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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Plans for tonight: Making magic

- Post-hardcore band Chiodos may be on hiatus, but frontman Craig Owens is bringing his solo tour to the Avalon, 3605 S. State St., South Salt Lake City. Opening acts are Ace Enders, The Color Fred and VersaEmerge. Show starts at 6:30. Tickets are $12, at the door.

- Pixar animator Doug Sweetland, who has worked as an animator or story artist for every Pixar film from "Toy Story" to "Cars," will talk about the challenges directing his first film - the Oscar-nominated short "Presto" (pictured) - at the annual McMurrin Lecture, at 7 at the Dumke Auditorium of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 410 Campus Center Drive on the University of Utah campus. The short will be screened and Scot Stafford, who composed the music for the short, will also speak. Admission is free; refreshments will be served after the lecture.

- The documentary "Renewal: Stories from America's Religious Environmental Movement," about people who find a connection between worshipping God and saving the planet he made, will screen at 7 at the I.J. and Jenne Wagner Jewish Community Center, 2 N. Medical Drive (across from University Hospital) on the U. of U. campus, Salt Lake City. Free.

- Texas rock band Blue October - reportedly a favorite of Twilight author Stephenie Meyer - plays at 8 at The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $27, at the door.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

Final days for the 'Zion Curtain'

It's official - Gov. Jon Huntsman signed the massive revision of Utah's liquor laws on Monday, in a ceremony at the New Yorker restaurant/bar that was notable for a lack of alcohol being served.

As of July 1 - just three months and a day from now - Utah will be not quite so weird when it comes to getting a drink. The byzantine "private club" rules will be abolished (except for clubs that want to keep them), the "Zion Curtain" that separates restaurants from the liquor will come down (although, in the law's idiotic two-steps-forward, one-step-back fashion, new restaurants will have the alcohol preparation will be moved to a hidden room), and anyone who looks under 35 will have their driver's license electronically scanned before entering a bar.

So start the countdown: 92 days until we have (comparative) freedom to drink in Utah!

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws, Jon Huntsman, Utah Legislature

A Cougar calls it a career

Fans of Brigham Young University know Gifford Nielsen as the Cougars' star quarterback in the mid-'70s, leading BYU to the WAC title in '76 and '77 and earning a place in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Nielsen was drafted by the NFL's Houston Oilers, where he played six seasons - first as a back-up to Dan Pastorini and Ken Stabler, then as a starter alongside Archie Manning and Oliver Luck.

For the last 25 years, since leaving the NFL, Nielsen has been sportscaster and sports director at Houston's CBS affiliate KHOU.

Today is Nielsen's his last day at KHOU. He announced his retirement on Monday's newscast, and the station posted a tribute page to "Giff."

Labels: Brigham Young University, sports

My life on Twitter

To columnists, writing about Twitter is kind of like jury duty - we all have to do it once, just to get it over with.

I took up the topic in today's ink-and-paper Salt Lake Tribune, in a Culture Vulture column that detailed the mundane and profound aspects of the Twitterverse - where random navelgazing and nuggets of poetic brilliance can sit side by side.

Meanwhile, the Tribune's colleague Rebecca Walsh also wrote about Twitter, both the pitfalls and promise of the micro-blogging network.

One writer who won't be joining the Twitter world is Roger Ebert, who wrote an eloquent and way-too-long-for-Twitter treatise on the history of communication and where the current technology might take us. Between mentions of early hominids and recounted interviews with the late futurist Arthur C. Clarke, Ebert offers up this bit of wisdom:

I will never become a Twit. I apparently have dozens or hundreds of "friends" on FaceBook; the problem is, the account under my name is a fraud. But this is not the place to deplore Twitter or FaceBook. They are facts of life. I am told I should have accounts on both: They will promote my reviews, let people feel more involved in my life, and make it easy for me to contact them. After nearly 2 million comments on my blog and 9,943 messages in my current "sent mail" file, that's just what I need. More friends.

Unlike Ebert, I have become a Twit - you can find me at twitter.com/moviecricket.

Labels: internet, Twitter

Monday, March 30, 2009

Plans for tonight: New York state of mind

- The Utah Jazz play host to the struggling New York Knicks (who beat the Jazz last November in Madison Square Garden), starting at 7 at EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are available at TicketMaster.

- John Brown's Body, an eight-piece reggae band with an experimental bent, plays at 8 at Downstairs Park City, 625 Main St., Park City. Tickets are $15, at the door. If you bought tickets to see the band at the Murray Theater, they will be honored at the new venue.

Would he touch it with a 10-foot pole?

See, this is what happens when you don't pay attention at meetings.

Davis County Commissioner Bret Millburn is all in a lather, according to this Standard-Examiner report, about the fact that he and his fellow commissioners gave the go-ahead for the Miss Pole Dance Utah competition to take place May 16 at the Davis Conference Center in Layton.

Millburn said that his notes from the commission's last meeting listed the event as "adult dancing and fitness." But seeing the event's web site, which bills the event as "Fetish: Battle of the Pole Dancers," got Millburn's knickers in a twist.

Millburn should read the lengthy restrictions in the competition's dress code (which stresses complete coverage of the breasts and buttocks, and immediate disqualification for "wardrobe malfunctions") to see that this event is not going to be like the average visit to the local strip club.

Meagan Burroughs, owner of Adult Dance & Fitness in Ogden and one of the event's sponsors, told the Standard-Examiner that competitors focus on the physical aspects of pole-dancing, not the sexuality of it.

Burroughs, 25 and the mother of a 3-year-old, said her husband doesn't find "pole dancing all that sexy, because when you're sweating and upside down, it's not pretty and not as attractive as people think."

Beaten with a club

Psychiatrists call it the "Stockholm syndrome": The tendency for hostages to become dependent on or sympathetic to their oppressor.

It's apparently going around among some owners of Utah's drinking establishments - who say they will remain "private clubs" even after the groundbreaking changes to liquor laws (which Gov. Jon Huntsman is expected to sign as soon as today) take effect on July 1.

According to this article by the Tribune's Maria Villasenor, some clubs say they'd rather live under the old restrictive "private club" rules than the new, semi-restrictive regulations.

Some clubs - such as the neighborhood Duffy's Tavern or the cozy gay bar The Trapp, want to limit their clientele to "regulars." Others don't want to pay the expense of the ID scanners the new laws require, or they don't trust the state not to turn the scanned info into a database.

However, these clubs are a minority among Utah's watering holes. According to a Utah Hospitality Association spokeswoman, most clubs "can't wait for July 1st."

Friday, March 27, 2009

Plans for the weekend: Hey, hey, it's the Archies

- Utah's favorite "American Idol" runner-up, David Archuleta, comes home to perform, tonight at 7 at the E Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Dr., West Valley City. Tickets, at $22 to $32, are available at TicketMaster. (Read an interview with Archuleta by the Tribune's David Burger.)

- Ballet West launches "Treasures of the Ballets Russes," a trio of works, tonight at 7:30 at the Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City. Tonight's show is sold out, but tickets for the rest of the run - Saturday at 7:30, and Wednesday through next Saturday - are available at ArtTix.

- Utah jazz singer Melissa Pace-Tanner celebrates the release of her new CD, "Calm and Carefree," with a show, tonight at 7:30 at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $15, at ArtTix.

- The Utah Symphony features violinist Viviane Hagner taking the lead on Korngold's Concerto for Violin in D major - in a program highlighting the works of Charles Ives - tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. at Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets, from $16 to $60, are available at ArtTix. (Bring a can of food for the Utah Food Bank, as part of the Orchestras Feeding America drive.)

- Singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata (pictured) plays Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Avalon Theatre, 3605 S. State St., South Salt Lake City. Tickets are $12, at SmithsTix.

- The Utah Jazz return home to play the Phoenix Suns (who beat the Jazz Wednesday in Arizona), Saturday at 7 p.m. at EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are available at TicketMaster.

- The University of Utah's first Documentary Film Festival runs tonight and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Fort Douglas Post Theatre, 245 S. Fort Douglas Road on the U. of U. campus, Salt Lake City. Tonight's screening features works by students at the U.'s Film Studies division, while Saturday's event features Jill Orschel's award-winning short "Sister Wife" (read more about it here) and Rhea Garvy's work-in-progress "Mayor Rocky and the Upstarters." Free.

- The "Saints & Sinners Tour" hits Utah (an appropriate place for it), Saturday night starting at 6 p.m. at Saltair, 12408 W. Saltair Drive, Magna. The lineup includes hip-hop/metal band Hollywood Undead (the sinners), Christian metal band Haste the Day (the saints), and opening acts Senses Fail and Brokencyde (who fall somewhere in between). Tickets are $18.50, at SmithsTix.

- The Salt City Derby Girls - Salt Lake City's own roller-derby queens - launch their 2009 home season, as the Sisters of No Mercy take on Leave It to Cleavers (go, Veronica Scars!), Saturday at 7 at the Salt Palace, 100 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $10, at SmithsTix or at the door.

- Folk legend Arlo Guthrie rolls - presumably on his motor-sickle - into Kingsbury Hall, on the U. of U. campus, Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, from $29.50 to $49.50, available on the Kingsbury web site.

Labels: weekend schedule

Not carrying a torch?

You have to give the International Olympic Committee points for consistency: When something goes awry, the IOC is quick to react in exactly the wrong way.

Today, as reported on The New York Times' website, the IOC has decided to bar future Olympic torch relays from going international - in response to the anti-China protests mounted in Paris, San Francisco and London last year when the torch passed through those cities on the way to Beijing.

All torch relays, starting with the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, will officially be limited to the host country. (Both the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London were planning relays that stayed within the host countries.)

"When the torch relay is inside the host country there is more control," said Gilbert Felli, the IOC executive director. And with the IOC, it's always about control - mostly control of the Olympics' image. (Fun fact: The first Olympic torch relay was held for the 1936 games in Berlin - and was the brainchild of Adolf Hitler, as a way to connect the ancient Greeks to his Aryan supermen.)

Of course, the IOC would never acknowledge that the reason for the protests during the Beijing torch relay was because of the oppressive regime in China.

Labels: Olympics

Unkindest cuts in Congress

The arts aren't just good for your creative juices, but for the economy.

That was the message Michael Bahr, education director of the Utah Shakespearean Festival, delivered to a congressional hearing Thursday in Washington, according to this Salt Lake Tribune report.

"Art in Cedar City is not a luxury; it is business," Bahr said. "It hires an educated and talented work force. It provides positive economic impact far beyond the theater."

Also testifying (according to the AP's account of the hearing) was actor Tim Daly, who cited the direct financial impact of a single episode of his TV series, "Private Practice." An episode of the "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff takes nine days to shoot, employs hundreds of people, and spends about $20,000 on food, $25,000 to $40,000 on clothes and costumes, $2,500 on dry cleaning and $15,000 on furniture for the sets.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, also testified at the hearing - and, of course, ascribed the woes of the arts community to the Obama administration. Bishop said Obama's budget proposal, by reducing the amount that rich people can deduct from their taxes, would remove the incentive to donate to the arts.

Bishop said that charitable donations create an "emotional bond that government funds couldn't match." Apparently, though, that bond isn't strong enough to continue in a smaller tax shelter.

Labels: politics, Utah Shakespearean Festival

'Idol': Megan survives again

Maybe Megan Joy is right - her fans will see her through.

Enough of them saw her through to the next round of "American Idol," as callers and text-message senders gave the boot to oil-rigger Michael Sarver - confirming Simon Cowell's brutal assessment that "you're not going to win this competition."

In fact, Joy wasn't even in the bottom 3 - an all-guy trio that included Sarver, Matt Giraud and Scott MacIntyre. Maybe somebody finally figured out how boy-heavy this year's line-up is.

Labels: American Idol, Megan Joy Corkrey, Reality show

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Plans for tonight: Rockin' around town

- Brooklyn rock duo Bishop Allen plays - with opening acts Miniature Tigers and Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band - starting at 7 at Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West), Salt Lake City. Tickets are $10, at 24Tix.

- Acoustic folk-rockers The Devil Makes Three plays, with opening acts Hotel le Motel and Triggers & Slips, at Burt's Tiki Lounge, 726 S. State St., Salt Lake City. Doors open at 8. Tickets are $10, at the door.

A "Starr" reporter on furlough

Things are tough all over in the newspaper business - even in the comic strips.

Last fall, in Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury," Washington Post investigative reporter Rick Redfern was forced to take a buyout offer. On Saturday, ace reporter Brenda Starr will get the word from publisher B. Babbitt Bottomline that she has to take an unpaid furlough.

"As far-fetched as some of the plots in Brenda are, I do like to keep it topical," Mary Schmich, who writes the "Brenda Starr" strip, told the Chicago Tribune (where Schmich is also a columnist, who most famously penned the "sunscreen" advice that was turned into a hit single by Baz Luhrmann and was frequently misattributed to Kurt Vonnegut).

Schmich said Starr's life "is a fantasy with nuggets of reality tossed in. But even fantasies need some grounding in reality, and right now, economic crisis is the reality that colors everything else at pretty much every newspaper."

Labels: journalism

'Idol': Megan's last stand?

Get ready for the montage of Megan Joy's "journey" to the Top 10 of "American Idol."

Joy (the 23-year-old from Sandy, Utah) fired up a rendition of Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life" during Motown night on Wednesday night's "Idol" episode - and the judges' appraisal was particularly harsh.

Randy Jackson called it "a trainwreck." Kara DioGuardi said she should have sung another song. Simon Cowell said it was "atrocious" and that Joy was "in trouble."

Paula Abdul tried to compliment Joy's looks: ''Your stunning beauty takes my breath away.'' This prompted Cowell to mutter, "It's not 'Top Model.' ''

Joy's only hope is that the voting public - "my fans," to whom she gave a somewhat desperate shout-out - knock either Michael Sarver (who bulled through "Ain't Too Proud to Beg") or Scott MacIntyre (who did his piano-man thing to "You Can't Hurry Love") first.

Labels: American Idol, Megan Joy Corkrey, Reality show

Gamers rejoice!

"Color me surprised," says the writer of GamePolitics.com. "I did not think that Huntsman would buck the legislature on this one."

"This one" is HB353, a bill that was intended to punish businesses who sold M-rated videogames to youngsters - but, because of its vague wording, could have applied to theaters playing R-rated movies, bookstores and all manner of media.

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman vetoed HB353 on Wednesday. In a statement notifying the legislature of the veto, Huntsman wrote: "While protecting children from inappropriate materials is a laudable goal, the language of this bill is so broad that it likely will be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional."

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Michael Morley, R-Spanish Fork, blamed the veto on an e-mail lobbying campaign by "a lot of gamers that misrepresent the bill."

But it wasn't just gamers - who have followed the legislation closely (here, here and here, for example) - who thought the bill was stupid. The Salt Lake Tribune's editorial writers today called the vetoed bill "a bullet dodged" that would have had the unintended consequence of forcing stores to throw out industry ratings systems - making it harder for parents to filter out age-inappropriate games, DVDs and movies.

A tip to Rep. Morley and other legislators: Next time, don't let a disbarred Florida lawyer write your bill for you.

Labels: Jon Huntsman, Utah Legislature, videogames

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Plans for tonight: Or, the pretentious band name

- Canadian post-hardcore band Silverstein - named for poet Shel Silverstein (the guy behind Where the Sidewalk Ends) - plays with opening act Norma Jean starting at 6 at the Murray Theatre, 4916 S. State St., Murray. Tickets are $20 at the door.

- The documentary "Lioness," which follows the first U.S. military women to be sent into direct ground combat in Iraq, screens at 7 at the Sorenson Unity Center, 1383 S. 900 West, Salt Lake City. Free.

- Alt-country band Or, The Whale (never trust a band whose name requires added punctuation) performs - with local opening acts Band of Annuals and Boots to the Moon - at 7 at Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $7, at 24Tix.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

Are comics more credible?

Attention, mainstream media (and, yes, I'm calling out myself here, too): A lot of younger Americans are tuning you out in favor of - gasp! - comedians.

A national phone survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that 30 percent of Americans age 18-29 and 32 percent of Americans age 30-39 believe satirical news programs - like "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" or "The Colbert Report" - are replacing traditional news outlets.

The survey found 42 percent of the thirty-somethings and 35 percent of the 18-29 group disagreed with that opinion.

True, "The Daily Show" and Colbert's program are intelligent and funny takes on the news - and, more importantly, takes on the people who bring us the news. And it's true that those shows sometimes make news, like when Stewart smacked down CNBC's Jim Cramer over that network's sucking-up-to-CEOs coverage before the financial bubble burst.

But what people conveniently forget is that shows like "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" - like most of the bloggers and other aggregators of information that dominate the Internet - all rely on the "mainstream media" for their source material.

Without the shoe-leather reporting that appears in newspapers and TV newscasts every day, the satirists would have nothing to satirize and the bloggers wouldn't be able to link to anything.

The worry in journalism - and you see it now with the online-only seattlepi.com - is that the online packaging of news is more important than the generation of the information that's being packaged.

Labels: journalism, television

Dancing across and down

Utah's own dancing country singer, Julianne Hough, has received another indication of how famous she has become: She was an answer in Saturday's New York Times crossword puzzle.

The clue for 57-across was "Two-time 'Dancing With the Stars' co-winner Julianne."

Devotees of the Times know that Saturday's puzzle is the most brain-twisting of the week - and it's an open question whether your snootier cruciverbalists (look it up) will admit knowing anything about a reality-TV show.

Labels: Julianne Hough

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Plans for tonight: Do something

- The "Take Action Tour" - featuring Cute Is What We Aim For, Breathe Carolina, Draper's own Meg & Dia, Every Avenue and Anarbor - plays starting at 7 at the Murray Theatre, 4916 S. State St., Murray. Tickets are $16, at the door, with proceeds benefiting DoSomething.org, which helps mobilize socially responsible teens.

- The Utah Jazz face their frequent nemesis (and possible first-round playoff opponent), the Houston Rockets, starting at 8:30 at EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are available at TicketMaster.

- California avant-garde musician Ariel Pink brings his band, Haunted Graffiti, for a show at the Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City. The opening act is Cryptacize (featuring members of Deerhoof). Doors open at 9. Tickets are $10, at 24Tix.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

The word on Main Street

In today's dead-tree Tribune, I opined in the Culture Vulture column about the state of Salt Lake City's Main Street - and how every attempt to "save" the neighborhood through some massive building project has sapped the street's viability to near-zero.

The recent announcement that Sam Weller's Books will be leaving its Main Street location, where it has been a fixture for 48 years, is just another example of a business finally driven off by city planning decisions that emphasized big shiny projects - Main Street Beautification in the '70s and '80s, TRAX lines in the '90s, the LDS Church's Main Street Plaza in the early '00s, and the under-construction City Creek Plaza - over the needs of neighborhood merchants.

I received one e-mail in response from Bruce Corrigan, owner of O'Shucks and Ahh Sushi, the bar and restaurant across the street from the City Creek development. Corrigan took me to task for some of the points in my column:

Your "Can Main St. survive" column gave your readers a false view of the availability of libations in the City Creek development area. No need to take Trax West or to walk to 300 South - simply walk across the street to 22 East 100 South, and visit O'Shucks Bar & Grill, in the basement of the Brownstone Building!

O'Shucks Bar & Grill has survived the construction dramas of the past 12 years by serving the downtown business crowd ice-cold libations and plenty of free peanuts. In 2002, O'Shucks added its' sister restaurant Ahh Sushi and has been rocking all along. O'Shucks has been bullish on downtown for years, and that's why were still here packing them in daily.

Please, give me a call, and I can give you the 20 step tour from the new City Creek development across the street to O'Shucks Bar & Grill. Thanks for all you do to make our city a better place.

I also submit for your consideration this article from Utah Stories, which makes the historical observation that giant malls sucking the wind out of Main Street are not a new phenomenon: The same thing happened in the early '80s, when the ZCMI Center and the Crossroads Plaza (which were largely torn down to make room for City Creek) opened.

P.S.: I referred to The Gateway shopping center - from which I write this blog - as the Beigeway, a term reflective of both the paint on the outer walls and its generic atmosphere. But I neglected to credit my friend Bill Frost, over at the Salt Lake City Weekly, for coining the term Beigeway back in 2002. Good on ya, Bill!

Labels: downtown

Monday, March 23, 2009

Plans for tonight: Experimenting

- Video artist/installation artist/sculptor Darrin Martin launches a U.S. tour of his works, "Inside Out" (including his MoMA-premiered "Monograph in Stereo") at 7 p.m. in the New Media Wing of the Art and Architecture building on the University of Utah campus. Presented by the Center for Interdisciplinary Art and Technology (CIDAT). Free.

- Reunited '90s band Candlebox plays The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City - with opening acts Royal Bliss (a Salt Lake band getting its first national exposure) and Jet Black Stare. Show starts at 7. Tickets are $30, at the door.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

'Idol': The porn connection

When you try to make the most wholesome show on TV - as the folks at "American Idol" do, as they try to satisfy teeny-boppers and their grandmas at the same time - even the most tangential link to pornography is going to get some attention.

In past years, contestants Frenchie Davis and David Hernandez got the boot after word of their extracurricular activities - respectively, topless photos on the Internet and stripping in a gay bar - came to light.

Expanding the Top 12 to a Top 13 this season presented a dilemma for "Idol" producers, because they had only secured 12 phone numbers for voting - and the numbers above and below the 12 secured numbers were owned by phone-sex companies. The show found an extra phone number to use, just in time for the first week of voting.

Now, contestant Megan Joy Corkrey - the tattooed divorced mom from Sandy, Utah - has stumbled into another small problem. The singer last week dropped her married name, Corkrey, and is now billed as Megan Joy.

Alas, there's already a Megan Joy out there: A porn star whose credits (according to E! Online) include "Sorority Sex Kittens: Kappa Kappa Sex" and "Cheerleader Auditions 6" (for those who thought the stories of "Cheerleader Auditions" 1 through 5 weren't thoroughly explored).

Labels: American Idol, Megan Joy Corkrey, Reality show

Friday, March 20, 2009

Plans for the weekend: Art underfoot

- The monthly Salt Lake Gallery Stroll runs tonight, from 6 to 9 p.m., at art galleries around downtown. (Go here for a list.) Among the highlights:

ModelCitizen will host a Local Takeover Bash to launch the shop’s all-new inventory of locally made clothing and gifts (like the shoes pictured at right), from 6 to 9 p.m. at the store, 247 E. Broadway (300 South).
A screening of Pamela Tanner Boll's documentary "Who Does She Think She Is?," about women - including ceramicist and BYU alum Janis Wunderlich - who manage motherhood and career, screening at 6:30 tonight at the Salt Lake Art Center, 20 S. West Temple, followed by a discussion with Boll and Wunderlich.
And (a)perture gallery begins its benefit event "Hunger as Metaphor," from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Utah Food Bank, 1025 S. 700 West, Salt Lake City. Check the Food Bank's web site for information.

- Utah rock trio The Gorgeous Hussies and the Salt Lake African Drum & Dance Ensemble pair up for a benefit concert for GRAACE, a local nonprofit that builds water wells in Ghana, tonight at 7 at Pierpont Place, 163 Pierpont Ave., Salt Lake City. Tickets are $15, at the door.

- Pioneer Theatre Company debuts the classic mystery "Dial M For Murder," tonight at 8 at Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. 1400 East on the U. of U. campus, Salt Lake City. The play runs through April 4. Tickets, from $22 to $40, available at PTC's box office.

- And in case you're wondering where your teen daughters are, there are parties tonight at several venues for the DVD release of "Twilight." And at one of them in Salt Lake City, somebody from the film is expected to make a "surprise" appearance.

- L.A. ska/reggae/fusion band The Aggrolites plays Saturday at 6 p.m. at In the Venue, 579 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City. Tickets - $13 in advance, $15 on the day of the show, available at SmithsTix.

"Dark Knight Dad": Case closed

Remember the guy who left his toddler in the car one night while he went into the Century 16 theater in South Salt Lake to watch "The Dark Knight"?

Remember how the cops stopped the movie and turned up the house lights, right near the end of the movie, and arrested him - as angry moviegoers threw popcorn tubs at him?

Remember how the guy became vilified from coast to coast?

Now we know that guy's fate.

David James Farnham, 23, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail, three years of probation and a $1,500 fine for a class A misdemeanor reckless endangerment charge - for leaving his 2-year-old son, Justin, in the car during the movie last July 20. Farnham also must continue mental health treatment, have no unsupervised contact with his son, and stay current on his child-support payments.

Labels: Stupid Criminals Division

A "surprise" for "Twilight" fans

Fans of the sparkly-vampire teen romance "Twilight" will be gathering at video retailers all over America tonight, partying in advance of the movie's DVD release at midnight.

According to a post on author Stephenie Meyer's official web site, in five cities - New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Salt Lake City - members of Team Edward will get something else: A "surprise" visit from members of the movie's cast and crew.

No inkling on who might show up, but the site does list 10 party locations in the Salt Lake City-area where someone might show up:

Blockbuster, 402 E. 6th Ave., Salt Lake City
Blockbuster, 2107 S. 700 East #A, Salt Lake City
Blockbuster, 836 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City
Blockbuster, 1852 E. 9400 South, Sandy
Blockbuster, 4918 W. 6200 South, Kearns
Blockbuster, 4095 S. Redwood Road, West Valley City
FYE, 5546 S. Redwood Road, Salt Lake City
FYE, 7170 S 1000 East, Midvale
Hot Topic, 10450 S. State St., Sandy
Wal-Mart, 13502 S. Hamilton View Road, Riverton

Happy vampire hunting, folks!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Plans for tonight: Radioactive

- Author (and former Salt Lake Tribune staffer) Tom Zoellner will read from and sign copies of his new book, Uranium, about the scientific and political history of the nuclear-powered element, at 7 at Sam Weller's Books, 254 S. Main, Salt Lake City. (Read Tribune reporter Ben Fulton's interview with Zoellner here.)

- Four local bands - To the Death, Cornered by Zombies, Big Gun Baby and Ex Machina - for one low price, starting at 7 at Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West). Tickets are $7, at the door.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

'Idol': Megan's going on tour

Whether America liked her bluesy rendition of Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight" or felt sympathy for her bout with the flue, Utah's "American Idol" contestant Megan Joy survived another week on our nation's communal karaoke show.

Joy wasn't even in the bottom three, in spite of predictions from some blogs that she'd be sent home. Instead, little Alexis Grace (pictured) - dinged for a generic rendition of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" - was eliminated. (Grace's departure goes counter to the rumors, fostered by this New York Daily News item, that the fix was in and Grace was already chosen for the final four.)

The good news for Joy is that, because she's in the Top 10, she'll be part of the "Idols" tour this summer.

Labels: American Idol, Megan Joy Corkrey, Reality show

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Calling all 'Galactica' fans!

This is a shout-out to any fans of "Battlestar Galactica" in the Salt Lake City area: Someone's looking to hook up.

I got this e-mail message today:

I’m coming to Salt Lake City this weekend for a conference. Do you know any place in the downtown area that will be screening the BSG finale Friday night?

If you know of any such confabs for the final episode of "Battlestar Galactica," please post them in the comments field. I will pass them along to the frakkin' tourist.

Books: The long view

Those of us who get paid to put words on paper get a little defensive when someone suggests that print - whether in the form of newspapers, magazines or books - is dead.

The recent announcement that Sam Weller's Books is leaving its 48-year-old perch on Salt Lake City's Main Street for an as-yet-unknown downtown location started another round of hand-wringing about the fate of books.

Ken Sanders (pictured), the sage who runs his own rare-book store a few blocks from the old Weller's location, offers his thoughts on the matter on his store's web site. In the end, Sanders - who professes to a lifelong worship of the God called Biblio - is an island of calm in a sea of worry. Take, for example, the conclusion of his article:

"Google, Wikipedia, the world wide web, Kindle, e-books, print on demand, and the next new thing threaten to extinguish the old-fashioned book. Perhaps. I think not: the transformation will continue. The value of books transcends the informational, and while some of us in the book world will become extinct, the rest of us will always be here, wherever here is, in the far-off reaches, in the margins, doing what we have always done: loving books, keeping Biblio alive in the world."

Amen, Brother Sanders - though it's mildly ironic that such an opinion is disseminated not through ink-and-paper, but via the Internet.

Labels: Books, Sam Weller's

Plans for tonight: Mining for metal

- Even if you didn't know these bands played death-metal, their names - Lecherous Nocturne, Embryonic Devourment, Sol Asunder, Incendiant and Through The Eyes Of Carrion - point you in that direction. Their show starts at 8 at Club Vegas, 445 S. 400 West, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $15 at 24Tix, or at the door.

- Check out what local filmmakers are doing at the Salt Lake Film Society's Open Mic Short Film Night, starting at 9 at the Tower Theatre, 876 E. 900 South, Salt Lake City. Admission is one buck.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

A "Lion" will lead them

If you thought the mad stampede for tickets for the touring production of "Wicked" was big, wait until next year - when "The Lion King" roars into Salt Lake City's Capitol Theatre.

Broadway Across America announced its 2009-2010 season - highlighted by the puppetry-filled adaptation of the Disney cartoon, running Aug. 11-Sept. 12, 2010.

Also coming next season, all to the Capitol Theatre:

"The Wedding Singer," a stage musical adaptation of the Adam Sandler comedy, Dec. 8-13.
"Avenue Q," the acclaimed and rather adult puppet-driven musical, Feb. 2-7, 2010.
"Legally Blonde," a stage musical adaptation of the Reese Witherspoon comedy (detecting a trend here?), March 23-28, 2010.

Of course, season-ticket holders get the first shot at securing tickets, something the Broadway Across America folks are banking on. Let's be real: Without the lure of "The Lion King," how many people are likely to buy tickets for "The Wedding Singer"?

Labels: Broadway Across America

'Idol': Megan fights the flu

Megan Joy - the pride of Sandy, Utah - wasn't just singing a country song on Tuesday night's "American Idol." She was living one.

Joy - notice that the recently divorced 23-year-old mom has dropped her married name, Corkrey, adopting her middle name as a stage name - was on the bubble last week, and has been roundly criticized by "Idol" wags on the Internet. (The notorious VoteFortheWorst.com - the folks who lobbied for Sanjaya Malakar in an effort to take down "Idol" from within - has chosen Joy as their favorite this season.)

On Tuesday, Joy fought off a bad case of the flu - which put her in the hospital on an IV bag, and forced her to miss the show's dress rehearsal earlier in the day - to sing a passable rendition of Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight."

The judges were impressed with the effort. "You should have flu every week," said Simon Cowell, "because you were better this week than last week. And you look gorgeous."

(Cowell was also right that whoever is styling Joy is detracting from her tattoo-flavored quirkiness. She needs to wear something with a bra - the halter-top gown she was wearing does not pass the "pencil test.")

Of course, the strangest performance of the night was Adam Lambert's ill-advised attempt to turn Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" into a Depeche Mode song. Cowell again called it right: "What the hell was that?" (Randy Jackson, on the other hand, should be ashamed for his positive comment that it sounded like "Nine Inch Nails doing a Johnny Cash song." Randy should be forced to listen to Cash's late-career cover of Trent Reznor's "Hurt," to be reminded of what a Cash/Reznor collaboration really sounds like.)

If Joy survives tonight's results show - a big if, though Scott MacIntyre's uncanny ability to turn everything into a Bruce Hornsby song makes him a prime candidate for dismissal - she'll be in the Top 10, which means she'll go on the "American Idols" tour his summer.

Labels: American Idol, Megan Joy Corkrey, Reality show

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Plans for tonight: Erin go bragh!

St. Patrick's Day events tonight:

Shilaylee (pictured), a four-member band performing Celtic gigs and American folk, plays at 7 at the South Valley Unitarian building, 6876 S. Highland Dr., Cottonwood Heights. Presented by the Salt Lake Area Accordion Association. Admission is $4, at the door.
"Celtic Harpistry" by Cynthia Douglas, starts at 7:30 at the Grand Theatre, Salt Lake Community College, 1595 S. State St., Salt Lake City. Tickets are $15 (or $12 for seniors, $10 for students, $8 for children under 12), at the SLCC box office or at the door.
Or you can buy a pint of Guinness or Harp at your favorite drinking establishment. (Green beer is for amateurs!)

- Pendulum, an Australian drum-and-bass group, plays at 7 at the Murray Theatre, 4916 S. State St., Murray. Tickets are $15, at SmithsTix.

- The Utah Jazz return from their not-so-successful road swing (which has them now nursing a three-game losing streak) with a home tip-off against the Washington Wizards, at 7 at EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are available at TicketMaster.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

Bye-bye, P-I; hello, seattlepi.com

The last edition of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer rolled off the presses early this morning, taking with it 146 years of publishing history and leaving behind a whole lot of doubts among us ink-stained wretches trying to figure out the future of journalism.

While folks in Seattle try to sort out the damage (and this collection of blog posts from The Stranger, Seattle's super-cool alt-weekly, is a good place to start), others are wondering what the P-I's transformation into a lean online-only publication - with only 20 newsroom employees and 20 sales reps, from a staff that used to number 181 - will mean for that city and for newspapers elsewhere.

Joel Connelly, a P-I columnist and one of the lucky few who still has a job there, calls the new online P-I "an adventure in journalism, not just for P-I writers but for an audience that seeks information, has opinions and is willing to speak its mind." And David Domke, a journalism professor at the University of Washington (my alma mater), told NPR that if this online experiment has a chance anywhere, it's a wired city like Seattle (which, after all, is home to Microsoft and Amazon.com - not to mention the source of all tech junkies' power: Starbucks).

Some former P-I staffers, speaking to the Columbia Journalism Review, aren't sold on the new web-only paper. Art critic Regina Hackett decries the P-I's parent company, the Hearst Corp., for a history of nickel-and-diming the paper: "A skeleton looks plump compared to poorly-paid online crew. ... The future according to the Hearst Corporation seems to be, journalism without journalists." Reporter Debera Harrell remarked that "a huge truth is that online journalism is being deployed to break unions."

Reporters everywhere watch when a paper, like the P-I or Denver's Rocky Mountain News, shuts down and they wonder: What if it happens here? When our readers start asking the same question, the urgency of finding a solution will grow exponentially.

(Illustration: David Horsey/The Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Labels: journalism

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Some words of advice on this St. Patrick's Day:

Contrary to myth, it's still considered workplace harassment if you pinch a co-worker because he or she isn't wearing green today.
Corned beef and cabbage sounds better in theory than it comes off in practice.
Being Irish by birth is not a requirement to celebrating the holiday. Being Irish by choice is.
If you are planning on going to a bar tonight, read today's Culture Vulture column first. In it is more advice about how not to be marked as an amateur pub-goer.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Another one bites the dust

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which has been publishing for 146 years, will print its final edition on Tuesday.

In a time when newspaper layoffs and closures are regular new, this one hurts. As a student at the University of Washington, I was a voracious P-I reader. The P-I was always the smaller and scrappier paper, compared to the larger and stodgier Seattle Times.

Or, as the P-I's about-to-be-former art critic, Regina Hackett, wrote on the blog of Seattle's alt-weekly, The Stranger:

"The P-I offered a reasonably sensible collection of stories written without the we-precious-few tone of the Times, which rubs itself against the legs of the comfortably middle-class like a cat looking for a handout. The P-I connects with its city without undo flattery."

Besides, I always loved the P-I's landmark neon globe - the sort of thing you'd see atop The Daily Planet in a "Superman" movie.

The paper's owners, the Hearst Corp., plan to maintain an online news entity, seattlepi.com - but with a bare-bones staff compared to the paper's newsroom. (The AP reports the digital-only P-I will employ about 40 people - half in the newsroom, half selling ads - compared to the 181 employees of the print edition.)

Anyone who thinks we can live without newspapers is invited to tell that to the 140 soon-to-be-unemployed professionals in Seattle. Good luck getting all your teeth back.

UPDATE: The AP is reporting that the Tucson Citizen, which has been printing for 138 years, will put out its final edition on Saturday.

(Photo: Joshua Trujillo/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Labels: journalism

Gamers target Huntsman

The pressure is on Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman from video gamers, who are urging the Guv to veto a bill aimed at retailers who get caught selling violent games to minors.

A group called the Video Game Voters Network has launched an e-mail campaign, asking people to send letters to Huntsman in opposition to HB353 - saying the bill "will unfairly expose Utah video game stores to frivolous lawsuits."

The bill, if signed by Huntsman, would raise the possible fines to retailers who establish policies to prevent selling M-rated games to underage customers and then sell such games to minors - under the state's "false advertising" statutes.

HB353 is widely hated in the gaming community. Here are some examples:

Macworld.com writer Peter Cohen opines that such laws are usually tossed out in court - and hopes "that some day legislators finally get the message and start working with the industry instead of pointlessly railing against it."
Ben Kuchera, writing on the Ars Technica site, says the legislation won't stop retailers (it may, in fact, work against efforts to educate parents about the rating system for video games), and may end up costing state governments in court costs.
On the site PS3 Informer, writer Kris Erickson calls out the bill's author - anti-gamer crusader and disbarred Florida lawyer Jack Thompson - by saying the HB353 will destroy the video-game ratings system, and "help push a conservative agenda of stirring up moral panic and building support for an eventual ban of mature games entirely, something that Thompson has publicly stated he would like to see happen."

Labels: Jon Huntsman, videogames

Plans for tonight: Jazz and rap

- "Lockdown U.S.A.," a documentary about mandatory-minimum sentences for drug offenses and their effect on the prison system, screens as part of the Salt Lake City Film Center's "War on Drugs Policy" series, at 7 at the City Library auditorium, 210 E. 400 South, Salt Lake City. Free.

- Jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater (pictured) - who in recent years has been inspired by the rhythms of her ancestral home, Mali - performs in the JazzSLC series, at 7:30 at the Salt Lake Sheraton, 150 W. 500 South, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $25, available at 24Tix.

- Rap legend Lucky I Am performs at Monk's House of Jazz, 19 E. 200 South, Salt Lake City. Doors open at 9. Tickets are $5, at SmithsTix.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

Dysharmonic convergence

So I pick my Sunday paper off the porch (the image isn't as unpleasant as seeing Tony Soprano in his boxers and bathrobe), and the headline greets me: "Are newspapers sinking?"

Yes, every industry is suffering in this awful economy - but the news industry's troubles seem destined to be fully chronicled, since we're all writing about ourselves. We read Jim Romenesko's blog for updates on which papers are firing people or giving up the ghost entirely - right now we're waiting to see when the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will announce its demise.

(That said, the Tribune's Paul Beebe presented a thoughtful and surprisingly non-paranoid analysis of the national newspaper situation - and another about how Salt Lake City's papers are dealing with it. My colleague Vince Horiuchi also weighed in with a story about what Utah's TV stations are doing to counter declining audience numbers.)

Digging further into Sunday's Tribune to find happier news, I find The Mix section - where my colleague Ben Fulton has a story about how cash-strapped arts organizations are getting as creative in their fund-raising as they are in their art.

Things are tough all over, and I happen to be at an intersection where two of my passions, newspapers and art, are both suffering at the same time. The good news is that through adversity comes innovation, and both newspapers and artists are learning they have to get innovative in a hurry - or else.

Labels: economy, journalism

Three for the Big Dance

College-basketball fanatics in Utah can rejoice: The Utah Utes, BYU Cougars and Utah State Aggies all got into the NCAA Tournament.

The Utes, seeded No. 5 in the Midwest regional, will face Arizona in the first round, Friday in Miami.
The Cougars, a No. 8 seed, will play Texas A&M on Thursday in the West bracket in Philadelphia.
The Aggies, a No. 11 seed, will play Marquette (they're from Wisconsin) in the the West bracket Friday in Boise.

If nothing else, all his proves that the NCAA - which puts Miami in the Midwest and Philadelphia in the West - needs to offer a remedial course in geography.

Meanwhile, every office worker today is hitting the sports websites so they can bone up on the teams before filling out their brackets. (By the way, both Dick Vitale and Digger Phelps on ESPN predicted Sunday that Arizona would upset the Utes - something for Utes coach Jim Boylan to post on the locker-room bulletin board.)

But the real match-up worth speculating over is this: How will Big Blue, the Utah State's large bull-headed mascot, do facing Marquette's Golden Eagle (pictured) - especially after Blue's now-infamous throwdown with "Pistol Pete" from New Mexico State at the WAC tourney.

Labels: Brigham Young University, University of Utah, Utah State University

Friday, March 13, 2009

Plans for the weekend: I love a parade

- Experimental folk-rock band Blitzen Trapper (which sounds like a Christmas school folder) plays tonight - with opening act Alela Diane - at 7 at Kilby Court, 741 S. 300 West, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $10, at 24Tix or at the door.

- Utah Opera's production of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" premieres tonight at 7:30 at the Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City. Tonight's performance is sold out, but tickets for the rest of the run (through March 22) are available at ArtTix.

- Primus frontman Les Claypool headlines "The Oddity Faire: A Mutated Mini Fest," which starts tonight at 8 at The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Also on the bill: Secret Chief 3 and performance-poet Saul Williams (who Sundance Film Festival veterans will remember from the '98 Grand Jury Prize winner "Slam"). Tickets are $29.50, at the door.

- The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, sponsored by the Hibernian Society of Ut ah, starts at 10 a.m. Saturday on 400 West and 200 North, behind West High School - then travels south down 400 West to 50 North, when it hangs a right and then a left onto Rio Grande Street through The Gateway, stopping on 200 South. The action adjourns to the Siamsa - with traditional Irish food and music - at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 279 S. 300 West. Free.

- 1964 - The Tribute, a Beatles tribute band, plays the Fab Four's hits Saturday at 8 p.m. at Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets, from $22 to $37, available at ArtTix.

- Bluesman Joe Bonamassa performs Saturday at 8 p.m. at The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets, from $29 to $40, are available at SmithsTix.

Labels: weekend schedule

Utah Legislature: Surveying the damage

So how did Utah's cultural landscape fare after the Utah Legislature finished its work Thursday night?

The big news is that the massive rewrite of the state's liquor laws - which eliminates the "private club" regulations and lets existing restaurants take down the "Zion Curtain" - passed both houses and is heading to Gov. Jon Huntsman's desk. In spite of the more annoying parts of the bill (like requiring a separate area for drink-mixing in new restaurants), the overall effect helps drag Utah's liquor laws into the 21st century.

On the other hand, a bill that would have allowed bars and restaurants to sell draft beer that exceeds the notorious 3.2 percent alcohol level was left hanging in the Utah Senate.

Video-game sellers may have to be more careful to ID their customers. A bill - written by disbarred Florida lawyer and anti-video-game crusader Jack Thompson - headed to Huntsman's desk would increase the fines for retailers who sell M-rated video games to minors.

And Hollywood productions will have more reason to come to Utah. The Legislature is kicking up the state's motion picture incentive to 20 percent (for up to $500,000).

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws, movies, Utah Legislature, videogames

Bad times on Main Street

Hearing the news that Sam Weller's Books will be leaving its spacious Main Street location opens up a whole discussion on what's to blame for the store's sagging fortunes.

Of course, the economy is crappy. And there are the changes technology has brought to the bookselling business - where people would rather search online for a rare title than rummage through a basement full of books.

But there's also the fact that about once every decade, Weller and other Main Street businesses have had to weather an attempt to "improve" downtown Salt Lake City:

In the '70s, dilapidated historic buildings were torn up to build the Crossroads Plaza and the ZCMI Center.
In the '80s, Main Street's sidewalks were widened, which reduced driving and parking to increase space for non-existent pedestrian traffic.
In the '90s, Main Street was torn up to install the rail lines for TRAX.
In this decade, the LDS Church closed off part of Main Street for its grand plaza by Temple Square, and tore down the Crossroads Plaza and ZCMI Center to create the massive City Creek Plaza project - which won't be done until 2012.

Here's hoping Sam Weller's can, in its new location and configuration, figure out how to survive the next effort to "save" downtown.

Labels: downtown, Sam Weller's

Thursday, March 12, 2009

State of happiness?

Is Utah the happiest state in the union? A Gallup survey conducted for an insurance company puts the Beehive State at No. 1 for overall well-being.

The study, which involved 350,000 interviews, rated well-being on several factors: Life evaluation; work quality; basic access to food, shelter, health care and services; healthy behavior; physical health and emotional health.

Hawaii was second; Wyoming, Colorado and Minnesota round out the Top 5.

The accompanying AP story mentions Utah's outdoor recreation as just one possible factor in our being so happy.

Would Utah's ranking in this survey have anything to do with the infamous 2002 report that Utah leads the nation in anti-depressant use? Or the news earlier this month month that we're No. 1 in online porn subscriptions? There are, after all, many different ways to get happy.

Plans for tonight: Cold and hot

- A very useful engine steams into town, as "Thomas & Friends Live! On Stage: A Circus Comes to Town" plays at 4 and 7 p.m. at the E Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Dr., West Valley City. Tickets, from $12 to $42 for adults and $6 to $11 for children 3-11, available at TicketMaster.

- "Disney on Ice: Mickey and Minnie's Magical Journey" starts its four-day run at 7 at EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets, from $10 to $52, available at TicketMaster. (The show continues Friday at 4 and 7 p.m., Saturday at 11 a.m., 2:30 and 6:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1:30 and 5:30 p.m.)

- Artists from indie label Antenna Farm Records - Bart Davenport (pictured), Sugar & Gold and The Bottecellis - share the bill starting at 9 at the Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City. Tickets, at $7, available at 24Tix.

- And don't forget: The strangest circus in town - the Utah Legislature - closes its tent tonight at midnight. Get up to the Statehouse, grab a seat in the gallery and watch the carnage.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

An idea to keep you awake at night

Oh, mercy. Now some bright bulb in the Utah Legislature - Rep. Craig Frank, R-American Fork, to be specific - wants to tax caffeine.

As someone who ditched caffeine several years ago for health reasons, I don't really have a dog in this fight. But as someone who used to nurse a six-pack-a-day Diet Coke habit, I reserve the right to declare this a monumentally stupid and discriminatory idea.

The problem - besides the hypocrisy of all "vice" taxes, like tobacco and alcohol, that the state becomes addicted to the revenue while officials publicly decry the product - is that it is yet another example of the predominantly Mormon membership of the legislature is forcing its religious views on the rest of us.

And the fact that the Legislature refuses to raise the cigarette tax, while cutting the budget for anti-smoking education, just highlights the hypocrisy at work.

Labels: LDS, politics, Utah Legislature

'Idol': Megan survives

The "American Idol" producers decided to send a message to Megan Joy Corkrey on Wednesday's results show: You're on the bubble, so get better or go home.

Host Ryan Seacrest called Corkrey - the 23-year-old single mom from Sandy, Utah - down to the main stage to stand alongside Jasmine Murray (who, like Corkrey, was a judges' wild-card choice for the Top 13) to learn which of them would be eliminated. After a moment of tension, Seacrest told Corkrey she would be safe, and that Murray was going home.

(To add to Murray's misery, she was also told the judges - who now have the power to "save" one eliminated contestant - wouldn't be exercising that power with her. The same thing happened to Jorge Nunez, who got sent packing.)

The good news for Corkrey and her fans: If she survives next week (with the theme ''songs popularized by members of The Grand Ole Opry''), she'll be in the Top 10 - which means she'll be part of the national tour.

Labels: American Idol, Megan Joy Corkrey, Reality show

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Your helpful opera employees

The folks who work for Utah Opera aren't just good at producing opera. They also help with traffic updates.

Consider this tweet posted this morning on the Utah Symphony and Opera's Twitter feed:

The speed trap outside the Opera Production Studios is in full-force today. Don't go over 30 MPH on 400 W. You'll get a ticket.

The studios are on 400 West, just north of West High School in Salt Lake City. Thanks for the heads-up, folks.

Labels: Utah Symphony

Plans for tonight: Getting emotional

- Florida emo band Automatic Loveletter is the headliner at Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West), Salt Lake City. Also on the bill: A Cursive Memory, Tickle Me Pink and Closure in Moscow. Show starts at 7. Tickets are $10, at SmithsTix.

- "Faith Under the Snow," a documentary about Palden Gyatso, a Tibetan monk who endured 33 years in a Chinese prison, will screen at 8 at the Vieve Gore Auditorium of the Jewett Center at Westminster College, 1250 E. 1700 South, Salt Lake City. A panel discussion follows with Khando Chazotsang, the niece of His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Tsering Gyaltsen of the Utah Tibetan Association; and film correspondent Tashi Dhondup. There is a pre-screening reception at 7:30. Free.

- Portugal the Man - an experimental hard-rock band that hails from Wasilla, Alaska (yes, Sarah Palin's home town) - play the Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City. Dusty Rhodes & the River Band shares the bill. Doors open at 9. Tickets are $12, at SmithsTix and 24Tix.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

'Idol': Megan's round 'Robin'

Can we all agree with Simon Cowell that "Rockin' Robin" was an atrocious song choice for Sandy's favorite tattooed single mom, Megan Joy Corkrey, on last night's "American Idol"? (Why couldn't she have done "The Way You Make Me Feel," instead of Lil Rounds?)

But not everyone thought Corkrey's performance was that bad. Michael Slezak, recapping "Idol" for Entertainment Weekly, wrote that she "interpreted the fusty old number with enough swing and sass that it wouldn't have sounded all that odd sandwiched between cuts from, say, Duffy and Nellie McKay."

Corkrey has got to work on her stage moves, like actually moving around on the stage. Right now, if a hurricane swept through the "Idol" studio, Ryan Seacrest and the others should tie themselves to Corkrey - because when she sings, she's as rooted as a tree.

Tonight we find out how America voted - and we learn about the mysterious new format change, which I suspect will have the judges taking the final decision out of the voters' hands.

While you're waiting for tonight's results show, consider this excellent column by Los Angeles Times' pop music critic Ann Powers, who urges "Idol" producers get over the homophobia that forces contestants to submerge their identities. (Consider Clay Aiken, who came out five years after his "Idol" season.) Powers' commentary is a reasoned call for the overly homogenized "Idol" to be as diverse as America itself.

Labels: American Idol, Megan Joy Corkrey, Reality show

Explaining Utah's booze laws to the nation

Rachel Maddow, on her MSNBC show Tuesday, took a swing at an impossible task: Explaining Utah's liquor laws to the nation.

She ran through some of the stranger aspects of Utah's alcohol policy over the years - private clubs, mini-bottles, etc. - before describing Monday's announcement that the Utah Legislature is doing away with the private club law, but adding a few other wrinkles.

Maddow enlisted the aid of Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City's former mayor, to go over the new bill. Anderson praised Gov. Jon Huntsman's efforts to bring Utah's liquor laws into the 20th century (almost into the 21st century), but also remarked on how a big step forward - like eliminating the private clubs - doesn't come without a small step backward.

Maddow talked about that step backward - how new restaurants will have to mix drinks in a separate room, away from patrons' view - by quoting (blush) my Culture Vulture column. Here's the whole clip:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws, Jon Huntsman, Rocky Anderson, Utah Legislature

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Plans for tonight: News of the world

- New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, author of Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - And How it Can Renew America, delivers the keynote lecture at The Nature of Things 2009 series, at 7 at Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple. Tickets, from $10 to $35, available at ArtTix.

- Filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung delivers the University of Utah's first-ever Distinguished Young Alumni Lecture, at 7:30 at the Fort Douglas Post Theatre on the U. campus. The lecture includes a screening of Chung's 2007 movie "Munyurangabo," a drama he filmed in 11 days in Rwanda with local non-actors in his cast. Free.

- Texas rockers Trail of Dead - or, if your marquee is long enough, ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - play the Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East. Doors open at 9. Tickets are $14, at SmithsTix or at the door.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

The "Zion Curtain" lives on

Legislators trumpeting their grand compromise over updating Utah's liquor laws were particularly proud of the idea that the "Zion Curtain" - the glass partition in restaurants that divides alcohol preparation from the diners (like this one at the Stella Grill) - will soon be a thing of the past.

Not so fast, though. As I detail in today's Culture Vulture column (in the ink-and-print edition of The Salt Lake Tribune), the "Zion Curtain" isn't going away. It's growing up - and like any growing kid, it's getting its own room.

Under the proposed new law, new restaurants would have to remove alcohol preparation from the dining area entirely. A separate room for mixology would have to be included in the floor plans before a booze-serving restaurant could even be built. (Existing restaurants would be grandfathered in, but would have an incentive - $30,000 in credit at the state's liquor store - to retrofit in two years.)

The legislators are concerned that children in restaurants may see the drink mixing and get curious about the pretty-colored drinks. Alas, these legislators seem to think hiding stuff from children will make the kids less interested - when any parent will tell you the opposite is true.

(Photo: Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws

Big fury over "Big Love"

HBO's polygamists-are-people-too drama "Big Love" is going into a Mormon temple on Sunday - and the real-life Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doesn't like it one bit.

An LDS Church statement issued Monday reads in part: "Now comes another series, 'Big Love,' and despite earlier assurances from HBO, it once again blurs the distinctions between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the show's fictional non-Mormon characters and their practices. Such things say much more about the insensitivities of writers, producers and TV executives than they say about Latter-day Saints."

The episode shows an LDS endowment ceremony, which is performed in the temple and witnessed only by church members with a temple recommend and in good standing - which would not, presumably, include the polygamist family that is at the series' center.

"We go into the endowment room and the celestial room, and we present what happens in those ceremonies," series co-creator Mark V. Olsen said in an interview with TV Guide. "That's never been shown on television before."

E-mails are circulating among Mormon groups, urging the faithful to cancel their HBO subscriptions and their AOL service in protest. (Why AOL? It, like HBO, is owned by TimeWarner.)

In any event, Olsen and HBO could be gracious and cut a check to the LDS Church - for giving the show all this free publicity.

Labels: Big Love, LDS, television

Monday, March 9, 2009

Plans for tonight: Just plain folk

- The Salt Lake City Film Center continues its monthly "Rock Docs" series with "Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten," Julien Temple's loving profile of the late Clash guitarist, at 7 at the Sorenson Unity Center, 1383 S. 900 West, Salt Lake City. Free.

- Donavon Frankenreiter and Gary Jules, two surfer-folksingers in the laid-back mold of Jack Johnson (who's a buddy of theirs), share the bill at 7:30 at The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $15, at SmithsTix.

- Two folk acts from Oregon - the band Blind Pilot (pictured) and songwriter Laura Gibson - play the Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City. Also on the bill is Utah's own Kathryn Cowles. Show starts at 8. Tickets are $8, at SmithsTix or 24Tix.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

Taking a club to the clubs

The Utah Legislature is saying goodbye to Utah's ridiculous "private club" law.

Gov. Jon Huntsman and leaders of the Utah Legislature today announced they have hammered out a major revision to the state's oddball liquor laws. The two biggest changes: An end to the fig-leaf that only "private clubs" could sell hard liquor, and that restaurants can remove the glass partition - the so-called "Zion Curtain" - that hides the booze from the bar patrons. (Here's the bill in full.)

"This bill tears down the walls," declared Sen. John L. Valentine, R-Provo, who has been in the lead on liquor issues in this year's legislative session.

But where one wall falls, another is going up. New restaurants will be required to build in a separate room for alcohol preparation, unseen by the patrons. Existing restaurants don't have to remodel their bars, but if they do they can get $30,000 in credit at the state liquor store.

In exchange for the loosening of restrictions on the soon-to-be-former "private clubs," legislators got tougher DUI laws - including a law that would, if you are arrested on a second DUI with a suspended license, make you forfeit your car.

These tougher DUI regulations were championed by Rep. Christopher Herrod, R-Provo, who compared it to the European approach to stopping drunk driving.

"In Europe, they have the culture that they drink heavily, but they do not drive," said Herrod (pictured). "That's the culture I want to bring to Utah."

Herrod's words brought a chuckle to the assembled legislators, lobbyists and journalists at today's press conference. Herrod blushed a bit, smiled sheepishly and explained that he wants Utah to adopt the European attitude toward drunk drivers, not drinking in general.

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws, politics, Utah Legislature

Megan's tattoo

It's been the burning question all the nation has been asking, apparently: Just what is tattooed on Megan Joy Corkrey's right arm?

The "American Idol" finalist - and 23-year-old single mom from Sandy, Utah - explained it in a Q-and-A session (which MTV.com dutifully transcribed here) after securing her spot in the top 13:

"It's a castle, and there's a night sky above it. And the glass is stained glass, and it's my fairy tale. And there's a king and a queen, and that's me and — who knows? And then there's a fairy godmother, my mom; a wizard, my brother; and a prince, my son. Then there's roses growing up the castle."

Corkrey has seven tattoos in all: Her son's name on her wrist, two stars on her back (representing herself and her mother), her middle name on her hip, and "a jumble of things I love" on both feet.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Labels: American Idol, Megan Joy Corkrey, Reality show

Friday, March 6, 2009

Plans for the weekend: Be happy

- The Utah Symphony, conducted by Larry Rachleff and featuring violinist Boris Brovtsyn, present "An Evening in Vienna" - featuring Ablan Berg's Concerto for Violin and Beethoven's Third Symphony ("Eroica") - tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m., at Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets, from $16 to $60, available at ArtTix.

- Hit rapper The Game is the headliner on a bill (which includes Nipsey Hussle, Chino-4-Real, Ace-High and Strangerz) starting tonight at 8 at Saltair, 12408 W. Saltair Drive, Magna. Tickets, at $35 each, available at the door.

- The Provo band Fictionist - the official strangely-named band of the Culture Vulture blog - plays on a bill that includes Paul Jacobsen & the Madison Arm and Nate Pyfer, tonight at 8 at Velour, 135 N. University Ave., Provo. Admission is $7, at the door.

- The Utah Jazz go for their 10th straight win - and their last home game before a five-game East Coast road swing - against the division-leading Denver Nuggets, tonight at 8:30 at EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are available through TicketMaster.

- "Charette: The Search for Utah's Iron Choreographer," Repertory Dance Theatre's annual competition, plays out Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $50, available at ArtTix.

- Jazz vocalist and one-man musical instrument Bobby McFerrin - who is so much more than "Don't Worry, Be Happy" - performs Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Kingsbury Hall, 1395 E. Presidents Circle on the University of Utah campus, Salt Lake City. Tickets, from $19 to $49.50, available at the Kingsbury Hall web site.

- The Young Dubliners, the acclaimed Celtic-rock band, brings St. Patrick's Day a wee bit early, Saturday at 8 p.m. at The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets, at $20, available at SmithsTix.

- California death-metal band Decrepit Birth plays Sunday at 8 p.m. at Club Vegas. Tickets are $10, at SmithsTix and 24Tix.

- And don't forget that Daylight Savings Time starts Sunday morning. Set your clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night.

Labels: Fictionist, Utah Jazz, Utah Symphony, weekend schedule

Brother, can you spare some toner?

Here's a little help for those of you who are recently unemployed, or just thinking about moving up in your situation: FedEx Office (formerly known as Kinko's) will let you make 25 copies of your resume for free.

The offer is good for one day only, on Tuesday, March 10, at FedEx Office locations around the country.

Considering today's news, that the nation's unemployment rate has jumped to 8.1 percent, you might want to get in line early.

Labels: economy

'Idol': Megan moves forward

"American Idol" finalized its Top 13 (not 12, but 13, in a "surprise" twist) Thursday night, and Megan Joy Corkrey - the 23-year-old single mom from Sandy, Utah - made the cut.

Unfortunately for Corkrey, her big moment of triumph was upstaged by another singer's hissy fit.

Corkrey impressed the judges with a fiery cover of KT Tunstall's "Black Horse & the Cherry Tree." Simon Cowell, while saying it wasn't the best vocal ever heard, heaped praise on Corkrey.

"What I like about you is that you're current," Cowell said. "Sometimes this show can get a bit karaoke, and I don't get that from you. You've got originality, you're quirky, you've got your own thing."

(Cowell's comment drew this rebuke from Michael Slezak, who's recapping "Idol" for Entertainment Weekly: "What is it about her that's so current? The fact that she's going to need serious help from Auto-Tune when she goes in to cut her debut album?")

When Corkrey got the word in the episode's final minutes that she would be moving on to the Top 13, she had to share the stage with drama queen Tatiana del Toro - whose meltdown in front of the judges when she was eliminated stole Corkrey's thunder. (On the plus side, Corkrey is almost guaranteed a supporting role on tonight's episode of E!'s "The Soup," when Tatiana's crying fit gets played over and over again.)

Also, did you notice that when Corkrey tried to give a high-five to fellow Top 13 pick Jasmine Murray, she got left hanging? Welcome to Hollywood, indeed.

(By the way, Corkrey has her own website now. Here it is.)

Labels: American Idol, Megan Joy Corkrey, Reality show

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Plans for tonight: Explore 'The Unknown'

- Funny band name of the week: Dear and the Headlights, an Arizona indie-rock band, playing at the Avalon, 3605 S. State St., South Salt Lake City. Reubens Accomplice and Miniature Tigers are the opening acts. Show starts at 6:30. Tickets are $12, at the door.

- "The Unknown," a 1927 silent thriller starring Lon Chaney as fugitive disguised as an armless circus performer who falls for his knife-throwing target (a young Joan Crawford), is possibly the strangest movie Tod Browning ever directed - yes, even stranger than "Freaks." It's playing, with Blaine Gale accompanying on the Wurlitzer organ, at 7:30 at The Organ Loft, 3331 S. Edison (140 East), South Salt Lake City. Admission is $5; call 801-485-9265 for reservations. (The show plays again Friday at 7:30 p.m.)

- Jaguares, the Grammy-winning Mexican alt-rock band, plays at The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Doors open at 8. Tickets are $30, at 24Tix.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

'Idol': Taylor's out; Megan gets last chance

Sixteen-year-old Hurricane resident Taylor Vaifanua was an early casualty on Wednesday night's "American Idol" results show - getting the word from Ryan Seacrest that she wouldn't be going into the Top 12.

But Megan Joy Corkrey, the 23-year-old divorced mom from Sandy, gets one more chance tonight to prove herself. Corkrey was one of eight competitors in the Top 36 who were chosen to compete for three wild-card spots tonight.

Michael Slezak, who writes the "American Idol" recap for Entertainment Weekly, thinks Corkrey might get the judges' approval to go on to the Top 12. He puts her odds at 3-1, just behind Anoop Desai and Ricky Braddy.

The show airs at 8 p.m. (Eastern/Pacific), or 7 p.m. (Central/Mountain) on Fox (Ch. 13 in Utah).

Labels: American Idol, Megan Joy Corkrey, Taylor Vaifanua

RIP, Tony Larimer

Tony Larimer - a Utah actor, director and teacher who died Tuesday at the age of 79 - was a big man with big eyebrows and a bigger heart.

"He was incredibly loving. He was devoted to the arts and education. Those were his major passions in life," his son Tim Larimer told the Tribune's Roxana Orellana.

Larimer appeared with practically every major theater troupe in Utah, and in every genre. He also appeared in films shot in Utah, including "Baptists at Our Barbecue," "Stalking Santa" and "The Dance." And he taught for 31 years at Rowland Hall-St. Marks.

"He was the kind of presence that allowed you to think about doing important work," Nancy Borgenicht at Salt Lake Acting Company said. "So you could think about giving to the community 'Death of Salesman,' 'The Ride Down Mount Morgan,' 'The Road to Mecca,' 'Hysteria.' It's hard to think about how you would have done plays like that without him. We all would have been less for it."

A service of remembrance will be held at St. Mark's Cathedral, 231 E. 100 South, Salt Lake City, at 1 p.m. Saturday - followed by a party at the church, to celebrate Larimer's life.

Labels: Tony Larimer

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Plans for tonight: Go Jazz!

- Can anything stop the Utah Jazz right now? The team is on an 8-game winning streak, and has won 11 of its last 12 games. The Jazz take on the Houston Rockets at 7 at EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are available at TicketMaster. (Oh, and for a good laugh, check out this Jazz-related item from The Onion.)

- Three bands - These Are Powers, Foundry Field Recordings and Darlin' Broads - for one price, starting at 7 at Kilby Court, 738 S. Kilby Court (330 West), Salt Lake City. Tickets are $6, at the door.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

Gamers' eyes on Utah

The Utah House passed, on a vote of 70-2, a bill that would allow people to sue retailers for false advertising if they sell age-inappropriate videogames to underage customers - if they advertise policies to prevent such sales.

The gaming world is watching the bill closely (the blog GamePolitics.com live-blogged the House floor debate), in part because of its potential chilling effect on videogame sellers - but also becausse the bill was written by an old nemesis, anti-videogame crusader and disbarred Florida lawyer Jack Thompson.

Labels: politics, Utah Legislature, videogames

Jonas Brothers on 'Fire'

Give the folks behind Provo's Stadium of Fire this much: They have their finger on the pulse of American pop music.

The July 4 event has booked this year's headliner - none other than the Jonas Brothers, the Disney-friendly boylicious pop trio. Right-wing blowhard Glenn Beck will be back as emcee. Tickets go on sale Friday.

If recent tradition holds, in about two months the JoBros will pose for racy near-topless photos in Vanity Fair. So mark your calendars.

Labels: Stadium of Fire

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Last call at Port O' Call

Port O' Call closed its doors a month ago - and on Wednesday and Thursday, everything inside the venerable Salt Lake City bar (including this sign) goes on the auction block.

The auction is set to start at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the club, 78 W. 400 South. There is a $10 fee to take part.

Want to see what's going up for sale? Here are a handful of the 1100-plus lots up for bids:

Lot #17: Budweiser toboggan.

Lots #35-47: Various neon signs.

Lot #84: T-shirt and autographed poster from The Roots.

Lot #97: Shower.

Lot #454: Brass taps.

Lot #400G: Antique cash register.

Lot #400R: Guitar wall accessory.

Lot #580, #581, #582: Oven and two U.S. 6-burner ranges.

Lot #483: Contents, men's room.

Plans for tonight: Put me to sleep

- The monthly Science Movie Night, presented by the City Library and the Utah Museum of Natural History, screens the 1944 biopic "The Great Moment" - profiling the dentist who popularized the use of nitrous oxide as an anesthesia - at 6:30 at the City Library auditorium, 210 E. 400 South, Salt Lake City. After the screening, Dr. Byron Fergerson from the University of Utah's Department of Anesthesiology will discuss the movie. Free.

- Pop Evil, a five-piece rock band from Michigan, plays at the Murray Theatre, 4959 S. State, Murray. Akelles, Adjacent to Nothing and Monarch are the opening acts. Show starts at 6:30. Tickets are $10, at the door. (This show was originally slated for the Avalon.)

(By the way, today's date provides a rare chance to repeat my favorite joke from "The Muppet Show's" Fozzie Bear: "If Tuesday Weld married Fredric March's grandson, she'd be Tuesday March the Third.")

Labels: Tonight's schedule

"American Idol": Taylor's night

Taylor Vaifanua, the 16-year-old beauty from Hurricane, Utah, finally gets to put her musical chops up for America's judgment on tonight's episode of "American Idol."

Vaifanua is in the last group of 12 singers from "Idol's" Top 36, from whom America will choose three singers to enter the round of 12. Those who don't make the cut could return in Thursday's wild-card round.

MTV.com's Gil Kaufman handicaps tonight's field, picking sassy belter Lil Rounds as the favorite.

The show airs tonight at 8 (Eastern/Pacific) or 7 (Central/Mountain) on Fox - Ch. 13 in Utah.

Labels: American Idol, Taylor Vaifanua

Monday, March 2, 2009

Plans for tonight: Tchaikovsky at 12

- Three bands - Alaska & Me (from Arizona, not Alaska), Seattle's The Real You and Provo's Johnny Android - for one low "yes, we're in a recession" price, starting at 7 at Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West). Tickets are $7, at 24Tix.

- 12-year-old Canadian piano prodigy Tami Lin will perform Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, as part of the Utah Chamber Artists' "Culture Meets Culture" program, starting at 7:30 at Libby Gardner Hall on the University of Utah campus. Tickets are $10 and $15, available at UCA's web site.

Labels: Tonight's schedule

Kelsey's off the bus

Salt Lake's own Kelsey Lee did herself and her hometown proud on VH1's "Rock of Love Bus" Sunday night - getting so drunk she could do little more than giggle when she was eliminated from the show.

After her first date with rocker Bret Michaels (achieved when her team won something called the "Truck Stop Olympics," thanks in part to Kelsey's wet t-shirt skills), Kelsey and big-breasted teammate Farah got plastered (a common occurrence on shows like this). Kelsey and Farah sloppily made out in the VIP area during Michaels' concert in Alabama - to the point where Big John, Michaels' right-hand man, exiled the pair to the bus to sober up.

Instead (as the clip below shows), Kelsey - the 23-year-old Huka Bar server - had a meltdown. She laid on a speed bump, sobbing and complaining she wanted to go home. Big John talked her down in time for the elimination ceremony.

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

"I can't be the only girl that's gotten drunk and laid on a speed bump," Kelsey said before the elimination.

But Michaels, saying "I am just not sure that the road is the place for you and me to even attempt to try and find love," sent Kelsey packing back to Salt Lake City.

"The next guy I find," Kelsey said in closing, "definitely won't be 44, and probably not a rock star."

Labels: Kelsey Lee, Reality show, Rock of Love Bus

Utah: Wired for porn?

Here's one statistic the Utah Tourism Council isn't going to be touting: According to a new study, Utah leads the nation, per capita, in its consumption of online porn.

According to this ABC News report, analyst Benjamin Edelman at Harvard Business School crunched some numbers for a company that runs dozens of adult websites. Taking credit-card data from 2006 to 2008 - with the customers' names removed, leaving the purchase date and the customers' zip codes - Edelman found little difference between states with a high rate of online porn sales and those with a low rate.

Edelman's research found that of the top 10 states for consuming online porn, eight of them gave their electoral votes to John McCain in the 2008 election. And the No. 1 state, with an average of 5.47 adult content subscriptions for every 1,000 home broadband users, was Utah.

Edelman told ABC he's not 100-percent sure why people in conservative states seem to use online porn more than their liberal counterparts, but he's got a guess: "One natural hypothesis is something like repression: if you're told you can't have this, then you want it more."

Labels: internet

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If you have any hot tips - interesting art exhibits, weird experiences at the theater, unusual billboards, sightings of “High School Musical” stars at Crown Burger, whatever - send them along to me at vulture@sltrib.com.