A tale of two women
This is a little story about a couple of women. I know them only by reputation, having never met either.
The first: Barbra Streisand. A legend in her time. I loved her in “Funny Girl” and “Funny Lady,” not so much in “Meet the Fockers.” But I can’t deny her musical genius, though she has become a little eccentric and apparently unapproachable in recent years.
Maybe this item will show a bit of her humanity. Streisand chose the Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. (which uses Brooklynized™ water in all of its food, beverage and bakery products) to cater the wrap party that marked the end of filming her new movie, “My Mother’s Curse.” The celebration was held July 14.
I’m told that from the first moment Barbra tasted a bagel from The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co., she knew she would want to share a little bit of her hometown with the cast and crew that worked so hard on her new movie. Since the movie wrapped so early in the morning, a true Brooklyn bagel was an appropriate way to celebrate.
The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. (founded in Delray Beach two years ago) opened its Beverly Hills restaurant the night before the party to bake the bagels. The company then dispatched the fresh bagels, deluxe cream cheese spreads and other breakfast food to arrive just in time for the festivities.
“It’s an honor to have someone of Barbra Streisand’s stature and a fellow Brooklynite recognize that our bagels, coffee and food are true to her roots,” said Steve Fassberg, president and chief executive officer of the company. “Those of us who grew up in Brooklyn know the difference right away with just one taste.”
Larry King, the legendary broadcaster and good friend of Streisand, opened the Beverly Hills restaurant earlier this year.
The second lady. Sarah Palin. (Remember her?) Did you know she has a degree in journalism? Well, that’s what she SAYS, but you know about politicians and the truth.
It’s nice that she has a journalism degree (that makes two of us). But she recently said she’d like to teach members of the mainstream media a thing or two when it comes to producing quality reporting and news coverage.
“I want to help them” she said in a taped interview for the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody.
“I have a journalism degree,” she said. “That is what I studied. I understand that this cornerstone of our democracy is a free press is sound journalism. I want to help them build back their reputation and allow Americans to be able to trust what it is that they’re reporting.”
OK, Sarah, come on down. Let’s sit together and you can teach me about journalism. I’ve only been in the newspaper business for 40-some years, so I’m sure I need to hear your wonderful advice.
Let me tell you one thing, though. A lot of people who pass themselves off as journalists really aren’t. Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck were disc jockeys. Nancy Grace was a prosecutor. Dr. Drew is a psychologist.
Who, exactly, are you talking about? I consider myself a mainstream journalist. I have never written anything about you, about your political gaffs when you were running for office; not your TV show where you beat fish to death and shot elegant bucks to death.
No, you’ve gotten a break from me, so get off my case.
If you think me or my writing needs to be “straightened out,” give me a call. Otherwise, just chill out up there in Alaska.
