Click on the title of the post to see the photos from my Christmas roadtrip. I promise that they're not all photos of Jesus paraphernalia...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Photos from the Roadtrip
Click on the title of the post to see the photos from my Christmas roadtrip. I promise that they're not all photos of Jesus paraphernalia...
Saturday, February 04, 2006
The cabin is everywhere
This story about the slave narrative behind UTC ran today on NPR. There's quite a bit of the actual narrative here.
R.I.P.
So I just read in the Times that Betty Friedan died today. Rarely, do I care when celebrities die, particularly when those who have lived long lives, but I have to say reading about Friedan really bummed me out. She was a large part of why I wanted to attend an all-women's college and influenced the tone of my personal statement. Strangely, my advisor at Smith also was fascinated by Friedan, spending the better part of the 1990s working on a biography of her life. Anyway, on less personal note, I thought it was interesting that the article mentioned: "Despite all of her later achievements, Ms. Friedan would be forever known as the suburban housewife who started a revolution with "The Feminine Mystique." Rarely has a single book been responsible for such sweeping, tumultuous and continuing social transformation." Definitely fit with our discussion of Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Football time
Sent out an e-mail, but thought I'd try to utilize the board here. Superbowl watching tomorrow 5:oo, come eat, drink and be merry.
Danskin Triathlon Sprint
I've been toying with the idea of entering the Danskin triathlon sprint (Swim - 1/2 mile, Bike - 12 miles, Run - 3.1 miles). The race is June 11th. I'm much more likely to go through with this if someone else wants to do it. Anyway, registration isn't even up yet, but you can check out the info here. Oh and it's an all-female competition, sorry guys.
Friday, February 03, 2006
no fun, but henry clay!
i posted a little of this in a comment, but then i realized it was a comment to a post that happened long ago... i am clearly not in the habit of blog-checking frequently enough, as i just read the beerland posts (and this after i said to marvin earlier in the week "yeah! post the friday night plans on the blog!")... but i am attempting to squash my allergies tonight, so i should probably stay close to home anyhow... i do hope marvelous fun is had by all!
but here's a picture of henry clay carved out of a tree in smithland, ky.
Links on the sidebar
I am just putting up links I like. If anybody has any they like that they want to add (maybe if anybody has their own personal blogs or whatnot?), send them to me, lest the links section become Rebecca's Internet Favorites Corner.
Brokeback in Montana (Salon article)
Conservatives said "Brokeback Mountain" would bomb in cowboy country. But in red-state Montana, gay cowboys are a big draw. Plus: Christians against Britney! Oprah duped Talese?
Feb. 2, 2006 | For months now, a chorus of televised talking heads has been predicting that the vast majority of Americans wouldn't stand -- let alone stand in line -- for "Brokeback Mountain." Bill O'Reilly, who memorably promised that red-staters would stay home, predicted, "They're not going to go see the gay cowboys in Montana. I'm sorry. They're not going to do it."
But "Brokeback Mountain" isn't just playing in red states like Montana; it has been doing quite well, even before it became the Oscar front-runner this week.
In Missoula, Mont., a town of just under 60,000, the film has been a big hit since it opened at the cavernous Wilma Theater on Jan. 6, grossing $33,006, cumulatively, in its first four weekends there. A representative for Focus Features calls the movie's performance in Missoula "amazing." And Bill Emerson, who manages the 85-year-old theater, confirms that "Brokeback's" draw has been "one of our best starts for a movie we've ever had."
Of course, Missoula is a college town that has long served as a haven for Montana's liberals, hippies and artists. But "Brokeback" isn't doing well only in Missoula. In Kalispell, a stronghold of conservatism in the northwest part of the state, the film opened last Friday and took in $3,656 at the box office its first weekend, a draw Focus says it's "very happy" with. In the equally conservative ski town of Whitefish, where the film also opened on Friday, it was the weekend's top draw, taking in $2,312 and beating out "Big Momma's House 2," "Nanny McPhee" and "Underworld," the top three national box-office draws. And a rep for the company calls the film's performance in Billings, a traditional community in central Montana, where it has taken in $26,065 since opening on Jan. 13, "absolutely phenomenal." "Brokeback" is also doing well in Great Falls and Bozeman, and last weekend opened at No. 1 in Helena.
"I don't know where [the pundits] got the idea that we wouldn't want to see this movie," said Donna Frief, a 59-year-old school secretary from Lolo, Mont., who went to see "Brokeback" in Missoula last week with her daughter and granddaughter. Frief said she "could have done without" some of the more explicit love scenes, but added, "I thought it was just a really beautiful love story. And so sad. It really helped me understand more about the feelings that [gay people] go through."
Judging from the outcomes of the two most recent presidential elections, Montana might look pretty homogenous and conservative. Statewide, Montanans voted overwhelmingly for George W. Bush in 2000 and again in 2004, by margins of 19 and 20 percentage points, respectively, proving themselves to be considerably more enthusiastic about Bush than much of the rest of the country. But those same Montana voters summarily ousted the Republican Party from the governor's office and majority power in both chambers of the state Legislature in 2004. Today, all but one of the major posts in Montana state government are held by Democrats.
One of the first people to step up to the box-office window to see "Brokeback Mountain" when it opened last Friday at the Strand, an old single-screen movie house in Kalispell, was a gray-haired man who would identify himself only as Fishbah.
"What the hell, a couple cowboys? They've got the choice of sheep, cows and cowboys -- which would you choose?" he mused.
The Blue Moon is a sprawling cowboy bar on a rural highway between Whitefish and Columbia Falls. One wall of the barroom is taken up by a glass display case containing two stuffed Kodiak bears and one polar bear, frozen in attack poses. A house band jangles through a series of country hits onstage, while men and women in Stetsons and crisp jeans swing-dance on the wooden dance floor.
Eight men and one woman sat quietly around a poker table. As I sat down, a waitress walked up and placed a single red rose on a chair near the dealer. A man at the far end of the table noticed it and picked it up. A grin flashed across his face, and he handed it to the man next to him.
"This is for you," said the man with the rose.
"Hey, isn't that cute -- it's like that 'Brokeback Mountain,'" interjected another man sitting at the table, who laughed heartily at his own joke. "That shit, what's up with the gay cowboy?" The others at the table grinned and shook their heads.
"Anybody planning to see the movie?" I ventured. One guy glanced up from his cards. Another guy shrugged, not committing either way.
Feb. 2, 2006 | For months now, a chorus of televised talking heads has been predicting that the vast majority of Americans wouldn't stand -- let alone stand in line -- for "Brokeback Mountain." Bill O'Reilly, who memorably promised that red-staters would stay home, predicted, "They're not going to go see the gay cowboys in Montana. I'm sorry. They're not going to do it."
But "Brokeback Mountain" isn't just playing in red states like Montana; it has been doing quite well, even before it became the Oscar front-runner this week.
In Missoula, Mont., a town of just under 60,000, the film has been a big hit since it opened at the cavernous Wilma Theater on Jan. 6, grossing $33,006, cumulatively, in its first four weekends there. A representative for Focus Features calls the movie's performance in Missoula "amazing." And Bill Emerson, who manages the 85-year-old theater, confirms that "Brokeback's" draw has been "one of our best starts for a movie we've ever had."
Of course, Missoula is a college town that has long served as a haven for Montana's liberals, hippies and artists. But "Brokeback" isn't doing well only in Missoula. In Kalispell, a stronghold of conservatism in the northwest part of the state, the film opened last Friday and took in $3,656 at the box office its first weekend, a draw Focus says it's "very happy" with. In the equally conservative ski town of Whitefish, where the film also opened on Friday, it was the weekend's top draw, taking in $2,312 and beating out "Big Momma's House 2," "Nanny McPhee" and "Underworld," the top three national box-office draws. And a rep for the company calls the film's performance in Billings, a traditional community in central Montana, where it has taken in $26,065 since opening on Jan. 13, "absolutely phenomenal." "Brokeback" is also doing well in Great Falls and Bozeman, and last weekend opened at No. 1 in Helena.
"I don't know where [the pundits] got the idea that we wouldn't want to see this movie," said Donna Frief, a 59-year-old school secretary from Lolo, Mont., who went to see "Brokeback" in Missoula last week with her daughter and granddaughter. Frief said she "could have done without" some of the more explicit love scenes, but added, "I thought it was just a really beautiful love story. And so sad. It really helped me understand more about the feelings that [gay people] go through."
Judging from the outcomes of the two most recent presidential elections, Montana might look pretty homogenous and conservative. Statewide, Montanans voted overwhelmingly for George W. Bush in 2000 and again in 2004, by margins of 19 and 20 percentage points, respectively, proving themselves to be considerably more enthusiastic about Bush than much of the rest of the country. But those same Montana voters summarily ousted the Republican Party from the governor's office and majority power in both chambers of the state Legislature in 2004. Today, all but one of the major posts in Montana state government are held by Democrats.
One of the first people to step up to the box-office window to see "Brokeback Mountain" when it opened last Friday at the Strand, an old single-screen movie house in Kalispell, was a gray-haired man who would identify himself only as Fishbah.
"What the hell, a couple cowboys? They've got the choice of sheep, cows and cowboys -- which would you choose?" he mused.
The Blue Moon is a sprawling cowboy bar on a rural highway between Whitefish and Columbia Falls. One wall of the barroom is taken up by a glass display case containing two stuffed Kodiak bears and one polar bear, frozen in attack poses. A house band jangles through a series of country hits onstage, while men and women in Stetsons and crisp jeans swing-dance on the wooden dance floor.
Eight men and one woman sat quietly around a poker table. As I sat down, a waitress walked up and placed a single red rose on a chair near the dealer. A man at the far end of the table noticed it and picked it up. A grin flashed across his face, and he handed it to the man next to him.
"This is for you," said the man with the rose.
"Hey, isn't that cute -- it's like that 'Brokeback Mountain,'" interjected another man sitting at the table, who laughed heartily at his own joke. "That shit, what's up with the gay cowboy?" The others at the table grinned and shook their heads.
"Anybody planning to see the movie?" I ventured. One guy glanced up from his cards. Another guy shrugged, not committing either way.
Non-Mormons studying Mormons
The link is in the title, and the article is from the Chronicle of Higher Ed and is by a UChicago Div school student who's having trouble with the LDS church in the course of writing his dissertation. Reminded me of Marvin's Meikle essay.
If it's subscription-only, which it might be, & you want to see it, email me and I'll send you the whole thing.
If it's subscription-only, which it might be, & you want to see it, email me and I'll send you the whole thing.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Weegee
So while reading the Riis book last night I couldn't stop thinking about Weegee, this photographer from 30s and 40s who used to go out in nyc and take B&W pictures with a giant flash, all of sordid stuff (he used to follow announcements on a police scanner to find his subjects), some even of street kids. No word on whether he ever set any of his subjects' houses on fire.
The title of the posting is the link to his pictures...
The title of the posting is the link to his pictures...
Bernard-Henri Levy (SP?)
I didn't read that review, but I will now, and also, I hear that Andy is reading that book, and I expect a full review on this blog when he's done. I am sure it'll kick Garrison's to pieces.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
The pink fish of the gods in Maine
An interesting article - well, maybe only interesting to those of us who took Steve's landscape class - about salmon in Maine and how they're dying out. Who knew there were salmon in Maine? I sure ditn't.
thursday breakfast
hi folks,
if any of you are up/awake/on campus before 9am, i will be making "live" pancakes tomorrow (thursday) morning in the co-op. you're welcome to come by laurel (the kitchen is at 1905 nueces st) between 7:45 and 9am, and i'll make you a tasty pancake.
this is, incidentially, in the spirit of the giant pancake feeds i used to do at willamette, but those were at midnight and for hundreds of people.
eat well.
if any of you are up/awake/on campus before 9am, i will be making "live" pancakes tomorrow (thursday) morning in the co-op. you're welcome to come by laurel (the kitchen is at 1905 nueces st) between 7:45 and 9am, and i'll make you a tasty pancake.
this is, incidentially, in the spirit of the giant pancake feeds i used to do at willamette, but those were at midnight and for hundreds of people.
eat well.
Suggestion
How about a fancy-pants counter on the site so that we can keep track of the millions of hits we receive each day?
Just think of the nuanced statistical data that can be extrapolated from that!
Just think of the nuanced statistical data that can be extrapolated from that!
Langston Hughes' birthday
Is today. I get that Writers' Almanac email (I know, it's from Garrison Keillor...I just can't help liking him), and they said this about Hughes:
"He went to Columbia University for a year but then he decided that he wanted to learn from the world rather than books. He quit college, hopped a boat to Africa and as soon as the boat left New York Harbor he threw all his college books overboard."
It's all very transgressive, but I can't believe Hughes didn't think for a SECOND about all the nice sea creatures that would choke to death on An Essay Concerning Human Understanding or whatever. There goes another hero.
"He went to Columbia University for a year but then he decided that he wanted to learn from the world rather than books. He quit college, hopped a boat to Africa and as soon as the boat left New York Harbor he threw all his college books overboard."
It's all very transgressive, but I can't believe Hughes didn't think for a SECOND about all the nice sea creatures that would choke to death on An Essay Concerning Human Understanding or whatever. There goes another hero.
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