Erin Hannon

Grown Up Girls

In the past few years, Disney has started to rise up as an avenue for equal representation for the gay community, diversity and female empowerment. While behind the times, being the powerhouse that it is, these changes are important to note as Disney is not only a powerhouse in it’s own right, but also an international platform that hits kids at a young age. 

Teen Beach Movie (2013) came out first, and in a lot of ways was a remake of Grease with the addition and explanation of feminism at different levels and circumstances. During the story, Mack (McKenzie) tries to make the point that other girls shouldn’t change for the boys in their world. Similarly, in her real world, she’s trying to figure out how to do what she wants to do when it goes against what another woman wants her to do, even if part of it is because of a boy. 

The smaller but still impactful part of the movie is her boyfriend who likes her as a person and gives a small push of how boys can be feminists. 

Invisible Sister (2015) stars Rowan Blanchard, a young warrior in the feminism and equality world. Along with her character in Girl Meets World, Cleo shows the longterm effects of -- but this story takes it a step further. While both sisters fight for visibility, this film digs deeper with getting to woman standing with each other and how different people can have similar struggles while similar people can have different struggles. Similar to Brady in Teen Beach Movie, in Invisible Sister Cleo learns not to judge a book by it’s cover and to dig a little deeper with her sister’s boyfriend who while not the brightest, is someone who is worthy of any warrior as he would love and marry her sister even if he could never see her again. 

So while you’re late, thank you for joining the table Disney--even thou you’re currently only at the beginners level. 

Leabharlann and dhachaigh, Dhachaigh and Leabharlann

Extending what you can and cannot experience

What you can and cannot find

You take what you can get

As sometimes your connection, the community and history is only met if you don’t hold yourself to the expectations and goals and resources of others

Parts Unknown

Libraries are not just about books and education; sometimes a connection doesn’t come from a written word or common experience but the opening up of one’s experiences and becoming vulnerable. Libraries have all different mediums for these connections and sometimes the break in the sentence, flutter in the eye you experience directly adds to the depth of the spoken word that cannot be expressed by their writing. Diversity in writing, community and stories includes diversity of media.

Ugh; Anthony Bourdain’s Buenos Aires episode. I hope you can hear us all now, you did so much more than just shove food in your mouth. 

Highlighting the significance of how the food is prepared to the culture and history and individual--it’s why the show wasn’t called something generically--food “Unknown”, but parts unknown. 

Parts of diets we don’t know of, parts of the world we don’t know of, parts of ourselves we don’t know of. 

Thank you, I miss you--> I’ve been missing you

For nearly a decade, Diana Ramirez hadn’t been able to take a book home from the San Diego Public Library. Her borrowing privileges were suspended, she was told, because of a mere $10 in late fees, an amount that had grown to $30 over the years.

Ramirez, who is now 23 and stays in Tijuana with her mother, attends an alternative education program in San Diego that helps students earn high school diplomas. To her, the debt she owed to the library system was an onerous sum. Even worse, it removed a critical resource from her life.

“I felt disappointed in myself because I wasn’t able to check out books,” Ramirez said. “I wasn’t able to use the computers for doing my homework or filling out job applications. I didn’t own a computer, so the library was my only option to access a computer.”

In April, Ramirez finally caught a break. The San Diego Public Library wiped out all outstanding late fines for patrons, a move that followed the library system’s decision to end its overdue fines. Ramirez was among the more than 130,000 beneficiaries of the policy shift, cardholders whose library accounts were newly cleared of debt.

The changes were enacted after a city study revealed that nearly half of the library’s patrons whose accounts were blocked as a result of late fees lived in two of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. “I never realized it impacted them to that extent,” said Misty Jones, the city’s library director.

For decades, libraries have relied on fines to discourage patrons from returning books late. But a growing number of some of the country’s biggest public library systems are ditching overdue fees after finding that the penalties drive away the people who stand to benefit the most from free library resources.

From San Diego to Chicago to Boston, public libraries that have analyzed the effects of late fees on their cardholders have found that they disproportionately deter low-income residents and children.

‘We Wanted Our Patrons Back’ — Public Libraries Scrap Late Fines To Alleviate Inequity

Illustration: Connie Hanzhang Jin/NPR

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Cure of the Black Pearl

It’s a little ridiculous, and it’s been a while so I can’t say for sure, but the original Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is one of my favourite movie stories of a romantic relationship because the relationship between Will and Elizabeth that is, actually tolerable.

While much of this might be due Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth that curses, is dominant, assertive in the film and in her own life, their relationship seemed like a better understanding than is what usually portrayed in stories (fiction and non-fiction). Friends, with a real partnership who happen to be romantically involved where neither acts better than the other and both feel the other is better than them. 

*Shout out also to Knocked-Up and This is 40 stars, Pete and Debbie

FINALLY!!!

AMC Picks Up BBC Drama ‘The War Of The Worlds’

AMC’s ad-free service AMC Premiere has acquired BBC One’s HG Wells adaptation The War Of The Worlds, toplined by Rafe Spall, Eleanor Tomlinson and Robert Carlyle.

There is no attack against the police, there is no conspiracy or propaganda agenda AGAINST the police or law enforcement. 

With decades worth of law and police shows such as Law and Order (and those spin-offs), CSI, NCIS, Blue Bloods, Sherlock, Bones, Homicide Hunter, Monk, Southland; we have received propaganda for the police- how we should trust them, they’re here to help us, they exist for us. Their slogans in NYC are Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect. But these are not true.

But our daily, real-life experiences fall fall-short than the ideals presented for our consumption in mass media. It is entertaining, but it is not real. They put a siren on to go race thru a red light, text and drive, park illegally everyday-so we are not surprised when they murder young black men and children without provocation, we are not surprised that they overreact and attack black woman or any citizens against their rights granted to them just being in this country and by being humans themselves. 

Whether it comes from an actual fear out of racism, or just an authoritarian ideal that they can get away with it--it does not matter. We believe the true victims of those who are murdered because we see the proof every day, the murders are just the tip of the iceberg. 

The best thing about modern technology is exposing the way cops fuck over black people to white people. Literally no black person is surprised that they would do this to a black mother grieving over her child.

To remake, or to definitely not remake

Films that just remake the original (Red Dawn 2012), I don’t see the point of, why wouldn’t I just watch the original? Yes, sometimes we get confused because we’re stuck in our modern world (when first seeing a Walk to Remember—it never made sense why the doctors gave up so easily but I figured it was just what’s “in the script”, until I learned that the original story was set in the 1950s).  Remakes that take the older film (Dial M for Murder, Rear Window) and bring it into a new time with technological or societal, or political changes (A Perfect Murder, Disturbia) are not ripping off the ideas of the original but re-creating it.

I did not see Dial M for Murder and A Perfect Murder on the same night as usual with remakes but over the same weekend, giving time to reset my mind and put the movies as their own. In Dial M for murder, the husband’s plans are set in motion because he discovers his wife’s affair and doesn’t want to lose his lifestyle as he has just retired and feels betrayed. The resolution mostly happens because the husband messes up, not because of the watch or even that the wife lives, that he clears up pretty quickly—and even confuses leads the wife into giving confusing information so she looks guilty (whether intentional or not). But with ample opportunity, he doesn’t clean up the messes he could have changed, that would have let him get away. This is the same with A Perfect Murder, where with a little more patience, the husband would have gotten away with it.

In A Perfect Murder while the affair is still an issue, the main reason for the murder for the husband is his money issues at work, not really caring about his wife’s betrayal but as a way to come off clean about the murder. An added level that I didn’t care for (thou mostly out of pity for the wife—thou I guess she doesn’t deserve it) is in A Perfect Murder, her boyfriend gets involved while in Dial M for Murder he fights and fights to clear her name. What I do like, is that while in Dial M for Murder the police mainly figure out what happened, in A Perfect Murder the wife figures it out—saving herself twice.

Neither movie would be the same without the aspect of the key as the switcheroo, as both were simple and, I believe, brilliant stories. In the remake, there were the updates and changes of cellphones, characters’ intention and how the crime was solved—but the main thrill and suspense was kept, but this doesn’t always happen. I’ve seen both Red Dawns, 1984 and 2012 and I didn’t really understand the point of a remake. It’s not updated to a modern time and while the characters have more camaraderie, there is also less story, somehow. It’s just not worthy of a remake, and many agree.

PS-- I love how we know everything, but don’t know how it will all piece together or turn out

World Refugee Day, من از زندگی تو سپاسگزارم ( I thank you for my life--google) 

صلح (Peace)

Jo Bennet

Best Moment: Season Six, Episode Nineteen: St. Patrick’s Day

When she promotes Darryl; especially as she puts it as part of her townhall knowing that someone’s position at the office doesn’t represent their potential.

Worst Moment: Season Six, Episode Twenty-Six: Whistleblower

When he storms into the office about the printers and the whistleblower because they’ve now lost half their clients for “no damn good reason” and have them sign a form--probably binding--saying they didn’t.

This is wrong, first, because it wasn’t a ‘new issue’ and they hadn’t been upfront, and second, it does against all the morals and principle protecting whistleblowers who are already vulnerable as employees v employers.

Best Line: Season Seven, Episode Twenty-Five: Search Party Part One

When Dwight tries to text her his resume since she won’t consider him for a manager position

“ These are costing me ten cents apiece, you jackass--I’m roaming!”

Most Memorable: Season Six, Episode Nineteen: St. Patrick’s Day

When she lets us know the best way to become the most powerful women in Tallahassee is by working hard....marrying rich....or both like she did.