We went to the movies last night and saw an amazing flick called ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. A brilliant little film based in India, about a young man named Jamal who is a contestant on the Hindi version television show ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ – Yes, the same show that became very popular here in the US.

Jamal exceeds the expectations of the show and the producers suspecting that he is cheating, have him arrested and interrogated. During the interrogation we see flashbacks of his life that explains how Jamal is able to answer the ‘Millionaire’ questions. It is brilliant the way the director Danny Boyle ties together Jamal’s life experiences with his answers on the show.

And yes, there is a love involved; A childhood sweetheart, Latika whom Jamal has been in love with since he was a young boy. I don’t want to give to much of it a way just in case you have not seen it but the film really does run the full gamut of emotions as we see him growing up, falling in love, coming close to death, and escaping from his unfavorable predicament. 

But, what really stood out for me was his unwavering commitment to survive in life and his life long goal to be with his beloved. Through all of his trials and tribulations he did not lose sight of what he wanted in life, nor did he let anything stop him, even when his closest friend, his brother, said to forget about her and move on. 

As always, I am moved by love and the ways that people express their commitment, not through ‘words’ but through the ‘actions’ they take.  Actions always speak louder than words and reveal the true intentions of a person. The words, ‘I love you’ need never be spoken when actions express it so much more fully. And in fact, the words ‘I love you’ can feel empty and meaningless when there is lack of meaningful action. Jamal never needed to say words, as his actions and intentions said everything.

A beautiful, sweet little film, and a must see. 

 *************

Oops got to run – I’ll say hello to all of you tomorrow…..

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

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Merry Christmas Everyone! 

Isn’t the snow beautiful? I think so but unfortunately this beauty is preventing my brother Marc and his wife Barbara from flying out of seattle – they are stuck! :( – such a bummer; they were supposed to be here this morning.  We will miss you both today! We look forward to seeing you on Monday Marco!

     Readers:  Have a beautiful blessed day with your family and friends. I’ll talk to you all tomorrow.

**************

Madaline:  That would’ve been my decision.  And I know you don’t feel the need to justify that to anyone but me. Justification excepted. Keep me informed about what you discover. 

Peace, Love & Joy…bring it on home….

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Michelle’a Holiday Picks!

If you would like to buy any of these, click on any book and you will be taken to Amazon.com.

Actually, I’ll give him two…two minutes of my two cents that is…because that is about all I can. I know little of the man except that he does not allow gays to hold membership at his Saddleback church. Although he welcomes them with open arms to attend, in hopes to change their homosexual lifestyle. Yeah, like they have a choice in the matter.  

And just yesterday it was noted that he removed the anti-gay language from his church website.  Will it return after he conducts the invocation at the inauguration? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.  

I love serendipitous moments and I love reading about them too. I just read this morning that Melissa Ethridge had one when she was invited to perform a song for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, only to be informed that the keynote speaker that night was going to be non other than Pastor Rick Warren. She wanted to cancel but her gut asked, “Are you really about peace or not?”.  This is what Melissa Ethridge had to say:

On the day of the conference I received a call from Pastor Rick, and before I could say anything, he told me what a fan he was. He had most of my albums from the very first one. What? This didn’t sound like a gay hater, much less a preacher. He explained in very thoughtful words that as a Christian he believed in equal rights for everyone. He believed every loving relationship should have equal protection. He struggled with proposition 8 because he didn’t want to see marriage redefined as anything other than between a man and a woman. He said he regretted his choice of words in his video message to his congregation about proposition 8 when he mentioned pedophiles and those who commit incest. He said that in no way, is that how he thought about gays. He invited me to his church, I invited him to my home to meet my wife and kids. He told me of his wife’s struggle with breast cancer just a year before mine.

When we met later that night, he entered the room with open arms and an open heart. We agreed to build bridges to the future.

Now I’m not saying that I approve of this man’s  beliefs or his behavior in honor of his beliefs; I don’t.  But Like Ethridge,  I am open-minded too. And, I have read that he has done an enormous amount of good towards AIDs relief in Africa.  And that he has brought important issues such as sustainability of the earth, and protection of the animals and people who live here, to the Evangelicals, where he has found many supporters among their ranks.  I’m an earth and animal advocate, so I give respect to those that are too, even if I don’t agree with everything they believe in.  Hey, I support PETA with monthly donations, but I’m not against people eating meat and I eat meat myself. 

Is Warren Gay? Who Knows.  He wouldn’t be the first bigot protesting too loudly.  

Lastly, Obama is a smart man.  And he has his reasons for inviting Pastor Warren to conduct the invocation. Mark mentioned the other day, ‘Now how can we object when he invites Rev. Wright to the White House, when he as (sic) has ceremonially kissed our white anti-Christ’s ass?’  Interesting viewpoint and he does have a point. 

Obama has chosen Warren for a small segment of a one-day affair, not a Cabinet post. But some say this action by the Obama administration is setting the gays back significantly.  Do you think so? 

Hmm…I think his two…ah 15 minutes are over on my blog…at least until another day. 

Readers:  Comments? Blog me.

*****************

Hi Mark:  Thank you for the compliments and for sharing about your family gatherings. I am always delighted to inspire and enlighten people. It is what I aspire to.  And the feedback…I am not one to censor myself here as I so enjoy just going with the flow of my feelings and thoughts.  It is one way of many in expressing my creativity freely.  However, should mainstream media ever request my opinion, I think I could blue-pencil my writes and still get my point across :) Welcome to my blog – I hope that you’ll keep reading and continue to voice your opinion. 

Hi Zen Lill:  I will be home most of the day catching up so call when you are free. If I’m out running errands when you call, I’ll be available on my cell. 

Lonnie:  You being gay should not threaten anyone. But some people hate change and they like control.  And some are so afraid of their own sexuality that they will go to extremes to protect in the name of self preservation. No, it is not fair, but it is what it is. However, I feel we can get ahead by  talking  about it ‘aspirationally’, and take peaceful action.

Hi Madaline:  Good to hear from you. Sounds like you and the girls have been busy. You have come along way in the training of the girls; I am sure that  even if you don’t want to admit it, you have bonded with some of them. I’m interested to hear about the exchange and the new girls that  from the other solar systems. Are they Earth-like? 

In regards to this Earth, let me know as soon as you are able to research some issues that we are having here in regards to Bush’s midnight madness. 

Travel safely and good luck avoiding those hot bits of stars.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Michelle’a Holiday Picks!

If you would like to buy any of these, click on any book and you will be taken to Amazon.com.

Brave New Films does it again.  The ‘Psst…Do something!’ at the end of the film? Well this is me doing something by posting it onto my blog and telling all of you. 

Bush’s Christmas gift to us is by making sure that he leaves this country as fucked up as posssible before he leaves his infamous 8-year term. And just how is he doing this? Well he can’t get his Christmas list of favors to his cronies through Congress so he’s jamming as many rules through his executive branch as he can to continue to fuck up this country as much as he can, making it even more challenging for our President Elect Obama and the people of this country to bring about the changes that we need. 

‘Bush’s midnight regulations will allow factories to pollute more, further restrict women’s access to abortion services, cut off aid to needy families in the middle of a recession, and much more — all without Congress’ oversight or approval. It’s wrong, it’s antidemocratic, but, sadly, it’s legal.’

Happy New Year Everyone.  

Can you tell I’m pissed? This shit economy is affecting everyone including me and quite frankly I’m sick of it. And I’m sure everyone else is too. People need jobs and money needs to be circulating. Our economy needs a face lift big time. Getting Obama into office isn’t enough. He’s going to be dealing with so much crap from Bush’s last minute end-run, how is he possibly going to clean up this mess?

Readers:  What’s going on here? Are you struggling too? We all hung in there together during the election…we can’t let the country fall to pieces before Obama even gets a chance.  We’ve lost our momentum and  we need to find it again. I admit, I have been out of it and in a fog myself dealing with my own shit, but the game isn’t over, and I’m back in. How about you? I still don’t have a lot of time on my hands and I’m sure you don’t either but the mood and the energy needs to change here. I know we worked our asses off and we all felt like we needed a breather…I know I did. But we can no longer rest on our laurels. Action needs to happen now, today, the only day that matters, not tomorrow.  Thoughts? Blog me. 

Madaline: Where the fuck are you?  We need some Girl power.  Bush needs to be spanked – he’s been a naughty bad boy in a big bad way, and this santa baby wants to bend Bush over and give him a ‘lil present myself. Get my drift? Maddie, you need to check in with me now, here or on our private channel and throw out some ideas.   This mess needs to be cleaned up.  

That’s all I’ve got time for today…
 

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

I guess after seeing the lovely ‘ladies’ at Harry’s on Sunday, ‘dance’ has been on my mind…

Once again, women of this world are having to fight for something that should not be an issue and this time it is for the continuation of an art form that has been around for 400 hundred years.  

This art is the graceful and elaborate dance ‘Mujra’ that has flourished since the Mughal empire. And the dancing girls of Lahore, the cultural capital of Pakistan, are on strike in protest against the tide of Talibanisation that is threatening to destroy their art form.

And just why are these women striking?  Simply because the Lahore High Court made a decision last month to ban the Mujra because it is too sexually explicit. And now the theaters where it is performed are supporting the courts.  Okay…so 400 hundred years ago this was ‘the dance’ and it was totally acceptable.  Now, in modern days, they are saying that is just ‘too’ sexually explicit….when hello…

“The Mujra by its very nature is supposed to be a seductive dance,” says Badar Alam, a cultural expert. He recalls that attempts were made to ban it during the 1980s. “Gradually, it returned to commercial theatre, mostly by paying off officials. The question remains: does the government have the right to engage in moral policing?”

Obviously the government and the High Court seem to think so.  

And, in my mind, it is just another way to ‘control’ their women, and to keep them down. The dancers are striking because for some this is their livelihood. They have tried to encourage “family friendly” dances, but that hasn’t been as successful – The once packed theaters are now empty and when they once could charge 300 rupees a seat, they now can only get a mere 25. Some girls were making up to 15,000 rupees in one night. Hundreds of these girls from poorer backgrounds will be out of the work if the crowds do not come back. 

Because of the strike and the lack of enthusiasm over the ‘family friendly’ alternative show, the High Courts have suspended the ban.  Oh…but they still want ‘control’ over these women. In order for the Mujra to continue, the dancers have been ordered to cover their necks with shawls and wear shoes. It seems that dancing barefoot, which is how  the dance was traditionally performed, it is now deemed ‘too erotic’.  Next thing you know they’ll expect them to dance in a burkha! How ridiculous.

The ban on dancing is a symptom of a more dangerous trend in Pakistani society. “If the government engages in moral policing,” says Badar Alam, “it gives vigilantes licence to do the same. It fuels intolerance and de-secularisation by violence and intimidation and opens the door to extreme Jihadi Islamic movements.”

The Mujra dance is a beautiful art form.  Is there not enough violence and intolerance in this world? – do we now need to take away beauty that threatens the livelihood of women? Is there no other issues to be more concerned about in life than a simple dance that brings joy and entertainment to those that enjoy this tradition?  The answer seems simple to me.

Readers:  Thoughts? Are any of you from Pakistan that has something to say about this? Blog me. 

~~~~~~~

Hi Shylo:  Thank you for posting such a beautiful poem. I am so curious as to exactly what you mean when you say that it was ‘found on a huge meteorite’?  What is ‘inscripted’ on the meteorite or ??

Hi ZL:  Yeah, you would’ve gotten a a kick out of the show too. In regards to Anonz: I think you’re doing just fine. You know me…I’ll hold nothing back.

I can see how the thing about your father and you not ‘existing’ would bring up some stuff. I’m glad that you made it through and had a ‘excellent’ day. And I’m happy that you’re here too :)

Hi Linda:  I love the adventures too and I hope that they’ll keep writing in. Thank you for your kind wishes to us GirlZ and Girls.  If you’re serious about going I am sure Maddie will find you.

Peace out…

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"