PeaceBang

Little Girls, Comedy and Tragedy

Sheeow Business!
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

When I was a kid I absolutely adored the eccentric little Alan Parker film, “Bugsy Malone.” It starred my eternal crush, Scott Baio (the inspiration for 100 shop-lifted “Tiger Beat” magazines at Breslow’s), and it was a gangster *musical* with an entirely teen and pre-teen cast.Jodie Foster, then about 15, played Tallulah. It killed.

The wonderfully cricket-voiced Bonnie Langford (already a child star of the West End), had a cameo appearance as an outrageous diva. There she is in the photo, draped in furs, all of maybe 10 years old.

When I saw this recent photo of Mary Kate Olsen,

I was reminded of the hilarious Miz Langford. But then I got very sad. MK Olsen is in her twenties. It’s funny when little girls dress up in big girl clothes to lampoon outlandish diva behavior, but it’s another thing entirely when adult women starve themselves into ten-year old bodies.

We wish Miss Olsen well. Meanwhile, we encourage you to rent “Bugsy Malone” and prepare to roll on the couch when Bonnie Langford makes her immortal entrance.

Feel My Pain

Traffic Jam!!!
Originally uploaded by 2005tigarn.

Checking In From Out Of Town

I drove to Providence and flew to Philadelphia.

I waited for my luggage. I waited 45 minutes for my Budget rental car.

I drove to Bucks County, PA, to see some family. It should have taken 45 minutes. It took 2 hours because of Philadelphia traffic. Warmly referred to in Boston as “parking lot” style.
I stayed the night.

I drove to Maryland. It should have taken 3 hours, max. It took five hours. Traffic.

I stayed two nights at the Hilton in Columbia, MD. As I settled in to read and luxuriate in the fact that I was no longer stuck in interminable traffic, I heard the sound of stampeding teengers in the hall. When I opened my door to investigate, I saw that what appeared to be a confab of cheerleaders had infested the floor. I phoned the front desk to grimly inform them that I was packing my bags and that I wanted a new room far away from any giggling, scampering adolescents. The front desk grimly informed me that there were 200 youth in the hotel, and there was not a youth-free floor to be found. I ingested a pharmaceutical anxiety aid (intended to help with the plane flight) and went to sleep.

The next day I shopped.
I attended a rehearsal dinner.

Saturday morning brought the finest spring weather I have seen yet this year and we had a very gorgeous wedding. The bride was radiant. The groom was cool as a cuke. A very earnest Jewish woman spent a solid hour at the reception grilling me about Unitarian Universalist theology and did not stop no matter how many times I made an elaborately apologetic “I-would-love-to-answer-that-question-but-I’m-chewing-and-you-wouldn’t want-me-to-choke-would you?” face.

On Saturday afternoon I drove to Alexandria, VA to stay with a pal. Then I went to the theatre at the Kennedy Center with the Boy In The Bands and his hubby (review forthcoming).
http://www.universalistchurch.net/boyinthebands/

On Sunday morning I went to a lovely UU worship service in Arlington, VA (where my friend danced beautifully). I began to fade (unobtrusively, I hope). Dreading the ride back up to PA in the rain and the traffic, I left the DC area early and rode north again.

The trip back to Bucks County took 6 hours. Traffic again. They have fewer potholes in MEXICO.

Let me ask you this: whatever happened to the public transportation lobby in America? Remember when they were promising us inter-state monorails??

(P.S. Did you know that your AAA membership contributes to a virulent pro-car, pro-petroleum gas lobby? You join thinking that you’re getting free maps, and they count you as one of their “constituents” to defend their anti-public transportation legislative activism. Here’s a nice alternative concept, http://www.autosafety.org/article.php?scid=77&did=782)

PeaceBang Going Bye Bye

bye bye
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

PeaceBang is heading down south for a family visit, two glamorous nights at the Columbia, MD Hilton, and then one whirlwind 24-hours in Arlington, VA.

See you next week. I hope the archives entertain you sufficiently until my return.

Peace.
Bang.

Happy Gay Marriage Anniversary Day!!

Happy Gay Marriage Anniversary Day!!
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

Happy Anniversary of Same Sex Marriage Being Legal in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, happiness and long life to the nine same-sex couples whose weddings I’ve officiated since then, and I know the photo is a cheap shot but get a giggle and move on with your life.

"Save Nina Totenberg! Pass It On!"

For everyone who has ever groaned at one of those “Jimmy Needs a Liver… PLEASE HELP/PASS IT ON” e-mails, or deleted the thousandth e-mail begging you to send a letter to your local representative ‘CAUSE THEY’RE TRYING TO TAKE PUBLIC RADIO (NPR) OFF THE AIR,” this is for you:

http://www.softlab.ece.ntua.gr/~sivann/pub/swf/may02-smilepop-soapbox4.swf

The "UUA" Vs the UUA

I got another invitation from those calling themselves “The UUA” asking me to fill out a survey (sorry, they don’t ask… they invite. Unitarian Universalists never ask each other to do anything.).

My first beef is that the staff of the administrative offices of the Unitarian Universalist Association is NOT the “UUA.” The true UUA are the member congregations of the association, not the staff. I would feel a lot less like throwing my coffee mug through the plate glass window if they would refer to themselves as “UUA staff ” or “your central office” or even “HQ.”

The survey, which is intended to give them a focus for their capital campaign or canvass (some money raising effort, anyway), is typically off-base.

They really misunderstand who’s zooming who, and what it means to serve the local congregations. The fact that there’s no mention whatsoever of the religious or worship life of our churches, and that one of the items asks whether or not our congregations’ purpose is to equip people to debate (yes, I said DEBATE) on the important issues of our time, is just one headache moment.

You can see the rest for yourself:
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB224787KYRET

Good Reasons To Get Off Match.com

Pandagon.net and Paul Wiczynski both blogged on this conservative Christian dude writing about why Christians shouldn’t date:

http://www.bibletopics.com/biblestudy/92.htm

From the article:

Some of the Problems with Dating…
Dating promotes lust and moderate sexual activity, opening the door for fornication.
Dating develops a self-centered, feeling-oriented concept of love.
Dating creates a permanent endorphin-bond between two people who will not spend their lives together.
Dating teaches people to break off difficult relationships, conditioning them more for divorce than marriage.
Dating develops an appetite for variety and change, creating dissatisfaction within marriage.
Dating lacks the protections and guidance afforded by parental involvement of courtship.
Dating doesn’t prepare children to face “life’s realities”
Dating devalues sex and marriage.
Dating leads to intimacy but not necessarily to commitment.
Dating tends to skip the “friendship” stage of a relationship.
Dating often mistakes a physical relationship for love.
Dating often isolates a couple from other vital relationships.
Dating, in many cases, distracts young adults from their primary responsibility of preparing for the future.
Dating can cause discontentment with God’s gift of singleness.
Dating creates an artificial environment for evaluating another person’s character.

Okay, now. This guy is obviously a totally paternalistic Bible-thumper, but he makes some damn persuasive points about dating as the ultimate consumeristic activity. Single PeaceBangers: read the article and tell me if you don’t think that some of it actually resonates. More than some, in fact.

P.S. I thought I just couldn’t find a decent guy. I’m so glad to know what’s really going on here: It’s “God gift of singleness!”
Oh thank you, Gawd. But what I really wanted was that cute pair of Franco Sartos at Nordstrom’s. Size 6 1/2.

Mother’s Little Helper

Mother’s Little Helper
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

I just read a depressing little first-person piece in Newsweek about a Boomer mom’s lust for her new i-Pod. She gushes that she has 822 tunes stored on it, which allows her to create a sort of streaming soundtrack to her life that accompanies her on grocery runs, keeps her safely sedated during soccer practice, and helps her endure the boredom of swim meets and the like.

Remember Mother’s Little Helper of the 1950’s?

See what I’m saying?

I feel that the i-Pod is functioning just like Valium for this woman, only with a particularly narcissistic element: why should she enter into conversation with others around her, or be aware of ambient sounds, or confront the inner dialogue that is sure to arise in the silence of her over-scheduled, often-frustratingly empty days (her insinuation, not mine) when she can bliss out on a steady stream of songs that brings her back to the freedom and joy of the mid 1980’s?

So sad. So sad. It’s written in that fake-jovial “ain’t-I-jes’-a-wacky gal?” tone, but this fish ain’t biting. And no, I don’t think it’s charming that she and the other moms are standing around obsessing about their i-Pod accessories and trading tunes. It’s just another example of inane thing-ism that gives the middle classes the sensation that they’ve really achieved something. Go ahead and download more tunes, lady. Upgrade your component. You …are…getting…very…sleepy. When you wake up, your daughters won’t have the right to a safe and legal abortion and our federal deficit will be larger than the combined gross national product of the entire E.U. But that’s okay. Groove on with your bad i-Pod self.

I had been considering getting an i-Pod before I read that piece. Now I’m definitely not getting one. This computer is drug enough.

Oh My God

Post Secret
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

I will always be grateful to ChaliceChick for referring me to this site called Post Secret. I could hardly breathe, scrolling down through all the secrets.
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/