11/20/2007

Iconoclasts

Props to Andrew Fried - who produced the most recent episode of Iconoclasts - featuring Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and legendary TV writer/producer Norman Lear.

Because we're friends with Andrew - Amy and I have watched a handful of Season 1 episodes - and we both agreed that this episode was the best one we've seen yet...In fact, it passed the VERY difficult "Amy couch" test.... If it's after 10:30PM, and Amy is on the couch lying down with the TV on ... Let's just say that even her favorite shows sometime don't pass the test... She's OUT! Well - last night - it was after 11 - and she didn't fade at all ... That should tell you something!

The show was really well put together, but most importantly was quiet interesting. Two things I found most interesting were:
  1. Howard Schultz wasn't the founder of Starbucks ... He wasn't even close ... He bought the chain after 10+ years as an employee. He did invent the "Coffee service" aspect of the chain, whereas before, they only sold pre-packaged pounds of coffee.
  2. A citizen (Norman Lear) actually BOUGHT and OWNS The Declaration of Independence. Huh? Where have I been?? I honestly had no idea ... I figured it was in a historic museum of some kind ... and ... I'm assuming I'm not alone. Norman Lear needs a MySpace page....
For those that don't know, Iconoclasts is a show that brings two legendary "icons" in different fields together so they can pseudo interview each other. Typically, if you are a fan of one (or both) of the subjects - the show is really interesting. The challenge for me, personally, is that in the past the subjects tended to be people I wasn't overly familiar with or interested in... I suppose that says something about the lack of broad culture in my life -- but thats neither here nor there ... whatever that means)....

Here's a clip... Good work Andrew!
Posted by at

2 comments:

Sugar Fried said...

Thanks so much for the plug. I'm really glad you enjoyed the show and I appreciate the compliment.

2:24 PM
Sugar Fried said...

As far as a citizen owning the Declaration of Independence, the following should be noted:

When the original Declaration was written in 1776, 200 copies were made and distributed throughout the 13 colonies to be read aloud in public. They were printed by a man named John Dunlap, and these original 200 copies are known as the "Dunlap Copies."

There were 25 known Dunlap copies left (held in museums and state houses, etc.) when several years ago, a gentleman purchased a picture frame for a few dollars at a flea market. He took out the picture that was in the frame he had bought (as he was really only interested in the frame) and found a folded up piece of paper behind the picture in the frame. That piece of paper ended up to be an original Dunlap copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Norman Lear purchased this 26th known copy at auction in 2000 for $8.1 million. He has since toured it around the country so as many young people can see it fiin person as possible. Lear later founded the organization "Declare Yourself" to further support the cause of young voter participation.

Please log on to www.declareyourself.com for more information about this wonderful organization.

2:48 PM

Post a Comment