While things went pretty much as expected in Utah on election night - Republicans still run pretty much everything they ran the day before (except for a Salt Lake County Council seat and a Utah House seat held by Speaker Greg Curtis) - the state's citizens did have some influence over votes elsewhere in the country:



- The Udall boys are going to the U.S. Senate - and Utah's own Robert Redford gave each of them a boost.

The Sundance Kid held a fund-raiser in September for Tom Udall, the Democrat running for the Senate in New Mexico. Redford also campaigned heavily for Tom's cousin Mark, the Democrat running in Colorado - even making a campaign stop in Aurora, Colo., last weekend.

Tom Udall is the son of Stewart Udall, who was Interior Secretary for JFK and LBJ. Mark Udall is the son of Mo Udall, longtime Arizona congressman and one-time presidential candidate.

- California's same-sex marriage ban, Prop. 8, was approved with about 54 percent of the vote - after a bitter and emotional campaign that saw members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (many of them in Utah) give a lot of money and time to ensure its passage.

The LDS Church's involvement in the campaign itself became a campaign issue, notably when a group called The Courage Campaign aired this ad depicting two LDS missionaries ransacking a lesbian couple's home and tearing up their marriage certificate. Church officials issued this statement in response:

"The Church has joined a broad-based coalition in defense of traditional marriage. While we feel this is important to all of society, we have always emphasized that respect be given to those who feel differently on this issue. It is unfortunate that some who oppose this proposition have not given the Church this same courtesy."

In other words, the LDS Church jumped into the ring with its boxing gloves on, then got its feelings hurt that somebody else would throw a punch. And considering the vitriol coming from the pro-Prop. 8 side, the criticism of the LDS Church was comparatively tame.

- And, finally, Utah can no longer claim to be reddest of the red states. Though Utah gave 63 percent of its vote to John McCain, both Oklahoma (66 percent) and Wyoming (65 percent) posted higher numbers for the Republican. (Conversely, Hawaii - the state of president-elect Barack Obama's birth - is the bluest state, with 72 percent of the vote for the Democrat. The District of Columbia gave Obama 91 percent of its vote.)

(Photo: Dennis Schroeder/Rocky Mountain News)

Labels: Barack Obama, LDS, politics, Robert Redford

Robert Redford is receiving a rare honor - and a nice chunk of change to go with it.

The Sundance Institute founder will receive the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize at a ceremony in New York on Nov. 12. The award is given annually to "a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life."

Besides the ceremony, Redford will receive a silver medallion and a cash prize of $325,000 - which Redford will pour into The Redford Center at the Sundance Preserve, a Sundance Institute think tank that aims to use creative expression to promote policy issues.

In a statement, Redford noted that Lillian Gish presented the actor with the Best Picture Oscar for "Ordinary People" 27 years ago. " It was an honor then, as it is now with the Gish Prize," Redford said.

Last year, the award went to experimental musician Laurie Anderson. Past recipients have included architect Frank Gehry (1994, the first year the prize was given), filmmaker Ingmar Bergman (1995), musician Bob Dylan (1997), writers Isabel Allende (1998) and Arthur Miller (1999), choreographers Merce Cunningham (2000) and Bill T. Jones (2003), and theater directors Lloyd Richards (2002) and Peter Sellars (2005).

Labels: Robert Redford, Sundance

What do you get if you mix Tanqueray No. Ten gin, Cointreau and pink grapefruit juice?

At the Icon Bar (pictured) at The Casino at The Empire, a swank gambling and nightlife establishment in London's Leicester Square, that mixture (according to this item in the British paper Metro) is called a Robert Redford.

Why call the drink a Robert Redford? Is it ruggedly handsome? A bit weathered? Environmentally conscious? Blonde on top?

At 9 pounds a pop (about $16 in American money), Redford himself better be serving it.

Labels: alcohol, Robert Redford

- The Utah State Fair continues at the Fairpark, 155 W. 1000 North, Salt Lake City. The Fair is open until 10 tonight. Tonight's grandstand show is the VeggieTales Rockin' Tour - with all of your favorite cute, cuddly and Christian plant-based characters - starting at 6. Tickets are $8, $6 seniors and kids 6-12, free for children 5 and young at all Smith's Food and Drug stores.

- A free screening of the documentary "Fighting Goliath: The Texas Coal Wars," narrated by Robert Redford and presented by the Utah chapter of The Sierra Club, is set for 7 at the Tower Theatre, 876 E. 900 South, Salt Lake City.

- Marcus - the man with one name, many tattoos and a second-place showing on NBC's "Last Comic Standing" - will be performing his act in a live taping for an upcoming DVD release, at Peery's Egyptian Theatre, 2556 Washington Blvd., Ogden. Doors open at 6, with a warm-up band and an appearance by Wolf from "American Gladiators," before Marcus takes the stage at 7:30. (Don't be late - they won't let you in, because you might walk in front of a camera or something.) Tickets are $25, at SmithsTix.

Labels: Marcus, Robert Redford, Tonight's schedule, Utah State Fair

The old adage that "you can't fight City Hall" has required modification in recent years, to include corporations as something one isn't supposed to fight.

But the short documentary "Fighting Goliath," narrated and backed by Robert Redford and screening for free tonight in three Utah cities, shows an instance of determined local activists fighting a big corporation and (for now, at least) winning.

The documentary shows what happened when the energy giant TXU proposed building 11 coal-fired power plants in central and eastern Texas, with a regulatory process fast-tracked by Gov. Rick Perry. Ranchers, small-town residents and big-city mayors banded together to fight the plan, citing the environmental and health dangers the plants posed.

The movie is supported by The Redford Center at Sundance Preserve, founded in 2007 and "devoted to a distinct brand of problem solving that brings artists to the table to collaborate with diverse groups of policy makers."

Redford told the Associated Press he was inspired by the coalition of divergent interests coming together on this issue. "To me, that was a sign of changing times," he said.

The movie is screening tonight at 7 p.m. at three Utah locations: The Tower Theatre, 876 E. 900 South, Salt Lake City; the Quality Inn in Richfield; and Grace Episcopal Church in St. George. The screenings are free to the public.

Labels: environment, politics, Robert Redford

Jay McDonough, a progressive blogger for the Salt Lake City edition of Examiner.com, perfectly pegged the off-the-wall suggestion by Cindy McCain that her husband John's vice-presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has foreign-policy experience because "Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia." (No, she really said that - here's the YouTube evidence.)

Countered McDonough: "I met Robert Redford so I, therefore, know about acting."

Labels: John McCain, politics, Robert Redford, Sarah Palin

Actor/director/activist/Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford is 72 today, and still people persist in referring to him as "The Sundance Kid."

Well, we should all look so good at 72. (I wouldn't mind looking that good now.)

Labels: Robert Redford

The next voice you hear during the Beijing Olympics may be that of Robert Redford.

The actor and Sundance Institute guru is the off-camera narrator for a new series of commercials for United Airlines, according to this BrandWeek article.

The animated spots use Redford's voice and Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." The first one, "Sea Orchestra," aired during the opening ceremonies of the games. The others - "Moon Dust," "Heart," "Butterfly" and "Two Worlds" - will play during the games, and can be seen on YouTube.

The airline says, are meant to "capture the spirit of international air travel." Is there one where the passengers are herded like cattle at the stockyards, then charged $2 for a bag of peanuts?

Labels: Robert Redford

No surprise here: Actor and activist Robert Redford says he's going to support presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama for president.

But the Sundance Kid is not 100 percent confident the Illinois senator will win.

"I hope he'll win. I think he will," he told Michael Dwyer of The Irish Times in a public interview at Dublin's Trinity College. "If he doesn't, you can kiss the Democratic Party goodbye. I think we need new voices, new blood. We need to get a whole group out, get a new group in."

Redford recalled that when he first became politically active, speaking out on energy issues in the 1970s, he was frequently belittled as "just an actor."

"That had a lot of weight," Redford said, "until Reagan was elected. Now things have changed so much. You're not alone out there."

Redford is receiving an honorary degree from Trinity College today.

Labels: Robert Redford

Robert Redford says he is staying on as a consultant for the Sundance Channel, which was recently sold to Rainbow Media (owners of the cable channels AMC and IFC).

Redford told The New York Times that he plans to direct (and possibly appear in) a series of short films under the Sundance Channel brand that will screen exclusively on mobile phones. He also is pushing for two initiatives he couldn't get his old partners, NBC and Universal, to move on: Expanding the documentary programming on the channel, and taking the channel overseas.

Redford said he was “interested in new technology” but “ultimately interested in whether we’re providing stories well told.”

Labels: Robert Redford

Yesterday I noted that Utah resident and world citizen Robert Redford had written an e-mail endorsement for Colorado Democrat Mark Udall, who's running for the U.S. Senate.

How much is such a celebrity endorsement worth? Depends on who you ask.

Stephen Baldwin - who qualifies, barely, for the title "celebrity" because he was on "Celebrity Apprentice" - opined Monday on Fox News that "what is freaky to me is the media and Hollywood is so convinced that Middle America and mainstream America cares what it thinks."

Baldwin then went on to endorse John McCain for president, and promised that he would leave the country if Barack Obama becomes president - a riff on brother Alec's promise, on which he reneged, to leave the country in 2004 if John Kerry lost. (This brings up two questions: 1. Isn't Stephen Baldwin leaving if Obama's elected what we would call a "win-win"? 2. What's Thanksgiving dinner like at the Baldwin house?)

Obviously, the answer to the question of "What's a celebrity's endorsement worth?" is "The same as anyone else's endorsement is worth." But not all celebrity endorsements are created equal.

Some celebrities - like Redford or Warren Beatty - carry more weight because they have reputations for thoughtful political involvement. Others (for example, Barbra Streisand) help bring in fundraising dollars. Republicans seem to like to be surrounded by action-movie stars (like Arnold Schwarzenegger, before he became a politician himself, or Chuck Norris) to give their candidates an air of toughness. Obama got serious traction from the endorsement of Oprah Winfrey.

People may listen to these celebrities' opinions - just as they listen to the opinions of their elected officials, their clergy, their relatives or their barber. How much weight each of those carries is up to the individual voter to decide.

Labels: Barack Obama, politics, Robert Redford

Colorado voters, about 50,000 of them, may be seeing an e-mail in their inbox from Robert Redford.

According to Rocky Mountain News columnist Penny Parker, The Sundance Kid sent out a campaign pitch for Mark Udall, the Colorado congressman who's running for a U.S. Senate seat.

Udall is the son of venerated Arizona congressman Mo Udall, the nephew of JFK's Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, and the cousin of New Mexico congressman (and U.S. Senate candidate) Tom Udall. And, yes, they're all Democrats.

It's not the first time Redford has helped Mark Udall - having recorded a robo-phone message for Udall's 2000 House campaign. "Some women saved that voice mail for such a long period of time," said campaign spokeswoman Tara Trujillo. "Some accidentally erased the voice mail and called our office back to see if [Redford] could re-record the voice mail."

Labels: politics, Robert Redford