tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58677788583382076682024-02-21T00:32:34.200-05:00Let's call it a nightUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-37071948065118001282010-11-26T18:32:00.002-05:002010-11-26T18:32:48.753-05:00switchedover to tumblr<br />
<a href="http://relax-play.tumblr.com/">http://relax-play.tumblr.com/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-48692405230564226232010-11-12T16:56:00.002-05:002010-11-12T16:56:48.995-05:00spaces<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/5146605229/" title="11-3-parking by A. Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/5146605229_015075638a_z.jpg" width="595" height="600" alt="11-3-parking" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/5146605417/" title="11-3-playground by A. Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1158/5146605417_1fdaf0b4de_z.jpg" width="589" height="600" alt="11-3-playground" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/5170471996/" title="11-12-rail by A. Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5170471996_759a163944_z.jpg" width="588" height="600" alt="11-12-rail" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/5169869693/" title="11-12-street by A. Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1229/5169869693_510869c3a5_z.jpg" width="593" height="600" alt="11-12-street" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-3934107660900246042010-10-17T23:00:00.002-04:002010-10-17T23:00:02.953-04:00<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/5081887801/" title="10-14-1 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5081887801_fced3d709c_z.jpg" width="595" height="600" alt="10-14-1" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-79355222136960649352010-10-15T14:29:00.000-04:002010-10-15T14:29:00.423-04:00<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/5081887875/" title="10-14-wall by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5081887875_eb5e218155_z.jpg" width="596" height="600" alt="10-14-wall" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-81655623366567190162010-10-14T18:47:00.000-04:002010-10-14T18:47:28.050-04:00late night cravings<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/5082481884/" title="10-14-nochs by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/5082481884_d617f941b3.jpg" width="484" height="500" alt="10-14-nochs" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/5081887829/" title="10-14-pizza by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5081887829_98a53009ce.jpg" width="494" height="500" alt="10-14-pizza" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-12111239289994076752010-10-10T23:27:00.000-04:002010-10-10T23:27:43.865-04:00performance anxietyI need to write a paper by Wednesday (what? you say, that's so far away!) and I'm getting the jitters over writing this. I have the rudimentary fragments of an outline, but I'm waffling on putting any thoughts down on paper. who actually gets nervous over writing a paper that's due in three days? I should be studying for that stat midterm, instead, for which I'm also in deep shit. drowning in poop, almost.<br />
<br />
stepping back just a little -- this semester has been so busy for me. I'm making more money than ever, but holding down these two jobs is seriously cramping everything else. I'm struggling to get schoolwork done and also with everything else. add to that the fact that (and I hate using that term, it's so unnecessary but I'm too lazy to reconfigure my sentence to void it) I have no idea what I want to do this summer or even this winter. yes, I know, my life sucks. /sarcasm Okay. Time to stop worrying about Harvard things and time to get back to this paper. I can do it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-60387177744446334372010-10-08T07:26:00.001-04:002010-10-08T07:26:00.116-04:00warning<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/5059152412/" title="10-06-Alewife2 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5059152412_6a89206f5b_z.jpg" width="574" height="600" alt="10-06-Alewife2" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-35346448473273599862010-10-07T00:26:00.002-04:002010-10-07T00:26:08.477-04:00flattened<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5059152508_80544b22a7_z.jpg">Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-44420739117045228592010-08-25T10:00:00.001-04:002010-08-25T10:00:00.766-04:00another yearSince today I fly back to Cambridge for another year of learning (we'll see how that goes), I figured I'd share a reminder of what my room looked like last year. Maybe I should attempt to grow in maturity level as well, and keep things a little neater. Hm. yeah. nah.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4903336086_d597a76a21_z.jpg" width="624" height="600" alt="00600001" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-19528143770597439762010-08-18T18:48:00.000-04:002010-08-18T18:48:27.209-04:00triplett, mo<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4902751105_3ae737a3c8_z.jpg" /> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/4903336826_2c040f6a3d_z.jpg" /> <img alt="02870009" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/4902749899_4e2c8567f8_z.jpg" width="621" /> <img alt="02870012" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4902749761_e363271da3_z.jpg" width="609" /> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4902751461_36114748d1_z.jpg" /> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/4902751219_06466ce116_z.jpg" /> <img alt="00610001" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/4902750955_1a3e986218_z.jpg" width="609" /><br />
end of the roll<br />
also end of any series of photos from the winter. that's it!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-69766502419538402272010-08-18T18:09:00.001-04:002010-08-18T18:09:50.699-04:00columbia, mo<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/4902750637_3a6cacfd24_z.jpg" width="608" height="600" alt="00600009" /> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4902751395_a297ba2e1a_z.jpg" width="609" height="600" alt="00600008" /> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4123/4903335572_2973bcd1d7_z.jpg" width="616" height="600" alt="00590008" /> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4902750289_090e7e3535_z.jpg" width="625" height="600" alt="00590003a" /> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4902750177_ac0fffc24d_z.jpg" width="616" height="600" alt="00590007" /> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4902750519_be5c2dceb2_z.jpg" width="609" height="600" alt="00590010" /> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4902750015_a6f8f346f7_b.jpg" width="681" height="600" alt="00590001" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-36998034147320432222010-08-18T13:33:00.000-04:002010-08-18T13:33:33.816-04:00one last addendum----to my <a href="http://relax-play.blogspot.com/2010/08/just-say-yes-just-say-theres-nothing.html">visit</a> to <a href="http://relax-play.blogspot.com/2010/01/toto-ive-feeling-were-not-in-kansas-any.html">Pittsburg</a>, KS<br />
<br />
here's another look at <a href="http://relax-play.blogspot.com/2010/02/in-all-your-silver-rings-and-all-your.html">the abandoned apartments</a>:<br />
<br />
<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4903292290_b799c73287_z.jpg" width="594" height="600" alt="---_0284" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-62369645240876078802010-08-18T13:22:00.000-04:002010-08-18T13:22:36.459-04:00Just say yes / just say there's nothing holding you backWhen I <a href="http://relax-play.blogspot.com/2010/01/toto-ive-feeling-were-not-in-kansas-any.html">traveled to Pittsburg, KS</a> in the winter, I saw this abandoned greyhound racetrack from the side of the highway. It looks like <a href="http://www.morningsun.net/news/kansas/x2084237595/Ruffin-angered-by-lack-of-gaming-progress">Camptown won't be reopened</a>.<br />
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This roll wasn't rolled tightly (my fault!), so you can see the light spilling in around the edges.<br />
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<img alt="---_0290" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4903292836_af591a257e_z.jpg" width="598" /> top of the stretch<br />
<img alt="---_0286" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/4903292126_ecc0431598_z.jpg" width="600" /> you can see the track is completely overgrown<br />
<img alt="---_0288" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4101/4903293356_f109d101b9_z.jpg" width="597" /><br />
<img alt="---_0289" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/4903292680_0a9628e9db_z.jpg" width="596" /><br />
<img alt="---_0292" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4903291976_2d4353d71e_z.jpg" width="594" /><br />
<img alt="---_0294" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4902708315_a617b1c6a4_z.jpg" width="596" /><br />
<img alt="---_0293" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4902707865_e91babb44f_z.jpg" width="596" /><br />
<img alt="---_0287" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4903292494_95c70c2045_z.jpg" width="598" /> the finish lineUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-39492474653776933162010-08-17T21:59:00.001-04:002010-08-17T22:00:39.981-04:00and it's so, it's so sad that she don't see what I seeobsessed with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5lO4hEAJHU">this song</a> right now. so catchy!<br />
<br />
I just got back 6 rolls of film that I shot back in January. It's been a long time coming. They were the first few rolls I shot with my Hasselblad. it's been so long that I almost forgot to get them developed. More coming soon, but here's one:<br />
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<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4903298944_68a0b922a7_z.jpg" width="596" height="600" alt="---_0272a" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-11006657619251496472010-08-17T19:34:00.001-04:002010-08-20T23:19:51.292-04:00movies to watch--at least, ones that I'm excited to watch, no matter the ticket prices in Boston! After a pretty empty summer of films, I have a pretty long list of enticing movies (and two documentaries!) to close out 2010. <br />
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<b>BLACK SWAN</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
Trailer released today. Looks amazing. Natalie Portman and Vincent Cassel, with whom I fell in love in Eastern Promises. And of course, Darren Aronofsky is one of my favorite directors. I was surprised to see Mila Kunis opposing Portman in the trailer--I thought she was the most interesting thing about The Book of Eli.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<b>NEVER LET ME GO</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
Other than the most beautiful three co-stars ever assembled--Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Kiera Knightley--the atmosphere looks haunting and seeks to pull at all the right heartstrings. I didn't adore the book like most people did, but it was good and I'm excited for the movie.<br />
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<b>THE TOWN</b><br />
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Other than the fact that I saw part of this being filmed, and so desperately want to watch to see if I can see those scenes in the final cut, I enjoyed Ben Affleck's directorial debut (Gone Baby Gone) enough to watch The Town based on his involvement alone. Plus, I love most of the cast assembled.<br />
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<br />
<b>WAITING FOR 'SUPERMAN'</b><br />
<br />
Ever since I read Jonathan Kozol's <i>The Shame of the Nation</i> as a junior in high school (more than three years ago now!) I've been interested in education reform in the US. Can't wait to see what this (very lauded) documentary says about the current system.<br />
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<br />
<b>THE SOCIAL NETWORK</b><br />
<br />
I got a copy of this movie's script last year, when it was widely leaked on the net. Since this movie is about my school, after all, I was immediately intrigued and hooked. It's a great story. And the trailer rocks. Also--Andrew Garfield again. You can never get too much of the next Spiderman, can you? And another up and coming actor--Rooney Mara, aka (just announced!) Lisbeth Salander, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I remember her from Youth in Revolt.<br />
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<b>MAO'S LAST DANCER</b><br />
<br />
Despite their depressing nature, I can't get enough of Cultural Revolution China-era films. One of my favorite movies of all time is Farewell My Concubine, if that tells you anything. I'm skeptical of the romance in this trailer, but everything else looks beautifully done, and reviews have been generally positive.<br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OkgqA_fxas8?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OkgqA_fxas8?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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<b>CONVICTION</b><br />
<br />
Hilary Swank, Minnie Driver, Mellisa Leo, Juliette Lewis, Peter Gallagher. (Gallagher has been cast as James' father in the film adaptation of Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You, which <a href="http://relax-play.blogspot.com/2009/06/we-are-people-that-rule-world.html">I loved</a>. I can't express how much I anticipate that movie...) And Sam Rockwell, who I thought was so powerful in Moon. More: this trailer uses the "I'm Lincoln" track from Steve Jablonsky's score of The Island! That is one of my favorite movie soundtracks ever. (To be fair, though, many trailers and ads use that piece. See Avatar.)<br />
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<br />
<b>LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS</b><br />
<br />
Director Edward Zwick's follow up to Defiance, Blood Diamond, and The Last Samurai looks to be the fall's best romantic comedy. I guess he's drawing on his Legend of the Fall roots. In any case, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway reunite (Brokeback Mountain).<br />
<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TO0X4DQZKqk?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TO0X4DQZKqk?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<b>SECRETARIAT</b><br />
<br />
Anyone who's known me since I was little knows how much I am in love with Thoroughbred horse racing. Thus I thought it fitting to end with this Penny Chenery biography, which assembles a fantastic cast and features the story of one of my favorite horses of all time. Secretariat was the first Triple Crown winner in what was then the longest period between winners (25 years--second only to right now! It's been 32 years since Affirmed in 1978). <br />
<br />
I wonder how much of Calumet Farm and Sham are going to be included in this biopic. Secretariat set and holds the record still in the Derby (and perhaps the Preakness) and the Belmont, the latter of which <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS4f6wiQJh4">he won by a stunning, breathtaking, overpowering 31 lengths</a>. (You can see footage of the real Penny Chenery. He is moving like a tremendous machine! This is a record which may never be broken!)<br />
<br />
Anyway, this movie is my childhood dream come true. It's a story of impending doom, bluebood and royalty, celebrity (Who is the only celebrity to have appeared on the covers of TIME, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated at the same time?), dominance, and heart.<br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UKmuvjL2cVw?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UKmuvjL2cVw?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-60358805743363084662010-08-15T04:05:00.000-04:002010-08-15T04:05:59.912-04:00<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/l_2AgaZJWro&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/l_2AgaZJWro&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<br />
I am lost, in our rainbow, now our rainbow has gone,<br />
Overcast, by your shadow, as our worlds move on,<br />
But in this shirt, I can be you, to be near you for a whileUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-21738149075031047592010-08-05T00:44:00.004-04:002010-08-05T00:50:09.386-04:00Toy Story 3 and dutyI saw <i>Toy Story 3 </i>(finally!) on Tuesday.<br />
<br />
What a thrilling, emotionally satisfying, beautifully rendered, human film. The conflict that struck me the most was that of <i>duty</i>. (spoilers ahead) In the middle of the film, Woody has to choose between duty to his owner or duty to his friends--duty to the system and tradition versus his duty to the relationships in his life. He can go back to Andy's house to go to college with him, and a life that's safe although useless but to be displayed, as if on a <b>pedestal</b>, or he can attempt to save his friends from certain harm but risk being press-ganged and trapped in the process. If he tries and fails, he is unable to return to Andy, lacking the <b>ways and means</b> to move about and get things done that Andy does.<br />
<br />
The similarities between Woody's struggle and the choices that women make in navigating their lives, their politics, and (sometimes) husbands made me sit up and watch this movie with fascination. As the end approached: what would the toys do? To where would they go? And the choice they made in the end--Bonnie's versus Sunnyside, where Barbie stayed! What does that say?<br />
<br />
To answer those questions, a little background is in order. As I was a radical, socialist, red state high school feminist, Andrea Dworkin was formative in my thinking. In particular, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Right-Wing-Women-Andrea-Dworkin/dp/0399506713/ref=tmm_pap_title_1">Right-Wing Women</a> asks the questions: <i>Why do right-wing women agitate for their own subordination? How does the Right, controlled by men, enlist their participation and loyalty? And why do right-wing women truly hate the feminist struggle for equality? </i>Those questions were crowding at my consciousness, and even now, their derivatives come up daily in my thinking. The answer that Dworkin supplies:<br />
<br />
Right-wing women understand that their behavior hurt other women, but most importantly, places them on a <b>pedestal</b> for the admiration of one man in particular: their husband. This choice, whether conscious or subconscious, is actually the safe, intelligent choice.<br />
<br />
We as an audience are given a look at life with Bonnie that is simple, generous, kind, and loved--her toys adore her, and she clearly has a good heart, having rescued Chuckles (and Woody, too). Having found this paradise once, it should be no surprise that Woody chooses to spirit himself and his friends off to this owner, to this "husband." It's Woody's devotion to Andy, his performance of and commitment to being the perfect toy (the perfect wife) that leads him away from Sunnyside and into Bonnie's home in the first place. And having found the perfect "husband," why waste something good for something that has a reality of being nasty and only the slight potential of reform (Sunnyside)? Rejecting Bonnie is dangerous. It places the toys at the mercy of a larger mechanism than themselves. Sunnyside renders a lot of agency useless, even if there is no master whose every demand needs to be met.<br />
<br />
Here, we can look at Sunnyside as a wider society. More specifically, the ease with which it slides into horror and oppression is perfectly represented in the Caterpillar Room, a state which is reinforced not only by Lotso but also a host of other enforcers, all comfortable in their privilege of the Butterfly Room. A woman who rejects the protection of a potential or real husband by refusing to perform the roles of the perfect wife--the cautionary tale of Sunnyside and the Caterpillar Room is her lot.<br />
<br />
The reform at the end of <i>Toy Story 3</i> is really intriguing. It seems that Barbie is able to inspire Ken to give up parts of his privilege in favor of some nebulous form of (more) equality. Barbie seems to be some sort of antebellum social reformer, in the lines of prison reform, temperance, women's suffrage, and abolitionism. Indeed, Sunnyside <i>is</i> a prison, so what she does is nothing other than prison reform. But without Ken's support, his <b>ways and means</b> derived from his authority as a former enforcer, I don't see Barbie accomplishing what she did. Indeed, she would not have been safe enough to implement a lot of these changes if Ken had not defied Lotso--in Barbie's case, then, Ken has taken over part of her ownership in protecting her.<br />
<br />
This scenario then calls into question the role of the oppressor in progressive movements and in reform; <i>Toy Story 3</i> says it can be for the greater good both of a society and to the individuals who find a good, decent protector (or protectress, for Bonnie).<br />
<br />
We get the best of both worlds in this movie. Woody's two duties, to his owner(s) and to his friends (the group grows to include the rest of the toys at Sunnyside, with whom Woody and Co. do feel some sort of solidarity), are both fulfilled. Woody and Co. become useful again to Andy by allowing him to pass his beloved toys on, they find a new owner and make themselves fundamentally useful again as toys to be enjoyed, and Barbie stays behind to make sure the Sunnyside toys also get to experience some of the same joy and security that comes from being owned and wanted, but institutionalized.<br />
<br />
This ending is why <i>Toy Story 3 </i>remains a children's movie.<br />
<br />
<br />
Here's what some other people thought this movie said about society (emphasis mine):<br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The film begins with Woody trying to defend </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">a crumbling system of communism</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (presumably the Soviet Union). Toys have a </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">duty to their owners</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, he argues. The owner is a personified totalitarian state (Stalin?) — he decides what the toys do and the toys are not permitted to escape....Communism having collapsed, the toys emigrate to Sunnyside (the US, that nation of immigrants), which leader Lotso depicts as </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">a libertarian paradise</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. In his introductory he speech, he touts the joys of self-ownership and interacting with children through the market (new children are constantly replacing old ones, maximizing the efficiency of the toys), as well as the improved material comforts his system brings (the repair depot, the dream house)....Ken and Barbie now lead Sunnyside, making it a “fun and groovy” </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">socialist utopia</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. --</span><a href="http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/toystory3pol"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Political Philosophy of Toy Story 3</span></a></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As social commentary, Toy Story 3 is </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">provocative but vague, even unrealized</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear's torment of Woody's friends by locking them in with the daycare's younger and considerably less kind children suggests something of </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">a slave trade</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. Their nightmare imprisonment is practically a statement on </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">gentrification</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, as you get a sense of the rich life Lots-o'-Huggin' and his cronies enjoy being impossible without other, less fortunate toys wasting away in less desirable, impoverished conditions. (There's no "in" for the undesirables, just one way "out": the trash.) The scenario is evocative, suggestive of a New York City street with a Whole Foods and expensive luxury rentals on one side and the projects on the other, but the correlation the film makes to real-life urban gentrification ultimately feels </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">tacky</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> because the way justice comes to Sunnyside has no correlative in Harlem. (</span><a href="http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/toy-story-3/4869"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">slant mag</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But the movie is all about </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">identity</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and what do you become when everything you knew is gone?....I could go all day about the </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">prison metaphors</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, the fact that Woody himself was always kind of obsolete as far as toys go, or entertain excessive discourses about Big Baby, the scariest toy in all three Toy Story movies. And then there’s the fact that the Ken doll (Michael Keaton) is one thousand percent gay and no one in the movie (and probably, a good chunk of the audience) has any idea. So I suppose you can add mob mentalities, </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">closet cases</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, and the like to the list of Pixar’s storytelling devices. (</span><a href="http://thefastertimes.com/famehype/2010/06/22/is-toy-story-3-a-kids-movie/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Faster Times</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The shocking parallels to the Holocaust in Toy Story 3 begin just moments after the opening playtime set piece. Andy is seventeen and about to leave for college. These toys are left behind, just as host nations left behind the Jews as the Third Reich conquered Europe. --</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Toy Story 3 as Zionist Text</span></blockquote><br />
---------------------------<br />
<br />
Here's a thought and a lovely photo of the day to end this giant post:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><i>What are the nature of my duties?</i></div><br />
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE7s6dgNWv_4GeUjcqiGxTnv4-pk90l4H6mdMvJzyCRyY38jSn9nJeL1FbgjwJjTWGau-5qHazm0vp5SOVsipGWu0Gf7pjJ-8G1nmwvVum1BnQEQ9B9yGhSB1dpOi8clutArwmT6Aq1R4/s1600/acadofthefrozenchucqc04.jpg" /><br />
(<a href="http://coutequecoute.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-wave-mens-editorial-academy-of.html">via</a>)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-10612544996475087482010-08-04T17:05:00.004-04:002010-08-04T17:10:40.219-04:00Prop 8 declared unconstitutionalFrom <a href="http://prop8trialtracker.com/2010/08/04/breaking-prop-8-ruled-unconstitutional/">prop 8 trial tracker</a> (emphasis mine):<br />
<blockquote>CONCLUSION<br />
<br />
Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis,the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
REMEDIES<br />
<br />
Plaintiffs have demonstrated by overwhelming evidence that Proposition 8 <b>violates their</b> <b>due process and equal protection rights</b> and that they will continue to suffer these constitutional violations until state officials cease enforcement of Proposition 8. California is able to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, as it has already issued 18,000 marriage licenses to same-sex couples and has not suffered any demonstrated harm as a result, see FF 64-66; moreover, California officials have chosen not to defend Proposition 8 in these proceedings.<br />
<br />
<br />
Because Proposition 8 is unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, the court orders entry of judgment permanently enjoining its enforcement; <b>prohibiting the official defendants from applying or enforcing Proposition 8 and directing the official defendants that all persons under their control or supervision shall not apply or enforce Proposition 8</b>. The clerk is DIRECTED to enter judgment without bond in favor of plaintiffs and plaintiff-intervenors and against defendants anddefendant-intervenors pursuant to FRCP 58.<br />
<br />
<br />
IT IS SO ORDERED.</blockquote><br />
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(Go West) Life is peaceful there<br />
(Go West) In the open air<br />
(Go West) Where the skies are blue<br />
(Go West) This is what we're gonna doUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-80544094835793825202010-08-04T11:04:00.006-04:002010-08-04T11:10:05.404-04:00you need to breakthrough/ and then get wise to/ all that is taboo/ then you'll be something to see<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Shanghai, July 2010</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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this photo is from the Japanese Industry Pavilion at the 2010 World Expo-- growing a tree without soil.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-40673223236278913512010-07-28T20:04:00.000-04:002010-07-28T20:04:00.130-04:00hometown glory<img src="http://www.featureshoot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/9.sparky.jpg"><br />
<a href="http://www.featureshoot.com/2010/07/sarina-finkelstein-new-york/">Sarin Finkelstein</a> was born in Columbia, MO. She's been published in many national magazines and newspapers such as the New York Post, Time Out NY, the Telegraph, and TIME. Her most recent body of work focuses on <a href="http://www.sarinafinkelstein.com/#Portfolio/Portfolios/Prospectors/1">prospectors</a>. On "The New 49ers," she writes:<br />
<blockquote>In the midst of the recession, I have been driven to document the struggles of ordinary people against extraordinary odds. They are the new wave of gold prospectors that have re-emerged in California, 150 years since the original Gold Rush, united by a passionate and desperate search for gold to support them until the job market improves. The miners here—recent layoffs, veterans, retirees, ex-convicts and freelancers—are dependent on the income they derive from prospecting. Selling an ounce of gold at its now all-time high market rate of $1200+/oz. provides them with hope for survival.</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-41602199062860718672010-06-03T23:31:00.000-04:002010-06-03T23:31:01.453-04:00fiction onlineSo many of the non-novel Hugo nominations are <a href="http://www.aussiecon4.org.au/index.php?page=66">online for free reading</a>? Of course it would be scifi. But awesome anyway.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-29449150721647080722010-05-15T21:19:00.000-04:002010-05-15T21:19:19.178-04:00jumping off the weeks bridge<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4609903249/" title="DSC_0075 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4609903249_214e6a7d99_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0075" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4609903417/" title="DSC_0078 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4609903417_b2c90a89bd_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0078" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4610511940/" title="DSC_0107 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1408/4610511940_73f0a0b012_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0107" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4609903657/" title="DSC_0135 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1070/4609903657_a743f0ff0a_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0135" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4609903811/" title="DSC_0136 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1105/4609903811_7021454b9e_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0136" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4609903725/" title="DSC_0138 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/4609903725_e10e993658_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0138" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4609903955/" title="DSC_0152 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4017/4609903955_389a2627a7_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0152" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-59442706126868860242010-05-15T21:16:00.002-04:002010-05-15T21:16:49.453-04:00and we all fall downbefore<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4609903171/" title="DSC_0074b by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1171/4609903171_795e2135f0_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0074b" /></a><br />
after<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4609903331/" title="DSC_0131 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3405/4609903331_848ebca10a_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0131" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-7106398996084938592010-05-14T20:56:00.002-04:002010-05-14T20:56:51.996-04:00an afternoon<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4607247519/" title="DSC_0046 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1285/4607247519_2f2d46611f_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0046" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4607858020/" title="DSC_0060 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1422/4607858020_d0d8ccef27_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0060" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4607857994/" title="DSC_0050 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1185/4607857994_2a7814d3ce_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0050" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peihe/4607857934/" title="DSC_0067 by Abby Sun, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1379/4607857934_71a49c1959_o.jpg" width="896" height="600" alt="DSC_0067" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5867778858338207668.post-44700129556175784342010-05-04T00:46:00.001-04:002010-05-04T00:48:12.495-04:00thoughts from today's conferencefrom the <a href="http://rethinkingvirginity.tumblr.com/">Rethinking Virginity</a> conference:<br />
<br />
<i>Should we focus on having religious communities become stakeholders in the conversation about sex education, abstinence, and abortion? How can we create a discourse that places an emphasis on this?</i><br />
<br />
The role of religious communities in progressive movements has concerned me of late.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0