Finally hit the big time

Holy crap! 

There's an honest to goodness comment on here from somebody I don't know directly! (yeah, it doesn't take much to get me excited... I didn't think anybody read this damned thing, INCLUDING the people I know) 

Anyhoo, pay a visit to the fine proprietor of the Lesbian Movie Guide where they obviously have excellent taste in the selection of blogs they choose to read. ;-)

The World Unseen

The World Unseen is the heart-rending tale of forbidden love set within the confines of Indian culture during 1950's apartheid South Africa.

Shamim Sarif spins a web of enduring hope offset by emotionally and physically brutal reality that, while telling a thoroughly absorbing fictional tale also marches through prejudice and tradition of all kinds illustrating the fallacies behind them.

Is one race of people really worth less than another. Why does a person (in Indian culture) go through with an arranged marriage. Why is it that love is unacceptable depending on the race or gender of the people involved.

The story follows the lives of two Indian women. Amina, a successful business woman who is largely seen as an outcast amongst the Indian community as she very much has a mind of her own about the direction her life should take. In stark contrast, Miriam is married with three children and has always been obedient as appropriate to her extended family and to her husband from an arranged marriage. Upon first meeting, there is an instant and mutual attraction between the two women, and we are taken on an emotional journey through the delicate and treacherous development of their relationship.

For those looking for cheap thrills, this isn't some kind of lesbian smut novel. The building relationship is handled with all the time, care, and often heart-breaking sentiment one would expect in a realistic setting, not the stuff of waving fields of grass and hair flowing in the breeze. Sarif wrote a really great book here, and I'd highly recommend it.

fini

Finally wrapped up the dramatic conclusion of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials story with The Amber Spyglass. Despite the complexity of the story, it all wrapped up pretty well and overall Materials made for a good and interesting read, and I'd highly recommend it.

Mr. Pullman would seem to have really had some really sweet timing in terms of the release of these books. Harry Potter was all the rage, and while the Christian community was up in arms over those, His Dark Materials slid into the public consciousness garnering awards and gaining a devoted following with material far more confrontational to the Christian ideology. That said, the uprising over Potter didn't make much sense to me (this is fiction people) and had they attacked Materials, that wouldn't have made much sense either (still fiction after all). I'll say this again. If your faith is such that it can be challenged and overthrown by a work of fiction, perhaps it wasn't that strong to begin with and you may need to be asking yourself more probing questions than "was it Pullman or Rowling leading me astray".

I digress...

The Amber Spyglass is the summation of a story about the very nature and building blocks of human existence told largely through the eyes of the two coming-of-age characters Lyra and Will. Their tale crosses through multiple worlds all operating in parallel and contains a rich and diverse collection of supporting characters. Pullman lays out an interesting take on life, love, creation, and death that makes for a really compelling and absorbing story. We have animal civilizations, angels, ghosts, witches, and new creatures of Pullman's invention. Much like the worlds inhabited in the story, Pullman's writing brings everything together with a sense of precision and intent.

Why are we over there???

Michael Moore knows how to make an entertaining documentary. The common response from folks who don't care for his films are that his movies carry all manner of leftist liberal bias, etc, etc. Imagine that. The guy sets out to make a movie illustrating a particular point, then goes ahead and finds supporting bits to help make said point. Why this surprises critics is beyond me. Were he to set out on his journey and find naught but the most tenuous of threads, well, his career would've been cut short long ago due to lack of interest.

So, Fahrenheit 9/11 takes a look at the September 11 tragedy and subsequent war with Iraq and asks some (in my opinion) great questions that are as yet unanswered to my knowledge. For example, what is the real reason the U.S. and the "coalition of countries with no military of their own" worked so hard to try and make a case for going to war with Iraq??? All "Michael Moore is a left wing idiot" arguments aside (and ignored), what is the answer to this fundamental question? The U.S. declared war on another sovereign nation, and that's a very grave decision, so you would think we would have a very straight forward and clear reason, yet after all this time, we don't. Was Saddam Hussein a bad guy? You bet. He was a terrible human being and a tyrant. Is that the reason then? Did we rush in to save these people from a bad man out of the goodness of our hearts? Most definitely not. Were that the case, there are far more troubled countries we could've "helped." (Darfur? Somalia?) 

My best guess would be for the money and the opportunity, whilst folks are distracted by the war, to manipulate the various laws in place for various nefarious purposes. Many of the people involved had gobs of money and power, but unfortunately enough is never enough and this was an opportunity to seize even more, and all at the expense of massive civilian casualties, leaving their country in utter ruin, and putting the brave men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces in unnecessary and extremely dangerous conditions.

Unfortunately, the war still rages and the people responsible for it are not being held accountable (yet anyway). The troops deserve our full support, and sometimes that support comes in the form of bringing them home.

I'd highly recommend Fahrenheit 9/11 for viewing.

On a lighter note, I received a copy of Flight of the Conchords: The Distant Future, and it's good stuff. FotC is one of the funniest acts to come out of New Zealand. Ironically, they've had much greater success overseas in the U.S. than they have in their homeland. Also, though I personally find them hilarious, I can see how their sense of humor doesn't necessarily appeal to everyone. Certainly preview their stuff on YouTube or somewhere, and if you like what you hear, this album may be for you.