I was touched by a story I saw on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer this evening. The story was about how Oregon State University conferred 23 honorary degrees to Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps during WWII. These students were never allowed to graduate from OSU. I know that some people think that apologizing for past behavior (discrimination, racism, slavery, etc.) is unwarranted. I think that these people don't realize that we cannot hide from the sins of our fathers. By expressing remorse, we let the victims of racism and hate know that they are not forgotten, that their pain and suffering has meaning.
You can listen to the MP3 podcast on the NewsHour's PBS site.
7.29.2008
7.27.2008
Highlights of the Day
A few noteworthy events for Saturday:
1. I attended the opening of the St. Peters Obama Campaign office this morning. The turnout was incredible. The number I heard was 125 people, and that's on a Saturday morning. I was happy to be in a room full of Democrats. I've lived in St. Peters for 24 of the 32 years of my life and the Republicans have ruled as long as I realized the difference between the two parties. So I was excited to see the great turnout this morning and to feel the tremendous amount of positive energy. And, I will tell you right now that, at least in St. Peters, people of every age support Barack Obama. There were only a few young people, but the average age was about 50. One of the speakers mentioned that we should be proud to stand up and support Barack Obama. We don't have to hide in the shadows anymore, because we are not alone in this fight.
2. After three years of living in my condo, my dad finally installed the ceiling fan in the guest bedroom. My sister and her family are visiting in two weeks and it gets a bit stuffy in that room. There wasn't too much yelling, which is a bonus, especially since my mom acts as the foreman on the job. =)
3. The gals and I celebrated Laura's birthday a few days early. Laura is working on the Obama campaign and she really needed the break to just hang with friends. The seven of us had a great time. I'll post our photo booth picture tomorrow.
1. I attended the opening of the St. Peters Obama Campaign office this morning. The turnout was incredible. The number I heard was 125 people, and that's on a Saturday morning. I was happy to be in a room full of Democrats. I've lived in St. Peters for 24 of the 32 years of my life and the Republicans have ruled as long as I realized the difference between the two parties. So I was excited to see the great turnout this morning and to feel the tremendous amount of positive energy. And, I will tell you right now that, at least in St. Peters, people of every age support Barack Obama. There were only a few young people, but the average age was about 50. One of the speakers mentioned that we should be proud to stand up and support Barack Obama. We don't have to hide in the shadows anymore, because we are not alone in this fight.
2. After three years of living in my condo, my dad finally installed the ceiling fan in the guest bedroom. My sister and her family are visiting in two weeks and it gets a bit stuffy in that room. There wasn't too much yelling, which is a bonus, especially since my mom acts as the foreman on the job. =)
3. The gals and I celebrated Laura's birthday a few days early. Laura is working on the Obama campaign and she really needed the break to just hang with friends. The seven of us had a great time. I'll post our photo booth picture tomorrow.
7.26.2008
Mad Men
Oh, Mad Men, why did I wait so long to be lured in by your smoky rooms, cool 50's furniture, and smart writing? Seriously, this show is the best drama on TV right now. Kudos to my friends Jenna and Laura for griping at me for not watching this show. I love TV, as you know if you have kept up with the blog, and they wondered why I wasn't drawn in right away. I don't have a good answer for it, but now I'm in like flynn. I just finished watching the season one finale and it was a doozy. I won't ruin it for those of you still planning on jumping on the Mad Men bandwagon.
What I love about the whole show is the cool vibe it has. The set and costume designs are spot on and the casting is perfect. But, the perfect parts are the writing and acting. The tone of the whole show is understated, which I believe is in keeping with how we perceive the 50's and early 60's. The show actually takes place in 1960 and the season finale was set at Thanksgiving of that year. This is the time period before the counter culture of the mid-60's, so everyone was still "straight-laced" and hiding within themselves. The writers understand this perfectly and the actors' execution is flawless.
Most of the dramas out there are so in your face (CSI) or overly dramatic (Desperate Housewives). Mad Men is refreshing in it's quiet tone and desperation, and it's almost painful to watch. The suppression of feelings and desires is so prevalent throughout the show that when someone has a strong reaction the connection to the character feels more real. Tribune TV critic Maureen Ryan goes into more detail on one of her latest blog posts about Mad Men. As mentioned on her blog post, the "slow burn" is the intriguing part of the show and is what definitely captured my interest. I want the build up...the anticipation. I've always found that the best shows don't give you instant gratification.
Plus, for your viewing pleasure, here is the star of the show, Jon Hamm.
What I love about the whole show is the cool vibe it has. The set and costume designs are spot on and the casting is perfect. But, the perfect parts are the writing and acting. The tone of the whole show is understated, which I believe is in keeping with how we perceive the 50's and early 60's. The show actually takes place in 1960 and the season finale was set at Thanksgiving of that year. This is the time period before the counter culture of the mid-60's, so everyone was still "straight-laced" and hiding within themselves. The writers understand this perfectly and the actors' execution is flawless.
Most of the dramas out there are so in your face (CSI) or overly dramatic (Desperate Housewives). Mad Men is refreshing in it's quiet tone and desperation, and it's almost painful to watch. The suppression of feelings and desires is so prevalent throughout the show that when someone has a strong reaction the connection to the character feels more real. Tribune TV critic Maureen Ryan goes into more detail on one of her latest blog posts about Mad Men. As mentioned on her blog post, the "slow burn" is the intriguing part of the show and is what definitely captured my interest. I want the build up...the anticipation. I've always found that the best shows don't give you instant gratification.
Plus, for your viewing pleasure, here is the star of the show, Jon Hamm.
7.25.2008
Tidbits
A couple notes:
Many thanks to Pam for making her own mixtape on Mixwit and inspiring me to make my own.
The live (free) stream for the Dr. Horrible webisodes is over as of July 20. You now have to buy them on iTunes -- good business sense by Joss Whedon and Co.
I've been hooked by Mad Men. I watched six episodes of season 1 tonight and I need to cram in the remaining seven before Sunday night's season premiere. Last year, I caught an episode in the middle and I didn't grasp the nuances of the show (and there are a lot of them). So, if you're going to pick up this show, watch it from the very beginning.
Many thanks to Pam for making her own mixtape on Mixwit and inspiring me to make my own.
The live (free) stream for the Dr. Horrible webisodes is over as of July 20. You now have to buy them on iTunes -- good business sense by Joss Whedon and Co.
I've been hooked by Mad Men. I watched six episodes of season 1 tonight and I need to cram in the remaining seven before Sunday night's season premiere. Last year, I caught an episode in the middle and I didn't grasp the nuances of the show (and there are a lot of them). So, if you're going to pick up this show, watch it from the very beginning.
7.20.2008
Terminator Salvation
Awesome. I'll write more about The Dark Knight a little later today. It's been a long day. I will tell you that one of the highlights was the trailer for the new Terminator movie, Terminator Salvation. I was so shocked. I didn't even know that a new Terminator film was on the books, although I should keep up with my friend Pam's blog. She listed this fact a few weeks ago. Anyway, Christian Bale plays John Connor, and I think he will be perfect for the role. Of course, I think Christian Bale is perfect in anything.
7.18.2008
Dr. Horrible is not horrible.
In fact, Dr. Horrible is fantastically funny. I can't wait for the finale, which will be released tomorrow. I don't want to give it away, but I had a laugh-out-loud moment near the end of Act Two. Neil Patrick Harris is an undeniably talented actor and I never knew that Nathan Fillion could play such a smarmy character with such conviction. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Nathan Fillion, you may know him from his Han Solo-esqe character on the short-lived Fox show Firefly, or the follow-up movie Serenity. Both Firefly and Serenity sprung from the brain of sci-fi genius Joss Whedon, who also happened to produce Dr. Horrible. Oh, he also had a hand in two other mildly successful TV series, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel.
7.17.2008
Colbert on Bud
It's Thursday and I've been running around all week. So, I'm behind on my TV watching, and I missed this great bit by our friend Stephen Colbert on the A-B buyout.
7.13.2008
Anheuser-Busch InBev
That's the reported new name of what will be the largest brewer in the world. Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, and other news agencies reported the news this evening. Personally, I'm pissed off about this deal, and I'm a shareholder. I used to work for Anheuser-Busch and I have less than 200 shares, but I could care less about the money. I"m watching the local news and they are describing some of the differences between A-B and InBev, most notably charitable donations. In the last 10 years, A-B has donated over $370 million to worldwide non-profit organizations. After skulking around InBev's website, I finally found a short five-page press release about community involvement. I really had to dig for it, though, so it's more than obvious, at least to me, that charitable giving is not high on the companies list.
I'll write more later when more details are released about the buyout.
I'll write more later when more details are released about the buyout.
7.12.2008
Dr. Horrible
I love the internet. I love Neil Patrick Harris, most notably as Barney Stinson or as himself in the Harold and Kumar movies. I love Joss Whedon and all of his TV creations. Therefore, I will love Dr. Horrible. Kristin Dos Santos from E! has a detailed article about this straight-to-web series.
Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.
Rugrats
Let's start the post with this disclaimer: I love kids. I love other people's kids and knowing that I don't have to take them home. Does that sound too cruel? That's just an honest fact. Today I attended a birthday party for a very cute and sassy two year old.
The birthday girl, Amelia, is not in the picture, but trying to get seven kids in the picture represented the afternoon very well. As a couple of the adults noted, getting kids to sit down at a party for a group picture is similar to herding cats. I wish that I had stopped laughing long enough to take some video of this particular episode. The rest of the party was fun and there were no major meltdowns from the kids.
At first, I admit that I was wary about this party, but I'm glad that I attended. All of the kids were super cute, especially the birthday girl, and two years old is a pretty freaking funny age. Well, at least the rugrats are funny to people like me, who does not have a child. The party also confirmed that I am not ready to have kids of my own, at least not in the near future. I can handle my nieces and nephew very well, but I think that's because they are family. Like I stated early, I love kids, but I admit that I'm selfish enough to enjoy having this time in my life to myself.
A couple years ago, I felt a little weird about a lot, and I mean a lot, of my friends having babies. It felt like being left out of a club. But now, I am loving the life I have now. I like hanging out with my single gal friends. I enjoy being able to go to a baseball game at the last minute. I love staying at home on a Saturday night and not really caring if that's the cool thing to do. Oh, and I love my new Wii, but that's for another post. :^D
The birthday girl, Amelia, is not in the picture, but trying to get seven kids in the picture represented the afternoon very well. As a couple of the adults noted, getting kids to sit down at a party for a group picture is similar to herding cats. I wish that I had stopped laughing long enough to take some video of this particular episode. The rest of the party was fun and there were no major meltdowns from the kids.
At first, I admit that I was wary about this party, but I'm glad that I attended. All of the kids were super cute, especially the birthday girl, and two years old is a pretty freaking funny age. Well, at least the rugrats are funny to people like me, who does not have a child. The party also confirmed that I am not ready to have kids of my own, at least not in the near future. I can handle my nieces and nephew very well, but I think that's because they are family. Like I stated early, I love kids, but I admit that I'm selfish enough to enjoy having this time in my life to myself.
A couple years ago, I felt a little weird about a lot, and I mean a lot, of my friends having babies. It felt like being left out of a club. But now, I am loving the life I have now. I like hanging out with my single gal friends. I enjoy being able to go to a baseball game at the last minute. I love staying at home on a Saturday night and not really caring if that's the cool thing to do. Oh, and I love my new Wii, but that's for another post. :^D
7.09.2008
Pet Peeve #3
It's been raining a lot here in the Midwest, and every time it does, I amazed by how many people do not turn on their headlights. For example, this evening, around 6:30, we had a strong thunderstorm. The sky was fairly dark and the wind was blowing the rain all over the place. In the short seven-mile drive from my parent's house to my condo, I counted 10 cars that did not have their headlights on. I'm thinking about posting a sign on my side window that reads "Turn on your headlights, idiot!"
7.07.2008
Summer Movie Blockbusters
I'm really only looking forward to two summer movie blockbusters, The X-Files: I Want to Believe and The Dark Knight. A couple months ago, I was excited about Indiana Jones, but I was a little underwhelmed when I finally saw it.
Pet Peeve #2
I spend a lot of time at my desk at work. To kill the monotony, I surf the web and try to keep up with the latest news around the world. I've discovered that I'm particularly bothered by the ability to leave comments on news stories. I like to read the straight news. I don't want to know what Joe Smith thinks about about the garbage crisis in Naples, Italy. Our society lives by hair-trigger responses and news agencies are feeding our desires to give our two cents ON EVERYTHING. That's why we created blogs, right? We have a controlled venue for our family and friends to keep up with our random thoughts and not-so-random daily activities. Why would I want to leave my opinion open to potential criticism and heartburn by perfect strangers?
7.06.2008
Breakfast at Wimbledon
I woke up early at 8 AM to watch the Men's Wimbledon final. That's early for a Sunday. The match just ended around 3:30 PM. Three rain delays, 5 sets, and almost half a day later, Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer. It's been awhile since I actually sat down to watch a Grand Slam tennis match all the way through. This one was epic. Nadal won the first two sets fairly easily, but Federer fought back to make it a 5-set match. Some time in the near future, I would like to see the Wimbledon tournament in person. Going to the US Open in NYC might be more realistic, but I think traveling to London would be much cooler. =)
7.01.2008
Do a little dance...
Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.
The original post is at Where the Hell is Matt.
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