116 posts from 2009

My father called my sister last week and left her a voicemail that went something along the lines of this:

Oh hi S, just calling to see if I could catch you today.  I'm going up to Sam's Club to pick up a pie.  Hopefully I can talk to you later.  I love you very much.  Oh, by the way H.J. was given six months to live. [click]

Sigh.  That's my father for ya.  Of course, Sister and I always joke about his ineptitude at delivering bad news - or any news for that matter, and this was no exception, however, I am really saddened by this revelation.

I did talk to dad yesterday and got the whole story on H.J.  H.J. is a friend of our dad's from way back when.  I always was fond of H.J., he never talked down to Sister or me (as some adults do when you're a kid) and he has a couple of sons who were a lot of fun to hang out with when we all got together.  

He served in Vietnam and was exposed to Agent Orange...Agent Orange that is now going to take away his life from him while he's still in his 50's.  He was on a marrow transplant list, but they decided the other day to take him off of it and gave him 6 months to live.  Apparently the cancer has spread like wild fire, he even has lumps growing off of his back and under his arms.  

Apparently, the VA had to fight just to get the government to acknowledge that Agent Orange was the cause in order for him to secure the treatment he's had to date.  Of course, I don't have all the details on this piece of it, but why does it have to be this way?

The way our government treats our soldiers as disposable is deplorable.  I understand that it's a soldier's job to put his life on the line, but what about when that soldier survives the war?  Why aren't we taking better care of them?  These are the types of issues that have always severely bothered me in general, but now I see it happening to a family friend and it makes me ashamed, sad and utterly helpless.  By the end of my conversation with dad, who is also a Vietnam Vet, we were both crying.

Veterans deserve our attention every day, not just on a designated holiday.  Read the news, pay attention, write to your congresspersons and do what you can to ensure that not only are our soldiers treated fairly in the field, but that our veterans are taken care of for life.  It's the least we can do for what they do for us.

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION

I first discovered the Star Trek Universe in 5th grade in the form of The Next Generation.  I had obviously heard of the The Original Series, but had no interest in it whatsoever at that age.  I was one of those pre-teens with a massive crush on a young Wesley Crusher.  Of course, watching it as an adult I can see why most people at the time were not a fan of Crusher, clearly he was a device to lure in the kiddies, and, well, it worked!  My long-running crush on Wesley Crusher extended into high school where my friend Danielle and I used to giggle about him and Star Trek during choir.  I liked Danielle, we weren't exactly close friends, but Star Trek and our crush on Mr. Crusher were awesome things we could share with each other and not feel quite as nerdy as we truly were.

As a kid, I loved the holodecks, the transporters, the replicators and the muted mauve color scheme that was popular in the late 80's and early 90's but still seemed futuristic on the set.  I watched as much of the show as I could and remembered seeing the names Rick Berman and Brannon Braga in the credits and thinking what awesome guys they must be...  For all of you Trekkies out there who know me, I'll give you a second to digest that.  Give me a break, I was a kid and didn't understand the concept of quality yet.

As a growed up Valerae I have watched the full run of TNG, beginning to end, twice on vhs (thank you Columbia House and ebay!) and once on DVD.  It saddens me to say this, but after this last viewing I can honestly say that I could still live a fulfilling life and never watch all of TNG again.  That's not to say that I'd never like to revisit particular episodes at some point in time, but it seems like it would almost be torture to have to watch ALL of it ever again.  Hey, at least it will save me money on not having to buy those blu-rays!

It's hard to pinpoint exactly why I feel this way, but I'm sure I could come up with a couple of reasons as to why I'd never want to watch all of TNG again.  Let's give this a go:

• Rick Berman
• Brannon Braga
• Technobabble saving the day
• A dude in a garbage bag killing Tasha (although, that did at least get her and her terrible acting off of the show).

• Tasha sleeping with Data (slaps forehead), oy.
• Tasha's sister (are you seeing a trend with all things Tasha yet?)
  
• Camel toe

• Technobabble saving the day

• Where all the women at? (No, TWO women in an ensemble cast is not exactly representative of 51% of the population...and yes, I am aware that Tasha was really another woman in the cast, but does she really have to count?  I'd count Ro Laren before counting Tasha, but they never did do enough with her.)
• Deanna's useless sensations

• Bad Ferengi
• Q (I know, everyone loves Q and I used to as well, but I found him rather tiresome upon repeated encounters - much like the crew of the Enterprise)
• Wesley saving the day (absolutely loved it as a kid but it feels forced from an adult's perspective)
  
• Did I mention Technobabble saving the day?
• Scrubbing down the holodeck after Riker's been in there all day.

Here are the things that will keep me coming back to revisit a few specific episodes at the very least:

• Worf (do I even need a reason?  Worf is badass)
  
• The Inner Light (sob)

• Picard (in general)
• Riker's trombone (I'll let you decide if that's a euphemism or not)
• Michael Piller
• Ron Moore
• Alexander
• Lwaxana Troi

• Guinan
• Suzie Plakson 

Here we are about two decades out from my initial discovery of Trek and instead of having a crush on Wesley Crusher (because that would just be wrong), I have a crush on Wil Wheaton, the actor, writer, funnyman and all-around geek who played him.  I've been reading Wil's blog for a long damn time now and have most recently been enjoying his recaps of season 1 of TNG.  A few years ago he was commissioned to do write-ups of some episodes which were posted over at TV Squad.  He has recently turned this into a book which you can buy, it's called Memories of the Future, Volume I ...and even better than that, he's been doing a podcast on each episode called Memories of the Futurecast.  If you really want an insider's look into early TNG, this is a very fun and funny way to revisit the series.

And it's been a fun evening.  Finally finished the last of Trek.  Wrapped up the commentary on the Star Trek reboot a few minutes ago, so I guess that's officially it on that project (until the next film or until I get my hands on the blu-rays of TOS).  Wow, only took a year and a half.

Talked to Sister tonight.  She's had a tough week so let's all show her a bit of love.   I'm raising my glass of Stoli to you, Sis.

I got Mr. Val drunk tonight, which has been a riot.  Now the trick is to stay up for the next two hours because there's a Pink Floyd special on PBS in HD at 11.  Wish us luck - he's fucked up and I'm ready for bed.  Ha!  Sounds like we're definitely ready for Pink Floyd.

WTF Ticketbastard?  I got my Megadeth tickets, but I have no idea if they're any good or not.  On the Ticketmaster site, I said that I'd take the best available at any price level.  On the next page they had a seating chart BUT DIDN'T TELL ME WHERE MY SEATS WERE LOCATED.  WTF?  How can I decide if I'm going to drop $100+ on tickets if I don't even know where they're located???

I can see why Ticketmaster charges a convenience fee now.  Oh wait, no I can't.  What the hell kind of "service" are they operating?

/irritated

Sorry, I not only had to get that off my chest, but I wanted to push the period post down a little further.  God, all of this before coffee.  What is wrong with me?  Coffee first, Val.  Duh!  That will make everything better.

Holy cow, I'm so glad I hadn't already splurged on the Beatles Stereo Box set...it's been hovering around $177 for a while now and just came up as a lightning deal at Amazon at 2PM for $99.  It's 2:03 and 100% of them have been claimed.  I got mine - did you get yours?

The apple pie was done just after midnight.  Wine really slowed down that process, but it was a lot of fun!  Now it's bright and early and the pecan pie is cooking in the oven.  Mmmmm...pecan pie.  I used pre-made crusts this year (gasp) which makes the pecan pie prep time all of ten minutes.  I just hope it doesn't suck.

So while that's baking, I feel like blabbing.

Medusa seems like such a tragic figure to me.  There are many different versions of the Medusa story.  I would say that I'd consult my Bulfinch's Mythology, but I'd rather not.  What a dry and boring look at Mythology that was.  That thing reads like Cliff's Notes, but, hell, that's not even true because Cliff's Notes were generally interesting!

Anyway, back to the lady with the bad ass 'do. In ancient times Medusa was regarded as hideous to behold, but by the time the fifth century rolled around she was portrayed as both terrifying and beautiful.  According to Wiki, Ovid had written that Medusa was a beautiful woman who was raped by Poseiden.  That apparently pissed off Athena so much that she turned Medusa into a sight so terrible to behold that people who gazed upon her would turn to stone. 

So wait, hold up a minute.  Poseiden raped Medusa and Athena then took out her rage on... Medusa?  How fucked up is that, ladies?  Talk about a blame the victim mentality.  She must have been asking for it, right?  Those ancient Greeks were dicks.  Oh, and it's not just the ancient Greeks, you can count Ovid as part of that group of dicks as well - he thought Medusa's punishment was appropriate.  WTF?

Ok, now this is kind of funny and probably true.  Here's a snippet from Wiki:

2002's The Rape of Medusa in the Temple of Athena: Aspects of Triangulation in the Girl by Dr. Beth Seeley, analyzes Medusa's punishment for the “crime” of having been raped in Athena's temple as an outcome of the goddess' unresolved conflicts with her father, Zeus.

Sounds like my own therapist!

At least in the 70's she became a symbol of female rage.  Excellent.

Another interesting bit from Wiki is that Medusa has become a symbol of truth and scientific determinism in contrast with romantic idealism.  In this interpretation, looking into Medusa's eyes represents the "depressing reality that the universe is meaningless".  This is illustrated by Jack London in the Mutiny of the Elsinore.

I cannot help remembering a remark of De Casseres. It was over the wine in Mouquin's. Said he: "The profoundest instinct in man is to war against the truth; that is, against the Real. He shuns facts from his infancy. His life is a perpetual evasion. Miracle, chimera and to-morrow keep him alive. He lives on fiction and myth. It is the Lie that makes him free. Animals alone are given the privilege of lifting the veil of Isis; men dare not. The animal, awake, has no fictional escape from the Real because he has no imagination. Man, awake, is compelled to seek a perpetual escape into Hope, Belief, Fable, Art, God, Socialism, Immortality, Alcohol, Love. From Medusa-Truth he makes an appeal to Maya-Lie."

Alright folks, the pie is done, enough of this silliness.  Happy Turkey Day to everyone!

Here we go, the start of a much needed four day weekend.  I realized late last night that my pie plates are down in Albany.  D'oh!  I eventually found a grocery store with disposable pie plates, phew.  Now it's pushing 8 and I still need to get started.  The wine has been opened and Mr. Val has volunteered to help.  Wish us luck!

How about a bit of music to get us started?

...to Sister.

Sister, you truly are as glamorous and fabulous as the lovely Miss Madonna in this video.

I heard the cat out in the kitchen furiously lapping something up.  When I ran out there to see what it was, I saw her face buried in 12-hour-old raw egg that had been used to coat pork chops last night.  As soon as I approached, she shook her head about, flinging raw pork-infected egg all around the kitchen and even into her fur. 

Usually I dump my egg dish and rinse the bowl immediately but she's never expressed interest in eggs so I didn't think it would be an issue if it waited until Mr. Val got around to dishes (which would be sometime this morning). 

Now I'm just waiting for the vomit that is sure to follow this binging event.  Oh lovely, she's sitting on my lap and the very moment I finished that sentence her stomach began to gurgle.  Wee.

I finally got around to giving the new Pearl Jam a good listen this weekend.  Sat down with the album art and lyrics and really listened to it.  I didn't feel an immediate connection to every song on a musical level the way I did when I first heard Ten or Yield or their self-titled, Pearl Jam...but the lyrics are another story.  It's by far their most personal album to date.  While Eddie's lyrics have always been personal and there have have been occasional songs about interpersonal relationships, they've typically been more in story form. These sound like they are really coming from a place of experience in relationships.  The songs on Backspacer seem deeply personal and despite the short length of the album, the lyrics speak volumes.