Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Partisanship Test

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This morning Obama announced that he was giving the go-ahead for offshore drilling in the south Atlantic, the Gulf, and off Alaska's coast. At first I thought, Cool. We need to ensure oil independency, and conservatives will like this. It's bipartisan.

Then I thought, How would I have reacted if George Bush had made the same announcement? I realized with chagrin I probably would have reacted with anger and indignation. Yes, I absolutely would have.

Is this pure partisanship on my part? To some extent, no. I know that Obama is smart and has the same values that I do. So I also believe that if he has okayed the plan, he has looked at the pros and cons relatively objectively and determined that the environmental impact is acceptable---a certainty I would not have had with Bush and one that I think I would have been correct to have not had with Bush.

But still: Do I really believe we should drill in the south Atlantic? I know absolutely nothing of the science and environmental impact, but my gut reaction is no. It seems like the wrong direction to be moving in. The idea of drilling more in the Gulf and around Alaska doesn't upset me as much, perhaps because I don't live there.

I guess one also has to look at the other energy decisions Obama is making, from clean coal initiatives to stricter mileage standards. All these elements come into play, but it's certainly interesting to spot-check one's own objectivity and partisanship.
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Monday, March 29, 2010

The Girl Never Dies

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When I was in elementary and middle school, I had a friend who loved Nancy Drew mysteries as much as I did. We would write letters to each other as if we were in the middle of a mystery, and do such clever things as put the stamp upside down, so that the recipient would notice and get the hint that there was a secret message hidden there.

I’m many years older now, but I still carry on fictional correspondence with my friends. Herewith a recent email thread between me, my friend Deb, and our friend Jessica. It begins with Deb and I planning to see Rob Pattinson in Remember Me and discussing show times. It is also helpful to know that Deb, Jess, and I had earlier been wondering if Rob would make a good Heathcliffe (of course he would, cause he can brood like there's no tomorrow) and who might be his ideal Cathy.

***

Deb wrote:
i can do 1:15.

let's be sure to leave time for eats. let's do a late lunch after. m'kay? i know that if i leave my house at 12:20 i will not have taken the time to eat properly. and i'll be pretty waifish *cough* by the time we finish admiring rob's artistically obscured formus nekkidus on the silver screen. agreed?

***

Lynn wrote:

Dearest Miss Deborah:

We have reviewed your application to play the heroine Cathy in the upcoming production of Wuthering Heights. Although we respect the artistry shown in your white-nightgown photos, we are concerned that, in recent correspondence brought to our attention (please reference missive quoted above), you apparently do not feel that Mr. Pattinson's formus nekkidus is enough to satisfy all your bodily appetites. It appears from the epistolary evidence that you feel that (I can hardly bring myself to write the word) "food" will be required. I must say I was surprised to read this, as I would expect that a two-hour communion with Mr. Pattinson's unearthly male beauty would be enough spiritual sustenance for any young heroine.

Although we are disappointed in your attachment to "food," we are willing to keep your on our list of possible Cathys. I must warn you, however, that if the Committee finds evidence of "nachos" your application will be summarily dismissed.

Yours,
The Committee

***

Deb wrote:

Dear Committee:

I confirm receipt of your last and write to assure you that any reference to "food" was strictly pro forma. I last consumed human physical food on November 3, 2008, at which time I munched on Ritzable Mini-crackers while reading Twilight. Shortly after chapter 4 I brushed the crumbs from my pinafore and forswore consumption, choosing instead to drink in Edward's liquid topaz eyes. Several weeks later, upon viewing that same story in its cinematic retelling, I officially stopped missing food, preferring to feast my eyes on Robert Pattinson's perfectly sculpted marble abdominals.

While it is true that I have been spotted just this afternoon in a Burger King drive-thru, I assure the Committee that the foodstuffs were purchased solely for show and were not consumed but were rather disposed of on my front stoop where they were consumed readily by the local rat population.

I hope that my clarification has adequately assured you of my commitment to this project, and I submit as corroboration of my justification copies of my medical records, which indicate, upon inspection, that my metabolism has effectively ceased to operate (hence the way I look in leggings).

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best,
Deborah, Artiste

***

Lynn wrote:

Dearest Miss Jay:

The Committee is very relieved to hear this. All of the following are acceptable forms of sustenance for a young Victorian heroine:

* contemplation of heroic abs
* liquid topaz eyes
* cracker crumbs
* the chill air of a stormy November night
* despair/madness

Thank you for your clarification and we look forward to your further proofs of suitability for the role of Cathy.

Ever yours,
The Committee

***

Deb wrote to Jess:

herfi,

would you do me a favor? the Committee is considering my application for the role of Cathy in the upcoming remake of Wuthering Heights for the disney channel, and i need to convince them that i am SERIOUS about this shit. (please see previous correspondence.)

would you mind writing me a recommendation---maybe talking about my commitment to tuberculosis/coughing fits and homemade cordials? no? or i don't know. something similar. anyhoo, anything you can write that will make me look the part of a histrionic (i don't know---you may have to invent a little here [smiley-face emoticon]) would be greatly appreciated and would SO not go unnoticed during awards season when i get my tickets to The Globes. [winking emoticon]

please address all correspondence to The Committee. and feel free to CC me! [hyperactively winking emoticon]

[heart emoticon][rose emoticon],
bff

***

Jess wrote to Lynn:

a letter to the committee in defence (<--note modish British spelling) of my dear friend Deborah

To whom it may concern,

I take pen in hand to beseech your esteemed committee to consider, NAY, immediately endorse Deborah as the ONLY POSSIBLE casting choice for the part of Catherine Earnshaw in the Disney Channel's production of Wuthering Heights.

The reasons why this is imperative are legion. I will list but a few of these reasons in this epistle.

First of all, only Deborah can appropriately convey the necessary decibel levels to express Cathy's extreme agitation at being separated from her beloved Heathcliff. Additionally, only she can adequately pine/sicken/linger pathetically in the manner of Cathy. She excels at fainting, hallucinating, trembling, and being a ghostly apparition at the windows of brooding manors. Deborah looks perfect in frayed finery and a state of general dishabille. In fact, I cannot envision her in any other way.

Also, her British accent is much, much more British than any British actress's would be.
It is for these reasons that I must insist that you draw nary a breath before rushing to endorse this captivating specimen of womankind as the ONLY Cathy that could ever be considered.

With affection, conviction, and a tendency to swoon,
Clarissa Fleurette
(One whose devotion to Deborah is only surpassed by her prediliction to blur the line between Gothic and Victorian)

***

Deb wrote:

Dear Committee:

Did I get the part?

Before you answer that, please examine the attached photos of myself lounging in a local mews in a series of poet blouses. Rather than looking tarty (like some attention-seeking actresses of our age), I exude womanliness, femininity, even matronliness. Wait. What I mean is that I probably caught a chill while reclining on the damp city grass and have not yet shaken this cough. It echos in my wasting bosom (!) as I typ-- as I dip my quill into my jar of ink. And, uh, put flannel on it. Or . . .

Please consider my earnest application.

Yours for I'm not sure how long before this galloping consumption consumes me entire,
Deborah, or Dorcas if you think it better suits

***

Lynn wrote:

Sigh.

Miss Deborah (if that is indeed your name, as you seem to have a rather fluid conception of the time-honored family-given name):

The true heroine endures uncertainty and tribulation in silence.

She does not . . . petition.

The Committee

***

Lynn wrote to Jess:

Dearest Clarissa:

How absolutely kind and courteous of you to write us concerning your good friend Deborah and her application to play Catherine. We understood from Miss Deborah that her appearance at Burger King was "for show" and we, in all good faith, accepted her word. We can only assume that her later spotting at the home of one Chuck E. Cheese was similarly for effect. The yet later appearance at a "TCBY"---devouring a decided NON-nonfat yogurt treat---began to strain our credulity. This afternoon's attendance at a local Italian pastry shop (Italian!) was equally disappointing.

Nonetheless, you are so very eloquent in her defense that we will not close the door on her application definitively. We at the Committee are impressed by your earnest defense, the loyalty to your friend of longstanding, your use of the more formal "Catherine," and your appreciation for ALL the requirements for a Gotho-Victorian heroine of the stature of Catherine. Which leads the Committee to wonder if, perhaps, you yourself would be the better choice for this paragon of delicate womanhood?

Yours ever so truly,
The Committee

***

Deb wrote:

Dear Committee:
Please find enclosed 0.5 grams of anthrax.
Yours,
Deborah, a.k.a. The Real Catherine Earnshaw
CC: Herfica

***

Lynn wrote:

Lovely, Miss Deborah. Simply lovely.

As you are so very comfortable in the role of venonaire, would you perhaps be interested instead in the role of the wicked stepmother in our upcoming production of Snow White? Perhaps the physiques of the seven little men would be more to your liking and might mitigate your passion for the nuggets de poulet.

Committee

***

Deb wrote:

But--

Dear Committee:

Please note, though, that I raise my own poultry and use the meats for Healing Broths and the feathers for down ticks and the proceeds from my egg money to purchase posters of Edward Cullen.

In agita,
'Bert'licke-- Deborah/Dorcas

***

Lynn wrote:

Oh Dearest Deborah! You didn't take seriously our whimsical missive! Oh, please say you did not, or we will be ever so cross with ourselves. Our good, dear friends (and benefactors) the Darcys have vouchsafed your delicacy and taste, and we assured them that we consider you to be the ONLY candidate to play the lovely Catherine.

Please assure us (at your earliest, earliest convenience) that our little jest was accepted in the foolish manner in which it was intended!

Yours ever and ever so very truly,
The Committee

PS: Clarissa: We will no longer be needing your services for role of Catherine. Goodbye.

Jess wrote:

CLARISSA:
*faints on couch*
*eschews sustenance*
*contracts wasting ailment*
*suffers in brave silence*
*expires*

I sure hope the committee is happy.

***

Lynn wrote:

TO: The Committee
FROM: The Committee
RE: the previous

Alas. It turns out she would have made an excellent Cathy.

THE END
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"What Bothers Me Most about Washington"

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Zogby asked Democrats and Republicans to identify "what bothers me most about Washington. The results were interesting: 74% of Democrats cited "partisan bickering," and 87% of Republicans said that politicians "think they are smarter than the rest of us."

(I got this from the excellent news magazine "The Week.")
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Artist Tom Shannon

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Love this painting by Tom Shannon (Yellow Warbler). Shannon uses a pendulum as his paintbrush and was featured in Wired magazine in this article.


Sunday, March 28, 2010

My Sister's Birthday

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Great time with family this weekend.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

A Second Viewing . . .

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. . . of Remember Me with Deb today garnered equally appreciative reviews. We also had the theater to ourselves, so we had a running commentary, noting the symbolism of the broken door, the incidences of eye contact, the way families reenact certain scripts time and time again.
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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

More Scientific Discovery

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FedEx delivered a package to me this morning. And while I'm sure the delivery guy is a very nice man, he didn't have the buff physique and swaggering good looks of your typical UPS delivery guy. Which started me thinking about how UPS achieves that. Selective hiring? A reputation for buff guys that makes buff guys want to associate themselves with the brand?

Which led me to the following theorem:

UPS = Hooters for men

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Monday, March 22, 2010

Schooling Myself

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I have to admit I know next to nothing about health care reform. Here is a list, by House Dem. John Larson, detailing some concrete measures included in the law:



As soon as health care passes, the American people will see immediate benefits. The legislation will:


•Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;


•Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool;


•Prohibit dropping people from coverage when they get sick in all individual plans;


•Lower seniors' prescription drug prices by beginning to close the donut hole;


•Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;


•Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all plans;


•Require plans to cover an enrollee's dependent children until age 26;


•Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;


•Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions;


•Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs.

By enacting these provisions right away, and others over time, we will be able to lower costs for everyone and give all Americans and small businesses more control over their health care choices.

Follow Rep. John B. Larson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/housedemocrats


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Saturday, March 20, 2010

Remember Me

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I went to see this--Rob Pattinson's new movie--with great trepidation because of the generally bad reviews. And I was pleasantly surprised to find a well-acted, engaging movie. I really, really liked this movie, and our lad Robert was very good in it, as was Emilie de Ravin, Pierce Brosnan, and the little girl who played Rob's sister.

What the World Needs Now

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In one of those monthly magazines like Vanity Fair or Esquire, they end each issue with a questionnaire answered by someone famous. One of the questions is: What do you most value in your friends? Sometimes the answer is straightforward ("loyalty") and sometimes it's whimsical ("their proclivity to laugh at my jokes"). I started thinking about this in earnest the other day.

I was watching one of the best 30 minutes of TV that I've ever seen: Jon Stewart's devotion of his entire Daily Show to a treatment of Glenn Beck's recent broadcasts on the "cancer" of progressivism. As I was watching Stewart's brilliant, intelligent, comic satire, one word came to mind: subtlety. The satire was at such a high level, and it required of its viewers the ability to think carefully: to draw on a wide field of facts, to make fine distinctions, to apply all manner of logic. I actually felt privileged to be experiencing this piece of television. Combining intelligence and humor with high moral concerns is about as great as art gets.

It also made me think of all the people who would, truly, be unable to absorb this kind of communication. Which led me to how lucky I feel to have friends who can. And this is what I really value most in my friends: subtlety of thinking. Of course they are kind and moral and smart and loyal and funny. But the trait that is most rare and that I thus value most is their fine minds---"fine" not just in the sense of "good quality" but of precision.

The ability to think carefully doesn't make for good talk radio but it does make for a good democracy. Luckily, there are a lot of books out right now who main purpose is, in effect, to instruct readers in careful thinking. Books like Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" and "The Tipping Point" and Stephen Leavitt's "Freakonomics" take readers on a tour of interesting phenomena and show them the way a scientist or sociologist would work through the issues of cause and effect. Why were women not hired in top-tier orchestras until the late 1980s? Why was the name Brittany a "high-end" name in the 1970s and a "low-end" name in the 1990s? Why did the crime rate drop precipitously in 1990? I just started another book called "Survival of the Sickest," which describes the evolutionary upside of diseases, with much the same kind of mental parsing. In the age of Glenn Beck, it's more than reassuring---it's uplifting and incredibly hope-inspiring to see the persistence of such minds at work.
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Friday, March 19, 2010

Email Larceny

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So my super funny friend Deb emailed me about the casting of a certain movie star in a certain upcoming movie. It took me a while to figure this one out, but it was totally worth the effort:

"I mean purely on a dream basis. like how we'd fire hoolia horse teef from Gorge, Weep, Fornicate and replace her with a more spiritually sensitive actress."


NB: For the record, I don't agree with this assessment of Hoolia Horse Teef, but it's very funny nonetheless.-

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Cosmetics and Animal Testing

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Here are some cosmetic brands that DO NOT TEST on animals:

Almay
Aveda
Avon
Bare Escentuals
Clinique
e.l.f.
Estee Lauder
MAC
Mary Kay
Merle Norman
Prescriptives
Revlon
Smashbox
Stila
Tarte
Urban Decay

Here is an unfortunately long list of companies and brands that DO TEST on animals:

Clairol (Aussie, Daily Defense, Herbal Essences, Procter & Gamble)
Dial Corporation (Dry Idea, Soft & Dri)
Johnson & Johnson (Aveeno, Clean & Clear, Listerine, Lubriderm, Neutrogena, ROC)
L'Oréal (Garnier, Giorgio Armani, Helena Rubinstein, Lancôme, Matrix Essentials, Maybelline, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Redken)
Max Factor (Procter & Gamble)
Olay (Procter & Gamble)
Pantene (Procter & Gamble)
Physique (Procter & Gamble)
Ponds (Unilever)
Procter & Gamble Co. (Clairol, Crest, Gillette, Giorgio, Iams, Max Factor)
Shiseido Cosmetics
Schering-Plough (Bain de Soleil, Coppertone)
S.C. Johnson (Glade, OFF!, Oust, Pledge, Scrubbing Bubbles, Shout, Skintimate)
Suave (Unilever)
Unilever (Axe, Dove, Lever Bros., Suave, Sunsilk)

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Sunday, March 14, 2010

Best Picture Recap

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Looking over the list of Best Picture winners, I was surprised at the diversity. I started categorizing the winners from 1980 on (about the time that I became a serious movie watcher) and tried to come up with groupings that made sense. Separating the films into genres like western, epic, drama, comedy, and musical is one way to go, in which case crime movies, war movies, and dramas predominate. But these are mixed in with a surprising number of movies that are less definable. For example, Chariots of Fire (winner in 1981) would have to be deemed a drama, but it's a far cry in tone than Out of Africa or American Beauty.

So then I tried categorizing them by tone: sad, joyous, tough, or even---"even" referring to those movies that are not predominately one strong emotion. For example, I would say that Chariots of Fire was even. Among this year's nominees, Up in the Air would be even, while The Hurt Locker would be tough and Up would be joyous. Avatar would be something else altogether, but what? Maybe inspiring.

Here's what I came up with:

SAD
Ordinary People
Out of Africa
The English Patient
American Beauty
Million Dollar Baby

TOUGH
Platoon
The Silence of the Lamb
Unforgiven
Schindler's List
Braveheart
Gladiator
Crash
The Departed
No Country for Old Men
The Hurt Locker

JOYOUS
Terms of Endearment
Amadeus
Rain Man
Driving Miss Daisy
Forrest Gump
Shakespeare in Love
Chicago

INSPIRING
Gandhi
Dances with Wolves
Titanic
A Beautiful Mind
The Return of the King
Slumdog Millionaire

EVEN
Chariots of Fire
The Last Emperor

I put a film like Terms of Endearment in the Joyous category because, even though the ending is sad, the bulk of the movie is funny, even when dramatic. I'm surprised by how even the categories turned out to be, with many more joyous films than I would have guessed. The Even category is most sparse, not surprisingly. If we did the same parsing with the acting awards, the Joyous category might be similarly sparse.

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Saturday, March 13, 2010

Best Picture Winners

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It was interesting to see, out of all these winners, what types of films got honored and which films are still watched by ordinary people today.

YEAR MOVIE TITLE
1928 (1st) Wings, Sunrise
1929 (2nd) Broadway Melody, The
1930 (3rd) All Quiet on the Western Front
1931 (4th) Cimarron
1932 (5th) Grand Hotel
1933 (6th) Cavalcade
1934 (7th) It Happened One Night
1935 (8th) Mutiny on the Bounty
1936 (9th) Great Ziegfeld, The
1937 (10th) Life of Émile Zola, The
1938 (11th) You Can't Take It With You
1939 (12th) Gone with the Wind
1940 (13th) Rebecca
1941 (14th) How Green Was My Valley
1942 (15th) Mrs. Miniver
1943 (16th) Casablanca
1944 (17th) Going My Way
1945 (18th) The Lost Weekend
1946 (19th) The Best Years of Our Lives
1947 (20th) Gentleman's Agreement
1948 (21st) Hamlet (1948)
1949 (22nd) All the King's Men
1950 (23rd) All about Eve
1951 (24th) An American in Paris
1952 (25th) The Greatest Show on Earth
1953 (26th) From Here to Eternity
1954 (27th) On the Waterfront
1955 (28th) Marty
1956 (29th) Around the World in 80 Days
1957 (30th) The Bridge on the River Kwai
1958 (31st) Gigi
1959 (32nd) Ben-Hur
1960 (33rd) The Apartment
1961 (34th) West Side Story
1962 (35th) Lawrence of Arabia
1963 (36th) Tom Jones
1964 (37th) My Fair Lady
1965 (38th) The Sound of Music
1966 (39th) A Man for All Seasons
1967 (40th) In the Heat of the Night
1968 (41st) Oliver!
1969 (42nd) Midnight Cowboy
1970 (43rd) Patton
1971 (44th) The French Connection
1972 (45th) The Godfather
1973 (46th) The Sting
1974 (47th) The Godfather Part II
1975 (48th) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1976 (49th) Rocky
1977 (50th) Annie Hall
1978 (51st) The Deer Hunter
1979 (52nd) Kramer vs. Kramer
1980 (53rd) Ordinary People
1981 (54th) Chariots of Fire
1982 (55th) Gandhi
1983 (56th) Terms of Endearment
1984 (57th) Amadeus
1985 (58th) Out of Africa
1986 (59th) Platoon
1987 (60th) The Last Emperor
1988 (61st) Rain Man
1989 (62nd) Driving Miss Daisy
1990 (63rd) Dances With Wolves
1991 (64th) The Silence of the Lambs
1992 (65th) Unforgiven
1993 (66th) Schindler's List
1994 (67th) Forrest Gump
1995 (68th) Braveheart
1996 (69th) The English Patient
1997 (70th) Titanic (1997)
1998 (71st) Shakespeare in Love
1999 (72nd) American Beauty
2000 (73rd) Gladiator
2001 (74th) A Beautiful Mind
2002 (75th) Chicago
2003 (76th) The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King
2004 (77th) Million Dollar Baby
2005 (78th) Crash
2006 (79th) The Departed
2007 (80th) No Country for Old Men
2008 (81th) Slumdog Millionaire
2008 (81th) The Hurt Locker

Friday, March 12, 2010

Tributes

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1. It's a tribute to how much snow we got in mid-February that now, in mid-March, after 60-degree weather yesterday and substantial rain last night, there are still patches of snow visible.

2. It's a tribute to how sick I am that, although I am home, I will not be seeing our lad Robert in "Remember Me" today--first day it opens.

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Monday, March 8, 2010

Oscar Fashion: Jury Prize

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I have to give special mention to Kathryn Bigelow, who won for Best Director last night, the first woman ever to win. Many times the attempts at high fashion by creative types make me cringe, but she looked fantastic:

Oscar Fashion: The Best

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Monique was my best-dressed pick thsi year, with a perfect fit, interesting draping, and smashing color:

Oscar Fashion: The Bad

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It pains me to see Zoe Saldana make such a slip, because she was my favorite at the Golden Globes (wearing a dress that looked a lot like Penelope Cruz's Oscar dress):




















Diane Kruger always seems to dress like this, but I really don't like the style:

Oscar Fashion: The Good















Oscar Fashion: The Ladies

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I often think older women go overboard on the cleavage:




















Meryl Streep is wearing that precise shade of white that makes a person glow:




















It's hard to believe that Helen Mirren was ever the most infamously dowdy dresser on the red carpet. Once again, she shoots, she scores:

Oscar Fashion: The Young Women

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Zoe Kravitz looks lovely and young:




















Gabourey Sidibe really knows how to dress herself; love the color too:




















I am really not a fan of the color Phlegm:

Oscar Fashion: Best Dressed Male

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I'm not really a fan of bow ties, so I love Zac Efron in this tuxedo and long tie. Also, the hair is perfect: just the right amount of Pattinesque flip in the front:






















But my favorite was Jeff Bridges. Sometimes the older guys, especially if they have a touch of country, whimsy, or alternative about them, stray from the tuxedo recipe and end up looking silly (Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortensen---I love you, but you're guilty). But Jeff Bridges has that long, flowing hair which is nonetheless perfectly clean and coiffed; has stayed nice and trim; and has stayed classic in dress. He looked fantastic, and his obvious love for his wife of many years just made him all the more charming.


Who ARE These Children??

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This framed photo has been on my bookcase for years, and I really stopped to look at it today. It's Mary, Eve, and I (and Mary Ellen) backpacking in the late 1980s. We look so young---and look at the size of those packs!!

You're Welcome

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Sunday, March 7, 2010

Girly Stuff

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Out with two young children last night, a boy and a girl. The boy says that he wants to switch coloring sheets at the restaurant because his is "girly." We all know that girls can like boyish things but not vice versa. But still I'm compelled to say, "That's a good thing. Girly things are great." Later we start telling stories in a round-robin. I start off: Once there was a dragon named Olivia. The girl continues Olivia's story, but when we get to the boy, he abandons it and begins telling a story about a dragon who lives on the OTHER side of the mountain and who is a boy.

None of this is the boy's fault. It's a message that's all around us. And the girl knows it; you can see her awareness when her brother makes a comment like this. And I think, There is no way that this doesn't affect the kind of art that we value as adults. These boys and girls grow up, and these attitudes are still in there somewhere, sometimes buried deeply and sometimes not.

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Saturday, March 6, 2010

What the Dog Did

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Only a few things make me guffaw out loud: Failblog.org, backpacking stories, and dog stories. Here are a few dog stories from Emily Yoffe's What the Dog Did.

*

I discovered that it wasn't always the dog's fault that previously important component's of own's existence---family, work, running a home, sleep---became subordinate to the needs of the dog. I was talking to a dog owner who told me how his Dutch shepherd drove him and his wife crazy with a wake-up routine that started at five-thirty AM. The dog, Riley, ran an ever-faster circuit around the bed, panting loudly, then bumping the mattress. When I asked how Riley was able to get all the way around the bed, his owner explained that the bed was pulled out from the wall.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because Riley likes to run around it."

*

Roscoe made a particular bond with my husband. When my husband came in the door at night, it was Roscoe who ran to greet him. While I was making dinner and my daughter was watching her television allotment, we heard the two of them wrestling in the front hall. "I love you, too, big boy. I love you, too," my husband said with a laugh, finally getting the kind of attention and affection he had hoped a wife and child would provide.

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Friday, March 5, 2010

Oscar Picks 2010

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Everyone seems to agree that this is the easiest year ever to pick Oscars. The consensus is:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow (for The Hurt Locker)
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges (for Crazy Heart)
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock (for The Blind Side)
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (for Inglorious Basterds)
Best Supporting Actress: Monique (for Precious)

I would love to see Avatar win Best Picture. Despite the fact that it's a big-budget blockbuster by a guy who everyone agrees is an ass, it is a beautiful, innovative movie. The Hurt Locker is good, but I think it will be forgotten in five years. Whereas I think people will still be watching Avatar in twenty.

I'm looking forward to Monique winning as well. I've rarely seen acting like that. She left it all on the floor, with not a spot of makeup, with every fat roll visible through the spandex, and as nasty a character as we've seen in a while. But a wholly believable one.
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Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Poll: Bleak House

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I'm about 60 pages into Bleak House and am considering giving up. It started brilliantly with that description of the London fog, but I'm finding it uninteresting overall. I force myself to read a couple chapter each night, but it's a chore.

Any advice on plodding on versus giving up? I generally feel free to give up on a book that I'm not enjoying, but this is one of Dickens' masterpieces, right? Has anyone read it who can advise? Maybe it becomes richer and more brilliant with every chapter?
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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The Hurt Locker

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I finally got around to seeing this. Great movie, but not a must-see, in my opinion. The screenwriter was embedded with an explosives unit in Iraq, so he really knows of what he speaks. He made a few movie allowances (e.g., having the soldiers smoke instead of chewing tobacco, which is much more common because smoking isn't allowed while on duty). But he apparently packed in a lot of realistic stuff, from juice packs to the lack of protocol for bomb disarmament when the war started.

The main character is an adrenaline junkie who takes risks that exasperate and endanger his teammates, so you had a nice cross-section of the types of people who are thrown together in war. The movie did a good job of evoking the physical demands of soldiering, even if all you are doing is sitting on a sand dune for two hours scanning the horizon. And it captured the eeriness of showing up to dismantle a bomb and having men appear on a nearby rooftop with a video camera, ready for the bomb to explode and catch it on video to disseminate as propaganda---terrorist porn, so to speak.

All in all, though, I don't think it's a better film than Avatar, and certainly not more groundbreaking or creative. So I hope that Avatar takes the Oscar.
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Monday, March 1, 2010

Westifer

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Rocky and my brother's dog Westifer finally met for the first time at my Dad's house yesterday (happy birthday, Dad!). Westifer is still a gangly puppy, and he was immediately in love with Rocky, who responded with a lack of biting, yea, even affection, unrivaled in any previous dog encounter. Westifer would come over to Rocky and start licking him all over: his head, his lips, his ears. And Rocky loved it. If Westifer trotted away, Rocky would fall on his back and practically beg West to come back and play with him.