That's Show Biz

"Hey, mom, is dinner ready?"  Bigger Girl was ready to eat, as she had plans.

Sure, i said, and then i asked, what's up for the evening?

"Oh, I'm going to go spend time with Will and Muriel and the rest.  And the new guy, whose name is Tiger.  He keeps flirting with me, but he's pretty cool.  He saw my tattoo, and said he liked it.  So I asked if he had any, and he said, no, he has nipple rings, and then he showed them to me."

Well, that's odd on a first meeting, i said.

"What do you expect from a guy who is trying to legally change his name to Tiger, and who likes to wear women's clothing around his apartment?  Also, who claims to be a Pastafarian? Besides, I asked, and I didn't mind.  And isn't it weird, I now know a Pastafarian!"

No weirder than the one who's an atheist Buddhist, i noted, and then asked, any special plans?

"No.  We thought about going to the movie screening at the college, but it's Hangover 3.  Can you believe it?  They are always talking about not wanting us to drink and get drunk and do stupid stuff, and then they screen these movies!  Why do they do that?"

Not a clue, i said as i mixed the egg salad for my vegetarians and the chicken salad with mustard only for #2 Son who doesn't eat mayonnaise and the regular chicken salad for Sweetie.  Gads.

"Well, I don't get it.  How can they spend millions of dollars on movies and turn out awful movies?  I mean really, with that much money at their disposal, can't they come up with good, thoughtful movies with real characters?"

They could, but would they make money? i asked.  They would probably tell you they are only in it to entertain.

"Yeah, but these crazy 'do something dumb but nothing really bad happens at the end' movies are awful.  Now if they would show what would really happen if you got so blitzed you kidnapped someone's pet tiger and lost a person, that would show character development, especially if the people learned better than to do it again.  Instead, they make lousy movies with millions of dollars, like this one, or like Lone Ranger.  No one went to see that one.  How do you invest that much into a movie, and a Western at that, and not bother to make it good?"

And, do these kids who see the movies really think that's how real life works, with no consequences? i asked.  Hollywood would claim their movies have no effect on people, they are just entertaining us, but does life imitate art, or art imitate life, or both?  (She had her mouth full, that's how i got out that whole sentence.)

"Both, I think," she said.  "They are two mirrors held up to each other, reflecting each other endlessly."

Most likely, i said.  They do feed each other.

"And you know what I really hate?

Surprise me, i said.

"They used to make deep movies.  Like Casablanca, stuff with deep themes and real female characters.  Women who weren't just there to be draped over a car half naked so they could be a love interest.  Now, they won't make an action movie with a female hero, because they say it wouldn't make any money.  Think abut it, the biggest thing is movies about superheroes, but they won't make an action superhero movie with a female lead!  That could be deep, they could develop a real female character who is more than just a stereotype, and they won't do it.

"My favorite of the action hero comics are the Young Avengers, and they're some of the most popular characters out there, and they've put off making a movie of them indefinitely because almost all the characters are female, and they are real characters, with depth and feeling, not just there to be decorations.  And even though it's so popular, they won't put them in a movie.  It's awful."

It sure is, i said.  Tell your friends hello for me.
 

Today is:

Commemoration Day -- Tunisia

Day of Accord and Reconciliation -- Russia (formerly Great October Socialist Revolution Day, with the date determined by the Gregorian Calendar)

Feast of Blessed John Duns Scotus (the Subtle Doctor, known for merging the views from many philosophies)
     Dunce Day -- from the word Dunse, a name for the followers of the philosophy of John Duns Scotus

Feast of Stolen Fire -- find it listed on several sites, but none have any background; maybe celebrate that Prometheus stole fire for us?

International Tongue Twister Day -- internet generated

Men Make Dinner Day -- BBQ is not allowed, but you can go to menmakedinnerday.com for ideas

National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day

National Notary Public Day -- US http://www.asnnotary.org/

National Revolution and Solidarity Day -- Bangladesh

October Revolution Day -- Belarus; Kyrgyzstan; Transdniestria

Pirates Week Festival -- Cayman Islands (mock pirate invasions, old sailing vessels, and lots of good-natured fun; through the 17th)

Stay Away from Anyone named Honest John Day -- internet generated; no comment

St. Florentius' Day (Patron against gall stones, ruptures)

St. Willibrord's Day (Patron of epileptics; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Utrecht, Netherlands; against convulsions, epilepsy)

Thanksgiving Day -- Liberia

Wish Granting Championships -- Fairy Calendar (Fairies)


Anniversary Today:

The Old Stoughton Musical Society, the oldest choral society in the US, is founded, 1786



Birthdays Today:

Keith Lockhart, 1959
Joni Mitchell, 1943
Joan Sutherland, 1926
Al Hirt, 1922
Billy Graham, 1918
Albert Camus, 1913
Dean Jagger, 1903
Leon Trotsky, 1879
Madame Marie Curie, 1867
Captain James Cook, 1728


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Face the Nation, 1954
The Republican Elephant, in Harper's Weekly, 1874


Today in History:

The oldest meteorite with a known date of impact, the Ensisheim Meteorite, strikes around noon in a wheat field near the village of Ensisheim, Alsace, France, 1492
Pierre Gassendi observes the transit of Mercury as predicted by Kepler, 1631
Anne Htchinson is banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a heretic, 1637
The first edition of the "London Gazette", the oldest surviving journal, is published, 1665
Lewis and Clark first sight the Pacific Ocean, 1805
The first Thomas Nast cartoon depicting the Republican Party Elephant is published, 1874
Edward Bouchet becomes the first black to receive a PhD from a US college (Yale), 1876
Women in the U.S. state of Colorado are granted the right to vote, 1893
The first air freight shipment is undertaken by the Wright brothers and department store owner Max Moorehouse (from Dayton, Ohio to Columbus, Ohio), 1910
Mao Tse Tung proclaims the "Chinese People's Republic", 1931
Fiorello H. La Guardia is elected the 99th mayor of New York City, 1933
Carl B. Stokes is elected as Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, becoming the first African American mayor of a major American city, 1967
Douglas Wilder wins the governor's seat in Virginia, becoming the first elected African American governor in the United States, 1989
Mary Robinson becomes the first woman to be elected President of the Republic of Ireland, 1990
NASA launches the Mars Global Surveyor, 1996
U.S. voters in the state of Massachusetts approve a referendum legalizing the use of medical marijuana; Colorado and Washington approve the legalization of recreational use of the drug, 2012