![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
What Color Decade Are You?
Mar. 25th, 2014 11:10 am| Your Color Decade: 1960s |
|---|
 You are young at heart and brightly optimistic about the world. You think things are getting better. |
(no subject)
Apr. 29th, 2013 10:47 amI figured last night's Mad Men episode would be about the King assassination (last week's was set in March of '68). Yep. Wow. Even the background actors on this show are amazing--the cook who started sobbing when her heard the news over the radio in the diner really got to me.
Pete's showdown with Harry was awesome. The contempt on his face, in his voice when he said "we have a racist here!" Pete has many, many flaws but I love his noblesse oblige.
I like that they included the Lindsay story, although it was even more awesome than what Henry recounted. When Mayor Lindsay--a man as WASPy as I am, he went to Yale and St. Paul's, a man wrapped in privilege--heard the news about King, he said I have to go into Harlem. "Somebody has to go up there. Somebody white has to face that emotion and say we're sorry." As you can imagine his aides thought this was a Bad Idea but he insisted. He went up there with some people and walked down 125th St., walking through the crowd, telling them how much he regretted it, how important King's work was. He said this is a terrible thing. He was there. He wasn't cowering in a bunker or atop a high-rise, he was there in front of them. A real face, a real person, speaking to them as another human being, saying I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
THAT is a leader. That is some Guiliani on 9-11 stuff. Lindsay made some mistakes as mayor but that was an amazing moment.
The RFK assassination ep should be epic. My mother told me when she heard the news she started screaming, literally screaming. She said it's happening all over again, they killed him like they killed his brother. The 1-2 punch of two great men gunned down, within 2 months--just awful. Interestingly RFK had a similar reaction to the King assassination--he was giving a speech in Indianapolis when the news came in and the crowd was obviously very upset. Like Lindsay he didn't give some stiff prepared speech, he made it human, personal--he told them I too have a brother who was gunned down by a white man. I'm so sorry. Lindsay and RFK are credited with why there was no major rioting in Indianapolis and NYC in the aftermath of King's murder--unlike most other major cities, including DC. DC (aka Chocolate City--racial issues have always been a big problem in the district) was hit HARD--the P Street corridor didn't really recover for at least a generation.
Pete's showdown with Harry was awesome. The contempt on his face, in his voice when he said "we have a racist here!" Pete has many, many flaws but I love his noblesse oblige.
I like that they included the Lindsay story, although it was even more awesome than what Henry recounted. When Mayor Lindsay--a man as WASPy as I am, he went to Yale and St. Paul's, a man wrapped in privilege--heard the news about King, he said I have to go into Harlem. "Somebody has to go up there. Somebody white has to face that emotion and say we're sorry." As you can imagine his aides thought this was a Bad Idea but he insisted. He went up there with some people and walked down 125th St., walking through the crowd, telling them how much he regretted it, how important King's work was. He said this is a terrible thing. He was there. He wasn't cowering in a bunker or atop a high-rise, he was there in front of them. A real face, a real person, speaking to them as another human being, saying I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
THAT is a leader. That is some Guiliani on 9-11 stuff. Lindsay made some mistakes as mayor but that was an amazing moment.
The RFK assassination ep should be epic. My mother told me when she heard the news she started screaming, literally screaming. She said it's happening all over again, they killed him like they killed his brother. The 1-2 punch of two great men gunned down, within 2 months--just awful. Interestingly RFK had a similar reaction to the King assassination--he was giving a speech in Indianapolis when the news came in and the crowd was obviously very upset. Like Lindsay he didn't give some stiff prepared speech, he made it human, personal--he told them I too have a brother who was gunned down by a white man. I'm so sorry. Lindsay and RFK are credited with why there was no major rioting in Indianapolis and NYC in the aftermath of King's murder--unlike most other major cities, including DC. DC (aka Chocolate City--racial issues have always been a big problem in the district) was hit HARD--the P Street corridor didn't really recover for at least a generation.
I knew it!
Apr. 9th, 2013 12:11 pmThe Groovy Murders--when Mad Men's premiere skipped over the Summer of Love but ended up in a dingy Village building, I immediately thought of the Groovy Murders (aka the hangover after the Summer of Love). Oh, such an awful story--I first heard about this during a documentary on TV (PBS?) about the Summer of Love and they talked about how very quickly the Haight turned from this idyllic hippie sanctuary into way-too-crowded, smelly and unsafe. How quickly the Summer of Love soured (in a matter of weeks, really)--and one example was the Groovy Murders. Linda especially stayed with me because she had such a WASPy privileged background--she even rode, for God's sake! Just another kid trying to figure things out and was murdered by a couple of "drifters." Awful and very sad.
(no subject)
May. 14th, 2012 01:36 pmMad Men namechecked Ozymandias OMG HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THIS SHOW!!! *And* I loved Stan's riposte--"you should read the rest of that poem"! Didn't like Stan last season but he's awesome now.
Peyton List has got to be one of the most beautiful women on the planet. She is rocking the shit out of those '60s fashions.
Are we ever going to learn more about Dawn? If the show is partly a vector for the '60s--hello, Dawn is black! The civil rights movement was a huge part of what made the era. Let's hear her story already.
I'm really not a fan of Ginsberg. He was way rude to Don.
Love Betty and I'm glad we saw her again. Her story is so moving to me.
Peyton List has got to be one of the most beautiful women on the planet. She is rocking the shit out of those '60s fashions.
Are we ever going to learn more about Dawn? If the show is partly a vector for the '60s--hello, Dawn is black! The civil rights movement was a huge part of what made the era. Let's hear her story already.
I'm really not a fan of Ginsberg. He was way rude to Don.
Love Betty and I'm glad we saw her again. Her story is so moving to me.
(no subject)
May. 9th, 2012 06:49 pmMad Men--great as always. I LOVE how dark this season has been! ( Spoilers )
Last night's episode took place in late October of 1966 and I'm ticking off the historical markers to come in my head--less than a year until the Summer of Love, less than 2 years until the RFK and King assassinations, less than 3 until Woodstock and the Manson murders. Just 2 years for the heyday and fall of the counterculture.
I have to say, I'm really getting sick of the constant criticism of every actress who isn't Peggy/Elizabeth Moss or Joan/Christina Hendricks. Jessica Pare is doing a fine job as Megan and although I'm not terribly interested in her character, I certainly not going to whine and moan about how MW & Co. are "hitting us over the head with how wonderful Megan is" and how she's a "Mary Sue." (God, I'm over that term. A Mary Sue is a specific *thing,* not just any female character who isn't a bitch. You can't win. The vitriol that Megan's character gets is part of what I call the Ginny Weasely syndrome, when the Hero's GF/wife is introduced at a later time, and the fans are jealous. Ginny REALLY couldn't win--she was trashed for being both a Mary Sue AND a bitch.) The posters on TWoP are so efffing obnoxious sometimes, and the scrutiny given to *any* female character except the designated Awesome One(s) is so inherently misogynistic. You saw this on The X Files as well--Scully was the Designated Awesome One and poor Annabeth Gish as Reyes could never ever measure up. January Jones/Betty got this kind of hatred as well, and Alexis Bledel as Beth last night also got routinely trashed. All of them are terrific. So-called fans need to hold female characetrs to the same level of scrutiny as the male characters--no more, no less. If Don and fucking PETE get love, so should the ladies.
I spent the weekend (most of it) in Philadelphia, visiting my brother and his family. He and his wife have 20 month old twins and they are PRECIOUS. Little fairy-haired, blue-eyed blonde cherubs, just like Freddie and Flossie Bobbsey. Absolutely gorgeous. Philly is a fun city, actually--lots of museums and a huge park. Erik lives in a good neighborhood within walking distance of some great museums--we wandered around and had lunch at a Mexican place nearby. Yesterday we went to see the Liberty Bell--so cool and iconic! Amazing to see that crack. For the train ride down I bought a copy of the book version of Game of Thrones. So far it seems to be a very close adaptation. My favorite chapter is the one when
( Spoilers )
and talking to the crow. Really solid writing there. I have not been able to watch this week's episode yet, because Lori was in labor (she had her baby! A boy!) so I'll have to find a way to get it online, although Amazon and iTunes only seem to have last season.
Lots of softball this weekend--FOUR games! Then I'm hanging out with my soccer team Saturday night--birthday celebration, and we're doing karaoke.
Last night's episode took place in late October of 1966 and I'm ticking off the historical markers to come in my head--less than a year until the Summer of Love, less than 2 years until the RFK and King assassinations, less than 3 until Woodstock and the Manson murders. Just 2 years for the heyday and fall of the counterculture.
I have to say, I'm really getting sick of the constant criticism of every actress who isn't Peggy/Elizabeth Moss or Joan/Christina Hendricks. Jessica Pare is doing a fine job as Megan and although I'm not terribly interested in her character, I certainly not going to whine and moan about how MW & Co. are "hitting us over the head with how wonderful Megan is" and how she's a "Mary Sue." (God, I'm over that term. A Mary Sue is a specific *thing,* not just any female character who isn't a bitch. You can't win. The vitriol that Megan's character gets is part of what I call the Ginny Weasely syndrome, when the Hero's GF/wife is introduced at a later time, and the fans are jealous. Ginny REALLY couldn't win--she was trashed for being both a Mary Sue AND a bitch.) The posters on TWoP are so efffing obnoxious sometimes, and the scrutiny given to *any* female character except the designated Awesome One(s) is so inherently misogynistic. You saw this on The X Files as well--Scully was the Designated Awesome One and poor Annabeth Gish as Reyes could never ever measure up. January Jones/Betty got this kind of hatred as well, and Alexis Bledel as Beth last night also got routinely trashed. All of them are terrific. So-called fans need to hold female characetrs to the same level of scrutiny as the male characters--no more, no less. If Don and fucking PETE get love, so should the ladies.
I spent the weekend (most of it) in Philadelphia, visiting my brother and his family. He and his wife have 20 month old twins and they are PRECIOUS. Little fairy-haired, blue-eyed blonde cherubs, just like Freddie and Flossie Bobbsey. Absolutely gorgeous. Philly is a fun city, actually--lots of museums and a huge park. Erik lives in a good neighborhood within walking distance of some great museums--we wandered around and had lunch at a Mexican place nearby. Yesterday we went to see the Liberty Bell--so cool and iconic! Amazing to see that crack. For the train ride down I bought a copy of the book version of Game of Thrones. So far it seems to be a very close adaptation. My favorite chapter is the one when
( Spoilers )
and talking to the crow. Really solid writing there. I have not been able to watch this week's episode yet, because Lori was in labor (she had her baby! A boy!) so I'll have to find a way to get it online, although Amazon and iTunes only seem to have last season.
Lots of softball this weekend--FOUR games! Then I'm hanging out with my soccer team Saturday night--birthday celebration, and we're doing karaoke.
Fun Weekend
Jun. 27th, 2011 03:42 pmFriday evening I went down to the Gene Frankel to see the last Planet Connections show I could, Doug's (our Tom in Sweeter Dreams) other show, Hummingbirds. Not bad at all--his performance was great, as were the two women. One of them (the two women) buttonholed me two weeks ago after Sweeter Dreams, raving about my performance and...touching me?! Not inappropriately but flirtatiously. I certainly wasn't offended but was wondering if I'd interpreted that correctly and later Duncan said "oh yeah, she was all over you." Okay, then! Anyway, she and the other woman, whom I'd seen in another PC show, Loose Women... (she was great) were both very strong. I couldn't hang out to compliment anyone afterwards, as I had to book way back uptown to catch the end of Jason's "Take Back the Park" viewing--I guess I'm sort of a mascot now!
I got there and it was a bit of a bust, due to the clouds. There were about 5 other men besides Jason--he introduced me and then he and I talked for a bit. After the interview came out the day before, Jason had emailed me, calling me "very brave" and he followed up on this. I demurred a bit--I'm not traumatized, and nothing lasting happened to me, other than radicalizing me even MORE about rape and violence against women. It's not brave, it's just facts. At any rate, he told me that he thinks the interview was not just on local radio, but on "All Things Considered"--which is national! Wow! He thinks this because some friends of his heard the interview in New jersey, out of range of local NYC radio stations. Pretty cool!
I got home and heard the AMAZING NEWS!!!! YAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!! So, so happy for all my gay friends and family--we truly are all brothers and sisters in the eyes of God! So happy that the New York legislators did the right thing. It is TIME! I started weeping, reading the explosion of joy of Facebook. Then the historian in me was even more moved reading what the legislators had said to explain their affirmative votes--this especially got to me:
Republican Senator Mark Grisanti then spoke about his struggle before coming to his decision to vote for the bill. "A man can be wiser today than he was yesterday," he said.
This is literally bringing tears to my eyes. This is how progress is made. This is how we make things better, not just for us but for those around us. This is the difficult, incremental process of social evolution. There has seemed to be so much anger and hatred for the past 20 years in politics--so many wedge issues, so much pointless divisiveness, so much cruelty. (Specifically, I'm thinking of shitty, godless Pat Robertson blaming 9-11 on feminism and homosexuality. That's not partisan, that's not ideological or true to your religious beliefs, that's just being a nasty, cruel piece of shit.) I'm not kidding myself that it's all ended--I know it hasn't. But by God, in the past 3 years, we've elected a black man to our highest office, and we've just doubled the number of gay people in this country who can be married. Even the setbacks are being nullified, like when Prop 8 was overturned in the courts. I love reading about the '60s--there was so much incredible heroism in the civil rights and anti-war movements, and so much history was made. It happened so quickly. My friends, these are our sixties. This is our time, our chance to change the world for the better. To grow, to accomplish--to change the world.
By the way, I just called my state senator and thanked him for voting yes on Friday. His assistant was thrilled, thanked me and told me also to email him, which I will.
Saturday was the final performance of Sweeter Dreams--Christine was there, as was my friend Linda, as well as Jason and Caroline. Jason was right up front laughing at everything, it was great. I had a little fun with the interview scene and finally FINALLY got a laugh on my throwaway snark on Joanna Remarque. I made two small adjustments--I emphasized my criticism of her in my first monologue just a little bit more, to set it up, and then in the interview I made the eye roll bigger and FINALLY got a laugh! I also added a new obnoxiously correct pronunciation--Spielberg is now Schpeelberg, the way the Germans would say it. Heather told me they all laughed backstage when they heard that.
After the show Jason and I got Mexican food and just had a nice long convo. I had plans to have dinner with Tim so I raced hom and got ready, then I met him at Houston's by the Lipstick Building (one of my favorite buildings in the city). We talked forevs, had a lovely time. He thinks the cop rape verdict is complete bullshit, BTW. We went to a bar for a nightcap and the Yankees game was on--they showed a guy sliding headfirst in slomo and I commented that I'd done hook slides (and of course regular slides) but I'd never slid head first, I was too nervous about messing up my face.
Sunday I slept quite late--finally got up and cleaned and got ready for my Sunday softball game. We played the Northwestern team and HAMMERED them. The final score was 12-1. Yikes! I hit .500, plus a sacrifice grounder. And I was part of a double-play--there was a runner at 2nd who was caught between the bases when our center fielder caught it. I yelled "Throw it here, he has to tag up!" And when I got the ball, ran his ass down, even though I could've just ran back to 2nd base. But what fun would that have been? :) It's more fun to tag them!
At one point I was on 1st base and someone popped it up to the infield--the 2nd and 1st base players weren't communicating too well, so I gambled, thinking they wouldn't catch it. Well, the 2nd basewoman DID catch it so I was in trouble since I hadn't tagged up! I DOVE back to 1st base just under the tag--so now I can say yes, I HAVE slid head first!
After the game 5 of us hung around for batting practice and then we went over to a bar when the Northwestern team told us they'd be. And--I think one of my teammates was flirting with me? Sometimes it's hard to tell. But he seems to direct a lot of attention my way--he's always teasing me or asking me questions, and then he was comparing our gloves (his is huge and expensive, mine is very old--I've had it since I was 8-9--and NOT-expensive) he said something like "I'll only buy her a good one if she goes on a date with me." Um, what?! I'm just saying, my female radar is pinging. He is cute, though. Anyway, we all had pitchers and maued wings. Nom, nom, nom...
I got there and it was a bit of a bust, due to the clouds. There were about 5 other men besides Jason--he introduced me and then he and I talked for a bit. After the interview came out the day before, Jason had emailed me, calling me "very brave" and he followed up on this. I demurred a bit--I'm not traumatized, and nothing lasting happened to me, other than radicalizing me even MORE about rape and violence against women. It's not brave, it's just facts. At any rate, he told me that he thinks the interview was not just on local radio, but on "All Things Considered"--which is national! Wow! He thinks this because some friends of his heard the interview in New jersey, out of range of local NYC radio stations. Pretty cool!
I got home and heard the AMAZING NEWS!!!! YAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!! So, so happy for all my gay friends and family--we truly are all brothers and sisters in the eyes of God! So happy that the New York legislators did the right thing. It is TIME! I started weeping, reading the explosion of joy of Facebook. Then the historian in me was even more moved reading what the legislators had said to explain their affirmative votes--this especially got to me:
Republican Senator Mark Grisanti then spoke about his struggle before coming to his decision to vote for the bill. "A man can be wiser today than he was yesterday," he said.
This is literally bringing tears to my eyes. This is how progress is made. This is how we make things better, not just for us but for those around us. This is the difficult, incremental process of social evolution. There has seemed to be so much anger and hatred for the past 20 years in politics--so many wedge issues, so much pointless divisiveness, so much cruelty. (Specifically, I'm thinking of shitty, godless Pat Robertson blaming 9-11 on feminism and homosexuality. That's not partisan, that's not ideological or true to your religious beliefs, that's just being a nasty, cruel piece of shit.) I'm not kidding myself that it's all ended--I know it hasn't. But by God, in the past 3 years, we've elected a black man to our highest office, and we've just doubled the number of gay people in this country who can be married. Even the setbacks are being nullified, like when Prop 8 was overturned in the courts. I love reading about the '60s--there was so much incredible heroism in the civil rights and anti-war movements, and so much history was made. It happened so quickly. My friends, these are our sixties. This is our time, our chance to change the world for the better. To grow, to accomplish--to change the world.
By the way, I just called my state senator and thanked him for voting yes on Friday. His assistant was thrilled, thanked me and told me also to email him, which I will.
Saturday was the final performance of Sweeter Dreams--Christine was there, as was my friend Linda, as well as Jason and Caroline. Jason was right up front laughing at everything, it was great. I had a little fun with the interview scene and finally FINALLY got a laugh on my throwaway snark on Joanna Remarque. I made two small adjustments--I emphasized my criticism of her in my first monologue just a little bit more, to set it up, and then in the interview I made the eye roll bigger and FINALLY got a laugh! I also added a new obnoxiously correct pronunciation--Spielberg is now Schpeelberg, the way the Germans would say it. Heather told me they all laughed backstage when they heard that.
After the show Jason and I got Mexican food and just had a nice long convo. I had plans to have dinner with Tim so I raced hom and got ready, then I met him at Houston's by the Lipstick Building (one of my favorite buildings in the city). We talked forevs, had a lovely time. He thinks the cop rape verdict is complete bullshit, BTW. We went to a bar for a nightcap and the Yankees game was on--they showed a guy sliding headfirst in slomo and I commented that I'd done hook slides (and of course regular slides) but I'd never slid head first, I was too nervous about messing up my face.
Sunday I slept quite late--finally got up and cleaned and got ready for my Sunday softball game. We played the Northwestern team and HAMMERED them. The final score was 12-1. Yikes! I hit .500, plus a sacrifice grounder. And I was part of a double-play--there was a runner at 2nd who was caught between the bases when our center fielder caught it. I yelled "Throw it here, he has to tag up!" And when I got the ball, ran his ass down, even though I could've just ran back to 2nd base. But what fun would that have been? :) It's more fun to tag them!
At one point I was on 1st base and someone popped it up to the infield--the 2nd and 1st base players weren't communicating too well, so I gambled, thinking they wouldn't catch it. Well, the 2nd basewoman DID catch it so I was in trouble since I hadn't tagged up! I DOVE back to 1st base just under the tag--so now I can say yes, I HAVE slid head first!
After the game 5 of us hung around for batting practice and then we went over to a bar when the Northwestern team told us they'd be. And--I think one of my teammates was flirting with me? Sometimes it's hard to tell. But he seems to direct a lot of attention my way--he's always teasing me or asking me questions, and then he was comparing our gloves (his is huge and expensive, mine is very old--I've had it since I was 8-9--and NOT-expensive) he said something like "I'll only buy her a good one if she goes on a date with me." Um, what?! I'm just saying, my female radar is pinging. He is cute, though. Anyway, we all had pitchers and maued wings. Nom, nom, nom...
Tags:
Susan Atkins, one of the Manson girls and the murderer of Sharon Tate and several others, died last week. A few weeks ago she had a final hearing in front of the parole board, where her husband and lawyer argued for a "compassionate release" because she was so close to death (she was dying of brain cancer). Vincent Bugliosi supported this, saying the mercy would be "minimal" since she was so close to death and that it would also save the state money. The family members of her victims (including Tate family members) testified against release, saying "It's important that she die in incarceration." Generally on this, I would punt to the victims' families--if they can find that mercy in them, that's wonderful, but I don't think Atkins should've expected it. Frankly the mercy is that she lived that long, since she'd originally been sentenced to death. She got to enjoy an additional 37 years (the death penalty was overturned in California in 1972) that the victims did not. She apparently discovered religion in prison and from all accounts, it was genuine and she did some very good works there and completely renounced Manson and his teachings (something Squeaky Fromme never did). But still. What Atkins did was really, unbelievably dreadful. Read about Sharon Tate's last moments sometime, it is heartbreaking. The other victims' stories are so sad as well--Gary Hinman was a Ph.D. candidate in music. He was trying to help the "family." It's all such a waste, such a pointless waste. I'm not sure she could ever pay her debt to society completely.
And Mackenzie Phillips--oh my God, what a story. That woman is a true casualty of the '60s. I was kind of angry reading some comments on FB when this story broke last week--some were commenting on how "she has a book coming out," implying the timing was suspicious. Um, the book IS ABOUT THE INCEST. Yes, of course this is why she's talking about it now! Even worse, some were suggesting she was making it up. How cynical do you have to be to believe that? Do you honestly think someone would LIE about something as horrible as your own father raping you for 10 years--just to sell a book? Jesus. There are either two possibilities--it's not true, in which case she's delusional, or it's true. Personally I favor the latter, since her sister Chynna said that Mackenzie had confided in her years ago. But the whole thing is just awful. I think she's very brave to write about this.
And finally--yay, they finally caught child rapist Roman Polanski! So, so happy! Come and serve your time for giving a thirteen year old girl quaaludes and champagne, raping her vaginally and anally, and then threatening her not to tell. LOVE. IT.
And Mackenzie Phillips--oh my God, what a story. That woman is a true casualty of the '60s. I was kind of angry reading some comments on FB when this story broke last week--some were commenting on how "she has a book coming out," implying the timing was suspicious. Um, the book IS ABOUT THE INCEST. Yes, of course this is why she's talking about it now! Even worse, some were suggesting she was making it up. How cynical do you have to be to believe that? Do you honestly think someone would LIE about something as horrible as your own father raping you for 10 years--just to sell a book? Jesus. There are either two possibilities--it's not true, in which case she's delusional, or it's true. Personally I favor the latter, since her sister Chynna said that Mackenzie had confided in her years ago. But the whole thing is just awful. I think she's very brave to write about this.
And finally--yay, they finally caught child rapist Roman Polanski! So, so happy! Come and serve your time for giving a thirteen year old girl quaaludes and champagne, raping her vaginally and anally, and then threatening her not to tell. LOVE. IT.
