toastykitten

I just watched it. The finale of 30 Days irritated and infuriated me. I wanted to smack the daughter, who, apparently, is studying to be a nurse on a full scholarship. Does that make you want to run to the hospital or what? And the mom, who, for some reason, let her daughter walk all over her. Had that been my child, ignoring me while I'm trying to have a serious discussion with her, I would have taken the cell phone away and stepped on it. I am vindictive like that.

I didn't get what this episode was supposed to accomplish. Mom's going to drink for 30 days to show how her daughter how much it sucks, but then daughter isn't even around most of the time to see it? Why didn't they make the daughter sober up for 30 days, or at least go to one AA meeting? I kind of wish they did let Morgan do all the shows, because only the first one, where they live on minimum wage for 30 days, had any sort of impact on me. At least Morgan's got personality, which is more than the people they chose to highlight.

Part of the frustration is watching these people say stupid-ass things, but then the main characters don't say anything to rebut them. Mom: "How much are you drinking?" Daughter: "Long list of shots, and then when I wake up I don't remember what happened. But I'm responsible."

Any other parent with a half a brain, would have said, "And how the fuck do you think you're being responsible if you can't even remember what happened most of the time?" But no. The mom just sat there. And then she wondered why she was having no effect on her daughter. I wonder if the daughter realized how stupid she came off in this episode.

Morgan Spurlock's next show will be on Comedy Central, called Public Nuisance. Includes gay robots.

The FX forums have the worst interface EVER, but you can read some reactions from the stepson of the mom, who I liked.

Fantastic Four annoyed me. How are these people superheroes? Bleh. They don't even *save* anyone!

30 Days - Straight Guy living in the Gay, Gay, GAY Castro district - I wanted to whack Straight Guy over the head with a brick; he was so stupid. Do you tell everyone you meet that you think they're the equivalent of murderers, but hey, as long as you don't touch me, it's ok? Especially veterans? Ugh. To his credit, he did wise up a little, but not until Day 29.

I've been following the forums a little over this show, and while most people are able to have rational discussions (I am incapable of having rational discussions about intolerant people, so I don't participate), I find the whining by the red-state, conservative contingent really, really aggravating. "Why don't they do a show where they send an atheist/liberal/leftist [apparently all these are interchangeable] to live with a conservative Christian?" Because they DO IT EVERY DAMN DAY! "I think Morgan Spurlock has an agenda! He's trying to impose his view on me! He thinks all red-staters are ignorant, backwards hicks!" Um, Morgan is FROM WEST VIRGINIA! If anything, I think he's way too nice, especially to people like Fred Phelps. Boohoo, he's trying to convince you to be more tolerant. You want to be stupid, watch Fox.

Anyway, I'm done ranting.

I just finished His Dark Materials, the trilogy by Philip Pullman. These books blew me away, like no other book has done in years. He rewrote Paradise Lost! (And by default, the story of Genesis.) I love these books, and am surprised that they haven't been banned yet, considering how much fuss has been made over Harry Potter and witchcraft. (J.K. Rowling, you wish you wrote like Pullman.) These books are like crack - I couldn't put them down, even at work, because I absolutely had to know how it ended. I described it to people as kind of like an "atheist Narnia", but that's not really true. It has other worlds, and it deals with faith, and the possibility of a vulnerable God (hmm...maybe I can somehow tie this to my reading Killing the Buddha, but I am not writing a paper, so whatever) who can be killed. I loved the protagonists - headstrong Lyra and the determined Will, and the premise of the books shocked me, because it turned Paradise Lost upside-down and made "God", or "the Authority" the bad guy, but then, I couldn't tell, and the protagonists couldn't tell who was "good" or "evil" for most of the books. These books contained some of the richest and most complex characters I'd come across in years.

Other good things include: really exciting fights, a great quest story, gay(!) angels, Mrs. Coulter (one of the best-written female characters, who you can never figure out), interesting world-building, and the religious stuff is very, very convincing.

The books are aimed at a young adult audience, and it makes me wonder whether the kids will *get it*, or have everything fly over their heads. I actually read the Chronicles of Narnia a while back, and really liked it, but I don't think I love it. The last book - I wish I could pretend didn't exist, because why am I supposed to feel glad that they all died?

Anyway, I'll try to find some stuff tomorrow to link to; it's time to sleep for me.

I was listening to NPR today - did Rumsfeld actually say what I think he said? Because that was basically an admission of failure.

Ordering Chinese food.

My favorite new TV show now is 30 Days, produced and hosted by Morgan Spurlock, the happy-go-lucky dude who did Supersize Me. Supersize Me was, in Spurlock's own words, "a really great bad idea" in which he decided to experiment on himself and eat McDonald's food 30 days in a row. He's been compared to Michael Moore, favorably and unfavorably, but I think he's a lot more fun. He takes so much obvious joy in what he does - it's like he lucked out into the best job in the world and is wickedly gleeful about it, like a little boy running around after being told he can have all the video games he wants.

30 Days is about taking random people and placing them in other people's shoes for 30 Days. It's like they created a show just for me! Originally Spurlock wanted to do all the experiments himself, but his girlfriend told him he wouldn't "have a girlfriend for long" if he did that. Which is just as well. He and the girlfriend did do one episode - the opening, where the two attempt to live only on minimum wage for a month.

I think everyone needs to see this episode. It is so great, and sad, and brought back so many memories. All I could think was, I am so glad I'm not poor anymore.

One of the things that they brought up was the fact that during this time, they were basically living from check to check. They didn't have any money for anything, including the unexpected health care issues.

While I was watching, I couldn't help thinking that they weren't strategizing very well. They go to a dollar theater, but then Morgan stocks up on a bunch of snacks that cost as much as at a regular theater. I was like, fool, sneak the food in! This sparked a fight between the couple that was pretty familiar-the money fight. (Parents don't necessarily want to have this fight in front of the kids, but they're so tired and stressed and cranky that they do it anyway.) I cringed as I watched the vegan chef girlfriend chop up some broccoli and totally throw most of it out.

I cannot wait for next week's episode, where a hardcore Christian guy has to live with the Muslim family for a month. From the preview:

Christian guy walks away, waving his hand.
Muslim guy: "Did he just flip me off?"
Muslim girl: "No, he did like this. That was the peace sign, dude."

For some reason, that just totally cracked me up.

Alton Brown has a new show! Feasting on Asphalt follows Alton Brown as he tries road food on Route 66, traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles. Dammit, I want his jobs. I want to get paid to eat and travel.