Watching Roller Derby

Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore are in the new film Whip It (sort of like Bend It Like Beckham, but with hitting). I used to watch Roller Derby on TV back in high school when the Bay City Bombers were our home team. Charlie O'Connell and Joanie Weston were two of the star players at the time. Roller Derby back then wasn't cute, sexy or grrrl power; it was brutal and mesmerizing. This post by Pat Griffin reminds me of why I was fascinated by it; it was one of the few places you could see strong, tough women competing in sports on TV, back before Title IX.

Auto-tune not just for parody

I'm working too much to write at length these days, but I couldn't resist sharing this:

Public option?

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Dr. Horrible Interrupts the Emmy Awards!

*buffering* LOL! or, why the internet will not replace your TV yet.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which won an Emmy although it was produced for the internet and not broadcast TV, can be viewed on hulu.com or on the Tubes in three parts: part one, part two and part three.
The show was written by Joss Whedon and his brothers during the writers' strike (remember that?) and has won a ton of other awards already. Whedon and co. more or less gave it away online, but also released it in iTunes and for purchase as DVD with commentary extras; despite making it available worldwide for free, the project has managed to recoup the $200,000 cost and pay the cast and crew. A lovely example of working alongside the corporate media structure.

Mary Travers, my first love

Mary Travers' voice and spirit nourished me as a child. Oh, how I loved her then! Her voice singing "The Sparrow" enchanted me:


"The Rising of the Moon"

"The First Time" by Euan McColl

They sang with Martin Luther King, Jr, and against the Viet Nam War in 1971:

And they could be funny, too!

Health care bills making my head explode

So I will just not think about them today. Instead, for your amusement I offer you:

Kottke.org give us "Barack Obama, Jedi Knight"

Obama asked them to "cut the president some slack" but NO, his off-the-cuff comments about the VMA award show are all over.

Barely Political imagines the rest of "hot mic" conversation after Obama called Kanye a jackass.

Yet another "Downfall" parody with the Kanye meme.

Anna Marie Cox and Jason have fun annotating the White House Flickr feed.

But Ta-Nahesi Coates explains the difference between getting a laugh out of internet memes and the self-righteous huffing and puffing about civility that whitewashes (yes, meaning pretends to be blind to racism) our discourse on who gets to interrupt in public. I'm too lazy to do more than link and say "what he said!"

Pink and Muse perform at the MTV VMA award show

Don't get cable, so didn't see the MTV awards show last night, but the fuss blew up on Twitter about Kanye's hissy fit, overshadowing both the Michael Jackson tribute (with Janet Jackson dancing with the most amazing set of choreographer dancers EVER) and Lady Gaga's performance-art costumes and number (with Mark Kanemura!). Kanye needs to get to rehab.


(via Rickey.org) I love Pink!
They did not broadcast this clip, but Muse played their latest single at the VMA show as well.

Remember: 11 de septiembre de 1973 AND 9/11/2001

Chile: The Other 9/11 is the title of a program made by the BBC last year. But maybe it should be the other way around?

This short film by Ken Loach (made in 2002) is narrated by a Chilean refugee who addresses family members of those killed on 9/11/2001, on another Tuesday, Sept 11. Maybe you know that this date also has grim meaning for Chile and all of Latin America because it was Tuesday, Sept 11, 1973 that Gen Pinochet and the armed forces of Chile, with the active support of U.S. president Nixon, Sec. of State Henry Kissinger, and the CIA and the School of the Americas, seized power by bombing the presidential palace, assassinating the democratically elected head-of-state Salvador Allende, and rounding up and torturing, killing, and disappearing thousands of people, Chileans and others. At least 30,000 were killed by the regime-and many, many more were tortured, exiled, or lived in fear for decades. The fact that Pinochet is now dead has not ended the divisions in Chile.

The impact of this event on all of Latin America was as devastating as 9/11 has been to us in the U.S.A. and to the world. As Pres. Bush says in the film, "On September the 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country, and night fell on a different world, a world in which freedom itself is under attack." Those words have a terrible resonance for those of us who remember the responsibility the U.S. had in supporting the dictatorships and savage repression in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and the countries of Central America in the 80s. So while I remember and mourn with everyone the events of 8 years ago in 2001, I cannot forget, I must not forget, the legacy of suffering of that first "martes 11 de septiembre."

11 de septiembre

Visual Inspriration: special effects in film

No, it can't be comprehensive, as the comments reveal, but it is intriguing and inspiring: a chronological compilation of special effects in film from early days of cinema through the 20th century.

This one is for Loren

How could we have missed this? The 4H Llama costume show at the MN State Fair is now 2 years old. What do you think?

SYTYCD season 5 Top 10 on Ellen

Ellen DeGeneres invited the SYTYCD Top 10 dancers to the premiere of her show. Watch Ellen dance with them! There's someone who loves her job!

Dance injury

see more Lolcats and funny pictures
I need to buy my daughter a trampoline. Or sign her up for dance classes. She likes to dance with her iPod in our tiny kitchen, but she keeps injuring herself. First a sprained ankle, now a toenail that has been semi-detached (OW! Ew! Ick!). she'll be OK, but I have prohibited kitchen dancing, and decreed that she must find a subsitute for getting her yayas out.

Doing the latest dance craze!

Do you love me/now that I can dance?

On America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC) the next challenge is to incorporate some of the latest urban dance crazes that are propagated by YouTube (AND use a trampoline, but that's another story) When I looked at the list, I realized I would need to do my research before Sunday nights show. Have you seen/heard of/danced any of these dances? Probably not.

"For their challenge this week, the crews will be incorporating the latest dance crazes (think updated Cabbage Patch) into their routines. And in addition to mastering their moves -- and giving 'em their own personal spin -- they'll also need to incorporate that big ol' trampoline ... without falling flat on their faces. Take a look at the songs and challenges assigned to each ABDCrew, and let us know which dance crazes are taking over your hometown!

AFROBORIKE "Swag Surfin'" Fast Life Yungstaz
MASSIVE MONKEES "Do The Ricky Bobby" B-Hamp
WE ARE HEROES "Stanky Legg" GS Boys
VOGUE EVOLUTION "Halle Berry" Hurricane Chris

RHYTHM CITY "The Jerk" New Boyz--this one is the most complicated!

A civil conversation about health care reform

Senator Franken talking to folks at the State Fair, in a calm and rational way, and people respond in a calm and rational way. Intense? yes. But this is a model of how we can do it right.

Pickpocket strikes in a cafe.

Today I went to the ATM, then went to the cafe to work on class prep. While I was engrossed with my work, a professional pickpocket lifted my wallet, with all those nice crispy 20s, out of the front pocket of my backpack which was sitting on the floor between us right next to my leg. I remember vaguely noticing a man sit down at the table next to me, but the next time I looked up it was because of the coughing of the woman another table down and he was gone.

When I went to leave, I discovered my wallet was missing. I searched desperately through my backpack, looked everywhere, asked the baristas, and flashed back to that odd feeling I'd had earlier. I realized what had happened, and then had to cancel checks, ATM card, credit cards, and make a police report in case I have to contest any charges or bad checks. Also lost my AAA card, my library card, and all those coffee discount cards. Oh, and my faculty ID, much good that will do anybody. I have a duplicate drivers license, but I will have to report that as well.

The thing is, when I lived in Berkeley, something like this happened to me because I had my purse sitting next to me on a bench at an outdoor cafe and someone reached over the back of the bench and lifted my wallet, so I am usually so super careful. I'm just dismayed that I was so oblivious. But this has happened to other people I know; pros are slick.

An hour later, after being all calm about it initially, I find myself shaking and anxious. No, it's not the end of the world; I don't think anyone can do anything bad to me, but I hate the idea that a thief now has my address, my child's pictures, my really nice wallet that I just bought two months ago and that was the perfect wallet. I hate feeling like a chump. Losing $200 is pretty crappy, too.