Sensible Lady rears her head again.

Finally got to see 'The King's Speech' today...was sold out last week. Pffft.

 I wish I had a Lionel Logue in my pocket a few years back for my kid brother. I won't review the movie because I did way too much of that in college and it is most likely that most of you have already seen it. I will say that I loved that they used a German composer's music in the climax...you know, where Bertie addresses the BRITISH EMPIRE (all of it) about how might is not right, specifically in regards to DAS DEUTCHELANDERS or Germans as I'm sure they prefer to be called.


Yes, Symphony #7 is totally evocative of George VI's closing his eyes and thinking of England moment. At least for me. Because, you know, England declared war on Germany just prior.  Or does Beethoven transcend Nationalism?

Also, I dunno if I was the only American in the audience. But given that there were times when I was the only one laughing, specifically, at the part where Bertie calls his family a "firm", well, maybe I was. But I've got a penchant for laughing in movies even when no one else does. Call it hereditary. I was, with Ruth, one of the handful of "young people" in the audience. Everyone else was at least sixty or older. And the place was jam-packed. Wednesdays at 3pm...Goldie Oldies.

Last night was My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding night again. This time, Ruth and I were Sensible Ladies. I took chocolate chip cookies with assorted nuts, she had a plate of cut veggies and carmelized onion tartlets ready to go. I drank tea with milk (blechegads) because I'm nice and that's how I roll. Roll over.

A Sensible Solution to last week's Overthetopness

Really, tea with milk isn't bad... I didn't add the sugar. Idiota! I <3 carmelized onion tarts now.  And my baking is ohsoawesome! Thanks to Nestle Toulouse. Please tell me that you remember that episode of Friends.  I think last week, some of you got to experience some lovely pictures of me after I got home from last Tuesday's MBFGW watcheroo. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. But (over)indulgence was the word last week, not so this week. This week, we're Sensible Ladies again as evidenced by Exhibit A above.

Making da cookies. Gratuitous picture of progeny.

So, Gypsies and Travellers? Yeah. They still come across as crazy. Each week's a gift! I despise their anachronistic posturing but adore their persistence against adverse conditions. Last night's episode was a bit all over the place, so I'll just talk about the boys that were followed by the documentary crew. They were asked if they respected women.

Boys: "Oh yeah, sure. Yeah."

Interviewer: "As much as you might respect a man?"

Boys: "No. No way. That's a different respect, you know, like?"

The boys admitted to roughing up girls to get a kiss. When asked if they thought the girls might like that, they said they reckoned not. As we watched them preen and get ready for Appleby where they went to "hunt for women", Ruth and I both thought they looked like 1950s thugs. {snapping} Boy, boy, crazy boy. Keep cool, boy.

Ruth's mom came along with us to see the movie and on the way, I shared this letter that was dropped off through the mail slot in the door. I wanted to see if Ruth's mom thought what I thought. She had a photography business once upon a time and photographed a few of these Traveller weddings...so, really, she's my reachable expert.

Click to enlarge. Note the rampant grammatical errors. I mean, I'm not the greatest self editor when I'm streaming conscious but, it made me nostalgic for Nigerian scammers.

And she did think what I think. It's from a Traveller! I'm hunkering down at the window tomorrow to watch for them! 

source

Remember xanga? So 2006.

I like to Google myself every once in a while, just to make sure that the blog is still invisible. Guess what I found?

My old xanga blog!  It had a couple of pictures that I'd forgotten. I was soooo cool.  And young! And skinny! Oh my.

Should I add the old posts from xanga? Nah, probably not. I was more terse in 2006. And some of the posts I can't remember what I'm referencing.

Hung out with Posh Ruth tonight. She invited me over to watch 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding'. That girl has a hollow leg. Anyway... MBFGW? Imagine a community like the Amish but with Pageant Mom sensibilities and Taliban taboos.

Just precious. Jaw dropping. Eye popping. Heartbreaking.

You wouldn't think that these people consciously set themselves apart, based on what the girls wear and how they dance... but apparently so. They've got some weird courtship rituals and according to Ruth's mom, via Ruth, oddball wedding ceremonial rites.

Take for instance the Puritan-like view of female chastity. Girls aren't allowed to go anywhere alone. Not even older ones. The courtship ritual of 'grabbing', I think, fits in with this. Boys will 'grab' a girl they like, take her off from the main group, and hold her until she consents to a kiss. Holding appears, to me, violent. So far, I've seen twisted arms, arms held up from behind, and punches. The pain stops when the girl consents to a kiss or is able to get away. Some girls let themselves be grabbed, others disdain the idea until they're ready for marriage...likely the following year.  They're getting married at 16, 17 years old.

I'm not saying that this is unheard of for me. I just find it somewhat appalling that these teenagers, while readied for their culture's rite of passage at that age, are not readied for life in global terms. Some, not all, but a good number quit school at the age of 11. Then five years later, they're married!?

It's a very 'in the present' lifestyle and culture. Could be due to the transient nature of their habits.

So it's on for a few more weeks. Comes on on Tuesday nights. I know I'm most likely to bring it up again. It's all TexaGermaNadian's fault.

Oddball stat: the wii just surpassed the Nintendo as the all time selling system. By far outstripping the Xbox. Nintendo's 2008 profit margin per employee: $1.28 million

Nintendo is a bigger company than Yahoo, Nike, Lowe's. Especially hard games to beat are called 'Nintendo-hard'. 

Relatively, Mario jumps 27 feet according to his stature.

I loved playing Nintendo with the stepsisters. Wasn't as good as the oldest, but equal to or better than the others.

Doubt I can beat my brother at DDR.  Really. That boy's got skill.