Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.life From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Spike Lee sees AIDS as a plot Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 15:07:21 EST Message-ID: Lines: 134 \SE D;LIFE;THE MAG TRADE \HD Spike Lee sees AIDS as a plot \BY Cynthia Grenier \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES The media have just about overdosed on Spike Lee's "Malcolm X," surely bestowing on it more coverage than any other film in recent memory. But Rolling Stone, in the opening pages of its handsome 25th anniversary special featuring portraits of rock musicians, manages to outstrip its peers as regards Mr. Lee. The opening text of an eight-page advertisement for United Colors of Benetton, the upscale clothing store, reads: "We sought another powerful voice in the realm of social commentary. We could think of no more qualified individual to break through the static of mainstream media in the pursuit of change than filmmaker Spike Lee." An essay by Mr. Lee then accompanies a portfolio of Benetton ad photos from the past eight years (including one of a priest kissing a nun and another of condoms in primary colors). Toward the end, Mr. Lee opines: "All of a sudden, a disease appears out of nowhere that nobody has a cure for, and it's specifically targeted at gays and minorities (i.e., Hispanics and blacks). The mystery disease, yeah, about as mysterious as genocide. I'm convinced AIDS is a government-engineered disease." Lynn Tanzman, Rolling Stone's vice president for public relations, says it was all Mr. Lee's opinion and surely he's entitled to express it. It was not an editorial matter, she says, but a question for the advertising department and the publisher. (A promised phone call from those quarters was not forthcoming.) HOT STUFF National Journal has a humdinger of a story on lobbyists by Peter H. Stone: How many lobbyists and interests groups already have ties to President-elect Bill Clinton? What about all those promises to keep special interests on a leash? It'll be entertaining to see how the man from Arkansas walks this particular minefield. Run, don't walk, to the nearest newsstand to pick up the newest Washingtonian, unless you know someone who can give you the inside chat about The Washington Post. The front of the book is chockablock with gossipy items about the folks on 15th Street NW, such as who is a registered Democrat. Would you be surprised to learn that no registered Republicans were tracked down? The lead story, "Save Your Life," by Senior Editor Leslie Milk and Ken DeCell, coming as we head into bad health season, is comforting. We learn that Washington seems blessed with some singularly devoted and ingenious doctors. Keep this issue on file. SELF PROTECTION In the matter of looking out for yourself, you might want to get hold of the December Self. Basically a woman's fitness, health and beauty magazine, this issue has a meat-and-potatoes article on "Invasion of Privacy" by Roy Furchgott. It outlines how just about nothing in your life is private anymore and how to get your files yourself to discover what other folks know about you. It even gives you two addresses for the FBI - one if you don't have a criminal record, one if you do. A little on the chilling side to read, but surely valuable to know. Speaking of chilling, Forbes has a featured article in its current issue, dated Dec. 7, on "Tax Strategies for Clintonomics." Grim but, unfortunately, probably required reading for most of us. There's only one sentence that throws me: "If you have lots of money in retirement plans, think about a withdrawal. This is most likely to make sense for someone who is nearing retirement age anyway, and has several million dollars in IRAs, Keoghs and corporate thrift plans." Several million dollars? Deadpan humor? Everything else reads as sound and solid as can be. REALLY HOT STUFF The latest addition to the Forbes family is ASAP, "a technology supplement to Forbes magazine" - and a quarterly. It's very future-oriented, to say the least, and after a stint with tax strategies makes positively exhilarating reading. There's a sneak preview of contributing editor George Gilder's upcoming book, "Telecom," with a chapter on the "stunning potential" of fiber optics and how the technology will demolish the telephone industry as we know it. And consider "Hollywood Goes Digital," on how computer nerds are about to transform Hollywood. Ponder these opening sentences: "Hollywood is not high tech. Hollywood is not even industrial. Hollywood is feudal." But not for long, as "Hollywood is going digital." Author Robert X. Cringeley is the pseudonymous author of "Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Got Rich and Still Can't Get a Date," and does he ever seem to know his onions about the computer future. DOWN TO THE FROTH Harper's Bazaar and Vogue this month offer two exquisitely clashing visions of the world of high fashion. Harper's features an article, "The Gold Rush," by Joni Miller about how the latest culinary trend is to adorn food with edible gold leaf "to transform the 1990s into a new Gilded Age." While talking of cookbook author Rose Levy Beranbaum's "big, beautiful turkey, completely sheathed in gold leaf, surrounded by gilded cranberries," Ms. Miller notes it is preferable to buy your gold leaf from museum suppliers rather than art supply stores, which often carry lower-karat varieties. Vogue, on the other hand, is rushing to introduce us all to the world of grunge and "its impact on fashion in the repentant '90s." We're talking a mix of rough-and-tumble work clothes with waifish thrift-shop finery - "and a generous dose of androgyny." And a discreet ring through the nose here and there. Serious clumpy work boots worn with $360 Ralph Lauren dresses and made-to-order sweaters, complete with snags and runs worn by a male in a long plaid skirt. Outfits to freak out any parents, even before they get the bill for those Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein frocks (Calvin's dresses are going for $840 a pop). JUST A GIRL AT HEART The first really big change in the New Yorker was revealed in the issue of Nov. 23. There's this short story, "One-Woman Blues Revival" by Ralph Lombreglia, that's the most warm and fuzzy piece of fiction that the august publication may ever have run. No way Harold Ross, William Shawn or Robert Gottlieb - whatever complaints you might have about Tina Brown's illustrious predecessors as editors - would ever have run this cutesy tale featuring a woman disc jockey; her dog, Jesse; her cat, Sergeant Pepper; her raccoon, Sparky; and a Polish guitar-playing car mechanic in Vermont. Tina, you've finally shown us your girlish heart. Cynthia Grenier's "The Mag Trade" appears Mondays. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM