Meaning and Authenticity

Well, we're watching the final episode of Battlestar Galactica. Believe me, my family is going to miss this television show. David downloads it on Friday from somewhere on the internet (HuLu, I think), then Young Man with Integrity, J and Little M come over on Saturday and watch it with us that evening, although today they are in City to the South celebrating his birthday with his mom and stepdad, and Lovely Passionate Feminist is watching it with us tonight. She goes back to her university tomorrow. It's a terrific show, Battlestar. I remember the first season I was enthralled with the music--those DRUMS! WOW. Then the character development began to grab me. The father/son tension between Adama and Apollo. The sexual tension between Kara and Apollo. The strange behavior of Sharon a.k.a. Boomer a.k.a. Athena a.k.a. Eight. Of course, as the years have gone on, the plot go so complicated that it's been hard to follow. David and the others watch the episodes more than once, s...

We saw Oliver Stone's film "W" this weekend, his portrayal of George W. Bush. At the end of the last scene my husband spontaneously uttered "Wow," and I covered my face with my hands and couldn't speak. Lovely Passionate Feminist didn't say anything, but she and I talked about it on the way home, and she agreed. It's a horror film, really. The horror of seeing a soul (rich and therefore privileged though he is) unable to find himself . Searching, searching, searching his whole life for what would please his father. Mistakenly believing that to please his father would give his life meaning and purpose. He'd be a real man, and not "a disappointment," if he could win his father's approval. The horror of a lost soul. The horror of what we do to our children. The horror of seeing religion used as an opiate. George W. traded one addiction, alcohol, for another--this time a much more dangerous one. Religion without the courage of self kn...

Battlestar Galactica . Do you know it? Humans on the planet Caprica created a race of robot machines who evenually rebelled against them. War. Finally, a truce. For 40 years they the humans hear nothing from the Cylons. Out of nowhere, the Cylons attack, nearly wiping out the human race. The 41,000 human beings who survive find spaceships and take off into space, a remnent led by the only surviving battlestar: Galactica. Galactica's commander is William Adama. He has a son, Lee Adama (aka Apolla, a fighter pilot) Commander Adama's second in command is Saul Tigh . He has a drinking problem. The best pilot in the fleet is Kara Thrace , (aka Starbuck). She was engaged to Adama's other son, Zac, but he died. She and Lee (the still-alive son) have a thing for each other. OK, so after 40 years of truce, the Cylons come out of nowhere to attack, nearly wiping out the human race. The Cylons had been treated like slaves for millenia and they hated their human oppressors. W...

If you have EVER in your ENTIRE life loved a Disney movie, go see Enchanted. D and Young Man with Integrity and I just came from seeing this movie, and all three of us LOVED IT. (Now, that's a recommendation!)

Movies. I LOVE movies. So does my husband. We saw a movie together on our second date and when we married we combined our considerable collections of movies and now have ...oh, I'm embarrassed to say how many. D and I both often come home from a trip to the store for milk and bread with a DVD in hand. Really, neither of us smoke, drink, gamble or came into this marriage with any debt, but when it comes to movies, well... Something Hot Cup Lutheran mentioned made me remember my second date with D. Yes, we saw a movie. Well, before I get to that, let me tell you about our first -- not date, the first time we met . The first time we met was at lunch. When people ask how we met, D says we had mutual friends, which is perfectly accurate. Turns out we knew several people in common and lived not even five miles from each other. More accurately, though, we met through match.com. I was in a dating flurry back then (for me, anyway!), and I'd always arrange to meet these guys for lunch a...