Archive for September, 2010

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2)


30 Sep

One of the secondary concepts expressed in Never Let Me Go that I find most interesting is the idea of using the ability to create art of any sort as a measure of someone’s soul. The children are encouraged to create- paintings, poetry, anything. The children put a lot of store in it because the adults around them do, to the extent that they ridicule a child who doesn’t create.

The children, of course, don’t realize why the teachers and administrators want them to create art. The overheard conversations that speak volumes to the reader float over the narrator’s head.

The Colony Season 2 (Final)


29 Sep

The producers of the second season of the Colony are just mean. There’s no other way to say it. On an emotional level, the final episode felt very real. Jim has gone bug nuts crazy; Sian leaves the group without a second thought, and the rest start arguing about who asked who if they wanted to leave most.

The fire bombing of their old house was a little over the top. Where did the other group get explosives? Then, the final frame, showing a large group of people walking out of the house the group thought they would take over.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (1)


28 Sep

I read reviews of Never Let Me Go when it first came out and thought it sounded fascinating, though I’ve never been a fan of “literary” fiction. Still the concepts behind the story interested me.

If you’ve never read the book, don’t read the rest of this post. The story is about children who are clones created for medical purposes. Their sole reason for existence is to serve as organ donors for “real” people once they reach adulthood. The children know this from the beginning and are raised to believe that being a donor is the highest calling in life.

Litter


27 Sep

I hate litterbugs. Every time I take my dogs on a walk, there are new things I have to keep them away from. It varies from cigarettes and children’s underwear (sad but true) to lipstick and pizza boxes. Currently, there’s a little girl’s tricycle just sitting along the edge of the road. Its handlebars and one pedal are broken, so I don’t expect it will be going home anytime soon.

While some items, like the trike, have been purposely abandoned, most were thrown out car windows. Why can’t people clean their cars in their own driveways and use garbage cans?

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (2)


26 Sep

Two years ago, a federal appeals court ruled that the military can’t discharge personnel under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell unless they can prove it furthers military goals. This week, Judge Ronald Leighton ruled that the Air Force did not prove that in the case of Major Margaret Witt, who was discharged under the policy, and ordered her reinstated.

I would claim that firing Witt actually hurt the military’s goals. She is a highly decorated flight nurse who rose to the rank of Major. That doesn’t happen if she’s not a good airman who’s an asset to her unit.

Congratulations, Major.

Florida’s Adoption Laws


25 Sep

In better news, the Miami appeals court has ruled that Florida’s restriction on allowing gay people to adopt children has no rational basis. In even better news, the governor of the state has announced that the state will stop enforcing the law. (Only the state Supreme Court could strike it down, though legislators could repeal it.)

Considering that Florida allowed gays to be foster parents, the law seems extra vindictive. Children need families, permanent families. While the state brought in experts to claim that the risks outweighed the benefits, the court found the testimony to have no grounding in fact.

Don’t Ask, Dont Tell


24 Sep

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was not repealed, even though the new rule would not have gone into effect until after the military had finished its investigation(?) on how best to do so. Apparently, Senators think that repealing DADT will hurt morale for troops on the ground in the Middle East.

I have never served, so correct me if I’m wrong, but how likely is a gay Marine, who has been serving in silence, in a combat zone, to turn around and say to everyone, “DADT’s been repealed. I’m GAY!”? And if he did, how surprised would his unit really be?

The Colony (8)


23 Sep

I appreciate that they wanted to have at least one person exposed to the virus and be removed, after all, what kind of apocalypse is this if there’s no actual danger. I wish it hadn’t been Michael and Amber (late arrival, early departure) but I understand why it happened.

What I don’t understand is why everyone else is still all gung ho to go to the fishing shack. They’ve been attacked, and kidnapped, but no deadly virus. Now they’re all eager to leave the attacks to go somewhere where half of the scouting party “died”. Does that really make sense?

TV


22 Sep

I like to think that I don’t watch that much television. Then the new fall season starts and suddenly I’m looking at the schedule trying to figure out what I’m watching, what I’m recording, and when will I watch what I’ve recorded… And I’m forced to be honest with myself. I watch television. Maybe not as much as some, but certainly more than others- more than my husband would watch if he weren’t married to me.

Still, no new shows have grabbed my attention so far this season, so mostly I’m figuring out where my favorites have been moved to.

The Quality of the People


21 Sep

I may have a new most hated phrase: “the quality of the people”. At lunch today I overheard a woman was talking about how she and her husband had considered moving somewhere with a lower cost of living, but ended up deciding against it because of “the quality of the people.”

She seemed to mean that they had different beliefs and less money than she did. Somehow, that made them all of too low a quality for her to want to raise her children around. I can understand the sentiment, but the word choice bugs the hell out of me.

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