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September 18, 2005
A fall Sunday's musings ...
I'm having a real sense of accomplishment this weekend. For a lot of people, it's spring cleaning, for me nothing beats a quiet and gorgeous fall day to clear out cobwebs within the house and within me.
Not to say that keeping the domicile within Health Department code rules is only my job. Indeed, my husband is usually much better organized and a bit more diligent about the daily clutter-busting than me. But when it comes to the deep down, scrubbing the baseboards and polishing silver stuff, I love to spend a day or two tackling it all. Vacuuming actually has an almost meditative quality to it (when the girls were babies and fussy, running the vacuum was almost as good as putting them into the car for a ride until they fell asleep).
Saturday evening, husband and I had a wonderful time at Little Miss Attila's gorgeous hillside home. It was a small informal gathering of some So. Cal BFLers. The irrepressible Flap has the lowdown on the soiree. (also, check out who Flap is betting will be GW's next SCOTUS nominee)! Thank you, Miss Attila, you and your husband are grand hosts!
I've missed blogging about the last two Battlestar Galactica episodes due to family distractions. As the season finale approaches (argh!) next week I'll do a lengthy review to make up. A couple of thoughts I've discussed with others -- IMHO it does appear that Helo's Sharon has gone 'renegade.' Final Cut had the other humanoid Cylons startled to find out she was still alive and pregnant, while this week's Flight of the Phoenix had Cmdr. Adama admitting there was common ground between Sharon and him in defeating the Cylon attack -- "We both want to live." Last Friday's episode was one of the stronger ones of the season, fully exploring the frayed nerves and deep psychological stresses on the Galatica crew while being harried prey. Yet another indication of how adult the writing is for this show. Guilty pleasure confession -- have to admit I enjoyed the scene in Final Cut were Lee Adama almost lost his towel. Rwrrr!
Speaking of the entertainment industry, Disney leaves hand-drawn animation behind is an interesting article for what it does NOT say --
The box office numbers show how far the sky has fallen. The studio reached the height of its most recent popularity with the 1994 release of "The Lion King," which brought in $764.8 million at the worldwide box office. By contrast, the last nine animated movies Disney either made or acquired took in only $758.3 million combined. "The Incredibles," the 2004 film created by Pixar, brought in $630 million - nearly as much as Disney's last eight animated movies.In the long article not once is writing mentioned. While animators argue over technique, even the most beautifully rendered garbage is still garbage. The Incredibles did not widely succeed because it was computer-animated, but because its audience, adult and child alike, wanted to be in that world. A world created first and foremost by its writer, Brad Bird. As a dismal summer of anemic box office receipts has studios wringing their hands, no one has the chutzpah to tell these sequel/remake leeches - quite simply - write it WELL and they will come.
Also in the NYTIMES was this usual sob-sister feature Under Din of Abortion Debate, an Experience Shared Quietly ostensibly about the "front line" faces of those experiencing Abortion in America. Admittedly, it is a well-crafted, understated article. But just as Hollywood can't seem to help itself in continuing to remake old movies, this feature of girls and women faced with what they believe is the only way out of an unwanted pregnancy is the stuff of the last 30 years. It's tragic, it's heartrending and it is just another exercise that induces outrage fatigue.
One of the best things to do in case of fatigue is DANCE! And Michele at ASV comes up with the next Macarena with her slap your ass and blow a kiss to your balls dance instructions to accompany the Belgians hate America pop-song.
Hmmm... I can slap my own ass, but I think I need to go find some balls to blow a kiss to...
Later.
Posted by Darleen at September 18, 2005 06:03 PM