I've been thinking and talking about the Sopranos ending. I like it the more I think about it because it's a beautiful thing. It lets the audience make their own interpretation of what did or didn't happen.
Many things about this year's series point towards Tony's demise. Other characters close to Tony die, sometimes by Tony's hand; Dr. Malfi learns that Tony's psychotic behavior may not be curable, and that therapy may actually validate his violent nature; plus, the lighting is so dark in practically every scene with Tony. He is often in almost complete darkness, with barely one half of his face in the light.
Some people find insight in the penultimate episode when Tony imagines that the moment of death will simply end in sudden blackness, exactly as the series did for television viewers. Other people think the Sopranos family continues on as usual, but that Tony always lives in fear of sudden death.
I like to take a more cyclical view and see the final episode as merely another moment in time with these characters and their lives, which will continue from moment to moment into the infinity of television. It's brilliant marketing because a latecomer to the show won't worry about starting the series because of a spoilt ending. In a sense there is no ending so it almost doesn't matter which episode you begin watching as long as you are familiar with the characters and their situations. You can catch up on the particular stories of each season of episodes.
I speak from experience, having seen the first two series (sorry, I prefer the British nomenclature) on DVD just in time to catch the most recent two series on television. It felt like I had never missed an episode of the show. I know from my friends that there is a lot of family history and intrigue in the middle part of the series that I am eager to see on DVD. Thank God for Netflix!!
In the meantime, an aquaintance of mine produced a short radio journal about people's reactions to The Sopranos ending and you can listen to it online here (scroll down to "Sopranos Sleep with the Fishes"). Listen closely and you might hear yours truly chiming in for a couple comments!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Happy Juneteenth!
Yes, happy Juneteenth, everyone!
If you forgot (like I usually do) what the Juneteenth holiday is, I'm proud to tell you that Juneteenth comemorates the date -- June 19, 1865 -- when African-American slaves in Texas heard the news that they were free, thanks to President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which led to the freedom of all slaves in these United States.
Now, Lincoln made that fateful proclamation on January 1, 1863. It took over two years for those poor bastards to get the news! Talk about snail mail....
If you forgot (like I usually do) what the Juneteenth holiday is, I'm proud to tell you that Juneteenth comemorates the date -- June 19, 1865 -- when African-American slaves in Texas heard the news that they were free, thanks to President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which led to the freedom of all slaves in these United States.
Now, Lincoln made that fateful proclamation on January 1, 1863. It took over two years for those poor bastards to get the news! Talk about snail mail....
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Don't Do Porn in Iran
You could get killed! Poor Iran is such a fucked up country. Now their government is passing a law which says people who create pornography will receive the death penalty.
Who knows, maybe they're right?
Read the story here.
Who knows, maybe they're right?
Read the story here.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Tom Tancredo for President
One of the coolest things I've enjoyed telling people lately is "my best friend's Dad is running for President." There's not many times in life when you could expect to say that to someone, but for me it's true.
I've known Tom Tancredo since I was in junior high school. He's one of the best men I've ever met: honest, hardworking, a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He's also been a U.S. Representative from the State of Colorado for at least a half dozen years now, with strong support from his district.
I really love Tom, but I don't agree with him on almost any issue. I think he is right about many things, but I'm cynical enough to think some problems cannot be solved because it's too late. For example, Tom strongly supports the "English only" mentality. Even if we stopped all immigration (legal and otherwise) immediately, the Spanish language would continue to grow in popularity in this country. Just watch any current children's program on public television and you'll see that practically every character speaks English and Spanish interchangably.
It's a matter of mathematics at this point. The white population is simply not reproducing as rapidly as the Latino population. I see this here in Los Angeles already. We're currently 50% Spanish-speaking, and 40% of our citizens were born in another country.
I don't see that many pure-blooded whites anymore, especially not the young people. Racial groups have been mixing significantly for at least a couple of generations out here so almost everyone has a little "color" in them, and that seems very appropriate and natural to me. Most Latino youngsters speak Spanish with their families and English with their classmates and friends.
Tom is right, though, about the lack of assimilation by immigrants into "American" culture. I feel like a foreigner in an exotic country in some neighborhoods of Los Angeles. You can go for blocks, if not miles, without seeing any signs in English, except the street signs. This variety can be quite exhilirating; however, I do feel disappointment at the isolationism going on, the tribal-cultural bonding amongst newcomers which is also a natural process, particularly among Asians. I have actually felt the sting of prejudice a few times, a bitter reflection on the hardship suffered by minorities.
I only wish there was more blending of cultures. At least it's happening with food: Los Angeles is rich in fine restaurants serving every cuisine imaginable to a diverse cross-section of patrons. It's not uncommon for the average Angeleno to have sushi for lunch and enchiladas for dinner. However, language differences continue to be a barrier against socialization and commerce between various ethnic groups in this community. We're a huge mosaic of cultural enclaves woven together like a tapestry across the desert.
Sadly, Hispanics continue to labor as the servant class, not only for WASPS, but for Asians, Middle-Easterners, and Jews as well. Besides farming our food, Latinos wash our cars, mow our lawns, clean our homes and offices, construct new buildings, maintain old buildings, and raise our children. Most of them ride the bus because they can't afford a car. But guess who drives the buses? The blacks.
It's an odd socio-economic caste system we've developed here. I'm not quite sure what to make of it yet, except that only very few of us are upwardly mobile anymore. Most of us are moving downward. I see more and more people living on the street every day. It's saddening and sickening.
Tom Tancredo would say sealing the borders would help solve that problem. He's probably right. I just doubt that the government or the public have the insight or the will to take meaningful action to stop immigration, even if it could be morally defended. The influence of immigrants is an important part of our cultural fiber, and it should be managed much better than it has been for the past 40 years. Our country has grown so large, so quickly, there's not much we can do at this point to change things.
Check out Tom's YouTube page and watch some of his comments about immigration, and his brilliant and scathing criticisms of Bush and his mob of crooks. Tom is completely unafraid to rip Dubya a new one. He's way more harsh than any Democrat I've heard. You rock, Tom!
Congressman Tancredo, I hope you become the next President of the United States. At least I'd know an honest man had finally won.
I've known Tom Tancredo since I was in junior high school. He's one of the best men I've ever met: honest, hardworking, a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He's also been a U.S. Representative from the State of Colorado for at least a half dozen years now, with strong support from his district.
I really love Tom, but I don't agree with him on almost any issue. I think he is right about many things, but I'm cynical enough to think some problems cannot be solved because it's too late. For example, Tom strongly supports the "English only" mentality. Even if we stopped all immigration (legal and otherwise) immediately, the Spanish language would continue to grow in popularity in this country. Just watch any current children's program on public television and you'll see that practically every character speaks English and Spanish interchangably.
It's a matter of mathematics at this point. The white population is simply not reproducing as rapidly as the Latino population. I see this here in Los Angeles already. We're currently 50% Spanish-speaking, and 40% of our citizens were born in another country.
I don't see that many pure-blooded whites anymore, especially not the young people. Racial groups have been mixing significantly for at least a couple of generations out here so almost everyone has a little "color" in them, and that seems very appropriate and natural to me. Most Latino youngsters speak Spanish with their families and English with their classmates and friends.
Tom is right, though, about the lack of assimilation by immigrants into "American" culture. I feel like a foreigner in an exotic country in some neighborhoods of Los Angeles. You can go for blocks, if not miles, without seeing any signs in English, except the street signs. This variety can be quite exhilirating; however, I do feel disappointment at the isolationism going on, the tribal-cultural bonding amongst newcomers which is also a natural process, particularly among Asians. I have actually felt the sting of prejudice a few times, a bitter reflection on the hardship suffered by minorities.
I only wish there was more blending of cultures. At least it's happening with food: Los Angeles is rich in fine restaurants serving every cuisine imaginable to a diverse cross-section of patrons. It's not uncommon for the average Angeleno to have sushi for lunch and enchiladas for dinner. However, language differences continue to be a barrier against socialization and commerce between various ethnic groups in this community. We're a huge mosaic of cultural enclaves woven together like a tapestry across the desert.
Sadly, Hispanics continue to labor as the servant class, not only for WASPS, but for Asians, Middle-Easterners, and Jews as well. Besides farming our food, Latinos wash our cars, mow our lawns, clean our homes and offices, construct new buildings, maintain old buildings, and raise our children. Most of them ride the bus because they can't afford a car. But guess who drives the buses? The blacks.
It's an odd socio-economic caste system we've developed here. I'm not quite sure what to make of it yet, except that only very few of us are upwardly mobile anymore. Most of us are moving downward. I see more and more people living on the street every day. It's saddening and sickening.
Tom Tancredo would say sealing the borders would help solve that problem. He's probably right. I just doubt that the government or the public have the insight or the will to take meaningful action to stop immigration, even if it could be morally defended. The influence of immigrants is an important part of our cultural fiber, and it should be managed much better than it has been for the past 40 years. Our country has grown so large, so quickly, there's not much we can do at this point to change things.
Check out Tom's YouTube page and watch some of his comments about immigration, and his brilliant and scathing criticisms of Bush and his mob of crooks. Tom is completely unafraid to rip Dubya a new one. He's way more harsh than any Democrat I've heard. You rock, Tom!
Congressman Tancredo, I hope you become the next President of the United States. At least I'd know an honest man had finally won.
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