What Is The Point of Journalists???

I am in the midst of finishing the grand PhD, which will begin to address the above subject line. In the meantime, I will tell you one thing cable news television is not: USEFUL. The mostly inane banter that beams over the airwaves for hours on end serves almost no purpose but to incite people's emotions and let attractive women and powerful men hear their own voices. And in the great tradition of useful television the Daily Show points this fact out in one AMAZING segment. Enjoy!!!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
CNN Leaves It There
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

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Summer Is Going to Vietnam

So my dear, sweet, wildly-intelligent younger sister has decided to take a trek all the way around the world to Vietnam. It is part of her nursing program at Seattle Pacific. During her time there, she will be aiding many people who have almost zero access to any kind of primary health care. What an amazing opportunity and gift to people who need it the most!!!
Summer would never say this to you, but she needs a lot of financial support for this trip. Please go to the blog she has set up to see how you can help and learn more about the organization she is working with.
vandaminnam.blogspot.com

YEAH FOR SUMMER!!!!!

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Here Comes Fall

School has begun for most of the nation’s children and President Obama has decided to make a quick “back to school” address to them this coming Tuesday. He’s encouraging kids to stay in school, study hard, and look towards the future. But not all people agree. Parents are freaking out about this. In Idaho (obviously) parents are outraged that the President will be “campaigning” to the nation’s youth. One local woman in Idaho told her kids the following:

"I told them there's going to be a speech in school that they can opt-out. I told them they should opt-out.”

Oh Puh-leeze. Get a grip, folks. This is the President of our country. I think it’s great he wants to do this. Can people please stop thinking Obama is this ridiculous brain-washing socialist? Maybe he actually cares. Wow. What a concept.

On a side note: fall is coming. Too quickly if you ask me. I found the following quote on a favorite blog of mine that cracked me up:

“You know who I hate? People who are excited for fall. I can only assume they are meganerds who love going back to school because they love homework and math and new notebooks. Summer is so far superior to fall, only a lactose intolerant albino mathlete who wears a t-shirt in the swimming pool would be excited for the end of summer fun times. "I'm excited for sweater weather!" people say. Oh, guess what? I got 10 frickin' months a year to wear the same gross sweaters, I ain't excited about it. Fall means that uncomfortable day when you underestimate how cold it is and don't wear a jacket and then you're freezing, it means that first really cold day before your building's heat has turned on and you have to wear a sweatshirt to bed, it means back to the annoyance of having to carry your jacket on your arm all night at a bar. Summer rules, fall drools.”

I concur.

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Celebrity Encounter

So yesterday Elizabeth Banks came into the salon/spa I work at. No big deal.

If you think I was freaking out, running around the salon cleaning before she arrived, fixing my makeup & outfit....you are correct. I even dusted & cleaned the front counter. Yes....I'm 12. 

She arrived. I checked her in. Walked her to the spa area. Brought her a glass of water. We became instant friends. 

Let me tell you why I love this lady. 4 words: Wet Hot American Summer. Oh...and The Baxter. Sigh. 2 best movies ever!

Okay...I'll calm down now. Sorry. I just needed a moment. 

Also: if you are ever in the Seattle area and need a salon/spa to visit, you should come to the Cristy Carner Salon. We have lots of celebrity clients these days. Lots.

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Points of Interest

I have been ruminating on several things the past few weeks. Here are some of the highlights which have been spurred on by some interesting reads...

* One of the frustrating aspects of both of the websites I am looking at in my PhD is their lack of full technological embrace of what the Web has to offer. Lucky me, I found one of the most brilliant journalistic sites I have ever encountered. It is Flyp and produces a new issue every other week. Please take a look and spread the word.

* If you are adventurous enough to engage me in conversation about celebrities, you will soon learn of my disdain for one Gwyneth Paltrow. Well apparently I am not alone. Satirist Craig Brown writes a 'Gwyneth Paltrow Diary' in this months Vanity Fair that is hysterical. Here is a highlight...

To be or not to be. That was the question posed by one great man. It’s a
tough one. My choice? To be.
I love being. There’s so much wisdom in it. You wake up in the morning and you think, Hey, isn’t it great just being?
But not to be would be just as great too, I guess.
Next week, we learn to make yummy blueberry-and-goat’s-rennet ice cream served with arugula and coconut water.

* Interesting Time cover story this week about how exercise does not make us thinner. I read it and although scientifically find it interesting, disagree somewhat with the focus. When should thin ever be the goal? Shouldn't health be the goal? And in that, there is no way that the emphasis on exercise is ever a bad thing.

* Although it was clearly a media obsession this week, to be honest, I was not that interested in these two American journalists who were saved from hard labor in North Korea. Call me callous but I feel like there is too much suffering in the world for us to be so overly concerned with two women who like to step across borders at their own risk.
But it is nice to hear a story of reconciliation and I am happy for them and their families. What I did love was Jon Stewart's coverage of the media coverage of it. Once again Mr. Stewart brings it home. YES PLEASE.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
William Jefferson Airplane
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

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To Twitter or Not To Twitter...

I have recently come to the realization that a LOT of my friends are now using Twitter. I’m happy for them, but I’m truly conflicted about my own use of the site. What purpose does it serve? Why are we drawn to it? Some of my friends use the site only to follow news updates and random celebrities. I can accept this type of usage. However, a lot of other people use the site to tweet about themselves. This is what I have trouble with. I fear that sites like Twitter and Facebook are only creating a bigger problem. Everyone is becoming more and more self-absorbed through these sites. It allows us to think that everyone is focused on us and cares what we are doing/thinking/saying. But guess what? No one else really cares. They are too busy updating their twitter with their activities/thoughts/sayings. It’s a “ME! ME! ME!” society now. Am I the only one who is fearful of this? May I be so bold as to call it a form of modern day narcissism?

I think sites like Twitter allow us to indulge ourselves for a moment in…well…ourselves. We can just enjoy who we are and our self-importance. I think it probably is quite fulfilling and reassuring. I came across some amusing, thoughtful, and intense articles against twitter (I didn’t agree with all of them). Here are a couple of my favorites.

1. 7 observed Twitter archetypes

2. The Case Against Twitter (From CNET news)
Favorite excerpt: "I remember the days when people kept diaries to record their trivial thoughts intermixed with their profound emotions. They were private and hidden under beds or in sock drawers and some had locks on them. If you wanted to impress your friends with your clever thoughts or funny anecdotes you passed notes in class or gathered together to share the juicy details. That's not easy to do in 140 characters or less."

3. A Load of Twitter (from the Times UK)
Favorite excerpt: “We are the most narcissistic age ever,” agrees Dr David Lewis, a cognitive neuropsychologist and director of research based at the University of Sussex. “Using Twitter suggests a level of insecurity whereby, unless people recognise you, you cease to exist. It may stave off insecurity in the short term, but it won’t cure it.”

Harsh words? Perhaps. Might I regret this post later? Perhaps. But I’m just being honest about things. Feel free to share your thoughts…as I did mine. Maybe I’m just a big hypocrite anyway since I have a facebook AND a blog. Sheesh. I gotta go now.

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The Family Behind the LA Times

One of the most interesting things I have found in doing this PhD is the sordid history of the Los Angeles Times. The Otis-Chandler family dynasty not only shaped the newspaper but without them the city of Los Angeles would not be what it is. From Hollywood to the aqueduct that brings water to the southland...it all goes back to the Chandlers.
Now PBS has done a documentary about this fascinating topic. Here is a preview...


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I'm Not a Quitter, So I'm Quitting

Once again, one Sarah Palin has made her way back into the National spotlight (one can convincingly argue she never went away). Ms. Palin, after less than one term in office as Governor of Alaska, surprisingly quit. I was going to write a post directly after this happened because as we all know I have quite strong opinions on the former Vice-Presidential candidate (to brush up visit the Election 08 tag). But I honestly did not know what to think about it...

Since that moment I have read four articles that have provided me no further opinion on the matter but have been enlightening nonetheless.

The first is by Peggy Noonan, who after playing the Conservative cheerleader, now showed her true colors for Ms. Palin. She said...

She was hungry, loved politics, had charm and energy, loved walking onto the stage, waving and doing the stump speech. All good. But she was not thoughtful. She was a gifted retail politician who displayed the disadvantages of being born into a point of view (in her case a form of conservatism; elsewhere and in other circumstances, it could have been a form of liberalism) and swallowing it whole: She never learned how the other sides think, or why.

Ms. Noonan goes on to list all the defenses Ms. Palin's supporters give when she is attacked and convincingly deconstructs all of them.

The second is an in-depth profile of the former Governor done by Vanity Fair. It is quite lengthy (and done before her resignation) but provides a picture and perspective not spoken before about who she really is. Todd Purdum spoke with many of those who have worked with her in the past and finds a trail of broken promises and an extreme amount of ego.

The third is a sort of defence of Palin by Stanley Fish of the New York Times. Fish compares the resignation of the Governor with the confession of an adulterous affair by another politician Mark Sanford. He argues that the media seems to be trying to find a motive and looking into things too much rather than just taking these people at their word. Fish argues...

The one explanation they didn’t seem capable of coming up with was that they meant it, that their words were coming from the heart, from an interior that may have been fissured and rocky, but was nonetheless (dare I use the word)
genuine.

Finally, there is the op-ed by Frank Rich which came out last Sunday. He defends Ms. Palin, not by saying she is correct, but rather in that she represents something of America. And in that, will not go away because she now is the GOP.

The essence of Palinism is emotional, not ideological. Yes, she is of the religious right, even if she winks literally and figuratively at her own daughter’s flagrant disregard of abstinence and marriage. But family-values politics, now more devalued than the dollar by the philandering of ostentatiously Christian Republican politicians, can only take her so far. The real wave she’s riding is a loud, resonant surge of resentment and victimization that’s larger than issues like abortion and gay civil rights.

I was just at a conference in Wales and began talking with a friend I had met about Sarah Palin. He was of Palestinian background and now lived in Canada. Usually, when the topic of Palin is brought up in my circles, it becomes a 'how on earth did that happen' conversation. But this was different. He brought up (as did Mr. Rich to a more in-depth degree) what she represents. Politics and lack of intelligence aside, Ms. Palin did and still does represent something of America. I am in the midst of thinking where I stand on all of this and what it means for our society, what it means as a woman and also for our political future.

One thing is for sure, this is not the end of Sarah Palin.

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A Great New Innovation

Wearable Food Bags...A-MAZE-ING


New Wearable Feedbags Let Americans Eat More, Move Less

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Let's Play Pretend...

If Elvis’ great act of iconoclasm was to walk on stage, swivel his hips and tell a generation of American it was OK to f***, then Michael Jackson’s was to moonwalk on stage, grab his crotch, and tell America it was OK to ignore reality if the production quality was good enough. He gave us all tickets to our own private Neverland and we forgave him everything: the idiosyncrasies, the seclusion, the self-mutilation, the decadence.

- Gideon Yago, in a Daily Beast blog post

Let's play a game. One in which all that matters in life is talent. If for one brief moment in time you can supply the world with a song, a moving cinematic performance, an astounding dance move or an amazing painting then you are valuable to society. In this game of pretend it does not matter who you are as a human being. You can be as messed up as you would like but as long as you've got talent you are seen as having value. And this value is tangible it is not an abstract thing. You will affect people's lives, not in any direct way mind you, but because they also believe this talent means something more than it does. They will celebrate you as a worthwhile human being and validate your existence on the earth.

Michael Jackson was the supreme example of this pretend world we have all chosen to live in for far too long. Here are some of the comments posted on the New York Times website after he died...

'Michael was my guiding light. Now I'm lost.'
'It feels like a member of my family has died.'
'It's one of the saddest and shocking moments of my life.'

I truly believe what these people are feeling is real however what is troubling is that it says something about us. We will immortalize a person and let them into our lives and invest in them simply because they have a talent. All one has to do is look at the circus that Mr. Jackson was to know as a human he was contributing nothing of substance to a society that embraced him. Yes human as circus. A circus that ultimately ended because of drug abuse.

Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth followed Mr. Jackson for twelve years and interviewed hundreds of those closest to him. Throughout that time she published five different articles for the magazine. They are all available to read here. Ms. Orth's conclusion...

His behavior truly troubled me. Understandably, in the wake of his death, there are those who do not want to hear these sad facts. Yet nothing that Vanity Fair printed was ever challenged legally by Jackson or his associates.

The infamous MJ is not the only example of this...just look at the death of Farrah Fawcett. The woman is being immortalized for being a pinup and doing less than 30 episodes of a '70s television program. One LA Times writer said this about her in an article entitled 'Farrah Fawcett leaves a legacy larger than her roles'...

...she was Princess Di before there was a Princess Di, a photogenic icon who just seemed nice.

What on earth does that mean? The woman is worth celebrating because she takes a good picture and is nice. Well then put me in the line of people who deserve endless spreads in magazines and newspapers. I think I'm nice and I've been told I'm photogenic. We'll just pretend that she didn't have problems in marriage, problems with drugs, problems with her children etc...Because look at what she gave us, a picture!!!

To be sure comparing Ms. Fawcett with Mr. Jackson is a bit unequal both in their talents and in their personal lives. But what both of their deaths do say is something about us as a society. What on earth have we become? We celebrate a man who cut up his entire body and even changed its color. We immortalize a man who had a drug problem and spending habits that brought him to bankruptcy. We deify a man who, although he was never convicted, spent a lot of time doing shady things with young boys.

Let's pretend we live in a world where we celebrate who a person is first and what talents they possess second. When the heart of a person and what they give back to their society is what is extolled. Let's pretend a person who has spent years working for the greater good of humanity on grand stages or in small orphanages is treated with great respect and honor in their death. This is what is pretend my friends and this is what we should be very sad about

In the meantime, I'm headed back to 'reality'...The Evening Standard just said London killed Michael Jackson. I hope it doesn't kill me.

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The Courageous People of Iran

The message in my church the morning was centered on the idea of courage. The vicar quoted the book of Joshua when the Lord told Joshua time and time again, 'Be strong and courageous'. I can think of no better example of that courage at this moment in time, than the people of Iran who are standing up for freedom and the right to be heard. They are mainly young people fighting a battle with a powerful force who seeks to suppress their voices of dissent by any means possible.

I am not a great writer and so encourage you to read two profound analysis pieces today that really address many issues at the heart of this matter.

The first is by Roger Cohen of the NYTimes who is in Tehran at the moment and says...

I also know that Iran’s women stand in the vanguard. For days now, I’ve seen them urging less courageous men on. I’ve seen them get beaten and return to the fray. “Why are you sitting there?” one shouted at a couple of men perched on thesidewalk on Saturday. “Get up! Get up!”

Another green-eyed woman, Mahin, aged 52, staggered into an alley clutching her face and in tears. Then, against the urging of those around her, she limped back into the crowd moving west toward Freedom Square. Cries of “Death to the dictator!” and “We want liberty!” accompanied her.

The second is by Peggy Noonan in Saturday's Wall Street Journal, her words...

Stifling and corrupt religious autocracy has seen its international standing diminished, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is among other things a Holocaust denier, has in effect been rebuked by half his country, and through free speech, that most painful way to lose your reputation, which has broken out on the streets. He can no longer claim to speak for his people. The rising tide of the young and educated seems uninterested in reflexively hating the West and deriving their meaning from that hatred.

I have watched two very chilling videos of what is happening in Iran which I have decided to post here even though they are disturbing and quite graphic. The first is of a night raid in Tehran last night, you cannot see anything but the screams can be felt in a small flat in London. The second is of a woman dying after being shot. She has become a sort of poster child for what is happening in Iran.




A couple of years ago I read the most amazing memoir of Iran by a woman called Azar Nafisi. Although it is merely a snapshot of a moment in the country I found it beautiful and heartbreaking. Maybe a foreshadow of what was to come.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BROOKE!

Happy Birthday to the most fabulous lady I know. I hope you have a great day celebrating with Mom and Dad in London. Wish I could be there with you guys. LOVE YOU!


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Obama's Speech to the Muslim World

Worth watching in its entirety...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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Sexing Up Children

About a year ago, Vanity Fair did a profile of 15 year old Miley Cyrus (known to Disney fans as Hannah Montana). They took some VERY disturbing photos of the young GIRL which looked like this...

The first I find shocking in that the girl is half naked and posing with this sort of snarky 'come and get it' smile. The second is even more disturbing in that she is draped across her father with a fairly provocative outfit on (for a 15 year old). What kind of message is this??? And why on earth would any parent who cares even an ounce about their child let them send it???

And now on to this, which I found today...

The taller girl with the brown hair (left on top, right on bottom) is none other than NINE YEAR OLD Noah Cyrus, Miley's little sis. According to the blog Jezebel, the young girls were at a poolside bash wearing Juicy Couture. What on earth are these seriously mentally incompetent parents doing??? Whoring out their young children for fame and money is shameless and sickening.

The sexualization of young kids is ridiculous and should be called out on all occasions. I am doing it here, on this small little blog, because I've had enough. Yes kids will be kids and play dress-up and what not...but this is different. These children are being exposed to national media and are being sexualized by their manager/parents for money and fame and it is SICK. End of story.

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Films I Have Just Watched

So ten years later, an actual blog post. Who knew it could be done??? Anyway, I joined Love Film, which is the British Netflix and have been watching some FAB DVDs that I really, highly recommend.

* Priceless
- Cute little French love story set in the South of France with Audrey Tautou. She dates men for their money and that's pretty much how she makes her living until she accidentally falls for a waiter.

* Lars and the Real Girl
- This movie is all about an amazing performance by Ryan Gosling. He is a young man with some social problems who begins dating a doll who he thinks is real.

* Tell No One
- I had heard about this French thriller and it was just as good as I had imagined. A man's wife is killed and 8 years later he gets an email from her and this whole murder/mystery ensues. Really entertaining.

* Volver
- This was the film which got Penelope Cruz an Academy Award nom for Best Actress. She is fab in it!!! She is SO MUCH BETTER when she does Spanish language films. I'm not a huge Almodovar fan but found this film quite touching and while still quirky, accessible.

* I've Loved You So Long
- This is my favorite of the bunch so far. A French film starring the always fabulous Kristen Scott Thomas who has just come to live with her estranged sister and the sister's family after spending 15 years in prison. The script and acting are simply brilliant.

Enjoy!!!

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