A Piece of Work -- Joan Rivers

Love low-key Saturdays. A couple hours shipping eBay items to buyers. A hour for laundry. Slowly reading the newspaper (rather than scanning the paper's website). AND ... time to catch a flick.

Today's pick was "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work," the new documentary that arrived last month. Though it's doubtful this film will be up for an Oscar, it is well-made, interesting and best of all, seriously funny. The New York Times review of the film made me curious -- glad the film finally showed up in Atlanta.

I was never much of a Rivers fan. Most recollections of her work are from drivel red carpet shows for big Hollywood events. Had no idea she apparently won on "Celebrity Apprentice" (new drivel) last year. The documentary shed some good light on Rivers, outlining her rise and fall and constant ups and downs since the 1960s.

It was impressive, too, to see her floor to ceiling (and I suspect custom-built) index card file cabinet drawers crammed, card catalog-style, with thousands and thousands of hand-written or typed note cards, each with its own joke and punchline. Paraphrasing here ...

" ... When you get old, your body droops. Your boobs droop. Even your vagina droops. I woke up the other day and looked down to see I was wearing bunny slippers with gray fur."

" ... I often address my staff as, 'Hey, Staff," because I can't remember their names. The other day I said, "Hey, staff. I'm lonely. Who's gonna f*ck me tonight?"

And in describing her Manhattan high rise home, decked out much like a Donald Trump condo or Liberace set (top to bottom historic French opulence), she said,

"This is what Mary Antoinette's condo would have looked like if she were rich."

The film follows Rivers through a year of her career -- and her 75th year on earth -- including the launch of a new stage play in the U.K., her Trump show appearance, chats with her daughter and about her absent agent (the audience learns his fate), and 'a day in the life' shots with her personal assistant trying to keep her schedule full morning, noon and night.

In addition to the card file/joke archive, I was impressed with Rivers' charity work (including annual Thanksgiving Day traditions for those in need), and appalled to learn what happened to her late husband (I had no idea). After seeing some of the downs Rivers endured, it was a relief to see some successes, too, including how Rivers manhandled a heckler at a casino stand up gig in Wisconsin.

Not in the film, there's at least one Joan Rivers Olympic joke online. Here's hoping Rivers will take her show on the road again for some club or theatre gigs -- she would likely bring down the house!

Photo via IMDB

Two Years And Counting

Tuesday marks the two-years-out milestone for London 2012. Donning my marketing cap, I wrote a guest post for Edelman's global ConsumerActionism blog, highlighting some Olympic planning that's likely underway via TOP Olympic sponsors and those who might seek to ambush market to London Olympic audiences. Hope you'll check out the post and the range of other content on the Edelman (where I work) site.

Photo via London 2012/LOCOG, an Edelman client

Cool Event Alert!

Surfing the Atlanta event scene, tonight I found word of a potentially off-the-chart cool event set for August 7 in Atlanta.

The High Museum of Art will host the "So Real ... Surreal Soiree" to open its new exhibition "Dali: The Late Work" featuring a variety of works by Salvador Dali.

Dali is one of my all-time favorites. It's been ages since my Florida trek to St. Petersburg to see the U.S. museum dedicated to Dali's work (hint: a fantastic experience!). It will be intriguing to see how the High presents the Catalan artist to an Atlanta audience.

One detail I've searched for in the past was any possible connection Dali may have had to Spain's numerous Olympic bids, including their successful Barcelona 1992 bid (which was in play around the time Dali died). So this may be my scavenger hunt topic for the High's new exhibition -- did any of the artist's late works tie back to the Games?

Perhaps the closest-to-Olympic work by Dali I've seen is "The Hallucinogenic Torreador" -- a massive work (see photo with this post) -- at St. Petersburg. The painting has an arena theme (and so much more).

The soiree invitation mentions the event includes "a phunky photo booth, Flamenco guitarist, a jewelry trunk show, live DJ, a wearable art fashion show highlighting several Atlanta artists, face paining" and more. I suspect tapas and/or Sangria will be on the menu.

Check out all the details at the High Museum website. Hope to see you there. I'll be the one wishing I had a handle bar or Dali moustache.

Photos via High Museum and this Flickr account

Team USA Roster for Youth Olympic Games

The roster of young Team USA competitors heading to the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (next month, in Singapore) are now published. The U.S. Olympic Committee released the athlete roster on Friday.

As an Atlanta resident, I was happy to find several Georgia athletes among the selected students. Specifically, there are Youth Olympic athletes hailing from Conyers, Dublin, Leesburg, Powder Springs and Stone Mountain, Ga.

It was surprising and cool to also find that my hometown Edmond, Okla., will be represented by two local rising stars -- one in volleyball, the other in track (perhaps the YOG-bound Edmond high jumper is training on the Edmond Memorial High School track where I failed to clear a single high jump bar in the early 1990s).

Check out the USOC press release and YOG team roster online to learn the names of your hometown favorites. YOG opening ceremonies kick things off on Aug. 14.

Graphic via Sportcal

Dow + IOC = The Right Olympic Chemistry (?)

Early last week an invitation arrived for the International Olympic Committee press conference to announce a new TOP Olympic sponsor.

Colleagues and I placed our bets on a range of current sponsors expanding their Olympic support from domestic to global reach, but none of us bet on Dow, the massive chemical conglomerate, as the new IOC partner (even though the Associated Press apparently broke this news a month or so ago).

Dow is an interesting addition to the Olympic family. According to the company backgrounder released at Friday's press conference, Dow first got involved with the 1980 Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid, and they've contributed on again off again at most Olympic Games since (most recently at Vancouver).

Absent from the press materials is mention of chemistry as it relates to doping in sports -- got to wonder the extent to which Dow's chemical expertise will be put to use to combat use of banned, performance-enhancing drugs through new or evolving detection methods, and how the Dow P.R. team will leverage Dow's expertise in this regard.

Overall, appears to be good chemistry.

Photo and logo via Dow

Olympic Swimmer Jenny Thompson Fights the Good Fight

Just read in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Olympic gold medalist Jenny Thompson fought off some alleged teen attackers who pulled up behind her in traffic (Thompson was driving a scooter) and tried to steal her ride.

Glad to see Thompson fought back and the would-be thieves instead took a ride to the clinker. Hello, they must not have seen her matching 'guns' (check out those Olympic swimming arms!).

Thompson may now add "scooter defense" to her great resume of achievement.

Photo via CorporateArtists.com

London 2012 Mascots Have An Eye On You

Today the world was introduced to Wenlock and Mandeville, the new London Olympic mascots.

Media outlets are picking up the story, and folks are starting to chime in with their views about the new characters that will populate merchandise, venues and all things London 2012 now through the Games.

Since the new eyecons, er, icons for London 2012 -- which both have a single oculus (or would that be ocula?) and a Terminator 2-like shiny, computer-generated exterior -- are a client of the P.R. firm where I work, I'll leave it to readers to share their thoughts on the new arrivals.

From the London 2012 press release (full version available here):

"Wenlock and Mandeville were created from the last drops of steel left over from the construction of the final support girder for the [London 2012] Olympic Stadium. An animated film, based on a story by children’s author Michael Morpurgo, shows how the figures were brought to life and are able to reflect and adapt to their surroundings, changing their appearance depending on the situation. Wenlock and Mandeville will now go on separate journeys, often crossing paths and meeting people all over the country inspiring them to choose sport as they head towards the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

"The mascots’ names reflect the UK’s rich Olympic and Paralympic histories. Wenlock’s name is inspired by the Shropshire village of Much Wenlock where the ‘Wenlock Games’ was one of the inspirations that led the founder of the modern Olympic movement Baron Pierre de Coubertin to create the Olympic Games. Mandeville’s name is inspired by Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire. In the 1940s, Dr. Ludwig Guttmann came to Stoke Mandeville Hospital to set up a new spinal unit to help former soldiers suffering from spinal cord injuries. Looking for ways to inspire those in his care, he encouraged them to take up sport, leading to the formation of the Stoke Mandeville Games, widely recognised as a forerunner of the modern Paralympic movement."

Wenlock has its own Facebook page and Twitter page, and Mandeville also has its own Facebook page and Twitter page.

What are your thoughts?

Photo via London 2012