in movies: So I saw the poster for the Prince of Persia movie coming out in 2010, and immediately thought, Again? Jake Gyllenhaal, who as far as I can tell is not Persian in the slightest has been cast as the lead. (This is the second of disappointments, because I also saw the trailer for Avatar: The Last Air Bender, in which the kid is very white.)

A friend argued that since these are fantasy worlds the characters can be of any nationality, and it's really the story that matters. I have little hope for these being great stories (one being based off of a video game and the other being directed by M. Night Shyamalan). And while I can often ignore many things in the name of a good movie (or even often in the name of a mediocre one), I like to see people of color and of different cultures, genders, nationalities in movies. I think it's a good thing and I can't help but be sad when movies that are geared to multiculturalism are given away to more white people.


in tv: Project Runway aired last night. We (my family and I) were quite pleased, though I could have done without the two hour all star show, and I have absolutely no interest in the model show that appears after.

I also caught Tuesday's episode of Warehouse 13, and I was glad to finally see a true villain appear, some one who could be a good dark menacing presence to the show for a while. I needed to see something other from the show than "the object made me do it."


in my writing: I've figured out a new short story idea. it's kind of in a vague stag at the moment. I'm thinking I'll let it mull for a little while longer, let it ripen a little. I need, for example, to have a slightly better sense of who the villain is. But I think regardless of what comes up over the weekend, I'll begin working on it the beginning of next week.

I thought this was very cool. The city of Silverton, Oregon elected the United States' first transgender mayor, which I see as a sign that people can be accepting of those who seem different. It's progress in my book.

I'm not quite sure what I think about ABC's choice to use "he" instead of "she" as the pronoun since Rasmussen is male-trans-female, and my limited understanding of the situation is that that would be her choice as that is her current gender. Please (gently) correct me if I'm wrong.

Copy this sentence into your livejournal if you're in a heterosexual marriage/relationship (or if you think you might be someday), and you don't want it "protected" by the bigots who think that gay marriage hurts it somehow.


I'm with msagara on this. Go read her post. 

I've been seeing all these pro-prop 8 commercials on TV, and the ones that annoy me the most have to do with the idea that schools would teach that gay marriage was okay in schools. God forbid! God forbid, that children be taught to be accepting of different lifestyles, that they be taught that discrimination is wrong, that they be taught to accept people for being people rather than some category. Oye! i just don't get people sometimes.

On a similar note, here's a video: How to save your marriage*.


*Note: the video is intended to be sarcastic.