Twins!

David Bowie and his wife married in 1992 and have one daughter. Just like LSH and I. We have SO MUCH in common!!

RIP, Mr. Jones. You will be missed.

Binge

Why is it so easy to binge? I don't mean due to access, although we are lucky enough to have at our fingertips, access to entire TV shows, movies, book series, and even need to make little effort for chocolate ice cream or family-sized bags of potato chips. I mean, is there a human disposition to bingeing (how odd that the e stays on that spelling) or is it a peculiarly American thing? If we gave every Bangladeshi access to the complete Breaking Bad series, would half the nation binge on Walter White? Do twenty-somethings in England watch all 9 Harry Potter movies in one sitting? I have to force myself to borrow only ONE book in a series on each library visit or I would gorge on them all and find myself waiting and wanting.
I have most recently become obsessed with the Phryne Fisher television series from Australia. 34 episodes based on the wonderful books of Kerry Greenwood who I have blogged about before. The series is not quite faithful to the books in that it creates a more complex relationship with the two main characters than what exists in the novels, but that is understandable for the medium. The costumes and music more than make up for any flaws in the adaption.

I am currently searching for a new fixation. And taking suggestions.

Oh to be young again!

It's true. Youth and beauty are NOT accomplishments. Those of you who have them and enjoy the privileges they provide did nothing to deserve them. And those of you who criticize people who no longer have them are shallow and most likely a jerk.

But once they're gone, oh how we miss them!

Haul out the holly

I've got my Christmas tunes going. Every year we get a fresh crop of recordings from artists as diverse as the Vienna Boys Choir to Keith Urban to Queen Latifah. They all re-do the classics from the 1700s thru the 1950s, but new holiday songs have slowed to a trickle. I will admit to being woefully underinformed about the music industry in general and "cool" music specifically, but on my iPod, I have precisely three songs that were written in the past decade.
Shouldn't there be more than that?


(Although, frankly, I'm a sucker for the Carol of the Bells in any rendition.)

Por favor

My Spanish is so rusty that I only caught every third word in the Jorge Ramos - Antonio Banderas interview. It's okay though. Because Jorge Ramos and Antonio Banderas.

Are they still talking?

I will grant you that the moderators for the GOP debates thus far have been less than professional, with tonight's  bunch topping the list of atrociousness. But at the same time, I'm having a hard time getting upset about it since I think all of these clowns -as Trump would say- should be given the hook.

Oh, Ben!

Blogging is becoming as irrelevant as Ben Carson's interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.

Does the KKK have a tumblr?

The problem with social media is the same thing that makes it awesome. It give us the ability, no matter how remote we might be -physically or emotionally- to connect with other people who have the same frame of reference, or opinion, or illness, or issue, or favorite music, or hobby, or... .
This is great for mom's who like to make crafts for their kids or kids questioning their sexuality.
The downside is that it also makes the wackos who think that all Mexicans are rapists and all blacks deserve to be killed by the police on the side of the road believe that they are in a majority.

Please tell me they are not a majority.

Votes for Women!

It's the 95th anniversary of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote. That's right, 50 years --one half century-- AFTER freed (male) slaves got the vote, women were deemed human enough to cast a ballot.
Two things:

1. Why did we throw it away on a doucheticket like Warren Harding?
2. Why do we share this momentous anniversary with 'National Dog Day'?

voting is for the dogs women

Subjective

Have you ever tried to describe the inherent awesomeness of a thing to someone only to discover in its telling that the awesomeness of the thing in question is entirely subjective and does not translate well and doesn't stand the test of time?
If the above sentence made little sense to you, I give you, as an example: the Wonder Twins. My sister and I were avid fans of this Saturday morning cartoon, but explaining it to a non-fan: "...they were superheros and the boy twin could become water in any state and shape, so he would go, 'form of an iceberg' and then the girl twin would..." Do you see where I'm going with this? Halfway through the explanation, you're thinking to yourself, "Did I seriously LIKE this show?"

The same is true for the original Spiderman TV cartoon for which we would literally drop everything at 3:30 weekday afternoons, when the local station played it in reruns. (Although even back then, part of the appeal of Spidey was its cheesiness that was recognizable even to naive 13-year-olds. Still, try selling the kids of today on "so cheesy it's cool.")

I do try to recall these when I'm inclined to make fun of Punkinhead's Sailor Moon. It doesn't help. But I try.

Ah, the good old days...

Do you remember taking a shoebox to class and pasting it with pink and red construction paper hearts and doilies, then cutting a hole in the top just the size of a valentine card? We labeled our boxes with our names and there were no rules dictating that everyone in the class must receive a valentine from every other classmate.
I distinctly recall agonizing over whether to give one to the gross boy who liked me and, no matter how viciously I rebuked him, would not stop pursuing me. I thought if EVERYONE else got a card from me, and he did not, he would get the message. I did feel badly about it. A little.
I also recall getting a lot of cards, not because I was popular (I was not.) but because we weren't socially advanced enough to be so passively-aggressively hostile to each other. It was Valentines Day. Everyone got a card. (Except Steve. Ugh.)
Anyway, prep time is underway for moms and dads. Get those Valentines together. I believe now they must reference Beyonce, social media and include at least $4.00 worth of candy to be acceptable in 5th grade.

In honor of the Valentines Day release of the (dreadful) 50 Shades of Grey, (or is it Gray? --Who cares?) I found this old Valentine card. What were people thinking back in the day? I hope this dates from the era PRE- decorated shoebox in 5th grade. I'm fairly certain this is inappropriate for 10-year-olds.

Rich white trash.

Why do we, as a nation, allow people like Kim Kardashian, or Paris Hilton or any number of talentless, brainless, twits whose only accomplishment is being born wealthy, to become famous? Why do we, as a nation, pay any attention at all to them? Stop. If everyone stops giving a rat's ass about Kim-ye's photoshopped butt, it will go away. And I for one, will be a happier person.

You look good in green

When did witches become green? Is this Dorothy's fault? (or more accurately Victor Fleming)
Witches in Shakespeare famously known as the Weird Sisters were not notable as green. Their claim to fame is rhyming --and ambiguous prophecy-- but not their green skin tone.
Now green is environmental, earth-friendly and the green witches "practice a traditional form of witchcraft in which the earth, trees, herbs, plants and flowers are consulted for their medicinal and magical properties." But they are still not physically green.
Back in 1939, there was no such thing as the "green movement" and green was associated with envy, stomach ailments and decomposition. That, and the introductions of Technicolor! likely led to the world making witches green.

The big God picture

Did anyone see the verbal sparring between Bill Maher and Ben Affleck on Maher's program Real Time? Did anyone NOT see it after the Inter-webs got a hold of the whole controversy.
Maher has a bone to pick with Islam as a religion and does it regularly. He is vocal in his antipathy for all religions, but he seems to hold a special hatred for Islam. I will grant you that most Muslim countries seem decidedly less liberal than the U.S. But at the same time, the fundamentalist Christians in the U.S., while a minority, are at least as conservative and repressive in their values as the more restrictive Muslim countries.
I don't understand why Maher keeps arguing that we should oppose Islam any more than we should oppose ANY religion that tries to govern. The best thing Thomas Jefferson ever did was the 1st Amendment. Religion has NO place in government. Whether you are a Ultra-conservative Christian or a Sharia-law Imam.Your spiritual beliefs, no matter how devoutly held, do not entitle you to tell me what MY spiritual beliefs must be. Nor should they ever be used to oppress any portion of the populace. (In that Maher is right, we should all  --liberals and conservatives alike-- be horrified at laws that allow a woman to be executed for adultery. Or forbidden to leave the house without a male relative to escort her.)
But Christians in this country have just successfully limited my right to control my own reproductive organs and he didn't seem all torn up about that. Frankly, if I had to choose between the Old White God-fearing Man laws that declare me a murderess if I use an IUD and wearing a headscarf but having control of my own womb, I'll take the headscarf.

So why we should be more upset about Islam when fundamentalists worshiping any of the traditional patriarchal Gods all want women silent and subservient?

Stop.

Last night at the Emmys Sofia Vergara was literally put on a pedestal. And while I think the intention of the bit was well-meaning, it certainly didn't go far enough to address the pervasive objectification of women in media.
Internalizing our own objectification is something we are taught at a very young age. Calling it out is important to ending the objectification of all women. Even if it was done as a joke, it should not be ignored. The more others (men and women) are aware of the insidious nature of the way that women are treated as objects (ubiquitous throughout pop culture) the less it will happen.
However, the tongue-in-cheek intentions at the beginning of a speech about diversity in television should not have ended with the man announcing that despite the gains of women (and presumably minorities, although no mention was made outside of the palliative "diversity") their number one goal remains "something compelling to watch."

ha.ha. Get it? We completely objectified this lovely woman to make a point about how important women are and they shouldn't be objectified except if it makes you watch TV. Then it's okay. No really.

Things we can learn from nerds and geeks

You know what the best thing about the geek community is (as witnessed this weekend at the Great Lakes Medieval Faire)?



They are so openly accepting of everyone.

Sad tidings

Is it okay if I smack the first person who suggests that someone famous is going to die soon based solely on their pathetic interpretation of the mythical "rule of three"?

Putting a cute animal on a thuggish saying doesn't make it palatable

I'm disgusted by "Christians" who post memes like this:

suggesting that attempts to stop bullying creates a "society of victims" when

1.  if there were no bullying, there would be no victims of bullying.
And,
2.  whether there are stands against it or rules against it or shaming of the bullys, if it happens, it has victims.
Also,
3.  wearing t-shirts or establishing bylaws are ways of coping with bullying. And the victims are still victims, even if they now have support.

Stop blaming the (potential) victim

The Miss USA pageant was this weekend. I didn't watch, but thankfully Vanity Fair correspondent Phoebe Robinson did. Her recap is blog-worthy.
She also notes with dismay that the winner (**spoiler alert**) answered her thoughtful question about what colleges can do to combat on-campus sexual assault with the suggestion that girls learn self-defense. (The implication being that if you don't adequately defend yourself, you deserve it.)
When are we going to WAKE UP AND REALIZE THAT IT'S NOT THE WOMAN'S RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE SHE'S NOT RAPED??!?! Seriously. This is the winning answer.
I get that all the hairspray and fake tans can take a toll on intelligence, but come on! This is 2014, not 1950. How about we suggest next year that a great way to prevent sexual assault is to teach boys to respect women. All women. All the time.
Every year we spend concentrating on the victims' errors is a year we lose in teaching the younger generation that women are not objects. We don't exist for men's gratification. Nor for their chores. Nor as an outlet for their violence. Nor as an incubator for their offspring. Nor as a pair of boobs in a bikini. (Unless you're Miss Nevada, apparently. Then you just learn Tae Kwon Do.)

Private

People my age and older complain a lot about the Internet taking away our privacy. You never hear the "Millennials" say a peep about it. Why? Because they don't actually expect privacy on the Internet. They have been trained since their first bite of mashed carrots that the Internet is omnipresent and potentially everlasting. They still post stupid crap that they'll regret later in life, but so does everyone else their age. And everyone sees it.
This is why the NSA scandal read as a bit of a joke to them. They assumed the tracking of their phone and data and Internet posting. Our outrage struck them as kind of ridiculous.
This is the age we live in. Either you are out there for all the world to see or you are living in a mud hut in the mountains of North Carolina with no electricity growing your own organic kale.
So maybe we older folks should consider lowering our expectations.