Darfur

This month marks the 5th anniversary of the war and genocide in Darfur, Sudan. WKPCC (FM 89.3) will be running related stories all day.

Steven Spielberg, someone clearly sensitive to the issue of genocide (see Schindler’s List), is one of many who have decided to boycott the 2008 Summer Olympics in Bejing (he was to be the artistic director) because China is a leading partner/customer of the Sudanese oil industry. China’s partnership fuels the genocide financially - in essence, condoning it - and the Chinese government has done nothing to speak out against or intervene in the atrocities. Those outraged by China’s complicity are labeling the 2008 Summer Olympics - “The Genocide Olympics.” You can learn more about this at http://www.dreamfordarfur.org.

I knew about the crisis in Darfur through my activities in Amnesty International (see what they have to say about Darfur), but I became more informed and felt more personally connected when I read an amazing book by David Eggers called What is the What a couple of months back that tells the story of one of the Lost Boys of Sudan - Valentino Achak Deng. It’s at once sobering and outrage-inspiring, yet heartwarming and funny - a book that changes you. (Thanks again to JP Gutuierrez for letting me borrow his copy.)

If you'd like to read more books related to human rights issues (both non-fiction and fiction), check out the blog for Amnesty International Chapter 22 Rights Readers book club group I used to participate in when I lived in Pasadena. It provides a list of books they've read and are planning to read; additional information about the authors, related actions, and events; and updates about the issues discussed in the books.

Here are Eggers and Deng talking about Darfur:

Freedom Writers

“Each month, members of Amnesty International USA’s Freedom Writers Network take action on three selected human rights cases. Action by you can help bring about a prisoner’s release, secure vital information, launch an investigation, or even save a life. . . . [W]e’ve provided a sample letter for each case.

You can print the sample letters as they are, or you can use them as guides for composing your own correspondence. Please mail each of your letters to the address at the top of the sample letter, and send a copy of each letter to the embassy (or other) address at the bottom. For the greatest impact, letters should be polite in tone and mailed within the month.”

This is an EASY way to help fight human rights injustices around the world on a regular basis. We all have time for something like this.

VOTE!!! (a non-partisan plea)

If you live in one of the 24 states holding a primary election today, get out there and vote!

Pining for Pasadena

It’s hard to believe the time has passed so quickly, but it’s been a little over two years now since Matt and I moved to Ventura County from Pasadena. While we’re pretty happy where we are, there are so many things we miss about our old ‘hood – the Huntington Gardens, Amnesty International chapter 22, swing dancing and old movies outdoors in the alley behind Colorado Boulevard in Old Town, free jazz concerts behind Vroman’s, good Indian food (Moorpark, seriously, what gives?), and hot green tea, apples, and Marni at the Yoga House – so we try to get back every once in a while. This past Saturday, we headed down for a salon visit (for me), some soul-nourishing sushi at Zono Sushi, and lots of indulgence at our favorite indy bookstore, Vroman’s. Ahh, Vroman’s. Right next to the fabulous indy movie theater, Laemmle. Right down the street from Zona Rosa Café and their amazing Mexican hot chocolate. *Sigh* We also mixed in some “driving down memory lane,” swinging by our old apartments and by our dream (make that pipe-dream) homes. (Oh, craftsman on the corner of Hillcrest and Wentworth, you will be mine!). After days and days straight of nothing but rain, we even got a showerless, sunshine-y day despite meteorological predictions to the contrary. All in all, a great day.

Guilty Obsession

Nothing is more entertaining than celebrity fashion “don’ts.”

Swoon

PBS’ Masterpiece Classics is having a Jane Austen marathon of sorts. I’m Such a sucker for those schmaltzy period pieces. The chivalry, the blushing, the unrequited love. The eloquently delivered overtures, the even more eloquently delivered barbs, the chaste passionate longing. *sigh* My knees are buckling just thinking about Colin Firth – the only acceptable Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy in the only acceptable movie version of Pride and Prejudice.

For those of you who are similarly afflicted with Firth fever, here are the remaining show times:

Mansfield Park – January 27
Miss Austen Regrets – February 3
Pride and Prejudice – February 10, 17, & 24
Sense & Sensibility – March 20 & April 6

Boston Molasses Disaster

The other day when Matt was on the computer, he asked, “Did you know about this?” and started reading something that sounded ridiculous (surely an urban legend) about an enormous tank of molasses that accidentally exploded back in January of 1919 pouring 2,300,000 gallons of molasses into the streets of the North End in Boston. The brown tidal wave of molasses, moving at an estimated speed of 35 miles an hour and reaching several feet high, supposedly rushed through the streets, demolishing small buildings, injuring 150 people, and killing another 21, the force of the explosion breaking the girders of a nearby railway and lifting the train right off the tracks.

What? Pshaw! Surely, you must be kidding. Some Internet hoaxter with too much time on his hands must just be having some fun, inspired by Boston’s authentic history (i.e., the Boston Tea Party) to concoct a flamboyantly ironic counterpoint to that old saying “As slow as molasses in January.”

Matt continued: “The smell supposedly lingered for many years; according to local folklore, molasses left from this disaster can still be smelled on hot days.” My response: “I don’t know. I’ve smelled something in the streets of the North End on hot days, but I’m telling you, . . . it’s not molasses.” Without doubt, I concluded, the Urban Legends Reference Pages will have a related entry debunking this silly myth (a fantastic site for myth-busting of this sort, by the by).

Well, color me surprised! After further Internet investigation on the Urban Legends Reference Pages and Wikipedia, we verified that – this story is actually true! Gosh, I hate it when I’m ignorant of my own quirky hometown history. I can’t tell you how often I’ve been to the North End! I even worked in a bakery there over a summer while I was in college. And I didn’t know?! Oh what a very “improper Bostonian” I am. Excuse me while I go hang my head in shame.