Why Blog?

One of my teaching colleagues questioned whether or not she should do a BLOG herself.  I wrote back the following:   

Sounds like a great lesson plan, especially its exploratory nature.  I suspect you'll learn as much as the kids do about the why and how of a BLOG.    I was actually inspired to begin my BLOG by the story I read about the guy who helped bring down Dan Rather.  He just started it merely to fire off his thoughts, and it changed something about the way journalists work.    

More than one of my friends does a BLOG -- it appears to be great way to meet friends you'd never talk to otherwise.    Think about it: thoughts from a veteran teacher.  I'd love to link to your BLOG and find out what you're thinking on the days you get around to journalizing.  Since we live so far apart, and only have coffee on some of my scattered trips into town, it might actually help us keep up with each other's lives -- never mention the great teaching ideas I could steal from you.  

Routine is such an important part of life, and so underrated.  I have found in the past year that it is in the routines that I've been able to actually accomplish things: losing weight, writing regularly in order to produce a play and now a screenplay, showing up for work every day and thus gaining the trust of my students, spending regular time with friends and thus building relationships.   I suspect that writing a BLOG is no different.

Emotional Survival

I am greatly disturbed tonight.  One of my two closest friends was vacationing with his wife in Malaysia and just missed sunning himself with her on the beach where the tsunami waves hit. 

So I lift a glass of wine to the Fates who birthed the three of us into the childhood purgatory we called Hartville, and has once again permitted "our dynamic threesome" to survive.  

What haunts me most tonight is the film Dogville.  If you haven't seen this film on DVD yet, please do.  It's Von Trier's blistering critique of America, and it made no sense to me as I watched it.  Only at the end did I finally get it.

In his parable about American power, Von Triers argues that America has been a the masochist prince until now, refusing to accept its true, gangster role in the world, that only now is it accepting its place in history's succession of empires.  And now, after being abused, humiliated, and raped by rest of the world ... America has finally bared its teeth, revealed its true nature, and turned on world. 

Shades of 911.  I was flooded with the same emotion I felt when a friend suggested we turn the Middle East into a parking lot.  How close we all are to the beast within.  Worst of all, Nicole's character made perfect sense.

Von Trier's setting adds to the stark parable, minimalizing everything but the action, using a bare stage and platforms to tell his story.  It all adds to the universal nature of his story.  This could be any small town.  Or America itself.  This is a Message Story, a Visual Essay, a Parable.  Those who have ears to hear, eyes to see, let them hear and see.  

Odd thing.  I saw Closer earlier this evening.  It deals with the intricacies of human relationships - as the Von Trier film deals with the intricacies of politics.  Closer is a much more finely crafted script.  But the delayed wallop packed by Dogville is more powerful.

Torn

I've just finished watching Kill Bill: Volume 1.  Finally.  It's the kind of movie even my late cats Jack and Gilly would have enjoyed.

How does Tarantino get away with it?  He's brilliant.  He mixes animation with black and white with realistic color, and I'm sitting here drinking it in.

If you haven't seen these two films yet, please do.  The first one is a bit confusing, but when you see the payoff at the end, you'll understand everything.