I don’t visit the subject of Jon and Kate Gosselin much, except in my own mind, but here I am and this may be the first and only mentions of those two attention mongers.

I DVRed the last episode of their eponymous TV show so that I could watch those darling little kids just one more time. I enjoyed watching those children grow up, if not through their shows then as sidenotes about their parents’ tabloid exploits. I may not agree with how Kate handled her husband, or her husband’s rubber band snap reaction to the divorce, but I do hope that they keep a few tapes of the show to show their children when they are older. If only so they can see that their Mommy and Daddy did love each other, once upon a time and that they were all once a happy family. However, if ever they needed a new nanny or something, I would step up to the plate because they are cute as hell and pretty entertaining when they arent having meltdowns.

And because I am who I am, I draw a comparison chart of the Gosselins to the Duggars, another TLC reality family that I somewhat follow and adore.Both families have conservative values (the Gosselins to a slightly lesser degree) and a ton of children. And the Duggars, despite their conservative values that arent neccesarily for me, and I dont agree with having that many children, I admire them because they all seem well behaved and decent people.

But let me clarify. Yes, I do believe children are a gift. I mean, anyone who knows me knows how much I love and adore my nephews and nieces even during meltdowns and how much I treasure each of their lives. But really…19 children? The planet’s resources are stretched thin, and there are many children out there who need a loving and attentive home like the Duggars have. But everyone is entitled to their beliefs, and at least they are a rather nice seeming family and I can’t argue with someone who loves babies as much as I do.

So the end of Jon and Kate has come, and I was a little sad, yet not entirely surprised about the whole demolition of their marriage. I saw it around the time she made Jon get hair implants. I saw the antagonism, and how much he did not care about his hairloss. But oh well, it is for the best, even though Kate doesnt think that. The kids can flourish without the interference from the well intentioned folks and especially the malicious intentioned folks.

Disturbing news from Counterterrorism Blog:

The day after Thanksgiving, Muslims begin the celebration of Eid al-Adha, or “Festival of Sacrifice,” which commemorates the end of the Hajj season, and the willingness of the Prophet Abraham to sacrifice his son to demonstrate his devotion to Allah. The morning starts with prayers, followed by visits to family and friends. During the festivities, those who can afford to sacrifice an animal as a way of paying tribute to Abraham. The meat is then distributed amongst friends and family, and a generous portion is given to the poor.

As-Sabiqun, a Washington, DC-based extremist group, plans to divert the focus of the festivities away from the themes of generosity and sacrifice by distributing a leaflet at morning prayers that portrays Major Nidal Hasan (who opened fire on soldiers at Ft. Hood, killing 13 and wounding 30 others) as a victim of the “Zionist American” government that is employing a program of “psychological warfare” to “oppress Muslims.”

This is a clear example of what the Center for Terrorism Research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies has termed “Cause Célèbre Islam.”

Cause célèbre Islam forecasts an inevitable violent revolution between American Muslims (particularly African American Muslims) and the U.S. government. As-Sabiqun is one of the most visible and vocal groups that typifies cause célèbre Islam. Publicly, As-Sabiqun’s founder, leader, and imam, Abdul Alim Musa, does not appear to share religious wisdom or guidance. Rather, his constant theme is that of threats and harassment against Muslims by the U.S. government. The most recent issue of the CTR Vantage covers cause célèbre Islam; its origins and its current manifestations.

The leaflet As-Sabiqun intends for distribution at holiday celebrations tomorrow refers to President Obama as “Judas Goat” – suggesting that he is a puppet who leads Muslims to the slaughterhouse. The leaflet also declares that As-Sabiqun charges the U.S. government with “high crimes and treason.” The ultimate purpose of the leaflet is the raise money for As-Sabiqun to transform its old masjid facilities into the “Islamic Institute for Counter Zionist American Psychological Warfare” – framing it as something of a headquarters from which they can launch a counter-attack on the U.S. government in the war they perceive is being waged against them.

As-Sabiqun is not a large organization, however, many group adherents are former convicts who converted to Islam while in prison. It is unlikely As-Sabiqun will launch an attack, but Musa’s rhetoric is reminiscent of former UK-based clerics, such as Abu Hamza al-Masri, Omar Bakri Mohammed, and Abdullah al-Faisal, all of whom played a direct role in radicalizing individuals who committed terrorist attacks, and some who played roles in major terrorist plots. Unfortunately, the U.K. government did not act to remove these clerics from positions where they could influence young British Muslims until they had already planted a seed, which continues to spread. Many in the U.K. dismissed al-Masri, Bakri Mohammed, and al-Faisal as buffoons who had marginal influence and little credibility. As-Sabiqun and its leader Abdul Alim Musa could be viewed in much the same way. However, Musa travels around the country to speak at mosques and to student organizations at large American universities. The distribution of the Eid al-Adha leaflet may be a small drop in the bucket among many cumulative drops.

Leaflet: (click image for larger view)

I had the pleasure of attending “Persistence of Memory,” presented by Cause Celebre/Part-Time Productions. Cause Celebre is a relatively new theatre company, founded in 2007 by Susan Charlotte (Founding Artistic Director of Food For Thought), which is devoted to promoting a deeper understanding of psychological, physical, and social issues.  Each month a play related to a particular cause is presented using some of the top actors in the profession. The proceeds from these plays are given to a foundation connected with the cause. This month’s play is dedicated to the issue of memory. With humor to help ease the heaviness of the subject, “Persistence of Memory” consists of three one-acts dealing with different aspects of memory: “Mrs. Sorkin” written by Christopher Durang and starring theatre legend Marian Seldes tells the story of a woman who’d rather live in the memory of performance than with her own husband. “I Can’t Remember Anything” by Arthur Miller stars Joan Copeland and Bernie McInerney and chronicles the story of two friends who remember the past very differently, including one of them who can’t remember the past at all. “Tango Finish” by Susan Charlotte stars Tandy Cronyn and Rose Gregario with Michael Citriniti, Talia Castro-Pozo, and Lee Van Bradley deals with two women, one who is blocking out part of her past , while the other can’t remember cerebral thoughts, but muscular ones, like dance, never fade away. When put together, one teaches the other how to live again.

Each act told a different, yet similar story about memory, memory loss, and the way it affects us and those close at hand. The play really hit home for me as I recalled watching my grandparents memory fade and seeing my grandparents battle living in the world their mind was creating for them against the lives they knew. It made think how sometimes they could remember something from their very distant past, but not the immediate past or present. The play made wonder when does a forgotten thought become more than a “senior moment?” Why can we remember a routine we performed countless times, but can’t even remember the name of the person we just met or in some cases our own? What happens when we live in a memory that is not the reality happening around us? How do our memory techniques change as we get older? Memory affects us all. Sometimes that is all we have left and other times it’s what we become.

“Persistence of Memory” plays one more time, November 22 at Theatre Row’s Acorn Theatre on 42nd Street. If you can make it, it’s worth it!

To choose to act upon some internal impulse, especially in such an austere setting as a select member of an audience to shout down the speaker, who just happens to be the President and elected leader of the United States of America, quickly makes one “cause-célèbre.”

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE . . . Whatever actual motivation Congressman Joe Wilson, Republican, had for his need to shout … “you lie” … will most likely remain private. Since this event nearly every media pundit has waded in with an opinion, evaluation, observation, positive as well as negative.

What I find most troubling is as a nation it appears once held virtues courtesy and civility no longer prevail replaced by crude and crassness. From this foundation it is exceedingly difficult to genuinely build consensus as “we” each in our own way position ourselves for our own 15 minutes of fame and “cause-célèbre.”

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – –
… People should never be afraid of their government, government should always be afraid of the people …

… “Everyone has the right to clean and accessible water, adequate for the health and well-being of the individual and family, and no one shall be deprived of such access or quality of water due to individual economic circumstances” …

… I am most willing to present and discuss any water issue with any audience in Arizona where open full disclosure and two way dialog is permitted. …

Respectfully submitted,

The nice thing about going to see a Sacha Baron Cohen film, like Brüno or Borat, is that it feels like watching live theatre. But live theatre where something has gone horribly wrong, then horribly right in that wrongness, the train is off the track and it’s wonderful.

And that’s what Brüno is, absolutely wonderful. Is it offensive and foul and mean-spirited at times? Yes, but wonderfully so. Horribly beautifully so in a crudely justifiable way.

The film, which was also known by the fake working title of Brüno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt, should have perhaps stuck with that longer fake title. It sums up the film perfectly.

Cohen’s ability to expose and skewer religious intolerance, the desire for fame, and homophobia is genius. And in this film, he ratchets up the gay energy to an almost nuclear level. Not in an offensive way, I don’t think, and I hope others don’t either, but in an almost celebratory way’s. He’s not simply playing a gay character here, he’s playing what some would consider the ultimate stereotype of gay characters.

He’s then throwing those stereotypes into the faces of unwitting victims on camera, pulling out the true responses of these people, usually blazing homophobia and he’s putting it on the wall of the cinema for us all to see, like a glimpse through the cultural looking glass of the funhouse mirror. He’s saying, “look at their reactions. Isn’t that ridiculous?”

To share individual moments with this film to anyone reading who hasn’t seen the movie (and wishes to, or will hopefully someday be forced to) would be criminal. But if you’ve seen the trailer to the film, or seen Borat or Da Ali G show before, you’ve got an idea. And, you have no idea at all.

Put vaguely, here’s just a tasty taste of what to expect: Austria, the ultimate advice from a nutritionist, a pygmy lover named Diesel, possibly the greated lovemaking scene to ever grace the cinema since Team America, a lot of people being held hostage by their shock at seeing such outrageous things, how to defend yourself against a man with two dildos, pure guerilla cinema, what it looks like to attempt to make a sex tape with Ron Paul, the happy accidents of fashion, Paula Abdul, Mexican furniture, people who “cure” homosexuality, a great interview with Harrison Ford, a lot of nudity, a sex act performed on a spirit, the hunt for a new cause célèbre (Clooney’s got Darfur, so Brüno wants Darfive), the Dallas area talk show that left a lot of people beautifully upset, a swinger party, parents who want their kids to be stars, and the Sex And The City-esque foursome of good ol’ boy shitkicker hunter types. And maybe, just maybe, some love among the cultural ruins that is MMA gatherings.

Sadly, what you won’t see is the LaToya Jackson scene that was recently cut in lieu of her brother’s death, and Brüno taking on Prop 8 in California. Or whatever happened at the senior bingo game that has one woman suing Cohen because she says the prank left her disabled. I know that at certain points while watching the film, I certainly felt disabled with laughter.

A friend texted me earlier, responding to a text from me saying that I was seeing the film this afternoon, and asked if it was less funny, as funny, or more funny than Borat? About the same, but in a different way, I’d say. And much tighter, packing a lot in a very economic runtime. Walking out of the theatre, Conrad Noir said to me, “Come Monday, a lot of the people who were in that film are going to be suing?” He was specifically referring to parents of aspiring baby actors, but he could’ve been referring to just about anyone. Recalling an account I had read of the trials and tribulations of getting Borat off the ground, I’m glad that Sacha Baron Cohen and Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld’s Larry Charles found each other. I’m not entirely sure what their working style is, but I can only imagine that it’s a lot of mutual enabling and a lot of crossing their fingers. Too many of their stunts and pranks require a lot of set up and could’ve only illicted one take, one shot to hit or miss.

Hours after seeing the film now I’m still chuckling at some of the moments from it. The perfectly created awkwardness of some of the scenes and the confusion and intolerance of people that’s so ridiculous that you can’t help but laugh at it. But it makes you want to examine yourself for a moment. You’re laughing at the silliness of others, but you’re almost uncomfortable, worried what you’d do if you were trapped in a similar situation. Chances are good that within every one of this there lays some kind of prejudice or ignorance. Let’s just hope that Sacha Baron Cohen keeps making films until he exposes all of them.