Gone Fishin'

Or, at least, the blogging equivalent.

My brother is back for a visit this week (arrived yesterday, leaves Sunday) and his wife will be showing up tomorrow.

So between the movies, the Play Station games, the eating out, the Play Station games, the board games, the drinking, the chatting ... I seem to be a mite bit busy. To say nothing of the working and errands I should be doing.

But fear not. I shall be back. Eventually.

In the meantime, I will share this. We went to see Avatar tonight.

Absolutely amazing visuals. You could pretty much put aside the whole story/plot and it still would have been worth the price of admission. Just to see the visuals. Incredible enough, I think, that someone actually thought of it all, let alone created it.

Now I know there's been some thoughts expressed out there that it's all about pantheism, an attack on Christianity, perhaps? Sorry, I think someone missed the boat there. I mean, I can see where they saw the pantheism but I really don't think that's what the movie was really about.

Interestingly, both my brother and the Kit Kat saw is as being about how we take care of (or don't) the environment; do just we rape, pillage, take what we want from the earth? Or do we see that there's something more there?

And I can see where they get that from. But I don't really think that's what it's all about, either.

It may well be an element of what they were getting at but for me, what I saw ... it was politics. Another anti-war, anti-Iraq movie. Too many references like these to be coincidental, says I. (Not exact quotes but close enough.)

We built them hospitals and school, offered them education and food.

You want to win their hearts and minds, don't you?

This is why we're here, because this little gray rock sells for twenty million a kilo.

It's shock and awe time.

When people have something we want, first we make them the enemy. Then we go in and take what we want.

There were a lot more but you can get the point.

And yet (surprising even to me), I still highly recommend it. The story didn't turn me totally off (most of the time) and it was well worth it for the technology.

Anyway, I must run. Until we meet again.

Me No Compute

It's nice to see I'm not the only one mystified at all the Michael Jackson hype, that there are many at least some others shaking their heads over the whole debacle.

Because me no compute.

One of the commenters at Lex's states that as a child of the 80s, he can understand some of what’s going on "because Jacko WAS music when [he] grew up. He was also the King during the formative years of many of those who are in charge in the world of media (it’s a relatively young crowd if you think about it). So to them, an idol has passed."

Which reminded me of the comments of one of the DJs on our local radio station this morning; she was quite upset about his death and made a comment to the effect that the only thing that might compete was Elvis' death except he was only someone she and her friends listened to growing up, not someone they were "into" like Jackson.

I was 17 years old when Thriller was released in 1982. So yeah, I guess you could say Michael Jackson was the "in" thing when I was growing up. I can't tell you how many times I watched that video or danced to that song back then. Hell, as a teenager I witnessed the birth of both MTV and Michael Jackson, the superstar. And to think my own kids think they're so cool.

And yet still I shake my head. Me no compute.

Lady Di was only four years older than me. Meaning that I was 16 when she married Prince Charles. I suppose that makes us contemporaries for lack of a better word. And what teenager girl couldn't help but be awed by that fairy tale wedding ceremony?

Yet I recall shaking my head in disbelief when she was killed in 1997. As just one example, I was amazed how my husband of all people, he who has really no interest in anything celebrity, seemed stuck on such a *momentous* event as her death. I didn't get it. And still don't.

Not that her whole life wasn't an interesting story, from her fairy tale marriage to her charity work to her divorce to the conspiracy theories around her death. But. The way it went on. And on. And on. Sorry, I just don't get it. Me no compute.

I was 12 years old and traveling through the US with my Mom, brother, aunt, uncle and little cousin when Elvis died. How well I remember that day. We had stopped for the night at a hotel in Phoenix on our way to the Grand Canyon when the news of his death came on the radio. Of course, it was BIG news. And sad news.

But I was stunned at my aunt's reaction. Basically, she lost it. There's simply no better way to describe it. She cried non-stop all that afternoon and night and into the next day. It may have been probably was a lot longer than that but that's all I can say with absolute certainly so many years later. I mean you honestly would have thought her husband or her 3 year old son (whom she ignored through her tears) had died ...

Me no compute.

No, I simply do not get our fascination with celebrity. How and why people make them larger than life in their own lives. Or how it is that some find people like Michael Jackson "more real than reality", although I agree it's an apt enough description.

On average, one person dies every second as a result of hunger. That's 4000 people every hour. 100 000 people each day. 36 million people each year.

And if that's not compelling enough for you, one child dies every 5 seconds as a result of hunger. That's 700 children every hour. 16 ,000 children each day. 6 million children each year.

How can that compare to the death of any single celebrity, no matter who they are?

Between February, 2002 and April, 2009, 120 Canadian soldiers have given their lives in Afghanistan. Fighting for you and I. How can that compare to the death of any single celebrity?

Obviously, I could go on. And on.

Yes, I recognize that these celebrities had people in their lives who truly loved them. Who will mourn their passing. And of course, that's something I can relate to. Of course, I am saddened for those people. In the abstract.

But the way the rest of us carry on?

Nope. Me no compute. Not one little bit. Frankly I think we're all most of us are simply nuts.

And none of this even touches who or what MJ himself really was. Imagine if I were to actually go there...

Those Who Can Do ...

And those who can't have Fox TV shows.

Because, apparently, that's all they're capable of. But that's okay because they're, like, so funny.

'The Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white Capri pants.'

We have police officers and they have Mounties.

Our cops ride heavily armoured cars, they ride horses.

We have bullet proof vests, they have wonderful little red jackets that can be seen a mile away. This is not a smart culture.

A barrel of laughs I tell ya, particularly, on the day that Canada repatriates it's 116th soldier from Afghanistan. Just in case their laugh a minute brains can't compute that, we're talking about Canada's 116th dead soldier. 116 lives sacrificed in support of their country's efforts following 9/11.

I suppose we shouldn't be surprised though. Not when one of the first remarks out of one of their astute commenters' mouths was this:

I didn't even know that they were in the war.

How come that one-liner doesn't surprise me?

And no, just because you decided to play nice and apologize doesn't quite cut it. Sorry, but it's frigid up here, eh? And so are we. When it comes to asshats like you.

The Final Word

Remember the furor around the blogosphere around the movie, Tropic Thunder? And the direct effects it had on some?

Apparently, the movie's current release on DVD, has restarted that whole conversation again. And although I still feel there is real concern that the reaction of the disability community might have given this sad attempt at a movie more play and interest than it deserved, I am happy to award the final word in the conversation to this young lady. She is affiliated with the ARC of Virginia, an organization which advocates for the rights and full participation of all children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.



What she said.

H/T to Pipecleaner Dreams

Just Because I Can

And I think it's kind of cool.



Just remember ... it's better to die than to look bad. Or, apparently, in this case, sound bad.

Funny though, I don't remember ever actually seeing this. Anyone?

H/T to Cardoso at Lex's

Can't Wait

Movie Night

Blogging has been light around these here parts lately ~ no wonder perhaps, given that my house seems to have a perpetual revolving door lately. This has been gone on for the past six months or so. It's just that the number of revolutions appears to have increased dramatically recently.

Last Sunday, my sister-in-law and niece arrived for a visit. My niece flew back home Friday morning. The same Friday as my brother landed in Halifax. Unfortunately he landed approximately three hours before his luggage did. Making for a bit of a late night. Then after spending a day during the touristy thing in and about Halifax harbour on Saturday, my sister-in-law left to go home Sunday morning. As for my brother, well, he will still be here for another week. No wonder I have a headache...

Seriously though, the company is nice. If a bit disconcerting at times. The 'adults' in the house (as we're loosely known) went to the movies tonight. And what did we grace our great intellect with?

Tropic Thunder.

Yep, one and the same. Of the recent infamous 'Campaign to End The "R" Word' fame.

Yeah, about that.

• General impression of the movie ~ stupid
• Humour factor ~ some parts were funny but in general, see comment above
• Use of the 'R' word ~ somewhat annoying but much less offensive than what followed

It's funny how after all the hype about the use of the word "retard", personally, I found the portrayal of Simple Jack much more offensive. It was an extreme characterization, really a caricature of itself, perhaps, and I have to admit that it turned my stomach somewhat to hear some in the audience laughing at the portrayal.

Let's face it. Hollyweird does not exactly have a stellar record when it comes to portraying people with disabilities. But when I think of some of the movies referenced in Tropic Thunder, itself (Forrest Gump, I am Sam and Rain Man, for example) as well as some others that come to mind (Radio, The Other Sister, There's Something About Mary and Pumpkin Head), it strikes me that at least those movies didn't seem to so blatantly go out of their way to insult this segment of the population. Well done or not (and many are certainly debatable), at least they didn't so overly turn my stomach.

So is that really what you think of my child? And so many others? Trust me, I know many, many mentally challenged people and that is so not how they are. In fact, they wouldn't consider stooping to anything so stupid and pathetic. Quite frankly, they're much too classy.

But ... and here's the bigger thing ... I think it's really unfortunate that the disability community has given this movie as much publicity as it has. Just as an example, I probably wouldn't have even went to see it if I hadn't read what I had. It piqued my interest enough that when my brother suggested it, I agreed. But frankly, I think it's a stupid movie that would likely to die it's own stupid death a lot faster were it not for the extra publicity.

And, unfortunately, I think it's just another example of the disability community shooting itself in the foot. As I mentioned before, there was a previous movie (whose name I now misremember) which received a similar reaction from the disability community and when I viewed some of the clips, I really couldn't see what the big deal was. The world is often not as we wish it to be but I suppose that I would rather save my energy for advocating about some of the bigger problems we face.

No, Virginia, sadly enough there is no 'right to not be offended'. And my fear is that by pushing too hard in some of the wrong places, there will only be a backlash against those for whom we advocate.

Oh yeah, one more thing ... I can honestly sat that the absolute best part of the movie was when they were rolling the credits at the end. And no, I'm actually not being sarcastic, they showed some great footage and played some good music right at the end.

Dance on, Tom.

What's The Big Deal ... It's Just A Word, Right?

I know that there was some good feeling engendered concerning the movie, Tropic Thunder (a comedy about selfish, pampered actors who go overseas to make a war movie and accidentally provoke real jungle warlords) when the Hollywood stars choppered into the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base recently for a special USO screening. Which is nice. Don't get me wrong.

But the movie has also been a bit of a hot topic in the disability community recently. For example, the President & CEO of Special Olympics Canada has issued a communique concerning the movie-within-the movie wherein Ben Stiller plays "Simple Jack", a man with an intellectual disability, notings that it contains "material that would be considered offensive to members of our community".

Of particular concern appears to be the movie's original tagline "Once upon a time … There was a retard” and a scene in which Robert Downey Jr.’s character advises Stiller’s character to “Never go full retard.”

For this reason, Special Olympics International is leading a public campaign surrounding the film in the US. Although SOI, along with a coalition of US disability organizations, has engaged in conversations with DreamWorks (the production company) to address the content, requesting that action be taken to delete these scenes from the film and marketing platform, as well as to promote public service announcements and educational opportunities about people with intellectual disabilities, apparently, this has been to no avail.

It is hard to argue with the premise that the words we choose are an expression of our values and that much hurt and harm can be caused by using hurtful language. And while I don't know that I would personally go so far as to label the "R-word" as "hate speech", it's no secret that I have a lot of trouble with the word's casual use. I have, in fact, for a long time.

But that being said, in the past I have perceived the disability community, on occasion, to overreact to various movies. And not having seen Tropic Thunder, I will reserve judgment.

I would, however, like to point you to the words of a young man with Down Syndrome. John Franklin Stephens is a Special Olympics Virginia athlete and a global messenger for the Special Olympics. Here is just a portion of what he has to say on the subject.

So, what's wrong with "retard"? I can only tell you what it means to me and people like me when we hear it. It means that the rest of you are excluding us from your group. We are something that is not like you and something that none of you would ever want to be. We are something outside the "in" group. We are someone that is not your kind. I want you to know that it hurts to be left out here -- alone. Nothing scares me as much as feeling all alone in a world that moves so much faster than I do. You don't mean to make me feel that way. In fact, like I say in some of my speeches, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers," and it works out OK most of the time.

Still, it hurts and scares me when I am the only person with intellectual disabilities on the bus and young people start making "retard" jokes or references. Please put yourself on that bus and fill the bus with people who are different from you. Imagine that they start making jokes using a term that describes you. It hurts and it is scary.

Last, I get the joke -- the irony -- that only dumb and shallow people are using a term that means dumb and shallow. The problem is, it is only funny if you think a "retard" is someone dumb and shallow. I am not those things, but every time the term is used it tells young people that it is OK to think of me that way and to keep me on the outside.

You can read the rest of it here.

H/T to Pipecleaner Dreams

Update: Cruising around the intertubes a bit on this subject, I came up with this response, which seems to say it well.

"Hey... in case you have been living under a rock for the past 100 years, using the R word reinforces a negative stereotype that we have been trying to get rid of forever... thanks, assholes... "

So, 'nuff said, I think.

We're Famous

There's been quite a few movies filmed in Nova Scotia over the past few years, from Simon Birch and Dolores Claiborne filmed in Lunenburg, Pit Pony and New Waterford Girl filmed in, of course, New Waterford, Outlander, K-19: The Widowmaker and even portions of Titanic. The latest?

Amelia.

Filming was going on this past Sunday in a farmer's field in (very) nearby Blomodin. Beautiful spot that. Apparently Hilary Swank (as Amelia) was on the set but, alas, Richard Greer (as her husband) was nowhere to be found.

Then they were off to to Convocation Hall at Acadia University in Wolfville. The building filled in for an eastern United States college where Ms. Earhart made a presentation in 1928. Since all the buildings in that quad were built around that time and still have the original chairs, staging, all the woodwork and atmosphere (including a light fixture on the main floor which was a gift from the class of 1928) it should, indded, be the perfect fit.

We're famous, I tell ya. Famous.