DC State Fair

I swear, I never would have thought of it.  A State Fair in DC!

But, of course!  DCers are into gardening, knitting, sewing and other home crafts and urban thriving.  Why wouldn't we have our own state fair?

The DC State Fair blog is HERE.

There will be pickling contests, weird vegetable contests and tons of other stuff someone would have done before now!

Details:

DC State Fair 2012 
Held at Barracks Row Fall Festival 
On 8th Street SE, south of Eastern Market Metro 
Saturday, September 22 
11 AM to 5 PM

ParaNorman - Rewritten

Just saw ParaNorman, and it was OK.  The theme of the movie seemed to be: don't kill yourself if you are being bullied, and don't take a gun to school to kill your tormentors, either.  My husband saw the moral of the movie also seemed to be aimed at the Tea Party, with strong admonitions against killing people who make you afraid.

I am going to take the liberty of suggesting some ParaNorman rewrites:

The bullying setup is fine.  The disappointed, shallow father is fine.  Is it necessary for the father to be so dismissive of the mother?  Isn't there any respect there at all?  Just saying.

When the odd uncle dies and his spirit tries to get Norman to pick a book off of his dead body, it makes more sense if the boy refuses.  He is already strange in the eyes of his classmates.  He would be reluctant to do something to be seen as more strange.  Besides, that's what kids do.  They try to fit in.

Also, it would be more interesting if Norman didn't care if the town was destroyed.  After all, no one liked him there.  When kids get guns and kill other kids at school, this is what is going on.  They are attacking the ones who attacked them.  So why would Norman care so much?  Why would he be inclined to save the jerks who are hurting him?  It would be more interesting if he said no.  Then he would be going through the same journey as the ghost-girl.  From hate to forgiveness.  The complete lack of anger in the movie is unrealistic.

The Uncle-ghost would implore him, urge him, pester him to change his mind.  Still, Norman would not do it.  He would mouth off to his Uncle.  Then the disaster would begin.  Norman, at first, would enjoy the carnage.  Then he would see how the people he cared about would be affected.  He would see how they would be scared.  He would realize that he had to be the person who did something about it.  That he was the only one who could.  He finally listens to his uncle and sneaks out of the house to take action.

Then the whole adventure of the zombies begins.

After it's over, and the town is a wreck, the bully goes back to treating Norman badly - like would happen in real life.  But now Norman is different.  He pushes back by reminding the bully that he peed in his pants earlier and who cares what he thinks anyway.  Norman calls him a coward outright.

One part of reality that is missed in these bullying discussions is how the kids who are big bullies in middle school and high school generally turn out to be total losers.  That should be hinted at here.

The answer isn't "understanding your bully is afraid."  In middle school, people are afraid of not belonging or being OK.  Understanding that does nothing for the victim.  It is a phase of life and socialization.  That part of the human experience needs to be couched with firmly-established limits on acceptable conduct.  You know: manners.  And to give the victims of bullies things to say back to their tormentors.

The essential problem, of which bullying is but a symptom, is rigid conformity.  The standardized testing pill our children have been forced to take has reinforced the idea that to be OK you need to conform.  Social media makes social rejection wholesale.

Kids need to get a message that is something other than "forgive" and "understand."

See Westboro Baptist Church HUMILIATED

Brick Stone gives those Westboro Baptist Church nut cases a hard time...

Bernie - Go See This Movie!

It is so refreshing to see actors stretch their range in surprising ways. Jack Black is the lead in "Bernie," a movie about a man who befriends a cranky and quite nasty old widow. Bernie is a nice man who seems to help other non-stop. He generous, kind and thoughtful.

Matthew McConaughey is the District Attorney in the case at the center of the story. Again, he does a great job with the role. It took half the movie to realize it was him.

Shirley MacLaine portrays the elderly widow in a stunning performance, as usual. The widow's character makes a fantastic transformation through the film, due in large part to Ms. MacLaine's acting talent.

The movie is not what you expect at all. My main criticism of movies of this sort is that the ending is so easy to predict. Not so with "Bernie." I won't give away the ending.

When you think you have seen just about everything that crime stories have to give, you will be surprised by this movie. The dash of realism gives "Bernie" a poignancy other films lack.

Do yourself a favor. See this movie.

How Others See US Police

This video is hysterical.  It shows a stop along a highway by police.  And I could really see it happening.

Survival Advice That Will Get You Killed - YouTube Prepper

YouTube channel TheModernSurvivalist describes his experience living in a country that has experienced an economic meltdown.  This video describes the situations that you will face if the economy collapses and what he has seen.

His videos tend to be a bit wordy, but are full of great information.  He tells about some survival advice that is really not going to work. Again, this advice is based on his experience.

It is a video worth watching.  One of his gems: "Distances doe not equal safety.  If you got there, so can others."  He prefers to be within screaming distance of his neighbors, not in an isolated location.

Most Popular Prepper on YouTube

This YouTuber is DEMCAD.  He talks about practical prepping and gives information related to survival in an urban area.  This video is about his big errors in prepping and what he would have done differently.

From time to time, he has a live video chat online. You can phone him and talk about prepping or general interests.  He likes ballet, for instance. Check it out.



"The future belongs to those who prepare for it today."

Cute Kid Asking a Girl Out to Coffee

This is Repzion from YouTube. He is describing how he felt before, during and after asking a girl to go out to coffee with him. It really is cute.

Econo-Girl is of a previous generation, however.  One that would be concerned that the object of my attentions would actually go on to YouTube and see a twelve minute dialog on having a crush on someone.  Generational divide, anyone?

The Avengers Movie

Wow. Leisure Lad and I saw the 3D version of The Avengers last night. It was fantastic. On the whole, action adventure movies don't do much for me. It's boring when things explode for ten minutes straight. Of course, 3D is a category unto itself. Especially in this film. There's a giant skyscraper in New York City and we get to see superheroes jumping off of it all the time.

Aliens directed by Loki descend onto the streets of New York to invade Earth because Loki wants to be the king of something and hates his stronger, more handsome brother Thor. Great bod, by the way, on Thor and Captain America. The subplot of the German gods is very interesting. Although Loki is the villain, does he have to be skinny, pale with greasy hair? Is there some backstory about this? There seems to be a romance with the german gods in the American culture at play here. It's interesting that it didn't turn out to be the greek or roman gods.

Thor is the great protector of our planet, and the love of his life is human. Thor has problems controlling his rage, likes smashing things that get him angry and isn't a big thinker. Since Loki thinks humans are basically sheep who want and need to be ruled, by default, Thor is in favor of freedom and self-determination. Loki is more intelligent. Loki had a playful and trouble-making side which is absent in The Avengers, and looks down on humans. So the bad guy here is basically an Eastern establishment elite stereotype. Our protector, Thor, jumps in with a hammer and starts fighting. Always more satisfying to watch, especially with all those muscles.

Space aliens invading Earth is not a new subject. Of course, the story is told strictly from the perspective of the United States. There is some Council that tries to interfere with military decisions, but they are overruled by human heroes. The implication is that there is one global government, which of course cannot protest humanity from threats to its existence.

 Captain America, who had just woken up from fighting World War II and didn't understand what people meant all the time. He also wasn't burdened with the social attitudes of the 1940s. The Captain America cap looked a little silly, and he spent most of the movie fighting without it. The Black Widow jumped and flipped around all the time. Great feature in a 3D movie. The Incredible Hulk made quite the transition from a mentally-deranged monster to a monster who obeyed orders and engaged in critical thinking - all before our eyes without explanation! Iron Man was played by Robert Downey, Jr. with his girlfriend portrayed by Gwenyth Paltrow.

The movie was entertaining but not suspenseful. Never did the the audience wonder if the superheroes would win or if one of them would die. The movie would have been better with some realistic questions in the back of our minds.

Trayvon Martin: New Kindling for Bonfire of the Vanities

Now, Trayvon is a pawn in that tired old song,
Let’s keep America’s race war on
(apparently, Rod, we CAN’T all get along).

Red Staters bait on fatherless criminal packs,
Though the Martins were married, employed and fully intact.

So respectable in fact they sought bourgeois immunity
In the questionable safety of a gated community.

Working, praying, eating their vittles
Til lamentably, household had a shortage of Skittles.

America varies its customs, from bodegas to Seders
Sunshine Staters shoot first and ask questions later.

Faithful Sharpton’s been carpin’ for Zimmerman’s hind
(Spike Lee apparently has lost his frickin’ mind).

Handgun control might hassle Jeb B’s militia vassals.
Hey, learn to wrassle to defend your castle.

Otherwise I conclude only retroactive abortion
To stop trigger-happy brain-stem distortions.

POSTED BY THE SCURRILOUS PAMPHLETEER AT 3:35 AM