Category Archives: Media/TV

Blogathon 2007 Redux: The Good, the Bad, and What I’ll Do Differently Next Year

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So I’m sort of awake still and figure I can probably redux things OK.

The Good
-raising $270 (at this point) for International Justice Mission
-getting to hang out with lovely people again who I unfortunately only get to see during the ‘thon
-meeting awesome people like Lauren (one of my monitees — I always wind up meeting at least one really excellent person every year and she’s this year’s person)
-my awesome husband Jon bringing me Subway for lunch
-cats hanging out with me
-dancing the Timewarp at 3 a.m.
-my cheerleaders
-my monitor team: the bSpies who posted lots of cat macros
-getting to go to sleep right after I finished (and not having tons of phone calls to wake me up)
-being able to help out with Potterthon

The Bad
-the flippin’ heat
-the smoke outside which means that I can’t open windows to air out my study
-some of my monitored sites breaking my browser
-feeling completely punch drunk right now
-the nastily uncomfortable chair that is my computer chair

What I’ll Do Differently Next Year
-different charity (I love IJM to pieces but I switch charities every year)
-different computer chair!!!
-not be part of multiple group weblogs (it was fun but really hard when I had multiple entries due) or if I am, I’ll have entries going in on each site and saved until they have to be posted
-put my monitored sites into a bookmark group so that I can go surf and hang out without having to deal with the surfing frame
-have a cooler up here with cold drinks so that I don’t have to walk down two floors to the kitchen (then again… it was good exercise)
-print out my schedule so I don’t have to have MS Excel open
-create my Napster playlist and find some way of saving it so I don’t have to re-create it if my Napster freezes
-have a list of artists I want to check out so I have new music during the ‘thon
-keep mIRC open more so I can participate in more of the chat (oh yes… I’ll also have instructions to give my monitees on how to get in if they ask)

I will definitely participate again and I’ll monitor again as well.Â? (Monitoring means that I get to hang out with a group of people and be a cheerleader and find out about new and wonderful sites and people.)

Early Morning Ramblings

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I couldn’t get back to sleep after I was awakened at 5:30 am by a black cat sitting on my bladder. (She was snuggly so I forgave her.) I tried watching CNN to get back to sleep and ended up being more awake.

So here’s my take on the news today:

Huge twister hammers Kansas town
My heart goes out to y’all. Seriously, it does. I can’t imagine living in a place where 75% of the town is damaged in one tornado. You’ll be in our prayers.

I’m thankful that the story on the tornado was treated with enough importance and that the following didn’t overshadow it…

Paris Hilton sentenced to 45 days in jail
This reminds me of a CSI:Miami/CSI episode where a guy is killing off socialites. When Horatio catches him and tells him he’s going to prison, the guy tells him he’s wrong and says, “Rich people don’t go to jail.” I’m thankful that this is not the case with Paris Hilton. I hate to say that there is some serious schadenfreude going on here because Paris Hilton makes me vomit and it’s so wonderful to see her actually being held accountable for being a ditzy socialite. Her excuse: “I didn’t know it was still suspended — I don’t read my mail.” Uh yeah… and that thing in your glove compartment that you signed saying that you knew you weren’t supposed to drive? Sorry sweetie… not working. My props to Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer for actually holding her accountable.

Reviewing “The Mormons”: The Good, The Bad, and My Rating

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Netscape ate my entry.Â? Bad Netscape!

I watched the last 90 minutes of Part I last night and all of Part II today.Â? Part I was the history of the church and Part II was basically the Mormons today.

The Good
-very good narration and commentary on the history of the church including the mindset of Joseph Smith.
-those interviewed were well-spoken
-discussion of how those practicing polygamy actually lived
-they explained the background and events of the Mountain Meadows Massacre
-the discussion of polygamy today
-Part II gave a realistic picture of the Mormon life
-the interview with one of the young women from the family part where she talks about her illness (primary pulmonary arrhythmia or something — it was a heart condition where the prognosis is 2-5 years)
-the showing of the missionary training as well as missionary life
-interviews with students, LDS leadership, and those who were excommunicated for dissenting

The Bad
-the lack of knowledge of Church History (or even just plain American History) outside of anything pertaining to the LDS — they were talking about how they were the most persecuted people in America and I was left wondering if these “historians” knew anything about slavery, Jim Crow laws, internment camps for the Japanese, and other atrocities that have been committed in this country.Â? I also wonder if they realize that Christianity was an outlawed religion until 313 AD — people suffered MUCH worse fates than the first Mormons did and there are countries around the world that persecute Christians today.

My Rating
4.5 out of 5 stars

PC Speech Has a Time and Place

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Last night, I did a meme on MySpace where you filled in X’s regarding statements that fit you and it determined a fake ethnicity for you. One of my friends from college (who is bi-racial) was the one who originally posted it and I went along with it for giggles. Well… apparently someone on my friends-list didn’t like it and commented about how they found it offensive and that we don’t need these vast assumptions and generalizations.

Yeah…

On the one hand, I agree with them because a lot of the statements were stereotypical (i.e. the Irish ones had to do with liking beer, liking the color green, and going to St. Paddy’s Day parties) but… on the other hand, it was a meme for fun and I took it as such.Â? I commented back, saying that their opinion was duly noted and I understood their point even though I disagreed.

Later,Â? I was watching “Celebrity Fit Club” (yes, I know some of you have moral and ethical issues with the show) and one of the contestants this season is Dustin Diamond who played “Screech” on “Saved by the Bell”.Â? He is trying to distance himself from “Screech” and is just being an absolute jerk in the process.Â? The other 7 cast members support each other despite the fact that the teams are men vs. women — Dustin, on the other hand, just rips people apart.Â? He got all bothered because he was talking about his pr0n tape at dinner during the second fitcamp and people weren’t paying attention to him alone.Â? Yeah… sorry but a meal is not the time nor the place to discuss these things.Â? He ended up just cursing everybody out and he’s threatening to quit the show next episode.Â? My thought: good freaking riddance.

So… back to the subject line, which occasion is the more appropriate time for PC speech: a blog which all of 10 people read and is passworded or… a televised gathering over a meal?Â? Ideally, the answer is both places but the televised gathering is the more realistic answer.Â? Not to mention… people don’t HAVE to read my MySpace blog — it’s not like I really ever post there.

I would love to be able to say “if you don’t like it, don’t read it” but that would be wrong for some unexplained reason.Â? All I know is this: there is a time and place for politically-correct speech and that meme post was not either of them.

Double Standard for Free Speech (II)

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Quoth TulipGirl on my Double Standard for Free Speech post:

And then there is another double standardâ????that in which other entertainers (comedians and rappers come to mind readily) say racist and degrading things regularly, and are rewarded with record contracts and adoring fans and not held accountable. As they should be, and as Imus was.

I agree most heartily.

While lying awake last night listening to CNN Headline News, I heard about some in the music industry defending the use of racial and gender-based slurs toward women in music, saying that they should be standing with Imus instead of going against him. According to Russell Simmons, “hiphop is a phenomena that transcends race…” Ummm… no.

What makes it right for rappers and hiphop stars to use the N-word, call women “ho’s”, and have scantily clad women making suggestive movements in their videos, yet at the same time call for Imus to be fired for the comments he made about the Rutgers women’s basketball team? Either words are simply words or we have a serious double standard here that needs to be rectified.

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