Minister, Sinister, Banisters and Canisters, Bishops, Fishops, Rabbis and Pop Eyes, Bye bye, Bye byes

Watch this trailer for The U.S. vs. John Lennon. [Crossing fingers that it comes to Abilene.] An interesting excerpt from a Hollywood Reporter piece interviewing the documentary's filmmakers, David Leaf and John Scheinfeld:

"He was willing to speak to power, to stand up to power, in a way that we'd never seen a pop personality do before. It may be that his greatest work of art was his campaign for peace in terms of his post-Beatles career. He spent years and years using his fame and fortune to actually try to make the world a better place. I don't think it had ever happened before. We live in a time where everything's a reality show. John and Yoko were essentially pioneers in that, but they weren't using it to promote an album. They weren't using it to promote a movie. They weren't doing it to promote anything except peace and that's what makes them heroic artists here. And then to have the courage to stand up to the power of the United States -- the presidency, the White House, the FBI and the INS -- (shows they were) courageous artists and courageous people."

TV = Pretty

After various bloggers caught on to the trend of listing their 25 favorite TV characters, I challenged my brother to a list-off to compare our own picks (see his great, and probably more serious, picks here). These aren't The Best Actors Ever, or The Most Award-Winning Actors, but the actors who have stuck with me, entertained me and, several times, moved me to tears. These are also shows that I've watched a lot of, so while I respect, say, Arrested Development or Sports Night, I've only seen a few episodes of each, and therefore can't really call one of either show's characters my favorite.

So, here are my top 25 favorite TV characters, in no particular order:

Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Sex and the City -- The most uninhibited and frank female character probably ever to grace the TV screen. Think of that what you will, but in all her outrageousness, Samantha Jones always continued to entertain (and even show a little heart).

Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), The West Wing -- "Well, I can tell you that you don't believe in any God I pray to, Mr. Lyman. Not any God I pray to." "Lady, the God you pray to is too busy being indicted for tax fraud." Granted, those were Aaron Sorkin's words, but only Whitford could deliver them with such style. The character wavered a bit over time, and really only ended up with Donna in the way he did because the show was ending, but his storyline and development continually moved me. "The Crackpots and These Women," "Noel" and "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen: Parts I and II" are brilliant.

Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), House -- Only Laurie can pull off the acerbic wit of House while still instilling a sense of deep-down kindness in the sarcastic doctor.

James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway), Lost -- While Locke arguably has the best character development and backstory of any of the castaways, Sawyer never ceases to entertain. Season Two's "The Long Con" provided more insight into his con-artist ways, and I'll never give up on him. Oh, and I think he and Kate should get together. They've both killed people. What an icebreaker.

Malcom Reynolds (Nathon Fillion), Firefly -- So, so great. I've got a trend of "tough-guy exterior but with a good heart" going. Everyone who's ever given Firefly a chance has loved it, so go ahead: join the club.

Ross Gellar (David Schwimmer), Friends, and Monica Gellar (Courtney Cox-Arquette), Friends -- My favorite brother/sister pair, the team producing great fight scenes ("Hurricane Gloria didn't break the porch swing, Monica did!" "Ross got married - again!") and the best sitcom dance number in memory: The Routine.

Dr. George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), Grey's Anatomy -- Fumbling, bumbling George has captured many a heart on his Grey's run, probably more than McDreamy himself. After his heart was broken by a foolish, rebounding Meredith, George began to step out of his shyness and take greater command of his life. He's just a great guy, the kind of guy a girl would take over a cocky McDreamy any day.

Dr. Gaius Baltar (James Callis), Battlestar Galactica -- You try keeping your composure while the sexy Cylon in your head is having sex with you. Yeah. Seriously. I will not go into the awesomeness of this show here, though every critic loves it and it's one of the best dramas you're not watching. If you're not watching specifically because the title turns you off or you hate anything remotely Sci Fi, guess what? You make me very sad.

President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), Battlestar Galactica -- President Stands With a Fist, who was the Secretary of Education but was the next alive in line to assume the presidency after a near holocaust of the human race, has a lot on her plate. She's gotta command respect, lead the human race to safety and try to find a place called Earth. Oh, and deal with her impending death from cancer. This show tears me apart.

Eric Cartman (voice of Trey Parker), South Park -- Still going strong after eight seasons, South Park never ceases to entertain with overweight, expletive-laced diatribe spewing Cartman. When I saw the Season Five episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die," in which Cartman enacts revenge on the bully Tenorman by killing Tenorman's parents and feeding their bodies to him in a bowl of chili, I knew I was watching something insanely awesome.

Grace Manning (Julia Whelan), Once and Again -- Man, I loved this show. Grace's character was intelligent and awkward, a teenager trying to cope with high school and the coming together of her family with her mom's (Selah Ward) boyfriend's. Plus, she had a crush on her English (or Drama?) teacher, played by Eric Stoltz. And she definitely kissed him. Too bad the show ended with so many questions left unanswered.

Noel Crane (Scott Foley), Felicity -- Also loved this show, which debuted when I was ending my middle school career. Noel was the good guy, the guy Felicity should have chosen all along, not Ben. But, she kept bouncing back and forth between the two and I believe ended up with Ben in the end. Wrong choice, Felicity.

Michael Scott (Steve Carell), The Office -- Steve Carell injects so much humanity into his roles that you can't help but love Michael, even though he's painfully annoying. We always catch glimpses of the fact that he's really a good guy, and Carell makes him loveable. Somehow.

Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- It can't be easy balancing high school with killing vampires. Joss Whedon's cult gem brought great storytelling and drama to the TV screen, and he definitely knows how to tear a viewer's heart out. In his works, people die, and not just minor characters. Same with Battlestar. These storylines are just as emotional as anything you'd see at a movie, some times more so.

Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), Law & Order -- I'm pretty sure that if someone, who was actually on trial, hired Waterston to be their attorney, they'd win. If I were on a jury and listened to Waterston defend his case, I would believe him.

Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel), Gilmore Girls -- I felt compelled to put a Gilmore character on here, but most of them are incredibly annoying. Seriously, slow the crap down and try to keep the neurosis at a minimum, Lorelai. So, I picked Rory. Jess might be the most normal character, but I missed a lot of the seasons he was on. He sure beats Logan, though.

Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio), Law & Order: Criminal Intent -- This character is only cool because Vincent D'Onofrio is cool. His eccentric characterization makes Criminal Intent one of the better of the franchise.

Seth Cohen (Adam Brody), The O.C. -- Though the show's quality has rapidly deteriorated, and it wasn't really quality to begin with, Seth's witty dialogue and devotion to Summer was the highlight of the heydays.

Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- The perfect sidekick, even though he was part of a group. Loved him from the beginning.

Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), The Office -- Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight Dwight ...

Ainsley Hayes (Emily Procter), The West Wing -- The delightful Southern Republican in a Northern and Western Democrats' world, Ainsley was an energetic asset to Season Two. Unfortunately, The West Wing writers don't know how to write characters off the show, so she just disappeared. She should have wound up with Sam. Ah well.

Dr. Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce), Frasier -- Season Three's "Moon Dance" episode was great, and Niles took unrequited love to a new height of painful. Niles and Daphne were better before they got together (as just about all on-screen couples are), but Niles was always delightful.

Steve Brady (David Eigenberg), Sex and the City -- The best male character on the show.

Stephen Colbert (Stephen Colbert), The Colbert Report -- It's a character, and I say it counts. Besides being robbed at last night's Emmys (Barry Manilow? For the love...), Colbert's turn on the Report always has me in tears. Don't know what I'd do without his show and The Daily Show. An appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien this summer showed him out of character, just regular Stephen, a guy who is obsessed with The Lord of the Rings, has a family and teaches Sunday School. This quote from him says it all:
"I love my church, and I'm a Catholic who was raised by intellectuals who were very devout. I was raised to believe that you could question the church and still be a Catholic. What is worthy of satire is the misuse of religion for destructive or political gains. That's totally different from the Word, the blood, the body, and the Christ. His kingdom is not of this earth." -- Stephen Colbert, June 2005, Time Out New York


The End.

An actual conversation with my parents:

At dinner:
Me: Yeah, I go out walking in the mornings sometimes. I drive to a nearby neighborhood and walk there.
Dad: Now, are you carrying some sort of stick with you?
Me: Why?
Dad: You need a walking stick. You could also use a cane.
Mom: Be sure to have your phone with you, and your keys.
Dad: You'll need the stick in case neighborhood dogs come at you.
Me: Um, I don't have anywhere to put my phone or keys.
Mom: Well, why don't you just get a fanny pack? That way you can put all your things in there. You also need to have your ID on you.
Dad: Some form of identification. What if something happened and no one knew who you were?
Mom: Yeah, you could put that in the fanny pack, too.
Dad: You can't be too careful.
Me: Umm...

Earlier:
Dad: Your Mom and I did something crazy. We splurged.
Me: What did you do?
Dad: We actually bought a DVD online. We had seen this rendition of South Pacific on PBS with Reba McEntire, so we went online and ordered it.
Me: Why didn't you just buy the CD?
Dad: Because we wanted to watch it! It's wonderful. You'd like it.

Back to dinner, clearing the table:
Mom and Dad: (Humming and singing songs from South Pacific)
Me: Stop, stop, stop, stop. No more singing South Pacific.
Mom and Dad: (laughing)
Me: (shaking my head and leaving the room)

The End.

Why Bush Can't Possibly Agree With Camus, Part 2

I've been thinking way too much about this, but there's no way Bush believes Camus' writings. That's a hard statement to make because Camus' writings differ; just because the characters think one thing doesn't mean Camus thinks it. The Stranger is an amazing book, but I prefer The Plague. Side note: Do you think Bush watched Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, saw the French villain reading a French edition of The Stranger while driving his race car and, intrigued, decided to read it? Probably.

Anyways, if we look at The Plague and Camus' points about humanity, we can clearly see that Bush doesn't understand a thing he's reading this summer in his Crawford Book Club. Lucky for you, I wrote my term paper in my Existentialism & Literature class on "Albert Camus, La Peste, and Religion." I'll include bits of it here. I stayed up all night writing it, so it's pretty bad, but it has its moments. (I've tried to abridge it as much as possible. Yes, there are holes in the attempted logic, but that's what happens when you try to write from midnight to 8 a.m. the last day of finals, a day before graduation.)

First off:

"I am not an existentialist in the current sense of the term," wrote Camus in a 1956 letter to Harvard student Nicolas Daniloff. "Sartre's existentialism seems to me a contradictory philosophy in which confusions and bad faith abound ... Far from leading to a decent solution of the problem of freedom versus authority, [existentialism can only lead] to servitude." Camus cringed at being labeled an existentialist, especially as "existentialism'’s number two man," behind fellow Frenchman Jean-Paul Sartre. Although he didn'’t accept the label, many of Camus'’ works are still considered existential in that they examine human nature and our approach to dealing with our existence and, ultimately, our death.

Next:

Published in 1948, The Plague depicts an Algerian village struck with the bubonic plague and how its citizens reacted to the enormous death toll -- an allegory for the Nazism and occupation of the time during World War II. Dr. Rieux is the novel's protagonist, if he can be called that, but of main concern here is the village's priest, Father Paneloux, who gives two dramatically different sermons during the plague to his parishioners. Paneloux first speaks at the onset of the plague, chastising the villagers, who are hoping the plague will just go away, for their sinful lives, claiming it was this that brought on the plague. "The just man need have no fear, but the evildoer has good cause to tremble. For plague is the flail of God and the world His threshing-floor, and implacably He will thresh out His harvest until the wheat is separated from the chaff." ... Camus' use of religious figures is interesting, especially here and in The Stranger where he shows how many use religion as a crutch and an excuse to not think critically about their existence and whether or not their actions are genuine or meaningful. Paneloux didn't want to accept the plague and its death toll and chose to chalk it up to a demanding God who strikes fear in his creations and does what he pleases when he pleases. (Pat Robertson, anyone?)

Once the plague begins to spread, however, and the death toll raises, Paneloux's and the villagers' views on the destruction alter. The priest's second sermon comes in stark contrast to his first, and here we are able to glimpse into Camus's character and perhaps his true feelings about religion, or at least his feelings on how one who is religious should approach issues such as human suffering. After witnessing the absurd destruction caused by the plague with the deaths of thousands, Paneloux changes his positions and makes comments in his sermon that appear to the listening Rieux to be borderline heretical. The priest still holds fast to his faith and convictions, but is now edging away from the bombastic claims he once had and admits he doesn't understand everything about God and his reasons behind human suffering. He again clings to what he's been taught, but this time it's because it is all he has left. In his first sermon, he could blame mankind for causing the atrocities of the plague, but now, seeing how innocent mankind actually was in regards to the problem, he takes them off the stand. Even so, he's still reluctant to put God on the stand, saying he'’d rather keep faith with the great symbol of all suffering -- Christ hanging on the Cross -- than denounce God or question him. (This is hard for me to translate when considering the Nazis - they were a part of humanity, therefore humanity can't really be innocent.)

His situation has made him categorize his options into two extremes: either to believe everything, or deny everything. "And who among you, I ask, would dare to deny everything?" We must believe in God no matter what, he says, because he can't imagine a life without doing so. The priest's faith was weaker than he thought it had been and, even in the face of human suffering, he chose to have it remain weak. Paneloux's main virtue comes, though, in his call for action, which shines through his existential breakdown onto a line of hope that Camus seems to find as well. Paneloux describes in his sermon the chronicles of the Black Death at Marseille and how only four of the 81 monks in the stricken Mercy Monastery survived the epidemic, and of the four who survived, only one remained to stay with the ill. Paneloux slams his fist on his pulpit, declaring, "My brothers, each one of us must be the one who stays!" It is not enough to just get by in life, or provide sympathy to those suffering; rather, we are required to stay with the suffering, no matter if it brings us harm as well. "We should go forward, groping our way through the darkness, stumbling perhaps at times, and try to do what good lay in our power."

Camus was highly involved in the French Resistance during the war, editing an underground newspaper called Combat and using his writing platform to speak out against the Nazi occupation and the absurdity of the suffering the Nazis caused. He took action -- something that appears to almost go hand in hand with many existentialists who, although they have no answers for their suffering, choose to protest, question, debate, consider and examine life in its every aspect instead of sitting idly by why the absurdity trudges on. Paneloux can't explain why the suffering is occurring, though he won't hold God accountable, but he chooses to not run from it and places himself in the midst of it, treating victims of the plague until he succumbs to his own, mysterious sickness soon after his second sermon and dies.

Finally:

It's not enough for those who claim religion to only cling to the ideals they've been raised with and not question God at all. Camus is showing the dangers of false hope and, ultimately, the dangers of religion when those who claim it do so shallowly and without regard for humanity. At the end of the novel, Rieux has a sense of hope that future generations will continue and hopefully learn something from their predecessors, each group trying to make due with the hands they've been dealt. His hope is in humanity, not in God or any other form of god. He puts his trust in man, though he knows man is fallible, but in light of the plague, Rieux decides to take his chances. Neither Camus nor the reader can blame him.
-------
The Bush administration and countless others could learn a thing or two from this. Bush's callous comments about the death toll of innocent Iraqis, guessing about 30,000 had died thus far in the war but chalking it up to collateral damage for the sake of spreading democracy, is anyintellectuallyellectualy honest. I'm glad he found The Stranger a "quick read." I suggest The Plague. Here's praying some of it will sink in.

Have you thanked Stephen Colbert today?

This Web site isn't up to date, as it was started after the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, which was April 29. According to Wikipedia, the blog logged almost 50,000 Thank Yous in its first five days. People are still thanking our beloved Mr. Colbert, though, for sticking it to Dubya, and you should, too. I did. And I feel better.

You teach? I teach: Computer-aged philosophy

In between sessions at the Crawford Community Center titled "Heidegger: Is being a Being really being?" President Bush popped back to the ranch, made a pot of Earl Grey and settled in to read Albert Camus' The Stranger. Reported press secretary Tony Snow after the fact: "He found it an interesting book and a quick read. I don't want to go too deep into it, but we discussed the origins of existentialism." (actual quote)

Now, I like The Stranger, and I think that's what's pissing me off. I don't like Bush. The merging of one thing I cherish with another that I abhor is disconcerting. Many are mocking Bush for reading a book many were required to read in high school (but probably didn't understand). Others are confused at the message his reading the book is sending. In it, without remorse, the character Meursault kills an Arab after a skirmish on the beach (the sun was in his eyes, cut him some slack). He's seen as cruel and inhuman by his peers and, after a quick and unfair trial, is sentenced to death. Maybe it's not the best foreign policy move at first glance, but if Bush actually takes seriously what he's reading, there might be more hope in store for us yet.

One would hope he'd consider the topics of free will, choice, the criminal justice system, perception versus reality, freedom, etc. An honest discussion of these, which usually leads to more confusion than clarity, is at least honest - a trait seemingly lacking from most discussions around W. I wonder what he thought of the book? Is this a ploy to make him look smarter? Or did he appreciate Camus?

One MSNBC writer wrote:

For a man whose defining philosophy during his tenure has been a policy of pre-emptive action against terror threats, his interest in a philosophy emphasizing that meaning is not provided by the natural order but can be created by human action, seems apt.

Is that true? If it is, maybe that's what's upsetting me so ... Do we actually like the same thing? This could be my own Existential breakdown. Darn you, Bush.

I've gotta agree with others out there: I want a book report.

I had In-N-Out three times in two days. Two of those times were during the same day.

"I don't want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light." - Woody Allen (Annie Hall)

I survived four days of no central air and my brother insisting on driving with the windows rolled down, no matter how hot it got at 4 p.m. on the 101. I also survived LAX after the foiled terrorist plot, and my experience was at the least a disappointment. The time from when Daniel dropped me off to when I sat in front of the gate was about 10 minutes. No pat-down to make sure I wasn't concealing hair gel. No interrogation on whether or not I had toothpaste tucked into my shoe. You let me down, LAX. You let me down.

This is my favorite picture from the trip. We took another one where his head wasn't cut out of the frame, but the "get me the hell out of here" expression didn't change. This was taken on a balcony at the The Getty Center, a very cool art gallery on top of a hill. He humored me in going, but we didn't have the foresight to anticipate the insane amounts of children and tourists who'd be there. Several day camps were also in attendance, with loud, uniformed minorities running in front of and disrespecting the French Impressionists. Guides had groups of them sit in front of the best paintings, talking to them and having them draw their own versions. They were quite annoying in the Rubens and Brueghel exhibit, which we enjoyed nonetheless. Is a seven year old going to remark, "I do appreciate Rubens' paintings of women, in all their fleshy glory, but give me an Ingres odalisque any day." No. No, they're not. Take them to the zoo or something.

Other events:
- Visiting cool used books stores
- Eating at Tere's Mexican Food, at which Daniel once saw Cameron Crowe (a situation I would have freaked out in, with a reaction Daniel actually called "gauche").
- Visiting Amoeba Music twice, dodging snotty hipsters and digging for cheap CDs and DVDs
- Going to The Grove and watching locals marvel at the concept of a contained strip mall
- Seeing Little Miss Sunshine at The Arclight. I'm now even more obsessed with Steve Carell. You must see this film.
- Speaking of Carell, we verified the location of the fictional SmartTech store his character Andy works at in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. It's on Ventura next to a Bed Bath & Beyond and a Western Bagel. I was probably too excited about this.
- Watching part of Dumbo on TV one afternoon and concluded that it's the trippiest of the Disney movies.

- And last, but not at all least to Daniel, seeing Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) at the Pulse premiere at The Arclight. I willingly took pictures and acted like a tourist, but I couldn't snag a shot of her face. I don't think that mattered to Daniel.

Those are some of the highlights. Quite a relaxing adventure in California.

Finally...

My new 30G toy is pretty. It took a while to set up, though, perhaps because my computer is possessed and has been trying to kill itself the past two years. At first, the iPod would stop downloading songs after it hit one song -- a song that happened to be in my iTunes library thanks to an Ode to the 80s mix CD I made, which is awesome -- Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive."

I tried several times, restarted, uploaded new crap from the Apple site, freaked out, started crying thanks to PMS, was nearly convinced that all technology hates me, then eventually concluded I should delete said song. Then it worked. Maybe the iPod can detect bad music? "'Wanted Dead or Alive?' What the crap, Sarah? I'm not uploading that. Delete it from my presence." OK.

The advertised ability of being able to hold 7,000ish songs is also a lie -- I uploaded about 1,300 and it's already half full. Lame. I mean, no, you're not lame, iPod, don't freak out on me again. You're pretty.

This is going to be a high-maintenance relationship. But I still love my new toy.

French Vanilla

This is from last week, but it's just so hilarious. All should watch.

Seriously...

Dear Mr. TV Network CEO, Online and/or print news editor,

I do not care what Mel Gibson said or did. Really I don't. If he shot a Jew, that would be news. This = not news.

Hey, what's going on in the Middle East? I heard a lot of innocent civilians died in Lebanon last weekend. How's Castro doing? What would him dying mean for Cuba? By the way, how's that whole Communism thing working for them? I've heard it sucks. But hey, if you're going to cover these, just cover them. No fancy graphics, no puns, no elementary phrases.

Horrendous acts of violence and hatred occur every day in just about every neighborhood of this country, but these events many times go unreported by you because the perpetrators aren't celebrities. If Mel was an Average Joe, would his arrest and comments have made headlines?

Also, if he or anyone else had been yelling bigoted epithets about Christians, would the coverage have been the same? Let's say it was a director who had made a film many believed to be anti-Christian who was arrested. Would that arrest and the directors comments have made so many headlines? Is it because Christians are in the majority -- does it just not count as much?

Basically, I'd like for you to actually report the news. Not celebrity gossip, not sensationalized tabloid fodder. News.

Thanks.

Yours truly,

Sarah.

P.S. You're contributing to the downfall of our society.