Apparently, I Judge People

I spent a lot of time last week with my mouth shut on a variety of topics, then spewing my soapboxes to Melis via gmail (sorry Melis). Topics such as

• The GOP debates. Good grief. 
• Language change. It evolves. And I have strong feelings on the matter. Big surprise.  
• The Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN. And Israel's increasing isolation in the Middle East. And our tenuous position there. Boy howdy, it'll be an interesting week this week.

Also, who thought it was a good idea for BYU to go independent? Embarrassing game on Saturday. 


But don't worry, it hasn't been all bitten tongues or diatribes toward Bronco Mendenhall. I have spent a lot of time lovin' on these songs. Give them a listen?






That Wilco song is bee-yew-ti-ful. Seriously, I listen to it on repeat for hours. Better than the JEW cover, I think I've decided. 

And thanks to Danielle for the Mumford & Sons love. Well, Danielle and Spotify.



K, I'm out.

More Substance

A lot of things have been said about this, the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York, the Pentagon in DC, and the plane crash in Pennsylvania (forgive me, I do not remember where specifically this occurred). I've been thinking about how it defined us as a nation, parts of us better, parts of us worse. I've been thinking about that morning and the bus ride to school, how everyone was talking about it and I sat listening and staring out the window. I've been thinking about the brief conversation I had with my piano teacher that afternoon. I've been thinking about my trip to the Newseum in March and how my siblings have little to no memory of that day. How in later years my children and grandchildren will ask me about it for school assignments like I did with World War II, Vietnam, or JFK's assassination. What will I tell them?

The New York Times did a lovely memorial entitled The Reckoning: America and the World a Decade After 9/11. Please spend some time in it. It is beautifully designed, and thoughtfully put together. I particularly appreciated the piece entitled "In Love with Death." It was a good reminder of the feelings we all had ten years ago.

Yom Huladet Sameach

Happy 63rd birthday, Israel. How about this year we try actually compromising for a two-state solution? That'd be a great present.

Huffington Post Was Not Quite Right

Last week, the Huffington Post ran an article comparing the Book of Mormon musical to the Qur’an burning by the (my words here, not HP) crazy pastor in Florida. While I appreciate what they were trying to do and I do like the attitude they had toward the Church’s reaction to the musical, I felt that the comparison was inappropriate. Marilyn Manson tearing up a copy of the Book of Mormon in Salt Lake is a more accurate comparison to the (again, my words) crazy pastor burning the Qur’an. So what’s the comparison to the Book of Mormon musical?

Enter Salman Rushdie. 

Now, we all know how much I’m literary crushing on Salman Rushdie. He has a beautiful mastery of the English language, and I’ll fall for anyone who does. But he did write a very controversial book in The Satanic Verses, which resulted in a fatwa calling for not only his death but the death of anyone else involved in the publication of the novel. He hid from the world for ten years, and several people died. The written word is a powerful motivator, apparently.

And while I don’t ever think it’s in any way acceptable to condemn someone to death based on their artistic work, I do understand why they felt the way they did. (I also recognize that this was a political move on the part of Ayatollah Khomeini, but the people in Britain and other parts of the world who responded in kind weren’t thinking politically.) It’s weird to see multiple sides of an issue where people demand you take just one.

Which brings me back to this lovely (slight sarcasm) new musical. I’ve been thinking about the two in relation to each other, and I’m having a tricky time resolving both. We took a quiz in my literature class in which our professor asked us if the content of The Satanic Verses is inescapably blasphemous. I responded as follows:

Since we first discussed Rushdie and the fatwa, I have been struggling with the motivations that Rushdie had for writing this novel. He has said in interviews that he didn’t mean to intentionally offend anyone but he did want to talk about subjects that are often considered taboo. While I understand that and think that it is absolutely worthwhile to discuss issues people often think are off-limits, I can still see how some of the scenes in the novel can be very offensive to some devout Muslims and considered blasphemous. Is the controversy inescapable? No. Any time you engage a religious topic there will be controversy; he just sparked a lot more controversy than other writers have. But is his project inescapably blasphemous? I’m not so sure about that one.

Roughly a month ago, a musical opened in New York called The Book of Mormon. Written by the creators of South Park and Avenue Q, it has been described by critics as very funny and entertaining, but also highly irreverent. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (very commonly known as the Mormon Church), and it has been interesting to me to hear about this musical and read reviews while also reading Satanic Verses. From what I have read and seen, I suspect that I would find parts of this musical very funny and clever; however, I am certain I would also find many parts of it completely inappropriate and perhaps offensive. I struggle with the idea of free speech and using whatever material you want in an artistic endeavor—ideas that I strongly support—at the expense of a group of people, particularly if it’s a group I am a part of or care for. And while I do support people’s freedom to express themselves, I also feel like there are boundaries that should not be crossed (how to define them is another matter entirely).

The only way I’ve been able to (partially) resolve this issue for myself is to look at the writer’s intent. In an interview on the Daily Show (starts at minute 14), the writers of The Book of Mormon mentioned how they do poke fun at everyone, but ultimately they are just interested in Mormons and the culture and it was their way of saying something like, “Hey, we don’t understand them at all but we think they’re fascinating.” Their intent wasn’t malicious or destructive in any way, and so even though I’m sure I would see some of the content as irreverent and inappropriate, I am willing to let those things go because they were not trying to cause harm. However, I am not so sure about Rushdie’s intent. Some of the scenes hit too close to home, especially considering he was a part of the Muslim world and knows how important Muhammad and the Qur’an are. His writing is very powerful, and it might have lost some of its power if it were not so blasphemous. However, that doesn’t necessarily make it right.

So, Salman, I do love you, but I’m still on the fence. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t love The Satanic Verses, because I did. And you all should read it.

As for the Book of Mormon musical, I think I’ve landed pretty much in line with the Church’s response. But they usually get things spot on.

Why yes, I DID meet a foreign journalist today

Today Iason Athanasiadis came and spoke at Emerson. He is a British-Greek freelance journalist who lives in Istanbul and covers the Middle East. He was in Tehran during the Green Revolution of 2009 and did a documentary with PBS about it that won an Emmy. (He was also thrown in prison for three weeks while he was there.) He studied Middle Eastern studies and Arabic at Oxford and then in Tehran. He speaks Arabic and Farsi, among other languages (I think the total count is six). He writes, photographs, and does videography, all of which are amazing. He said he likes being freelance because it means he can cover the events he wants through the medium he wants and tell the narration he wants to tell. That would be so cool.

Originally he was going to speak about Tehran, but having just spent two weeks in Egypt we spent most of the time covering those events. And oh my goodness, did he know what happened. He was right there in Tahrir Square for a good majority of the time. His photos were amazing. Truly stunning. (Really, you should look at them. Here, I've linked for you.) I talked to him briefly at the end of his address too; very friendly, very polite. Man. 


I've loved Anderson Cooper for years, but he may have just been replaced.

A Few Thoughts on February

me:  man, I'm super antsy. I hate February

Melissa:  how are those correlated?

me:  I am always tired of winter and want something interesting to happen

it's the worst month

Melissa:  It's true. It's kind of a black month for me as well.

As it is for everyone.


Okay, maybe not everyone. But don't you feel, by the time you hit February, that winter has gone on long enough and you want it to be spring?? But you know it can't be spring because the groundhog says so, plus February is not the name of a spring month. So then you hope for a great holiday. But the only upcoming holidays are Valentines Day and Presidents Day. Valentines Day is great, chocolate and whatever, blah, blah, but you don't get the day off. While you do get Presidents Day off, that's all that happens. But it's so wintery that you can't even enjoy it. Plus, the third week in February I get sick. Every year.

EVERY YEAR.

Except last year, so maybe I've broken the curse.


To not-so-complainy topics, as today was the first day of the fourth blizzard, I stayed home all day in pajamas. My rescheduled class was canceled, and as the blizzard is supposed to get worse tomorrow I'm suspecting the literature one will be as well. So I won't be able to discuss Snow because of snow. The hilarity is not lost on me. (19 inches on the porch at 5:00 p.m. by the way. We'll check at the same time tomorrow to see how much has come down.)

I found this article particularly interesting. I was unaware that there was unrest in Jordan. Preemptive reformation? Sneaky. And smart. Also, I've been wanting to know what Jehan Sadat's opinion on Egypt is, and I've been a little surprised that I couldn't find any mention of people attempting to ask her on the Internet. Then I discovered she's currently in Cairo. Interesting. I wish I could contact the University of Maryland and ask why, but I don't think they'd appreciate that much. Or answer me at all.

Rats.

Winning the Future

I finally got a chance to really study the State of the Union transcript. Our president is a beautiful speaker. But more importantly, he had some very positive and aggressive ideas to help our country do big things. I certainly hope they work.

I also spent over an hour updating myself on the current political situation in Egypt. I am worried for the people there. I hope this ends positively and ElBaradei handles things well. As you are aware of my emotional attachment to this region, you shouldn't be surprised that I have a few requests: Most importantly, please pray for the Egyptian people. Pray that the violence will end and that they somehow end up with a democratic government that will continue their alliance with Israel and strong ties with the United States. I know, it's a rather large prayer.

My second request is in two parts. First, for those of you who I know are keeping abreast of the situation, you might appreciate the updates that come from this article. I found them immensely helpful with a lot of great links to other good news sources. Second, and more important (almost as important as prayer), I know there are readers and/or followers of this blog that do not pay attention to world events. This is important. Please read the article for a basic understanding of what is happening here. I don't ask you to do this very often. Again, "What's Happening in Egypt Explained."

A personal effect of all this news coverage is that it's tipped the scales on my Twitter debate: I've been up in the air about creating an account for several months now. I feel like some uses are totally ridiculous (the personal uses) but some---marketing, news, networking---are beneficial and potentially crucial in my chosen line of work. Social media knowledge is a much more frequent requirement in the job market than it was even a year ago. So at some point this week I'll be setting that up (and probably following all the suggested links through the MotherJones article).


Finally, a minor personal achievement of sorts. I, too, am doing big things. In my magazine class I have been assigned the role of Assistant Publisher for the magazine we will create. The project is much like Stowaway, and I'm excited to be working on a magazine again. We decided as a class to create a food magazine---not cooking, but food. Each issue of the magazine (if it were to continue on for years rather than these four months of class) will feature a specific food item: chicken, apples, corn, etc. For each item, we will provide some recipes, but also a variety of other interesting information such as its history in the country, its biological makeup, customs or traditions using the food, linguistic connections (i.e. "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree"), superstitions, etc. A smorgasbord of information on one food item. And so my question to you is this:

What is your opinion of the magazine name On The Table based on the description I provided? Both positive and negative reactions are welcomed and encouraged. We want to test it and see if people feel the chosen title is representative of the magazine content.