supergyro
Age: 32
Canoga Park CA
Submitted by: supergyro
Category: Entertainment
Date: Fri Jan 14, 2011 at 10:00 pm
Location: Canoga Park CA
1 comments posted
Last comment posted Jan 14, 2011 at 09:11 am
Review by
Review by Sharon Myers, professor at the American Language institute at USC The Secret of NIMH, a Don Bluth Production, United Artists, 1982
Two weeks ago my
daughter fractured her knee. Her
knee was iced and casted. As soon
as we returned and it was tenderly elevated on the couch, she sank back into
the pillows and sprouted chickenpox. Faced with the task of immobilizing a six
year old in this tormented condition, I borrowed a VCR, rented a TV, and
ventured into video stores for the first time. I haven't lived with a
television set for thirty years.
This is not a question of virtue, but of habit. My daughter has never
lived with one, although she watches TV regularly at friends' houses and at
school. Nor is it a question of fanaticism. If and when she makes a big issue
of it, I'll get us one. Still,
mothers who think about these things know that there are few books and fewer
movies that offer little girls positive fantasies into which to project themselves,
if they offer any female with whom to identify at all. Most of them supply the crippling
stereotypes that have undermined the self image of girl children from time
immemorial. A glance through the "children's"
shelves confirmed this. There was Cinderella, ripening herself through
suffering for redemption by an affluent male. Sleeping Beauty was there,
vapidly offering herself to the necrophiliac embrace of any passing prince. I
didn't find the catatonic Snow White.
Maybe Disney hasn't released her. The late twentieth century offers
She-Ra, a wasp-waisted fantasy with a Frederick's of Hollywood wardrobe who
seemes to have emerged out of the imagination of a Playboy bust man with a boot fetish. And Rainbow Brite, a
cartoon package marketed exclusively to sell toys, vies for Madison Avenue
vacuousness awards with the cloying corporate Care Bears. In the end though, it
is not these stereotypes or the sadistic stepmothers and malicious witches
accompanying them who work most effectively toward the psychic lobotomy of
little girls, but erasure. For
aside from these and a few other grotesqueries, girls are not central in the
fantasies offered to children. Alice in Wonderland is an exception, but even
Alice is a female with little volition, a Pauline helplessly undergoing the opium
perils of a male imagination haunted by a vicious queen. All prominent cartoon
characters - Donald , Mickey, Goofy, Roadrunner, Daffy, Bugs, even the chipmunks are
male. Pooh and company are all male. The fantasy life of little boys is redundantly
nourished with phallic quests from The Sword and the Stone to The Never Ending Story, expensive full length hero epics fat with high
production values. Little girls
get Betty Boop. I knew this, of course. Even
ET knows enough to bond with a boy. But as I relearned it through these
afternoons redolent of calamine lotion and fear, fear for her leg and fear for
the potential cost of knee repairs hinted at by the orthopedic surgeon we were
referred to, weary of waiting on a helpless and miserable child, hurt, as
mothers are hurt, by her hurt, a second level of insult, one I had only vaguely
apprehended and dismissed in the past, became salient. I remembered noting in the early
seventies in Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelarts' classic leftist analysis of
Disney ideology, How to Read Donald Duck,
that the world of Disney is a motherless one. And it began to dawn on me, with
the full force of the obvious, that mothers were absent from all of these fantasies. Systematically obliterated, in
fact. After work, between the trips
for codeine and wrestling matches around the bathtub and cleaning the crumbs
out of the couch, I ticked them off. In an interesting twist on prevailing
religious mythology, Pinocchio is immnaculately conceived by a carpenter.
Bambi's mother is shot immediately. Dumbo is an orphan. Annie is an orphan.
Disney's Jewish mouse separated from his family on the way to Ellis Island,
spends all his vocal energy crying out "I want my Paapa," in blatant
contradiction to what, in reality, most children cry out when lost. Disney's
latest, a cutesy littlekmale dinosaur, is separated from his mother right away.
Alice sits reading with an aunt, not a mother. Mickey, Donald, Pluto et al.,
are motherless, as Dorfman and Mattelart pointed out. They exist in a spawn of
nephews and cousins by virtue of some wierd strain of avuncular parthogenetics.
Minnie and Daisy neither have or are mothers. The opening scene between father
and son in The Never Ending Story is
designed exclusively to establish the death of the little boy's mother. Even
the children in Mary Poppins are orphans,
their biological mother presented as a (feminist) airhead who neglects them. Dorothy,
the little girl in The Wizard of Oz, weeps desperately, not for her mother, but
"Auntie Em." Once the mothers have been
eliminated, the main characters are free to be initiated by males into male
visions of the world, without interference. One afternoon I tried Seabert, On
the Road Again (Celebrity's Just for Kids,
1987). Seabert turned out to be a cloying baby seal accompanied by a little
girl, both foils for the real action performed by the little boy hero who saves
endangered wildlife. Like many of these kid videos, it came with previews. In
one, a cartoon forest replete with cartoon animals rolls onto the screen, along
with a male voice persuading us to "Meet the award winning film star who's
capturing the hearts of children all over the world, The Little Fox, the
enchanting creature whose cartoon movie is a smash in Europe....It's the tale
of Vic, the roly poly cub, orphaned, then raised by a wise and kind uncle..." Uh
huh. In
real life, it is mostly mothers who raise children, not men, even when mothers
long to share the work. It is genuinely insulting to find this costly role
systematically demeaned, demonized, or banished. Little girls, most of whom will
be mothers someday, are not offered one redeeming image of mothers. Mothers and
their visions are kept, obsessively, out of the violent picture of the world
offered by men to children in these films. According
to the Writers Guild of America, 80% of screenwriters are still men. Studying
the credits of these rented films leads me to believe that 100% of cartoonists
are men. Even so, there is no reason to believe that men are so conceptually impoverished
that they do not perceive that women exist in some relation to children not
fully described by Daisy Duck or the Wicked Witch of the West. And indeed,
I have found two exceptions. One
is Charlotte's Web, which features a
female spider who displays intelligence, charm, and initiative. She spends the
entire film working in the interest of a male pig, and dutifully dies for her
children at the end, but she is, at least, likeable, and somebody important.
Alas, the human jmother cartooned in the film is less sympathetic, a woman who
sneers at her daughter's dreams. The other exception is The Secret of
NIMH. The
Secret of NIMH is such a breathtaking
deviation from the cartoon party line it makes one think it must have been made
by outsiders, some Disney delinquents, runaways from Big Uncle (Walt), which it
was. It is the story of a brave mother mouse trying to take care of her
children in the face of great and unnerving obstacles. This primordial, if
unsung story is woven into a circumstantial web created by the existence of
rats inadvertently injected with superintelligence during their abuse as
experimental animals at the National Institutes for Mental Health (NIMH). These
rats live below a farmyard rosebush in underground chambers that vie with, and
in some cases surpass, in beauty, complexity, and richness of phantasmagoric
detail, the environments created years ago in Disney's Fantasia. The plot, insofar as it concerns these rats,
lurches across and occasionally plunges into conceptual and transitional
chasms. There seem to be too many dramatic elements to control. The rats are in
danger (NIMH is out to kill them). They are questing for independence (They
suffer angst at having to steal electricity from humans). The field animals'
danger comes from the seasonal necessity to abandon the field before being killed
by the farmer's plow. There is a Great Owl, whose superintelligence is never
explained, in authority over the field animals and in league with the rats.
There is a magic amulet of unknown origin which figures prominently in the
action. The weaknesses and inconsistencies in the overall plot are more than compensated
for by the clarity and wit internal to the subplots, however, and the whole is
unified by the uninterrupted, compelling struggle of the main character who is,
against all convention, a mother engaged in mothering. A single mother at that. The Secret of NIMH departs from
conventional adult fantasy offered to children in many other ways as well.
Here, it is the father who is killed offscreen early on. He is neither ignored
nor demonized, but dies heroically, drugging the farmer's cat so the rats can
run electricity into their chambers. He is mentioned with great respect
throughout the film. The condition of real animals in the real (modern) world
is suggested in the laboratory sequences. Child characters behave, engagingly,
like real children. But most salient for me, watching this film with my injured
daughter on our rented TV in our little apartment, were some of the messages
about women and about mothers which came across in this film, messages unheard by
girl children in video land. Mrs.
Brisby, the heroine, goes to an old mouse secretly allied with the rats,
seeking medical advice for one of her sons, who has pneumonia. He gives her a
potion and warns her that the boy must not be taken outside. Meanwhile, it is
plowing time, and she must move her children to save them. The film is
predicated on her negotiations with the forces outlined above - the Owl, the rats
with their internal political struggles, the field animals, the farmer's family
and their cat, Dragon, to save her child. How to move Timothy without moving
him out of the house? Mrs. Brisby confronts all the paralyzing obstacles in her
way, not with the implausible bravado of boy heroes in quest films, but with
convincing fear convincingly overcome. Along the way she must cope with an irrepressible,
joyous, incompetent male crow named Jeremy, a wonderful cartoon of male
vulnerability played with madcap panache in a New York accent. When, in any
cartoon fantasy, is a male portrayed, even fleetingly, as incompetent relative
to a woman? It is a small subplot but an amazing grace. At one point Mrs. Brisby
bats her eyelashes at his ridiculous efforts to "protect" her in a deliberate
pantomime of feminine helplessness, appealing to him to go "protect" her
children, and so gets rid of him without hurting his feelings. Female viewers
recognize this. If all else fails, play dumb.
Far more radical, however, are the relations between Mrs. Brisby and
Auntie Shrew. Auntie Shrew is a disagreeable, testy old woman charged with
keeping the field animals alerted to the activities of the tractor. She is
presented as a loud, nosy, pretentious old lady along the lines of loud, nosy, pretentious
old ladies we all know, the butt of little boys' taunts.But it is Auntie Shrew
who leaps upon the moving tractor and busts the fuel line, Auntie Shrew who
awakens the field to danger, who mistakenly captures and ties up the spluttering
Jeremy in order to protect the children (Jeremy's "That's a lovely hat your wearing,"
doesn't cut it with the Shrew), and Auntie Shrew who dresses down Mrs. Brisby
for a lapse in courage. Old women
of value? Heroic women? Women working in solidarity with each jother? On behalf
of children? The
patriarch Nicodemos, leader of the rats, fears that the evil rats will take possession
of the powerful magic amulet, and gives it to Mrs. Brisby. "When worn by one
with a courageous heart, the stone glows red, becomes a blinding brilliance,"
he tells her. "Courage of the heart is very rare." At the end, power is
embodied by a mother. What's more, a mother accompanied by the London
Philharmonic Orchestra in shimmering pyromaniac Technicolor, an image never
before so engraved on the minds of our couch potato sprouts, male or female. I
felt downright affirmed. The
Secret of NIMH is not exactly on the avant
garde of gender liberation imagery. Mrs. Brisby acts on behalf of her children - most
specifically, of course, one of her male children - and not directly on behalf of
herself. She gains entree into the nest of the powerful Owl and the
(exclusively male) world of the rats solely on the strength of her husband's name.
The limits to female power in the minds of male writers are made graphic in the
last scene where Mrs. Brisby's daughter bandages her mother's hands, hands that
held the amulet. Power is injurious to women, even when it is exercised in the
traditional role of mother. Sensibly, of course, she has given the amulet to
the charming, sensitive new leader of the rats (a real man of the 80s), Justin,
and not kept it for herself. Mrs. Brisby knows her place. Still, the story is
lightyears beyond the traditional stereotypes. It is not a lie to depict a
singlejmother courageously negotiating nightmarish obstacles in the patriarchal
order of things, to care for her young. It is not a lie to show her doing this
with spirit, wit, and love. It is not a lie to show a mother loving her
children at all, but that theme is usually treated like a lie, or an obscenity
which must be expurgated from fantasies for children.
I noted with irony that this film is listed in the 1989 edition of
Leonard Maltin's TV Movies & Video Guide as "...not as involving...as it ought to be." Did this male reviewer
find himself a few removes from identification with the main character in the
film? Women and little girls view almost all films removed from full
identification with the main character, as a matter of course. My daughter and
I found this one richly involving. In the first half of the movie there is a
scene in which Mrs. Brisby, after many adventures, arrives home to her waiting
children and prepares medicine for Timothy. She heats it and carries it into
the bedroom, followed by her other children. She sits by the bed and spoons it
to Timothy, blowing on the medicine in the spoon to cool it for his mouth. The
filmmakers linger on this scene, lavishing a kaleidoscope of artwork and
differing visual perspectives on this act of nursing, choreographing it to a
beautiful lullaby, "Flying Dreams." It is an openly sentimental episode, saved
from mawkishness by the matter-of-fact conversation of the mother with the
children. Indeed, it is a beautiful thing, this common act. I have never seen
it celebrated on film. My daughter was riveted by this tableau she viewed over the
end of her cast. "Look, Mom, just like you," she said. She turned to look at me
and she glowed with love. She was proud. Maybe we are important, after
all. Maybe our drama counts. 
supergyro
Age: 32
Canoga Park CA
Submitted by: supergyro
Category: Social Studies
Date: Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Location: Canoga Park CA
0 comments posted
Newsweek
has a current article on the redefinition of the American Male. This article spends a lot of time discussing how the roles of men have changed, how men may
or may not be adjusting to them well, and proposes ideas for improvements.
Newsweek
has a current article on the redefinition of the American Male. This article spends a lot of time discussing how the roles of men have changed, how men may
or may not be adjusting to them well, and proposes ideas for improvements. When I
read these articles, I always try to figure out how to place them into a
cultural tapestry that includes women and transgendered (as few of the latter
as there are), understands the effect of race, class, and culture, and is
respectful of the complex interactions between all these factors. The
exploration of 'masculinity' has an underlying premise I would like to
re-examine. The premise is that there are 'uniquely masculine' emotional needs.
I would like to challenge that premise for a series of reasons. The first is
that every time I hear about the 'unique needs of a gender', I always think
"that's not a unique need, that's a human need. Why is it the writer thinks
only men or only women have it?" I will
use an example from the Newsweek article. It talks about how men need to feel
useful. They like to feel as if they have a constructive role in the world
around them and if they don't, they feel inadequate. This is a common thread in
literature about men. It's discussed at length how men need to 'redefine themselves
and be creative if they want to keep up their esteem'. It's also discussed as
if it's some sort of unique foible to be used in the management of male
employees and male peers (with the subtle or not so subtle implication that
it's possibly an artifact of the 'male ego'.) Whenever
I see this, I try to imagine a person who does not have that need. A person who
is perfectly happy being of no use to anyone. They simply eat the food, spend
the money, without having any function or constructive input into their world
around them. My first thought is that this person is a self-entitled [jerk].
My second thought is "is this article implying that women lack this need
and I'm supposed to think this is OK?" It's
obviously not a uniquely male need. It's a human need. Human beings are social
creatures, social creatures have a need for a function in their social group.
Different genders/races/cultures/time periods may have fulfilled that need
differently, but the need remains the same. Discussing
it as a male need has side effects. For starters, it immediately portrays the
need as arbitrary and requiring only a shift of the individual mind (Go on
guys, just change how you think!) which is not true. This would be akin to
telling a starving person to simply 'change their emotional relationship with
food'. If the need is a universal one, if it's not being met there's a lot more
going on than a simple 'perspective problem'. Secondly, it subtly denies the
presence of this need in other sections of the population, it dehumanizes not
only the men, but also the women because it implies the need is arbitrary in
the first case and not present in the second case when the reality is that the
need is universal. Defining it however as a human need allows a more realistic view of
things and also allows one to bring in factors of race, class, culture, and age
without portraying each factor as a group of 'aliens'. Humans have a universal
need for food, but caloric intake, diet, and eating habits vary wildly, but I'd
never write an article on Masculinity describing men’s need for 'food' as some
sort of masculine urge. Writing an article that way would be inane. However,
articles on the emotional needs of men and women do exactly that, this Newsweek
article being case and point.
sidney
Age: 29
LA CA
Submitted by: sidney
Category: Nerd Culture
Date: Wed May 12, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Location: LA CA
0 comments posted
rebecca
Age: 32
Albany NY
Submitted by: rebecca
Category: Events
Date: Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Location: Albany NY
1 comments posted
Last comment posted May 06, 2010 at 11:48 am
May is rapidly approaching and with it comes the 6th Annual Oneonta Spiritual Arts Fair!
If you recall,
May is rapidly approaching and with it comes the 6th Annual Oneonta Spiritual Arts Fair! If you recall, last year I attended this event and had a fantastic time despite having some unfortunate car trouble. I’m really excited to have the opportunity to head out to Oneonta, NY and see how things go this year! Last year the place was packed with vendors and workshops and this year looks like it will be a full house and full day again! Some things to look forward to include: psychic readings, Yoga, Tai Chi, Tibetan Buddhist meditation, Zen meditation and chanting, aura photography, Feng Shui, tons of vendors, and more! Also, like last year, Llewellyn author Deborah Blake will be there selling and signing her books! Date: May 8, 2010 This is a fun way to spend a Saturday! I hope to see some Magical Buffet and Mynerdgirl readers there, but if you can't make it, don't despair, I intend to write all about it again this year!
Time: 9:30 AM – 5 PM
Cost: $3 for admission (All the workshops are at no additional cost, but you obviously have to pay vendors for their services, such as readings, etc.)
Where: Unitarian Universalist Society at 12 & 16 Ford Avenue, Oneonta, NY (There is a large free public parking lot right across the street.)
sidney
Age: 29
LA CA
Submitted by: sidney
Category: Nerd Culture
Date: Mon Apr 19, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Location: LA CA
0 comments posted
In 1977 most of the world was stayin' alive to a disco groove though there was a small but growing subculture that chose a different beat. They wore ripped up jeans, bondage clothes and often unacceptable haircuts. It wasn't quite as popular in the States but punk rock was spreading its 'vile disgusting ooze' throughout the UK. It didn't start in the 70's...
In 1977 most of the world was stayin' alive to a disco groove though there was a small but growing subculture that chose a different beat. They wore ripped up jeans, bondage clothes and often unacceptable haircuts. It wasn't quite as popular in the States but punk rock was spreading its 'vile disgusting ooze' throughout the UK. It didn't start in the 70's and many would argue who really started it all.
The greats can be dated back as far as 1958, though much of it's popularity can be attributed to the late Malcolm McLaren for his marketing genius making punk popular in the UK through the 70's and in the States in the '80's. If one wants a musical history of punk one might start with some of these fairly well known groups: (not listed in any particular order)
New York Dolls
The Stooges
MC5
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Patti Smith
Dead Kennedys
Generation x
and of course The Clash
April 8, 1977 marks the debut of The Clash's first full length album "The Clash." Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Terry Chimes (replaced by drummer Topper Headron immediately following the recordings) brought us "London Burning," "White Riot," "Janie Jones," and one of my favorites "Police & Thieves", among many other well known tunes on this self-titled record.
Most would say "London Calling" is their best album but I would have to disagree. "White Riot" hit its peak at number 12 in the UK. American radio was too worried about it's audience's virgin ears so the album was not released in the States. That made it the biggest-selling import in history; not bad for a subculture band. Canada and the UK were the only lucky ones to have the album directly available. To prevent confusion the UK covers was released with a green border while the Canadian release had a dark blue cover. It could be worth some money if you find that Canadian cover. Today, many of the songs on this album have been covered, used in movie soundtracks and commercials, and still end up in the ipods of our 'rebellious' youth; ssshhh just don't tell them us dinosaurs listen to it too.
For more info on The Clash, punk history, Malcolm McLaren etc... check out these sources:
Please Kill Me:The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140266909/1n9867a-20
The Clash website http://www.theclashonline.com/
General Punk Rock Info http://punkmusic.about.com/od/punk101/u/Punk101.htm
The Wicked Ways of Malcolm McLaren by Craig Bromberg http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Ways-Malcolm-McLaren/dp/0060962046
supergyro
Age: 32
Canoga Park CA
Submitted by: supergyro
Category: Better Living
Date: Thu Apr 08, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Location: Canoga Park CA
2 comments posted
Last comment posted May 05, 2010 at 11:58 am
OPERATION: GREEN ARROW.. Update #2
Part 1: Bananas are good! Minor additional changes have been made to my routine. These changes have been hinged around my thrice weekly boot camp sessions. The first change is the addition of bananas. Evidently bananas have potassium and it was lack of potassium which was making my calves cramp up. Boot camp days are punctuated by the consumption of at least one but usually two such yellow potassium sticks. I don't know how true it is, but the science fiction nerd in me feels that I'm somehow helping to keep the banana groves of Villengard going. Note: the first one to comment which sci-fi character visited the banana groves... wins a cupie doll. The second alteration to my diet is a concession to my age. I turn 34 this week. Here's something for you 30-somethings. Working out hurts and it hurts more the further you are from your 20's. 20-somethings have superpowers, don't let them know this, but do understand performance enhancing drugs exist that help even the odds. We're older, smarter, and have better jobs so we can make ibuprofen a part of our daily diet. A little anti-inflammatory and pain inhibition helps. Don't be too proud, age will bring us further down so we may as well use whatever means to stave it off. Part 2: Quantification is a Harsh Mistress.... Three months I've been drinking sparkling water, going to boot camp, and forestalling a very long-standing love affair (I knew it would never work out in the long term despite the short term passion. As enjoyable as it was, I never was able to get the approval of the father, Carl's Sr.). There are two types of measurements of success. The first is qualitative. Qualitative measurements are inexact, hard to pin down, how one 'feels' about something is a qualitative measure. How do I feel? Well, three times a week I feel right awful. Nasty nasty boot camp lady makes me do push-ups and run up and down a hill for three hours every week. Nast nasty boot camp lady is made every nastier by her endless optimism and perkiness endlessly reminding me that physical fitness is simply an application of mind over matter. If these updates have a villain it will be her. I know she's doing her job, I also know that I'm paying for her to do her job, and I also know that she has been nothing but professional and competent through the whole process.... However at 5:15 every Monday I go to the Agoura Hills Community center. By 6:00, she will say "Alright, now jog up the hill again,". Subsequently by 6:00, I am always learning newer depths of resentment and bitterness. Thankfully I have made a friend of similar disposition. Karen is another boot camp subject who is unafraid, when given the request for the seventeen thousandth push-up, to give the concisely sincere response of "Like Hell!". Karen has unfortunately been coming to these boot camps for about a year, so she doesn't give the "Like Hell" response nearly as often as I'd like, but she sounds like a blaspheming angel when she does. However, advancement has been made. My ability to do push-ups has tripled. My endurance has roughly doubled. These are qualitative measurements subject to arbitrary whims of feeling. I love qualitative measurements subject of arbitrary whims of feeling. I love them so very much as should you for such estimations make the world go around. It is the power of such estimations that make Politicians call themselves successful and George Lucas think he can write dialogue. The other kind of measurement is quantitative. These measurements come in harsh, unforgiving numbers. The number on the scale is one of those. That damning numerological verdict that tortures the psyche of women and men alike. The scale gives a number, but the number is more than a number, it is a missive from the vengeant fitness Gods staring through you to and revealing your sins. My sins used to be 214 pounds. Now, they are 214 pounds. There was hope, I thought boot camp lady could help. They say muscle is more dense than fat and one would also expect some redistribution. Boot camp lady took a body-fat measurement at the early stages, perhaps they have gone down, perhaps I am not losing weight but I am getting ripped. Getting ripped is good right? My hope spun in my brain as boot camp lady used calipers to pinch my belly, arms, legs, and back. My former value screamed in my head, 21%. 21% body fat, 21% flab, 21% useless, 21% vile, 21% wicked irredeemable sin for which I should pay the penance of twenty one thousand scourges administered by the justly punishing inquisitors of the order of the holy washboard. Perhaps I would show cleansing? My cleansing was but 1%. Now I am only 20% pustulent lipoid evil. Part 3: Next Steps... Moving more and light diet changes have helped but 1% and I try not to think about the uncertainty of measurements. What now? Now cometh The Chicken Breast. Working out is one thing, but now I must clamp down if I am to get into any better shape by coming Halloween. The keys to that are three, Chicken Breasts, Broccoli. and Brown rice. God Help my tongue.
OPERATION: GREEN ARROW.. Update #2
One Year
jenny
Age: 26
Santa Monica CA
Submitted by: jenny
Category: Events
Date: Wed Apr 07, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Location: Santa Monica CA
0 comments posted
Anime Expo announced the appearance of 6 Special Guest Japanese DJs at its July convention. Anime Expo, the United States' largest anime and manga convention is scheduled for July 1 - 4, 2010, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. DJ CHUCKY, M-Project, m1dy, GUHROOVY, NO+CHIN and DJ Schwarzenegger will be DJing for Anime Expo’s dance events both Friday and Saturday night.
The DJs will offer an eclectic mix of international dance music including Japanese hard...
Anime Expo announced the appearance of 6 Special Guest Japanese DJs at its July convention. Anime Expo, the United States' largest anime and manga convention is scheduled for July 1 - 4, 2010, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. DJ CHUCKY, M-Project, m1dy, GUHROOVY, NO+CHIN and DJ Schwarzenegger will be DJing for Anime Expo’s dance events both Friday and Saturday night.
The DJs will offer an eclectic mix of international dance music including Japanese hard rock, heavy metal and hardcore pop. Attendees can dance the night away to an exhilarating soundtrack produced live by these accomplished and well-known Japanese DJs.
DJ CHUCKY, M-Project, m1dy, GUHROOVY, NO+CHIN and DJ Schwarzenegger join Anime Expo's 2010 line-up along with voice actor Kyle Hebert, animation director Toshihiro Kawamoto, seiyuu Yuu Asakawa, J-rock band Sophia, and anime director Shinichi "Nabeshin" Watanabe. To stay updated on all of the latest Anime Expo 2010 news, you can follow them on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook and check them out on YouTube.
To register for Anime Expo 2010, please visit their website: http://www.anime-expo.org/.
rebecca
Age: 32
Albany NY
Submitted by: rebecca
Category: Nerd Lit
Date: Tue Apr 06, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Location: Albany NY
0 comments posted
1. First off, we've been in contact for around 2 years, how is it possible that I've never done an interview with you? Am...
1. First off, we've been in contact for around 2 years, how is it possible that I've never done an interview with you? Am I the worst or what?
We live in "interesting times" and such things often get overlooked. Do not fret, all is forgiven!
2. My readers know you from your nonfiction work that has been featured on the site: assorted tree folklore, a review of "A Druid's Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine", and your award winning essay "Female Druids". What they may not know is that you're also an accomplished fiction writer. How did you evolve into also writing fiction?
I don't think I had a whole lot of say in the matter. I am convinced that the Spirits are "using me" for lack of a more elegant term. I am one of those people who has to write every day or I feel that I am not living up to my life's purpose.
Tackling fiction was terrifying at first. I was not an English major and my training has mostly come from reading voraciously since the age of five. I have now penned three novels. Happily I seem to have found a certain rhythm to the writing. After the first one or two chapters the characters take over and then all I have to do is follow them around. I am just a scribe, recording their actions and what they speak about. It's rather like watching a movie unfold.
All three novels take place in late Iron Age Ireland and Scotland. Only two are in print at this moment, "Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey" deals with the very first encounters between the indigenous Celtic tribes of Ireland and their Druids, with the Christian missionaries. It takes place several centuries before Patrick. He gets all the press but there were missionaries from Gaul and Coptic monks from Egypt actively converting people several centuries before Patrick appeared on the scene. It is written from the point of view of the Druids and includes rituals and ancient Celtic beliefs and practices. It also deals with the concept of sacred land as it was once understood by our European ancestors. Something we need to re-learn as a species if we are to have a future on this planet.
The second book continues where the first one left off. "The Druid Isle" deals with sacred water and the mystical voyages of the Celts called immrama. It takes place in the Hebrides of Scotland on a real island where I was privileged to spend time in 1983. That island was once a holy place of the Druids but was taken over by Christians in the fifth century.
The third book does not have an official title yet and it is sitting on the publisher's desk awaiting approval. It deals with sacred fire on the land and in the sky. The three books make up a trilogy that honors Land, Sea and Sky, the mystical "Three Worlds" of the Indo-Europeans which form the basis of Indo-European cosmology.
3. In 2008 "Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey" was published. Now the next book in the series, "The Druid Isle", has released. Without giving too much away, what can readers expect from the new book?
"Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey" is an introduction to rituals for all the holy days and life passages as understood from a Druid perspective. "The Druid Isle" goes more deeply into the actual training of a Druid or Fili (sacred poet). I would hope that the reader would understand Indo-European spirituality a bit more deeply after reading the second book.
4. "Priestess of the Forest" and "The Druid Isle" are fictional stories, but were carefully researched. What kinds of factual things can readers learn from these two books?
There are details such as clothing, food, housing, weapons and relationships that are researched. However, much of it comes from my own imagination, vision or intuition, or from whatever Spirits are guiding this process. For example, "Priestess of the Forest" came out in February of 2008. In April of 2008 British archaeologists announced the discovery of the very first Druid grave.
In my book the characters had shown me a Druid funeral rite which involved the herb Artemisia as a drink and as incense. When the archaeologists opened the grave they found inside a container that had last held Artemisia tea.
So far nothing quite as dramatic has happened with "The Druid Isle"; however one interesting thing did come to my attention after I finished the work. The characters of the second book showed me how the Fili (sacred poets) of Ireland made a peaceful transition to accepting the Christians and one of the major characters in that process is named Lucius. Shortly after I wrote the book I learned that the very first Pagan Celtic king to build a Christian church on his land was named Lucius. He was British.
These little confirmations show me that maybe somehow I am on the right track with all of this.
5. Do you feel that perhaps readers learn more from a compelling fictional story, rather than reading straight nonfiction?
The Druids were and still are intellectuals. Once thing most Druids of today have in common is that we are avid readers and generally highly educated. In ancient times it was exactly the same. However, there are many folk out there who would rather read a fast paced novel with lots of warrior action and romance in it and get their history and teachings as a by product. Not everyone gets joy out of hefty scholarly literature.
There are people who have thanked me for writing the books because they just didn’t have the temperament to read the scholarly tomes. I feel these books are a painless way into the mindset of the Druids and also a little primer on how to be a practicing Druid of today.
6. Now that "The Druid Isle" is published, what's your next project that my readers can look forward to?
As I mentioned there is a third Druidic novel waiting to be accepted by the publisher. I am also putting the finishing touches on a book of Highland herbs and Scottish lore.
I have a new herbal that came out this month that teaches a person how to make simple and inexpensive first aid remedies from spices and foods found in the kitchen. It’s called "Making Kitchen Medicines - A Practical Guide". You can order it here (eventually it will be at Amazon, Barnes and noble and other places)
7. Because my readers may be curious, you're a Druid Priestess. How is a Druid different from a Wiccan or Pagan?
"Pagan" is a generic term that covers many different paths; Wicca, Witchcraft, Druidism, Asatru, etc. I wrote a book called "Being a Pagan - Druids, Wiccans, and Witches Today" (with Lawrence Bond) that explores all the many paths and permutations of Paganism. In case anyone is interested you can find all my books on my website www.elleneverthopman.com
Here is a definition of Paganism from The Papal Apology Project, an international effort that I was a part of some years ago;
"Modern Paganism (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Paganism" to distinguish it from original and indigenous pre-Christian folk traditions) is a revival and reconstruction of ancient Nature-based religions, adapted for the modern world. Paganism is an umbrella term denoting a collection of natural religions of the living Earth. Pagans generally view humanity as a functional organ within the greater organism of all Life, rather than as something special, created separate and "above" the rest of the natural world. Pagans seek not to conquer Nature, but to harmonize and integrate with Her. Paganism should be regarded as "Green Religion," just as we have "Green Politics" and "Green Economics."
See more here.
"Wicca" is a modern religion that was invented in the 1930's primarily by Gerald Gardner but with the help and inspiration of a number of others. If you want to learn how it was put together the best book I have read is Ronald Hutton's "The Triumph of the Moon". Wicca is duo-theistic and posits that "all the Gods are one God and all the Goddesses are one Goddess”. Wiccans cast circles and call in the four directions. Wiccans are cheerfully eclectic and find no harm in invoking Pan, Thor and Kwan Yin into the same ritual.
"Druidism", at least the kind that I practice, is firmly grounded in the folklore, language, music, art, religion, archaeology, beliefs, prayers, hymns and incantations of the ancient Celts. There are other types of Druids who are more Wiccan and some Druids who are actually practicing Masonry with a paper thin veneer of Celtic flavoring, but the type of Druidism I practice honors the Three Worlds of Land, Sea and Sky and addresses only the Celtic deities. We make offerings to water, fire and trees and try to use actual charms and incantations from genuine Celtic sources.
8. If any of my readers wanted to learn more about Druidism, where would you suggest they start?
I would suggest going to the Whiteoak website and checking out the basic reading list. It was put together by fifty or more Druids specifically to cover all aspects of our beliefs, history and practices. When you have read five or more of the books feel free to apply to our discussion list (which is by invitation only). We also have a teaching program that leads to initiation for those who are so inclined. But the first step is always to do the reading and then get on to the discussion list.
As a shameless self promotion I have to plug my own books, each of which is designed to instruct the reader in basic Druid spirituality. "A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year" takes you through the seasons and teaches the appropriate herbs to use for ceremonies and life passages such as weddings, funerals, house blessings, etc., giving the spiritual and medicinal properties of all the herbs.
"A Druid's Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine" teaches about the Irish, pre-Roman, Ogham alphabet and specifically the oldest version which is called the Tree Ogham because the letters are all named for trees. In that book I teach the spirituality and medicinal uses of trees. I also teach about the Celtic Fire Festivals; Samhain, Imbolc, Beltaine and Lughnasad, and include a primer on Ogham tree divination.
These and more of my books can be found on my website. As an author I really appreciate it when people go through my site to purchase books!
9. Have you found any portrayals of Druids in popular culture that you liked?
Not really. That's a sad statement but I find that Druids are usually portrayed as men and often as violent, murderous creatures. Female Druids are generally ignored and overlooked by popular writers. I wrote an article on female Druids that you published a while back (thank you!) and I hope people will read it to see what they have been missing;
10. Parting shot! Ask us here at The Magical Buffet any one question.
I'd like everyone to look deep inside and ask themselves what kind of world they really want for all the Earth's creatures. And then call your representatives and demand that they listen!
About Ellen:
Ellen Evert Hopman has been active in American Druidism since 1984. She is co-chief of the Order of the Whiteoak (Ord na Darach Gile), a popular author of Druidry-related titles including Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey and The Druid Isle (Llewellyn), and a master herbalist. She lives in Massachusetts.
To learn more, visit her website, The Order of the WhiteOak (the Druid Order of which she is Co-Chief), Shrine of the Goddess Brighid (that she co-created with J. Craig Melia), Llewlleyn, and Dreamz-Work Productions (where you can get your copy of "Making Kitchen Medicines" which will soon be available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other outlets).
*** This story originally appeared on Rebecca's website http://www.themagicalbuffet.com/
jenn
Age: 24
Studio City CA
Submitted by: jenn
Category: Events
Date: Mon Apr 05, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Location: Studio City CA
0 comments posted
For those of you Southern Californians who couldn't make it up to WonderCon this year do not fret. Anaheim Comic Con is next week (April 16-18, 2010) at the Anaheim...
For those of you Southern Californians who couldn't make it up to WonderCon this year do not fret. Anaheim Comic Con is next week (April 16-18, 2010) at the Anaheim Convention Center! That is right you don't have to Wait for Comic Con to get you comic fix. Plus as with most convention there will be lots of great swag this year. There are two things you can get for free, just for registering.
Wizards of the Coast will be distributing free half-packs of Magic: The Gathering M10 cards.
"The giveaway of the valuable Magic: The Gathering cards will be a big hit with Anaheim Comic Con attendees of all ages," said Gareb Shamus, Wizard Entertainment CEO. "We are excited that Wizards of the Coast will have such a strong presence at the event."
For the young ones, Gogos Crazy Bones will be free to Kids 10 and under courtesy of Irwin Toy. Gogos Crazy Bones is a collectible, mini-game.
“Having an international sensation like Gogos Crazy Bones available free to kids is a great bonus for Anaheim Comic Con attendees,” said Gareb Shamus, Wizard Entertainment CEO. “It’s particularly gratifying to be partnering with Irwin Toy, which has been a leader in the industry for more than 80 years.”
Buy your tickets for Anaheim Comic Con in advance online if you can because it will be cheaper for you. You can get tickets here: http://www.wizardworld.com/anaheim.html. It will cost $25.00 for the day or $45.00 for the weekend.
If you don't live in California here is a list of Wizard World's Comic Cons that might be somewhere near you…
Wizard World Comic Con Tour:
March 26-28, 2010, Toronto Comic Con, Direct Energy Centre
April 16-18, 2010, Anaheim Comic Con, Anaheim Convention Center
June 11-13, 2010, Philadelphia Comic Con, Pennsylvania Convention Center
August 19-22, 2010, Chicago Comic Con, Donald E. Stephens (Rosemont) Convention Center
October 1-3, 2010, New England Comic Con, John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center
October 7-10, 2010, Big Apple Comic Con, Pier 94
October 15-17, 2010, New Jersey Comic Con, New Jersey Convention and Expo Center
November 12-14, 2010, Austin Comic Con, Austin Convention Center
December 3-5, 2010, Atlanta Comic Con, Cobb Galleria Centre
Cincinnati Comic Con, TBD
Cleveland Comic Con, TBD
Nashville Comic Con, TBD
rebecca
Age: 32
Albany NY
Submitted by: rebecca
Category: Entertainment
Date: Sun Apr 04, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Location: Albany NY
0 comments posted
Music matters. I don't have facts and figures to back up that statement. Sure, I could go online and find them, but you know it's true, so why fight with Wordpress to create a link? Music inspires, educates, and liberates, that's just how it is, no sense in denying it. Can't imagine a world without it, and I think I've made it pretty clear from previous posts that I wouldn't want to be in a world that doesn't have it. I was surprised to learn that from 1996-2001 music was banned by the...
Music matters. I don't have facts and figures to back up that statement. Sure, I could go online and find them, but you know it's true, so why fight with Wordpress to create a link? Music inspires, educates, and liberates, that's just how it is, no sense in denying it. Can't imagine a world without it, and I think I've made it pretty clear from previous posts that I wouldn't want to be in a world that doesn't have it. I was surprised to learn that from 1996-2001 music was banned by the Taliban in Afghanistan. What is that world like?
Many of you may have heard about the documentary "Afghan Star". For those of you who haven't, it's a film documentary that follows the lives of contestants and producers of a television show in Afghanistan called "Afghan Star". "Afghan Star" makes "American Idol" contestants look like total wusses. And before you email me compelling stories about the lives of the struggling as to yet already be semi-well-known AI contestants, answer me this; Any former AI contestant have to live under government protection for singing on stage? Yeah, I thought so. Music was banned. However, 60% of the Afghan population is under the age of 21 and the Taliban has lost some of its hold, so that's right folks, music is back.
"Afghan Star" brings pop music to the people, following the same basic structure that we know from "American Idol". It's an elimination based performance contest where people use their phones to vote for their favorites. A third of the country watched the finale of the season followed in "Afghan Star". This is contestant Setara performing.
*** This story originally appeared on Rebecca's website http://www.themagicalbuffet.com/
