Deborah Lipp

I can’t believe that Lipp is as common a surname as that!

Check the popularity of your surname.

(Stolen from Amy.)

I’m a Chevrolet Corvette!

You’re a classic – powerful, athletic, and competitive. You’re all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Your results:
You are James T. Kirk (Captain)

James T. Kirk (Captain) 75% Deanna Troi 65% Chekov 65% Uhura 60% Beverly Crusher 55% Will Riker 55% Jean-Luc Picard 55% Worf 50% Geordi LaForge 45% Spock 37% Mr. Scott 30% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 30% Data 29% Mr. Sulu 20% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 5%

You are often exaggerated and over-the-top in your speech and expressions. You are a romantic at heart and a natural leader.

Click here to take the “Which Star Trek character am I?” quiz…

There’s this guy I know, J. I’ve known him about a year, I guess. Likeable, a little shy, very sweet. Something about him always bothered me, though. His too-high voice seemed like an affectation, his curled-in posture seemed diffident. He just struck me as off somehow.

So a few weeks ago, he mentions, in the course of explaining this situation he’s in, that he’s transgendered. And I thought, “Oh!”

It was like, whoosh, the air went out. J. became normal to me. “Normal” because there was nothing off about a transsexual having a high voice or a chest that looked, well, post-op. The perception of abnormality came from not knowing, not being able to put the pieces together.

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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.

Fanty is hard to photograph, she’s camera shy.

So, I caught her while asleep

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