Saturday, October 22, 2005
Piqued my Interest this week
It has been a busy week, only getting done some of what I wanted to. But there were a few interesting things that kept me happy and thinking while I worked.
Today on Studio 360 they did an episode on Monsters, including an interview with Anne Rice, a piece on Golliwogs and a piece on "Creepy Kids". I was particularly intrigued by the "creep kids" segment, not because I like horror movies or creepy kids but because of the social commentary it included with comments like: "Fragmentation of the family is the locus of horror" and observations by Anne Rice about modern confusion about what a child is and that late 19th and all of 20th century we have been "terrified with regard to children".
Thursday night Paul and I actually got to go out to a movie!! We went to see Serenity.
We had really enjoyed the canceled tv show Firefly, out of which the movie came and wanted to see it before it left theatres. I was not dissapointed. I really enjoyed the movie, included some unexpected events. I am mostly just sorry that the series was canceled necessitating a movie to tie up the loose ends. I would have enjoyed watching the characters develop and finding out the information in a slower manner.
The hardest part of the movie was that a couple had brough their 7 or 8 year old son with them. The movie was fairly intense in many of its battle scenes, lots fierce foes, death, skeletons, destruction etc. Though not too gory, it was intense. I was not sure if I would fall asleep right away and couldn't help worrying about how it would effect this child. In the parent's defence the movie was rated PG and had no sex and no profanity. I know I don't do a perfect job in what I expose my kids to but it just worried my heart for this kid.
A friend told me how much her teen was enjoying The Lemony Snicket, Series of Unfortunate Events books. So when we went to the Library I went to check the first one out. It was only available on tape so I have been listening to it while I do dishes and am enjoying it and intrigued.
My interests in both Archaeology and Museums were fed by The Getty Museum's current legal woes related to looted/stolen works of art. It seems that a number of their holdings have questionable proveniances. (Unfortunately this is not uncommon in the museum world) In this case though the country of origin (Italy) is going after the material and seems to have a case. I agree that this needs to be taken seriously because the market for ancient art leads to the looting of sites and the loss of information for everyone and of cultural patrimony for countries of origin. I agree that it makes it hard for museums to collect certain types of material and when museums don't take this material it can mean more of it goes "underground" to private collectors where it is not in the public domain for research or enjoyment. However, that is not a reason for an institution to traffic in illegal or ethically dubious practices. The sadest part here is that the woman who was director of the Getty at the time the law suit was brought, though not apparently when the material was acquired, is the one being taken to court and she had been working to reform the Getty's acquistion practices.
Today on Studio 360 they did an episode on Monsters, including an interview with Anne Rice, a piece on Golliwogs and a piece on "Creepy Kids". I was particularly intrigued by the "creep kids" segment, not because I like horror movies or creepy kids but because of the social commentary it included with comments like: "Fragmentation of the family is the locus of horror" and observations by Anne Rice about modern confusion about what a child is and that late 19th and all of 20th century we have been "terrified with regard to children".
Thursday night Paul and I actually got to go out to a movie!! We went to see Serenity.
We had really enjoyed the canceled tv show Firefly, out of which the movie came and wanted to see it before it left theatres. I was not dissapointed. I really enjoyed the movie, included some unexpected events. I am mostly just sorry that the series was canceled necessitating a movie to tie up the loose ends. I would have enjoyed watching the characters develop and finding out the information in a slower manner.
The hardest part of the movie was that a couple had brough their 7 or 8 year old son with them. The movie was fairly intense in many of its battle scenes, lots fierce foes, death, skeletons, destruction etc. Though not too gory, it was intense. I was not sure if I would fall asleep right away and couldn't help worrying about how it would effect this child. In the parent's defence the movie was rated PG and had no sex and no profanity. I know I don't do a perfect job in what I expose my kids to but it just worried my heart for this kid.
A friend told me how much her teen was enjoying The Lemony Snicket, Series of Unfortunate Events books. So when we went to the Library I went to check the first one out. It was only available on tape so I have been listening to it while I do dishes and am enjoying it and intrigued.
My interests in both Archaeology and Museums were fed by The Getty Museum's current legal woes related to looted/stolen works of art. It seems that a number of their holdings have questionable proveniances. (Unfortunately this is not uncommon in the museum world) In this case though the country of origin (Italy) is going after the material and seems to have a case. I agree that this needs to be taken seriously because the market for ancient art leads to the looting of sites and the loss of information for everyone and of cultural patrimony for countries of origin. I agree that it makes it hard for museums to collect certain types of material and when museums don't take this material it can mean more of it goes "underground" to private collectors where it is not in the public domain for research or enjoyment. However, that is not a reason for an institution to traffic in illegal or ethically dubious practices. The sadest part here is that the woman who was director of the Getty at the time the law suit was brought, though not apparently when the material was acquired, is the one being taken to court and she had been working to reform the Getty's acquistion practices.
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Did you see this week's Newsweek -- Anne Rice became a Christian!
Now, she says she will only write about Jesus... and her new book is written from the perspective of a 7 year old boy who later would become Christ!
Now, she says she will only write about Jesus... and her new book is written from the perspective of a 7 year old boy who later would become Christ!
yeah, I saw a different yet similar article, it could be interesting but is likely to be controversial no matter what since it is generally hard to handle the stuff left "between the lines" or "behind the scenes" well. The Bible leaves it out for a reason and it is hard not to have too much personal baggage added in. For example while I have enjooyed what I have read of Orson Card's women of the OT series they have had too much ify speculation on personal thoughts and motivations that alter in some way what the Bible tells us about these women for my taste. While they are good stories in some ways it ultimately detracts from my ability to appreciate them.
Sylvia
Sylvia
Yeah, I agree with you. I wonder how her goth vampire fans will relate to this new book... I wonder about the sales...
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