It is very cool now.
Why?
Because 'Homicide: Life On the Street' is currently airing at this moment on TNT. Admittedly, it part of a 'Law and Order' two-parter, but I don't care. It's great to see Munch in his natural habitat again and the old gang-Bayliss (how about that Kyle Secor and the roster of jerks he's played lately including the guy on 'Grey's Anatomy' who needed a kidney and cheated on his wife who happened to be a match), Giardello, Pembleton (who I can totally identify with), Howard, Lewis and Russert.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
The new Masterpiece Theater season
Tonight, Masterpiece Theater features something from it's 'Classic' series, The tale is 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles,' which was written by Thomas Hardy and published in 1897. It drew much criticism as its heroine had premarital sex and was still portrayed as sympathetic.
I wish I could be more excited or engaged about this story since Hardy wrote such powerful stories. I suppose I feel that since Masterpiece Theater has changed reinvented itself over the past two years, that it could broaden its scope of stories that it presents. A very popular series of recent years for PBS has been African-American Lives, presented by noted scholar Henry Louis Gates, who in the 1980s helped to publish great literary works of Black Women through the Oxford University Press. I am puzzled why none of those stories make it to Masterpiece Theater. Why not a story like 'Our Nig' or 'Iola Leroy' or 'Contending Forces'?
For Masterpiece Contemporary, there are no dearth of titles either. PBS saw fit to air the Tony Hillerman adaptations, which were fairly faithful and no less entertaining. There are other such stories out there.
It may seem as if I am advocating for more productions to be aired that feature more people of colour as central characters rather than sidekicks or magical Negros or creatures to be rescued or worse yet, invisible. You would be correct. May some of these stories are coming down the pipe. If they are, I take exception to them being aired during certain times of the year. Not all stories or issues having to do with African Americans need to be aired in February, just like all stories having to do with Native Americans don't need to be only aired in November.
I know that money is tight for PBS. I do feel that if we stop being spoon fed these stories which are just more whiter shades of pale, that when PBS stations ask for pledges, more people will be willing to give because they will see that their diversity message is not lip service after all.
I wish I could be more excited or engaged about this story since Hardy wrote such powerful stories. I suppose I feel that since Masterpiece Theater has changed reinvented itself over the past two years, that it could broaden its scope of stories that it presents. A very popular series of recent years for PBS has been African-American Lives, presented by noted scholar Henry Louis Gates, who in the 1980s helped to publish great literary works of Black Women through the Oxford University Press. I am puzzled why none of those stories make it to Masterpiece Theater. Why not a story like 'Our Nig' or 'Iola Leroy' or 'Contending Forces'?
For Masterpiece Contemporary, there are no dearth of titles either. PBS saw fit to air the Tony Hillerman adaptations, which were fairly faithful and no less entertaining. There are other such stories out there.
It may seem as if I am advocating for more productions to be aired that feature more people of colour as central characters rather than sidekicks or magical Negros or creatures to be rescued or worse yet, invisible. You would be correct. May some of these stories are coming down the pipe. If they are, I take exception to them being aired during certain times of the year. Not all stories or issues having to do with African Americans need to be aired in February, just like all stories having to do with Native Americans don't need to be only aired in November.
I know that money is tight for PBS. I do feel that if we stop being spoon fed these stories which are just more whiter shades of pale, that when PBS stations ask for pledges, more people will be willing to give because they will see that their diversity message is not lip service after all.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Texas Ranch House
While catching up on writing, I listened in on some of the tapes I had. One tape I watched was the Texas Ranch House, one of many of what I call 'history reality series' that were popular in the mid-2000s. As I watched this unfold, I am always astonished at the delusions of the participants, especially the women. What did they think it was going to be?
Life in the past was TOUGH. People had a little fun, but life was always about work. I think for many of us in the 20th and 21st centuries, our only concept of history is what we see in tv and in movies-usually fictionalized. 'Bonanza,' the popular tv western series that aired from 1959-1973, was notable for not having women as regulars on the show. I am guessing because it would have had to show the actual work these women had to do, which was routine and necessary, but not as cool as the Cartwright boys taking down cattle thieves or traveling to San Francisco for fun. 'Big Valley,' which aired from 1965-1969 wasn't that that much better, though at times Victoria Barkley showed that she did not mind getting her hands dirty when she needed to.
I thought is was interesting when one of the assessors who judged the progress of the group at the Texas Ranch House, noted that the women spent more time at the more interesting crafts, but not at the routine, unglamorous and necessary chores. A running theme I keep find as I watch many of these shows is that people underestimate how much work that went into simple living and when it came to household management, that was the exclusive domain of women. I often found it funny that there were men in those periods writing on how fragile women were, though they failed to consider how much muscle it takes to haul water, to get up and cook and clean and watch over gardens and keep accounts and be on hand to help out when needed-in addition to making home comfortable and welcoming AND raising the children.
I was really disgusted with the way the men treated the women on this show. Not so much because of the gender roles, but because the men seemed to treated the women in a way that not even the hierarchical, chauvinistic men of that era would have treated the women. I also felt that while the cowboys were correct in that they were essential to the ranch, they still worked for the ranch owner and his family. They were still hired help. The behaviour of the colonel in the early minutes of the series, was actually not that far off from how they would have been bossed. And sure, these are 21st century people essentially bringing 21st century experience to the project. However, they sign on to at least try to authentically portray life in a certain period and they needed to accept certain truths. One of them was that it was hard work all the time and the questioning orders thing so common to 21st century life did not exist in that period. You knew your place on the totem pole and if you didn't like it, you could leave, but there wasn't always a job waiting around the bend. Also word of mouth was quite strong and if you developed a reputation as someone who couldn't follow orders and was a troublemaker, your prospects were slimmer still.
The owner of the ranch made some key mistakes in judgment. The two largest ones having to do with his handling of two major incidents that dealt with the hired hands.
The first was the firing of the colonel. Granted if you make certain rules and establish consequences once they are broken, you must be prepared to follow through if the situation arises. I felt that Mr. Cooke, in haste to establish his authority, clearly fired the wrong man as subsequent episodes in this series showed. He let go of a man, who will he was not everyon'e pal, got things done and dealt fairly with the hired hands. He also knew where he was in the hierarchy and acted accordingly. I was surprised that he got into a fist fight with Nacho as I thought he was smarter than that. However, the more I saw of Nacho, the more I could understand how even someone with discipline, could be driven to take a poke at him. Nacho went onto make everyone miserable, even serving rancid food and no food to the hired hands. He also maintained unsanitary conditions in his kitchen. There was one exchange between Mrs. Cooke and Nacho concerning the kitchen, where if I had been there, Mr. Cooke would have had to break up another fight. I know that while he was talking over me, I would have made clear-he works for us and if I need to know what the cookhouse is like or need to assess their food stores, the only words out of his mouth I would want to hear are, "This way, ma'am." If, it was not appropriate for me to as a 19th century married woman to confront Nacho in this way, you better believe Mr. Cooke better be done there and let him know that it was his way or the high way. While hired hands and cooks could be hard to come by, they were not impossible to get. Mr. Cooke waited too long to dispense with Nacho and as a result allowed him to cause considerable damage to the running of the ranch.
The second mistake was in not trading the cattle for his hired hand. As the assessors concurred, Mr. Cooke should have given the head of cattle (the Comanche chief was actually not negotiating hard at all) and had them go out and find new cattle, which though tough was not impossible. By not trading for the hired hand, Cooke sent the message loud and clear to the others whose respect for him was already shaky, that they did not matter. The issue concerning this hired hand's horse was ridiculous. Another example of Cooke fighting the wrong battle. As I understood it, the hired hand, who happened to be the hostage of the Comanche, had already paid for his horse outright, so it belonged to him. When Mr. Cooke traded horses for his release, he had to understand that this situation happened more often than not and to say to a person, "well I'm going to take your horse as payment for your life" was really stupid and thoughtless. Then he threatens to beat this guy up if he takes the horse. I wondered where this vinegar was when other situations that required that came up. He not only lost the battle, but the war since the rest of the hired hands left in solidarity.
I've noticed that except for the 'Jane Austen dating club' show, there have not been any more reality shows produced or at least that have aired on PBS. Maybe many people realize that the past is the past and while it's good to know it and learn from it, going back to it knowing what we know now is often times a mistake.
I was not surprised when the assessors determined that the ranch would have failed.
Life in the past was TOUGH. People had a little fun, but life was always about work. I think for many of us in the 20th and 21st centuries, our only concept of history is what we see in tv and in movies-usually fictionalized. 'Bonanza,' the popular tv western series that aired from 1959-1973, was notable for not having women as regulars on the show. I am guessing because it would have had to show the actual work these women had to do, which was routine and necessary, but not as cool as the Cartwright boys taking down cattle thieves or traveling to San Francisco for fun. 'Big Valley,' which aired from 1965-1969 wasn't that that much better, though at times Victoria Barkley showed that she did not mind getting her hands dirty when she needed to.
I thought is was interesting when one of the assessors who judged the progress of the group at the Texas Ranch House, noted that the women spent more time at the more interesting crafts, but not at the routine, unglamorous and necessary chores. A running theme I keep find as I watch many of these shows is that people underestimate how much work that went into simple living and when it came to household management, that was the exclusive domain of women. I often found it funny that there were men in those periods writing on how fragile women were, though they failed to consider how much muscle it takes to haul water, to get up and cook and clean and watch over gardens and keep accounts and be on hand to help out when needed-in addition to making home comfortable and welcoming AND raising the children.
I was really disgusted with the way the men treated the women on this show. Not so much because of the gender roles, but because the men seemed to treated the women in a way that not even the hierarchical, chauvinistic men of that era would have treated the women. I also felt that while the cowboys were correct in that they were essential to the ranch, they still worked for the ranch owner and his family. They were still hired help. The behaviour of the colonel in the early minutes of the series, was actually not that far off from how they would have been bossed. And sure, these are 21st century people essentially bringing 21st century experience to the project. However, they sign on to at least try to authentically portray life in a certain period and they needed to accept certain truths. One of them was that it was hard work all the time and the questioning orders thing so common to 21st century life did not exist in that period. You knew your place on the totem pole and if you didn't like it, you could leave, but there wasn't always a job waiting around the bend. Also word of mouth was quite strong and if you developed a reputation as someone who couldn't follow orders and was a troublemaker, your prospects were slimmer still.
The owner of the ranch made some key mistakes in judgment. The two largest ones having to do with his handling of two major incidents that dealt with the hired hands.
The first was the firing of the colonel. Granted if you make certain rules and establish consequences once they are broken, you must be prepared to follow through if the situation arises. I felt that Mr. Cooke, in haste to establish his authority, clearly fired the wrong man as subsequent episodes in this series showed. He let go of a man, who will he was not everyon'e pal, got things done and dealt fairly with the hired hands. He also knew where he was in the hierarchy and acted accordingly. I was surprised that he got into a fist fight with Nacho as I thought he was smarter than that. However, the more I saw of Nacho, the more I could understand how even someone with discipline, could be driven to take a poke at him. Nacho went onto make everyone miserable, even serving rancid food and no food to the hired hands. He also maintained unsanitary conditions in his kitchen. There was one exchange between Mrs. Cooke and Nacho concerning the kitchen, where if I had been there, Mr. Cooke would have had to break up another fight. I know that while he was talking over me, I would have made clear-he works for us and if I need to know what the cookhouse is like or need to assess their food stores, the only words out of his mouth I would want to hear are, "This way, ma'am." If, it was not appropriate for me to as a 19th century married woman to confront Nacho in this way, you better believe Mr. Cooke better be done there and let him know that it was his way or the high way. While hired hands and cooks could be hard to come by, they were not impossible to get. Mr. Cooke waited too long to dispense with Nacho and as a result allowed him to cause considerable damage to the running of the ranch.
The second mistake was in not trading the cattle for his hired hand. As the assessors concurred, Mr. Cooke should have given the head of cattle (the Comanche chief was actually not negotiating hard at all) and had them go out and find new cattle, which though tough was not impossible. By not trading for the hired hand, Cooke sent the message loud and clear to the others whose respect for him was already shaky, that they did not matter. The issue concerning this hired hand's horse was ridiculous. Another example of Cooke fighting the wrong battle. As I understood it, the hired hand, who happened to be the hostage of the Comanche, had already paid for his horse outright, so it belonged to him. When Mr. Cooke traded horses for his release, he had to understand that this situation happened more often than not and to say to a person, "well I'm going to take your horse as payment for your life" was really stupid and thoughtless. Then he threatens to beat this guy up if he takes the horse. I wondered where this vinegar was when other situations that required that came up. He not only lost the battle, but the war since the rest of the hired hands left in solidarity.
I've noticed that except for the 'Jane Austen dating club' show, there have not been any more reality shows produced or at least that have aired on PBS. Maybe many people realize that the past is the past and while it's good to know it and learn from it, going back to it knowing what we know now is often times a mistake.
I was not surprised when the assessors determined that the ranch would have failed.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
How To Think Like A Nonprofit Social Media Genius
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
Monday, December 15, 2008
thoughtLEADERS, LLC Blog: Do Anything! Just Do It Now! - The 10th Leadership Principle
Ah yes, this was a blog post that caught my attention. Anytime someone can find leadership principles from a story like 'The Outsiders," that is a post worth reading.
The post can be found here:
thoughtLEADERS, LLC Blog: Do Anything! Just Do It Now! - The 10th Leadership Principle
I pretty much agreed with his analysis though I barely got through the movie. I know the scenes he referenced primarily through the book, which I can recite pretty much by heart.
Regarding making 'sounder' decisions: don't know that Ponyboy or Johnny could have made a sounder decision not to go in after the kids. A recurring theme in many of SE Hinton's books is the fact that adults tend to be kinda impotent and when things need to be done, they choose not to act or act in a way that they think they are supposed to without realizing how useless they really are. Even misanthropic Dallas Winston went after Johnny and tried to do something.
Also we do forget that Pony was all of 14 when he made many of his decisions in this story-some good and some less good (much to the frustration of his oldest brother Darry, who I personally think he had more in common with than he realized at the time, but I view that from the perspective of an adult well over 18, than the 11 year old I was when I first read the story and wanted Darry to lay off Ponyboy.) Given some of the background of many of the characters, it is a wonder that they made some of sound decisions they did. I liked the fact that again and again it was shown Ponyboy and his friends demonstrated how decent they basically, even if some of the gang demonstrated less than decent behaviour at times.
I sometimes think that the reason that some people wish they were young again is because it seems that youth can be as decisive and actionable as Ponyboy and Johnny. Maybe, maybe not. I think that we do well to see how and where in our lives we can make sound decisions and take decisive action.
After all, the greasers can't have all the fun, can they?
The post can be found here:
thoughtLEADERS, LLC Blog: Do Anything! Just Do It Now! - The 10th Leadership Principle
I pretty much agreed with his analysis though I barely got through the movie. I know the scenes he referenced primarily through the book, which I can recite pretty much by heart.
Regarding making 'sounder' decisions: don't know that Ponyboy or Johnny could have made a sounder decision not to go in after the kids. A recurring theme in many of SE Hinton's books is the fact that adults tend to be kinda impotent and when things need to be done, they choose not to act or act in a way that they think they are supposed to without realizing how useless they really are. Even misanthropic Dallas Winston went after Johnny and tried to do something.
Also we do forget that Pony was all of 14 when he made many of his decisions in this story-some good and some less good (much to the frustration of his oldest brother Darry, who I personally think he had more in common with than he realized at the time, but I view that from the perspective of an adult well over 18, than the 11 year old I was when I first read the story and wanted Darry to lay off Ponyboy.) Given some of the background of many of the characters, it is a wonder that they made some of sound decisions they did. I liked the fact that again and again it was shown Ponyboy and his friends demonstrated how decent they basically, even if some of the gang demonstrated less than decent behaviour at times.
I sometimes think that the reason that some people wish they were young again is because it seems that youth can be as decisive and actionable as Ponyboy and Johnny. Maybe, maybe not. I think that we do well to see how and where in our lives we can make sound decisions and take decisive action.
After all, the greasers can't have all the fun, can they?
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Google Search and the word that sounds like 'Delores'
Admittedly I've never really had a reason to google this word, but I agree that considering all of the other more disturbing things that a casual Google search can turn up, I would think that the 'word that rhymes with Delores' would be the least of their worries:
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/12/05/is-google-sexist
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/12/05/is-google-sexist
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Jane Austen's first Law of Blogging
I saw this at Austen Blog and thought that it was not just adorable, but practical advice:
http://www.austenblog.com/jane-austens-first-law-of-blogging/
http://www.austenblog.com/jane-austens-first-law-of-blogging/
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Review: The Tale of the Dark Crystal
The Tale of the Dark Crystal by Donna Bass My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews
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