Overbravofication

Well, the holiday season is about to begin in 22 minutes and I can't think of a better way to start it than by seeing the NUTCRACKER or as they say in German Das NusselCrackenshoede at the Kennedy Center as performed by the Joffrey Ballet. What fun it was to see the Russian Nougat dance and the Marzipan shephardess cat fight, but what made the evening most enjoyable were the incessant "Bravos!" and "Bravas!" coming from one specific individual in the audience about two rows behind me. The dancers kick "Bravo!" The dancers turn "Bravo!" The ballerina twirled "Brava!" It really brought the audience together. As the evening progressed, we choreographed a ballet of our own: All together now, 5, 6, 7, 8

Cue: Dancer jumps up and lifts arms over head:
"Bravo!" Eyes roll
"Bravo!" Annoyed looks and sighs in general direction of source
"Brava!" Chatter and embarassed giggles
Curtain Falls
"Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!" astonished glances and sassy whispers "Who is that man?"

Well, I like to think of him as the Joffrey Ballet's Soccer Mom, standing on the sidelines, cheering even when the team is losing. Other people think of him as the artistic director.

This leads me to ask the question: What is the motive for such behavior? Is he truly proud of his dancers, or is he fully aware that the press is in the house? My heart would like to believe the prior, but his cheers did not consitantly follow outstanding performances - in fact it followed any performance. This leads me to a third hypothesis. Maybe he's insecure. Maybe it is more important for him to convince the audience of the company's success even when he himself isn't certain.

Regardless of the goofy behavior, the ballet was entertaining, and I'm always a sucker for eccentrics. I say let the man have his ovations, cause my aunt lost hers to cancer.

Bedtime Story

Let's get unconscious baby! Thought I would share this story I found with y'all. Enjoy!!!

I peed my pants

The Rebel Billionnaire was awesome!!!

BiDil: The benefits of racial profiling

From the time of the Nazis (or even before then) up through racial profiling in the distribution of speeding tickets, defining a group by genetics or actively targeting a group by race has resulted in nothing but scary consequences for all involved; however, where society finds taboo, pharmaceutical companies envision dollar signs. Epidemiological studies have conclusively shown a linkage between races and certain diseases. For example, white females have a slightly higher mortality rate from ovarian cancer than black women and black males have about a 2-3 times greater mortality rate from prostate cancer than white males. It is unclear whether these linkages result from socio-economical factors such as access to health care and diet, or genetic factors. Regardless of the actual cause, pharmaceutical and biotech companies are not ignoring the trends.

This morning NPR reported on the combination therapy BiDil from Nitromed Inc. BiDil is being considered as a treatment for heart failure specifically for African Americans. According to Nitromed, African Americans produce lower levels of nitric oxide which aids in the dilation of blood vessels as well as preventing clotting. BiDil acts by providing nitric oxide to the patient (the isosorbide dinitrate portion) as well as dilating the blood vessels and protecting the nitric oxide (the Hydralazine portion). BiDil was tried as a drug in the 1980's but failed clinical trials using a multi-racial sampling, but recent results show extraordinary promise in selectively using this drug to treat African Americans with heart failure. Nitromed gained support from The Association of Black Cardiologists, the National Medical Association, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus; however, some researchers are skeptical citing differences between African Americans and Africans to illustrate that the issue at hand goes way beyond genetics.

What will be the repercussions of this new strategy on big pharma? What happens if an inferior product is created? Custom drugs are definitely on the horizon and this may simply be the first step in a logical progression. Soon it will be less likely a question of what race are you, but who are you and what did you have for breakfast this morning. Me? I had coffee and an apple....gotta keep that doctor away, don't I?

Are You an Asexual Stealth Phrase?

Is your name Jean? Is it Chris? Maybe it's Terri, or mayhaps your name is untraditional like Tyler or Morgan. If so, then you might be an "asexual stealth phrase" and will not be included in any Texan's health textbook.

The Texas board of Education declared the importance of imposing its right wing views upon the Texas middle school and high school students. Afraid that using the phrase "individuals who marry" as opposed to "husbands and wives"in a health class textbook might instill a sense in youngsters that same sex marriage is acceptable.

“I want the reader, the child to know that marriage is between a man and a woman,” [republican Terri] Leo said in a written statement released during a board meeting Thursday.
Texas is the second-largest buyer of textbooks in the country, so those same amended texts will be used by public school students in dozens of other states.
"We really write the books for the rest of the nation," says Leo.
-MSNBC "No Same Sex Marriage in Texas Textbooks"

Sounds pretty conniving and manipulative to me. The decision was bi-partisan, upsetting Austin TX gay activist Randall Ellis. He found the board's behavior to be irresponsible, causing gay and lesbian students to feel further alienated. This got me to thinking about what other phrases got the red ink so that the Texas Board of Education could ensure that all children might feel alienated, thus eliminating Ellis' concern.

Below are some notes that may or may not have been sent to publishers.
History books have left out the complete name of the father of out country. He is not "George Washington", but "George Washington Bush." This is a new and better America and Texas wants to keep its textbooks up to date.
The words "Roe v. Wade" should be changed to "Nancy Drew and the case of the devil's panty raid."
The term "Civil Rights" should be changed to "a small setback"
In place of "evolution" please use "...and on the sixth day God (fill in blank with scientific facts)...and it was good."
Additionally, "Modern man, Cro-Magnon, and Neanderthal should be referred to as man, man's daddy, and man's grandpappy (or Adam)."
In your geography books, could you change the area you've labeled The Middle East to Texas Tea Land?
In your calculus books, please omit the chapter on integration.

Country Wrecks

Yesterday, heading backwards into darkness, the country lost its brakes and crashed.

Mourning commuters aren't happy. Happy Birthday Laura.

Clive Barker: Abarat

"I've certainly put a lot of my life into those books. Particularly as a gay man without children of my own, having inherited a child but not having my own kids, I suppose I'm bound to say that the books are like my kids.
"There's nothing more gratifying in all the world than somebody coming up to you with a beaten old copy of one of my early books and say 'I've carried this around in my backpack I love this book'.
"It pleases me because if you are touching people's imagination you are touching the deepest part of them."

- Clive Barker ic Liverpool article

Gay parent, horror/fantasy writer, artist, and cub, Clive Barker, recently published the second installment of his fantasy series geared towards adolescents of all ages, Abarat entitled Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War. The story, will unfold over a series of four books that spawned from Barker's interest in oil painting and the 350 original paintings he created that later became The Abarat. (After all four books are published, there will be somewhere between 500-700 paintings). Anyone who's ever picked the book up in a bookstore (including myself) will testify to the fact that the hundred or so colorful paintings in the first book pull you in, but the story keeps you reading.

The series follows Candy Quackenbush through the watery world land of Abarat - an existance somehow suspended in the grassy plains of Chickentown, Minnesota. In this world, distance equals time and it is no longer a question of where one lives, but when one lives. 25 islands, each one representing one hour of the day (plus the 25th hour) makes up Abarat with the sea of Izabella - a sort of omnipotent force throughout the world.

"Don't try to swim," [Mischeif] yelled..."Just trust to Mama Izabella to take us where She wants to take us!"
-Abarat p.87

In Abarat, Candy is forced to learn independence, appreciate the home she's left behind, and fight in a war of good vs evil. The movie link below summarizes the plot of the first book.

In terms of how I think his sexuality plays a role in authoring a book geared towards pre-teens and adolescents, the book is full of characters who are probably gay, although to my recollection, it isn't really discussed. Barker cites "The Wizard of Oz" and (my personal all time favorite children's book) "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" as inspiration. I'm going to have to re-read with a more critical eye this time around.

I highly recommend that if you haven't hopped on the bandwagon yet, that you do so before the craze hits movie theaters in 2005. The rights to the movies and a possible theme park attraction were sold for $8 million before Barker wrote a single word. Here's hoping the second book doesn't prove me to be a liar.

The Hamm Effect

There's an old saying which states: "It's not about winning or losing. It's how you play the game." Such words have never been more true in America than today when winning results from changing the playing board mid-game, distorting the rules, sabatoging the opponent, or winning on a technicality. Victory never tasted quite so sweet...a lot like Sweet and Low. Republicans may wish to heed the Surgeon General's warning.

CNN See-Saw's

I'm so confused. Should I see "Saw" or not See "Saw"? I know which presidential candidate has my vote, but on this issue, I'm completely undecided.

Bad Spelling leads to embarrassing revelations:

Thanks, John, for schitzing in my Cheerios! This is the most embarrassing spelling mistake since Tori. I would like to think that my blog name was intentional - a bridge between schizophrenia, excrement, and noise. Cleverness - not poor grammar. Google searches on Schitzophonic came up blank, and furthermore the name remained unclaimed on blogger. Unfortunately, Schizophonic did and still does exist. The author sits on one lone entry written in 2002. What's more intriguing are the hits from Google, most of which refer to the Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) album of the same name. Additional bandwagon members are the band Schizophonic who perform "explosive...rock-n-roll [music]" This band formed in 2002, but little did they know that there was already a band of rockers who put out an album in 1997. Additionally, with the correct spelling, I was able to find a definition, which basically links the term to everyone's favorite: moozak or elevator music.

Well despite it all [links to a lazy blogger, the spice girls, hair metal, and elevator music] I'm going to keep it, love it, and nurture it for what it is! What is it?