Interesting piece in the current Wired on the mysterious Incan string bundles known as khipu. I have been fascinated by codes – broken and unbroken – for almost as long as I can remember.Trying to figure out which movie has had the greatest impact how I see the world. (Our headmaster tossed out a little meme challenge last week.)
Saw Hairspray last night (the movie, not the play), and really enjoyed it. Worth the price of admission just to see Allison Janney's pratfall and to hear Queen Latifah say, "We get any more white people in here, it's gonna be a suburb!" Afterwards, though, I was left with the same sense of lingering unease that often accompanies my viewing of a movie that depicts our American "awakening" to racial injustice in the 1960's. I end up feeling like the subtext of the film is something like, That was then, this is now, thank goodness we've come so far. Pass the rose colored glasses; I'll have another helping of denial, please.
I am pleased that D's after-school program in this coming year will be coordinated by the YWCA; I like giving some of my money to an organization that deliberately seeks to engage issues of racial injustice on a continuing basis.
2 comments:
Do you watch "Numbers" on CBS Friday nights? There's a fabulous character, a way gifted physicist, who creates a string bundle as you describe. Perplexes his friends, but centers him. Interesting that he knows what it's all about, but no one else can decipher it.
interesting... I had much the same response to hairspray. I certainly enjoyed the various performances, but I was left with that feeling - I am not certain we have come as far as many would like to believe and I know we have a long way to go on many other social issues.
Post a Comment