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 School
We took an exam this week. The teacher gave us the test he
prepared for one of his other classes. The questions didn't
really overlap with the material he covered in our class,
so he said they would be extra-credit. As soon as we had finished,
he busts out with a demonstration of suction like it wasn't
just on the test he gave us. He never covered it in class
and said he should have two weeks ago. I've officially lost
all respect for the man as an educator.
 View
From The Top
My pal Martin and I went to see a matinee this week. He travels
a lot and my sister is an air hostess so it was easy for us
to agree on the new Gweneth Paltrow film, "View From
The Top". The film had a very Doris Day sweetness about
it that was cute in parts, but the best bits had nothing to
do with the romance. Unfortunately, it turned into a love
story and the plot felt cliched as the character arc for Gweneth's
character matured. She got everything she spent the first
half of the film trying to get, but realized it wasn't worth
it without the man she loved... ok that's sweet, but anyone
with a basic understanding of the modern airline industry
can see right through the inherently preposterous limitations
placed on the relationship by the conventions of the script.
West
Side Story
My pal Eddie got two free tickets to the sing-along version
of West Side Story at the Castro Cinema. I'm glad he invited
me coz I've never seen the film all the way through. I've
seen a few scenes in various film courses over the years and
I was familiar with general plot points so I was excited to
check it out. We saw my friend Pete King in line and he let
us join him and his friend Ken. The four of us got really
good seats and everyone in the audience got a goodie bag fuilled
with props to match key points in the film. The instructons
were written in 6 point font on dark red paper so we couldn't
read them in the dim house lights. Lucky for us, they included
flashlights in the goodie bag. Also included in the bag was
a hand mirror for the "I'm so pretty" number and
a small American flag for the "Going to America"
song. The most popular item was a little clicker so the audience
could 'snap' along with the characters.
I haven't done anything quite so gay in a long time and I
had a really great time. A few elements of the film took on
an added, unsettling dimension given the backdrop of current
events. Others were unintentionally funny given the predominantly
queer audience, especially when Maria tells tony to go to
the dress shop and "enter through the back door."
All in all, it wasn't quite The Rocky Horror Picture Show
in terms of its sing-along audience participation potential,
but it was a really great night out.
 Dolphin
Mine Detectors
The media has been falling all over itself to find any and
all local angles to pitch their war, this is the most offensive
war story I've seen so far.
March 25 — The U.S. military says it has flown trained
dolphins to a key southern Iraqi port in a deadly serious
effort to sweep for mines. It’s the highest-profile assignment
yet for a military marine mammal program that goes back to
before the first Gulf War.
BRITISH TROOPS declared the southern Iraqi city of Umm Qasr
secured only on Tuesday, and its port is quickly being prepared
to receive seaborne humanitarian aid shipments from the U.S.-led
coalition, perhaps starting within 48 hours.
But before the port can be used, it has to be cleared of
any underwater mines. Coalition forces said they intercepted
several disguised ships in the Khor Abdullah waterway that
held nearly 100 mines, but minesweepers have found no embedded
mines in the water.
That’s where the Atlantic bottlenose dolphins come in:
The U.S. Navy has trained the dolphins to search seabeds,
identify mines and mark them for disposal by humans. Several
military dolphins have been flown in from Bahrain to check
Umm Qasr, NBC News reported.
You can see the full story...
 Drums
of War
Thumbs up for America:
Iraqis are giving passing Americans the "thumbs up"
sign, which the troops interpret as a symbol of support. But
many veteran travelers insist that the gesture is a crass
Middle Eastern insult. How should coalition forces take those
skyward thumbs?
Depends on how media savvy those Iraqi bystanders may be.
It's true that "thumbs up" traditionally translates
as the foulest of Iraqi insults—the most straightforward
interpretation is "Up yours, pal!" And it's on a
par with the American gesture of 'flipping the bird'. The
sign has a similarly pejorative meaning in parts of West Africa,
Russia, Australia, Iran, Greece, and Sardinia, according to
Roger E. Axtell's book Gestures: The Do's and Taboos of Body
Language Around the World. So, it's possible that the ostensibly
cheering Iraqis are, in fact, silently voicing their displeasure.
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Week
Ending 30 March
Workin'
It 
