Somebody send me coffee. STAT.

[stoney321]

I forgot to pick up coffee yesterday while running errands (oh my god, when does everyone have everything and GETS OUT OF MY HOUSE? *cries*) and I need some hot java and I have none, woe. Hence the Kara is devastated icon. WE"RE GOING THE WRONG WAAAAAY!! Coffee is over there! *cries more*

I'm almost done with the second Twilight book. Hooboy, that is one lousy protagonist. I like how she LITERALLY is nothing (and has no memory of anything because she CEASED TO EXIST) when the Bedazzled Boy She Loves is gone. Wow, is that a bad message. And I realized who Stephanie Meyers was getting her inspiration from for the Edward character, but you'll have to wait for the overall analysis, bum bum bum!

I would like to thank swmbo for the suggestion of a zip-loc bag for the Kindle for bathtub readings. Excellent suggestion. Also, I've been taking the Kindle to the gym and love running on the treadmill with it. It's best if I'm just walking on a high incline because then I don't have to worry about my Bella-tastic coordination when trying to turn the page (hitting a button) while running.

...sometimes I just fall over so I can feel the character, Isabella Swan.

Is anyone else dying to see Tropic Thunder? Can I just say that it looks like the funniest thing to come out in a loooong time? I love that they are putting all the taboos out there, like a white man playing a black man (I lub you Robert Downey, Jr. Always and forever.) and said actor asking if another actor is going to go "full retarded" to get an Oscar. That makes me laugh because that makes me crazy. The whole "I'm going to try and win an Oscar by playing a mentally impaired person!" mindset. I'm looking at you, Juliette Lewis. And you, Sean Penn.

While I can get why some groups are upset at the use of that word, I personally feel that they are pointing the fingers at the right people: the people who use a horrible impairment for their own fame/careers. Wow, do I have problems with that. (With the ONE exception of What's Eating Gilbert Grape. I can't watch that movie because of how honest and real it is, personally. I do find it weird that this movie is getting so much flack for the "R" word, when I hear it thrown around on TV all the damn time. Hmm. I guess satire isn't easy to understand? Whatever, I'm going this weekend and I plan on laughing my ass off.

Today I register the kids for school. IT DRAWS EVER CLOSER......

Comments

[turnonmyheels.livejournal.com]

OMG NO COFFEE! That sucks!

I think the main reason people are screaming so loud over the "r" word is because this is the absolute *best* opportunity they've ever had to raise awareness about the issue. At the same time, I think it makes them look kind of ridiculous because of their inability to recognize satire for what it is.

I'm not even going to start about my opinions on the overly politically correct thing that's so very big right now.

I spoke with the track coach I know yesterday and this is what he had to say

I'll be happy to watch you run through the eyes of the masterful coach I am. However.... My advice is Don't run! It is the most brutal thing you can do to your body. I have had 4 knee surgeries and 1 foot because of all those miles. Don't tell my kids this though.

So I'm going to get a new pair of cross trainers, a swimsuit, cap and goggles and work on my breast stroke instead. Maybe I'll even get around to working on my crawl

[killerweasel.livejournal.com]

Youngest brother went to a midnight showing of Tropic Thunder. He declared it 'really fricking hysterical', but said that the two people he went with didn't find it nearly as funny.

[drusplace.livejournal.com]

ZOMG how are SURVIVING with NO COFFEE??????????????????

I read an interview with RDJ where he said that Ben Stiller called and offered him the part in Tropic Thunder and Ben explained it as "This is either going to be the best joke ever or we'll never have careers again!" From the sounds of it, they have pulled it off as a joke.

And while I never ever use the word "retard" (I didn't even like typing it!), in this case I think it is ok because really it is not poking fun at anyone with a condition like this, it IS poking fun at those who take advantage. AND it has people talking in a good way. Anytime a positive dialogue is opened, it is good.

And What's Eating Gilbert Grape is an exceptional movie with all the love and the rough times thrown in when dealing with family members of any kind of condition!!!!!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

My headache has begun... I think I have some Bayer somewhere. (It has caffeine. Glorious, glorious caffeine.)

See, and here I am thinking that the movie "I Am Sam" would have been the best time to raise a stink. 1) because it sucked and 2) because Sean Penn thought to himself, "If I play a retarded person, I'll get an Oscar." *punches him*

You know, I completely agree with your track buddy. But the body wants to run.... Oooh, breast stroke! Wait, goggles? I've been doing wrong all along! (Ba dum bum CHING!)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I think I'll be on your brother's team. The clips I've seen have had me crowing with laughter. *fingers crossed*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I AM NOT SURVIVING!!! *cries bitterly* *sees if tears taste like coffee*

See, that's exactly how I feel about it, too. It's like Michael Scott on The Office explaining when it's okay to use the word "retard" - it just made HIM look awful and exposed those people for who they are.

That movie KILLS me. That was the first time I'd ever seen Leo DiCaprio, and I honestly thought they had found a person with a disability - that's how honest it was.

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

...sometimes I just fall over so I can feel the character, Isabella Swan

*laughs and laughs* The clumsiness is RIDICULOUS. She took it so far it ceased to be endearing in any way.

I am SO EXCITED to see Tropic Thunder. Have to wait until next weekend, but I"m really looking forward to it.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I just slide out of my seat, collapsing on the floor whenever I read that's she's fallen over. IT'S LIKE WE ARE ONE. (Which means I fall down constantly.) I'm hoping my acting career leads to me taking over the role for the sequels...

I will report back with the thumbs up or not. I expect THUMBS WAY UP.

[turnonmyheels.livejournal.com]

the caffeine-withdrawal-headache is the worst IMO. If I don't get some caffeine goodness in me they always segue into migraines.

You're right that "I Am Sam" would have been the best time, but unfortunately it didn't happen then. And coincidentally, I believe that's exactly the reason he took the movie and I'm SO glad he didn't win anything. At this point I don't even remember if he was nominated.

One reason I've been putting off swimming is my hair. I pay too much for color to just go jump in a *heavily* chlorinated pool, seriously, during swim season sometimes it knocks me out from OUTSIDE. But the knee and the hip would be far more expensive to "touch-up" so swim cap and pool it is.

Look at you! Caffeine free jokes!

[drusplace.livejournal.com]

See? Someone needs to invent a transporter like they have in Star Trek. Either we could all beam you coffee or you could beam to where coffee IS!

Exactly. We can't ignore racial issues, developmental conditions or other volatile issues in the entertainment industry or we will never LEARN anything. Dialogue is a necessity!

Leo is brilliant in that movie. And the writing was FAB! At various points in the movie I want to throw things at all the characters, yell and scream at them, laugh and cry with them and just plain LOVE THEM!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I'm brewing some chai - I'm hoping that helps.

Girlfriend, you and me with the hair. *points to self* Hellooooo, Leo. I hate getting my hair wet in a pool. Love swimming, hate the chlorine. Caps for the win! Maybe find a cute retro one with rubber flowers on it!

[thebratqueen.livejournal.com]

OMG YOU ARE SUCH A TWILIGHT TEASE!!!!

[solipsiae.livejournal.com]

I heard the spokesperson for the Special Olympics on NPR last night and just rolled my eyes. This is the wrong battleground for that battle. The fact he hasn't seen the movie and went on at length to defend that ("Don't get me wrong, humor is great...") really seemed to undermine his whole argument.

Ben Stiller had a great response today.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHA. I've been laughing my butt off at all the mocking comms out there. I need to upload some of the new icons I've acquired...

[maybe1ce.livejournal.com]

I'm way less offended by the pointed use of a non-PC term than I am by sanctimonious and patronizing claptrap like "Forrest Gump." Honestly. Isn't the point of the joke to point out that mugging for an award by mimicking a disability is really, really insulting? Because, it is. Ergo, it is reasonable to use a generally offensive term to illustrate the point....much like the apt usage of the term "Magic Negro" a few years ago when benignly wise African American characters were all the rage.

Most offensive of all is the expectation that you should be able to function without coffee. I think that somehow, your current pain can be traced to a vengeful Mormon conspiracy. They sent evil spirits to distract you from getting coffee, yes? If you start craving green jello, worry.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I'll have to go look for Stiller's response. I hate it when people are purposefully obtuse like that.

Now, if they said that the word wa a trigger for them and they just can't stand to hear it, regardless, then I'd understand completely.

[thebratqueen.livejournal.com]

Links? :D

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

You first paragraph = 100 percent, hand clapping, and dove releases! YES.

Oh mmy god, you are the only one who truly understands me!! *cries bitterly* I cannot function without it! I just need sweet, sweet blackness, steaming, in a cup. Is that so wrong!??!

*casts out evil Jewish Naval mormon spirits with their golden books of HATE*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

if you think you can handle the DAZZLE (it's prep for meeting Edward in RL) go to ontd_twatlight for the LULZ. Twimoms isn't a mocking comm, I just go there to mock. :)

[stephanierb.livejournal.com]

I'm seeing Tropic Thunder this weekend and I can't wait. The trailers have left me in stitches.

As far as the protests go, I completely agree with you. Their efforts are misdirected if what they want is for the intellectually disabled to be treated with greater respect. This movie is clearly mocking the disrespect Hollywood often shows these people by exploiting their condition for awards. Not everyone appreciates satire, but it's unfortunate that they can't understand what the movie is really trying to say.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Exactly! And there wasn't a cough over the episode on South Park when Cartman tries to enter the Special Olympics because he automatically assumes he can beat all of them, and then they school his ass. (That remains one of my all time fave SP episodes ever. Mostly for Jimmy's 'roid rage, though. Ahahaa. ahem.)

[floweringjudas.livejournal.com]

1. I sort of want to read the Twilight books for the lulz, but. ...my brain. D: Think I'll just wait for your analysis, because Stoney Is My Cliffs Notes.

2. FUCKING SEAN PENN. I'm so glad you said that you liked What's Eating Gilbert Grape, because augh, Leo. He was so brilliant, once. That whole movie kills me. But yeah, I'm right there with you on the SATIRE, IT IS SATIRE, STFU AND STFD. I mean jesus.

3. OH GOD I hope you got some coffee. D: D: D: I have coffee. It has made me vaguely functional. (Of course, it's Sbux, which means it's over-roasted, but what can you do.)

[turnonmyheels.livejournal.com]

Vanity is my favorite sin *g*

I had to have some oolong at lunch to make up for my sleep deficiency. Damn you Olympic Gymnastics ::shakes fist::

[solipsiae.livejournal.com]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93540773

One standout quote from the interview was "Imagine if the R-word were replaced with the N-word. I don't think they would have let that pass."

[maybe1ce.livejournal.com]

Heck, I think the Special Olympic folk even officially consulted on that Johnny Knoxville movie with the same premise....

[essene.livejournal.com]

RE: Coffee
OMG fix it!!! I'd bring you some if I were in the neighborhood.

RE: Twilight
This must have to do with your scary ability to withstand any bad fic that has been and ever will be created. I made it to page 120-something and had to put it down. If I read about one more boy going dopey for her, or one more word about Edward's beauty or one more word about her lack of coordination...period, I was going to scream.

RE: Tropic Thunder
Um. No. Just no.

RE: School
WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! *wishes she could go school supply shopping*

RE: You
*loves*

[soundingsea.livejournal.com]

I like how she LITERALLY is nothing (and has no memory of anything because she CEASED TO EXIST) when the Bedazzled Boy She Loves is gone.

Yeah, you like those blank pages? Gah. So lame!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

...

I have a formatted copy for my Kindle, so I don't know if you mean LITERAL blank pages? Because that would be BEYOND lame. It's bad enough how freaking obsessed she is. Good hell, these have a terrible (and pathetic) message to them!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

!@!!

THAT'S RIGHT!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

1. They are terrible. stop. If you are ever in a convalescence and need reading material, then, and only then should you read them for the lulz.
2. THAT MOVIE MADE ME SO ANGRY. Gah.
3. I have FINALLY gotten coffee and am prepared for tomorrow. so much head pain today, augh....

[soundingsea.livejournal.com]

Yup, in the print edition, it's like this:

Chapter N
One Week
.....
(the rest blank)
(next page) Chapter N+1
Six Weeks
....
(the rest blank)

And it goes on like that for a few more pages. Simply unbelievable.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

1. Finally got some! Don't ever let this happen again!!
2. I have a super power. It's a lame one, but it's there!
3. Really??? It looks so freaking funny to me. I'll just pour a little popcorn on the floor for mah homie, then.
4. GO AWAAAAAAAAAY! (them) Oooh, I love supply shopping. All the promise in ever unsharpened pencil! :D

<3 <3 <3

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

ARE
YOU
KIDDING ME.

Holy shit, that's the DUMBEST FUCKING THING I've ever heard of. Holy sheep shit!!
I just thought the story jumped ahead and made no sense. Wow, Smeyer is freaking pathetic!

[soundingsea.livejournal.com]

I could not make this shit up.

FOR REALSIES.

[soberloki.livejournal.com]

Re: Juliette Lewis... are we sure she only plays mentally-impaired? I'm not kidding, there's something about her eyes, she looks almost entirely blank to me, every time I see her.

I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that she's played some seriously dim characters and they've annoyed me that makes me think so.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Ha ha ha!! My brother in law was saying the EXACT SAME THING yesterday! Yeah... she did too many 'shrooms and other drugs inthe late 80s to be all there, for sure.

[lostlo.livejournal.com]

I was really excited about Tropic Thunder & Pineapple Express. Then I saw Pineapple Express, and now I'm just excited about seeing Pineapple Express again. Tropic Thunder does look good, though.

The meaning of "retarded" has become pretty dilute. My teenage sister will use it and "gay" to describe things that are bad (more often gay), but unlike "gay" the insultees aren't using "retard" much to describe themselves. I'm guessing that's why it offends me more.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I don't see people insulting mentally handicapped people. i see people uncomfortable around autistic kids, Downs kids, etc., because they don't know what to do/how to act, but I've not heard anyone flat out insult a person with needs since I was in grade school.

All that to say that I don't think the word "retarded" really has the same meaning as when I was a kid and people were still pretty awful to special needs folks, you know? but hey - I've gotten over that being a trigger word in relation to my sister, but I can appreciate others not being over that.

(I still think the movie looks freaking hilarious. I'm glad to hear you liked Pineapple Express, too! YAY.)

[lostlo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the fact that I've never seen "retard" used to insult a "person with needs" (as you put it) is definitely a big part of why it seems less offensive to me. That said, I do try to avoid saying it, though I occasionally slip (always in reference to myself) just because I hear it. I've found that if I watch a TV show (or similar) that frequently uses a word, I'll often start using it. Same thing with friends. (This has only been a major problem with the heavy use of the N-word in Boondocks; I have a black boyfriend who's sensitive about it.)

I went to a Montessori school as a child, though, so I have this weird hippie utopia perspective on things. In college I had someone give me a lesson on all the racial slurs, because I simply could not understand them when they were used by jerk types.

Now I live in Northern California, so my ignorance of intolerance just gets worse with time. It's a nice problem to have. Stupidity happens here, more than the image suggests, but it's not the same as other places.

No doubt Tropic Thunder still looks funny... it's just been somewhat eclipsed by Pineapple. I'll see it after a few more rounds of PE.

[soberloki.livejournal.com]

I'd be really interested to know what her testable IQ is, y'know?

ETA: Your icon is evil, and I love it. Also, just because I feel like sharing: you should know that I have an armload of very loud purr, dressed all in black fur. His name is Gord and he is now going to help me play Super Mario Galaxy, by attacking the Wii pointer on the screen.