Today's Embarrassing Error In The LA Times
In a story about the rise and fall of a black screenwriter, prominently placed as today's "Column One" story, John L. Mitchell quotes the guy:
"I'm never that far away from a blockbuster hit," he says. "They can tell me 'no' a thousand times, but all I need is one hit again and I'm cool and the gang."
Um, try Kool And The Gang.
Just a suggestion, but they might try hiring a few more people over there at the Times who have left the house and experienced culture, pop and otherwise, from time to time.
Am I being unfair? In fact, it's even more embarrassing than it seems. In the words of the late David Shaw, quoted on Kausfiles:
When I or virtually any other mainstream journalist writes something, it goes through several filters before the reader sees it. At least four experienced Times editors will have examined this column, for example. They will have checked it for accuracy, fairness, grammar, taste and libel, among other things.
In other words, in addition to this writer, and the copy editors over there on Spring Street, "at least four experienced editors" have never heard of Kool And The Gang. Scary.
Um, yeah. Or maybe -- just maybe -- a copy editor decided to spell cool properly. Unless you think the speaker meant to say he was going to be transformed into the popular late '70s group by the sale of his next screenplay.
Chris at April 14, 2006 1:06 PM
"Kool and the Gang" is not a collective adjective for fabulous like "all that and a bag of chips", which would seem to be the LAT's take on the useage.
This is one of the few "downward spiral" stories
I 've ever seen in the Times where personal responsibility in a tragedy is acknowledged. Usually the writer resorts to passive voice "Drugs happened".
KateCoe at April 14, 2006 1:30 PM
A year ago I rented a car for a day.
The kid (22-ish) asked: "You want insurance with that?"
Me: "Pasadena."
Kid: "Cool and the gang." (Phonetic.)
I don't think he ever smoked dope through cherry papers in a friend's Rambler with "Jungle Boogie" on the FM like we used to do... He wouldn't know that Kool was the bass player. It's just a chattering phrase, it's not a koan for musical awareness.
Crid at April 14, 2006 1:33 PM
"We" meaning the Indiana teenage circle of years ago, not meant as an accusation of either lawless drug use or bad musical taste
Crid at April 14, 2006 1:35 PM
I guarantee you, the guy was referencing "Kool And The Gang." Correct usage would have been to put it in quotes like so 'Kool And The Gang' -- within the outside quotes.
Amy Alkon at April 14, 2006 2:12 PM
WWSJD?
eric at April 14, 2006 3:31 PM
Sean Jean? Steve Jenner? Sarah Jessica? Sally Jesse?
Crid at April 14, 2006 5:49 PM
Hey, excuse me a minute.
Does anyone out there have any information about how many US generals and Admirals there are? I just heard our Secretary of Defense say "out of the thousands and thousands of US generals and admirals" and that struck me as, um, weird.
eric at April 14, 2006 5:51 PM
OOpss- sorry Crid~
Samuel Jackson, in Pulp Fiction. But now I am thinking it may have been Vingh Rhames...
eric at April 14, 2006 5:59 PM
I believe it was Jules, after Marcellus said he'd called Mr. Wolf to save their stupid asses: "[N-word], that's all you had to say. I am Kool and the Gang."
Jim Treacher at April 14, 2006 6:27 PM
You guys are too hip for the room. It's not that I'm getting old.
No, really.
> out of the thousands and
> thousands
Such an enterprise is said to be "overflagged."
SEE? I'm all about the jargon
Crid at April 14, 2006 6:38 PM
Nope- just caught it- opposite Quentin when they are discussing "dead [n-word} storage" and gourmet coffee.
I love this blog Amy....
PS- Treach- I looked at the original script online, googled "pulp fiction script", and never caught SJ would off his buddy Jimmy (Quentin Tarantino) and his wife if they were all discovered.
eric at April 14, 2006 6:41 PM
eric, turns out it is a little weird. According to the Pentagon's Statistical Information and Analysis Division (SIAD), there were as of February exactly 881 officers of general or flag rank on active duty in the US armed forces.
Link to info is here.
Tim McGarry at April 15, 2006 1:05 PM
Thanks Tim- I thought maybe a couple hundred total.
eric at April 15, 2006 3:55 PM
Crid, just when I thought you and I had absolutely nothing in common, you write something that makes me think we must have been in the same high school crowd. Except I was in Missouri, not Indiana, and I don't recall a Rambler specifically - although that may have been the effect of the cherry rolling papers.
Melissa at April 18, 2006 9:06 PM
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