Archive for July, 2008
Gender benders
July 30, 2008 | BlogHer, Gender
Okay, so I am very late on my wrap-up of our California trip and I missed two SciFi Sundays. What the heck, it’s summer and I am still trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. I shall try to get to both this weekend.
In the meantime, please enjoy the following two items.
First, the Nine Phrases Women Use, a handy little guide to understanding women’s speech that my mom emailed me this afternoon. I have no idea what the original source is but it struck me very funny. Hang around me long enough, you’ll definitely hear numbers 8 & 9.
(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.
(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.
(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.
(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don’t Do It!
(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)
(6) That’s Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That’s okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.
(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you’re welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says ‘Thanks a lot’ - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say ‘you’re welcome’ … that will bring on a ‘whatever’).
(8) Whatever: Is a women’s way of saying F*** YOU!
(9) Don’t worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking ‘What’s wrong?’ For the woman’s response refer to # 3.
Item 2: Don’t miss Catherine Connor’s superb essay, Because You Haven’t Really Arrived As A Feminist Until You’ve Bitched About Being Condescended To By The New York Times. It is the best commentary, full stop, on the New York Times BlogHer article and its aftermath.
Technorati Tags: gender, BlogHer
Allons enfants de la Patrie
July 14, 2008 | Holiday
Happy Bastille Day. Enjoy this classic scene from Casablanca.
Lyrics and background on La Marseillaise on Wikipedia.
SciFi Sunday: WALL-E, Stargate Atlantis and Burn Notice
July 13, 2008 | Science Fiction, TV/Film
WALL-E: One of the best films we’ve seen this year. Is it better than Incredibles and Toy Story, the two animated features most often compared to it? I think so. Not because the story is better, although it is, or because the animation technology and the blend of CGI and live action is so brilliant, although it is.
It’s a story with meaning. A story that our children, our planet, our politicians need to hear. Because it’s time we all start thinking about our impact on this planet.
Recycle. Drive a hybrid. Telecommute when you can. Support your employees who want to work from home to the extent you can. Plant a garden. Just take a walk. Smell a flower.
Don’t follow orders blindly. Exercise.
Plus, the tale itself is so compelling, it needs few words, which is wonderful for children who sometimes find it difficult to follow dialogue. If you haven’t seen it yet, go!
Stargate Atlantis: The new season debuted Friday night. While it wasn’t a bad episode, I still miss Torri Higginson as Elizabeth Weir. I bought the DVD of Season 4 for Douglas because he missed a few of the eps due to the late hour. Basically, he starts watching and falls asleep half way through.
I reviewed the list of eps and realized that there were very few that I wanted to watch again. On the other hand, I can watch Rising, The Storm/Eye and The Return arc, among others, over and over again. What does that say….
Among other things, it says that I most definitely noticed the missing person in John Sheppard’s litany of people he should have saved. While it was great to see Rainbow Sun Francks for a nanosecond, we all know who was really missing from that scene, attempts by TPTB to “ship” John and Teyla notwithstanding.
The John-Teyla chemistry just ain’t there guys. It would be like kissing your brother. Give it up.But there isn’t that much on TV worth watching so as long as they don’t keep shoving Sheyla down our throats, I’ll tough it out.
[SPOILER]
Total ick moment: when Woolsey tells Sam Carter that he is replacing her as Atlantis leader. While I generally love Robert Picardo and look forward to the tension between his character and Sheppard, I thought this was so poorly done as to almost rival the replacement of Torri Higginson by Amanda Tapping. Even though I know the decision was at least in part Tapping’s. Unlike the dismissal of Higginson, at least from what I read.
It seems pretty clear – TPTB at Stargate Atlantis don’t understand their female audience. If they did, they wouldn’t continue to chop their powerful women off at the knees.
Speaking of chopping people off at the knees, let’s take a brief diversion into superspy, versus scifi. Burn Notice has quickly become one of my favorite shows. If you haven’t seen it, you are missing one of the funniest, sharpest shows on television. It stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell and Sharon Gless. The best part — the leads are all late thirties plus. So nice to see grown-ups headlining a network television show.
And not just as parents or presidents. These guys are hot. Even Sam, played by B-movie stalwart Bruce Campbell. Why do women keep giving Sam stuff? Ain’t for his sartorial style, that’s for sure.
Technorati Tags: Burn Notice, Stargate Atlantis, WALL-E
Sightseeing Sunday
July 6, 2008 | Summer, Travel, Vermont
crossposted to New England Mamas
This week, SciFi Sunday is pre-empted. Instead we bring you Sightseeing Sunday 
Yesterday was my birthday, and to celebrate we drove over to Burlington — about 80 minutes from the house in Barnard — to see the Mary Cassat: Friends and Family exhibit at Shelburne Museum. For dinner, we boarded the Spirit of Ethan Allen III for a dinner cruise on Lake Champlain. Then today, we went on the “Hidden Spaces, Unique Places” tour at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller mansion in Woodstock. Last summer, Douglas, my mom and I had toured the mansion, but it always bugged Doug that we couldn’t see the 3rd floor. This tour resolved that dilemma. Plus Dave didn’t come last year so he’d never seen the mansion.
In order of events
I always enjoy Shelburne Museum because it has such a great mix of things that appeal to adults and children. This visit was no exception. Douglas patiently (mostly) waited while we enjoyed the Cassat paintings and then he had the opportunity to act as tour guide for his Dad on the Ticonderoga paddlewheeler.
Cassat was an exceptional artist. Possibly the best known American Impressionist painter and best known woman Impressionist, Whistler and Berthe Morisot notwithstanding. But what made this exhibit so exceptional was the way it highlighted the personal friendship between Cassat and Louisine Havemeyer, the mother of Electra Havemayer Webb, founder of Shelburne Museum.
The exhibit will be at Shelburne through October 26th and then at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC from November 21 through January 25, 2009. If you are near either place and you like Impressionist art, I urge you to check it out.
The dinner cruise on the Spirit of Ethan Allen III was fun. The food was perhaps just a notch above typical buffet food, although I would suggest having at least one fish entree that isn’t sauced, but the service was excellent. And the atmosphere — Lake Champlain at sunset — cannot be beat. I got a special treat as well. Douglas plotted with the DJ and sang Happy Birthday to me — microphone and all — during dessert. I imagine more than a few mums envied me for that brief moment – that my kid would do that for me. I had a few tears in my eyes.
Then today, we went on the Hidden Place, Unique Spaces tour of the Marsh-Billings Rockefeller mansion. They offer this tour about once a week, give or take, during the summer, and it is well worth it, although the regular tour is excellent as well.
On the Hidden Places tour, you see the third floor of the mansion, the servants’ quarters, a room in the Belvedere (basically the pool house, but what a pool house!) and the Bungalow, a cottage on the property, none of which are included in the regular house tour. I’d recommend either tour.
I do have pictures from all of the above, but the connection here is slower than at home so I’ll try to get them up tomorrow on Flickr.
Technorati Tags: Mary Cassat, Shelburne Museum, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park, Spirit of Ethan Allen III, Burlington, Vermont, Woodstock
Born near the Fourth of July
July 4, 2008 | Holiday
Tomorrow is my birthday. I’m not really counting anymore, but if you are that curious, it’s number 46.
Last year, I shared a few thoughts on how much I loved having a birthday near the Fourth of July as I was growing up.
I’ve always loved fireworks. I was well through most of elementary school before I admitted that the fireworks weren’t actually for me. The best ones ever? About 14 years or so ago, my husband and I hiked Mount Washington over the holiday weekend and were staying in one of the AMC huts. We saw the North Conway fireworks from above. Nothing like it.
The weirdest birthday ever? In recent years, it would have to be the year David and I were touring Scotland and England for two weeks in early July. It was odd to be celebrating my birthday without a national holiday.
This year, though, I just want to wish everyone a very happy holiday weekend and a special happy birthday to everyone who was also born near the Fourth of July.
