Cleolinda Jones (cleolinda) wrote,
Cleolinda Jones
cleolinda
  • Mood: sleepy
  • Music: Emilie Autumn, "Rapunzel"
So, ice skating. I came out of the final night with an immense respect for both Emily Hughes and Sasha Cohen for continuing to fight and sell even after falling down (Cohen, particularly, because she biffed her first two jumps but it didn't kill her spirit; Hughes, particularly, for having so much spark and showmanship and recovering so quickly at such a young age). These two were particularly impressive after watching some of the early competitors skate limp programs, some of which were lifeless from the word go, but others you saw die on the vine right in front of you after a bad mistake. I feel bad saying it, but Miki Ando was just painful to watch. Meanwhile, Shizuka Arakawa was gorgeous and strong, and I think she fully deserved the gold, but at the same time, I drew more inspiration from Hughes and Cohen. I mean, I fuck up a lot. Not in the sense that I fall on my ass a lot, although it has been known to happen--it's more in the sense of missing a deadline, missing an opportunity, losing a contest, getting a rejection, and it's the guilt from one disappointment that keeps pulling me down to a second, and a third, and a fourth. Anyone who can go out there, fall down, and jump back up and immediately go into a flourish and grin--anyone who can START her program by falling on her ass TWICE but stay on that horse and ride it home to a silver medal--is okay by me.

(sunshine95: "Johnny Weir is also apparently obsessed with Russia...and Christina Aguilera. Yeah, I don't know either.")

(Tonight: Champions gala, whee!)

Dear Girl Scouts: Please come by my house and sell me cookies.

Dear Money Tree: Please spring up in the back yard. I have to pay my taxes and my COBRA. Oh, and the Girl Scouts are coming.

Arab Co., White House Had Secret Agreement. People, WTF?

I know there's a seeming issue of racism here on the part of those of us freaking out, particularly since the UAE has been "a solid friend" to us, but part of the problem is that the administration has spent a good five years now conditioning the American people to go into a killing froth at the mere sound of the word "Arab"--I mean, if you want people to overlook the non-sequitur quality of going after Saddam when we're actually trying to catch bin Laden, and the fact that the invasion of Iraq was made possible by the non-existent WMDs, you focus on making the American people as scared and punchy and outraged as possible. And now they're just like, "Yeah, we're gonna sell port operations to the United Arab Emirates. What?" And, as marcusisabadass points out, And, lest we forget Mr. Protect-America-At-All-Costs-Including-Civil-Liberties, the 9/11 attacks had more direct connections to the UAE than to Iraq. From the CNN article: "Two of the hijackers involved in the September 11, 2001, attacks came from the Persian Gulf country, and most of the money for the plot was funneled through the banking center of Dubai." Gawker kind of sums up what I want to say here: Except for All Those Times I Told You That You Need to Worry About Security. My concern has almost nothing to do with the UAE itself and everything to do with the mixed signals coming from the administration.

Also, I completely concur: "Just what in the hell is going on here? Why is Bush willing to ignore a federal law, piss off his own party, and put his "strong on security" reputation (well-deserved or not) at risk over this? It's come out that a couple guys in the administration have ties to the Dubai company, but that alone doesn't seem like enough. There's something even deeper going on here, and somebody needs to find out what it is."

The South Dakota senate passed a bill to criminalize abortions. Here's a scary hypothesis as to why it got passed now.

"Generation Debt: Why Now Is a Terrible Time to Be Young." Man, the linkspam is just cheerful today, ain't it?

Bono Among Nobel Peace Prize Nominees. I debated which linkspam section to put this in, honestly.

"Brokeback" rides into US popular culture. Honestly, I would have to say that the tidal wave of jokes and parodies indicates that we're accepting the movie, or trying to; I think it's a positive thing. You might get tired of homemade Fill-in-the-Blank Mountain movie parodies, but I'd rather see those than protests at theaters.

Diane Duane has decided how she wants to self-publish and distribute The Big Meow. Hit her blog if you're interested in reading it.

Question of the day: "Does it take a long time to get to be so shameless?"

Terrifying new celebrity couplings, including K-Fed's possible new mark. Meanwhile, Swank and Lowe patching things up?

Lawsuit reveals Netflix sends frequent renters to the back of line.

Pianist collapses, dies at performance.

Body snatchers plunder Alistair Cooke's corpse?

Aske Chaucere, parte the firste: fair Geoffrey has the answers to all your problems.

Illinois governor confused by 'Daily Show' bit.

PerezHilton.com Presents: Gwens! Possibly the best production values of any "Ring! Ring!" animation ever.

The Comment That Made Him/Her an Ex. Compiled from Salon Table Talkers.

Harassed NY pedestrians strike back with camera phones and blog.

dailydigestnews: The new Spider-Man 3 teaser poster; Supergirl?; Cary Elwes gets a TV pilot; Philip Seymour Hoffman obligated to bark Oscar speech? (Note: since I'm now doing 2-3 entries a day, friending that journal, if you're interested in it, may be a good idea.)


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Tags: blogs, brokeback mountain, movies, olympics, skating, writers
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