mandalay

social graces

so i've been reading a book that patrick recommended and lent to me entitled my own country, by Dr. Abraham Verghese. the book is written about this tennessee doctor's experiences with AIDS from its onset and his role as the AIDS expert in his community. i'm currently about 1/4 of the way through the book, which is excellent thus far, and i started thinking about and decided to watch the movie and the band played on, which i first saw on tv about 7 years ago. like in the name of the father, the pianist, or american history x, it is a movie based on an important social event or period in history. while none of these leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling inside, they are excellent forums to gain perspective on events that precede us and the factors that affect our freedoms. and the band played on is the story of the doctors who first struggled to identify and comprehend the HIV virus in the eighties. it also shows how much time passed between the initial clues that it was an STD and when a course of action was actually taken to reduce contaminated blood supplies and alert the public about its dangers. if you haven't seen this or any of the other movies and are like me and can't watch the history channel for very long, check them out. i think you'll be glad you did.

posted by amanda @ 4:26 PM 0 Comments

trojan man

so i feel it is my duty to share with my friends what i thought of the movie troy, which sophia and i saw this afternoon. i went into it thinking what most women did, i'm sure. brad pitt and orlando bloom and that guy from the hulk? cool. also, i'm a fan of mythology and i read and enjoyed the iliad and in my head i had the mythic and rich image of a boy being held by his ankle and bathed in the river. i mean the odyssey and the iliad, how much more epic can you get? well let me save you the trouble. the greeks go after helen of troy. now helen is not really from troy, she's from sparta. and the trojan horse isn't trojan at all. it's made by the greeks. now that you know those few details, because you may have been a bit foggy about the story since it's been years since you studied it, let me tell you how it ends. the greeks win. they use a big wooden horse to penetrate the impenetrable walls. you don't need melodramatic music scores, the ultimate assembly of cliches, '70s western washed-out lighting or cute boys to know how the story ends. i laughed at the tears, the brotherly love, the sacrifice, the battle cries, the desecration of the gods' temples, the love scenes, and the gratuitous shots of brad pitt's happy trail. brad pitt's portrayal of achilles is the only thing that kept me sitting down, besides the fact that i couldn't remember who did and didn't die. but 2 hours and 42 minutes of brad and whiney orlando does not a good movie make. off my soapbox now...

posted by amanda @ 8:31 PM 0 Comments

yolks and yokes

so i discovered a new poet the other day, Mark Yakich, a prolific writer with a sugar mama. no really. while looking at his new (first) book, Unrelated Individuals Forming a Group Waiting to Cross, i found this little scrap of a poem:


Before Losing Yourself Completely to Love

Drop breadcrumbs around your feet.
You will find yourself far away and hungry.



on a different note, this saturday night at the Parish, Dorothy's brother will be playing with his two bands, Okkervil River and Shearwater, along with much-hyped Centro-matic. Sophia and i will be there, so come hang out with us if you don't have plans.

posted by amanda @ 8:02 AM 0 Comments

nerd. word.

so as a long-time fan of the austin poetry slam, i feel it is my duty to tell y'all that ernie kline, one of the funniest slam poets i've ever heard is performing for the last time in austin tomorrow night before he moves far far away. my friend t (who will from this point forward be referred to as sophia so as to avoid detection from the parental units)and i will be going, and it would be lovely if you came. here's the info from slammaster mike henry...

In addition to our usual Wednesday shenannagins, we have a super- special show this Friday night at the Hideout. One of those dream bills that just came together ... and probably your last chance to see Austin slam legend Ernie Cline rock the casbah before he and the amazing Susan Somers-Willett depart for the midwest. People, the time for SPOKEN NERD is upon us. Check it out...

******************************************

Austin Poetry Slam presents SPOKEN NERD: words by nerds Friday, May 28, 8 pm The Hideout / 617 Congress Hosted by Mike Henry

Buckle yourself in for a wildly hilarious onslaught of nerd-friendly poetry. Do you have a soft spot for Star Wars? Collectible lunch boxes? The internet? Video games? Devo? The eighties in general? Cult movies? Air Wolf? Horn rimmed glasses? Novelty T-shirts? Action figures? This is the show for you.

FEATURING:

Ernie Cline
Shappy Seasholtz (NYC)
Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (NYC)
Mike Whalen
Genevieve Van Cleve

And geeky offerings from Matthew John Conley, Andy Buck, Liz Jones, Big Poppa E., Danny Strack, David Hendler, Peter Nevland, Krissi Reeves, Susan Somers-Willett and many more nerds to be announced.

Plus Scrabble, geek trivia, fantastic giveaways courtesy of the fine folks at Hog Wild Collectibles, and the Atari 2600 battle.

Folks, this is one for the history books. And it's being shot for a DVD. I guarantee you a night of side-splitting laughter. If I'm wrong, you can hang me by my gym locker with my underwear and stick my head in the toilet.

LONG LIVE NERDS!
MAKE MINE MARVEL!
EVERYBODY WANG CHUNG TONIGHT!

Alright ... see y'all soon,

Mike Henry
Slammaster Austin TX


© 2004 austinslam.com

posted by amanda @ 9:04 AM 0 Comments

Just what the Dr. ordered

i've decided to christen this blog with a soda straw. i mean, what more do you need than a cool frosty beverage on a hot may day?

actually, i needed three so after an agonizing half hour of mentally debating the matter post-lunch, i decided that i had to have more soda. so i stood up very firmly at my desk, made my decision, and got a crisp dollar out of my wallet. now in the 50 plus yards it takes to get from my desk on the second floor to the soda haven in the foyer, i pondered what to get. diet pepsi was no longer an option since the soda nazis took it away, and my usual diet cherry coke didn't seem quite right. as i descended the stairs, i remembered that the machine had diet dr. pepper and nothing seemed quite so perfect as that. i paused at the last step and thought one last time if i should save myself from a caffeine high, and the answer came back a resounding "no."

as i turned at the bottom of the stairs and gazed upon the machine, there sitting at the base of it was an abandoned, unopened diet dr. pepper. the fizzy caffeine gods had smiled their carbonated smiles upon me to ensure that i would not go thirsty or tired.

i looked around, picked it up, checked for signs of explosives or tampering (i've been watching too much Alias) and found it to be in perfect condition, though not so frosty as i would have liked. so i put my dollar in to retrieve a fresh one and happily walked away with my two sodas. unfortunately, i forgot to get my change out of the machine.

posted by amanda @ 6:34 PM 0 Comments