May 28, 2008 – January 29, 2009
Blessed be
Archive for January 29, 2009
Stevie Wineburg
May 28, 2008 – January 29, 2009
Blessed be
Toddlers in Washington
So the Republicans demand changes from Obama in the economic stimulus plan, which he (unwisely) concedes on after reaching out to them, and then they vote 100% against. Because they want tax cuts for high-income Americans. A policy proven, proven I say, to work have contributed to causing a major recession. One hundred percent of House Republicans decided that saying no to economic recovery and standing by failed policies was the essence of party loyalty.
Meanwhile, the Ledbetter Bill passed the Senate, with only five Republicans voting for it, including the only four women Republicans in the Senate (in the House, only 3 of 169 voting Republicans voted yea). On the radio this morning, I learned that Ledbetter’s campaign ad for Barack Obama polled as one of the most effective ads of the campaign, and the single most effective “negative” ad. Which means there 202 Republicans who are so utterly opposed to equal pay for women that they are willing to risk going on record, knowing for a fact that such record has had a strongly impact on campaign results.
They’re toddlers. They’re pouty, foot-stampy, hold-their-breaths-until-they-all-turn-blue toddlers. Our President says “Yes We Can” and they say “No We Won’t!” (And add “So There!”)
I know that the more-intelligent-than-me President Obama has a grand scheme about bipartisanship and outreach and a new era in Washington and all, but I don’t see how an intelligent and fair-minded spirit of bipartisanship can work while the toddlers are having a tantrum. Possibly a time out chair is in order.
Round Robin Trivia
Busy day again, so I start, and you guys take over:
Today it’s movies starting with M.
Name the movie based on the quote: “I’m sure it was your lack of vegatation and not your wife’s rampant nymphomania that was the problem.”
Monday Movie Review: Howl’s Moving Castle
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) 10/10
Sophie is a plain and serious young woman who runs a hat shop. Howl is a famous wizard who lives in a castle that walks about the countryside. After a chance meeting between them, Sophie is visited by the dreaded Witch of the Waste, who places Sophie under a curse, turning her into an old woman. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
Howl’s Moving Castle is an extraordinary film experience. It is dense, surprising, and very human. The characters have a richness that belies their cartoony nature. The magical occurrences are wildly imaginative. My son and I would turn to each other while watching and say “I love this!” and “I can’t wait to see what happens next!”
The movie is not perfect. It is perhaps over-complicated, and definitely over-long. There is a war going on that both drives and is background to the real plot, which is the slowly burgeoning romance between Sophie and Howl, and more importantly, each character’s awakening. Sophie is brave and bold, but hates herself. She finds freedom as an old woman, no longer expected to be pretty or criticized for not fitting in. Howl is callow, his power and beauty let him get away with pretty much anything, and a moving home is the perfect avenue (and metaphor) for running away. Each must grow in order to find their love for the other.
Meanwhile, there’s this war. And a couple of different curses. And a talking fire voiced by Billy Crystal. Plus several other characters, some magical, some not, and demons and wizards and whoa, here comes the war again. So yeah, it’s a bit much.
But the delight in experiencing this rich and complex world is tremendous. The story is based on British fantasy novel, and overlaying it with a Japanese sensibility creates an otherworldly, magical blend. This is no place we know, in no time we’ve lived. It’s sort of 1910, sort of Katzenjammer Kids, sort of steampunk, sort of Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang meets Lord of the Rings. Every person, every magical creature, and every object is part of a unique and startling aesthetic.
The American voice work is very good. Christian Bale sounds exactly right for a Japanese film. It’s quite an all-star cast, including Jean Simmons as Old Sophie and Lauren Bacall as the Witch of the Waste.
As a comparison, I think Spirited Away is a better movie, but Howl’s Moving Castle is, in many ways, more original (and isn’t drawing from Japanese mythology and folk legends), and the character work is more interesting.
Speaking in Montclair
I will be speaking on Wednesday night, the 28th of January, at Mystic Spirit Metaphysical Shop in Montclair, NJ.
The topic will be The Study of Witchcraft.
Blog for Choice 2009
This is a hopeful time to blog for choice. President Obama (I love saying that!) supports a woman’s right to choose. It says so right here. It also says that he supports policies to help prevent unintended pregnancies. It also says he wants to strengthen domestic violence laws.
It’s all interconnected. We can’t talk about a woman’s reproductive freedom without pausing to acknowledge that a woman is a full and equal human, and that reproductive freedom is human freedom. But that mean ol’ patriarchy rears its head. As long as domestic violence and rape are constants, as reality or threat, in the life of every woman, women are not free. As long as we accept these inequities as normal, or minimize their importance, it will remain far, far too easy to take women’s freedoms away.
Look, it’s like this. If the culture says we are less than equal, then how hard is it really to pass laws that restrict our freedom? Or treat us as addle-headed children who don’t understand our own choices? So when we work to make women’s lives better, y’know, as if they mattered, we strengthen reproductive choice because we normalize the idea that women are and should be free.
So my hope for the Obama presidency is that it advocates and legislates, in every possible way, the notion that women are people.
How strange that it’s something that even has to be asked for.
Today in “impotent rage”
I actually said this: “The next time I need bandages I’m buying Johnson & Johnson Band-Aids.”
I bet 3M Corporation is wishing they didn’t mess with me about now!
This has been Today in “impotent rage.”
“In”auguration trivia solutions
All solved. Today Melville is a hero: He solved a clue that was wrong. He’s like a genius.
“In”auguration Trivia
As a cheesy tie-in to an historic event, all of today’s movies will begin with “In.”
1. Followed by two sequels and a TV series, the second movie had the name of the lead character in in its title.
Solved by Hazel (comment #6).
2. Somebody from Milk and Deep Throat.
Solved by Melville (comment #5).
3. “There is no sincerity like a woman telling a lie. ”
Solved by George (comment #7).
4. A woman-centric boxing movie with a woman director.
Solved by Melville even though the clue was totally screwed up (comment #12).
5. The second of a trilogy about a swingin’ sixties spy .
Solved by Ken (comment #1).
6. Battlestar Galactica + Taxi + The Fly.
Solved by Daven (comment #3).
7. “You’re very good at the English, aren’t you? You see, I don’t understand your language. “Justice.” “Mercy.” “Clemency.” I literally don’t understand what those words mean. I’d like to put in an application to get all my teeth extracted. That way I could put my fist in my mouth and never speak another word of fuckin’ English so long as I live.”
Solved by Giljorak (comment #8).
