p e n g u i n d e v i l

And what about all this death and disease, cancer pervades… Folks of all ages shapes and sizes… What’s the cure? Well, I don’t think that cure is the right word for the solution.

Looking at the world we have created around us, how can people be so naive about the causes of these ills that befall us. This myriad of symptoms that we call cancer have many, many causes in our little world. The list of things we surround ourselves with that are known to be carcinogenic (or otherwise potentially harmful or fatal) goes on and on: lead and the endless list of monoxides and dioxides from car pollution, industrial waste (just try reading The Fluoride Deception sometime), the radiation from Cell phones (“safe if antenna is not pointed at your head” does not, in my mind, constitute safe for something you talk through), radiation from power lines. Worse yet, plastics. Plastics are filled with carcinogenic materials: DEHA in water bottles, PVC in food wrap, chemical laden-plastics are what we’ve biult our homes around. That and: Ammonia used everywhere, Formaldehyde in carpets (along with 100 other toxic substances) and hundreds of personal products of all kinds, VOCS from mercury, formaldehyde and solvents in Oil & Latex based paints, polyurethane and Boric Acid and Antimony Oxides in Mattresses, and more! We all know that color and smell leach into plastic, I feel safe assuming that the leaching just may go both ways.

And let’s not forget our food system. Most of the food we eat has been so heavily processed that it doesn’t even resemble anything that the body should recognize: Soy is good for you (or is it?), but what connections does it have with textured soy protein, especially in a mash with myriad other chemicals, preservatives, coloring, stabilizers… Does the body really appreciate that as sustenance? On top of that atrophying, nay sabotaging, our immune system by swallowing every medicine we can get out hands on when we feel ill and covering ourselves and our environment with Anti-Bacterial soap, can’t really help. Human bodies are being weakened from the inside out and radiated and carcinogated from the outside in! No wonder there’s cancer everywhere. Good luck finding a “cure”.

Two cheery quotes from US PRIG, “three of the seven infant sleep accessories tested contained toxic flame retardants in the foam materials.” Yay! “Fifteen out of the eighteen products tested for phthalates including bath books, teethers, bath toys and other products contained phthalates. For example, a teether made by Gund contained DBP, a type of phthalate classified as a reproductive toxicant and banned in the European Union,” Don’t even get me started on the child development effects (ADD anyone?) of having little children stare at the seemingly psychosis inducing television shows, cartoons, and commercials for hours everyday…

Anyway, I don’t even know why these reports are needed. It strikes me as obvious that all of these sources surrounding and permeating us all of the time (who else finds it discomforting that we can turn on radios and TV anywhere and listen to them? Does that mean that American Idol is going through me whether I want to watch it or not?), assaulting our cells and systems, must have a cumulative effect greater then the individual harming ability of each one (this oft-quoted note from the FDA: “While it is true that chemicals used to make plastics can leach into food from plastic containers and films, all of the regulated chemicals used to make plastics for food contact, including DEHA, have been reviewed by FDA and have been found safe for their intended use” is fine… How all of our concerns about hazards are blown off using terms like Safe For Intended Use and The Amount Falls Into A Safe Range, doesn’t do much for me).

For further worry, here is a bit from Healthy Home Builder.

Anyway, on to movies!

We’ve had a busy week! We watched Dead Ringers which is always fun. It seemed a bit sillier then the last time I watched it (the effects of age, I suppose), but I still like it. Quite tense at times and you can’t help but feel bad for some of the characters, especially when Claire learns about the “fabulous mantle twins”. All in all though, I couldn’t help but think though of Julian Sands twisted doctor in Boxing Helena, who I find creepier, due to his childlike nature.

We also started off the Kubrick with Lolita. I’d never seen it and, man, had I been missing out. Very good film, very good performances from the whole cast (especially though, from Peter Sellers, always a favorite of mine). It was involving, intriguing and I highly recommend it. I hear the book is good too!

We followed that up with the Documentary A Life in Film. That was good too. I could have done without Tom Cruise as the narrator but, when he wasn’t actually on-screen, he was easy enough to forget. I never knew much about Kubrick, so it was good to hear a bit.

We also watched Angels in America. I had little interest in watching this, plus the six hour length scared me, but I was quite surprised. Though I didn’t actually like any of the characters, they we’re all well done (except the two scenes that lapsed into a few seconds of bad acting) and the story was good. As for the length? Well, I’m starting to feel that it’s odd that anything under 3 hours can even be called a film. There’s no time to develop anything worth developing in 90 minutes. The six hours went by easily.

We also watched Me Without You, another film I’ve never heard of but liked quite a lot. I fell right into the “Yay Holly, Boo Marina” camp… Rooting for Holly and Nat from the beginning (why do I get to be such a sucker for these romances sometimes? Tim and Dawn, anyone?). I really got into it. Queasy at their first punk rock party, mad at Marina, mad at Kyle Mac and his terrible hair… I fell for this fun film and the great soundtrack.

Speaking of Tim and Dawn, we had Krista and Ryan over for a bit and made them watch the first 6 episodes of The Office, the real (UK) version. That was fun as always. I never tire of this show. Krista reported that, though it is very like the American copy, the UK edition is much more discomforting. I’ve never seen the domestic re-hash, but I would bet she’s right! Now we need to watch all the way to the end again!

Last night, in the haze of a cold, I put in Sexy Beast. This time, the third I think, I am no longer having much troubles with their brogues (I wanted to subtitle it the first time). A great movie. The opening scene ranks up with the “leaving the restaurant” scene in Reservoir Dogs as one of the best opening/title scenes I know of. Past that though, the movie is awesome. Ben Kinsgley is tremendous, as usual, and the whole thing is great. Acting, story, script, cinematography, everything. Easily one of my top ten films (though my top ten list is at least 50 films long).