smockmomma: July 2006 Archives

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just read a coolmoe article by dinesh d'souza entitled Multiculturalism: Fact or Threat. d'souza is one smart cookie. and cute as a bug's ear, too! here's a nibble:

"There has been a remarkable demographic shift that has changed the complexion of American society over the last 40 years. One reason for this change is the fact that most immigrants today come from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, rather than from Europe. A second contributing factor is birthrates: those of non-white minorities are substantially higher than that of whites. Taken together, these have led to what some have called the "browning of America." In this sense, we can speak of multiculturalism as a fact. But it is important to distinguish this fact from the ideology that goes by the same name. The ideology of multiculturalism demands the transformation of America's educational and political institutions in response to the new demographic reality. This ideology of multiculturalism, unlike the fact of multiculturalism, poses a threat to what is best and highest in America.

Multiculturalists insist that we change how we teach our children, in order to reshape how they think. Specifically, they must stop thinking of Western and American civilization as superior to other civilizations. The doctrine underlying this position is cultural relativism..."

inspired by a little poem (sing a song of summer by kay winters) that ts shared over at video meliora, i offer the following:

when it's durn hot
it's hotter'n hell
and the sweat runs
raht down yor tail
the asphalt melts
and starts to smell
worse than yankee cheese
you kin tell
it's summer

oops. i guess i forgot to mention to mamaT that smockdaddy and i were so eager to see lady in the water, we went to the midnight showing last thursday. ehem. i sorta forgot about it probably because i sorta forgot about THE FILM! ugh.

i really expected this to be a great film. so great that it would be memorable. i mean, who doesn't love a scary bedtime story? who doesn't love bryce howard? and i love m. night shyamalan. i really do! but...

it had great potential. in fact, a lot of the movie has very good scenes. and funny! oh, i laughed out loud through the whole picture. but isn't this a scary thriller? okay, so it was great comic relief for some pretty tense moments. paul giamatti was flawless. totally believable and sorta lovable. but, bryce didn't do much talking. she sorta just lazed around half nekkid, looking nymphish and translucent. the asian family was hysterical. i'm surprized there hasn't been some sort of asian student uprising against possible stereotyping.

because of a carefully constructed ending, i left the theater feeling pretty high. yeah, that was pretty good! the problem was it was a short-lived high. the problem was that taken as a whole, the overall effect of the movie was pretty, well, it kills me to admit it, but it was sorta blah. the problem? too many characters. waaaaaaaay too many. as a result, they had to be pretty cookie-cutter to be quickly understood. but that's the problem, they were so obvious that they were tedious to watch. good grief, here's the one arm shmo again. they were so unspectacular, they were ultimately unmemorable.

the movie is promoted as a bedtime story. unfortunately it plays like one -- one that dad is making up as he goes after one too many nightcaps. ...and uh, then the guy goes to see the, uh, the asian lady again. yeah, that's it. and then he uh...

to add insult to injury, poor shyamalan made the grave mistake of casting himself as the "vessel" (a Christ-like figure) which is only going to add fuel to the fire since the critics all think he's an arrogant one-note hack. i happen to disagree with his critics, i just wish he'd quit giving them ammo.

to be fair, i'll probably end up owning this movie on dvd. i have to in order to round out my shyamalan collection. which means i'll end up watching it again. i'll let you know if it gets any better.

our beloved mr. luse has a looong and very smart post over at apologia, entitled animal of the month, in which the question akin to "do all dogs really go to heaven?" is pondered.

i really cheesed off a good friend once because i gave her my loftiest reaction which is "nope, cuz they don't have souls." but i want them to go to heaven because i've known, and known of, quite a few grand animals and the thought of seeing them or seeing them again is very appealing -- assuming i make it m'self.

i'm pleased to report that according to the little i've read it looks like some really smart and trustworthy people think it is a possibility. and according to the most trustworthy person i've ever actually known, my nonny, they sure might.

this is actually a question that i've bumped up against several times. in fact, my first deep theological discussion was about this very topic. my nonny and i were in her backyard playing with "fury, too." fury, too was, as you can guess, the second "fury" my grandparents had -- a bright white alaskan husky with beautiful gray eyes and a perfect temper. i could brush her hair and put barrette and ribbons all in her fur for days and she still loved me. anyway, i asked my nonny about how fury, too got her name and as soon as i learned that the original fury had died, i asked if she was in heaven. nonny said she didn't know but she certainly hoped so.

so dogs can go to heaven just like people?
sure. where else would all the milk and honey come from?
that just means cows and bees are in heaven, yuck!
well if God lets yucky ol' cows and bees into heaven, surely He lets dogs in, too.

makes sense to me.

let's face it, the summa mamas love meat. and, everyone knows that i love me some bacon. of course, as a self-professed meat n' potatoes kinda gal, i have earned a rap for not being too cuddly on veggies. that's okay. taking mamaT's cue (see mamaT's entry on veggies you can wear), i started looking for more delicious couture.

well, i couldn't find a pair of bacon sandals -- which i really thought i'd find because...well, how cute would that be? totally coolmoe.

anyway, i did find a cool tee that reads:

and then totally mad bracelets to boot:

and for the smocktwins, also known as the wee carnivores of smockmaison:

gotta have it.

Sister Mary, who worked for a home health agency, was out making her rounds visiting homebound patients when she ran out of gas.

As luck would have it, a gas station was just a block away. She walked to the station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas. The attendant told her that the only gas can he owned had been loaned out, but she could wait until it was returned.

Since the nun was on the way to see a patient, she decided not to wait and walked back to her car. She looked for something in her car that she could fill with gas and spotted the bedpan she was taking to the patient.

Always resourceful, she carried the bedpan to the station, filled it with gas, and carried the full bedpan back to her car. As she was pouring the gas into her tank, two men watched from across the street.

One of the them turned to the other and said, "If it starts, I'm becoming a Catholic!"