• I was looking up zombies on Wikipedia (for school, actually), when I saw this:
    This article is about the undead. For other meanings, see Zombie (disambiguation)
    I love the internet.
  • Saw The Last King of Scotland this weekend. I mostly liked it, especially for a “white guy in Africa” movie. For one, it made great pains about how culpable the James McAvoy character in a) his own problems and b) the horrible things the Amin regime did to Uganda. Which I get is an attempt to make the Story of How Scary Idi Amin Was more relateable and sellable to a Western audience. The unfortunate part of that is that the actual locals in the movie are all seen through the eyes of this callow young doctor that basically sees this whole country full of actual, breathing people, as a source of (often sexualised) life experience. I guess the fact that Forrest Whitaker is so charismatic and powerful as Amin kind of also works against the “white guy as star” complaint. I mean, Idi Amin’s still portrayed as a really scary guy, but an interesting scary guy. You (the viewer) get drawn in just like Nicholas does.
  • I kind of love this video of Tyra Banks responding to people criticizing her gaining weight. I don’t really love her (or her talk show, though the Naomi episode that was covered in the last Bitch), but it’s totally commendable and really powerful to confront her own weight issues and the idea that there’s something seriously wrong with it being okay to talk about women’s bodies that way. I mean, Tyra’s a really complex figure, media-wise: her public statements are always pro-diversity and embrace women of all sizes, but then on her other TV show, she subjects girls with low self-esteem to intense scrutiny and crazy standards. I mean, most of the time she seems kind of crazy, but I honestly think she means well.
  • Oh man, Veronica Mars has been so good lately: I mean, you could complain that bringing Madison back to break up Veronica and Logan is weird, and Logan’s having slept with her isn’t particularly believable. To this I say a) Logan is the guy that organized bum fights, I don’t know why having sex with Madison is crossing some kind of line for him, and b) there’s something really inevitable about it, when you think of both characters. Veronica can say that it’s Madison, but in reality it’s just that it’s anyone. Well, anyone specific. Veronica can handle the idea that Logan slept with some gross girl when they were broken up, but she can’t handle the girl actually existing outside the abstract. And Logan? Logan will always do the thing that makes Logan as miserable as possible.
  • So, am I the only person left watching Studio 60? Cause seriously. The “we’re locked on a roof, and this will help our burgeoning romance develop” plot? Seriously? Also the “your stalking me only proves to me how much you love me” plot? Which is not so much a cliche as downright offensive. It’s a shame, because there was some good stuff in this episode — namely, any scene involving Tom and Lucy (possibly TV’s cutest couple?…last time I said that it was Beaver and Mac, and you know how that worked out). Also: the long-awaited scene where Harriet finally gives Matt what-for! The part where she said that so many of his actions were “acts of cruelty disguised as cuteness” made me ridiculously happy. And “All those times I said I love you, do you think I was lying?” “Yeah.” I like that she finally showed some balls. Of course, this was followed by Jordan’s valdiating of Danny’s creepy stalking. And Darius validating Simon’s messiah complex, instead of Simon letting Darius, like make his own decisions about how he racially represents himself, and also have, you know, basic human dignity.
  • I think I’ve currently sampled all the major fast-food breakfast sandwiches. It was hard, but it was For Science! Post to follow soon.