Google Scholar

You know my annoying habit endearing quirk of providing research statistics and citations for facts? Well, it's probably going to get worse. I'm having so much fun with my new friend, Google Scholar. It's kind of the antithesis to Wikipedia. It's addictive. Go try it for yourself. Come on-- you know you want to research something.

Media Report

*DVD: Punch Drunk Love-- I didn't like it.

*DVD: The Bridge (documentary)-- I may write a longer post about this later, but for now, I'll say that I'd recommend it with reservations. This is a documentary about people committing suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. (More people commit suicide at the GG than any other place in the world. A person jumps about once every 15 days.) Anyway, for this documentary, they set up cameras on the beaches nearby and filmed for a year, using zoom lenses...so many actual jumps are caught on tape. While I was watching, I became rather upset-- well, for more than the obvious reasons-- because I thought that they should do something besides just film the suicides. But...after watching the "making of" featurette, it turns out that they did. Anytime they saw "suspicious" activity, they called Bridge Patrol, and by doing so, were able to save quite a few people. Those suicides caught on tape either happened too quickly for Bridge Patrol to respond, or the camera people did not regard the behavior as "suspicious" prior to the jump. So...anyway, it's interesting and compelling, and the interviews with friends and family round out the stories (though the structure of the clips is a bit confusing)... but it is very disturbing and probably should be. One bright spot is Kevin Hines, who is about 27 now, and is one of only a couple dozen to survive a suicide attempt from the bridge. He has bipolar disorder, and when he was 19, he jumped. He says that the second he was in the air, he regretted it and wanted to live. He was able to turn himself so that he landed feet first (though most people who land this way still die), swim up to the surface and stay afloat. (Actually, he says that when he got to the surface, he felt something brush his leg and thought it was just his luck to survive a jump from the bridge and be eaten by a shark... but it was a seal or sea lion that circled him until he was picked up by the Coast Guard.) Even after all that, it was still 50/50 that he would survive the night since parts of his spine had shattered and pierced organs. But...eventually, he recovered physically and is now a suicide prevention advocate and lobbies for a suicide barrier on the bridge. Kevin says that part of the reason he tells his story is because people think it will be an easy, painless death... but he can testify that it is terrifying and painful... and that he is glad he got another chance.

*DVD: Prime Suspect, Season 1-- A friend loaned me this British crime drama, and it's really good. I feel that "season" is a bit overstating because there are only 4 episodes...but it is complete. It's more like a miniseries. It's about a female detective and chauvinism, and balancing work and family and a serial killer. I'm definitely going to watch "season" 2.

*Books-- I am "reading" so many books right now. I'll write about them when I'm done. Here's what I have:
-Fowl Weather (memoir sequel to Enslaved by Ducks about Bob Tarte's neuroses and pets)
-How Good Do We Have to Be (loaned to me)
-Grace Eventually (and I'll finish it eventually)
-Journey of Desire (what we're reading for Lifegroup)
-HP and the Deathly Hallows (round 2)
-Stranger at the Gate

*TV-- There is almost nothing worth watching on tv, and I haven't heard of anything too compelling for the fall. Michael Vartan (Vaughn!) and Dylan McDermott are going to be on a show together on ABC, and I'll probably give it a try just for them. It's being called the guy version of Desperate Housewives, though, and I hate that show. There's another one about 4 female friends who solve murders, and that looks pretty good. However, it's going to be on Fridays so it will be canceled within a month or so. I'll try the Grey's Anatomy spinoff, Private Practice, but I don't have high hopes. If you've heard of something promising, tell me! (No reality shows!)

Sad news

One of my cousins died in his sleep a couple of nights ago. James Putney was a chaplain at UCLA Medical Center in the oncology department. He also had a form of dwarfism (which may have led to his death-- still unclear) and was about 4 feet tall. He was a very cool person, and I always enjoyed talking with him. He married a few years ago, and I'm sure his wife is devastated by his sudden death.

If you want to read an article about James, click here.

Darfur

Late last night, I was feeling yucky, and I wanted something to take my mind off the pain while I waited for the medicine to kick in. So I dropped onto the couch and flicked on the tv, not really caring what I was watching. It turned out to be a PBS documentary about cows. Yes, cows. Dairy cows in England, holy cows and India, beef cows in Colorado, etc. That wasn't too interesting, but it worked as a distraction. Anyway, then they came to the Mosai (sp?) people in Africa. Somehow, they learned about the 9/11 attacks and felt great sympathy and sorrow for the people in NYC. One clan decided that they would send cattle, which in their culture, is the greatest gift of friendship and support (not to mention, their livelihood). Now, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the greatest need of the people of NYC was not cattle...but they desperately needed comfort and support. To know that an ancient, nomadic people on another continent not only knew about their pain but wanted to help? I bet that brought tremendous comfort.

Now, I realize that the Mosai have nothing to do with Darfur...but their generosity got me thinking. See, I've been very frustrated because I want to do something to help the people in Darfur, but I really don't know what to do. Fundraisers and benefit concerts are great and everything, but they don't go anywhere towards solving the problem. We could (and as a country, do) throw billions of dollars at the refugee camps forever...and not get any closer to a solution. Granted, the refugee camps need money to keep people fed and provide medical treatment, and I believe we are right to give. We cannot just let all of those people starve to death or die from easily treated infections. However, just keeping those people alive isn't enough. They lost their homes, their families, and more villages continue to be decimated every day. Hundreds of thousands of people sitting in refugee camps...that's not a country so much as a prison.

Anyway, the Mosai's gift of cattle after 9/11 really touched me. They didn't necessarily know what to do to help, but they did something. They are a primitive, nomadic tribe and have likely never met anyone from NYC, probably never been on an airplane or in a building with more than one story...but they heard of a tragedy, felt compassion and acted. I realize that I need to stop being passive and find out what I can do to stop the genocide in Darfur.

So...I'm doing a bit of research. Here's a good place to start: Examining the Tragedy in Darfur at Relevant magazine. (I really like this magazine. When I get a paycheck, I'm going to subscribe again.) That article gives resources for learning and taking action. I'm still working on both.

One of the websites mentioned is Enough, which provides monthly updates on the situation and "talking points" for letters to political officials.

So...in a few weeks, ask me what I'm doing to help Darfur. Really. I want the accountability. If you have ideas, want to do something with me, or already have a project to help Darfur, let me know!

The Nine

Last night, I had a dream that I was kidnapped and forced to participate in a bank robbery. (Actually, the dream was much more complicated than that and surprisingly coherent. It would make a good movie.) Yeah, okay....so that reminded me about the show, The Nine.

The Nine premiered last fall after Lost and was/is about a group of --wait for it-- nine hostages of a bank robbery, their connections in the aftermath, etc. I liked it a lot...and then after a few weeks, it vanished. A couple of weeks ago, I was flipping channels and there was a new episode! I was excited. Last week, I watched again, and the show just kept getting better. So...I went online to investigate and discovered that The Nine was indeed canceled last Oct., and the episodes being aired this summer are just the remaining pre-filmed stock. Bummer. So we're never going to find out about the conspiracy or why the bank manager's daughter is just a bit "off" or if this was an inside job...or if Katherine is going to ditch her stuffy fiance for Nick (who is much hotter and carries a gun). No fair. I'm going to go pout now.

The slow death of free speech?

"I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write." -Voltaire

It seems like we've traded free speech for political correctness.

1) Imus-- What he said about the girls' basketball team was cruel and inappropriate. (However, I don't think it's necessarily more cruel or inappropriate than the things thousands of other entertainers say everyday.) But...to be fired for that? Of course that was a PC, butt-covering move on the part of the station. But wouldn't it have been better if people (us) just said, "What you say is hateful so I'm not going to listen to your show any more."

2) Isaiah Washington-- Okay, the guy seems like a complete jerk, and the more he talks, the deeper he digs his hole. Again, his comments were bigoted and uncalled for....but to be fired for something like that? Again, I disagree. I never liked his character, and I don't like what I've seen of him as a person. Still, I believe people should have the right to voice their opinion, no matter how odious it may seem to me. (I think the only "correct" way to fire Washington in this case, would have been if TR Knight filed a sexual harassment lawsuit-- which would have been valid under "creating a hostile work environment"-- but that's not what happened. It seems to have been entirely a political move.)

3) Livejournal-- This is a little bit different and moves into more of a censorship territory, but the fandoms have been having a summer feud with LJ. I don't have a livejournal anymore, but I read others' LJs and have been sorta keeping up with the developments. People are having their journals deleted without warning, prompting mass exodus to Insane Journal, Greatest Journal and the like. The journals are primarily deleted for having sexual content (some of it artistic), I believe, but here's the thing that is really upsetting people-- Livejournal does not have a clearly stated and enforced policy about what is and is not acceptable. [None of these people have had outright porn on their LJ.] As one LJer said, "If they did have those rules, I wouldn't like it, but I would know that those are the rules I have to follow." But right now, it seems to be capricious.

So...what do all these things have it common? Shutting down free expression and exchange of ideas. Do I want to call people racist or homophobic names or post erotic drawings on the internet? No. But that's not the point. If it's okay to say to Isaiah Washington, "I don't like what you said so you lose your job," what happens when people don't like what I say? If we only allow "free speech" when it's speech we agree with and approve of, that's not free speech at all. A free society allows the free exchange of ideas--even hateful ones-- believing that people are smart enough to make their own decisions.

To me, it seems that censorship even on LJ starts moving things too close for comfort to book banning.

"Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings." ~Heinrich Heine

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all." ~Noam Chomsky

"The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion." ~Henry Steele Commager

"Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people's idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage." ~Winston Churchill

Hatching and such

Monday was Pippin's 5th Hatch Day! Happy Hatch Day, baby bird! I got corn bread to celebrate. (Frosting is too sticky on the beak.) I always tell Pippin that I'm thankful for her efficient hatching because the breeder had promised to hand raise for me the budgie that hatched first. And she was the first....and if she'd taken a longer time pecking her way through the shell, she wouldn't be my bird. :( Anyway, she seemed pleased with our little corn bread celebration, and I didn't make her wear a party hat. :)

Tomorrow (today) is Dani's hatch...er...birthday! Happy b-day, Dani, even though you're in NY and probably not reading this. Have fun. :)

When I went to go get my mail today, my neighbor's granddaughters (ages 13, 11 and 3) were out in the yard and wanted to perform Doodle Bop songs for me. Well, the 11 year old insisted that the 3 year old wanted to sing the songs, but it turns out that the older two actually know ALL the words to ALL the songs and have a little dance routine that goes with it. It was pretty funny. They pouted a bit when I suggested that perhaps they were ready to go back to JR HIGH (since they were singing songs from preschool cartoons)! When their mom saw their performance, she said to me, "You can tell they're starved for attention..... Well, starved for an AUDIENCE, anyway!"

Mini Media Report

*Movie: Arctic Tale-- The baby polar bear is dead, and it's all your fault. A friend had free passes for this documentary so I went with assorted co-workers, kids and extraneous others. It was okay-- a documentary about how global warning has affected polar bears and walruses. My friend's six year old said, "I'd see that again if I had to." Yeah.

*DVD: Blood Diamond-- I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. It's one of the best that I've seen in a long time. It's suspenseful and thought-provoking, but it has moments of humor too. (DiCaprio's character is from Rhodesia, which was interesting to me because last year I read a memoir of a woman who was also white and grew up in Rhodesia. That one's called Don't Let's Go To the Dogs Tonight.) I don't want to say too much about the movie, but I'd highly suggest renting it.

*DVD: Weeds, Season 2-- I'm not sure how I started watching this show but I blame Dani. I don't think it has a single redeeming value, but it makes me laugh. A lot. Way more than it should. For the uninitiated, S1 introduces us to Nancy, a recent widow, who lives in an upscale, gated community with her two boys. Wanting to keep her lifestyle, but not having marketable skills, Nancy ends up selling baked goods with a special ingredient. One of the special features on S1 DVDs is a cookbook with recipes for everything from brownies to pot (ha!) roast, all with measurements for "herb of choice." In S2, Nancy and her motley crew of investors start growing. Nancy's trying to keep everything from unraveling, but she's got a tiger by the tail and is not at all in control. One of the special features for this season is an instructional short about how to grow, say, tomato plants in your closet (and yes, they actually use air quotes and say "tomato plants")-- including what type of light fixtures you'll need, watering, nutrients, when to harvest, etc. Yeah...so I'm not recommending this show. Not at all. But it does make me laugh.

*DVD: Supernatural-- I know that even in a year, I'm going to look back and say, "What was I thinking?" but I love this show right now. I finished S1, and I'm waiting for the release of S2 DVDs (though I'm not as excited about that as I am about PRISON BREAK S2 DVDS releasing in Sept.!!!).

God and the gas gauge

I was almost out of gas tonight in an area outside of town with few gas stations. I was planning to stop at a particular station, but it was blocked by a large accident. Since my gas gauge was on empty and the emergency gas light came on, I didn't know if I would make it to the next station (probably about 7 miles). I kept praying that I would not run out of gas, and I actually watched the gas gauge move off of empty (after it had been on empty for 10 minutes or so), and the gas light went off. I made it to the station with no problem and even got up several hills.

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. -- Albert Einstein