This past week Dubya stood before Congress and recited his address and phone number. Just kidding, he keeps that information written down on a memo pad in his pocket. Instead, he gave his last ever State of the Union Address. Check out the speech, given here in 60 seconds.
Actually, I've been following news on the primaries as best as I can. I haven't had the time to listen to all the debates, but have tried to follow commentary about the race. I read the Japan Times at work and articles online, and also download a podcast of Political Junkie by Ken Rudin on NPR, which is quite good.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
A post about Martha Stuart
Did you know that Martha Stuart was in court again last year for trying to trademark the name of a village in New York state?
Did you also know that Martha Stuart recently came to Japan? I don't know if she's planning to name any new lines of clothing or furniture after a small town in Japan, or start some Martha Stuart Kimono brand, but she did post about her trip on her blog (HERE). Apparently she spent time in Kyoto and Tokyo in November, and during that time she visited the Miho Museum!
Miho Museum is one of my favorite places in Japan. I was a bit surprised that when I went there, I was scolded for trying to take pictures of the artwork, but there are plenty of pictures on Martha's blog of her posing in front of lots of artworks. Then again, she went there with the founder, owners as well as the architect, I.M. Pei.
Martha Stewart is attempting to trademark the name Katonah for use on a line of furniture and home products. The name comes form the New York town she resides in, and is named after a beloved 17th century Native American tribal chief. Residents of the town say that no one should own the name, and one has written a protest song that is gaining mainstream attention. Will she trademark the name anyway?(BizWeek Article here)(Wiki entry here)
Did you also know that Martha Stuart recently came to Japan? I don't know if she's planning to name any new lines of clothing or furniture after a small town in Japan, or start some Martha Stuart Kimono brand, but she did post about her trip on her blog (HERE). Apparently she spent time in Kyoto and Tokyo in November, and during that time she visited the Miho Museum!
Miho Museum is one of my favorite places in Japan. I was a bit surprised that when I went there, I was scolded for trying to take pictures of the artwork, but there are plenty of pictures on Martha's blog of her posing in front of lots of artworks. Then again, she went there with the founder, owners as well as the architect, I.M. Pei.
Can you spell copyright?
Just in case you couldn't get enough of Free Rice, here's another way to dedicate a few hours of your life: Scrabulous.com
Just hurry up, because Hasbro has been alerted to the site since it became widely popularized on Facebook, and is gearing up for a lawsuit. Hear more on that from NPR:
The End of Scrabulous? (Jan 14)
and here: Hasbro Urged to Buy Rogue Scrabble Site (Jan 15)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
You stupid #%&!, I can't believe she did that!
I was halfway through the second season of Grey's Anatomy when I realized that I pretty much hated all the characters in the show (i.e. after Meredith slept with George). In some cases, television presents us with characters and situations we can relate to somehow, and the writers strive to bring things around to a basic theme that can often be inspiring. However, I found myself feeling that the theme of "just be yourself" on Grey's Anatomy was being diluted by all the unbridled emotional infancy most of the characters were displaying. But then again, maybe it's not the characters or the writers. Maybe it's me.
In most situations on television, it is always best to level the playing field in the end. The characters strive for a higher standard. They come around and realize that life's biggest tangles are often ones they have constructed for themselves.
And the sad thing is, I can appreciate this kind of message that one should: Live life to its fullest. The writers suggest being a "doer" in life, taking risks in order to beat the odds, and brushing yourself off to fight again if you have a misstep.
The ever-so elegant illusion that is Scripted Acting is that all of the characters are able to engage others with great conviction. In television, people respect what the other characters stand for, accept them for who they are, engage them in solutions for progress, all within about 42 minutes after the commercial breaks. Putting aside the fact that DVD boxed sets might spare us from commercial advertising, in real life things are not resolved in 42 minutes and themes do not develop in seasons of twenty-something episodes.
Unfortunately, this fact is all so painfully obvious to most of us, which could very well be the reason we just want to plop down on the sofa once in a while and divulge ourselves in a drama that seems to resolve itself. Just as you can feel you don't like all the characters in a television show, sometimes the same thing happens in real life. You can't believe a friend or relative is acting a certain way and you wish they'd just snap out of it. You feel some acquaintance is practically wearing his or her faults on their sleeve, and that person is so naive. You imagine a better script for situations somehow connected to your life, and you try to cope with the fact that someone decided to finalize a very different turn of events.
And then we place our stethoscope upon our own chests and ask ourselves: Am I the sort of main character I would write into a television series? Putting Sandra Oh's frantic drive for success aside and Patrick Dempsey's hair out of our minds for a moment, a good main character is troubled, divided and always has some glaring fault. We create our own personalities based on a perception of what the ideal main character should be in any given situation. But in the end, we do slip up, we give into our faults, we feel divided, and somehow we don't possess that conviction that comes with scripted lines. And at that point, it is time to recognize that we might not like the script that the people on the screen in front of us are reading, but it really is up to us to write a better one.
And for what it's worth, by the season finale of most shows, I'm usually still planning to watch the next one. Yeah, you know, we're all suckers for television.
In most situations on television, it is always best to level the playing field in the end. The characters strive for a higher standard. They come around and realize that life's biggest tangles are often ones they have constructed for themselves.
And the sad thing is, I can appreciate this kind of message that one should: Live life to its fullest. The writers suggest being a "doer" in life, taking risks in order to beat the odds, and brushing yourself off to fight again if you have a misstep.
The ever-so elegant illusion that is Scripted Acting is that all of the characters are able to engage others with great conviction. In television, people respect what the other characters stand for, accept them for who they are, engage them in solutions for progress, all within about 42 minutes after the commercial breaks. Putting aside the fact that DVD boxed sets might spare us from commercial advertising, in real life things are not resolved in 42 minutes and themes do not develop in seasons of twenty-something episodes.
Unfortunately, this fact is all so painfully obvious to most of us, which could very well be the reason we just want to plop down on the sofa once in a while and divulge ourselves in a drama that seems to resolve itself. Just as you can feel you don't like all the characters in a television show, sometimes the same thing happens in real life. You can't believe a friend or relative is acting a certain way and you wish they'd just snap out of it. You feel some acquaintance is practically wearing his or her faults on their sleeve, and that person is so naive. You imagine a better script for situations somehow connected to your life, and you try to cope with the fact that someone decided to finalize a very different turn of events.
And then we place our stethoscope upon our own chests and ask ourselves: Am I the sort of main character I would write into a television series? Putting Sandra Oh's frantic drive for success aside and Patrick Dempsey's hair out of our minds for a moment, a good main character is troubled, divided and always has some glaring fault. We create our own personalities based on a perception of what the ideal main character should be in any given situation. But in the end, we do slip up, we give into our faults, we feel divided, and somehow we don't possess that conviction that comes with scripted lines. And at that point, it is time to recognize that we might not like the script that the people on the screen in front of us are reading, but it really is up to us to write a better one.
And for what it's worth, by the season finale of most shows, I'm usually still planning to watch the next one. Yeah, you know, we're all suckers for television.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
