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Sunday, Jan. 02, 2005 - 10:29 p.m.
AMCTV ran a documentary titled Rated R: Republicans in Hollywood, wich I watched while I drank coffee this morning. I have enjoyed the few documentaries I watched; I especially like the narrative voice that, if done well, asks and addresses questions in a manner befitting a college essay. Rated R was no exception. Jesse Moss used the Arnold Schwarnzenneger as the spring board for asking whether or not Republicans have any place in Hollywood.
Mr. Moss made it clear from the get go that he is, in fact, a democrat himself, but from what I observed, he produced and presented this documentary as objectively as one can come. The conclusion was, basically, that while 'liberals' are still the most vocal, 'conservatives' are on the rise within Hollywood. Hmmmm...
What I don't understand is why it matters, which is a question that must be answered. Really, why should I care? Why should I care that self-proclaimed conservatives in Hollywood feel they are a victimized minority, much in the same way liberals do? Perhaps Hollywood could be called our nation in miniature, polarized on the surface, perplexed underneath, a thought that compells me to ask who really is the supposed victim of party agendas.
Sunday, Jan. 02, 2005 - 10:06 p.m.
During the fall of 2003, my boyfriend and I watched the pilot of Arrested Development on Fox. Ever since then, I have fallen in love with the antics of the Bluth family. This show is like a dry chardonnay; a simile which only works at great expense to the reader. The humor is dry, my one obvious point, but the world view of the characters in this show is dry because they see their lives through a kind of golden veil. I told you the simile wasn't worth it.
When I saw that the first season of AD would be out on DVD before Christmas, I added it to my vocal wish list, then quickly forgot about it in the chaos of SuperGeniusKids, graduate applications, and books that is my life.
On Christmas Eve (as according to my family's German tradition), I opened a gift from my brother. Upon even glimpsing the comic combination of orange and white, I knew I had the most wonderful brother in the world, who remembered his sister loved a tv show beyond all reason. I have been watching episode after episode for the past week. I would venture to guess I have watched them all twice.
My friend, R, had the same sort of love for the show South Park. Randi watched this show when she felt her life was particularly shitty. The show placed her life in perspective. Arrested Development is ever so slightly more realistic, and often less vulgar, than South Park, but it has a similar effect on me.
Humor is a gentle reminder that my life isn't really all that bad, to say the least.
Saturday, Jan. 01, 2005 - 1:58 p.m.
While in high school, I never was one for belonging to a certain 'crowd'. Even in college, I was too busy doing the academic thing to make an honest pursuit to belong to a group.
Recently, having entered the world ordained as the 'blogosphere', I have noticed that it too has its own little cliques. Then, there are those sites that give out awards. It appears to me that much of what happens is that those circle of bloggers nominate their own, and, in turn, hope to be nominated, like the Golden Globes or the Oscars for the entertainment world. The point is exposure.
Am I jealous that I have not been able to draw a large enough readership to be nominated? Yeah, a bit. But, most of all, the whole thing makes me evaluate why I created this blog in the first place. Orginally, I created it simply as a way for friends and family to read a little of what my life is like, where-ever I might be. I saw the blog as one step above mass emails, which I utterly loath.
Somehow, though, my blog evolved into more than that; it has become a personal sounding board. Are so many blogs, then, simply a selfish pursuit to forward one's agenda? Probably, but what isn't?
Then the whole discussion falls into the innate androcentric nature of humanity, and that is the point where I lose all interest in why I created this blog. And I decide I would rather contemplate my recent obsessions with Harry Potter and Arrested Development. Then I take a nap.
Thursday, Dec. 30, 2004 - 12:50 p.m.
A resource in a time of incredible loss.
Thursday, Dec. 30, 2004 - 12:47 p.m.
I'm working through a bit of the post-holiday blues. The internet has been down for a couple of days, which brought with it the serene peace that comes with not feeling the nagging impulse to check my email every hour. Sometimes I really hate the internet.
Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004 - 1:34 p.m.
Last spring, my university's women's center gave a way free t-shirts. All were red with white lettering and carried one of two messages:
Hot Sex Tip: Talk About It First
and
Hot Sex Tip: Rape Is Not A Turn On
Needless to say, I rushed to the women's center to claim a t-shirt of my very own. Mine has the previous message emblazoned on the front. I love this shirt and wear it often.
Supergeniuskid and her family came over last Thursday to share in the goodness that was my birthday rum cake. Without considering that a five and a seven year-old would be joining my family for dessert that night, I made my day a good day and wore my favorite shirt-with-a-message. While enjoying my slice of rum cake, I looked up and realized Supergeniuskid's sister, who is seven and can read, was smiling at me deviously. Then she loudly asked, no doubt for the benefit of her younger sister, "Alice, what does your shirt say?"
I told her she knew what it said and that she only needed to worry about the Talk About It First part. Her parents were rather amused by the whole thing, and SGK's sister wouldn't stop staring at my chest. When she asked me who had given me that shirt, I told her it had been George W Bush. "He did not," she retorted.
She was right. I thought it was clever.
Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004 - 1:27 p.m.
I realize it is not unusual for me to not post for a week or so at a time. But, it is Christmas, so I might or might not be posting here on a regular basis.
To everyone who is visiting here for the first time, WELCOME!!! I hope you find a topic of interest that will distract you from whatever you are supposed to be doing.
Right now, I am supposed to be wrapping presents.
Sunday, Dec. 19, 2004 - 1:03 p.m.
I recieved an email this morning from a certain someone who told me that my reveiw of The Da Vinci Code 'sucked'. He's wrong. The only reason I forgive him for being wrong is that he is my liddle bruder, and he buys me lattes and picks me up at the airport and drives me back to the airport at 6:30am.
Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004 - 1103262891
Want a more substantial read? Here are some I have enjoyed and loved in the area of religion:
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (fiction) tell the story of King Author from the points-of-view of the women in the story. I place this under religion because it deals with the political pull between the earth religions and Christianity. It is much more fair to both than 'The Da Vinci Code', which only made half-hearted stabs at being fair. Plus, 'The Mists' are not hampered by an overt modern point-of-view.
Anything by Elaine Pagels is great, scholarly, and accurate. Her work has seen a surge of popularity since 'The Da Vinci Code' was published. She is the first woman of gnostic studies.
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd, of The Secret Life of Bees fame, shows one woman's journey in spirituality. It offers a lot of insight into The Secret Life of Bees was greatly influenced by Kidd's own journey.
The Nature and History of Gnosticism by Kurt Rudolph is a scholarly work, but full of all kinds of interesting information. I heart Kurt Rudolph. I also love The Nag Hammadi Library, but I would suggest finding it via a library.
Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004 - 10:06 p.m.
I finally 'bit the bullet', so to speak, and read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.
First, there were several reason I didn't want to read this book.
1)I am a snob at certain times, and the popularity of this book turned me off to reading it, though I knew I would eventually.
2)One of my two majors was religion. Obviously, I am no expert, but I have read quite a bit on religion pertaining to different areas. I have also been on my own never-ending spiritual journey. I know that Brown's work really is fiction.
Okay, so I only had two reasons, but they were enough to keep me away. I borrowed the book. I was not going to fork out the money for a book that has for no good reason remained in hardback longer than the average life of a frog. Here is what I think of the book, because I know you all are just dying to know.
From an aspiring writer and avid reader point-of-view, Brown is not a great writer. His characters are two-dimensional at best. When they approach a point when they appear to be human, the scene quickly ends. While the short chapters were clever for added suspense, they should have been used to give the book more depth, more information, that made the mystery more compelling. Instead, Brown holds back information at the point where it is about to be divuldged to the reader. While this made me turn the page, I never felt adequately rewarded. Appearantly, the information is sensational enough that Brown didn't need to make it more compelling. This brings me to my other standpoint, one as a spirutual seeker/questioner/learner/etc.
Jesus as husband and lover to Mary Magdalene does not shock me, really, at all. Plus, I see the idea of having a secret society that claims special information regarding the nature religions as bad as having an institutionalized church. In fact, I see it as worse because it does not have to react to the world around it, excpet to avoid having to react to it.
Religion is not isolated. It can't be. Yeah, we like the idea of being a part of special clubs that give us special access to a power that is beyond all others. I like that idea. But, I find it ludicrous as well. That is a communion between a few elite, usually the powerful and well-informed. Plus, religion is not about blood lines, at least for me personally. This whole 'Priory of Sion' idea is that blood carries access to divinity, or is divinity itself. Really, if this group worshiped Mary Magdalene as the Goddess, were they not doing the same as the Church did with Jesus?
I don't want to go into it. Brown's book isn't worth it. That is my conclusion. It is a bestseller, good for him; he chose a good topic. Unfortunately,he wrote it in such a way that was, as my brother would say, "as shallow as a kiddie pool."
