Oh my goodness...I have an indian friend at school who showed me this video...this guy is an MIT graduate student who created this technology called Sixth Sense. He's explaining what it does here. so cool!!
part one
part two
I think...I might want one. lol
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
I know many may have already thought this through but I just wanted to write it down for the books...the very first animated movie in the history of man definitely has undertones of the time when it was made.
I'm just gonna say it. Snow White is a movie which has racist tendencies and portrays male and female in it's "fairest" form, which is an unobtainable and ridiculous portrayal that neither men or women can live up to. First of all, who is the fairest of them all? Snow White, right? Fairest can be used in two meanings here! Not only is she supposedly the most beautiful but she is the whitest! The most beautiful woman in the world is the whitest woman in the world. This is the portrayal of the fairest woman in the world. She should:
be the whitest woman (oh my gosh, racist!)
have the highest voice
have unrealistically red lips
love all animals and have the power to draw them to you
be willing to break into houses in order to sleep on a bed instead of the ground (I feel like this is probably the one that is most telling of our heroine and is also the one that I have the most problem with children seeing)
love singing
want to and actually do clean others' houses if you find their home too dirty for your taste (which actually seems quite rude...people live differently. did you notice how when the dwarfs came home, they did not seem to really appreciate that someone had moved things from where they had been placed? I wouldn't like it either!)
ignorantly assume that everyone is trustworthy, even if they look SUPER shifty (which is just stupid. I understand that in some situations, naivete is attractive, but come on...have some common sense)
be relatively healthy in build (I've no problem with that one lol)
assume the authority position over anyone shorter than you (if they're obviously older than you, as the dwarfs are, I can't see how that is considered respectful. Shouldn't Snow White be grateful for even letting them allow her to stay instead of bossing them around?)
be happy pretty much all the time (no one can be happy all the time.)
there are similar unrealistic undertones of what a "handsome prince" should be:
he should be able to sing
also be white
also have unrealistically red lips
be taller than the woman he loves (the dwarfs in the story all seem to love Snow White just as much, if not more than the prince)
and, as is common in many Disney movies, he should be willing to kiss a complete stranger if she is pretty and expect her to be happy about it and come with him off to a different land far away from anything she is familiar with.
**It has been brought to my attention that I might come off as having something against the heroines of movies I talk about. I do not have anything against the characters, but against the writers who write the characters as the kind which children should want to be like and then giving them characteristics which would cause people in society to become more malicious and selfish than they already are. I have a problem with people who feed children immoral, unethical ideas and lifestyles through entertainment.
I'm just gonna say it. Snow White is a movie which has racist tendencies and portrays male and female in it's "fairest" form, which is an unobtainable and ridiculous portrayal that neither men or women can live up to. First of all, who is the fairest of them all? Snow White, right? Fairest can be used in two meanings here! Not only is she supposedly the most beautiful but she is the whitest! The most beautiful woman in the world is the whitest woman in the world. This is the portrayal of the fairest woman in the world. She should:
be the whitest woman (oh my gosh, racist!)
have the highest voice
have unrealistically red lips
love all animals and have the power to draw them to you
be willing to break into houses in order to sleep on a bed instead of the ground (I feel like this is probably the one that is most telling of our heroine and is also the one that I have the most problem with children seeing)
love singing
want to and actually do clean others' houses if you find their home too dirty for your taste (which actually seems quite rude...people live differently. did you notice how when the dwarfs came home, they did not seem to really appreciate that someone had moved things from where they had been placed? I wouldn't like it either!)
ignorantly assume that everyone is trustworthy, even if they look SUPER shifty (which is just stupid. I understand that in some situations, naivete is attractive, but come on...have some common sense)
be relatively healthy in build (I've no problem with that one lol)
assume the authority position over anyone shorter than you (if they're obviously older than you, as the dwarfs are, I can't see how that is considered respectful. Shouldn't Snow White be grateful for even letting them allow her to stay instead of bossing them around?)
be happy pretty much all the time (no one can be happy all the time.)
there are similar unrealistic undertones of what a "handsome prince" should be:
he should be able to sing
also be white
also have unrealistically red lips
be taller than the woman he loves (the dwarfs in the story all seem to love Snow White just as much, if not more than the prince)
and, as is common in many Disney movies, he should be willing to kiss a complete stranger if she is pretty and expect her to be happy about it and come with him off to a different land far away from anything she is familiar with.
**It has been brought to my attention that I might come off as having something against the heroines of movies I talk about. I do not have anything against the characters, but against the writers who write the characters as the kind which children should want to be like and then giving them characteristics which would cause people in society to become more malicious and selfish than they already are. I have a problem with people who feed children immoral, unethical ideas and lifestyles through entertainment.
this great song that's stuck in my head
Before the Throne
Before the throne of God above,
I have a strong and perfect plea.
The great High Priest who's name is Love
who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on his hands.
My name is written on his heart.
I know that while in heaven he stands,
no tongue can bid me thence depart.
When satan tempts me to despair
and tells me of my guilt within,
upward i look and see Him there
who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
my sinful soul is counted free
for God the Just is satisfied
to look on Him and pardon me.
Behold Him there the risen lamb.
Thy perfect spotless righteousness.
The great unchangeable I AM.
The King of Glory and of Grace.
One with Himself i cannot die.
My soul is purchased by his blood!
My life is hid with Christ on high,
with Christ my Savior and my God.
My life is hid with Christ on high,
with Christ my Savior and my God.
Before the throne of God above,
I have a strong and perfect plea.
The great High Priest who's name is Love
who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on his hands.
My name is written on his heart.
I know that while in heaven he stands,
no tongue can bid me thence depart.
When satan tempts me to despair
and tells me of my guilt within,
upward i look and see Him there
who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
my sinful soul is counted free
for God the Just is satisfied
to look on Him and pardon me.
Behold Him there the risen lamb.
Thy perfect spotless righteousness.
The great unchangeable I AM.
The King of Glory and of Grace.
One with Himself i cannot die.
My soul is purchased by his blood!
My life is hid with Christ on high,
with Christ my Savior and my God.
My life is hid with Christ on high,
with Christ my Savior and my God.
Christmas Spirit
I think I'm gonna do a couple entries today just to catch things up...it's been forever since I've written anything on here. Anyway...this particular entry is about Christmas since that IS what just happened only 2 days ago.
I have a particularly difficult time getting into the Christmas spirit. I feel like there's gotta be some kind of formula or something. Let me give an example of what I'm talking about. Last year, the radio stations actually listened to their listeners and did not play Christmas music until after Thanksgiving...how I feel it should be...I was good about getting presents for people early and on Black Friday and began to listen to Christmas music right after Thanksgiving only to get burnt out on Christmas spirit about a week before Christmas Eve. FAIL. Other years, I have tried to wait until later in the month to begin my Christmas playlists and purchases only to find that the climax of my Christmas spirit came only after the event had already occurred. FAIL. I don't know what I used to do as a child to be so excited about this holiday at just the right time. And this seems to be the case for most holidays for me...I can't seem to find a balance and be most excited at the right time. Either I'm too early and am tired of it before it begins or I wait too long and cannot force myself to be excited about the holiday until after it's happened. What is the formula?! Perhaps I have become one who analyzes things so much I just muddle them up. Maybe...
I'm unsure. Is there a formula? Even years I've just let it happen how it will (like this year, though I did think about what I've done in past years) I still seem to be unable to distinguish the holiday from the other days in a meaningful way.
I've actually thought that might be what is the problem...maybe somewhere in the knot of noodles that is my brain, I've decided that holidays really aren't much different than other days really. At least not the big ones (Easter and Christmas mainly). Shouldn't we be thinking of Christ's sacrifice every day? Why celebrate on two specific days? Why aren't we celebrating every day? I mean...Christmas is a holiday where Christians somewhere along the line decided to merge the celebration of Christ's birth with a pretty famous non-religious holiday. Easter is similar...though I'm not sure which is which. I do know that Easter is also a time that has been celebrated as a non-religious holiday. I mean...Jesus died, but there certainly were no rabbits leaving eggs around the cross. Non-religious traditions surrounding religious celebrations surrounding non-religious traditions. I get the tree...I get the baskets...I get the colored eggs...I get dressing up like a soldier or Spiderman...those seem like one day things. Celebrating Christ's birth, when GOD lowered himself low enough to insert himself into a filthy human body...to become something so imperfect and make it perfect...to live a life we could never live...to love humankind like no one else can...to save the world as no superhero could...to allow Himself to be killed and descend into hell in order to plead for my imperfect soul...to conquer the one thing humans cannot (death)...that is something we should celebrate hourly...moment by moment. How could we who have been saved be comfortable with limiting our loudest praise of Jesus Christ to two days a year?! I cannot understand that. Perhaps that is why I cannot get into the holidays the way churchgoers say we should...the holiday, the holy day! It's every day I'm alive that is a holy day. God gave it to me to spread His word to the world. One more day...one more chance to make a difference for Christ.
I have a particularly difficult time getting into the Christmas spirit. I feel like there's gotta be some kind of formula or something. Let me give an example of what I'm talking about. Last year, the radio stations actually listened to their listeners and did not play Christmas music until after Thanksgiving...how I feel it should be...I was good about getting presents for people early and on Black Friday and began to listen to Christmas music right after Thanksgiving only to get burnt out on Christmas spirit about a week before Christmas Eve. FAIL. Other years, I have tried to wait until later in the month to begin my Christmas playlists and purchases only to find that the climax of my Christmas spirit came only after the event had already occurred. FAIL. I don't know what I used to do as a child to be so excited about this holiday at just the right time. And this seems to be the case for most holidays for me...I can't seem to find a balance and be most excited at the right time. Either I'm too early and am tired of it before it begins or I wait too long and cannot force myself to be excited about the holiday until after it's happened. What is the formula?! Perhaps I have become one who analyzes things so much I just muddle them up. Maybe...
I'm unsure. Is there a formula? Even years I've just let it happen how it will (like this year, though I did think about what I've done in past years) I still seem to be unable to distinguish the holiday from the other days in a meaningful way.
I've actually thought that might be what is the problem...maybe somewhere in the knot of noodles that is my brain, I've decided that holidays really aren't much different than other days really. At least not the big ones (Easter and Christmas mainly). Shouldn't we be thinking of Christ's sacrifice every day? Why celebrate on two specific days? Why aren't we celebrating every day? I mean...Christmas is a holiday where Christians somewhere along the line decided to merge the celebration of Christ's birth with a pretty famous non-religious holiday. Easter is similar...though I'm not sure which is which. I do know that Easter is also a time that has been celebrated as a non-religious holiday. I mean...Jesus died, but there certainly were no rabbits leaving eggs around the cross. Non-religious traditions surrounding religious celebrations surrounding non-religious traditions. I get the tree...I get the baskets...I get the colored eggs...I get dressing up like a soldier or Spiderman...those seem like one day things. Celebrating Christ's birth, when GOD lowered himself low enough to insert himself into a filthy human body...to become something so imperfect and make it perfect...to live a life we could never live...to love humankind like no one else can...to save the world as no superhero could...to allow Himself to be killed and descend into hell in order to plead for my imperfect soul...to conquer the one thing humans cannot (death)...that is something we should celebrate hourly...moment by moment. How could we who have been saved be comfortable with limiting our loudest praise of Jesus Christ to two days a year?! I cannot understand that. Perhaps that is why I cannot get into the holidays the way churchgoers say we should...the holiday, the holy day! It's every day I'm alive that is a holy day. God gave it to me to spread His word to the world. One more day...one more chance to make a difference for Christ.
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