The mystery of the lost television trivia is not solved. The AFI Top 100 Trivia is.
Archive for Miscellany and Whatever
Wish my sister a happy birthday
If you don’t read Roberta’s Voice, you should try it. My sister’s blog is primarily a personal journal, talking about her love life, her back aches, her commute, that sort of thing. But how she gets perfect strangers to read that is that the blog is really about consciousness. She’s bringing self-awareness to all her little moments, and asking herself about the nature of her interactions with herself, others, and the world. It can be compelling reading.
So stop by and wish her a happy birthday. Oh, and you can visit Basket of Kisses to see the present I got her.
I like dandelions
I like dandelions. I do. I mean, not when I’m trying to grow a delicate herb garden and their mad hot root systems are invading from like, three houses down. But I like their little yellow awakefulness.
Sometimes it’s hard to be conscious of the seasons changing. I do the rituals, and yet I don’t feel the passage of time. Or maybe it’s that spring is always a surprise. Maybe it’s that winter is a hunkering down, a forgetting that there is spring.
And February was so long that it lasted into March
And found us walking a path alone together.
You stopped and pointed and you said, “Thats a crocus,”
And I said, “Whats a crocus?” and you said, “Its a flower,”
I tried to remember, but I said, “Whats a flower?”
You said, “I still love you.”
A crocus is nice. It’s a flower. It emerges. And I feel…a glimmer. Like maybe it’ll happen. But y’know, maybe it won’t. At Spring Equinox, we do a ritual where we plant seeds, and I see my sprouts emerging from their ritual pot, and I think, that’s nice. That’s a sign.
But then I see dandelions.
Maybe because they are unwanted, unplanted, unloved. So stubborn in their bright lovelines. Look at me, I’m here anyway. And did you notice how YELLOW I am? I’m YELLOW. And there’s never one. It always starts as three, and that’s before it really gets going. Yesterday, I saw dandelions next to my ritual seed pot, and I thought that was nice. Today, I saw hundreds of dandelions all along the Palisades Parkway. Thousands. A sea of yellow parkway. A profusion.
And today I know that spring is a true thing, and not a glimmer. Thank you, dandelions.
Monday Movie Review: The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner (2007) 8/10
Amir (Khalid Abdalla) and Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) grew up together as boys in Afghanistan. Now, a young writer in California, Amir returns to Afghanistan to pick up loose ends left behind. Directed by Marc Forster.
The problem with heartwarming movies, or indeed any drama that looks back to childhood, is that it is hard to create a preview that doesn’t make it seem like one of “those” heartwarming movies. You know what I mean; where you sit there in the theater and think, “Oh, no, it’s heartwarming. Guess I’ll skip it.” This movie reeked of that sort of heartwarming, the preview tugged at sentiment shamelessly. But it was also widely praised, and since Marc Forster is directing the next Bond movie, I was interested in seeing some more of his work. I’m glad I did.
First of all, The Kite Runner is a movie that reminds me how much I long for a Best Titles Oscar. So many great title designers, from Saul Bass to Maurice Binder, have gone sadly unrecognized. The title designer for this film is uncredited as such (there are all these credits for graphic design and animation design and other visuals, and I can’t tell who is who) but the flow of Arabic script into English language and back again sets an unforgettable mood.
The movie is nothing like what I expected, because the boys are nothing like what I expected, and most of the film is spent with them. Amir (played as a boy by Zekeria Ebrahimi) is the son of Baba, a wealthy intellectual (Homayoun Ershadi). Hassan is the son of Baba’s servant. Hassan is fierce, Amir timid, and Baba is ashamed of Amir’s timidity. He wants Amir to be brave, and as the boy’s life unfolds, bravery will be required of him.
Rarely in films do we see bravery fail when it is desperately needed. Heroes may be allowed to show cowardice, but in the crucial moment, they will come through. In a crucial moment in his life, though, Amir runs away. It’s devastating to see, and it’s devastating to see how he behaves afterwards, how he will do anything to cover up his shame.
When Russia invades Afghanistan, Baba and Amir escape to America, leaving Hassan and his family behind. It is in California that the adult Amir’s story is told, and to a certain extent, this weakens the movie; the boys are simply more interesting. But eventually (as you saw in the preview, if indeed you saw it), Amir is called back to Afghanistan by an uncle. Hassan is long dead but his son is in need and only Amir can help him.
Even typing the plot makes it sound cliché, but it’s not, it’s just simple. It’s straightforward in plotting because the real story is happening behind the scenes; with Amir as he is forced to wonder if he will ever find his own courage. Some unnecessary back story is given to Amir to help motivate him, but ultimately we have a delayed coming of age story rich in a culture alien to most Americans and free of too much plotty encumberance.
Happy Birthday Captain Tightpants!
Today is Nathan Fillion’s birthday.
I just can’t believe it’s not a national holiday.
It’s also my best friend Barbara’s birthday. Happy Birthday Barbs!
Solutions to Tuesday Trivia
This is the first time in weeks you’ve needed a hint!
People reviewing this blog
So, that blog review meme asked me to post reviews I received. I got two:
Amy: I’m not sure how long I’ve been reading Deb’s blog, but I know that Fanty and Mingo were kittens then and are grown-up cats now. This is an interesting blog because you never know quite what you’re going to get or when you’ll get it — except with Monday Movie Review, Tuesday Trivia (I generally do very poorly on the trivia, unless it’s Whedonverse), or Sunday Meditation. But it’s not as predictable as that might sound. My point is that a blog that bridges the gap between James Bond and feminism is worth reading frequently.
Cosette: Deborah has some of my favorite qualities in people. She’s smart, honest, opinionated, funny, a feminist, a Wiccan, and a film buff. What’s not to like?
So, thanks to you both, those are nice reviews.
I am just not that interesting
Evn tagged me with this crazy meme. Unfortunately, he may find he is a far more interesting subject for this meme than I am.
Open up your desk drawers. Rummage about. List ten things you find there:
1. Dental floss
2. Blue Diamond Wasabi & Soy Sauce flavored almond
3. 2 Chinese menus, an Indian/Mediterranean fusion menu, and a sushi bar menu.
4. A keyboard duster. Which is not a long sweater worn by a keyboard.
5. An open thing of Theraflu. Ohmigods that stuff is nasty.
6. My boss’s business card.
7. 3 packets of “Throat Coat” herbal tea.
8. Records from a dispute I had when Carnival Cruise lost my packages in 2006.
9. A chip clip (that says Chip Clip® on it).
10. A Post-it note with recommendations for interesting Indian music from an Indian co-worker who found out I liked A. R. Rahman.
I tag Roberta, Aimai, Kate, and Maurinsky, and you can use non-drawer desk surfaces.
L Trivia Solutions (All Done!)
Pretty damn fast, too.
» Read more..
Blog Review Meme
Amy tagged me with this. It’s a nice meme that can get you reading new blogs you may have overlooked.
1. Once tagged, write up short review for 5 blogs that you read regularly, including the blog of the person that tagged you.
2. Leave a comment tagging the blogs you’ve reviewed, telling them to continue the meme.
3. If someone writes a review of your blog, you must respond by writing a review of their blog (unless you’ve already written one).
4. After a few days, write a post compiling what all the other bloggers say about you, good or bad, true or untrue.
And my reviews:
First Radioactive Quill, who tagged me. Amy blogs regularly but infrequently, comments on the media, loves Stephen Colbert beyond all reason, is funny and snarky, and I really like reading her. I also love the clean white blog layout, so easy on my old watery eyes. The only thing I don’t like about RQ is the lack of comments. I wish she had them. Blogs are at their most fun, in my opinion, when they’re interactive.
The Wild Hunt is king of the Pagan blogging hill. Jason Pitzl-Waters does a superb job of combining news about, and of interest to, Pagans, with a strong voice. He’s opinionated, but he makes sure each entry reports as well as opines. He has been a gathering place for some interesting controversies, where hundreds of comments slammed a few select posts; most posts have few or no comments.
Pandora’s Bazaar is a smaller and more personal Pagan blog. Cosette is thoughtful and serious. She reads and reviews books, wonders about issues of theology, discusses her explorations on the path, personalizes the transcendant, and in general is very readable.
Girls Read Comics (And They’re Pissed) is more or less what it sounds like. Author Karen Healy is a feminist comics fan. I don’t read a lot of comics, but I’m extremely interested in the interface between feminism and pop culture. Karen is really smart and really funny and there are pictures.
Rich Sommer: The Blog is just so cute. Rich Sommer plays Harry Crane on Mad Men, which is the best show on TV. He’s not a star, and he’s sweet and he has a new baby and he’s kind of geeky, and the blog is mostly, new baby, lovely wife, ohmigodz my show is a hit and I’m going to the SAG Awards, some gaming, look! Baby pictures! And like that. Just sweet and charming and a pleasure to read.
