The British police thwarted a terror plot. Yay the British police.
U.S. airports are glowing a sickly orange color.
I’m flying to Miami at 9:30 tomorrow morning to meet up with my cruisin’ crew.
So now I’m totally stressed. Because I have to leave before 7 a.m. to get to the airport, so if the terror alert is still in place when I go to bed…? I don’t know either.
Oy.
(Cross-posting…fun for the whole family.)
Joe Lieberman lost, lost, lost the Connecticut Democratic primary. In his non-concession speech, he said:
Now let me tell you how I see where we are now,” the senator continued, in a speech that was less of a concession than a confirmation that he would not back down. “I’m a sports fan, so I’m going to use a sports comparison, and as I see it in this campaign, we’ve just finished the first half and the Lamont team is ahead. But in the second half, our team — Team Connecticut — is going to surge forward to victory in November.
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Team Connecticut just, uhhh, vote? And not for Lieberman? Just asking.
(I love the smell of cross-post in the morning.)
The site was down for about 12 hours yesterday—about noon to midnight. Looks like I was restored from a backup, and I seem to have lost some emails. So if you’re trying to reach me, I apologize, but try again.
I was not impressed by Saved!. It was all the usual high school cliches transported to the context of an Evangelical high school. Mandy Moore plays the pretty bitch that every high school movie must have, and while I acknowledge that such girls exist, one of these days I simply must analyze the patriarchal underpinnings of making them the inevitable target of scorn.
Anyway. Moore plays a self-satisfied, clique-running, all-powerful high school diva. Only in this movie, she’s a Jesus-freak diva. Now, a bitch diva like this girl will use whatever the prevailing social structure is to have, hold, and abuse power. That’s her nature. So, in her particular culture, she uses Jesus and salvation as her bludgeon.
I wonder if anyone within the Evangelical community has asked themselves if that is what they really want. They create social pressure to be Christian because social pressure is an effective tool. But the cost is that anyone who wants to abuse power can do so in Jesus’s name. Are any of them asking if that equation is worthwhile? If having a “Christian culture” is worth the price of turning salvation into just one more way for bitches to bitch and abusers to abuse? Because that price is inevitable as long as your salvation is a matter of public discussion.
Where religion and faith are private, there is no social coin in being voted Most Likely to Resurrect. Where religion and faith are public and necessary, some people will have them simply to get elected prom queen.
(By coincidence, while I was writing this post in my head, this article appeared at Pandagon.)
(Cross-posts R Us.)
Arthur wants us to know about the air car:
They’ve invented a car that runs on air. Not a joke.
I’m not sure quite how the science works, because when I tried to read the explanation my eyes glazed over and I went into a catatonic state. Okay, not really, but it’s pretty dense stuff.
Pass this on.
Yes, I cross-posted. Wanna make sumthin of it?
What the Bleep Do We Know? (2004) 6/10
Scientists and mystics discuss the nature of reality.
What the Bleep…? has three basic trajectories. In one, scientists discuss quantum physics, neural networks, peptide receptors, the relationship between memory and reality, and how science can affect us personally and spiritually. This stuff is absolutely fascinating. In another, Marlee Matlin portrays the fictional Amanda, trapped in memories of a broken heart. Her mini-drama is meant to illustrate the points being made. Sometimes it is charming and funny, sometimes obvious and inelegant. Finally, the channeled entity Ramtha (JZ Knight) speaks mystical gobbledygook. Not fascinating. As a matter of fact, not even news. Anyone who has read any New Age material in the last twenty years knows what she’s going to say before she says it. Except when she’s being utterly unclear.
In fact, the scientists are edited in such a way as to emphasize the New Age pronouncements. There is far too little science in the film for my tastes. When discussing “The Hidden Messages in Water”, the actual data is quickly left behind in order to say “Do you realize what this means? Can you imagine applying this to your life?” More connections between the concrete science and the mystical implications would have made those implications more powerful.
There are also a lot of contradictions in the material. For example, the first thirty minutes or so of the film are dedicated to the nature of reality. We create our own reality, we believe reality is external but we’re wrong. Matter is far less solid than we think. Heisenberg. Quantum mechanics. La la la. Immediately thereafter the talking heads head into talking about God. ‘The religions are wrong!’ they say. ‘God is nothing like what they imagine!’ But how can they be “wrong” when they’re creating their own reality?
In sum, there’s an awful lot of value in What the Bleep Do We Know?, but an awful lot of self-important pontification as well. If you’re involved in a spiritual path of exploration, you probably already know about 80% of the information in the film. I suspect people newer to the material will be more fascinated than I was, but despite my familiarity, I learned some things and enjoyed some sections. It’s not that the information is wrong or unimportant, but the presentation leaves a lot to be desired, and the presence of Ramtha tends to discredit the whole affair.
Jewish comedian Jackie Mason says of those of us who are speaking out against Gibson’s anti-Semitism:
all these people are very sick; they’re getting a vicious, sick, perverted, sadistic thrill out of this whole thing.
Huh? Baby, I enjoy as many sick, perverted thrills as the next girl, but I assure you, Gibson’s tirades against the Jews don’t qualify.
Mason adds, about Gibson
the guy’s been a great crusader against anti-Semitism.
In what universe? Based on what evidence? Based on what public statements or actions or behaviors?
Mason also criticizes struggling actors who are “jealous” of Gibson. That’s nothing, kids, compared with has-been comics who are riding on his coattails.
Indexing.
What indexing involves is going through every page of a manuscript and deciding what goes in. Is this word/phrase interesting? Too obscure? Too obvious (thereby generating a zillion page hits and being utterly useless)? Do I need things in the Index that are also in the Table of Contents? Did I already index that word? Should I write it down again anyway just in case? Will a reader be annoyed to look up that word and turn to the page and realize it’s just an aside? Will a reader be annoyed to look up that word and not find it? Will a reader ever in a million years care about that phrase?
And there’s lots of laborious typing and my shoulder hurts.
I am indexing The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book right now. So if I don’t post much, please forgive me. Also, please feel sorry for me.
I finally realized that the way to photograph the Gang without them squinting is just not to use the flash. I tried early in the morning when my bedroom was sunny.
Mingo is quite fetching.
Today’s depressing news is from Feministing (again). It seems that
Geez, Louise, how many times do I have to tell you? Educate yourselves, educate your community. Plan B is contraception. Not abortion. It doesn’t end pregnancy, it prevents it.
Hey, I’m past childbearing. This is for your benefit, girls. If the condom breaks; if the contraceptive fails for any reason, you can take Plan B up to 3 days after intercourse and prevent pregnancy.
