Currently Listening Nevermind By Nirvana see related

My new niche

Yes, yes, at some point I will post content, but so you know I still think of ya'll and that I am still alive, enjoy latest find (hopefully this is more new than my last weblink):

http://www.mycathatesyou.com

Will update as soon as I have something to say.  Really, I have absolutely nothing...

Currently Watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fifth Season By Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter, Anthony Head, David Boreanaz, James Marsters, Kristine Sutherland, Seth Green, Emma Caulfield, Marc Blucas, Amber Benson, Michelle Trachtenberg see related

The End of the World

Okay, remember that talk show I was talking about introducing us all to the cats that look like Hitler...well, this is the site of the day from them. Apparently this is a regular feature.  As it deals with Armageddon, I thought you might enjoy (and for my xbf  perhaps this link can introduce your Mom properly to WTF).  Though there are no zombies, and thus it isn't a truly proper Armageddon, it has its moments.  I like Canada's response particularly.  Look here:

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/end.php

Proper post coming soon.  Please wait in breathless anticipation.

Currently Watching Dawn of the Dead (Widescreen Unrated Director's Cut) By Mekhi Phifer, Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Boyd Banks, Michael Barry (VII), Ermes Blarasin, Bruce Bohne, Lindy Booth, Ty Burrell, Jayne Eastwood, Matt Frewer, Michael Kelly, Inna Korobkina, Hannah Lochner, Justin Louis, Kim Poirier, R.D. Reid, Kevin Zegers see related

Interactive Psychological Diagnosis Thursday

So, until Lynn sends me extra blog mojo, I am rather at a loss for what to talk about.  Thus, I decided to give something back to my Xanga community by letting you guess what the hell is exactly wrong with me since I surely don't know.  If successful, I will be happy to make this a regular feature until we have figured out exactly what makes Ophelia tick (or fail to tick and more tock).

Case:

Ophelia sometimes has trouble sleeping.  When this occurs, particularly if it is an insomniac sort of evening, she soothes herself off to sleep by watching the remake of Dawn of the Dead.  This frequently works, though sometimes she just ends up watching the movie.  However, most times she just makes it to the bit where the first group of people find the mall.

Facts that are maybe relevant:

Ophelia actually finds the remake of Dawn of the Dead rather scary.  First, there are the fast moving zombies (see, fast moving zombies post).  Second, everyone dies (at least if you can stay awake to see the outcome following final credits).  Third, in the not so humble opinion of Ophelia, this is a pretty decent horror flick.  Granted, it is not perfect, but Ophelia begs you to remember that is a horror flick so we must account for limitations of the genre.  Fourth, there is the really kickin' opening sequence where they do the news footage of fast moving zombies taking over the world while playing Johnny Cash's When the Man Comes Around.  Ophelia would like you to note that rather rocks. 

Points for analysis:

How disturbing is this?  What exactly, if anything, is wrong with Ophelia?  Should Ophelia choose better insomnia movies?  Why is Dawn of the Dead soothing in any possible way?  Why the hell is everyone in the cast listed when you choose Dawn of the Dead as what you are currently watching?  Will Ophelia get her blog mojo back?

Discuss.....

Currently Reading A Suitable Boy: A Novel (Perennial Classics) By Vikram Seth see related

Thin Skin

The other day I was watching a Dutch talk-show program, well talk-show sounds wrong, it isn't like Dr. Phil or Oprah, but a sort of late evening round table discussion program featuring a variety of topics, some serious, some silly.  At some point the hosts and guests started talking about a website called Cats That Look Like Hitler.  You can find it at:  www.catsthatlooklikeHitler.com.  I went to the site (how can one not) and giggled since the best Kitlers in fact do look like Hitler.  Then I moseyed over to the right-hand sidebar links to read the "I Love Kitlers" and "I Hate Kitlers" forums.  Here, several people in the "I hate Kitlers" forum expressed outrage that the site was marginalizing (okay, my word) the experience of those who have suffered under the Third Reich.  Is it just me or is this a bit overboard?  I mean, it is pretty easy to dismiss the comments about how equating some cats to Hitler marginalizes cats (true comment, look it up yourself) -- and that comment, in fact I found funnier than the entire concept of Cats That Look Like Hitler -- but am I lacking sensitivity that I just don't see how a website like this is offensive?  I know, it could all be staged for humor value, but you just know that even if that is so there are people out there who would believe this is problematic.

A week or so ago I was walking my dog on the dike.  My dog barked at a Moroccan boy (who was sort of asking for it since he saw my dog, started screaming and ran away waving his hands in the air like some sort of Jim Carrey routine -- his friend, laughing the whole time, seemed nonplussed).  An American woman who was on the street came up to me screaming at me that I was disrespecting Moroccans because I should know that Moroccans don't like dogs (exempting, I guess, the young laughing man).  I was unsure how to react to this.  Apparently the preferred solution was that I keep my dog inside all the time lest I upset someone, somewhere, and piss on their freedom.  Particularly if it is the freedom of "oppressed peoples".  Of course, this was ludicrous, but the point is who would even think this way?  Is this how we foster integration and equality -- by patronizing people from different cultures by respecting some irrelevant cultural stereotype like fear of dogs (which, if I am correct, is not a culturally bound trait anyway), then patting ourselves on the back for our sensitivity, while of course ignoring all the real issues that exist between races and cultures, like access to equal education, failure of integration, closed borders, etc.  I asked this woman if she was so worried about respecting the rights of the Moroccans, and making them "feel at home" here in the Netherlands, why she wasn't wearing a headscarf since the failure to do so clearly does offend some men in our neighborhood.  "That's silly" she says.  Is it?  Sounds to me like exactly the same thing.

Currently Listening Brel Vol. 1 (Master Serie) By Jacques Brel see related

I'm a Belgian

My friend, who has been reading up on intercultural communication for a class she is giving, sent me the following:

"I just discovered that you are more a Belgian. Research has shown that the word 'work' has as a first association for both Dutchmen and Belgians 'money', but as a second association the Dutch have 'leuk' and the Belgians 'vervelend, moe'."

Leuk = nice/fun

Vervelend, moe = terrible, tired

So, there you have it.  Now I suppose I have to go on really bad reality tv-shows and start swearing a lot.