h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

When and where are you holding it? Too late to get to this year's but I could put in for some time off at the right time next year

Because nothing mixes better than politics and musicals I have to bring up 1776.

what's that about?

forgive my ignorance

span

ah i'm afraid the festival is in little ol' aotearoa/new zealand, a fair way from hong kong, dear star

sorry about that

span

Spanner, 1776 is a musical about the writing and adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

There are some silly bits, like choosing who will write the bloody thing and the argument over which bird will symbolize the new nation, Adams' eagle, Jefferson's dove or Franklin's turkey. There are some romantic bits. Most importantly there are some serious scenes that explore the compromises required in politics and the tragedies of war.

If you can get through it realizing that the actors will occasionally burst into song and dance it is worth a viewing. The facts are a little sketchy at parts, but I'd say so is most of the *official American History.* Take it all with a grain of salt.

*I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is a disgrace, that two become a law firm and that three or more form a congress...* 1776

Wow quite the list.

ah one small change - Bob Roberts had to go (although we may bring it back in a double billing with Wag the Dog on the last night) and a new doco called Breaking the Bank is being shown - it's like the Showdown in Seattle series, giving the activist side of the April 2000 protests against the IMF et al.

I'm just curious. How many of you who enjoyed "Bob Roberts" so much have seen the D.A. Pennebaker documentary about Bob Dylan called "Don't Look Back"?
Tim Robbins borrowed a lot from that movie.

Sure he did, but wasn't that the whole point? Robbins was trying to show how the ideals of the sixties had been corrupted. When Bob Roberts is sitting in the back of his tour bus discussing campaign tactics with his aides, the scene looks an awful lot like Bob Dylan lounging with Joan Baez / Marianne Faithfull / Bobby Neuwirth / Albert Grossman et al in a London hotel in the mid 1960s - except all the nice bohemianism, the laid-back egalitarianism, the 'who gives a damn' attitude, have been corrupted by the grab for big money and power. So Robbins' 'borrowing' from the Pennebaker film was intended to emphasise the underlying message of the film - power corrupts, etc. I thougt that was what satire was all about...

Lear,
Perhaps you misunderstood. I wasn't complaining about Robbins borrowing from "Don't Look Back" - far from it. I was simply curious as to how many had seen both movies and were aware of the similarities. You might be surprised how many have not.
Did you know that "Don't Look Back" is now available on DVD, and has an alternate soundtrack of running commentary by Pennebaker and Neuwirth? I highly recommend it.
-Noodles