Lazy Saturday nirvana

[cleolinda]

Not much going on today, except that I think I'm coming down with my mother's snerfy cold, so am resting up with Allegra-D today in hopes of not being too wiped out tomorrow to blog the Oscars.

(Something interesting I noticed: there's a commercial that's been airing for Amazing Grace, a movie I had not even heard of, but yet involves a number of famous British actors, ships blowing up, and Ioan Gruffudd shouting at people. My mother was intrigued and thought my stepfather might also like it, because it was clearly about the Revolutionary War, right? The wigs and ponytails and knee breeches? Ships blowing up? Gruffudd shouting righteously at people in a legislative setting? But here's the thing: the commercial is completely vague about what the movie is actually about, conspicuously so, which is something you see a lot with Christian movies from small production companies--this attempt to show you things that you would be interested in, while hiding the pill you're going to have to swallow. And "Amazing Grace" does betray a certain Christian element. But this one seemed to have way too many famous actors in it, fairly expensive production values--what are they hiding? Well, here's the actual synopsis: "The idealist William Wilberforce maneuvers his way through Parliament in 18th century England, endeavoring to end slavery in the empire." Whaaaaaat? Well, that's clever, I thought. A complete bait and switch--give an American audience just enough imagery to assume it's about the Revolutionary War to get them into the seats. And then I felt angry that they felt like they had to hide the entire storyline of the movie because Americans wouldn't go see a movie about slavery. And then I felt sad because it's true.)

ETA: Okay, maybe they're just doing this in Alabama. Because we suck.

How to achieve blog nirvana, and blogs that have done it. Hmm... the hot spots seem to be indignation, titillation, stimulation, affirmation, outrage, scandal, novelty, lust, schadenfreude, perversity, sex and revenge. For starters, I can't really figure out what "affirmation" and "stimulation" are supposed to mean. "Affirmation" may be taken from the idea of the Daily Affirmation calendar type thing, which is actually supposed to help you "affirm" or assert your self-worth; it doesn't actually mean "positive feelings." I mean, you could affirm negative feelings, is what I'm saying; it's the act of "upholding the validity of," as I understand it, not the feelings you're validating themselves. But with Cute Overload squarely listed under Affirmation, I'm going to have to think they mean "warm, fuzzy vibes." And stimulation--I'm not sure how that's different from titillation, except that if Google and Yahoo are listed there, they must mean... intellectual stimulation? In its purest form, and then the combination of stimulation, titillation and affirmation being sex? Man, achieving nirvana would be a lot easier if I had any idea what the hell they were talking about. I actually kind of wanted to try to hit all the categories myself, if I could figure out what the difference between sex, lust, and titillation in a blog context is supposed to be. Well, let's give it a go, shall we?

Lust: Well, the Tudors people did give me a preview/behind the scenes/interviewish clip I could embed...

Oh no--it's written by the guy who wrote Elizabeth. I mean, I love Elizabeth, but I love it for Her Cateness and the costumes, not because it's a shining beacon of accuracy. So... I think all the Tudors anachronisms are now explained. I'm just going to view it as being up there with A Knight's Tale in that sense. It's going to be a lot easier on my poor nerves that way.

The rest of the linkspam:

Indignation: Fla. judge mocked over Anna Nicole case. "Some members of the bar and other court-watchers are cringing over the way Judge Larry Seidlin wept — no, sobbed — on live, national TV as he announced a ruling Thursday in the dispute over where Anna Nicole Smith should be buried. Some are accusing the brash former New York cab driver of showboating for the cameras, or worse, auditioning for his own courtroom TV show, with his one-liners, his personal asides, and his smart-alecky Bronx delivery during the six-day hearing. They say that he let the hearing drag on way too long, that he made inappropriate jokes for a dispute over a body, that he acted as if it were all about him. 'He's like Judge Judy's wacky little brother,' legal analyst Jefrey Toobin quipped on CNN."

Indignation: elsajeni points out that the Porno Avenger had a bit of a delayed reaction: "But if Van Iveren was attempting to rescue what he thought was a woman in danger he was 'obnoxiously late,' said Stieghorst, who said he watched the movie between 1 and 2:30 a.m., but Van Iveren did not burst into his apartment until about 11:30 a.m."

Intellectual stimulation: Alabama college hosts n-word conference.

Intellectual stimulation: "I miss the days when our writers were allowed to be crazy assholes."

Intellectual stimulation: Catherynne M. Valente is interviewed at Fantasybookspot. Go yuki_onna!

Schadenfreude: Project Runway winner Jeffrey Sebelia reduced to working on live-action Bratz movie.

Sex: Confessions of a College Call Girl.

Scandal, Sex and Titillation: Oh, Antonella. Not safe for work, or life, or anything.

Revenge: Bill O'Reilly removed from NCMEC dinner lineup after vile Shawn Hornbeck remarks.

Outrage: What the shit is this? Who talks to their daughter this way? Ew. (For those of you who don't keep up with FBOFW or the Comics Curmudgeon, Lynn Johnson has been slowly, slowly pushing Liz towards Grandpa-Stache Anthony for months now, to the point where he rescued her from an attempted assault and then took her down to[DUNNNNNN! DUH DUH DUH DUH DUNNNNN!] his single-father basement lair. After that, Johnson had Liz's long-distance boyfriend cheat on her and basically start a new life with another woman without telling her, but that's okay because Paul and Susan share a culture and Liz should be happy for them. And then it turns out that Warren, the old friend who offered to fly her up there a day early, did so because he knew and basically wanted her to find out about the whole thing so that he could then scam on her. So now who's left? The Phantom of the Rec Room, that's who.)

Novelty: HassleMe, a site that will remind you as often as you need to go do some random thing. I set it to remind me to write in my diary every three days or so.

trailer_spot: Colour Me Kubrick: A True...ish Story Vacancy, Fido, Starter For 10, Amazing Grace. Okay, this is not the trailer they're showing on TV.

The Scarlett-as-Cinderella picture in hi-res. It's my desktop right now. I used to not like ScarJo, and I'm still not entirely convinced that she's the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I think I have finally fallen prey to her pretty. Besides, anyone who was in The Prestige gets a pass from me, and I think she's actually really well cast as Mary Boleyn in The Other Boleyn Girl.

Report: Abrams Will Helm Trek XI. So now he's back on, apparently. How does the odd/even thing work--is this one destined to suck? I can't remember.

Titillation: No, the new Daniel Radcliffe picture is not real.

Perversity: Who Wants To See Bijou Phillips Nude and Beheaded? Uh... Someone McNotme?

Silver Surfer on Empire Cover.

Baz's Australia To Begin Filming in April. "The film has already secured its cast, with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman holding the lead positions. (Heath Ledger was originally attached, but dropped out to play The Joker in The Dark Knight.) Jackman will play a cattle driver who tries to save Kidman's ranch from an antagonist played by Jack Thompson." Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up--why did I think Russell Crowe was in the lead? Because I am 100% more interested now.

The Full List of Oscar Presenters. Clive Owen! My mother's going to be so disappointed that she's going to be out at one of my stepfather's gigs Sunday night!

Spielberg, Coppola and Lucas to Hand Scorsese His Oscar. Furthermore, "Finke has learned of a few other 'surprises' we can look forward to on Sunday night, including an appearance by Tom Cruise to present his old boss at Paramount, Sherry Lansing, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Also, the supporting acting awards will not be announced at the beginning of the ceremony, as they usually are, and none of the scheduled performers from Dreamgirls (Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose) will sing the song they sing in the movie -- who will perform what is not revealed, however. As for montages, we can expect one directed by Michael Mann about the portrayal of America in movies and one directed by Nancy Meyers about the portrayal of writers. It is being rumored that this year's Oscar telecast will be extremely long..." Well, duh. I could have told you that about the time they told us that Lansing and Ennio Morricone would get special Oscars.

(Also, does the performer/song mixup not sound like Beyoncé totally threw a hissyfit and demanded that she be allowed to sing "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going"? Five bucks says, y'all.)

And finally, Affirmation: jstilwe found me a Versace Experience remix of "P. Control"--pretty much what Prince performed live at the VH1 Fashion Awards, which is the version that I wanted. It's very short, and apparently leads into other tracks on the CD, but I'll take it--it's not bad for putting in front of another version of the song on a playlist. Now, to get the rest of the Versace Experience... (What? I find "P. Control" affirming...)

Wow. Nirvana? Harder than it looks.

Comments

[anoneknewmoose.livejournal.com]

Actually, the trailer I've seen for Amazing Grace said it was about slavery at the beginning, and mentioned it several times. :)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, like I say further on down, the trailer linked at trailer_spot is not the one they're showing on TV around here.

[whisperwords.livejournal.com]

I saw a preview for Amazing Grace last night before The Last King of Scotland, and it looks amazing. Plus, the preview had a big chunk with blaring bagpipes playing Amazing Grace (which seems like a subplot — the story of the song? the trailer made it seem like it was mostly about slavery but also about where the song came from) and really, I about died of glee when the bagpipes flared up, so I'll probably be seeing it soon.

[akathorne.livejournal.com]

I figured that Amazing Grace was probably the story of how "Amazing Grace" the song came to be written. John Newton wrote it after being on a slave ship and having a "great deliverance" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22Amazing_Grace%22).

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Which the movie is also about, actually.

[fateorlate.livejournal.com]

Oh my God, THANK YOU for HassleMe. I have a friend that I've been meaning to email for, uh. . .six months.

Amazing Grace

[shusu.livejournal.com]

I feel compelled to note that the slavery storyline is prominently featured in ads broadcast in Missouri.

Phantom of the Rec Room, and linkspam

[lauramcvey.livejournal.com]

I really wish FBOFW would die already. It stopped being funny a looong time ago. And my dad would never talk like that anyway- he's just fold his arms and glare at whatever guy came to the door, and that'd be the last I saw of them. At least, ntil I found them under the porch next spring, still cowering.
Here's some linkspam for you: a bunch of librarians, teacher, parents, etc, are doing the megaflip over this year's Newbery Award choice. Apparently, the book mentions male genitalia. These people are pretty deep in denial- don't they realize that most kids know all this stuff as soon as they go into school? Yeesh.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/books/18newb.html?_r=1&em&ex=1171947600&en=1b95b92b41074cc1&ei=5087&oref=slogin

Re: Phantom of the Rec Room, and linkspam

[lyricalnights.livejournal.com]

As a librarian and someone who's been following this story quite closely, I feel compelled to mention that it is not by any means a bunch of librarians or anybody else getting upset over the book, and that particular NYT article is about the most biased piece of junk reporting I've seen in a long time. They took a handful of the most inflamatory statements on an informal listserv and created about a million times more hubbub than originally existed.

And at least one of the quoted librarians has come forward to say that her mildly cautious reply to the reporter's questions were completely twisted for publication. Nearly all of the librarians quoted, foolish or in denial though they may be, are elementary school librarians, and when parents get their knickers in a twist over book selection, they're likely to get fired.

Sorry to unload but I hate how widely this tiny pebble in the water is rippling, and how ignorantly many of the articles I've seen are dogpiling on librarians in general over the over-reaction of the few.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

Who Wants To See Bijou Phillips Nude and Beheaded?

That permutation might get a few more bites, I dunno.

Lynn Johnson, well, you kinda have to give her a little proppage for continuing to feed her multigenerational story long after rational people would've given it up for sudoku. And while it sounds like the current plotline is either divorced from reality or a darkly Freudian mirror, will most people who actually open a newspaper and read the comics actually notice?

And I find the blog-nirvana diagram interesting, though I dissent with the implication that blogs should aspire toward the middle -- that's a little silly. The best thing about CuteOverload, for example, is that it knows what it wants to be, and it is that perfectly. Meg does a great job of feeding one aspect of our existence -- there's no need for titillation or indignation among bunnies and ferrets napping together -- and she lets the rest of the Series of Tubes take care of the rest. Maybe if you had to subsist on one blog, an online multivitamin, I can see this as being more applicable. But in an age of RSS feeds and news aggregators, who really just reads one site?

But it is certainly food for thought.

slightly different bait-and-switch in my house

[oya-yansa.livejournal.com]

My husband and I just whipped through all the Horatio Hornblower episodes on Netflix, finishing last week and very chagrined that there aren't any more, and then Friday night I was watching something on A&E (the channel that made the Hornblower series), and I looked up to see Ioan Gruffudd in a wig and lots of ships. I flipped, and shrieked to hubby that they had made a new Hornblower. Seconds later, of course, we realized it was nothing of the kind, and were very disappointed.

My husband now refers to it as "Hornblower Frees the Slaves", and thinks we should see it anyway, because it's close enough.

Re: slightly different bait-and-switch in my house

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heeeeeee, I would totally go see "Hornblower Frees the Slaves."

[thunderphoenix.livejournal.com]

About the Even/Odd Trek Curse, the Odd ones are supposed to be bad, while the Even ones are good. However, I thought 3 was good, and the consensus was that 10 was terrible, so it's not an infalliable curse.

[supermom20.livejournal.com]

I thought it was the other way around: odds good, evens bad. Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home anyone?

[breklor.livejournal.com]

In theory odd-numbered Star Trek movies suck; even-numbered ones are good. Up to a point this was true. 1, 3, 5 (ack, 5!) and 7 were really not very good (although I don't see why people rag on 3 except as part of the evil odds). 2, 4, 6, and 8 were (although I think 6 and 3 were about as good, so there you go.) 9 stank, but really, 10 wasn't very good either, so I think they probably just all suck now.

[piratesorka.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I have seen the promo for Amazing Grace The idea of it having a Christian adgenda or Revolutionary War didn't even pop into my head. In fact, I thought it might have something to do with slavery due to the slave chains that were being rattled and explained to what looks like Parliment. Lo, behold! It is indeed about slavery. Maybe this ad was changed a bit because I am in Oregon and not Alabama.

Very interesting.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I'm telling you, there were no chains in the commercial they played down here, because I saw it three times. It moved very quickly, was very short, allowed for very little dialogue, and had me wondering if Gruffudd was supposed to be Patrick Henry or something.

[okaasan59.livejournal.com]

At least Scarlett was smart enough to run the other way when Tom Cruise was pursuing her before he got his mitts on that poor gal he's married to now.

[thegeneralerin.livejournal.com]

Way to make my High School look like a whorehouse, Antonella. I'm sure that the administration is thrilled. Catholic U must be thrilled, as well after the WWII monument pictures appeared.

I wanted Simon to embarrass her on National TV because I known she's a bitch since 3rd grade and has no talent. But this is ridiculous.

And this is why we never post incriminating photos on Facebook. Or piss off people who have incriminating photos. Or at the very least, pay them off.

[thegeneralerin.livejournal.com]

Although I seem to have no grasp of grammar today. I apologize.

[1mercystreet.livejournal.com]

Yay for Ioan Gruffudd being passionately political in a wig! He needs to do more of this, I feel.

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

Huh - I first became aware of Amazing Grace because of the costumes and Romola Garai. Then I started seeing commercials and they made it pretty plain that it was about slavery. I never thought it was about the Revolution. Plus they used the Amazing Grace song, so I figured it was about how that song got written. At least, those were my impressions!

And LOL about the elements of blogging!

And thanks for the hi-res and behind the scenes link for that Scarlett pic. It's pretty! :-)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I did see a picture of Romola Garai on IMDB that was amazing, in terms of costumes.

Do you want pics for The Tudors? I still have to ask them if it's okay to repost, and... they're kind of going to give you a heart attack. They're not... accurate.

[sapphires13.livejournal.com]

Okay, I seemed to have gotten the same Amazing Grace trailer that you did, so maybe it's just a southern thing. After seeing the trailer, I assumed it as about some kind of religious persecution, and paired with the little note on the final screen about group tickets, screamed of Passion of the Christ and all the churches buying out the theater.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU. I was starting to think I was crazy.

[elsajeni.livejournal.com]

Eee! I got in the linkspam!

The one thing I've seen about Amazing Grace -- seriously, no previews, no ads, nothing -- is that, for a movie about slavery, it appears to suffer from the unfortunate flaw of not having any slaves in it.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Interesting how movies about slavery are almost always about white people, isn't it?

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Sex: Confessions of a College Call Girl.

You know, I read the first entry, and then I got to the anal rape (http://www2.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6565957094599224723&postID=2331136188421981222) and that killed any sexiness. I kind of wish prostitution were legal, so that she could call the police on that asshole.

[elendiari22.livejournal.com]

Seriously, that part was disturbing. Ugh.

[jessica-dwg.livejournal.com]

I'll manage to get the rest of the Versace Experience uploaded at some point, Cleo. My internet connection is all wonky and I can't manage to stay connected for more than 60 seconds at a time (my ISP said it would be resolved by this morning... not so much, as it turns out). Worst case scenario, I'll just upload it from work Monday.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yay! Don't worry about it, take your time. : )

[sunshine95.livejournal.com]

(Also, does the performer/song mixup not sound like Beyoncé totally threw a hissyfit and demanded that she be allowed to sing "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going"? Five bucks says, y'all.)

Oh God, you're so right. That's such crap.

[sunshine95.livejournal.com]

Oh wait, hold up. Jennifer Hudson's nominated song is actually "Love You I Do," isn't it? "And I Am Telling You" isn't even nominated, because it's not an original song written for the movie. So I don't think Beyoncé even has the option of singing it. Right? *crosses fingers*

[darth-snarky.livejournal.com]

I actually saw Amazing Grace yesterday, although I never heard of it til I saw a reveiw (also yesterday--I was stuck in a mall for few hours, which I how ended up seeing a movie). It mostly interested me because in high school I did an enormous research paper on Thomas Clarkson.

It wasn't half bad, and I don't recall them fudging the history too terribly. The various British actors all do fantasic jobs.

[la-sonnambula.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you got contacted by The Tudors people. Historical accuracy or not, this looks to be a big piece of eye candy.

Amazing Grace came out of nowhere for me too. It's out now in US, but in UK the movie will be released two days before the 200th anniversary of the abolishment of the slave trade in UK.

Clive Owen seems to have arrived (http://justjared.buzznet.com/gallery/photos.php?yr=2007&mon=02&evt=eva_green_oscars_airport&pic=eva-green-oscars-airport-01.jpg) at the LAX airport with Eva Green.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Oh, hot.

[skyblade.livejournal.com]

Russell Crowe was in Australia, (back before the movie even had a title) he dropped because he didn't want to take a pay cut for a big budget studio movie. (Even one that's probably going to make no money)

[hawleygriffen.livejournal.com]

The Tudors looks like it's definitely more of A Knight's Tale affair, except more adult. Whenever the word rockstar is used in connection with a historical character who wasn't a rock star, you know that it's unlikely to be a somber and faithful portrayal.

That comic strip is creepy. Single-father basement? Oh no.

I am so disappointed I won't be able to see the Oscars as they're exclusively on a channel on a paid subscription service over here in the UK. :/

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Good god.

Sorority Evictions Raise Issue of Looks and Bias (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/education/25sorority.html?ex=1330059600&en=1b2c47c2d02773f9&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink)

Worried that a negative stereotype of the sorority was contributing to a decline in membership that had left its Greek-columned house here half empty, Delta Zeta’s national officers interviewed 35 DePauw members in November, quizzing them about their dedication to recruitment. They judged 23 of the women insufficiently committed and later told them to vacate the sorority house.

The 23 members included every woman who was overweight. They also included the only black, Korean and Vietnamese members. The dozen students allowed to stay were slender and popular with fraternity men — conventionally pretty women the sorority hoped could attract new recruits. Six of the 12 were so infuriated they quit.

Read the whole article. At one point, the sisters fought back:

A few days after the interviews, national representatives took over the house to hold a recruiting event. They asked most members to stay upstairs in their rooms. To welcome freshmen downstairs, they assembled a meet-and-greet team that included several of the women eventually asked to stay in the sorority, along with some slender women invited from the sorority’s chapter at Indiana University, Ms. Holloway said.

“They had these unassuming freshman girls downstairs with these plastic women from Indiana University, and 25 of my sisters hiding upstairs,” she said. “It was so fake, so completely dehumanized. I said, ‘This calls for a little joke.’ ”

Ms. Holloway put on a wig and some John Lennon rose-colored glasses, burst through the front door during the recruitment event, and skipped around singing “Ooooh! Delta Zeta!” and other chants.

The face of one of the national representatives, she recalled, “was like I’d run over her puppy with my car.”

[token-girl.livejournal.com]

Actually, the recruiters may have accidentally improved the image of the girls in the sorority as they actually sound a lot cooler than people would have given them credit for.

Did it never occur to these stupid women that young girls with any kind of self esteem are avoiding sororities exactly because that's how they suspect they are run?