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Here's my thing
Archive for 200805 ( return to current blog )
Thursday May 29, 2008
. . . or just me?
Perhaps by now you've heard the hubbub about the kaffiyeh scarf worn by Rachel Ray in the Duncan Donuts ad. Conservative bloggers, led by Michelle Malkin, raised a stink about a US celeb and company putting out an ad with a symbol of Palestinian terrorism in it.
I happen to agree with Michelle on this one -- this ranks up there with idiot celebs wearing Che fashion shirts.
But here's my thing -- check out this opposing view from an anthropology prof:
"Amahl Bishara, an anthropology lecturer at the University of Chicago who specializes in media matters relating to the Middle East, said complaints about the scarf's use in the ad demonstrate misunderstandings of Arab culture and the multiple meanings that symbols can take on depending on someone's perspective.
'I think that a right-wing blogger making an association between a kaffiyeh and terrorism is just an example of how so much of the complexity of Arab culture has been reduced to a very narrow vision of the Arab world on the part of some people in the U.S.,' Bishara said in a phone interview. 'Kaffiyehs are worn every day on the street by Palestinians and other people in the Middle East — by people going to work, going to school, taking care of their families, and just trying to keep warm.'"
As a man from the South, not freakishly devoted but aware of the history down here, I'm always disturbed by the hatred spewed on anyone who dares display a Confederate battle flag. According to the PC police, it offends black Americans because they associate it with slavery and all the bad things that went on during that period in this country.
Others down here say it represents Americans who stood against what they felt was an over-reaching government, over-taxing and over-regulating them without fair representation in the Capital. Bullying the less populated southern states with legislative manuevering designed to allow the government to get what it wanted despite the state's wishes. Remember: the 2/3 rule was created by the northern states to prevent the southern states from increasing their representatives in the House by counting all the slaves as citizens of the states.
So dhimmi's say the kaffiyeh's are misrepresented as terrorist garb by knee-jerk conservatives who attach an innocuous bit of daily wear to a handful of evil-doers.
Southerners say the Confederate flag is wrongly associated with racism and slavery by the displaying of the flag by a handful of criminal miscreants.
Why is one right and the other wrong?
Follow up:
On the front page of the St. Pete Times, Saturday is a story about a group called Sons of Confederate Veterans who are in the process of erecting a 30x50 foot Confederate Flag atop a 139 foot flag pole at the intersections of I75 and I4 west of Tampa.
Naturally the local chapter of the NAACP is apoplectic and the organization's president has suggested that county commissioners should find a way to stop the flag from going up, even though it's on private property and all permits are in hand.
The flag is a backlash from events of the last few years where the Confederate flag has been removed from state buildings and historical figures such as Gen. Robert E. Lee have been systematically erased or ignored from any gov't forum.
Though this was not my purpose in the original post, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
| | Posted by postaldog at 6:45 PM - | |
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Wednesday May 28, 2008
So they've released a poster for the upcoming WitchBlade movie which I spoke about a few posts ago. Funny though, they haven't even cast the lead yet. Hmmmm. I know the thing is to whip up interest as soon as possible, and I guess I'm playing into that now, but . . .
The girl has that generic Jessica Alba look, without the huge booty, which is so popular now. I can only pray they are not considering her for this role.
I'm so very tired of studios casting actresses in roles that would require some level of nudity when these very actresses refuse to do those types of scenes. Obviously, their prerogative, but don't read for roles that offend you in some way and then demand they be rewritten to appease you. Silly. There are plenty of adequately skilled actresses who can do these parts, who are not offended by showing a little skin on the screen. Give them a shot. Who knows, you might break the next it girl. | | Posted by postaldog at 9:29 AM - | |
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Monday May 26, 2008
Remember the fallen.
Amid the picnics and family gatherings, the barbeques and parades, the late rising on a much deserved day off from work, remember why we celebrate this day. It is a day set aside to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country, for their family.
My father served in the Navy during WWII and as a child I grew up hearing first person war stories, tales of bravery and death and the occassional bar fight as young men came of age in a terrible situation. I watched my father cry over the memory of his friends that had died.
That is why we have this holiday.
Never forget.
| | Posted by postaldog at 8:37 AM - | |
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Sunday May 25, 2008
I don't think the race will give me enough to do a constant blog on, but here's my thoughts so far:
The bit on the dangers was excellent. The comments from Paul Dana's wife about trite statements about her husband's death was something that needs to be heard. Seeing Alex Zanardi again brought a tear to my eye.
Loved the bit about Helio's fame from Dancing with the Stars. I love how he joked about being the favorite of grandmas everywhere. And a good point about him bringing new fans to the sport.
Don't know who the director is for the show, but if his bungling of the prerace introductions is any evidence, we'll miss every important shot from the race. jeez
1:08 Nice to see Jim Nabors back. When I was a kid, I only knew him as Gomer Pyle. When he sang before the race one year, I was just staring, mouth gaping, at the TV. It just didn't make any sense. Welcome back, Jim.
1:36 Tough break for Sarah Fisher with that spin. Had to laugh when Eddie Cheever didn't hold back and called it a silly mistake to be scrubbing her tires in the middle of a corner.
1:46 Ouch. Rahal into the wall. Nice to see Cheever and Goodyear modify their initial comments to mention it was a rookie mistake to carry too much speed trying to grab an extra position instead of waiting.
1:49 Wow, Foyt IV on fire! In the pits without an accident! How rare is that?! More pit problems with Danica! For cryin' out loud!
1:58 AJ Foyt IV is getting back into that car to drive. Man, fairly impressive. He's soaked with fire retardant as is the car. I can't imagine the fumes and all from that. BTW, Dan Wheldon looks a bit too metro.
2:04 I like the side-by-side thing they do for commercials. I'd like to see other racing shows do this.
2:11 Marty Roth into the wall. Ouch. Similar situation to Rahal, passing a slower car in the corner. Helio over some debris, mucked up his front wing. Guys are right -- pit crew will have that front wing off and a new one on in a second.
2:21 This guy's Bush impression cracks me up! How much you want to bet AJ was giving his pit crew guys a blistering for allowing that collision in the pits?
2:35 Jaime Camara bad slip in the corner, you could see the car jump before it hit the wall. I'm sure someone will mention all the rookies droppin' out. Not sure that it's all rookie mistakes here. Pit reporters are saying this segment of the race is where they expect Danica to try and make a big move. Watching her pit telemetry gives me pause. She shouldn't be lifting in the corner like that. Her or the car? Have to wait and see.
2:52 Danica's crew chief is saying he has her car trimmed out and thinks she's as fast as the others. Hmmm. Her telemetry and lap times don't agree with him. I'd like to see Eddie and Scott talk about that a bit.
3:00 Okay are they going to explain what that is that Marco Andretti is adjusting on his steering wheel? He is constantly working that adjustment. Wow, Scheckter went by Wheldon like he was nailed down! Quick get Dan more hair gel! Stat!
3:05 Whoa, crash! Kanaan is blaming Marco! Bummer, Sarah Fisher is out as well. Ooh, she's pissed! Oh yeah, Marco cut him off bad. Puts Michael in a bad spot.
3:20 Okay, that's the second crash during a yellow! What's up with that?! Jeff Simmons driving for AJ Foyt, man is he having a bad race as owner. Good banter between Goodyear and Cheever, I hope they keep these guys together for the entire season. How about Tony Kanaan feeling genuinely sorry for Sarah Fisher. Classy. Oh jeez, she's still crying. Like to see someone step up and help her with financing.
3:33 I am so watching that show Wipeout when it comes on. In fact, I want to play too! Oops, another crash! Justin Nelson, another rookie. Maybe I was wrong earlier. Cheever yakking on Haas' cigar. heh heh
3:46 Wow, Scott Dixon from third to first. Nice. Oh, that rookie's in trouble! If he . . . into the wall! I was going to say if he doesn't cause an accident. Nice move by Danica getting into sixth. She's really bellyaching about that car. Just once, I'd like to see them give her the equipment to run in front.
3:51 Herbalife is still around? Man, that's like a seventies thing. That emblem looks like a pot leaf. That rookie, Morias is running 40 mph slower than everyone else. That's an accident waiting to happen.
3:55 Accident in pit lane! It's the Wii car. Wow, was that close! Another rookie. Hmmm. Oops, there goes the speed limit thingy.
4:06 Vitor Meira! That was the move of the race! How the hell he squeezed his car through that hole! Wow!
4:13 Mika Duno spins out. Buddy Lazier cut her off. He barely missed hitting the wall too. Scott and Eddie seem a little more tolerant of Buddy than Mika in their analysis. Just sayin'. Last pit stop? I hope this doesn't turn out to be a fuel mileage race. Seriously, Danica out for another accident in pit lane! Ryan Briscoe is the culprit. Oh man, he slammed her hard. His fault totally! I hope she doesn't do that pouty thing again.
4:21 WTF! Did Danica just go after Ryan Briscoe? Check out Eddie sticking up for Danica. I cannot wait for the interview. The PR girl trying to run Danica down. heh heh That big track security guy, what is she, a terrorist? Let her go.
4:34 The guys are talking about how hard the drivers are pushing their cars. How about showing the telemetry so we can contrast it to what they were showing for Danica when she was struggling. Helio's gonna get . . . must have heard me, there's the data. Anyway, their gonna flag Helio for blocking. Why is that bad again?
4:37 Four laps left...Meira closing...is that Larry the Cable Guy in Meira's pit? I like Scott Dixon, he should have won the championship last year...pretty wife...two laps...through traffic...white flag...Cheever's cracking me up -- "Get out of the way!"...Scott Dixon wins the Indy 500!
4:47 Ooh is Marco bagging his team for his finish? Danica kept it fairly quiet, I thought she'd say something more, guess that's some maturity showing. Heh, heh Vitor describing his pass -- "I'm not lifting anymore!" Love it. Helio -- "I never give up." The Milkman line is a bit weak, I hope I don't read that in the paper tomorrow. Wow, blisters on Mutoh's palms! Didn't think that ever happened these days.
I had fun with this.
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During their round table discussion on Indy this morning, the reporters discussed Danica Patrick and what a win would mean in today's 500. Selena Roberts proffered the opinion that she was tired of women being measured only via their competitions against men in their respective sports.
Huh?!
As someone who grew up in the Seventies, I remember well the push for the ERA, the ridiculous Billie Jean vs Bobby Riggs match (only now being called the farce it actually was), and the push for equal access to sports that yielded the disastrous Title 9.
What Danica is doing was the whole point, baby! Women were pushing for the chance to compete against men, equally in their sports. And now you have it. Of course Danica is going to be measured against men, she's competing in what is considered a man's sport! It is only prudent that it be mentioned that she is a woman, doing what no other woman has ever achieved. Shouldn't this be a point of pride?
There is no women's motor sports league. If women want to compete in auto racing, they must compete in NASCAR or IndyCar or NHRA. And there's another point. What does Ms. Roberts think of Ashley Force? Daughter of renowned driver John Force, Ashley is winning all kinds of races, including just recently defeating her father. How cool is that? If the NHRA got more coverage, that would be a bigger deal. Though don't they have a reality show on somewhere?
During the segment, Selena also brought up the focus on Danica's attractiveness, suggesting she wouldn't get the coverage if she weren't so visually appealing. Personally, I believe that if she looked like that uni-brow gal in the Planters commercial, she would still get press, and a lot of it, if she had the same success as Danica. And then writers like Ms. Roberts would be complaining about why she wasn't getting more coverage or hailing her as some savior because she was plain looking.
Why is being attractive so bad? Everyone is beautiful in their own way, some more conventional than others. Perhaps Ms. Roberts needs to get over her own prejudice about looks and focus on Danica's ability behind the wheel of an Indy car. Then she can enjoy the success of one of the best drivers in the world.
Who happens to be woman.
Competing in what used to be a male-only sport.
I guess there's still a long way to go, baby!
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