She was 82. Here is one of her many great, necessary poems that holds up a mirror to her own country: Sleep well, great lady. Blessed be thy name!
Continue readingTag: Artsy-Fartsy Culture Stuff
Festive Left Friday Blogging: Gorgeous, George!
OMG, look who got arrested earlier today: Yes, that’s George Clooney. The movie star. He’s now free, along with his dad and a group of other prominent activists who were protesting on behalf of the people of Sudan, in front of the Sudanese embassy in Washington, DC. Clooney and the
Continue readingEconomics for Dummies: The scariest poet in Britain?
Funny, he doesn’t look so intimidating to me: But then again, I’m not a corporate tax dodger.
Continue readingRomance or misogyny?
Sometimes, it’s SO hard to tell, eh? No, this is not to make 18-year-olds look particularly appealing, or older-than-thou women especially alluring. It relies on some pretty mindless stereotyping of women of ALL ages. And while we’re on the subject of mindless stereotyping, how about those romantic comedies? Most of
Continue readingOMG, Adele is adorable!
Pardon my gush, but it’s true. She really IS a doll. She’s funny, she’s unpretentious, she’s blessedly drama-free in spite of everything she’s been through (how many pop stars can you say THAT about?), and she’s smart and nice, too. Oh, and she’s got the cutest accent — says fink
Continue readingThe art of the WHAT?
As I prepare to get cracking on my first-ever book-length Spanish-to-English translation (yes, congratulate me, kiddies, your auntie is going pro!), I found some videos while looking up an idiomatic phrase that just didn’t appear in either my Streetwise Spanish guide OR my gran diccionario. These illustrate exactly what I’ll
Continue readingBradley Manning, the movie
Prevention of Injury (POI) from kyle broom on Vimeo. An indie film takes a fictional look at real, currently unfolding events. Must see!
Continue readingMusic for a Sunday: I still dream of Organon…
Kate Bush’s poignant classic. Based on Peter Reich’s story of his father’s arrest for building a device that, so it’s said, actually DID make rain. (And yes, that IS the always-awesome Donald Sutherland, playing Wilhelm Reich.)
Continue readingThe state-sponsored murder of Pablo Neruda
The official version of Pablo Neruda’s death goes something like this: World famous Chilean poet and Nobel winner dies of metastatic prostate cancer, age 69. But recent investigative findings put the lie to that version. Here’s the story that’s got Chileans, and Neruda fans everywhere, buzzing: Poet Pablo Neruda did
Continue readingHappy 75th Birthday, Jim Henson
And to show their appreciation, your creations would like to sing you a little song…
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“Nothing really matters…(big breath)…but MOI!!!”
Jack Layton on This Hour Has 22 Minutes
Jack gets Marg’d. And other choice moments. Lots of Canadian politicians have been great sports about the merciless satire this CBC fake-news show dishes out on their (usually) all-too-deserving heads, but Jack seems to have had the most fun of all. Certainly he was the least awkward, and the most genuinely tickled. If the true […]
Continue reading“If you see me in the street”
A spoken-word poem worth taking to heart about just how unpleasant it is to be a woman in public. (And yes, I can vouch for just about everything she says, except maybe the bit about cigarettes; I’m a militant non-smoker.) BTW, if you think she’s paranoid and oversensitive, take a look at what’s “recommended” by […]
Continue readingIf a bankster falls in the forest…
…it makes the odd news headlines: “Shark in a boat” seems so last month. Now it’s “shark in the forest.” A call to police reporting an unusual odor on Thursday night led New Hampshire authorities to find a shark decomposing in the forest, WMUR-9 reports. According to The Associated Press, the six- to eight-foot blue […]
Continue readingPlanned Parenthood meets Bollywood!
In celebration of the new law requiring all US health insurance providers to cover birth control and other preventive health measures for women with no “co-pays” (out of pocket expenses, often used by insurers to minimize their own expenditures), Planned Parenthood got multi-culti and had some fun making this: …which ought to give Anders Breivik […]
Continue readingMusic for a Monday: A lament for Che
Yes, I know, this is very belated; I should have put this up yesterday: Steven Soderbergh’s two-volume movie of Che’s Cuban triumph and his Bolivian downfall is hugely ambitious, and in some instances falls short of its obviously high intent. Benicio del Toro, despite the first film’s subtitle “The Argentine”, isn’t from Argentina, and, though […]
Continue readingNineteen Eighty-Four
Courtesy of Roger Ebert, a gem from the past. The BBC’s original adaptation of George Orwell’s classic novel. Enjoy!
Continue readingThe Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
A Canadian documentary that starts with the CIA’s failed, lame attempt to develop LSD as a truth serum/mind-control agent. Instead, it became the catalyst for thousands of old beatniks and young hippies, formerly staid scientists and political activists to all come together in a radical questioning of authority. Isn’t it funny how as soon as […]
Continue readingLooking for something to do tonight?
Broadway: It’s not just for gays anymore!
(And look! Doogie Howser can SING! And so can Stephen Colbert and Brooke Shields!)
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