Remember the wee baby horsie I mentioned in a previous post? Well, Cute Overload has a lovely illustration of exactly what I was trying to describe. Behold, the foal with the joie de vivre!
Boink!
Category: Uncategorized
Sodas in Schools
According to a WaPo article, beverage makers have agreed to pull sodas and sugary “fruit” drinks from grade schools and middle schools. High schools students will still be able to purchase diet sodas and low calorie sports drinks and “fruit” drinks.
Jethro
I got this from the Nick Cave listserve (um, yeah, I know). His 15yo son, Jethro (Jethro! Of all things!) Lazenby is trying modelling on for size. For friends and family, he’s a dead ringer for Gabe, back when he had long hair.
Now, to commence waiting for the DVD release of The Proposition.
Instant Review: Wolf Creek
I spent most of the weekend doing manual labor. As a reward, I dangled a few fil-ums in front of myself. One of them was Wolf Creek. Holy crap! I’m a huge fan of horror movies. It takes a fair amount to gross me out and even more to truly scare me. This one did both. In fact, I had to watch it in three sittings, because it creeped me out that badly. The creepiness started with the juxtaposition of the wild and gorgeous and completely unforgiving landscape with the “happy kids on holiday.” It was just three college students and the Australian Outback, where there’s nothing but sand and rock and sky and wildlife, as far as the eye can see. That isolation created a sense of disquiet that continued to build, unrelieved, throughout the film. I think the tension, as much as the actual “gore” scenes, was what made the film so frightening.
It was “based on a true story” in the same way that Fargo was. In other words, not so much. There are several murder cases that it is said to be based on, but none of them are a good match. I think linking it to actual events was nothing but creative marketing. It didn’t hurt that it was written, acted, and filmed in a hyper-realistic manner. There is a true crime feel to to the movie that adds to the uber-creep factor.
Basically, three college students go on a backpacking trek across Australia. They decide to buy a car and drive to Wolf(e) Creek Crater, which is in the middle of nowhere. While there, their car dies mysteriously. Just as mysteriously, a Crocodile Dundee-type stranger appears and offers to tow their car to his camp, where he says he can fix it for them. Having never seen a horror movie and therefore unaware that strangers are Very Bad News, they stupidly take him up on his offer. They drive and drive and drive and drive and drive until they reach his camp, at which point offers them drug-laced water and much awfulness ensues. I shall spare you the truly gory details.
I will say, though, that while it scared the hell out of me, I don’t see the point of some critics who thought the movie went overboard. It’s a horror film. It’s supposed to gross you out and/or scare the pee out of you. Yes, some of it is in really, really bad taste. Again, it’s a horror movie. It’s not supposed to be in good taste. Duh.
On a technical note, it was shot in hi-definition video. Wow! The nature/landscape sequences, including one of an eclipse, are stunning. The cinematographer has done a lot of documentary work, and his skills are put to good use here. The Outback is truly one of the stars of the movie.
And in Not-So-Awful Christian News…
Check this out:
Check out, too, their core beliefs:
From the section on Christian Love of Neighbors. Number 8 is especially heartening, in light of the Ramsey quote D referrenced.
5. Engaging people authentically, as Jesus did, treating all as creations made in God’s very image, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental ability, nationality, or economic class;
6. Standing, as Jesus does, with the outcast and oppressed, the denigrated and afflicted, seeking peace and justice with or without the support of others;
7. Preserving religious freedom and the Church’s ability to speak prophetically to government by resisting the commingling of Church and State;
8. Walking humbly with God, acknowledging our own shortcomings while honestly seeking to understand and call forth the best in others, including those who consider us their enemies;
Thank you! The whole thing is quite short. I recommend reading it.
Instant Review: Degrassi
Since Netflix has decided to start sending me random titles, I spent tonight not watching season 4 of Little House. Instead, I spent it watching Jay and Silent Bob Do Degrassi. Go ahead, laugh. I know you want to. The thing is, I love, love, loved the original Degrassi shows. They were amazing, in that they treated kids with dignity and allowed their voices to be heard. There wasn’t, and isn’t, anything else like it on television in the US.
I’ve only seen the first season of Degrassi: the next generation, but so far, it seems to have just as much integrity as the originals. So, at one point, I placed Jay and Silent Bob Do Degrassi in my queue (cuz, why not?), and via the magic of the Netflix Queue Randomizing Elves, it showed up in my mailbox yesterday.
I really enjoyed it. The DVD contains three episodes (plus extras) from the new series. I don’t know which season they were from. Only the first season has been released on DVD, I think, so it’ll be awhile before I’ll have a chance to see them in context. Though they stand alone fairly well, considering the soap opera-esque nature of Degrassi, it would be nice to see how they connect up with the rest of the shows. And that brings me to perhaps the most important point: do not watch the DVD thinking it’s a Jay and Silent Bob story. It’s not. It’s a Degrassi story, and if you aren’t familiar with the show, you’re likely to be a little lost and a lot disappointed.
About the extras: There is an interview with Kevin Smith, in which he talks about being a fan of the old series and how he ended up working on the new one. He makes some interesting points about what makes the whole project is so different from US teen television and about why the same shows could not ever be created here. He also talks about how some folks “get it” and some don’t, and why. It’s funny. My high school was just like Degrassi in some ways, and not in others. It was small and everyone knew everyone else. That’s both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s like living in a small town, in that everyone knows everyone else’s business. That level of familiarity can foster tolerance and understanding, but it can also lead to bullying and all manner of meanness. There was a lot of both going on in my school. There were plenty of mean kids (lordy, the girls on the volleyball team were insufferable!), but some really cool ones, too. Luckily, I didn’t have depend on my classmates for social interaction. Instead, because the school was located on a college campus, I spent my free time on campus. College kids were much easier to get along with, I found, and a lot more willing to take you as you were.
So, anyway, thanks to the Netflix Queue Randomizing Elves, I’ve spent the entire evening thinking about high school.
Speaking of Awful Christians…
So I was reading an article about the discovery of fossil evidence of a missing link between Australopithecines and Ardipithecus. Basically, this critter is the elusive missing link. That must really piss off the Christian Fundies. Actually, it probably doesn’t, because they don’t seem to be too concerned with science in general (e.g. the insistence that emergency contraception is an “abortion pill,” when in fact, that is not at all how it functions). Science-schmiance, eh?
Even given Fundies’ total disrespect for science, I don’t understand their refusal to acknowledge evolution. It’s such a basic process, and it occurs right under our noses. How do they think virus mutation works? Surely they understand that HIV, avian flu, colds, and other viruses change over time? That’s the reason why vaccines are so difficult to produce. If viruses didn’t evolve, we’d’ve long since cured the common cold. And bacteria do it, too. We now have antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis, enterococcus, staphylococcus, streptococcus, pneumococcus, gonorrhea, sinusitis, salmonella, e. coli, blah, blah, blah.
Speaking of Christians and Righteous Indignation…
This is not completely on-topic re Paul Ramsey, but it does seem to be part of the same pathology.
There is a growing trend among ultra-conservative Christians toward claiming the “right” to abuse those whose way of life they do not condone. There is an interesting, um, scary, article in the LA Times on the subject. For example, Christians are charging that the laws that protect gays are actually illegal because they impinge on Christians’ “right” to “freedom of expression.”
Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality. But the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she’s a senior, bans speech that puts down others because of their sexual orientation.
Malhotra sees that as an unacceptable infringement on her right to religious expression. So she’s demanding that Georgia Tech revoke its tolerance policy.
By freedom of religious expression, she means “carte blanche to harass and abuse.” Nice. Apparently, conservative Christians feel that their right to be “Christian” is being hampered by their inability to harangue others. Who knew that Christian = intolerant godbag? Jesus, I feel sure, is weeping.
I see very little that is compassionate in the behavior of most conservative Christians–certainly not from those who are in power. I think the upper eschelons–like BushCo–are not in the least bit Christian. In fact, my understanding is that W had an epiphany of the political sort prior to becoming “reborn.” He knew what a large and maleable political base like the conservative Christians, could do for his career. His religious persona was well orchestrated, and had nothing whatsoever to do with faith and everything to do with greed and lust for power.
Anyway, BushCo–a divider, not a uniter!–has done its damnedest to polarize this country. Everything he’s done has been toward that end. The more people are polarized, the more they distrust and hate each other, the less they trust each other, the less they are willing to actually listen to each other. That suits BushCo just fine, thankyouverymuch.
What that has done is make people–especially hard-line conservative Christians–paranoid that anyone who isn’t also hard-line and conservative and Christian, is out to get them. If you aren’t for them, you’re against them, and are part of a liberal (or Muslim, take your pick) plot to destroy Christianity.
It’s hard to come back down to earth, and to look at things objectively, when you’re consumed with paranoia that The Other Guy is out to destroy your way of life, so it’s no wonder that those who believe that their religion and way of life are under attack would also be willing to buy into the justification for an all-out holy war upon those folks they believe are on a mission of world domination: Muslims. If you make a large enough mountain out of your little mole hill, the ends suddenly seem thoroughly justified. Because, remember, it is a Christian’s right to harass (or drop bombs on) those who are perceived as threatening said Christian’s right to abuse them. How’s that for nice, circular, um, logic?
Speaking of Things That Make You Go Hmmm…
Like the Rev. King, I had a dream. Only, mine happened while I was sleeping. I had this one a few weeks ago, but it was so mind-boggling that I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit.
I was at my mom’s house, and it must have taken place before her divorce. She, my brothers, and I were in the living room, sitting around and talking, like ya’ do. I suddenly turned around, and noticed that the wood stove was on fire. Ginormous flames were shooting out of the top of it. Eeep! So, I yell “fire!” and run to the kitchen, to get the fire extinguisher. Herb (ex step-father) was standing in front of the microwave, behind which the fire extinguisher was located. I told him the wood stove was on fire, and he just stared at me like I was a pod person. Hrmph. I ran back to the living room, then back to the kitchen, then back to the living room, then back to the kitchen. Back and forth, back and forth, each time telling Herb that the wood stove was on fire (Aaack! Fire!). But, bupkis from him.
See, he was drying pot in the microwave. Very important, that, and not to be interrupted, apparently. Also, he was always a stickler for asking for exactly what you wanted, instead of either hinting around at it or waiting for the other person to offer up what you needed. All well and good, I suppose, but at times, especially when I was young, it seemed like a cruel sort of game to him.
So, my interpretation is that:
1) He was waiting for me to actually ask him for the fire extinguisher. Simply telling him the fucking house was on fire was not good enough, as that required him to supply the requisite action (“Duh, maybe she wants the fire extinguisher?”).
2) He was perfectly happy to let the world combust around him, as long as his own needs were being met. He was spectacularly selfish that way. So, I can totally see him thinking that his priorities might take precedence over others’, because often, they did. And, when they didn’t, he could be the world’s worst Whiney McWhinerPants.
Auntie Em! Auntie Em!
We had the mother of all storms last night. Quite possibly the Auntie and Uncle, too. There was a severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado watch for our area, so I was expecting something gross to creep in, but I was unprepared for how bad it would be. At about 6:30, I went outside with the dog. I stood on the porch while she motored around the yard, and watched the puffy white clouds to the south. They were big and billowy and not at all harmful looking. Besides, they were moving away from me.
Then, I turned around to go back inside. (Cue the Eeevil Emperor’s theme song from Star Wars.) The shelf cloud (which looked not entirely unlike this) of the oncoming storm had crept up from the north and was silently advancing. Sweet fancy Jeebus! The wind had been howling, but it suddenly got very quiet. I ran inside, put on my shoes, and drove next door. Far better to be sucked up in a tornado if you have company, right?
So, I cut out UPC codes from bags of dog and cat food for my neighbor while we watched teevee. By the time Jeopardy was over, the worst of the storm had passed. It was super slow moving, though. I’ve never seen a storm creep along that slowly. Or move in such an odd direction. It came in from due north, and exited to due east. Very weird!
Anyway, we didn’t get a tornado. We did get front row seats to one of the most spectacular light shows EVAR, though. There were some ground strikes, but most of it was cloud-to-cloud. The latter were gorgeous. Portions of the clouds would glow red, yellow, blue, or green. There were also quite a few pulsing zaps of lightning that would dart around the cloud, like little tadpoles in water.
Some of the larger, more prolonged lightning strikes illuminated the mammatus clouds on the back side of the storm. I wish it had been light out, because I would’ve liked to’ve photographed them.
The show lasted over three hours. When I went to bed at 11pm, I could still see a thin band of clouds on the eastern horizon, lit up with pops and crackles of lightning.
red paper boat 