- BREAKING NEWS: Michael Jackson is a hermaphrodite. Watch the video
- BREAKING NEWS: Catholic Church condemns metrosexuality
- BREAKING NEWS: Al Qaeda Reports Declining Revenues in Fiscal '08
- BREAKING NEWS: Unemployed to be used for soup
- BREAKING NEWS: Spongebob Squarepants not Shrek's father!
Friday, August 15, 2008
i keep getting spam messages from some fake e-mail pretending to be msnbc. they keep sending me breaking news headlines and the headlines are ridiculously funny:
Thursday, August 14, 2008
sat·ire- noun.
1.the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
---------------------------------------------------------
all of this controversy over the movie "tropic thunder" is really irritating. i saw a preview for this movie sometime earlier this year and i wasn't totally turned off, but i also wasn't that interested in seeing the movie. after all of this noise people keep making about black face and the portrayal of a "retarded character", i actually want to pay to see the movie even if i already get in for free just because i want to support what (i think is) the entire point.
okay, i know that i am a really privileged white girl and i probably don't have a whole lot of room to make judgments on people being too sensitive about things. i have relatives who fought in the revolutionary war, the civil war (both for the Confederacy and the Union [although more fought with the Confederacy]) and both World Wars, so i don't have any relatives who had to go through ellis island and struggled to make a living here (even the German part of my family still got here before ellis island opened in the 1890s and my grandpa (the German) grew up in a very poor part of Philadelphia but he is well off now). most of my relatives are middle to upper class white folks, all protestant christians (except for the small crazy group of them who follow the book of Urantia), most of them are republicans, most of them live in the south and most of them are college educated. no one is gay, no one is in a bi-racial relationship, none of them are mentally handicapped and none of them REALLY struggle. i am an extremely fortunate person (sheltered, even?) and i recognize this.
i'm also aware of our country's history of discrimination against racial minorities and people with disabilities. i know about minstrel shows, i know about jim crow laws and i know that there are still extreme racists out there and that an extreme percentage of black Americans are in prison or receiving welfare and that our country's education system is definitely still segregated in its own way (by class and race, in my opinion). (i feel like i should be quoting Tupac here)
however, i don't think this movie is meant to discriminate as much as it is meant to target self-absorbed hollywood stars. so many actors have this holier-than-thou act because they played a handicapped person and therefore they truly understand the hardships that come along with being or having to take care of someone who is handicapped. or because they played someone living on welfare, they understand what it is like. or because they played someone who was raped, they really know what it is like. they don't really understand or even care (at least, most of them don't); they want to play these parts to get publicity or to win awards. i assume that the point of this movie is that ben stiller pretends to care or identify with people who are mentally handicapped because he played 'simple jack', and robert downey jr knows what it's like to be a black man in America because he had cosmetic surgery. i feel this way about most actors out there, and i feel like it is this point the movie is trying to make. ben stiller and RDJ are not making fun of minorities, they are making fun of people who take advantage of minorities. i feel like, in a way, it's actually more respectful to those demographics and should be offensive (but hopefully eye-opening) only to the actors who pull these kinds of stunts. it's called a satire, people, and that's what this movie is. the groups that are up in arms about the movie should be more concerned about the actors who take advantage of these demographics to further their own careers.
i could be totally off base here, and i'm sorry to rant but i really had to get that off of my chest. i'm also the first to admit that i'm a very privileged person so i know that the fact that i haven't REALLY had to struggle definitely affects my viewpoint. i just saw on a facebook mini-feed today that a former friend of mine (same demographics as me) made some comment about how she will not see tropic thunder because black face is offensive, and it's that kind of ignorant crap that pisses me off. i just want people to really understand this stuff, or at least consider other things, before making snap judgments.
1.the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
---------------------------------------------------------
all of this controversy over the movie "tropic thunder" is really irritating. i saw a preview for this movie sometime earlier this year and i wasn't totally turned off, but i also wasn't that interested in seeing the movie. after all of this noise people keep making about black face and the portrayal of a "retarded character", i actually want to pay to see the movie even if i already get in for free just because i want to support what (i think is) the entire point.
okay, i know that i am a really privileged white girl and i probably don't have a whole lot of room to make judgments on people being too sensitive about things. i have relatives who fought in the revolutionary war, the civil war (both for the Confederacy and the Union [although more fought with the Confederacy]) and both World Wars, so i don't have any relatives who had to go through ellis island and struggled to make a living here (even the German part of my family still got here before ellis island opened in the 1890s and my grandpa (the German) grew up in a very poor part of Philadelphia but he is well off now). most of my relatives are middle to upper class white folks, all protestant christians (except for the small crazy group of them who follow the book of Urantia), most of them are republicans, most of them live in the south and most of them are college educated. no one is gay, no one is in a bi-racial relationship, none of them are mentally handicapped and none of them REALLY struggle. i am an extremely fortunate person (sheltered, even?) and i recognize this.
i'm also aware of our country's history of discrimination against racial minorities and people with disabilities. i know about minstrel shows, i know about jim crow laws and i know that there are still extreme racists out there and that an extreme percentage of black Americans are in prison or receiving welfare and that our country's education system is definitely still segregated in its own way (by class and race, in my opinion). (i feel like i should be quoting Tupac here)
however, i don't think this movie is meant to discriminate as much as it is meant to target self-absorbed hollywood stars. so many actors have this holier-than-thou act because they played a handicapped person and therefore they truly understand the hardships that come along with being or having to take care of someone who is handicapped. or because they played someone living on welfare, they understand what it is like. or because they played someone who was raped, they really know what it is like. they don't really understand or even care (at least, most of them don't); they want to play these parts to get publicity or to win awards. i assume that the point of this movie is that ben stiller pretends to care or identify with people who are mentally handicapped because he played 'simple jack', and robert downey jr knows what it's like to be a black man in America because he had cosmetic surgery. i feel this way about most actors out there, and i feel like it is this point the movie is trying to make. ben stiller and RDJ are not making fun of minorities, they are making fun of people who take advantage of minorities. i feel like, in a way, it's actually more respectful to those demographics and should be offensive (but hopefully eye-opening) only to the actors who pull these kinds of stunts. it's called a satire, people, and that's what this movie is. the groups that are up in arms about the movie should be more concerned about the actors who take advantage of these demographics to further their own careers.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
yesterday for the first time i slept through (part of) my shift at la prima tazza. there were reasons why it happened, not good ones, but i wasn't sitting around and picking my nose. anyway, i didn't feel as bad as i thought i would. i wasn't really letting anyone down (it was a barbacking shift and, in my opinion, unnecessary to be there before 9 on tuesdays anyway) so i didn't feel guilty. now i feel guilty, but only because at the time it felt sort of good to fuck up and not really care about it. is that bad?
And finally, I read today that Michael Phelps consumes 12000 calories a day. Yere are some comparable amounts:
LIST:
And finally, I read today that Michael Phelps consumes 12000 calories a day. Yere are some comparable amounts:
- Twizlers - 750 single twizlers = 18.75lbs
- McDonalds Quarter Pounder with Cheese - 23 individual burgers = 10lbs
- Subways Cold Cut Combo "6 - 29 sandwiches = 14 feet for sandwich
- Pizza Hut Pan Pizza Pepperoni - 5 pizzas and 2 slices = Over 400 square inches of Pizza (9.4lbs)
- Doritos Cool Ranch - Five, 1 pound bags= 5.3 lbs and 600 grams of fat
LIST:
- Go to Kansas City to eat at Arthur Bryants, Phil's restaurant, Korma Sutra
- Go to KC to 18th and Vine district, Bodies exhibit, Nelson/Kemper
- Visit those goddamn bars
- Sell my desk and my bike
- Get rid of at least one box of crap before moving
- Run a 5k (September 13th)
- CONTRIBUTE TO A ZINE, JESUS H.
- Live music with Annie?
- Interview my grandparents via telephone
- Finish as much as I can of Six Feet Under
Sunday, August 10, 2008
i am at the station, playing my last kjhk shift evar.
i have a dollar bill in my pocket that says 1 3 6 8 10 20 50 100 10000 1 mill pick one -> how many strippers butts do you think ive been in
good question.
hmm.
i liked this weekend. dealing with drunk, embarrassing friends was a total pain in the ass, but hysterically funny in retrospect. plus, it's worth it to have to defend one of your best friends who will move away from you forever in a week or two. kyle, sorry i wouldn't sleep in the same bed as you and you had to sleep with jake. everyone offended by kyle....whoops.
oh and i need to stop watching six feet under. i'm getting obsessed, not only with the show but with death itself. i'm starting to have those daydreams where i trip and fall and split my head open. bicycles are starting to scare me and i refuse to ride my bike until i get over this nonsense.
i need a mini-dan akroyd to sit on my shoulder 24/7. whenever i do/say/think something stupid, he will say "laura, you ignorant slut". this would be a dream.
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have a dollar bill in my pocket that says 1 3 6 8 10 20 50 100 10000 1 mill pick one -> how many strippers butts do you think ive been in
good question.
hmm.
i liked this weekend. dealing with drunk, embarrassing friends was a total pain in the ass, but hysterically funny in retrospect. plus, it's worth it to have to defend one of your best friends who will move away from you forever in a week or two. kyle, sorry i wouldn't sleep in the same bed as you and you had to sleep with jake. everyone offended by kyle....whoops.
oh and i need to stop watching six feet under. i'm getting obsessed, not only with the show but with death itself. i'm starting to have those daydreams where i trip and fall and split my head open. bicycles are starting to scare me and i refuse to ride my bike until i get over this nonsense.
i need a mini-dan akroyd to sit on my shoulder 24/7. whenever i do/say/think something stupid, he will say "laura, you ignorant slut". this would be a dream.
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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