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Author Archive for admin

Michael Sigman celebrates his father Carl Sigman’s centennial

– – – Former L.A. Weekly publisher Michael Sigman is celebrating his father Carl Sigman’s centennial by refocusing attention on the late Songwriter’s Hall of Fame inductee’s valuable song catalog. Carl Sigman, who died in 2000, would have been 100 on Sept. 24. He wrote over 800 songs contributing the lyrics, music or both. These […]

‘No’ Hollywood Style

– – – “Oh, he RSVPs ‘yes’ for everything, just in case he decides to go.” — Movie star’s aide, explaining why said star didn’t honor his promise to attend a dinner party. Most “creatives” — what entertainment-industry suits call musicians, writers, actors and other artists (sometimes they’re called “talent,” but sexist moguls also use […]

The Reading of Wonders

– – – The first thing I remember, I was lying in my bed I couldn’t’ve been no more than one or two And I remember there’s a radio, coming from the room next door …Well it’s late in the evening, and the music’s seeping through. — Paul Simon, Late in the Evening The most […]

Control Patrol

– – – “The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.” — Philip K. Dick As part of my executive training, a former boss once shared a chilling image that underpinned his […]

A Number for the Ages

– – – Have skipp’d from sixteen years of age to sixty –William Shakespeare, Cymbeline I just turned 60, and the last thing I want to do is add to the navel-gazing from the hordes of ’49ers celebrating that birthday. On the other hand, the number 60 itself is a trip. I don’t claim the […]

Vanity Affairs

– – – In every affair consider what precedes and what follows… — Epictetus South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford isn’t a man’s man, nor is he a ladies’ man. He’s a very strange man, to be sure. But basically he’s a selfish man. Everyone now knows that Sanford betrayed his wife and kids by conducting […]

‘Civilization’ and its Disc Contents

– – – The best Father’s Day tribute I can think of is to reflect not too seriously on one of my dad’s not-too-serious songs. When he got home from World War II — where he was awarded a Bronze Star I only discovered after his death in 2000 — my father, Carl Sigman, picked […]

Whole Lotta Firing Going On

Posted: June 17, 2009 10:19 AM – – – Getting fired sucks. Doing the firing can get you fired at. Since December 2007, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, seven million Americans have been thrown out of work, mostly for reasons having nothing to do with job performance. It took many thousands of bosses […]

Once Is A Mistake, Twice Is Jazz

Posted: June 9, 2009 12:55 PM – – – When I started working for LA Weekly in the early ’80s, the paper was almost as famous for its mistakes as for its cutting edge film reviews, lefty politics and porn ads. Sometimes the errors were intentional, like when a smart-aleck designer pasted a Hitler mustache […]

The Laughter of Wisdom

– – – The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself. –James Thurber My mom insists her autobiography will be titled I Laugh Alone, but she has always cracked me up. When I was little, a stranger showed up at our door with […]