Spot-On: Hot Spots

Maybe because Jonathan Demme's getting good notices on his movie about the rebuilding, maybe because hurricane season starts tomorrow, June 1, or maybe because this year's Jazz Festival felt a little quieter than normal. Whatever the reason, we've got New Orleans on the brain.

Today's HotSpot offers a way for anyone to help the Crescent City rebuild. FriendsofNewOrleans asks for a modest $10 donation to assist in efforts to rebuild southern Louisiana, physically and economically. This August, two years will have passed since the city was flooded. That's really too soon to forget.

Posted by Chris Nolan at 11:43 AM | Permalink

Too young to have seen The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, and too much of a philistine to have experienced his Tony-winning work on stage, my most vivid memories of actor and director Charles Nelson Reilly come from his ubiquitous presence on Match Game as well as the hilariously sinister Horatio J. HooDoo, a Saturday morning regular in the Sid & Marty Krofft creation Lidsville. (Any Reilly obit lacking a mention of Lidsville should be immediately dismissed, unlike this fitting tribute by Danny Miller at the Huffington Post.)

Reilly was a truly talented, multi-faceted entertainer - the sort lacking in Hollywood today. He lived a long life and, happily, much of it was captured on film. He died on May 25 at the age of 76 and in his honor, today's HotSpot is the site for his life’s documentary, The Life of Reilly.

The show, as they say, goes on.

Posted by Mike Spinney at 12:00 PM | Permalink

Have a look at some of the historic photos taken of the San Francisco Bay as the Golden Gate Bridge - which marked its 70th year in business yesterday - went up.

These pics available at the San Francisco Chornicle's site are from 1935-1937, the height of the Great Depression, four years before the U.S. officially entered World War II. Looking at them, you can see a very different time, not just for San Francisco, but for the U.S. Public works projects like this - as any New Yorker or New Orleans resident can tell you - don't get built anymore.

A look back: It's today's HotSpot.

Posted by Chris Nolan at 9:45 AM | Permalink

Never let it be said that Spot-on knows when to leave well-enough alone. Not us.

Nah, this Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign to help pick her campaign theme song got us - okay, it got P.J. Rodriguez and Chris Nolan - thinking about more appropriate Clinton campaign themes. Who needs U2 when you've got David Bowie?

So we burned an iMix. Here it is. Enjoy.

Posted by Chris Nolan at 1:50 PM | Permalink

To keep the fuddy-duddy Baby Boomer stuff that made her husband's campaigns so tedious out of this year's race, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is throwing open the doors of the Internet and asking for help picking her a campaign song. Hopefully this means we'll avoid all those lame Fleetwood Mac tunes.

She's being funny about it, too. Selections range from U2's City of Blinding Light to Jesus Jones' Right Here, Right Now with some SmashMouth and, believe it or not, The Temptations, thrown in.

Spot-on has not formed an opinion on what HRC's anthem should be. We're tempted to nominate the Lyle Lovett version of Stand By Your Man. But it's your call and it's today's HotSpot.

Posted by Chris Nolan at 1:01 PM | Permalink

It's not too much of a reach to think of RSS - the excerpts that sites like ours broadcast on to the web - as the modern day telegraph.

Jake von Slatt over at the Steampunk Workshop takes it to the next level. He's built a telegraph sounder - that's the clicky thing - that provides RSS feeds in Morse code. It may not be functional but it's sure pretty.

Von Slatt's work - he's got a computer keyboard made for us newsroom nostalgics - is both beautiful and thought-provoking so Steampunk Workshop is today's HotSpot.

Posted by Chris Nolan at 1:36 PM | Permalink

From the moment he says, "I think it's a rip-off," you're going to like AP reporter Stephanie Hoo's 73-year-old Dad.

Hoo - clearly her father's daughter - decided to compare, contrast - and tape - a "life coach" and her Dad's take on various life dilemmas.

It's Monday. We have a whole week ahead of us. A little common sense advice can't hurt. So watch "Life Coach v. Dad." It's today's HotSpot.

Posted by Chris Nolan at 1:41 PM | Permalink

The Zimmers' cover of The Who's "My Generation" - is getting some serious attention in the U.K. As it should. Rock'n'roll has always been political.

Of course, it's a safe bet that Keith Townsend and company - less, of course, drummer Keith Moon who really did die before he got old - never thought their songs would be sung by folks who actually use zimmers - that's what Brits call "walkers".

That's right. Seniors singing The Who. We can't wait the Zimmers cover "Hard Day's Night".

The Zimmers in all their glory: It's your weekend HotSpot. Rock on.

Posted by Chris Nolan at 1:00 PM | Permalink

His apology for anti-Barry Bonds comments on local sports radio station WEEI notwithstanding, if you are a fan of baseball and opinion, Curt Schilling's official blog page, 38 Pitches, is worth a look.

The Red Sox ace pitcher's posts are usually articulate, pointed, and offer an interesting glimpse at professional baseball from an insider's point of view. He's not shy about offering his view on baseball matters -- and an occasional thought on political issues as well -- and the site's fans respond in kind (and often un-kind).

Posted by Mike Spinney at 3:55 PM | Permalink

That took long enough.

Spot-on's been searching the Internets for almost 24 hours, looking, longing, waiting for someone - a sensible person with time on their hands - to create the SEND PARIS HILTON TO JAIL petition.

Our prayers - and yours - are answered. Go here. Go Now. And sign to help rid the world of that silly anorexic idiot for at least a few days (she won't serve the full 45....sigh).

As compensation, we may leave this JailHer HotSpot up for more than a day. Just because we can.

Posted by Chris Nolan at 1:43 PM | Permalink

Anyone who can get thousands of Mexicans to take off their clothes in the name of "art" is our kind of guy.

We'd like to point you to Spencer Tunick's website but, well, it's down on account of demand.

But his gallery - the folks who sell the "work" created by those seas of pink flesh - is up and running. So you can see the results of what comes from thousands of Mexicans (as well as Germans, Belgians and Venezuelans) taking off their clothes.

Interested in becoming a work of art - and really, who isn't? Go here and sign up for Tunick's next show.

Posted by Chris Nolan at 1:18 PM | Permalink

The Brothers Anuff, Joey and Ed, are at it again, buffing their status as Internet legends.

You HotSpot fans already know Ed's work. He's the guy who brings you (and us!) WidgetBox.

Today's HotSpot highlights Joey's contribution: A very cool music site called CriticalMetrics. Go, listen, see what Joey and his gang think you outta be hearing.

Posted by Chris Nolan at 11:56 AM | Permalink

The Greening of Hollywood - and we don't mean cash - has more plenty of people rolling their eyes. With good reason. Celeb culture - in an of itself - is wasteful, profligate and well, not exactly productive but there it is - in all it's glory - on the cover of various "green" magazine issues this month.

So it's a good time to point you to TMZ.com's look at planes, trains and automobiles. How can you be green when you regularly fire up a G-IV to jet to your next gig or vacation rest-stop? It's a question that all wealthy folks, including some of our good friends in Silicon Valley might think about as well.

Posted by Chris Nolan at 10:01 AM | Permalink