Let me explain…
by V.E. on January 27th, 2008
filed under entertainment, fyi, health, thoughts
Let me explain my most recent previous entry.
It’s not that I have (or once had) a crush on Heath Ledger, although I admire him greatly for his work as an actor, especially in the movies The Patriot, A Knight’s Tale, and Brokeback Mountain. It’s not that I knew him or even knew anyone who knew anyone who knew him. It’s not that I was his biggest fan in the whole wide world—I wasn’t really a fan at all, as far as fans go. Not anymore than anyone else was or was not a fan of his, anyway. It’s not that I’ve been following the developments in his death avidly—I haven’t been. Honestly, I’m not even sure how he died—I didn’t actually read any of those articles about him or his death.
Actually, when I first found out about Heath Ledger’s death, I thought it was a joke. A sick joke, to be sure, but still a joke. Now that I think about it, disbelief was my first reaction on 9/11, too. But that’s neither here nor there. My point is this: I felt like I was punched in the stomach because public figures aren’t supposed to have bad things happen to them. When a celebrity dies in his or her prime (Ledger was only 28, after all), it makes me feel powerless over my own life. If even they can’t escape death (or at least put it off for a long while) with all their resources and (presumably) expensive health care, how can I escape it or put it off? I don’t even have a job (still -_-).
And then, my thoughts snowball from there. What if I don’t do anything good—I mean really good—with my life before I die? What if I die tomorrow? Will I be okay, or will I be one of those ghosts that hangs around scaring the crap out of people because I have unfinished business and need the help of a corporeal being? What if I never write what I’m supposed to write? What if I don’t fulfill my destiny (or whatever you want to call it)? Do I even have a destiny, or is that something reserved only for famous people? Or, what if I do fulfill my destiny and the world no longer needs me? I’m not sure which is worse.
I don’t want sympathy. Heaven knows, Heath Ledger’s family needs it more than I do right now. But when a public figure dies young, celebrity or no, it makes me think. It makes me realize that I, too, am only human.
No
by V.E. on January 23rd, 2008
filed under entertainment, fyi, health, wtf
I feel like I was just punched in the stomach.
“The Mists of Avalon” review
by V.E. on January 22nd, 2008
filed under entertainment, recap/review, spirituality
Official | IMDb | Wikipedia | Amazon
I’d forgotten that The Mists of Avalon was a mini-series before I popped it into the DVD player this evening. A decent movie, but I kept thinking, “It can’t be much longer now until the end.” Based on a book of the same name, the story follows Morgaine le Fay—legendary King Arthur’s half-sister—through her life as a child, training with her Aunt Vivianne on the island of Avalon, and ultimately producing the offspring, Mordred, who killed King Arthur… Although, since the story is interwoven and convoluted, it could be easily argued that Arthur helped produce Mordred because he… well, he did. I’ve never read the book, but I hope it’s better than this movie/mini-series.
Morgaine and Arthur are born of the same mother by different fathers, are separated at a young age by Merlin (the great sorcerer) and Vivianne (Avalon’s high priestess and Lady of the Lake and sister to their mother), and then—many years later—are both part of a Beltane ritual that ends up having Arthur get Morgaine pregnant… Then, later, after Arthur has married Gwenwyfar (aka: Gwenivere), Arthur asks Lancelot (his best friend and cousin) to have sex with Gwenwyfar in his bed so she will conceive and bear him (Arthur) a child. Then, should anyone ask, Gwenwyfar may say truthfully that she conceived the child in the king’s bed. With trepidation, Lancelot and Gwenyfar both go along with this and the three of them end up in bed together to get her pregnant. (It doesn’t work, apparently because Morgause, Arthur’s mother’s sister, has cursed Gwenwyfar’s womb with magic to make her barren.)
Morgaine leaves her son, Mordred, with her mother’s other sister, Morgause, and returns to Camelot to live with Arthur there. Morgause proceeds to corrupt Mordred’s mind and turn him against Arthur (who he doesn’t know is his father for a long time and isn’t happy with it when he finds out), Morgaine, and everyone else so that he can rise to power (and her, Morgause, along with him). To top all of this off, the “Saxon barbarians” are waging war against the Britons, and there’s conflict within Britain between the Goddess religion, of which Morgaine and her relatives are a part, and the new Christianity, of which Lancelot and Gwenwyfar are a part; both religions over which King Arthur must keep the peace.
If you’re confused, don’t feel bad. It’s a confusing story, and I’m glad that the directors and producers decided to make it into a mini-series rather than a feature-length film because feature length isn’t long enough. They probably could’ve done well with a couple more hours in there somewhere to help more fully explain Lancelot’s marriage, Morgaine’s mother’s becoming a nun near the end, and other things that seemed rushed. However, I was already getting tired of the movie at its current length, so I’m also glad they didn’t make it any longer. I appreciate the focus on the Goddess religion and its rituals, and I think that Morgaine was right to point out (at the end) that Avalon’s Goddess hadn’t died out as had been thought; the Goddess had adapted to survive in the Christian era as Mary, Mother of God. With that said, The Mists of Avalon isn’t particularly historically accurate and the story gets lost in the relational confusion.
My final vote? I say, if you’re looking for a retelling of the King Arthur legend on screen, try King Arthur (Official, IMDb, Wikipedia, Amazon) instead. If you’re looking for weird sexual relations and treachery at every turn, then great: this is the movie for you. But honestly, the book has got to be better (although I don’t know that for sure, so don’t quote me), so I recommend reading it instead of wasting time on this mini-series.
“I have a dream”
by V.E. on January 21st, 2008
filed under beauty, politics, spirituality, writing
Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech on 28 August 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. The text is pasted below in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest—quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day—this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:
——My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
——Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,
——From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
——And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
——Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
——Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
——Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
——Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
——Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
——Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
——Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
——From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
——Free at last! Free at last!
——Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
“I Could Never Be Your Woman” review
by V.E. on January 20th, 2008
filed under entertainment, recap/review
Official | IMDb | Wikipedia | Amazon
“When enough people look ridiculous, it starts to look normal.” —Rosie
I didn’t realize it before I watched I Could Never Be Your Woman, but apparently this movie isn’t actually available for purchase in the United States until mid-February this year. Oops. With that release date in mind, very few (U.S.) sources cover it and less have reviewed it. Generally classified as a “romantic comedy,” the story follows Rosie, a beautiful (older) TV producer, who falls for one of the actors (on her show) who is more than ten years her junior. Some people might not like I Could Never because it involves an older woman with a younger man, but I loved it. Rosie’s daughter is perfect in her role—she has some great deadpan lines—and the love interest isn’t too bad himself. ^_^ There is some cursing and a bit of clothed romping, but nothing I thought was inappropriate for kids ages 13 and up (it is rated PG-13, after all).
I was pleasantly surprised when Rosie’s (and my) suspicions about the boyfriend were unfounded; I was sure that—like most other Hollywood movies—he would leave her (as she and I both feared) for a younger woman. I recommend it for “a girls’ night in” or when you’re feeling down because of relationship issues. I was relieved that there was no tension between Rosie and her ex-husband and the general feeling was a good one through out the movie. The “bad guys” are Rosie’s secretary, a scheming, lying “past aggressive” bitch; the sleaze-bag executive producer whose main concern is the bottom line; and, to a lesser extent, Mother Nature personified, who interacts with Rosie off and on through the course of the movie. More than once I was rooting for Rosie (and her daughter) and, overall, I was happier after finishing the film than before I started it.
I think a lot of my happiness (upon the film’s end) is/was because I saw a lot of Bennett in the Mother Nature character—they both seem to have pretty Hobbesian views—and I was glad that she didn’t “win” because it meant that my beliefs (not Hobbesian, to say the least) still have validity, if only on the silver screen. Also, it was nice to see a genuinely good/nice guy as a role model for once.
Best video EVAR.
by V.E. on January 18th, 2008
filed under entertainment, favorite
Link here. This video makes me laugh EVERY time. I’m not kidding. Best. Thing. EVER.
Questionable Morals
by V.E. on January 15th, 2008
“Questionable” from Blurtit:
The word questionable refers to something that is open to some doubt, something which is problematic. It can also refer to something that has not yet been determined. In another context, questionable can be used to describe someone who’s moral value is in doubt. For example, “her exploits have earned her a questionable reputation in the neighbourhood”. In informal usage, the term may be equivalent to the slang term ‘fishy’. It can simply mean any issue which appears dubious or is in dispute. It may refer to absolutely anything that is not certain, or has no aspect of surety about it. The term ‘questionable’ may also be used to describe something that is not like to happen due to lack of certainty, something that is improbable or unlikely.
“Morals” from AskOxford.com:
• adjective 1 concerned with the principles of right and wrong behaviour and the goodness or badness of human character. 2 conforming to accepted standards of behaviour. 3 psychological rather than physical or practical: moral support.
• noun 1 a lesson about right or wrong that can be derived from a story or experience. 2 (morals) standards of behaviour, or principles of right and wrong.
— DERIVATIVES morally adverb.
— ORIGIN Latin moralis, from mos ‘custom’.
“Morals” are, according to the OED, the same thing as “ethics,” although I’m not sure I believe that. In any case, until someone charged me with “questionable morals” recently, it had never even occurred to me that my morals were, may be, or are questionable. My actions have certainly been questionable at times (but honestly, whose haven’t been?), and I guess that a person’s actions are all that other people have to help them decide what they think of him/her. I’ve never thought I have questionable morals, but—as a friend pointed out—morals tend to be relative and based on societal standards. That is, what is taboo in one culture may be perfectly fine in another.
