grammalicious

It's been several years since I watched the Grammy's, but I watched them almost all the way through last night, and this is what I've concluded: I'm becoming old and crotchety, I am missing out on a lot of the new stuff, but I still like to shake my boot-ay.

I only got to see part of The Police and their reunion, but it only took a few seconds to remember how Sting's voice can melt a girl's heart. Rarr! I would go to that concert in a heartbeat, but if The Police are in fact doing a tour, I'm sure the ticket prices are way overpriced. And Mary J. Blige was holy-cow-incredible!! Her solo performance was actually emotional for me, and apparently for the audience, too. She even upstaged Ludacris with her back-up vocals on his song (at least in my opinion)- I was very impressed, and very happy about her awards.

Anyway, what makes me realize that I'm getting older, is my use of phrases like "the music these days" and "can you believe My Humps was nominated??". Don't get me wrong, I like Fergie-Ferg, and her humps, but not because either is Grammy material. And I actually felt sorry for Smoky Robinson and Lionel Richie when they were flashingly upstaged by some dude named Chris Brown that I had never heard of before last night. And John Mayer? Please cut your hair.

It seems like only yesterday I was rolling my eyes when my mom would say things like that, and now I have become her. Yikes.

And I don't think my lack of knowledge on some of the new artists is really my fault. We really don't have a good radio station here, or cable, so I am missing out on a lot of what's coming out. This will all most likely (hopefully) change by the fall, when we will be most likely (hopefully) living somewhere else. Where we might be living continues to be on my mind, especially as our possibilities narrow and become more clear, but I am determined to keep my mouth shut until we know more. Or at least keep my fingers shut (?) and not mention it on the blog, because I actually do talk about it a whole bunch. Sometimes I think that I will probably get thrown back into the mainstream music full-force when I've got kids who are old enough to press a button on the radio (if my kids are anything like I was). But the kind of music I will be forced to listen to will be the next decade's Cheetah Girls and Yellowcard, if nannying has taught me anything, and only a 13-year-old girl can appreciate that kind of hooey.

All this being said, I've come to realize that probably nothing will ever pull me away from a good beat. By far the best performance of the night was Shakira and Wyclef doing Hips Don't Lie, if only because it made me want to get up and dance. Shakira did this weird combination of belly dancing and Latin dancing (which makes sense since she's half Lebanese and half Colombian). I would LOVE to be able to dance like that. Of course, I'd love to have abs like that, too.

But the best part of the night was the confirmation that the Dixie Chicks received in their FIVE awards. Yes, 5. Including best album, best country album (hah, suckers), and song of the year. It was great to see the risks they took with their "response" album be received in such a positive way.

Mike and I noticed how new rock music must be in a bad place right now, or something, since most of the nominees for best rock album (Tom Petty, Neil Young, RHCP) were all much older bands. Hopefully some new bands will make their way onto the scene, and not suck. I really don't like the weird, punk, whiney-voice bands that have been coming out lately (see: Yellowcard).

In any case, I'm glad I watched and got myself a little more up to date on what's popular these days. Yes, it is very surprising to see acts like Justin Timberlake, Black Eyed Peas, and James Blunt (bleh) be the headliners these days, but we will see how far they go.

hot topic

The latest news on Ted Haggard has got me thinking. Thinking about homosexuality, and religion and politics clashing, and the Christian church in all of its not-exactly-glorious glory.

Of course, Ted Haggard was a pastor in Colorado Springs who was forced to acknowledge his "dark side" when a male prostitute revealed their ongoing relationship to the public at large. This all happened just 3 months ago, and now Haggard has made a statement saying that he has realized that he is completely heterosexual. And he is going to be a psychologist.

Yeah...I'm not so convinced. First of all, what kind of a qualifier is that, to say you're "completely heterosexual", and why is it so important? And how could it possibly be true after 3 years of an illicit relationship with another man, within just 3 months of being put on the spot for it? Did they drain the gayness out of him with a tube? Does he have a split personality? I'm afraid that all of the assumptions underlying this man's Christian viewpoint have forced him into a corner, where he can either find a new way to repress his feelings, or be more honest and just completely lose his family, his friends, and his mind.

I don't feel qualified to make any kind of statements here about the general Christian stance on homosexuality, but I get so frustrated to see people make arguments in this backward manner, where the conclusion is already there, and we just have to justify it. For example, "homosexual marriage is wrong, and we can see that's true because so many homosexuals have promiscuous relationships or relationships that end". (Um, has anyone checked up on heterosexual relationships lately?) Or, from a different perspective "Christians are idiots to believe in God, because obviously God doesn't exist". I had a professor last year, who was so determined to be right about God and science, that it didn't matter what kinds of arguments he used to reach his atheistic conclusion. At least think through what you're saying before you say it- seriously. I have no respect for this type of debating, no matter what someone's conclusion is. It becomes obvious very quickly that you don't know what you're talking about, when all that matters is this one thing you're sure you believe in.

And this is what I think Mr. Haggard, and other Christians, are doing with many arguments. It is absolutely not an option for him to consider a homosexual lifestyle, so he must try to extract it at all costs. But how safe is he from the situation he just got into at the end of 2006? It reminds me of the movie Saved, and the attempt to "reprogram" the gay character, even if it means that his girlfriend sleeps with him and ends up in the midst of a teenage pregnancy. We can't consider the possibility that there might be another option to this whole dilemma.

I remember a guy from Focus on the Family coming to speak in chapel when I was in college, and he's essentially a "reformed homosexual". He spoke to us about how, growing up, he lived a gay lifestyle, but was basically cured of it and brought into Christianity. In some ways, I guess I'm happy for him. The way he described it, he was obsessed with his weight, was doing drugs, was sleeping around, and according to him this all stemmed from a bad relationship with his father. So if he was able to overcome a bad family relationship and live in a healthier way, then good for him. But of course his Christian mentor saw no other way to reform him than to cure the homosexuality part itself. I just wish Christians would give this more than 3 minutes of their time. And some do, but many don't.

To attempt to be entirely honest with myself, I try to think through different situations that I could be put in and see how I would react to them and why I might react that way. To be completely honest, I don't think I would be devastated or anything to find out that my kid was gay (which is actually a pretty big statement coming from a devout Christian). But also to be completely honest, I don't think that I'd feel comfortable being in a church where members were gay, and fine with it, and practicing, I guess. I definitely don't think I could handle gay clergy. And trying to figure out why I feel that way is a big mystery. Is it because it's just a basic Christian assumption with no backup except history and tradition? Is it because I just really can't imagine an Orthodox Christian church having to deal with this? (Although I am positive they have had to deal with this, I just haven't seen much of it.) Or is it because of some underlying genuine aversion to the idea, which is grounded in more than just circumstance? God, I know how many people I could potentially offend by saying all of this, but I think it's important to be honest and hope that it will stir up some sort of respectful dialogue with people who disagree with me.

I guess all I know is that I'm glad I haven't had to deal with it personally. I really don't know what Ted Haggard is going through, and so I can't judge him too harshly. But I hope that he's not being forced into a corner that he can't maintain. And I hope he thinks twice about becoming a counselor before he's spent more time really learning something from this experience- something I don't think could happen in 3 months, especially when he wasn't the one who decided to reveal the issue in the first place.

Victor Garber Part 2

And here is Victor Garber playing the very serious Jack Bristow on Alias. He's no longer the savior of the world, but the CIA agent who tries to kill his Russian spy traitor wife, Irina. I don't know why, but the difference cracks me up.

Victor Garber Part 1

Here is Victor Garber in the 1973 film Godspell...

anonymous complaint

Letter to the person who laughed at me yesterday when I slipped on the ice:

Dear young man with the stupid face and the stupid laughs coming out of your stupid mouth at my expense,

You are a stupid head. At least I didn't actually fall, so neener neener. What if I had? Would you then laugh even harder? Would you pee your pants? Because that would be funny.

Sincerely,

Someone who thinks you're stupid.