|
Links
Blogs Watch Listen Play Boards Archives
|
Monday, June 30, 2008
My Big Fat Gay Weekend
6/30/2008 01:26:00 PM Friday: "I really really really wanna zig-a-zig-AH!" After working for a couple hours I met up with Will, Molly, & Kat at Mokabes for some mocha and a terrible round of "Password". It's much harder than Regis makes it look. Following an indeterminable amount of boredom, and failing to come up with something to do, we moved to Molly's to try the interweb for ideas only to fall short again. Then some genius (ehem, me) thought it would be fun to go to a park and/or grill some food. Commence drive to Wal-Mart, listening to Spice Girls, to pick up needed grill and supplies. *Sidenote: Yay! I have my own grill! It's portable, yet decent sized and only cost $10* Somehow the park turned into Steph's backyard Me: "It's kinda weird to actually have a backyard now..." Smores where eaten. Booze was imbibed. It was a good time. And strangely made us all feel very adult. Sitting around doing nothing in a backyard, drinking alcohol, and grilling out--yep sounds like my parents. Next I'll have to build a deck. Saturday: "You! I wanna take you to a gay bar!" Same culprits, different day. PrideFest = Gay Day. And where the gays are, you know there's hundreds of booths full of pamphlets and information about important causes, and plenty of petitions to sign. So gay. I'm a sucker though, so you know I donated money I didn't have, signed up for some mailing lists, and seriously contemplated adopting a dog. In the end, no dog for me (yet) but I did leave a newly registered voter of the state of Missouri--something I was planning on doing soon anyways, so it was nice to save a trip downtown. Plus, I totally made that guy's day. I used his last registration form, so he was done for the day. Besides the booths, there wasn't a whole lot going on. Some lectures and workshops, which are fine and dandy, but not terribly exciting. Will had finally gotten a hold of "The Rose" starring the Divine Miss M herself, so we decided to go to Molly's and watch it. Of course, I had to leave early to meet up with Stacey, Janie, and Petra to go see "Wanted", but luckily I caught enough of Bette Midler rocking out on stage like a Mick Jagger/Janis Joplin hybrid that I was satisfied. Plus, I managed to hear what I assume is the best line of the whole film before I walked out. "I'll calm down...when you sit on my face!" Hahahaha. I love it. So, "Wanted" blew. After that I followed Will to some random beer pong party, where we didn't know anyone. So we proceeded to eat pretzels, and invite the strangers to our conversation by asking them what they proposed the "opposite of fisting" is? By midnight it was time to switch from scaring strangers to sweating on them. We headed to Novak's with addition of Aaron, and danced the night away. It was the most fun I've had in a club since I was living in London. Even the cover charge was jacked so high that was familiar too. To be fair, since it was the night of the gays a couple bars had joined together and closed the street off in between them, so the $15 cover charge (somehow I managed to get in for $5) got you in to both bars, and the street party. Sunday: "True colors are beautiful, Like a rainbow" Technically the day started with me getting home at 6am. Yet, Aaron's mom was coming to town for the Pride Parade, so I dragged myself out of bed in time to meet up with them. His mom was amazing. I love her already. She's coming up again in a couple weeks cause she wants to go crazy dancing at Novak's too. Strange Encounter #1: The day before, I had been asking Sam when Jonathan and Lauren would be getting back from their honeymoon semester in Tailand, and then Sunday we were walking down the street and bam! There's Lauren! Which was a pretty good hint they were back in the States. Always good to see her (Jon was nowhere to be found). When the parade was finished we walked over to the park where the festivities were continuing to grab some lunch. I had brought my own selection of picnic snacks, including some watermelon and kiwi. Delicious. After escaping a few near death by football incidents (thanks girls!) and another strange but pleasant conversation with strangers(this time about flying cadavers and lawyers) we wandered around. I swear the booths had multiplied and moved around since Saturday to try and trick me into going to all of them once again. So we mosied enough to find some more drinks, and plopped down on a spot near the stage to enjoy the performances. I must say, the drag queen performing to a Julie Andrews song was more enjoyable than Julie Andrews in drag performing to her own song. In between one of the trips to the ATM for more drinks monies, I had Strange Encounter #2: So Saturday night when we were at the strangers house, for some reason Will and I had started talking about old classmates, and I asked him where Heather from our floor freshman year had ended up. He said he actually ran into her a couple weeks before in Best Buy, and that her kid was enormous by now! (She's only two years old, but it's still much bigger than the bump in Heather's belly, which was the last time we'd seen her). Anyway. I was waiting for Kat to get a margarita and this totally rad looking girl (as she always was) comes up to me and starts to say "Hey...do you remember me, we used to live on the same floor"at the same time I'm going, "Omg! It's Heather! Weird! This is weird! Of course I remember you!"and grabbing her into a hug, haha. If I hadn't been thinking about her so recently, I might have had a more normally paced reaction, but it's like I was expecting her, so I was extra excited and it was great to catch up with her too. Finally, around 6:00pm things were starting to die down, and I was still exhausted from the evening before, so Kat and I bid Aaron and his momma goodbye and carpooled it back to the Meatlocker. We got there just as Will was getting home, but I was too tired to hang around. The gay done worn me out. So I went home and finished a perfectly gay evening by watching the latest episode of Kathy's Griffin's "My Life on the D-List" where she flies to Oz on a pink plane, snuggles koala's with Lance Bass, and shops for crowns and tiaras with Margaret Cho and Cindy Lauper for the Australian Mardi Gras. Overall, it was probably the best weekend I had this year. I almost said semester. Weird. I remember writing in my blog Saturday, June 28, 2008
Bring Ya to The Brink
6/28/2008 01:24:00 PM Once again I find myself in love with Cyndi Lauper. It shouldn't surprise me, yet every time I'm reminded of it, it takes me by surprise.  I'd obviously seen random clips of her throughout her career, and in interviews where I found her absolutely adorable, intelligent, and charming (in her own way, accent included haha), and eventually stumbled on a concert special of hers years ago. I remember pausing on the channel because she was singing one of her older songs I was familiar with, and I ended up stuck for the rest of the hour amazed by how good she was live. After that I was hooked.  It's been a while since "The Body Acoustic" and "At Last", (which Kayla may remember as the awesome covers album that I would carry around with me whenever we made those high school trips to GI, along with Bette Midler's Rosemary Clooney songbook, torn between which to buy), both of which were pretty tame projects and not your typical "new Cyndi music", but I'd heard she had a new album out, and didn't really look into it until a couple of weeks ago when I saw her perform on the New Now Next awards. I was shocked when I heard what sounded more like a Kylie Minogue or Madonna tune start thumping away, haha. But I LOVE it. This song has been in my brain ever since, and I actually think the club scene sound totally fits Cyndi. I know her gay boys must be loving it as well. Now that she has a new album out (as do the B-52s) I'd actually really like to see her out on the True Colors tour, unfortunately they didn't come by this way and the tour's nearly over by now. The line-up this year seemed great though, of course the B-52's and Rosie were back, but they also had newer acts like The Cliks (who I love) and more comedians like another favorite of mine Wanda Sykes. I'm kinda bummed thinking about it actually. (A great interview last year on "The View" about the 1st Annual True Colors Tour) Wednesday, June 25, 2008
WANTED
6/25/2008 06:40:00 PM No this isn't a personal ad. I'm not that pathetic. This Saturday Janie, Petra, and I are going to see the film opening this weekend starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman. Wanted Exclusive Trailer As soon as I saw the trailer a few months ago I was hooked. I recall stating out loud, "Oooo! I wanna see that!" whilst Sam who had been watching over my shoulder let out a sigh of disgust. I know it looks very Matrix-y. I know it's bound to share some of the "summer-blockbuster-action-film" cliche sequences that can get annoying---BUT----I also know know a few things about myself. I like Angelina Jolie. I like Angelina Jolie being a bad-ass. I mean, I can get behind her humanitarian efforts in real life, but on the big screen I think I prefer her kicking ass. I heart James McAvoy hardcore. I blame the Scottish accent. The Scots and the Irish are both Celtic peoples...I feel a connection, okay? (Note: I believe McAvoy's lost--or at least attempted to lose--the accent for this film, so we'll see if that changes my feelings toward him any) And lastly, two words. Morgan Freeman. Taking these few facts into consideration, along with the knowledge that the film is based on a graphic novel series, I'm holding out hope that this film might actually be as good as I hope it to be.  I also love that in almost every still I've seen, she looks fierce, and he looks like he's gonna wet himself, haha.  Monday, June 23, 2008
Music Monday
6/23/2008 03:27:00 PM After listening to my "A Fine Frenzy" station on Pandora Tangent: some of my favorite artists come up with just that one starting point, it's great, the Tunstall, the Feist, the Yamagata (Rachael), Patty Griffin, Chantal Kreviazuk, Rilo Kiley....seriously, even if you've never heard of Alison Sudol or A Fine Frenzy type it in and enjoy the radio station it creates I got a little reminder e-mail that the new music video for "Come On, Come Out" is done. The Fine Frenzy crew is also accepting fan video entries here. Some suck, some are interesting, and some are actually good. Anyways. Here's a live studio performance of the song that I like for the almost-celtic? intro that they play during shows.
Weekend Update(s)
6/23/2008 10:45:00 AM Saturday was Molly & Aaron's big Superhero blowout. I went as Stephyllis the Acerbic Spaz. Which doesn't make much sense after googling the definition of "acerbic". Or does it? The only thing I'll say about that is, for the first time ever, I actually had one of those hangovers you see in movies/tv, where everything around you is too bright or too loud. Damn comedies. It's not so funny when it's actually happening to you. Oh and lets see...Sunday....? Sunday I fell in love. Not with a person mind you. With a toolkit. I know. How much more pathetic could I get. But alas, it's true. Sunday I decided to fix my bike so I can ride that around because 1) I want to, 2) It's better for the environment, 3) It's exercise, but most importantly at the moment 4) it's cheaper than paying for gas. So I initially set out just to purchase a new tube for my front tire and a wrench that would be multi-functional, but especially able to get my tire off my bike to allow for said repair. I might mention that while I was browsing the "Fix-It" section of the store, Beca was on the phone with me trying to understand the concept of me fixing my tire myself. "Couldn't you just take it to the bike place?" Oh Jersey. I have to admit the thought never even crossed my mind to take it to an actual bike repair shop. Though I'm sure it wouldn't have crossed Beca's either if her Dad was available, haha. Anyway...I found this 140 piece set of tools for like $20 that came with everything from a hammer and ratchet set, to the tiny screwdrivers and allen wrenches for odd jobs like glasses frames or what not. AND it had a tape measure. Which I've been needing, but always found too expensive to buy individually. I mean..who wants to pay like $10 for one of those? Regardless, I got home and was beside myself with my set of tools. I felt like I could conquer the world! Or at least my bike tire. Which I did! Next on the list to take on? Power drills. You should be worried. Wait--I mean, I should be worried. Umm, I was on Pandora and "Common Reaction" from Uh Huh Her came up? What the hell? I haven't seen this anywhere! Which makes sense considering the new record's not out yet...but still, it's on Pandora but not their website or myspace? Whatever, I'm totally ripping this .mp3 when I get home. I like this song. Ooo! Now there's a cool less 80's-ized version of "Here Comes the Rain Again" (the Eurythmics/Annie Lennox) by some chick named Alex Parks. I think I might have to check her out too. Friday, June 20, 2008
Attn: Stef
6/20/2008 02:37:00 PM Okay, so it's not the classiest way of addressing a professional piece of mail to an Assistant Editor, but it'll get your shit to me. Today I got my first package that was sent to Mercury, and actually addressed to my attention specifically. I thought it was neat. Even if they spelled my name wrong. Oh yeah, and I have an official job title now. I don't know if I mentioned that or not. But I'm totally getting business cards printed that clearly state my position as "Assistant Editor" now that I'm an actual paid employee. Much cooler than Post-Production Intern.
Victor/Victoria
6/20/2008 11:52:00 AM Last night Will and I planned to watch "The Rose" by Bette Midler, but finding it (or rather not finding it) missing from Family Video, we of course had to find something else with a campy feeling starring a big voiced dame. The next best choice was a movie I'd been wanting to see for ages, starring my beloved Julie Andrews ( I recently found it at GoodWill accompanied with the Rocky Horror Picture Show for $2. I'm pretty sure the two were only paired together due to the similarities of the covers.  Nevertheless, I thought it was a steal, so when Will reported there would be no Bette Midler, my mind instantly jumped to my recently acquired purchase. Of course, what could be campier than a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman? Well, we were wrong. As much as I love Ms. Andrews, watching her pretend to be a gay man dressing as a drag queen and sing and dance, was really just watching her dress as a woman (with sparklier outfits no doubt) and sing and dance, as she would in practically ever other role, haha.  I was sad to be dissapointed. The worst bit was the whole film was rather predictable, and that the songs weren't even that great. My favorite parts were seeing Dame Julie (I like that I can say that, and not feel like I'm making it up anymore) in a swanky tux or suit, and oddly even that got old quickly. .jpg) Will and I actually spent more time discussing who else could have been better, or would be great in a Broadway version. Some names that came up were Candice Bergen, Kathleen Turner (hello...she's made for this kinda stuff. Chandler's dad?), Cybill Shepherd, Cher, (my personal fave) Elaine Stritch, Bette Midler, Kathy Griffin (who alot of the time already looks and acts like a drag queen) and of course..Bea Arthur, haha. Even so...my adoration for Julie Andrews is still as strong as ever. I love that she could be a gay icon, while grandmothers and parents still thought of her as the perfectly wholesome babysitter. Apparently there have even been some gender/cultural studies done on her parallel success in both worlds. Studying "The Sound of Music" through queer feminist theory!? Where were those books in my Women Studies classes? Wednesday, June 18, 2008
The Good, The Bad, & The Ridiculous
6/18/2008 01:33:00 PM Good to come from California's latest rulings = Equal Marriage for All! Okay, so not everyone, just those living in either California or Massachusetts. Bad to come from California's latest rulings = Giving Fred Phelps an opportunity to get even more press coverage. (Link) Not only does he slam Obama and his "fag agenda" in a recent interview, but he also drags recently deceased Tim Russert into it. However I doubt Phelps has the balls to attempt to gain publicity off protesting Russerts funeral as he did with those of fallen soldiers who died in Iraq (since Russert, and America as a country are "fag-enablers").
Rape = Weather?
6/18/2008 12:19:00 PM I try hard not to be one of those "angry feminists", but I swear sometimes I feel like members of Jackasses United are testing my limits. Apparently, John McCain recently canceled a Texas fundraiser to be given by Clayton Williams after it was revealed that Williams, during his 1990 campaign for governor of Texas, compared rape to the weather: “As long as it’s inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it.” Thankfully, McCain's campaign initially cancelled the fundraiser, however they said that they would be keeping more than $300,000 raised by Williams. Additionally, the fundraiser is back on, however Williams will not be hosting it. Regardless, as many have pointed out, I think the best idea would be for McCain to donate the money to an organization (or multiple organizations) that work to counter rape. Of course, that would mean McCain's campaign actually cared enough about women to do so...and I don't think that's a concern that generally falls under the Republican agenda. However, here's to hoping! Whilst on the topic, I was really disturbed yesterday by the inclusion of a couple rape scenes on the IFC's "50 Worst Sex Scenes in Cinema!" list. Granted, they stated they were in no way equivocating rape with consensual sex, and with the case of 3rd ranked Gaspar Noé's 2002 film "Irréversible" considered the droves of crying women exiting the theater to be an example of Noé fucking the audience. Still, I'd rather they not included any rape scenes at all on a list dedicated to sex scenes gone bad in films, as they are indeed two entirely different things. Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Holy Shiza!
6/17/2008 08:09:00 PM I've realized where I know Sarah Haskins from!! She was in the Second City troupe (improv act out of Chicago) that came to Webster this past August and performed! Wow. I feel weird but kinda cool that I've already been to one of her shows, before actually discovering her, lol. Not that you can tell this is her, but I totally remember her being one of the highlights of the evening--especially in this skit they did about Middle Eastern women.  I think this was the skit that showed a departing American soldier saying goodbye to his burqa-clad Iraqi girlfriend, while the whole time her father shouts loud, bullying commands to "get back in the corner" etc. The best was at the end though, when the American soldier grabs her and they begin to reenact the final dance scene of "Dirty Dancing." I remember being very impressed that they did "the lift" and all. The whole thing was very smart, but also pretty edgy (especially when it came to politics) humor-wise. One skit was about Hillary Clinton trying to hire assassins to kill Barack Obama, who had excuses like "I'm gay for Obama. He's just the right amount of black." And the opening skit featured a man being held accountable for using up the world's entire supply of oil and policing the world. The mock trial ended when the man beat up the whole court and said: "I'm America; I don't have to be accountable. I kick ass!" The only reason I'm sure I didn't blog about the show afterwards is because it was the same night we got kicked out of the dorms (without Webster having places on hand to send us) when the power went out. If I'm correct, I believe Sam and I were actually coming back from the Second City show, to find the dorms closed and empty and Public Safety telling us we couldn't go in. Luckily since we weren't aware of the outtage he let us go up and get a few belongings, but then we had to camp out at Will's apartment for the weekend.
Funny Lady Crush: Sarah Haskins
6/17/2008 04:41:00 PM So, a couple days ago I watched this video, ala Feministing and noticed this chick who looked oddly familiar (I feel like I've seen her as a child comedian on something). Target Women: Suffrage Anyways, the video was hilarious, and the host rather brilliant I thought--not just in an intelligent way for creating a satirical show like "Target Women", but also for her deadpan delivery and her perfectly executed "WTF" face. I actually thought about coming to post the video on my blog at the time, but was being kinda lazy. Then, today I see a post from my blog goddess (blogess?) Dorothy Snarker concerning Yogurt, and how she never realized it was so..."girlie".  And of course, after agreeing with her that feminization or masculinization of food is just plain wierd, I clicked play on a video that was included, only to be shocked to see my newfound friend once again! I love it. Not only did I have a feeling I'll be looking forward to more of these installments as they come out, but I instantly had to search for more of what I'd missed so far. Though I still can't place where I recognize her from, I found one more hilarious video on YouTube, about an episode dedicated to Wedding Shows on Lifetime & We. I gotta say I agree completely with Kate Harding on this one.  "When she stripped down to bike shorts and a sports bra to demonstrate her resemblance to a computer-fattened contestant on "Bulging Brides" she, um, had me even more. I am officially girl-crushing on Sarah Haskins something fierce." Monday, June 16, 2008
Circus Flora
6/16/2008 11:59:00 AM So this treasured one-ring, European-style circus is giving a performance of "Sherwood Forrest" this week in the STL. And I wanna go!! I mean, sure the circus part in a big top tent sounds awesome. I'm a little less sure of the idea of the Circus Flora company becoming Robin and his merry band of outlaws, winning the hearts of the people, and most importantly the lovely Maid Merrian and her ladies-in-waiting. Regardless...I'm sure it would be intersting to say the least. Sunday, June 15, 2008
I'm Excited!
6/15/2008 04:38:00 PM So Molly is having a Superhero party next weekend, and apparently I was specifically thought of when deciding the invite list, because of the reputation I've established for such costume themed parties as these. That makes me happy. But now there's added pressure to come up with something else ridiculous enough to match up to my previous efforts. I already asked if I could be Jesus, but apparently we have to come with our own creative superheros for this one. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to share. In the spirit of sharing. Here's a totally different take on a tune from UHH. I love the piano. I would not mind at all if the "Electro" was taken right out of that Electro-Pop for more of their songs. Acoustic performance of "I See Red" Live in the studio at WERS, Music for the Independent Mind Saturday, June 14, 2008
Hair Chop
6/14/2008 02:27:00 PM Today I went for a drive, and spontaneously decided to drive by this strip-mall-ish section that I haven't been to for a while. I didn't really want to shop even though I also stopped at a yard sale on the way, so I have no idea why I was going there. However... I pulled around the corner and saw some big bright flashy colors on this hair salon...apparently there was some sort of sale, and the store next to them was barbequeing. So I went in and asked for a hair cut. I kinda just let the chick suggest whatever she wanted, based on the facts that 1) it's hot out, so I really don't care if you wanna take off some length and 2) I'm pretty much game for anything. So she suggested taking it to my chin level, stacking it in the back, and giving me some slant bangs. Most of which I had no idea what meant, but I was like..."Sure. Sounds Good." So that's my new do. ----There's a big red bird sitting in front of me. I don't even know what that is. It's like red red...not a Robin. Wierd----- What was I gonna say? Hmm. I think I was done. I kinda feel like going to the zoo though. Friday, June 13, 2008
Casual Racism
6/13/2008 02:14:00 PM ObamaMonkey? There Is No Teachable Moment With Some People.  This is getting ridiculous already, and we've not even officially begun the primary election yet. I can't even imagine how much worse things will get when the race between the parties starts to heat up. From Jezebel.com: As if there hasn't been enough coverage of how using images of monkeys to represent the first African-American Presidential candidate from one of the two main parties is unwarranted and incredibly racist, there's a new company marketing a new Obama-monkey product. TheSockObama Co. is marketing this toy via its website that we're not going to link to. In response to inquiries from plenty of people about what kind of scum-sucking, race-baiting, Neo Nazi company they are, they responded: Thursday, June 12, 2008
Are you kidding me?
6/12/2008 04:55:00 PM Fox News calls Michelle Obama, "Obama's Baby Mama"  As if I couldn't loathe Fox News even more. I get that they thought they were being clever and playing off Obama's last name...I mean, hey, plenty of people have been creative over wordplay throughout his campaign. However, I think it's still a bit sexist and racist. Not only is it belittling their relationship as a married committed couple (not the average stereotype for individuals describing their only attachment to someone as their 'baby mama'...instead of their ex-girlfried, or a random hookup, etc.) but its also a comment you know they wouldn't make about Bush or McCain's wives--mainly because they're white, so that description wouldn't even cross the reporter's mind.
This video is so damn creepy...
6/12/2008 04:14:00 PM The baby arm and spinning head seriously wierd me out, but I love the pop-up ocean, lol. Little Favours They even snuck in the wee bastard pedal. Under that reptilian foot, lol. Wednesday, June 11, 2008
I Love These Dudes
6/11/2008 06:13:00 PM We go from a Tour Vlog (UHH) to a Studio Vlog, with Mute Math. "Lavatory Loops" Playing a xylaphone and banging on mic stands in a bathroom for a new album? My kinda men. Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Oui Oui She
6/10/2008 11:20:00 AM Time for a little Uh Huh Her update. So, they've started a new webseries. More like a video journal following the band. The first 3 are up and available in this player. My favorite part so far is in #2, with Jaques and Josh dancing on the Freeway in the middle of rush hour. To view past webisodes, click the playlist icon If you were momentarily confused by the French moniker above, you can catch their recent interview on "This Just Out with Liz Feldman". Absolutely hilarious. As is the Jewish version of the band name Liz came up with "Oy Oy Lady". It's a good laugh, plus a couple of Liz's past guests (Kate Moennig, Clea Duvall, and Nicol Paone) make cameos. Plus, the girls bust out a lovely acoustic performance in the kitchen. There's even a brand new song! Kinda. Leisha and Cam wrote a theme song for the show, which is actually really catchy. I hope someone will get on top of that and post the full version as an .mp3 somewhere. Monday, June 09, 2008
What's Scary About This Picture?
6/09/2008 02:51:00 PM  Not the sight of a man in speedos wielding a chopping knife...no no. Rather, the fact that I still find it hot, even after taking note of the giant knife. I feel like the morning Mraz hair also has something to do with it. Thursday, June 05, 2008
Tina F-ing Fey
6/05/2008 09:29:00 PM Since it has been two whole months since my last Tina fix (what? you don't remember our hypothetical daughter Trixibelle?), how about we rewind and take a look at Tina being Tina during her April appearance on Conan. The bit about her daughter being like an abusive boyfriend is just another reason why I love her. That and the fact that her fame comes from talent, not her time in the tabloids. Her charm comes from her intellect, not what she looks like in a bikini. Her wit comes from real substance, not some flash-in-the-pan style. She is the antidote to everything I hate about the sad spectacle of bread and circus our popular culture has become. I'm still not over her "I Can Do It!!!" Monologue from her stint hosting SNL this winter, with Steve Martin. The 40's Hollywood Movie Star, and Tiny Spanish Mouse get me every time. Wednesday, June 04, 2008
6/04/2008 11:17:00 AM Even though I've been kinda burnt out on presidential race lately (jeez, it's been over a year since I started actively hunting down info every day at the Comfort Inn, ha) I did manage to catch Obama's speech on CNN last night. Believe me, after all this time I am indeed happy that he's the nominee, but I have to say, I was really glad that he spent a good portion of his speech on giving the big HC the props she deserves. Now I've never been a Hillary fan, but you can't deny what she has accomplished in this race. And though I wouldn't say she managed to run a *completely* classy campaign, she was thorough, and went through a lot of b.s. along the way. Even though I didn't vote for her, I have to say I am proud that she made it this far. Now if she can just suck it up and get over her ego, she should become Obama's running mate, and the two of them can make history together. After all, like they both said, it's not about them, it's about us--and what's best for our country. Anyways, if you missed Obama's speech here's the first part (he startes talking about Hillary about midway through).
Jackson Katz: Violence Against Women Is a Men's Issue
6/04/2008 10:53:00 AM Some great excerpts from an article I read today (LINK) "As a culture, Americans first must take the step in acknowledging that violence against women is not a women's issue, but a men's issue," Katz said. "The first problem I have with labeling gender issues as women's issues is that it gives men an excuse to not pay attention. This is also the problem with calling them gender issues, because the majority of the people in the status quo see gender issues as women's issues." "In the United States, when we hear the word `race,' people generally think of African Americans," Katz said. "When people hear `sexual orientation,' they tend to think that means homosexual, gay, or lesbian. When people hear `gender,' they think of women." Katz used race and gender to illustrate how, over time, language has helped perpetuate and maintain the dominant culture's dominance. "In each, the dominate culture is left out of the equation. This is one way that dominant systems maintain themselves in that they are rarely challenged to think about their own dominance," Katz said. "This is one of the key characteristics of power and privilege and why the dominant culture has ability to go unexamined and remain invisible." "I know women have made great historical strides in recent history, but when we talk about the dominant group in our society, we are talking about men." "Take rape for example," said Katz. "Over 99 percent of rape is perpetrated by men, but it's a women's issue?" If a woman has done everything in her power to reduce her risk, then a man who has the proclivity for abuse or need for power will just move on to another woman or target," Katz added. "It's about the guy and his need to assert his power. And it's not just individual men, it's a cultural problem. Our culture is producing violent men, and violence against women has become institutionalized. We need to take a step back and examine the institutionalized polices drafted by men that perpetuate the problem." "It is estimated that 18 million women, children, and men have been sexually abused in the U.S.," Katz said. "Think about all the men who love these people and have been personally and profoundly affected by knowing that their loved ones have been a victim of sexual violence. So don't tell me these are not men's issues." "I come from a social justice perspective that if you are a member of the dominant group and you don't speak up in the face of others in your group when they are abusive, your silence is a form of consent and complicity." "On the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre, the coverage of the event was pathetic, not to mention the commentary was ridiculously superficial," Katz said. "There was not one mention of men, masculinity, or violence in their coverage, yet all of these school shootings have been perpetrated by young men. The first thing we should be talking about is the gender of the perpetrators, not gun control, school security, and the school's responsibility." "Michael Moore's documentary about the Columbine shootings won several awards, including an Oscar for Best Documentary," Katz said. "He makes a two-hour film about gun violence; however, he doesn't once mention the single most important factor leading to the shooting: gender." Katz points out a pattern that has evolved regarding how the media uses passive voice and sentences when reporting gender violence. Using a board in the front of the room, Katz helped make his point by providing the audience with a concrete exercise to illustrate the power of passive voice (see below). John beat Mary. (active) Mary was beaten by John. (passive) Mary was beaten. (passive) Mary was battered. (passive) Mary is a battered woman. (active) "John has left the conversation long ago, while Mary evolves into the active victim," Katz said. "This evolution of victim-blaming is very pervasive in our society, because this is how our whole power structure is set up. We start asking why Mary put herself into a position to be beaten by John." "If we really want to work on prevention, we need to start asking questions about John, not Mary," Katz said. "We won't get anything done until we start treating these issues as men's issues and shift the paradigm at the cultural level." Monday, June 02, 2008
SATC
6/02/2008 06:41:00 PM Even abbreviated it scares me. Maybe that's because it looks like some sort of standardized test one should take. If the test were about women, fashion, New York, and...oh yes..Sex. Of course, I'm refering to the "SATC" of HBO's hit series, and now, box-office smash feature film "Sex And The City." This weekend a friend invited me to see it on the big screen. I'd only ever before caught the show on rare occassions and usually in some sort of marathon run of it on TBS, so I wasn't one of the hardcore throngs of fans dying to see it, but I was quite eager to simply get out of the house and socialize. Thus, Janie, Petra, Kat, and I found ourselves in a ridiculously humid, ridiculously crowded, viewing of the film at the Galleria on Saturday. The Chase Park Plaza started showings on Thursday at midnight, and was sold out through Tuesday. Talk about crazy. I've never been in a theater with so many women. I don't think I even saw a single man present. The ladies were most definitely representin'....and maulin', haha. Kat and I (neither being SATC enthusiasts) showed up about 7 minutes till showtime, but Janie and Petra told us they were practically pummeled in line at 6:30 (half an hour before). The movie itself was enjoyable. A few sexist, Western idealist, heteronormative comments caught my attention, but for the most part I was able to put my critical cap aside, and stop analyzing too much. What I was NOT able to put aside however, was my editing eye. There were some random ass choices, and a few plain horrible cuts in there. Kat (former fellow AuBuchon classmate) and Janie (a non-video major) both noticed and made similar comments as well. Still, it didn't seem to do too much damage, and walking out of the theater I was able to say I enjoyed it for what it was...entertainment fluff. I would even raise it a few bars above that simply for the fact that unlike most average "entertainment" films, not only did it star four women as leads, but they were also representing strong female characters (to some extent). So for that I'm glad the film has been successful raking in the mulah opening weekend. Especially if you remember, Warner Bros. reaction to the low ticket sales for "The Brave One" and "The Invasion" (starring Jodie Foster and Nicole Kidman respectively), stating they would never again do a movie with a female lead. Sidenote: Though I wasn't aware of it, I did happen to enjoy the random STL storyline thanks to Jennifer Hudson's character--despite the cheesiness of "Louise from St. Looey" moniker. Favorite Moment: As completley random as it was, the small child dressed as a goblin running through the store, haha. Least Favorite Moment: Hearing Fergie's voice opening AND closing the movie. Best Surprise: Al Green's version of "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" making an appearance. I LOVE that song. Breakout Moment: Instead of an eye-catching screen performance, I'm gonna have to give that one to the Gaelic spin on "Auld Lang Syne" the traditional New Years's Eve tune thanks to Scottish chantreuse Mairi Sine Campbell. It lent itself well to the melancholy montage in the middle of the film.
1 Comments:
|
Previous Posts
tagboard
Extra
|
Post a Comment