The sky is high. The Czar is far.
Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she wicked? I think we needed her.
I don’t care if this is one of those “good television” moments that people like me are supposed to sneer at.
I am of the opinion (not a very humble opinion) that few things are better than a joyous woman with a sad song in her. Somebody needs to get on their game and write a novel about this already.
A quick heads up, if you haven’t heard – jury selection in the murder trial of Angie Zapata, who is believed to have been murdered simply for being trans, started yesterday. Please see more details at Questioning Transphobia.
If you have a Facebook account, you can become a fan of her Facebook page.
Angie Zapata is just one of the many victims of this particularly insiduous brand of hate – hate that’s usually covered with snickering and disgust in various media outlets that continue to strip trans folk of their dignity even in death. It needs to be noted that many people like Angie live with the fear of being murdered, and that this fear is reflective of today’s reality. So light a candle for Angie, however big or small.
P.S. Lo and behold, another murder – this one back home in North Carolina. The victim’s name was Imaje Devera and the killing is being investigated as a hate-crime.
There are many good reads on Chay, now that issue 3 is out. Chay is a unique South Asian publication; it speaks frankly about sex and sexuality, and it’s run by a terrific team of people. Kyla Pasha writes for GlobalComment as well, of course, but I’m not merely plugging her because she’s a colleague. Nice, well-meaning people sometimes send me stuff to plug, but just because they’re nice and well-meaning doesn’t mean I always like what they send. Chay is different.
So we are in this season in Amman where the dust gets into my laptop’s keyboard if I imprudently take it outside, and it gets into the kitties’ fur as well, and this is why you’ll see me chasing the kitties with the Dustbuster and screeching a lot.
I have accepted the fact that I am at a strange and sad time in my life – and while nothing tragic (thank God) has happened, there has been lots of brooding and tea in this household. Nobody ever tells you anything that might happen when you fall in love. Or maybe they do, and you just don’t listen.
And with that in mind, here is a very appropriate music selection:
Continue reading “Monday Music: The Dusty Winds of Khamasin Edition”
Happy Easter to everyone on the Gregorian Calendar! Sorry the subject matter of this post is not more…er… fluffy bunny-esque.
When I saw the ads for “Observe & Report,” I already knew it probably wasn’t going to be my type of movie. I like Seth Rogen and Anna Faris, and I find Jody Hill likable as well, but the bleak humour of the premise didn’t strike me as particularly awesome, just bleak.
I’ve worked in a mall before, I’m even one of those strange little people who enjoys malls (cue a self-righteous know-it-all with a lecture on my post-Soviet consumerist nihilism) – probably because there’s something about the impersonal atmosphere that feels cozy and safe. Malls contain their own weird, scary, even pretty stories, but this movie seemed like the type that was shocking for the sake of being shocking, and I’m not usually into that.
Then, of course, I realized that Seth Rogen’s character rapes an unconscious woman for the sake of… what? Nervous laughter? A certain “edginess” I’m just not hip or daring enough to appreciate?
Murder gets played for laughs all the time, you might say, so what makes the scene in “Observe & Report” any different? Well, there is the fact that murder has a very clear definition: bang, boom, someone’s dead. On the other hand, Seth Rogen (and, presumably, director Jody Hill) has actually claimed that what happens in this film isn’t rape:
Natalia A. 