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Y2/D314...
Working from home today, which is distracting in a whole other way than working in the office. People distract me in the office. At home? The feral cats and squirrels wandering about in the backyard, my apartment, my bed, my kitchen...
Also as an aside? The song, "Kiss the Girl" from the Little Mermaid is a horrible ear worm song. You get that in your head, you can't get it out. Hmm, I didn't realize until I watched the Sherman Brothers Documentary on Disney Plus, how many Disney songs are earworms.
Mother: Who are the Sherman's?
Me: They wrote the score for Mary Poppins (also responsible for The Bare Necessities, Chitty Bang Bang, and It's a Small World After All - all of which are ear worm songs. Oh, and "Everybody Wants to be a Cat".)
Me: Disney Plus has a treasure trove of old family movies on it. Except for Song of the South. (Although I didn't exactly look for it but according to Wiki it's not there.)
Mother: You can't find that anywhere, it's completely unavailable.
Me: Well, it's apparently problematic -
Mother: I don't remember it being problematic. It had Bre're Rabbit, and Bre're Fox, and these stories, and that song (another ear worm song - Zippe Dee Doo Da..).
Me: I don't remember it that well at all to comment on it - but I read an in depth criticism about it, so trust me it is - they went in detail.
Mother: Art (a friend of hers and former New Yorker) loves it so much he hunted down a DVD of it somewhere.
Me: I'm amazed he found one - they really did pull all copies.
Just in case you have never heard of Song of the South? It was initially released in 1946, then re-released in the early 1970s. I saw it in the movie theater when I was 6 or 7. I was very young at the time. I remember bits and pieces of it, and my father singing the song on the way out of the theater. At the time, it wasn't considered offensive or controversial at all. That's not to say it wasn't - just that we didn't know it at that time. Watching a vid of it now, I see why it's offensive and how it might promote racial stereotypes. The clip I watched definitely did. The fact that it was a children's film with a cartoon, makes it all the more problematic. Because that, folks, is how racism is ingrained in our brains and subconscious and it requires work to dislodge it. Steady, daily, hard work. I'm still working on it.
Song of the South is a 1946 American live-action/animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is based on the collection of Uncle Remus stories as adapted by Joel Chandler Harris, and stars James Baskett as Uncle Remus. The film takes place in the southern United States during the Reconstruction era, a period of American history after the end of the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery. The story follows seven-year-old Johnny (Bobby Driscoll) who is visiting his grandmother's plantation for an extended stay. Johnny befriends Uncle Remus, one of the workers on the plantation, and takes joy in hearing his tales about the adventures of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear. Johnny learns from the stories how to cope with the challenges he is experiencing while living on the plantation.
Walt Disney had wanted to produce a film based on the Uncle Remus stories for some time. It was not until 1939 that he began negotiating with the Harris family for the film rights, and in 1944, filming for Song of the South began. The studio constructed a plantation set for the outdoor scenes in Phoenix, Arizona, while other scenes were filmed in Hollywood. The film is predominantly live action, but includes three animated segments, which were later released as stand-alone television features. Some scenes also feature a combination of live action with animation. Song of the South premiered in Atlanta in November 1946 and the remainder of its initial theater run was a financial success. The song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Original Song[6] and Baskett received an Academy Honorary Award for his performance as Uncle Remus.
Since its original release, Song of the South has remained a subject of controversy. Some critics have described the film's portrayal of African Americans as racist and offensive, maintaining that the black vernacular and other qualities are stereotypes. In addition, the plantation setting is sometimes criticized as idyllic and glorified. Because of this controversy, Disney has not released Song of the South on any home video format in the United States, nor is it available on its streaming platform Disney+. Some of the musical and animated sequences have been released through other means, and the full film has seen home video distribution in other countries. The cartoon characters from the film have continued to appear in a variety of books, comics, and other media. The Disney theme park ride Splash Mountain, first opened in 1989, is based on the film's animated sequences.
***
Mother: Your brother informed me that your sister-in-law has resigned from her position in the Democratic Party.
Me: Got fed up, finally, huh?
Mother: Didn't like how they were doing things, and they refused to listen to her.
Me: Volunteer and political organizations in a nutshell.
It's why I gave up on volunteering with organizations myself. Stubborn idiocy, I've only so much patience for. I can't work for it, and volunteer for it at the same time. I gave up finally on Weaving the Fabric of Diversity - church's social justice collective. Fights kept breaking out in their email threads. Mainly because they had crazy liberals who didn't research stuff prior to promoting it. One guy was beginning to annoy me - so I'm glad they addressed it finally. But I still gave up.
I think I'm burned out on the whole human rights advocacy thing. Frak human rights - I'm fighting for the environment from now on.
**
I got to go back into the office tomorrow. I'd rather work from home. Mainly because I want to sleep in to 6-6:30 am, if not later, as opposed to getting up at 5:45 am and commuting. Commuting is long, painful and difficult, and I don't want to do it any longer. If I work from home, I gain two and half hears daily.
I've got a ton to do. But I think I'm burned out on the management.
I'm burned out on a lot of things. I just want to retreat to paradise and write novels.
**
The mask wearing has leveled off, as have the COVID cases, indicating we'll most likely end up back en mass next week. Even church is threatening to go back to in-person sessions. Honestly, why can't folks wait until it is warmer and spring to do this?
I noticed less folks wandering about with face masks. I may up grade next week in self-defense to N95 (I have them now) or KN95 at the very least. Currently wearing KF94 which has been serving me well.
I swear I've spent a small fortune in face masks.
**
On Twitter they were whinging about Biden calling some Fox News commentator an idiot. My reaction? Of course the guy is an idiot, he's a Fox New commentator - it's kind of a given.
***
I'm enjoying the new contemporary romance novel that I'm reading (for free via my Kindle Unlimited Subscription) - about to jump off to read some more of it. It came highly rec'd by Smart Bitches. Usually they are off, and often hit or miss, rarely hit, mostly miss. But this was a definite hit. It's about two surgeons, who are screwed up, and thrown into therapy for conflict resolution after an accident in the ER. They fall in love. The writing is fun. It's fluffy and amazing with hot sex scenes, but not too explicit or long.
My phone has now told me to go to sleep - it does that now.
So.. random photo of the night:
Also as an aside? The song, "Kiss the Girl" from the Little Mermaid is a horrible ear worm song. You get that in your head, you can't get it out. Hmm, I didn't realize until I watched the Sherman Brothers Documentary on Disney Plus, how many Disney songs are earworms.
Mother: Who are the Sherman's?
Me: They wrote the score for Mary Poppins (also responsible for The Bare Necessities, Chitty Bang Bang, and It's a Small World After All - all of which are ear worm songs. Oh, and "Everybody Wants to be a Cat".)
Me: Disney Plus has a treasure trove of old family movies on it. Except for Song of the South. (Although I didn't exactly look for it but according to Wiki it's not there.)
Mother: You can't find that anywhere, it's completely unavailable.
Me: Well, it's apparently problematic -
Mother: I don't remember it being problematic. It had Bre're Rabbit, and Bre're Fox, and these stories, and that song (another ear worm song - Zippe Dee Doo Da..).
Me: I don't remember it that well at all to comment on it - but I read an in depth criticism about it, so trust me it is - they went in detail.
Mother: Art (a friend of hers and former New Yorker) loves it so much he hunted down a DVD of it somewhere.
Me: I'm amazed he found one - they really did pull all copies.
Just in case you have never heard of Song of the South? It was initially released in 1946, then re-released in the early 1970s. I saw it in the movie theater when I was 6 or 7. I was very young at the time. I remember bits and pieces of it, and my father singing the song on the way out of the theater. At the time, it wasn't considered offensive or controversial at all. That's not to say it wasn't - just that we didn't know it at that time. Watching a vid of it now, I see why it's offensive and how it might promote racial stereotypes. The clip I watched definitely did. The fact that it was a children's film with a cartoon, makes it all the more problematic. Because that, folks, is how racism is ingrained in our brains and subconscious and it requires work to dislodge it. Steady, daily, hard work. I'm still working on it.
Song of the South is a 1946 American live-action/animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is based on the collection of Uncle Remus stories as adapted by Joel Chandler Harris, and stars James Baskett as Uncle Remus. The film takes place in the southern United States during the Reconstruction era, a period of American history after the end of the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery. The story follows seven-year-old Johnny (Bobby Driscoll) who is visiting his grandmother's plantation for an extended stay. Johnny befriends Uncle Remus, one of the workers on the plantation, and takes joy in hearing his tales about the adventures of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear. Johnny learns from the stories how to cope with the challenges he is experiencing while living on the plantation.
Walt Disney had wanted to produce a film based on the Uncle Remus stories for some time. It was not until 1939 that he began negotiating with the Harris family for the film rights, and in 1944, filming for Song of the South began. The studio constructed a plantation set for the outdoor scenes in Phoenix, Arizona, while other scenes were filmed in Hollywood. The film is predominantly live action, but includes three animated segments, which were later released as stand-alone television features. Some scenes also feature a combination of live action with animation. Song of the South premiered in Atlanta in November 1946 and the remainder of its initial theater run was a financial success. The song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Original Song[6] and Baskett received an Academy Honorary Award for his performance as Uncle Remus.
Since its original release, Song of the South has remained a subject of controversy. Some critics have described the film's portrayal of African Americans as racist and offensive, maintaining that the black vernacular and other qualities are stereotypes. In addition, the plantation setting is sometimes criticized as idyllic and glorified. Because of this controversy, Disney has not released Song of the South on any home video format in the United States, nor is it available on its streaming platform Disney+. Some of the musical and animated sequences have been released through other means, and the full film has seen home video distribution in other countries. The cartoon characters from the film have continued to appear in a variety of books, comics, and other media. The Disney theme park ride Splash Mountain, first opened in 1989, is based on the film's animated sequences.
***
Mother: Your brother informed me that your sister-in-law has resigned from her position in the Democratic Party.
Me: Got fed up, finally, huh?
Mother: Didn't like how they were doing things, and they refused to listen to her.
Me: Volunteer and political organizations in a nutshell.
It's why I gave up on volunteering with organizations myself. Stubborn idiocy, I've only so much patience for. I can't work for it, and volunteer for it at the same time. I gave up finally on Weaving the Fabric of Diversity - church's social justice collective. Fights kept breaking out in their email threads. Mainly because they had crazy liberals who didn't research stuff prior to promoting it. One guy was beginning to annoy me - so I'm glad they addressed it finally. But I still gave up.
I think I'm burned out on the whole human rights advocacy thing. Frak human rights - I'm fighting for the environment from now on.
**
I got to go back into the office tomorrow. I'd rather work from home. Mainly because I want to sleep in to 6-6:30 am, if not later, as opposed to getting up at 5:45 am and commuting. Commuting is long, painful and difficult, and I don't want to do it any longer. If I work from home, I gain two and half hears daily.
I've got a ton to do. But I think I'm burned out on the management.
I'm burned out on a lot of things. I just want to retreat to paradise and write novels.
**
The mask wearing has leveled off, as have the COVID cases, indicating we'll most likely end up back en mass next week. Even church is threatening to go back to in-person sessions. Honestly, why can't folks wait until it is warmer and spring to do this?
I noticed less folks wandering about with face masks. I may up grade next week in self-defense to N95 (I have them now) or KN95 at the very least. Currently wearing KF94 which has been serving me well.
I swear I've spent a small fortune in face masks.
**
On Twitter they were whinging about Biden calling some Fox News commentator an idiot. My reaction? Of course the guy is an idiot, he's a Fox New commentator - it's kind of a given.
***
I'm enjoying the new contemporary romance novel that I'm reading (for free via my Kindle Unlimited Subscription) - about to jump off to read some more of it. It came highly rec'd by Smart Bitches. Usually they are off, and often hit or miss, rarely hit, mostly miss. But this was a definite hit. It's about two surgeons, who are screwed up, and thrown into therapy for conflict resolution after an accident in the ER. They fall in love. The writing is fun. It's fluffy and amazing with hot sex scenes, but not too explicit or long.
My phone has now told me to go to sleep - it does that now.
So.. random photo of the night: