Teach your children well

I love TedTalks. A few times a week, I sit down while Noah is napping and watch a few. They always leave me feeling inspired and amazed. So many interesting people and ideas. So may ways to help make this world better. This year’s conference just happened, and I enviously read the lineup of guests who would be speaking. I was surprised to read that Jamie Oliver would be receiving the TedPrize this year. What for? I was confused. The English chef? I don’t get it…

I just watched his talk. And it makes me weep. It makes me fucking weep. It was brilliant.

20 minutes in this day and age is a lot to ask of someone, but I implore you – you with children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews. Watch this talk. And imagine how you can make a change with the food these children in your lives eat.

From the day he arrived, we have always been emphatic that Noah eat well, he eat local and he eat organic. I don’t care what it takes, but this is non-negotiable. I will go without many other things in my life, but I will make sure this happens. Having watched this talk, I believe in that choice 200% more. And I’m not naive – I realize that we are VERY fortunate to be in a financial position to allow an experience like this for Noah, but his future health is paramount and for that I will not cut corners.

Sometimes

In grad school I created a text piece that read:

SOMETIMES I FEEL REALLY CONNECTED TO THE WORLD. THANKS WORLD.

My beloved friend Ashley has been making mixes for Ben and I for half a year now. She sends them every few months and then we respond with something – anything we want: art, letters, photographs. At some point in the future we will share all of these things in an exhibition. It came about while driving in her car last summer in Portland. We loved her ipod playlist so much, and kept asking, “Who is this? It’s such a nice song.” and the idea was born. She seems to know so much about music, and has impeccable taste. And everytime I get one of the CDs in the mail, I feel a little more connected to her. Bless the friends we have that make us feel good about ourselves, this world and life in general.

ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I can hear Noah snoring through the baby monitor. He has a cold. His 3rd ever. But he keeps smiling, laughing, playing… I have my heart in my mouth, worried about what-if and all that crap, but he is joyous and mostly annoyed by the green snot seeping down over his upper lip. Being a parent teaches you new things each day, but over and over it reminds you: BE GRATEFUL. This is an easy thing to write or tell others, but to actually take a break each day and genuinely think on the things that you have and the reasons you have to be grateful takes effort. And having a kid has forced me to take that moment and genuinely reflect.

Hello?

Oh blog, how I miss you. I used to write to you so often, especially during grad school and the days that followed afterwards. But that was many years ago, and even 2009 is now gone. Sometimes feeling so long, in other moments moving past in the blink of my eye. The year my son unfolded like a new flower: learning to roll over, look up, push up, sit up, crawl and walk. Amazing. The year we moved out of the 600 sq/ft apartment we’d been in for six years and into a 1500 sq/ft house: space, space, space. And now 2010 is in full swing. A year I never imagines in all my future daydreams as a youngster. This is the year Noah will learn to talk, and for this I am excited. Even though I know I should just enjoy today and all that it brings, because everything else has gone by so fast. I sometimes find myself watching him move and play, and feel dumbfounded by the fact that I grew him in my belly and gave birth to him. That he is literally of my flesh and blood… sometimes feels completely surreal. And being a parent brings many things to the surface. You are forced to make decisions each day about who you are and what kind of parent you want to be. To help your child find a way of being a gentle, kind, compassionate person may be easier than it sounds. When I get into bed I evaluate each day whether I felt I succeeded or failed. Many nights the sign flashes FAIL.

But that is the beauty of living at the pace my child sets. I follow his lead and get to try all over again tomorrow. This little life is a blessing.

SRC 01/10: Avatar

Shaun Gordon
Film review: Avatar (2009)
Director: James Cameron

While it can be said that I have a definite checklist which has a strict criteria for me to give a film a thumbs up, at the same time I am open to looking at the film as a complete entity before rendering my decision. In most cases I am fairly apt to like science-fiction/ dystopian tales (Water World and The Post Man being the exception to the rule. Sorry Kevin Costner but I’d like my $15.25 back! Prices scaled to cost of living increases).

I am the first to admit that I think James Cameron is a self-aggrandizing overpaid pothead with a heightened sense of self importance. However, he did an incredible job with Avatar. Normally I wouldn’t commend Sam Worthington or Zoe Saldana (because I don’t view them as particularly strong actors) for their performances, but in this instance the entire film was set against a blue screen, and actors weren’t privy to the finished product until close to the films release. In short, they did a great job at playing finger puppets and make believe with tennis balls.

I found the story arch rather contrived and somewhat reminiscent of Star Wars, which in turn is the poor man’s version of Akira Kurosawa’s “Shichinin No Samurai”, but even with those bits of information in tow, you can’t help but watch the visual mastery that is Avatar and say: “Wow!”

Synopsis: Wounded veteran replaces dead twin in scientific exploration of foreign world, under the auspices of a cloned entity that is destined to integrate and eventually lead the alien species in a plight against “science”, which in this instance is masked as capitalism- or the Bush administration’s entire catalogue of foreign policy; visa vie the Iraq War. Of course there’s the supporting cast, who did an outstanding job of aspiring beyond the mediocrity that was their scripted dialogue: Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Lang. And finally, if you’re going to change the landscape of movie making, why not make it a political and spiritual statement against the previous administration- the film definitely had the “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” credo echoing in the foreground.

All that aside- Avatar (in 3D) is a mind blowing adventure that lets you escape into a new world, where every detail from flora to fornication (I found this scene really humorous, because all I could think was… What did they do with those tails?…) transcribed beautifully on the screen. I don’t necessarily salute James Cameron as a director, but rather an enthusiast of the arts- as this movie was an homage to the amazing artists who contributed towards creating the jaw dropping world of Pandora.

Summation: Avatar is worth every penny of the $15 ticket price, just to see the details. Heck this movie would even make Stevie Wonder whisper “I see you!”

Thumbs up.

8/10 stars

Lori Gordon
Film review: Avatar (2009)
Director: James Cameron

As with many good sci-fi narratives, the focus is on the society rather than the individual. In this case, Jake is our protagonist, and Neytiri his strong and willful companion. The world of Pandora is a wild place, portraying a fantastic phosphorescent landscape that transports you to a location where the citizens appreciate and honor the land. The parallels of the American money-making war machine and the native, peaceful cohabitants – the Na’vi, is a heartbreaking reminder that the drive of the dollar often brings destruction and catastrophe where there needn’t be any. I won’t spend any length of time discussing the technological breakthroughs; save to say that I watched this film on the IMAX in 3D and it was spectacular – continuously breathtaking. I felt wholly transported, and enjoyed every minute of the ride. My moment of joy in this case sprung from the moments in the story that addressed how human beings and the earth are all connected. That there always needs to be a balance, and existing harmoniously isn’t as impossible as we often feel it is.

9/10 stars

Sibling Rivalry

My brother and I rarely agree about any movie we watch. In many cases, the only thing we can agree on is that we love going to the movies, and we both do that frequently. I am introducing a new segment to the blog, dedicated to our joint reviews of the same film. There results, more often than not will likely be quite different. Agree to disagree.

I miss this

sleep.