Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

I've just finished watching Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. It was a cute movie, but was very different from the book. In the book, the daughter, Sidda, has sequestered herself at a friend's cabin in the Seattle area, where she is able to page through the scrapbook. In the movie, the Ya-Ya's, minus her mother, kidnap her and take her to Louisiana and tell her stories.

Basically, the entire modern day story of the film is different than that of the book. There is also a lot that was left out of the film.

Some things were changed as well. In the book, it's an elephant ride that teaches Sidda not to be afraid. In the movie, it's an airplane ride.

*shrugs*

I recommend the book, and the movie isn't bad either.

I think that the book is more in the tradition of Fried Green Tomatoes.

"First they came..." by Martin Niemöller

"First they came…" is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group. (Wikipedia)

There are various versions of this poem. This is the one that is listed as the original at Wikipedia. Other versions include other groups such as the Catholics and the homosexuals. The idea is the same, though. If we don't speak out when we see injustice, we may be next!

Original:
Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie die Juden holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Jude.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.

Translation:
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Loki Update

Here are pictures from the last couple of hours of Loki post-surgery.

Elephants are friggin' cool!

Take a look:



If the elephant recognizes the elephant that he paints as an elephant, than that means that he is able to make the connection between reality and symbol. Of course, this ability to make symbolic connections has already been demonstrated by the fact that elephants can be trained to respond to words.

Dogs also have this ability. Dogs that have been sufficiently trained can accurately identify various items by the words that their trainers use to identify them (i.e. they know the difference between "get your ball!" and "get your bunny!"). It's actually pretty cool.

Loki is superstitious

Loki's internal monologue:

If I just stay on this mat long enough, chicken baby food will appear!

Chaos' internal monologue

"I was going to clean my face on the carpet - you really didn't have to scoop me up and wipe the extra chicken baby food off of my chin with a towel before I could get there!"

The Flavor Bible

If you feel inclined to purchase something for me, I think that I could really make good use of The Flavor Bible. (Hmm...A guy I know named Kelsey would probably really appreciate it too.)

It's a book that tells you which seasonings and ingredients go well together, so you can more consistently be successful when engaged in experimental cooking.

Chaos' Head.

Chaos seems to have gotten himself a tonsure...

I guess it's just ferret pattern baldness and no religious statement after all.

He also has cataracts and is licking his chops in anticipation of supper.

Keeping the Chaos Boy Warm

Here's my snoogly-butt! He wouldn't tolerate this shirt when he was healthy, but it's staying on him now. It's probably cold enough now that he finds it cozy.