Oh! What did I miss?
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As a gift to our followers for being so kind as of late, here are some reaction gifs to express love and thanks. Feel free to save and use these...
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Daily dose of cute.
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I wanna be where the people are…
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Luíse
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rtnt:
What’s going on in our city?
- Yesterday morning, the words “Long Live Zimmerman” were found spray-painted on the side of the Frank Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center on the Ohio State University campus here in Columbus. Clearly, this is a reference to George Zimmerman, the man who shot unarmed, seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin on February 26. This was unquestionably an act of racism and hatred meant to intimidate and terrorize.
- Today, a community mural depicting a sea of hands reaching up to an image of President Barack Obama at the corner of 4th Street and 11th Avenue was found vandalized with swastikas and the word “niggers.” Again, an unquestionable act of racism and hatred meant to intimidate and terrorize.
I really do find this shocking. I don’t live in a whitewashed fantasy world where racism is a thing of the past - no thinking person in their right mind could possibly believe that. Even so, such bold acts of hatred seem utterly foreign to me, like relics from another world. The reality is that these things happen, that they’ve never stopped happening, and that part of the shock is my own Midwestern isolation.
The reality also is that this sort of thing should not go on and cannot be stood for. Already the university community has responded, with President Gordon Gee issuing a statement about the incident today, after having spoken at Hale Hall last night. A piece on the incident ran in The Lantern, OSU’s daily student newspaper, and a sit-in will take place at 4PM this afternoon at the Ohio Union, to promote unity and diversity in the student body and to make a declaration against hate.
I am utterly supportive of the sit-in and the University’s official response, but I also think it is important - absolutely critical, in fact - for this conversation to branch out into the greater community of Columbus and not be swept aside as “something going on at OSU.” With the new vandalism today, the geography of hate has shifted beyond of campus, but that’s not why the city-at-large should be engaged. While the university is its own community, it does not exist in a vacuum. It is as much a part of the city-wide community as any population or neighborhood. What happens there (at OSU) happens here (in Columbus). Not only should the student body and University administration boldly declare that they will not stand for this sort of hate crime, our city as a whole should do the same.
The conversation about race in Columbus, as anywhere, is not simple, pleasant, or clean, but it’s a conversation that must be had. If we find it to be an uncomfortable topic to broach, that’s all the more indicative of the necessity of discussion. The good people of this city - the people who believe in unity, equality, brotherhood, and justice - must take it upon themselves to push a conversation into the culture and to stand up against racism and intolerance. I’m not here to outline a course of action, but simply to encourage you to talk.
Talk to your friends and family about what’s happened and about what’s right. Talk to your neighbors. Talk to the person waiting in line next to you at the bank or the coffee shop or the Gap. You might be met with blank stares or indignation, but if nothing else you’ll at least have gotten someone to think about what’s going on. At best, you’ll have a conversation with someone who will carry it with them to their roommates, to their co-workers, to the people they see every day at the bus stop or the bar or wherever. This discussion should occupy our classrooms, our living rooms, our offices, and our public spaces. Our Mayor and civic leaders should broadcast this conversation as well, but it is not meant to nor should it remain within the realm of authority. The heart of this issue is not one that can be legislated away or addressed by committee or patched up by a riveting speech - the heart of this issue exists in each and every one of us, in our spirits and in our minds.
We have to find the ugly part of ourselves, the parts that are indoctrinated by prejudice, the kernels of intolerance rooted in our community. We have to take that darkness and hold it up. We have to turn it over in our hands and look at it with clear and honest eyes. We have to pick apart the poison and wash clean the wounds.
These hateful acts are not simply an attack on the black community - they are an attack on our community in totality. An attack on a community that believes in justice, love, and the brotherhood of our species. Take a stand against hatred, if you are a member of this community. I know that I am.
I wanted to share this with you, our readers, because, while these incidents have taken place in my city, I believe the concept for how to address hate and intolerance remains the same for my community, for your community, and for our national community. We must not be afraid to talk frankly about racism and strike at the heart of hatred. I invite you to read my reaction to the recent vandalism in my city and carry the conversation forward into your own lives. As always, thanks for reading.
- Atom Vincent, Managing Editor
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So, in honor of the end of an era, here’s a clip of Glen Keane explaining a scene from Aladdin.
I look forward to seeing what Mr. Keane can accomplish on his own.
(via dailyclassicdisney)
Oh, well, just in case you missed it:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Looking For Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta.
Because you can’t help wondering of all the things you could have done that might have changed the outcome, and feel that hurt right along with Josie.
De Tweeling.
In English it translates to “The Twins,” but to translate the story they’ve translated it as “Twin Sisters.”
Neither of these translations do the poetic justice that is due to Tessa de Loo’s original rhythmic Dutch title, De Tweeling.
De Tweeling is a heartbreaking story. No other title suits it quite so well.
IF YOU ARE A BRIDGET JONES FAN - HUMONGOUS SPOILER ALERT.
Daniel Cleaver is the baby daddy. Not Mark Darcy. I’m pretty sure I cried.
So fine, it’s not a book. But it might as well be.
White Gardenia by Belinda Alexandra.
This book started to get me thinking about cultures.
Australia has this thing called “50 Books You Can’t Put Down.” I first came across this programme in about Year 11 - whenever it was that this book was on the list that year. But let’s say for the sake of the argument that it was 10 (WHOA! 10!) years ago. I’d grown up in a conservative, Catholic, farming family; and I didn’t even know I had the attitudes I did toward people from different countries*.
I also didn’t know that I had the passion I did for bridging cultural differences. This book starts in Russia, spends a fair bit of time in China, then on a Pacific island, then in Australia, and then back to China again. Before this book, I didn’t realise I had a negative attitude toward China and Asian countries. But this book brought things into my imagination that I would never have considered and expanded my horizons into a place I’d never imagined. As such, it remains one of my all-time favourites: even after 10 years.
*I say countries because cultures isn’t completely the right word. I went to school with kids from all sorts of cultures and that wasn’t the issue - they all spoke with an accent I was familiar with. When they spoke with an accent I wasn’t familiar with was when my brain triggered the alien alarm.
Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice fame.
He’s a bit of a creeper like me.
More than once did Elizabeth in her ramble within the Park unexpectedly meet Mr Darcy. She felt all the perverseness of the mischance that should bring him where no one else was brought; and to prevent its ever happening again, took care to inform him at first, that it was a favourite haunt of hers. How it could occur a second time therefore was very odd! - Yet it did, and even a third.
[Chapter 33]
He always says the wrong thing in public, without thinking who’s hearing it.
“She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.”
[Chapter 3]
He is sensitive to the behaviour of those around him.
“…I have told Miss Bennet several times, that she will never play really well, unless she practices more; and though Mrs Collins has no instrument, she is very welcome, as I have often told her, to come to Rosings every day, and play on the pianoforte in Mrs Jenkinson’s room. She would be in nobody’s way, you know, in that part of the house.”
Mr Darcy looked a little ashamed of his aunt’s ill breeding, and made no answer.
[Chapter 31]
Sometimes he thinks it’s better to just say nothing.
He made no answer, and they were again silent…
[Chapter 18]
He sometimes misses the forest for the trees in subjects he’s passionate about.
“In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed.”
[Chapter 34]
The spoken word isn’t his strong point. He’s much better when he’s had time to write it all out.
“Be not alarmed, Madam, on receiving this letter, by the apprehension of its containing any repetition of those sentiments, or renewal of those offers, which were last night so disgusting to you. I write without any intention of paining you, or humbling myself, by dwelling on wishes, which, for the happiness of both, cannot be too soon forgotten; and the effort which the formation, and the perusal or this letter must occasion, should have been spared, had not my character required it to be written and read. You must, therefore, pardon the freedom with which I demand your attention; your feelings, I know, will bestow it unwillingly, but I demand it of your justice.”
[Chapter 35]
He loves his love - so, so much.
“If you will thank me,” he replied, “let it be for yourself alone. That the wish of giving happiness to you, might add force to the other inducements which led me on, I shall not attempt to deny. But your family owe me nothing. Much as I respect them, I believe, I thought only of you.”
[Chapter 58]
The Book Of Everything (Het Boek Van Alle Dinge) by Guus Kuijer
It’s such a small book - so little - but it really is about everything.
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. I’ve bought it, finally. It’s on my bookshelf!
I really can’t answer this one. I’m a visual person who loves the written word, so I think I was always going to love reading. Dad used to read us stories before bed as a nightly ritual, and he had his own beliefs toward tv, so maybe reading was all I was ever going to know as a result of the environment I grew up in. There is this book I have - The Three Bears. It’s thick, almost like a junior novel, and I don’t remember why, when or how I got it - which is unusual for me with books.
I just remember that I had it before I lost my first tooth when I was 5 and a half. When I did lose my first tooth, I used to rub my gum on against the edge of the spine - the sensation felt so weird and yet so delightfully wonderful. You can still still the gnaw (my favourite word) marks on the side of the book.
What I do remember about this book is that I was fascinated by every single aspect of it. I wondered why “Bonny Books” was at the top. “Bonny Books” surely wasn’t the person who wrote the book. I wondered about the inside cover - why there were pictures of boxing gloves and a small boy punching a boxing bag: the only reason I knew what he was doing was because my eldest brother was a boxing amateur at the time. I wondered why there was different coloured edging on every page and why some rose pattern had been chosen as the border. I wondered why the font in the book was sans serif instead of the usual serif - although obviously I didn’t think in those sorts of terms. But it stood out as breaking from the norms I’d known.
I’m so glad I still have this book: I haven’t read it in years, but it means a lot to me.
A Nice Walk In The Jungle by Nan Bodsworth
And Dogger by Shirley Hughes
I tend to like to keep books and movies, as far as the whole ‘adaptation’ thing goes, as two separate entities. It often happens that a perfectly lovely movie is an incredibly shit adaptation of a book that shares the same name and general concept. So, the “completely desecrated” label is far too harsh for the two stories I’ll bring up.
The first is Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding
I actually really liked the movie, even though it was really nothing like the book. Helen Fielding worked on the adaptation though, and that might have more of an impact than I’d think.
The second is the American version of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
David Fincher’s version wasn’t bad. It was certainly a good adaptation. But for those of us who have read the book, in watching it you know there’s a lot missing. It’s not necessarily in events or details, but a certain sort of aura-type substance. Had I have never seen the Swedish adaptation - or even had I have not read the books - the movie probably would have had much more of a positive (so to speak) reaction from me critically. But I read the books first, and then I saw the Swedish adaption, which is as true to a book in every sense as I’ve ever seen before. It was an incredible experience as a reader and a viewer. With the exception of the BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice, I’d never come across a film adaptation that had captured the essence, character and aura of a story originally related in a book so well. I don’t know what I expected from Fincher: it certainly wasn’t bad, and it was far more than good - but he had missed that essence that made the story so captivating in the first place.
As if anyone thought any differently. Really.
Right. I’m a little behind. So I’ll catch up post by post.
Crimes Against Humanity by Geoffrey Robertson.
This is a book I’d love to read and have tried to read. Unfortunately it seems to require a level of knowledge of Latin that I just do not have. Yet. That disappoints me. I’ve always wanted to learn Latin. And that’s why this book disappointed me.
