January 31, 2014

A note to Gregory Clark on surname persistence

From an article by Gene Maddaus in the L.A. Weekly:
Salmon P. Chase
Remington Chase and Stefan Martirosian should be on top of the world. In the last two years, they have produced a dozen films, including Lone Survivor, starring Mark Wahlberg as a Navy SEAL fighting for his life in Afghanistan. Two years ago, no one in the industry had heard of them, but now they mingle with A-list stars. By their own estimate they have become the biggest independent financiers in the business, plowing $100 million in cash into production, plus another $200 million in bank loans. 
In the week before Christmas, just before the premiere of Lone Survivor, they're having coffee at Urth Caffé in Santa Monica — and sitting down for their first in-depth interview. 
But Chase and Martirosian aren't here to talk about the bravery of the Navy SEALs or about working with Peter Berg. Instead, they want to quash a story about their pasts.
Remington Chase

And no wonder. Their backgrounds include convictions for cocaine trafficking; ties to the Russian oil business, the Armenian government and the African diamond trade; and stints as federal informants. Most disturbing are allegations that they orchestrated a contract killing in Moscow — allegations that the Moscow police took seriously enough to investigate. 
Chase and Martirosian say they can explain everything. (They've brought along a Hollywood publicist to help.) 

Spoiler Alert: Seven pages later the two movie producers / crooks are still talking about their post-Soviet connections and crimes; here's the ending:
Throughout the conversation, Maxine Leonard, the publicist, has been quiet, occasionally looking down at her phone. But as the conversation progresses, her eyes grow wider and wider. Finally, she simply has to interrupt. 
"Can I just stop right here?" she asks, in a very polite British accent. "This is all just kind of incredible, amazing stuff. You don't want any of this — nobody wants any of what I've been listening to for the last 30 minutes, anywhere in any kind of like print story about you guys being involved in Hollywood making movies." 
They try to allay her worries, but she is not kidding around. 
"Any of this stuff coming out," she says, "is horribly damaging."
Stefan Martirosian & Remington Steele:
a study in different quality dye jobs

By the way, for the purposes of estimating social mobility over the centuries via surname analysis, it should be noted that Remington Chase isn't actually descended from Lincoln's treasury secretary Salmon P. Chase, in whose honor the Chase gigabank was named, nor does he have ties to the Remington gun company, nor to the Remington Steele TV show. Nor does Remington Chase look much like Pierce Brosnan, but if you assume he does based on a series of murky associations in your mind that you haven't really thought through, Remington Chase probably wouldn't object.

In truth, he's had lots of names (such as William Paul Elliot and William Elliot Westwood), and Remington Chase is just the cool name he was using when he went into the history books as a big time movie producer.

Take note, Dr. Clark.

Note to Hollywood publicists like poor Ms. Leonard who are hired to represent career criminals: Insist that your clients only be interviewed while wearing dresses. Guys like Stefan and Remington will no doubt initially object, but they will thank you in the long run. 
      

57 comments:

  1. Wasn't there a detective show in the 80's called Remington Chase?

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  2. It was Remington Steele. The premise was there was a detective agency inherited by a toung woman and just made up a figurehead who had the snazzy name of Remington Steele. Then one day she was under pressure to present the fictional Mr. Steele and she met a good looking Grifter (played by Pierce Brosnon) who steps into the role. Antics happen and crimes are solved.

    Brosnon is a pretty snazzy name.

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  3. Fallen idol and mega fraudster 'Robert Maxwell' was just one of a whole slew of names one 'Jan Ludwig Hoch' used throughout his long career.
    Apparently he even used to call himself by the surname 'Du Maurier' whilst first trying to make a name for himself.

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  4. You mean Remington Steele didn't actually found The Tatler, The Spectator, and The Guardian with his cowriter Joseph Addison in the 1710s?

    It's all very confusing...

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  5. But Maxwell was the publisher of all those scientific journals, so surely he must have been the grandson of physicist James Clerk Maxwell? And his sister wrote "Rebecca," right? And his brother was Agent 86.

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  6. Maxwell wasn't my cup of tea. Nor coffee.

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  7. What about a follow-up on the incompetence of your so-called justice system?

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  8. What's the purpose of those alias names behind?

    Military spouse jobs

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  9. Yeah, I love how fake that guy's name is. He's like a stripper...

    Okay, I withdraw that remark.

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  10. I ran across this paragraph in the LA Weekly article and had myself a good long chuckle.

    "In Armenia, as in Russia, the worlds of business and politics are intertwined. Success depends to a great extent on maintaining friendly relations with powerful people."

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  11. OT http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2014/01/31/6722/brooklyn-nets-project-wants-to-raise-more-cash-by-selling-more-green-cards/

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  12. By the way, for the purposes of estimating social mobility over the centuries via surname analysis, it should be noted that Remington Chase isn't actually descended from Lincoln's treasury secretary Salmon P. Chase, in whose honor the Chase gigabank was named....

    That's funny; I just spent five minutes digging around the internet to see whether he is the son of David Chase.

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  13. From the L.A. Weekly article:

    "They've learned from early mistakes, Martirosian says. "If we're going to do a film, we have to control it, A to Z. We cannot be passive investors. That's out of the question."

    Among their projects now in development are movies based on two Hasbro board games: Monopoly and Hungry Hungry Hippos.

    "We're going to do it smart," Chase says. "We've learned a tremendous amount over the past two years. Our losses have not deterred us. Our losses have actually increased our drive to produce good pictures.""

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  14. http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/DSouza-Dershowitz-targeting-selective/2014/01/29/id/549845?promo_code=EB8D-1&utm

    Only knockout thug charged by Holder is a white guy.

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  15. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/magazine/confessions-of-a-tiger-couple.html

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  16. Pierce Brosnan is Irish. It looks suspiciously Jewish but he's a Paddy.

    Honestly.

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  17. Is 'class' natural?

    In a way.

    Among wolves, there is a pecking order within the pack.
    Same with chimp tribes. Not all chimps are equal.
    Hierarchy is the norm within the community of social animals.

    Before the idea of 'class' was conceptualized, hierarchies had naturally formed to be noticed.

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  18. White flight away from traditional sports, towards hockey and lacrosse:

    "Youth Participation Weakens in Basketball, Football, Baseball, Soccer
    Fewer Children Play Team Sports"

    http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303519404579350892629229918

    "ahead of this weekend’s spectacle in New Jersey, there is some sobering news about the country’s most-popular team sports: Fewer children are playing them.

    Combined participation in the four most-popular U.S. team sports—basketball, soccer, baseball and football—fell among boys and girls aged 6 through 17 by roughly 4% from 2008 to 2012, according to an examination of data from youth leagues, school-sports groups and industry associations.

    Lacrosse participation was up 158% in 2012 from 2008."

    "There are a few rising stars in youth sports. By one estimate, from the SFIA/Physical Activity Council survey, 770,000 youth participated in organized lacrosse in 2012, up 158% from its 2008 estimate. The sport uses many of the same skills as football, though with less contact, and may be gaining some participation from football’s losses.

    The survey showed ice-hockey participation growing 64% from 2008 through 2012 among the 6-to-18 age group."

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  19. http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/01/the-signals-that-make-tech-startups-so-homogeneous/

    Homogenius

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  20. It must take heroic acts of will for Ramzan Kadyrov to not move to Los Angeles (I can't imagine our ICE would keep him out). Or maybe he's waiting until he acquires enough cash.

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  21. IMDb says "Born: Remington Chase". Really?

    There is no Wikipedia page, implying he doesn't meet their "general notability guideline"-- who in Hollywood would allow this situation to stand, unless he was hiding something?

    Google throws up more on Remington Chase Reimer, a Texas kid whose valedictory speech was pulled for proselytizing. A Fort Worth high schooler is more prominent than a busy producer in LA?

    This is fishy. Who is this guy?

    Tony Randall managed to hide his origin as Lenny Rosenberg of Tulsa, but that was before the Internet and the "outing" culture took over.

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  22. IMDb says "Born: Remington Chase". Really?

    He has no Wikipedia page, implying he doesn't meet their "general notability guideline". Who in Hollywood would allow this situation to stand, unless he was hiding something?

    Google throws up more about Remington Chase Reimer, a Fort Worth kid whose valedictory speech was pulled for proselytizing. A Texas high schooler is more prominent than a busy producer in LA?

    This is fishy. Who is this guy?

    But "Remington Chase" is no worse than "Lindsey Adams Buckingham", which conceals his roots in Poland, or "Lucille LeSueur", the exotic real name of the duller Joan Crawford. I can see a teased chubby young Rem embracing "Bill Elliot".

    Tony Randall managed to hide his origins as Lenny Rosenberg of Tulsa for a long time, but that was before the Internet and "outing" culture took over.

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  23. Of course, the Chases could be from LA's most forgotten minority, Okies. The hoplophile "Remington" suggests as much.

    "Chase" is mainly a New England name, but the most famous Franklin and Lincoln were from outside their surnames' concentration, too. An Okie-- or Arkie, Texie or New Mexie-- Chase is quite possible.

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  24. Oswald Spengler1/31/14, 11:04 AM

    "In Armenia, as in Russia, the worlds of business and politics are intertwined. Success depends to a great extent on maintaining friendly relations with powerful people."

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    He's a regular Dale Karnegosian.

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  25. Madison Rockefeller1/31/14, 11:16 AM

    The Chua Paradox.

    Libs have been saying they oppose stereotypes. So, they welcome Asian women who are headstrong, assertive, outspoken, and opinionated than ones that are demure, submissive, obedient, timid, and etc.

    Chua is pretty outspoken. Yet, so many Libs hate her and wish she would be just a nice little housewife minding her own business.

    And yet, another twist. Chua is outspoken and assertive in her respect for authority and power than in rebellion against it.

    In this, one might say she's like another outspoken Asian female hated by Libs: Michelle Malkin.
    But then, Chua is a political Liberal. She is a behavioral conservative than a political one.

    So, there are two oddities here.

    1. Libs say they want an outspoken Asian woman, but they hate Chua, a very outspoken Asian at that.

    2. To be outspoken in American generally means to go against the power, but Chua's noise is about respect for power and how to get some of it yourself.

    Libs see themselves as being outspoken against power than in awe of power... but there's another oddity because they, especially Liberal Jews, have the most power, and they don't seem to be too outspoken against Obama, NSA, AIPAC, the Ivy League elites, Wall Street, and etc.

    So, they like the conceit of speaking truth to Power--as represented by the redneck white hillbilly and Texas rancher who supposedly rule America--, but they don't really want to discuss the true nature of power and who has it because they themselves have it. The real powerful in this country are Jews, liberal wasp collaborators, homos, and etc. Washington DC is supposed to represent all of America, but it voted 95% for Obama. Congress may have Dems and Repubs, but the city and its bureaucracy are entirely one-party. Same is true of Ivy League universities. And in social and cultural terms, Wall Street is 95% Liberal. It still sticks with the GOP because Republicans are bigger whores to the rich.

    Chua's books, intentionally or not, undermine the Correct Narrative that would have us believe that Liberals represent the People against the all-powerful Southern rednecks(who are still scaring blacks half to death in KKK outfits) and Texas ranchers who are gunning down noble 'undocumented immigrants'. And of course, the other great evil powers in the world are Iran with its nukes(though it has none) and Putin as New Hitler with his... 'gay holocaust'.

    Chua's main focus on power and privilege--centered around Harvard and Wall Street with its many Jews--may be unnerving to Liberals.

    Through the centuries, the Christian elites with the power never let the poor masses(the suckers)forget that Jews killed Jesus, so even in places with almost no Jews, the sucker masses thought "Jews, Jews, Jews killed Jesus, so Jews, Jews, and Jews are to be feared"--even when Jews were exiled from their communities. The Correct Narrative of the Jewish Liberals is that white rightists--forever tainted with neo-Nazi wickedness--are forever the main threat and the main power. College campuses are like the VILLAGE in Shylamaman's movies. KKK is out there somewhere, anywhere, everywhere. White male La Crosse players are plotting to rape innocent black girls. They are the neo-Nazi creeps in GIRL WITH THE DRAGON ASS TATTOO.

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  26. Madison Rockefeller1/31/14, 11:16 AM

    Sometimes, I wonder if Chua is really naive or just playing dumb. She seems naive in believing that the Liberal powers-that-be will appreciate her for her admiration for their success, money, and privilege when, in fact, the last thing that rich Liberals--especially Jews--want to be publicly associated with is power, wealth, and privilege. They want more of it, but they wanna be associated with 'good causes' and 'fighting racism', which is why rich folks are always going for photo-ops with 'saving the world' agendas. But Chua spills the beans and says, 'wow, you guys got lots of power and wealth, and I respect you for it, and I want you to tell me and the world how you got it and how you're gonna keep it and even getting some more.'

    Faux Paus or Faux Chua or Chua Paux.

    That's like nouveau riche vulgarity among the established Liberal rich. If you want to be a classy rich Liberal, no matter how much money you rake in and how much influence you peddle, you have to act like you're working for the salt of the earth, care about 'victims', make the world a more 'diverse' and 'equal' place.

    Sometimes, outspoken respect and admiration can have the most subversive impact. Suppose a beautiful/sexy woman got married to a rich guy and has men ogling her for her face, tits, and ass. But she acts like she doesn't care about her own looks and has noble things on her mind like saving poor African kids. And suppose she wants to believe that her rich hubby married her for her mind and personality than for her looks.
    And suppose most people in her circle go along with the charade. But suppose someone walks up to her and says, "Wow, you look really sexy with those fantastic boobs and ass. what kind of makeup do you use and what kind of exercise do you to keep your buns bouncy?"

    Said in admiration but subversive of the conceits of her and her circle.

    So rude!!!

    Praise notices power yet some power don't want to be noticed.

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  27. A feminist debate erupts on Twitter over whether women unifying over their shared body parts is "cissexist."

    http://prospect.org/article/aint-nothing-vagina-thing

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  28. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/hong-kong-loves-weird-english-names/263103/

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  29. Benedict Wong. LOL.

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  30. http://hksarblog.blogspot.hk/

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  31. These guys work in Hollwood but Dinesh is headed to jail for 2016.

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  32. PC is not noticing because you notice the rules without being told.

    In that sense, it may have roots in aristocratic behavior where one had to be very attuned to proprieties and very sensitive. And you couldn't learn the rules on the spot. You have to arrive knowing the rules. If you didn't know the rules, you were shunned.

    There is a puritanical streak in PC in screaming 'burn the witch' against the enemies, but there is also an aristocratic air to PC.

    Puritanically, some things must be noticed by all, and all must shout in unison, "hate, racism, sexism, homophobia, etc!!!"

    But aristocratically, some things must not be noticed because there's an unspoken but powerfully enforced rule that must be silently noticed by all: heretics will be exiled from the Liberal Eden. Even without it being spelled out, it must be silently noticed by all that some issues are taboo.

    So, among aristocrats, if someone farted and stunk up the place, none was supposed to notice the odor or comment about it. Among their own kind, it would be wrong to notice something wrong. Same thing goes with neo-aristocorrects. They must pretend not to notice the stench of Liberal hypocrisy, homo dirty tricks, and Jewish power.

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  33. The Spanish Bourbons are no more Bourbon than Yasiel Puig, who might be a distant cousin of Enrique Puig, an officer who was a lover of Queen Isabel II whose Bourbon husband was well known to be impotent. Puig is the probable ancestor of the Spanish 'Burbons'.

    Also Randolph Churchill was probably infertile due to his libertine youth. Winston's brother John was certainly not Randolph's child, and it is also conceivable that Winston also has nothing to do with the Dukes of Marlborough.

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  34. Newspapers used to be called 'times', 'sun', 'tribune', 'herald', etc.

    I think maybe a politically incorrect paper should call itself The Notice.

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  35. "A feminist debate erupts on Twitter over whether women unifying over their shared body parts is "cissexist.""


    PUTIN!!!!

    fund some research into the paraphilia bug before the whole world goes insane!

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  36. Monopoly -- Meh ...
    Hungry Hungry Hippos -- I'm there!

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  37. >"If we're going to do a film, we have to control it, A to Z. We cannot be passive investors. That's out of the question."<

    What every artist loves to hear.

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  38. Remington Chase Manhattan: the ultimate yuppie bank.

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  39. Reg Caesar:"But "Remington Chase" is no worse than "Lindsey Adams Buckingham", which conceals his roots in Poland,"

    Are you sure about Buckingham changing his name?WIKIPEDIA (yes, I know) has that as his birth name:

    "Born in Palo Alto, California, Buckingham was the third and youngest child of Rutheda (née Elliott) and Morris Buckingham. He had two older brothers, Jeff and Greg.' (WIIPEDIA)

    "Birth name Lindsey Adams Buckingham" (WIKIPEDIA)

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  40. "What every artist loves to hear."

    Especially when the producers are Borat and Philip Seymour Hoffman's conman second cousin.

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  41. RE: Selecting a distinguished name for oneself,

    "Remington Arms Company, LLC was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America."

    (WIKIPEDIA)

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  42. RE: Remington Chase,

    As Steve has observed, he was obviously trying to acquire a veneer of class via onomastic association (the Remington Arms Company, Salmon P. Chase, etc). But he overdid it. Chase is a sound enough surname, but Remington sounds like the masculine equivalent of Tiffany, a name chosen by prole mothers for their offspring because it sounds vaguely classy (Tiffany Lamps, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S).


    He should have gone for something more old money sounding for his first name. Elliott Chase has a nice ring to it. Sounds like a guy who went to Groton or Phillips Exeter. Remington Chase, in contrast, sounds straight out of the trailer park.

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  43. Great summary of Robert MaxWell's life: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7471219

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  44. Hunsdun - "In Armenia, as in Russia, the worlds of business and politics are intertwined. Success depends to a great extent on maintaining friendly relations with powerful people."

    That's the way they do it in China, too!

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  45. Hong Kong loves weird English names? Well, they aren't the only ones:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gODZzSOelss

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  46. Hunsdun - "In Armenia, as in Russia, the worlds of business and politics are intertwined. Success depends to a great extent on maintaining friendly relations with powerful people."

    That's the case in the US as well. The only reason we pretend it's not the case in the US is that for the longest time there was plenty of empty land where you could go and do ok without knowing anybody because there was nobody there in the first place.

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  47. You are sooo funny.

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  48. 1/ Didn't anyone here read/see 'Get Shorty'?

    2/ How much money did George Raft lose when his Havana casino was taken over?

    3/ Is the horse's head in the bed story true?

    I'm just shocked to find the criminal element involved in entertainment.

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  49. Are you sure about Buckingham changing his name?WIKIPEDIA (yes, I know) has that as his birth name:

    Well, I didn't say he changed it. A few years ago I'd read someone's post that Buckingham's family, probably his grandfather, changed it. Maybe the author was confused by the names Morris and Elliot in Buckingham's ancestry, as those were often favored by Jewish immigrants from Poland and elsewhere.

    But someone with better sources and genealogical chops says otherwise. Lindsey's Buckinghams came from England not long before the Civil War-- ours, not theirs.

    So I'm glad you asked. If this is accurate, I'm happy to stand corrected.

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  50. Luke Lea said: That's the way they do it in China, too!

    Anonydroid at 3:14 PM said: That's the case in the US as well.

    Hunsdon said: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!

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  51. He should have gone for something more old money sounding for his first name. Elliott Chase has a nice ring to it. Sounds like a guy who went to Groton or Phillips Exeter. Remington Chase, in contrast, sounds straight out of the trailer park.



    Hahahahaha. Yea Eliott is a great old money name. How many of your daughters did you name Tiffany?

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  52. Harry Baldwin1/31/14, 6:43 PM

    Stepan Martirosyan is a tall guy. It's funny to look at the
    gallery on his IMdB page where he's looming over all these movie stars--except Tyler Perry, who must be well over six feet.

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  53. Orson Welles provides glimpse into gangster Hollywood.

    http://maceddy.com/orson-welles-comments-on-louie-b-mayer/

    And these were the golden years.

    (The Purple Gang, btw, was real; Google it for some interesting reading.)

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  54. Anonymous:"Hahahahaha. Yea Eliott is a great old money name. How many of your daughters did you name Tiffany?"

    Sadly, I don't have any daughters, but I do have two sons.Went Biblical for their names: Adam and Jacob.

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  55. That's the man whose name you'd love to touch

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  56. Another example was the anthropologist Ashley Montagu, born Israel Ehrenberg. As a young man he changed his name to the ridiculous Montague Francis Ashley-Montagu, but later shifted to the more reasonable Ashley Montagu. In fact, I assumed until today that he was a genuine upperclass or uppermiddleclass British gentile. To the extent that I was aware of him, i.e., only slightly.

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  57. The L.A. Weekly article, written by Gene Maddaus about REMINGTON CHASE and STEFAN MARTIROSIAN, Hollywood Films Producers, are an obsfuscation of the facts and the truth! I had been contacted by Mr. Maddaues about Chase and Martirosian, because my involvements with them. I have explaned to him that the fimls producer, Remington Chase, he is writing about is not the SAME man, and I did not authorize L.A. Weekly to use my name in that article in any way. Yet, he published a smear campaign against these men without any factual basis. I have already requested Google to have the article removed because it constitutes defamation! Istvan Kele

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