To Wong Kar …
Thanks for everything, Norah Jones.
While discussing Jones, the sultry chanteuse and star of Wong Kar-wai’s Memphis-shot film My Blueberry Nights, the acclaimed director told The New York Times, “In Memphis … there’s something very classic about her presence. In New York, it’s very contemporary.”
Although we can’t be entirely sure, we think Wong is saying that the sublime Ms. Jones is “hot” but not, you know, “New York hot.” We also understand that Jones is a “good sport,” “one of the guys,” and has a “terrific personality!”
Well, by Memphis standards, anyway.
Pecking Orders
“[E]xpertise and commentary is free and resides just a phone call or an e-mail away,” Commercial Appeal editor Chris Peck wrote last week in an apologetic editorial explaining why he thought two recent CA articles had missed the mark. “Using experts efficiently adds substance and bulk to a news story,” Peck concluded, getting things about half right.
It should go without saying that when journalists consult experts and academics about specific problems facing Memphis, they often receive overly generalized commentary that is out of context. Likewise, media analysts have long pointed out that various think tanks and other expert-heavy groups tend to have a specific agenda to push. That’s why it’s somewhat surprising that the editor of Memphis’ daily paper would make a statement in print that might seem more appropriate to an editorial meeting.
Peck closed with a bit of fatherly advice to “all journalists who use outside experts”: “Consultants are like the bottom half of a double boiler,” he wrote. “They get all heated up but don’t always know what’s cooking.”
When asked to comment on this statement, The Fly Team’s resident editorial expert said, “That sounds like the pot calling the double boiler black.”
