I'm not a feminist by any stretch of the imagination (although apparently I should be) but saw this video and had to share.
Kinda ridiculous that so few movies pass the test. And when I think of ones that do, they're mainly HORRIBLE chick flicks. I wonder why it is that so few movies have women as the kickass leads. You know, Transformers would have been just as cool if Shia Lebeouf would have been played by a girl - no arguments about whether he IS a girl.
Bechdel Test for Movies
1) Two or more women (with a name)
2) They talk to each other
3) About something other than men
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Hope that the future will actually arrive
As beautifully written by Wil Wheaton (who played Wesley Crusher in TNG):
some of us are looking at the stars
On January 28, 1986, I was home from school with the flu. I remember that, no matter what I did, I couldn't get warm, so I was sitting in a hot bath when my mom knocked on the bathroom door.
"There was an accident with the space shuttle," she said, in the same voice she used when she told me that my grandmother had died.
For the next few hours, I sat on the couch, wrapped up in as many blankets as we had, and watched one of the local news networks - probably ABC - cover the unfolding disaster. Because of the fever and the years between now and then, I can't recall a single detail other than how impossible the whole thing felt. How could something like that even happen? And did it mean that we'd never put people into space again?
This morning, I sat in my office and watched the shuttle Atlantis launch into space via a NASA TV stream through VLC on a monitor that is bigger than my family's 1986 television. When mission control gave the order to go with throttle up, I held my breath like I have every single time since the shuttle program was reinstated in 1988, and when the shuttle separated from the boosters and glided into orbit, I got something in my eye. Just take a moment, if you don't mind, and think about what it means that we can leave our planet, even if we've "only" gotten as far as the dark side of the moon. Think about what it means that something as incredible as putting humans into space and bringing them back safely to Earth today earns less media attention and public excitement than the typical celebrity breakup.
It is amazing that we can do this, and even though I've come to believe the shuttle program isn't the best way to spend NASA's tiny budget (which is a pitiful fraction of what it should be), I hope that there was a child watching the launch today who will feel inspired to reach out to the stars and see what's out there.
We humans are a flawed species, to put it mildly, and I think we could do a much better job taking care of our planet and each other ... but when I see what we're capable of doing, it gives me hope that the future I pretended to live in twenty years ago will actually arrive some day.
FSMspeed, Atlantis.
"There was an accident with the space shuttle," she said, in the same voice she used when she told me that my grandmother had died.
For the next few hours, I sat on the couch, wrapped up in as many blankets as we had, and watched one of the local news networks - probably ABC - cover the unfolding disaster. Because of the fever and the years between now and then, I can't recall a single detail other than how impossible the whole thing felt. How could something like that even happen? And did it mean that we'd never put people into space again?
This morning, I sat in my office and watched the shuttle Atlantis launch into space via a NASA TV stream through VLC on a monitor that is bigger than my family's 1986 television. When mission control gave the order to go with throttle up, I held my breath like I have every single time since the shuttle program was reinstated in 1988, and when the shuttle separated from the boosters and glided into orbit, I got something in my eye. Just take a moment, if you don't mind, and think about what it means that we can leave our planet, even if we've "only" gotten as far as the dark side of the moon. Think about what it means that something as incredible as putting humans into space and bringing them back safely to Earth today earns less media attention and public excitement than the typical celebrity breakup.
It is amazing that we can do this, and even though I've come to believe the shuttle program isn't the best way to spend NASA's tiny budget (which is a pitiful fraction of what it should be), I hope that there was a child watching the launch today who will feel inspired to reach out to the stars and see what's out there.
We humans are a flawed species, to put it mildly, and I think we could do a much better job taking care of our planet and each other ... but when I see what we're capable of doing, it gives me hope that the future I pretended to live in twenty years ago will actually arrive some day.
FSMspeed, Atlantis.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Beyonce's SINGLE LADIES with THE DAN BAND
It's no secret that I L-O-V-E the song Single Ladies by Beyonce. It makes me smile no matter what's going on. I hope no one ever plays it at a funeral cause I'll be grinning from ear to ear. Actually, here is my formal request to play it at MY funeral.
Anyway. The Dan Band got all famous when they sang Total Eclipse of the Heart (I f-ing need you more than ev-ah) in Old School, but they're actually even funnier than that scene. I sorta forgot about them until I happened on this video tonight. And now I'd like to amend my request - I want this version of the song to play at my funeral. Too f-ing funny.
(If you're in a hurry, just watch from 1:25 to 1:45. Best part, in my opinion.)
Anyway. The Dan Band got all famous when they sang Total Eclipse of the Heart (I f-ing need you more than ev-ah) in Old School, but they're actually even funnier than that scene. I sorta forgot about them until I happened on this video tonight. And now I'd like to amend my request - I want this version of the song to play at my funeral. Too f-ing funny.
(If you're in a hurry, just watch from 1:25 to 1:45. Best part, in my opinion.)
Whoa!
I couldn't figure out what Ozzie was barking at just now. Turns out we had a baby snapping turtle on our back porch.His shell is about the size of a half dollar. I had to kick him into the grass so Oz wouldn't try to eat him. We're a long way away from the pond for such a small guy, I hope he makes it!
Edit: In the time it took me to type this on my phone, which wasn't long, Ozzie grabbed my bluetooth out of the charger and put big chew marks in it. Just thought you'd like to know.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Who Can Tolerate More Pain?
We watched an episode of Mythbusters where they tested "women are more tolerant to pain." They used an old torture method where a hand is stuck in a bucket full of ice water, with the fingers splayed open, and then held there for as long as possible.
We recreated it at home too, because we've often argued whether cramps hurt more than being kicked in the balls. The show used a three minute cut off for safety (the pain is there to keep you from being damaged like frostbite), so we did too.
Chris went first. He felt pain after five seconds, and lasted about 16 sec.
John went next. He felt pain right away, but lasted 17 sec.
Then I went. I felt pain at around 30 sec and lasted until the safety cutoff at 3 minutes.
Woohoo for me! My hand really really hurt at the end, around the 2:30 mark, and it took a good 5 minutes to feel normal again. Chris and John tried again several times, but neither could get to 20 seconds. All in all, a very successful (and not so messy!) experiment.
As the show concluded, and as our home experiment confirmed, girls can tolerate WAY more pain than boys. So there!
We recreated it at home too, because we've often argued whether cramps hurt more than being kicked in the balls. The show used a three minute cut off for safety (the pain is there to keep you from being damaged like frostbite), so we did too.
Chris went first. He felt pain after five seconds, and lasted about 16 sec.
John went next. He felt pain right away, but lasted 17 sec.
Then I went. I felt pain at around 30 sec and lasted until the safety cutoff at 3 minutes.
Woohoo for me! My hand really really hurt at the end, around the 2:30 mark, and it took a good 5 minutes to feel normal again. Chris and John tried again several times, but neither could get to 20 seconds. All in all, a very successful (and not so messy!) experiment.
As the show concluded, and as our home experiment confirmed, girls can tolerate WAY more pain than boys. So there!
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