Tuesday, September 08, 2015
The Southern Belle
I like the use of language here:
In an open-handed demonstration of feminine wiles, in Gone with the Wind, Scarlett smirks to herself before putting the new hat Rhett Butler has brought her from Paris on backward, in order to let Rhett show her how to wear it—she allows herself to be scolded by him as he ties the satin bow under her chin. It makes Rhett feel capable, necessary.
I never thought that kind of shit would actually work with real men, which was why I was agog when Amy delicately leaned against Brinky’s shoulder and asked him how to use some function of her own iPhone (and perhaps give him a better view of her lovely blouse).
Right, I sat there thinking. Like he’s going to believe that this smart girl, who runs her own fashion website, doesn’t know how to use her own phone. I almost laughed out loud, until I saw that it was working. Brinky couldn’t help himself. He’d taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker, and was compulsively jabbering instructions at her like an Apple Store Genius. Amy had handily tied him up in a big pink ribbon and had him chuckering like a turtledove against her shoulder within three minutes of arrival. It was formidable.
God, I realized (for the eighty-zillionth time in my life). Playing dumb swans right past men’s conscious/intellectual defenses, as lethally as psychological depth-marketing. Amy had tipped Brinky’s hat brim down and made all the marbles roll out of his brain and down the front of her blouse, just like that. What may look like the most artless connivance to other women sure as shit wraps men around a girl’s finger. It’s awful to watch; the men look so dumb when they fall for it, but God—they always fall for it.
Keep Looking At The Pavement
Keep looking at the pavement and remember the fellow pacing back and forth outside your workplace and holding a 2-liter bottle of soda on his head as he mutters Biblical quotes and mathematical buzzwords is just another manifestation of the delicious freedom California affords.
Lost Dog Survives Yellowstone
42 days!:
Sowers and Gillice were seriously injured when their SUV was hit head on while driving on a Yellowstone road. The accident spooked Jade.
"When they tried to get her out of the car she bolted and she ran into the woods," Sowers said.
...Over the past several weeks there were reports of Jade roaming the park.
They returned to Yellowstone several times to look for Jade and never gave up hope they would find her.
“It’s a miracle,” Gillice said.
Debating The Exact Meaning Of Genocide
A lot of this debate revolves around definitions. What the Navajo experienced would probably be called Ethnic Cleansing. If you ethnically cleanse hard enough, though, you slide into Genocide. The experience in California was closer to straight genocide.
I'm thinking she was the correct one, but it's hard to challenge authority without one side or the other losing face. The prof should have delved deeper into the definition of genocide, but if it's a survey course maybe there's no time. And the students may not have been ready for a challenge
I don't think anyone has to be reprimanded or expelled. Genocide is a post WWII term that at first was used to describe modern slaughters where modern communications like radio was used to incite the populace. By that definition, genocide was not practiced against Native Americans. Other scholars say this is much too narrow and should include newspaper incitement. Others say this is still too narrow and should include all kinds of slaughters where elimination was the goal.
They need to first figure out exactly what they're talking about. And everyone can go home happy they 'won' the argument.
A Cal State Sacramento University professor who allegedly told his United States History class he did not like the term ‘genocide’ in relation to Native Americans in history, told a Native American student who disagreed with him that she was disenrolled and expelled from his course.
...
The account is according to Native university student, Chiitaanibah Johnson (Navajo/Maidu) a 19-year-old sophomore student at Cal State Sacramento University.
Johnson says when she told her U.S. History Professor Maury Wiseman that she disagreed with his assessment that Native Americans did not face genocide, the professor said she was hijacking his class, and that she was accusing him of bigotry and racism.
The professor then dismissed the class early, apologized for Johnson’s disruptions and told her she was disenrolled at the end of the class on Friday.
I'm thinking she was the correct one, but it's hard to challenge authority without one side or the other losing face. The prof should have delved deeper into the definition of genocide, but if it's a survey course maybe there's no time. And the students may not have been ready for a challenge
I don't think anyone has to be reprimanded or expelled. Genocide is a post WWII term that at first was used to describe modern slaughters where modern communications like radio was used to incite the populace. By that definition, genocide was not practiced against Native Americans. Other scholars say this is much too narrow and should include newspaper incitement. Others say this is still too narrow and should include all kinds of slaughters where elimination was the goal.
They need to first figure out exactly what they're talking about. And everyone can go home happy they 'won' the argument.
Murder Near Franklin & Second
On our regular late-night walks through Sacramento streets, Bella and I pass through the intersection of Franklin and Second Ave. at least twice a week, so the recent murder of Kevin Marcus Johnson in his nearby home is more than a little disturbing.
Tonight felt creepy walking past. There was a man quietly sitting on the curb in the dark. Another man wearing a backpack with a frantically-flashing bicycle warning light mumbled hello and dragged a sleeping bag along the street and away from us. Then there were stray bits of spider silk floating through the air and landing on my face to enhance the creepiness.
Tonight felt creepy walking past. There was a man quietly sitting on the curb in the dark. Another man wearing a backpack with a frantically-flashing bicycle warning light mumbled hello and dragged a sleeping bag along the street and away from us. Then there were stray bits of spider silk floating through the air and landing on my face to enhance the creepiness.
Defeat The Hot Blob
That blob is resourceful:
The Hot Blob in the Northeastern Pacific held its own for quite some time. But it now faces the assault of a barrage of tropical cyclones spat from the maw of a monster El Nino that is now tracking its way toward the strongest such event on record. If this keeps up, the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge warding storms off the US West Coast will be besieged by increasingly powerful cyclonic systems. The Ekman pumping from such storms will cool the ocean surface at its periphery and expanding toward its heart, eventually crushing the ocean impetus for ridge formation. The continuation of such a pattern could then kick Bjerknes feedback into higher gear — opening wide the door for powerful storms striking the US West Coast this Fall and Winter.
Sacramento City College Shooting
As long as the active shooter stays off my stylishly-dead Sacramento lawn, all will be well.
Illegal Immigrants Don't Drain Welfare, They Fund It
They are being taxed without representation:
Native-born Americans aren’t footing the bill for immigrants so much as immigrants are contributing to a welfare system that many of them can't take advantage of.
Crippled By Fleece
A lost sheep crippled by his fleece is finally rescued:
Chris was found near Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary outside Canberra by bushwalkers who feared he would not survive the approaching southern summer. He was found several kilometers (miles) from the nearest sheep farm. A bushwalker named him Chris after the sheep in the "Father Ted" television comedy series.
Chris was rescued by the RSPCA on Wednesday and taken to Canberra, where he was shorn under anesthetic because he was stressed by human company and because of the potential pain from the heavy fleece tearing skin as it fell away.
The GOP's Knee-Jerkism Does Them In
Good analysis over what the Republicans did wrong regarding their partisan opposition to the Iran deal. A serious, thoughtful approach from the GOP would have been able to peel off many Democrats, but the off-putting, arrogant, infantile, deeply-unserious (not to mention treasonous) knee-jerkism that Republicans displayed is all they are capable of doing anymore. And Obama was serious about the matter the entire time, lining up the support of the military and any and every person in Washington and overseas who had ever thought seriously about nuclear issues. Republicans really need to reconsider reflexive anti-Obamaism, because (thankfully) it kills them every time:
This did two things. First, it made them look unserious. From the beginning, the whole point of the economic sanctions against Iran was to use them as leverage to pressure the Iranian leadership to approve a nuclear deal. But by opposing it so quickly—based on an obviously specious desire for a "better deal" that they were never willing to spell out—Republicans made it clear that they opposed any agreement that lifted the sanctions. In other words, they opposed any agreement, period.
Second, by forming so quickly, the Republican wall of opposition turned the Iran agreement into an obviously partisan matter. Once they did that, they made it much harder for Democrats to oppose a president of their own party. A more deliberate approach almost certainly would have helped them pick up more Democratic votes.
Time To Call The Firing Squad?
Treason! No other word suffices for Senator Cotton!:
What some people fail to realize is the status quo ends now, no matter what. Every other power has made clear they will no longer maintain sanctions, no matter what Congress thinks. No going back.
This, of course, was a clear violation of the Logan Act, which reads:
“Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”
What some people fail to realize is the status quo ends now, no matter what. Every other power has made clear they will no longer maintain sanctions, no matter what Congress thinks. No going back.
Save Everything
I've got Hoarder instincts, so it was with difficulty, in 2013, I shredded almost all of the letters of a childhood friend who died in 2009. He had a monomaniacal focus on Darwin and Evolution, and urged Creationist Jesus upon me, sometimes with two or three letters a week, for years. The pile of accumulated letters was huge. My agnostic soul meant that much to him.
Today, I received a note from a long lost love of his, who hadn't had contact with him for nearly 40 years, wondering if I had any information about him. And all I have now are fugitive fragments that escaped The Great Purge.
The moral is, never throw anything away again, ever, not even convenience store receipts.
Today, I received a note from a long lost love of his, who hadn't had contact with him for nearly 40 years, wondering if I had any information about him. And all I have now are fugitive fragments that escaped The Great Purge.
The moral is, never throw anything away again, ever, not even convenience store receipts.
Tuesday, September 01, 2015
The Sexes Are Different
Overhearing conversations in this sidewalk cafe, I sense a different tenor in the questions posed, depending on sex. Man to man: "Do you notice a difference drilling into regular steel vs. stainless steel?" Woman to man: "Do you have to be such a whore when I'm around?"
Brief Playmate For Bella
I wasn't sure what we'd find two blocks ahead. I heard 2 cat screeches, a thud, a barking dog, and then silence.
What we found wasn't an accident scene, but rather a small, loose terrier on the sidewalk. Bella was bucking wildly on the leash in order to play. The terrier was calculating just how much control I had of the leash in order to taunt Bella and stay just out of reach. We eventually found the owner of the terrier, who couldn't coax her dog away, and feared Bella might hurt Ryan (her terrier). So we walked to her house and Bucking Bella was admitted just inside the front door for a brief moment in order to separate the dogs with the door.
For a brief time Bella had a playmate. She thought that was fun!
What we found wasn't an accident scene, but rather a small, loose terrier on the sidewalk. Bella was bucking wildly on the leash in order to play. The terrier was calculating just how much control I had of the leash in order to taunt Bella and stay just out of reach. We eventually found the owner of the terrier, who couldn't coax her dog away, and feared Bella might hurt Ryan (her terrier). So we walked to her house and Bucking Bella was admitted just inside the front door for a brief moment in order to separate the dogs with the door.
For a brief time Bella had a playmate. She thought that was fun!
Donald Trump, The Non-Conservative
The mystery about Donald Trump is that most of his positions aren't conservative positions at all, but liberal positions. He bangs the drum on various populist measures and complains about problems that it took years of hard work by conservatives to create. Who put the low tax rate on carried interest into the tax code that hedge fund people pay? Conservatives. Who starves infrastructure and veterans of needed funds? Conservatives. Even Trump's anti-immigration stance is shared by some liberal union people. Yet conservatives often stress that they want strict conservatives in elected office. So, what do conservatives want? To 'Make America Great' or Conservatism or some other melding of the two? It's all incoherent. No one would be more disappointed by a Trump presidency than conservatives.
Monday, August 31, 2015
"Little Shop Of Horrors" - Runaway Stage Productions
Audrey (Carolyn Watling), Crystal (Haleyanne Freedman) and Seymour (David Andy Akona; aka "Turtle").An excellent time!
Mushnik (Patrick McCann). Patrick did really well! I remember him as a teen back in 2000 DMTC Evita Days.
Jaye Vocque was on stage much of the time, but cleverly disguised as Audrey II!Erika Fizzles
But there is an interesting article in Nature regarding the vulnerability of certain cities to hurricanes, Tampa included.
[UPDATE: Here’s a better link via Salon.]
[UPDATE: Here’s a better link via Salon.]
Sunday, August 30, 2015
"Mistress America"
I went to go see Sacramento's own Greta Gerwig in her new movie "Mistress America" at the Tower Theater. I liked the movie, and was a bit surprised at its trajectory, with hints of depth. What I especially liked was the early, all-but-random, rapid-fire dialogue at Mamie Claire's 'party' (the scene just after the scene shown in this clip). I prize near-randomness on my blog, with my dog, and in life in general, and for a few minutes this movie is like fractal genius. Filming it must have been difficult and they must have worked months on writing the dialogue.
In Gerwig's 2012 movie, "Frances Ha", she returns to Sacramento. It's funny, I barely remember the Sac scenes in that movie. Someone recently said you could tell it was Sac because you could see the Big Red Rabbit in the airport, but I don't remember the Rabbit, which I suppose makes me a bad Sac booster.
Although the escalator here at 3:03 is a Sac escalator:
I bet I didn't clue in to the Big Red Rabbit because "Frances Ha" was a black-and-white film.
I was wearing my "Burque" T-Shirt, and surprised the popcorn clerk: he's from Santa Clara Pueblo, NM!
Greta Gerwig came through the ranks of Sacramento area community theater before heading off to college at Barnard.
Left: Davis Enterprise Weekend cover from the summer of 1999, featuring the Woodland Opera House's cast of "A Chorus Line". Many of the cast had come from Solano Community College in Fairfield, but others were locals from Sacramento, Davis, or Woodland. Greta Gerwig is in the back row, in powder blue. I'm in the middle, in black. Folks whose names I still recall are: Michael Miiller, Aaron Clemens, Stephen Hatcher, Pam Kay Lourentzos, Jenny Stallard Lillge, Julianne Riordan, Stacey Arriaga, Angela Yee, Kathleen Reilley Dodd, Paul Jones, Pam Benjamin, and Peter Baldridge.
In Gerwig's 2012 movie, "Frances Ha", she returns to Sacramento. It's funny, I barely remember the Sac scenes in that movie. Someone recently said you could tell it was Sac because you could see the Big Red Rabbit in the airport, but I don't remember the Rabbit, which I suppose makes me a bad Sac booster.
Although the escalator here at 3:03 is a Sac escalator:
I bet I didn't clue in to the Big Red Rabbit because "Frances Ha" was a black-and-white film.
I was wearing my "Burque" T-Shirt, and surprised the popcorn clerk: he's from Santa Clara Pueblo, NM!
Greta Gerwig came through the ranks of Sacramento area community theater before heading off to college at Barnard.
Left: Davis Enterprise Weekend cover from the summer of 1999, featuring the Woodland Opera House's cast of "A Chorus Line". Many of the cast had come from Solano Community College in Fairfield, but others were locals from Sacramento, Davis, or Woodland. Greta Gerwig is in the back row, in powder blue. I'm in the middle, in black. Folks whose names I still recall are: Michael Miiller, Aaron Clemens, Stephen Hatcher, Pam Kay Lourentzos, Jenny Stallard Lillge, Julianne Riordan, Stacey Arriaga, Angela Yee, Kathleen Reilley Dodd, Paul Jones, Pam Benjamin, and Peter Baldridge.
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