My foot slipped. Again.

Okay, my life is ridiculous. I was writing a blog entry in part about all the technical problems have been having. When my foot slipped and hit the power button on the computer tower. I lost the entry.

Where was I? Oh yes, in my mad dash to make it out of the house on time yesterday, I accidentally left my laptop on. A subsequent power outage wreaked havoc. As a result, my already temperamental, blue screen of death loving, slower every day computer stopped allowing me access to any of my email accounts. Home or work! The nerve!

Well, needless to say, I’m not at home writing this entry. Last night I watched Darwin’s Nightmare. It's not a science focused movie, despite the title. I don't tend to watch a lot of those, though I am really looking forward to getting my hands on the Weathermakers movie. I attempted to watch the DVD of Guns, Germs, and Steel, but I waned early on. I wonder if the Supple Scientist will influence my movie watching habits in future. I suspect yes!

Anyways, back on topic. Darwin’s Nightmare looks at the false economy of the fishing of Nile Perch at Lake Victoria, Tanzania. One man, one bucket, one day = end of ecological discussion as the predatory fish is introduced to the lake, decimating the local species and devastating the local ecology. This part of the story is touched on very briefly. The true story surrounds the people who live around the lake surviving off the economy of fish. People give up farming – move to villages surrounding lake – barely make enough to survive – it’s a difficult life, swimmers who brave the waters to scare fish into nets may become crocodile food – women move to the area to prostitute themselves when their husbands die of AIDS- disease is rampant –orphans are everywhere – young boys sniffing glue which is incidentally made of melted packaging from the fish factory – young girls sticking with the younger boys to avoid becoming rape victim- locals can’t afford the fish and subsist of fish scraps from the factory. What makes the film so gripping, is the few characters that is zeroes in on. A prostitute, a factory owner, a pilot, a security guard…A few Russian pilots who fly in cargo and fly out with fish. They are the cheapest available. They just want to support their families. However, the airtraffic control is minimal (burnt out planes litter the runway) and all of them when questioned about cargo, say, I’m only a navigator, I only want to feed my family. The incoming cargo it becomes more and more apparent is ammunition. Someone has to supply weapons for war. Many of the locals want war, it is a chance to enlist and make better money. The power of this film lays in the subtle way each layer is built upon as it become more apparent that each person is a pawn in a greater and more evil plan, or a participant pleading ignorance. Makes you wonder what your part is in the greater scheme.

Of my bedside table this week (no I'm not a teenager, I'm just reading like one- right now)

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel- genius, wonderful, any adult would love it! One of my new favorites.

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz – kind of ridiculous but I can see the appeal, great for a reluctant reader.

The Shadow in the North by Phillip Pullman – I do like cozy Victorian era mysteries – quite a lot in fact, but this teen novel didn’t grab me and I didn’t actually finish it.

Gossip Girls – read a bit and decided that the shallowness and conceit was corroding my soul. Had to see what the fuss was about.

Doing it – even more upsetting, another incomplete read. If that’s all that teenage boys think about, and in that horrible clinical disgusting way, than I’m so glad I didn’t know that a decade ago. Lacked redeeming qualities.

My Heartbeat by Garret Weyr – touching and lovely account of a girl who suspects her brother is gay and is in love with his friend. Her questions lead to a riff between the two and she begins dating his friend. Sometimes her line of reasoning seems quite stunted and naïve for a teenage girl, she is admittedly not like the other girls, a bit of an oddity, and in that way a little sad. It’s also a little sad that at fourteen or fifteen? she is sleeping with someone who is heading to college (but at least safe sex is advocated here!) I think it’s probably the combination of sexuality and naivety that upset me, rather than any one thing on its own. She seems so little aware of herself and the consequences of her actions as well as the world itself…Overall, I would recommend it. It was insightful and intriguing, with excellent characterization.

A number of things have happened since beginning this post that have made my blood pressure soar, and have cause me to scream internally (I'm in public)...

a) my foot slipped again b) the internet is too slow to add pictures right now c) attempting to hit the spell check cause me to lose the entire blog posting forever. Thank goodness I wrote most of it in word earlier.

Get me away from this thing! Happy Thanksgiving!