Archive for August 16, 2007

Shiny!

August 16, 2007 / / 6 comments

There’s a new Serenity “Collector’s Edition” DVD being released, and by blogging about it, I cleverly make myself eligible to win a copy.

What’s new on the Region 1 DVD (that wasn’t on the first DVD) is:

  • A new cast commentary with Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, and Ron Glass. (Original edition had a Joss Whedon commentary, and that one is still there as well.
  • Additional extended scenes previously only available on the Australian version.
  • “A Filmmaker’s Journey,” previously on R2 and Australian versions but not US.
  • “The Green Clan,” 3 minute featurette previously exclusive to the Australian version.
  • A SciFi Channel special housted by Adam Baldwin with cast interviews. Never before on DVD.
  • “Session 416.” The viral videos Joss did with River and released anonymously online before the movie. They will be shown in the out-of-order sequence they were originally released in. Never on DVD before.

So, that’s a fun toy to have.

First Review of Study of Witchcraft

August 15, 2007 / / 6 comments

I have a very positive review from the prestigious Publisher’s Weekly. Yay me.

For Lipp, the areas beyond memorizing the elements of the pagan calendar and spell casting that young Wiccans ought to be exploring include such obvious topics as the evolution of modern Wicca from Freemasonry and the history of witch hunts. However, she breaks new ground when she encourages readers to explore such traditional spiritual practices as meditation and the study of comparative religion. She writes, “Certain advanced Wiccan skills, such as deep trance or channeling, depend on a greater ability to still the mind, quiet the ego, and reach an inner balance.” Indeed, Lipp invites readers to enter into psychotherapy in order to gain deeper self-awareness. Each of her chapters is supplemented with a helpful “homework” section and an annotated bibliography for further reading. Advanced practitioners of all stripes should be delighted with this enduring contribution to the literature.

Internet makes nice girls have sex

August 15, 2007 / / 12 comments

I picked up a newspaper to read over lunch, and I come across this on the front page:

Mom’s sleuthing snares sex suspect

Investigators credit a cyber-savvy Ramsey mom with helping nab a 42-year-old Pennsylvania man who they said had sex with her 15-year-old daughter after they met on a social networking site.

The entire article is like a confluence of social anxieties, being equal parts sexism, slut-shaming, and fear of technology.

“It’s a complete shock,” said the woman…, “She hasn’t dated much. She doesn’t wear makeup. She’s not one of these ‘hot’ kids, strutting all over the place.

“It shows how scary the Internet can be.”

That’s right. There are sluts who wear makeup, and nice girls who don’t date (much), but Teh Scary Internets can make nice girls have consensual sex.

As you read the article, outlining how the 15 year-old girl met the 42 year-old man for sex at a hotel twice, you come to understand that this girl was definitely making a choice. Now, the man is clearly a sick motherfucker, but the girl? Chose to have sex. Despite the fact that she doesn’t wear makeup.

Her mother is clearly confused. Only painted strumpets have sex. Therefore, some other explanation for her daughter’s abberation must be sought, and fortunately, it’s right there on the desk: The computer. The computer made her do it! If it weren’t for “social networking sites” her daughter would still be a virgin—because that’s exactly the truth about unpainted girls in the pre-Internet days. They were all virgins. And still are.

Inside [the suspect’s] truck [the police] found a laptop with broadband access and a global positioning device that Maloney used to guide him on the more than 100-mile trip from his Pennsylvania home, said Joseph Macellaro, acting chief of detectives for the Prosecutor’s Office.

“This was a pretty determined individual,” Macellaro said. “Obviously, this person is somebody who would be considered dangerous.”

OHNOEZ! Only determined perverts have laptops! And GPS units!

Sgt. Andrew Donofrio, who heads the prosecutor’s Computer Crimes Unit, said credit is due to such mothers – however nosy – who relentlessly investigate potential indecencies on their children’s computers.

“She took a proactive step,” Donofrio said.

The mother said it simply seemed the right thing to do.

“I guess all the warnings that you read about as a parent are true — that you do have to monitor them non-stop,” she said.

I’m tempted to just leave this part without comment. Because obviously, non-stop monitoring helped so much here. I mean, yes, it stopped this pervert. And one less free-roaming pervert, yay. But in what way is that parenting? The girl isn’t even in the equation, is she? Non-stop spying monitoring isn’t helping this girl make good choices, or even working towards understanding what choices she actually made.

The mother also took the computer away. So now I suppose the girl will have to wear makeup.

I have a serious question

August 15, 2007 / / 10 comments

Does Jude Law think he’s Michael Caine?

Or what?

I heard there was a remake of Sleuth coming out, which appalls me, because it’s such a great movie and they should leave it the fuck alone. Then I watched the trailer and I saw it was Michael Caine in the Laurence Olivier role and Jude Law in the Michael Caine role. So that’s interesting in a post-modern sort of way, and it could work. (Plus, Kennth Branagh, Harold Pinter, worth an open mind, that.)

But then I remembered that Jude Law starred in a (reportedly terrible) remake of another Michael Caine classic, Alfie.

So now you have to ask, what next? Get Carter and the Italian Job have already been done. (Which leads me to wonder if there’s just a Michael Caine remake industry, of which Law happens to be a leading beneficiary.) He could go for Harry Palmer; edgy paranoid spies are in right now. The Man Who Would Be King is perhaps too ambitious, and who would co-star?

Who would co-star? Perhaps that’s a better question. Prevents me from just trailing off anyway. Obviously you could go right for the Bond connection and get Daniel Craig, but let’s at least try to be creative.

Whedonverse Trivia: All Done!

August 14, 2007 / / 2 comments

This was like the lightning round, with Amy coming in and doing a total wipe-out. I see that Amy is to Whedonverse as Roberta is to songs.

» Read more..

Tuesday Whedonverse Quote Trivia

August 14, 2007 / / 22 comments

Said by whom on what show or in what movie?

1. Who remembers Connery? I mean, Roger Moore was smooth!
Solved by Amy (comment #13).

2. When you die, I can’t hurt you any more.
Solved by Amy (comment #13).

3. Somebody get me a lawyer, because my civil rights have seriously been violated.
Solved by Randal Graves (comment #5).

4. You’re like… a trained ape. Without the training.
Solved by Jarred (comment #12).

5. Respect the cruller, and tame the doughnut!
Solved by Evn (comments #9 and 10).

6. Can I say somethin about destiny? Screw destiny!
Solved by Amy (comment #14).

7. You guys always bring me the very best violence.
Solved by TehipiteTom (comment #1).

8. I don’t believe in tiny Jewish Santa anymore. (I’ve already told several people this, so it’s easy, but I love it so very, very much. So it’s your extra.)
Solved by Amy (comment #13) (and she wasn’t one of the people I told, either).

Starwood Diaries: Part Three

August 14, 2007 / / 5 comments

So I totally forgot to tell you how we moved the entire campsite eighteen inches.

We arrive Sunday, and Barb & Charlie are already there, with their pop-up, awning/kitchen, and Sylvia’s tent, and they’ve marked tent spots on the ground for the rest of us. Craig puts his tent kind of much closer in towards the kitchen than need be, but as I said, we’re all racing the sunset, so whatever.

Then the next day, we’re looking at how the campsite is set up, and we know that Christine is arriving Tuesday with a tent and a screen tent, and we’d like to use the screen tent to create a continous area with the kitchen, and maybe there’s not enough room.

And I say to Craig “You could move your tent back about a foot” and he says something really snotty, like “Yeah, right” with a very sarcastic tone. Later he said he had no idea I was actually serious. Well, my theme for Starwood was communication and miscommunication, so of-fucking-COURSE he didn’t think I was serious.

Then Tuesday, Christine arrives, and we start helping her set up. Craig’s not around, but me, Charlie, Barb, and (I think) Arthur are more than enough helping hands. We lay out the screen tent, and there is just not quite enough room. At which point, I am totally willing to pick Craig’s tent up and move it myself, but there’s now someone camped about six inches behind him.

(We were on high ground. There was a shitload of room just a few yards away, but after Squishwood, smart campers avoid that area. We were jammed together on our little spot.)

So, with Craig’s tent as an immovable northern boundary, we had to go south. But in order to move the kitchen, we had to move all the furniture and cookware and coolers. And the awning that was attached to the popup. And the first time we moved it a foot and then we had to go back and squeeze out another six inches.

It was totally worth it. It gave us a kitchen/living room effect for the rest of the week that was comfy and cozy. But we moved a campsite eighteen inches.

Monday Movie Review: Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

August 13, 2007 / / 5 comments

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) 7/10
Three women embark on a haphazard crime spree after killing a young man and taking his girlfriend prisoner. Directed by Russ Meyer.

I saw this movie several weeks ago, but I have to say, I’m at a loss as to how to review it. Certainly the rating is a shot in the dark, because it’s impossible to choose a standard by which to judge. The acting is sometimes so bad that I burst out laughing. On the other hand, the movie is suffused with a raw vitality that is thrilling to watch. As Varla, Tura Satana is bursting at the seams; literally, in her painted-on clothes, and figuratively, too bombastic an actress, but also too angry, to hyper-energized a character. She is utterly evil, but also fully alive; a kind of oversexed, murderous, Übermensch. Her only motivations seem to be to keep moving, keep fighting, keep grabbing, keep controlling, and keep fucking. Her companions are not happy when she turns them into a gang of killers; Rosie (Haji) is interested only in her lover Varla, while Billie (Lori Williams) wants to fuck, get drunk, fuck, party, fuck, dance, and fuck.

So these characters are repulsive and yet compelling, and their opposition, a vile old man and his two passive sons, are never given the opportunity to gain our sympathy. Ultimately, Arthur and I found we were rooting for the “pussycats” despite ourselves, even with (or especially with) the annoyingly innocent Gidget-esque Linda (Susan Bernard) as their victim.

Arthur had this idea when we sat down to watch it that this would be a great movie to blog, kind of figuring with the title and the theme I could really sink my feminist chops into it. But that didn’t turn out to be the case. You could twist yourself into a pretzel arguing that the pussycats are empowered, or that they’re exploited. Clearly their cleavage is exploited. But if this movie has a theme, it is (on the positive side) vitality and life force, and (on the negative side) power and the abuse of power. As vital women, the pussycats are sexual and sexualized, but because they are all tall and busty and forceful, they don’t seem objectified. Their gaze is direct and outward, not meek and askance, and their presence dominates the scene and the screen. They keep thrusting themselves forward and taking the lead in every experience. And it is definitely true that Meyers is interested in making sure this is “symbolized” shall we say, by their enormous breasts in tight outfits and all that. But these women have both agency and power, especially Varla, who is excited by abusing her power.

The most stereotypical woman is Rosie, who is going along with a lover who pushes her into situations with which she is unhappy. She is basically silent in the face of abuse and disloyalty; a lesbian battered partner. Her presence seems mostly designed to point to Varla’s negativity; lest we enjoy her wildness too much, we are reminded that her own lover in her own gang is hurt by it.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this, not just for its camp value, but for the waves of imagery and energy, the cleanly-constructed story, and the smart use of low budget to make minimalistic sets and locations really count.

Sunday Meditation: Lovingkindness

August 12, 2007 / / Comments Off on Sunday Meditation: Lovingkindness

Lovingkindness is a specific form of Buddhist meditation. I am not a Buddhist, nor an expert on Buddhism. My understanding of this form of meditation may be flawed. However, whether accurate or inaccurate to true Buddhist lovingkindness meditation, I find this a valuable and profound exercise, and I practice it, if not regularly, with frequent irregularity.

This is an advanced exercise. If you are not good at grounding and centering yet, you should not be doing things like breathing in negativity.

Ground and center.

Visualize your center as a gently glowing orb filled with love. Your center is love and love suffuses you. Note the color of this loving glow. Note its temperature and texture.

Visualize your glowing, loving center expanding. It fills your body and reaches beyond you. Each time you exhale, your loving center moves outward, larger and yet just as strong, just as loving, just as kind.

Exhale and send love outward, filling the space around you.

Inhale deeply, and exhale until your loving glow fills your home, touching all who live there (human, animal, and plant) with love. As you inhale, you take in the negativity that prevents your household from feeling love. Take that negativity and allow it to dissipate as it comes near your glowing center. It cannot touch you, you are protected by your loving glow.

Inhale and bring the negativity into you, where it fades to nothing. Exhale and send love. Inhale, and heal the negativity in your household, exhale, and replace it with love.

As you breathe, in and out, in and out, the loving glow expands and expands. Now it encompasses your neighborhood. Inhale the negativity and allow it to dissipate without touching you. Exhale love and fill your neighborhood with love. Inhale the petty arguments, the gossip, the coldness and fear, allow them to dissipate; they are gone. Exhale love. Shower your neighborhood with love and compassion.

Continue to breathe in and out, in and out, and see how your glow can expand. Can you reach beyond your neighborhood, to your community? Can you exhale love to your state? Your nation? The world?

You may find with practice that your glow expands more easily. Because this is a meditation about expansion and giving, it is important to always encompass at least your home and neighborhood, but the first time you try, you may or may not be able to reach beyond that. Soon, though, you’ll find that you can, and indeed, the more loving you send out, the easier it is.

Starwood Diaries: Part Two

August 11, 2007 / / One comment

Part One

Back to Tuesday.

Tuesday afternoon I was asked to be the Priestess of a ritual to heal Frank Barney, owner of Brushwood (the land on which Starwood is held). Frank has Parkinson’s. I consented, and while I was busily making dinner, the ritual was announced for Friday night during opening circle. So that was 300 people who heard about it. And that was pretty intense.

Thing is, after Free Spirit, where I was the Priestess for a ritual on behalf of Orien Rose, I apparently got a reputation as a “healing priestess” and now I guess I’m accountable for that reputation. Well, they say Witches Heal, so it’s up to me to step up.

Tuesday was also where I had the first instance of being the go-between in an awkward communication, as I’ve written about.

Wednesday was the first day I actually had to be responsible.

As ever, I wake up fantasizing that perhaps I’ll take a morning class. Hah! After all these years, I don’t even fantasize that much, I know I won’t make it. The truth is, I’m always up early, but camping doesn’t lend itself to up and out, in my book. Making coffee, brushing teeth, washing up…all these are leisurely and/or clutzy at camp. I don’t really mind; it’s only troublesome if you over-schedule. Which I don’t so, no trouble.

Update: I knew I attended a class on Wednesday, but I couldn’t find it in the schedule before. It was called Curses and Binding Spells (of ancient Egypt) by an Australian guy named Tony Mierzwicki. He’s been working with Graeco-Egyptian magick and has a very interesting body of material. The presentation was a little dry but he had a lot to say and he really knew his stuff. He had us do a brief ritual (we didn’t curse anyone) and I found the technique powerful. That was from 11:30 to 12:45, plenty of time for me to poke around the camp like a zombie and still get to the workshop clean and fresh.

At 4pm I taught Structure of Spellcasting Part One: Sources of Magical Power. I had about 10–15 people at a wooded site. My students were impressively focused and attentive, I almost felt intimidated.

Wednesday’s dinner was courtesy of Christine; great honking quantities of pasta and chicken. Very satisfying. Wednesday night Christine & I went to a party in the “Dark Moor;” the woods waaaay in the back of camp. I got to spend quality time with my dear friend Larry. Eventually I roamed away, and just as I was leaving, a staffer with a golf cart was also leaving and offered me a ride. Which was delightful, because REALLY it’s a long walk. I asked him to drop me at my camp, because even though I was warm enough walking in my velvet minidress and light shawl, driving in the cart kicks up the wind and I realized I wanted another layer. After another hearty round of Throwing Clothes In the Tent I headed off to prowl, and ended up hanging with Orien & Christine and their crew in the RV camping area until three in the morning. What a gorgeous RV they ended up with! They all look so fab and luxurious to l’il ol’ tenting me.

Thursday afternoon found me in the “downtown” area of camp when all of a sudden, WHOOSH. Major rain. The morning had been hot and I’d taken a noonish nap and left the windows open, so I ran back to camp to seal up. Well, it was getting on time to go teach Structure of Spellcasting Part Two: What Are Spells? anyway, but I was teaching at four o’clock, and a 3:30 downpour didn’t bode well for attendance. I shouldn’t have worried. A brave crew consisting of almost everyone from the day before, plus one or two newcomers, were extremely focused on class content and weather be damned! By 5:15 when class ended, so had the rain, so the walk back was fairly pleasant and my giant Hefty bag of a rain poncho had a chance to dry out.

Thursday night Craig made ham steaks, with a fancy salad and side dishes and pretty extreme presentation; I mean, not just tasty but pretty.

To be continued.

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