Pro-Lifers: Masters of Grotesque Campaign Imagery

In the past, prolifers have used images of "butchered" foetuses and inflammatory videos like The Silent Scream to protest against organizations that offer abortions. Last week, they resorted to even more grotesque imagery when a Brooklyn pro-life organization unveiled what it's calling the first ever monument to "birth." And who do they use as a model for such a monument? Britney Spears. I kid you not. And not just any image of the pop idol, but a nude Britney on a bear skin rug. The press release claims the statue "celebrates the recent birth of Spears' baby boy, Sean, and applauds her decision to place family before career. Says gallery co-director, Lincoln Capla, "a superstar at Britney's young age having a child is rare in today's celebrity culture. This dedication honors Britney for the rarity of her choice and bravery of her decision." Funny how they make no mention of Britney's total disregard for her baby's safety when driving. I guess that story can be used to inspire artwork to promote the American Family Institute's campaign for child safety and the preservation of traditional "family values."

This has got to be a joke. Right? Right?

If you'd like to read more about this fine work of art, check out this article at the Defamer.

Old What's His Name, the President, er I mean Prime Minister of Canada

In this past Tuesday's press briefing, Scott McClellan, the U.S. press secretary, had some difficulty remember who, exactly, is in charge North of the border. I guess we should cut him some slack; afterall, at least he didn't confuse him with French fries covered in cheese curds and gravy, calling him Jean Poutine, which is more than we can say for his President. What's his name again? Bill Clinton? And considering how much I despise Harper, it makes me happy to see that his attempts to cozy up to Bush are apparently failing miserably!

Here's an excerpt from the briefing:

Q Can you talk a little bit more about Cancun and the other side of the talks, with Canada -- border, immigration? Are those high priorities?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, this will be -- you're talking about Canada? I mean, the President had a -- first of all, had a good discussion with Prime Minister Martin {sic} yesterday. That was a call that Prime Minister Martin [sic] initiated, really to thank the President on behalf of the people of Canada for the efforts of our coalition forces, our American forces, part of the coalition, to rescue the hostages last week, including one Canadian. But I think that when you're looking at this trip, first of all, it was last year in Waco when the three leaders -- Prime Minister Martin, at the time, President Fox and President Bush -- announced a new initiative, the Security and Prosperity Partnership, among the three nations. And this is a way to build upon our efforts to really make sure that North America is more integrated and remains competitive in this global changing economy that we live in. So they're going to talk about concrete ways that we can move forward on the security and prosperity partnership. And the President looks forward to those discussions with the other two leaders. In terms of Canada, this will be the President's first meeting with Prime Minister Harper since he took office -- he had met with him briefly previously when he was the opposition leader. And each of these relationships -- the relationship with Mexico, the relationship with Canada -- is a unique relationship. We've had good relations with both countries. And the President looks forward to visiting with Prime Minister Martin [sic] and strengthening our relations. So he very much looks forward to this trip.

What if they'd won?

On Friday, we took a very atypical approach to celebrating St. Patrick's Day, foregoing the green beer and corned beef. Instead, Jay trekked up from Ithaca and Aviva made us some delicious fish and chips. We finished off the decadent meal with cream puffs, lemon sorbet, vanilla ice cream, and fresh raspberries. After dinner, we went to The Little theatre to see CSA: The Confederate States of America. Not for the feint of heart, the film is what New York Times reviewer Manohla Dargis calls "satire with a sledgehammer." Mimicking the form of a British Broadcasting Corporation (here renamed the BBS) documentary, the film imagines what America would look like today had the South won the civil war and the institution of slavery been preserved. As one might expect, the results are horrifying. Director Kevin Willmott uses academic talking heads to explain the twisted history, incorporating real and phony statements, documents and footage. He breaks up the "history lesson" with fictional commercials for astoundingly offensive products that, in many cases, once appeared on American store shelves. Perhaps most disturbing were the fake commercials for things like the "slave shopping network" or a reality show called "Runaways," which bore a disturbing resemblance to "Cops." Although the film was certainly thought-provoking, I can't say I enjoyed it. In fact, it's a narrative I was only too happy to see come to an end.

An Apple for the Teacher!

About a week ago, I was told that the Writing Program was nominating me for the College's graduate student teaching award. Apparently, several of my students wrote letters of support and the Program Director seconded their nomination. Now, I'm in the process of writing a revised statement of teaching philosophy and pulling together other materials to support the nomination: course descriptions, sample syllabi and assignments, and student evaluations. It's so strange to rifle through my evaluations and read some of the things students have written about my class over the past few years. Most of them are really positive, though some provided constructive criticism and still others read like pretty obvious cases of "sour grapes."

On Tuesday, I will meet with the director to ask her a few last-minute questions about the application. Although I can't bank on winning the actual award, it's nice to know that my students saw fit to nominate me. I also learned that the English Department decided to co-sponsor my nomination rather than put forward another student nominee. Here's hoping that the double-nomination will help increase my chances of winning. The monetary prize isn't huge--$500--but it certainly would act as a great morale booster! Though I'm not sure of the exact date, the results will likely be announced in mid-April.

And the winner is . . .

I faired quite well in the Oscar pool last night, though I forgot to write down all my selections before leaving for the party, which caused me to make mistakes on my final ballot. On last week's blog entry, I guessed 19 out of 24 winners correctly. However, like most people, Crash's win for Best Picture caught me by surprise; I was convinced Brokeback Mountain would win that one. Also, Memoirs of a Geisha performed much better than I anticipated, winning for Best Art Direction (I placed my bets on Good Night, and Good Luck) and Cinematography (my bet: Brokeback). King Kong won for Sound Mixing over Walk the Line, my selection in that category. I selected Paradise Now to win for best Foreign Language Film even though everything about Tsotsi made me want it to win. So, despite the damage it did to my average, I was happy about that upset. The film won't show in Rochester until April but I'm definitely going to catch it, though I'll have to remember to look away when it gets to the "kick-the-dog" scene I heard the director describe on NPR last week.

However, on my official party ballot, I called only 17 out of 24, second-guessing my original choice for Sound Editing (King Kong) and switching to War of the Worlds, and forgetting the name of my original selection for Documentary Short (A Note of Triumph) and choosing The Death of Kevin Carter. In the end, I tied with another party-goer for first place. Ah well.

Going to Atlanta

Aviva and I will be presenting papers at a conference in Atlanta, Georgia next month--the annual convention of the PCA/ACA. I've attended this conference once before (in 2003 when it was in New Orleans) and had a grand ol' time--though I spent most of my time exploring New Orleans rather than attending panels. We are hoping to do the same this year in Atlanta--attend a few panels but also spend some time with friends who live in the area, see some of the city's sites, and perhaps even enjoy some milder weather.

We'd been putting off purchasing plane tickets and booking a hotel for weeks, but we finally got our act together this morning. After looking around at various websites, we found tickets for $255, though the itinerary includes a stop-over and we'll have to suffer through a 6:10am departure. It was either that or buy a much more expensive ticket. Because the conference hotel seemed a bit expensive, and we'd missed the deadline for reduced conference rates, we also investigated a bunch of hotels. Just when it was beginning to look like we'd have to settle with a hotel that was far removed from the conference location, Aviva suggested we check out Hotwire, a site that gives you a room quote based on your specified hotel rating and the general location. Not until you submit payment do they tell you the exact name of the hotel. We plugged in our requirements and it offered a 3.5 star hotel with a pool, athletic facilities, a business center, a restaurant, and an average of 4/5 star ratings from previous guests--all within a mile of the conference site and for the bargain-basement price of $56/night! What a bargain. Needless to say, we booked the room, which turned out to be at the Sheraton. Seems like a pretty sweet deal!