up this morning with a tune from singer-songwriter Rebecca Frezza’s new album, “Tall and Small,” stuck in my head. The song, “Happy,” has a swingin’ island beat. The refrain: “I’m happy to be me”—not the worst sentiment to have echoing throughout your day. Frezza’s first two albums, “Music in My Heart” (2002) and “Road Trip” (2003), earned the Noggin regular a flurry of awards, and this latest release may just do the same. Once again, Frezza and her eight-piece band, Big Truck, display an admirable musical range, as do the guest artists who play along on various tracks …
Music review: Rebecca Frezza, “Tall and Small” (Time Out New York Kids)
Is parenthood right for everyone?
May 7, 2003 § Leave a comment
I just got off the phone with a customer service representative at my credit card company. I called to dispute a charge — the hospital where I birthed a baby boy seven weeks ago made a billing mistake — and the next thing I knew I was having an extended conversation about labor and delivery with the stranger on the other end of the line …
Mama Don’t Preach: Thoughts on Respecting Parenthood Decisions (American Baby/MSN.com)
In love and war
September 1, 2002 § Leave a comment
For the better part of the 1990’s, Siobhan Darrow faced CNN’s cameras as war burst and crackled around her — in Russia, Chechnya, Albania, the Balkans, Israel and Northern Ireland. Weaned on conflict, this Belfast-born, New Jersey-raised daughter of an American Jew and an Irish Protestant traveled the world to find the story; sometimes, it found her. ”I seemed to have good luck with breaking news,” she writes in her candid memoir, ”Flirting With Disaster.” ”My mother said that if I were sent to cover a dog show a riot would break out” …
Books in Brief: “Flirting With Disaster” by Siobhan Darrow (The New York Times)
Amy Reiter 