Monday, April 18, 2011

My adviser thought she heard a wounded animal cry...


...but it was only me after hearing Jaclyn was eliminated on America's Next Top Model (ANTM) last week.

Alas, I have other TV info to briefly record in this humble blog. As promised four posts ago, I will expound on my enthusiasm for NBC’s The Biggest Loser (TBL). Last week, my favorite person on the show was eliminated. His name is Moses Kinikini

[MERLIN’S BEARD! A quick Google search to find out how to spell his last name led me to his Facebook page... This lovely man is MORMON! I thought he might be since he emphasized his love for family quite nicely through out the season. Blimey, why didn’t I put my fan-stalking skills to use earlier? And why am I so giddy by this info now? I think this information solidified a kinship between Moses and myself...somehow...]

Initially, I was planning on dedicating this entire post to that episode because it was quite a roller coaster of emotion for me. However, time has marched forward since last Tuesday and I have kept up with its beat. There are new topics that I wish to write about such as the movie that I will be seeing in the near future at the Minneapolis International Film Festival titled Two Indians Talking. But before I get to that, back to TBL. What was so AMAZING about last week’s episode? It was filmed in the breathtaking country that is known as NEW ZEALAND! Among my many oddities, is an intense-affair-like love for this country. I must credit Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings for introducing me to the country back in 2001. This love is solid. It cannot be shaken and it has only grown over time. It’s like there is a magical charm that's binding us and strengthening with each passing year. Anyway, I think the best example of my love for this country occurred in a conversation with some friends in ol’ Tucson back in the day. My amigas and I were talking about the ideal marriage age. I stated that if I were still unmarried at a certain age, I would journey to NZ and find a Maori man to bring joy and happiness to. Oh what a plan! The Biggest Loser episode took place in NZ and it was a pretty sweet experience for all of the contestants. For anyone who wants a good laugh, all you need ask is to see my notes when I attempted to re-watch the episode on Hulu. Here is an excerpt written after the sky building jump: “Ken and Bob look as though they are going to die. They didn’t and now their smiles are priceless! Dang it, I’m smiling just as cheesy if not cheesier because I’m rejoicing in their triumph too!”  I have THREE pages of this for 40-ish minutes of an 84-minute show! So that is all that I will write for that episode. I was happy for 99% of it. Then Moses was eliminated. I have returned to my happy state because that is the way of things. 

Now to the Mpls Int. Film Festival, which is currently going on at St. Anthony Main. Two Indians Talking is a movie about two Native guys (First Nation) who have an intense dialogue about Native issues. The film summary from the catalog makes me so excited that I must quote it here:

Two young First Nations men growing up together on the reservation have decidedly different views on the current struggle their community finds itself locked in. Adam, a serious college kid who likes to cite Nietzsche or Rousseau, looks for strength in his intellectual pursuits, while his cousin Nathan, from “the school of hard knocks”, is a rebellious high school drop-out who looks toward protest for answers. Their differences lead to a confrontation in an empty community center, the night before a major demonstration is to take place as they debate hot-button issues along with their differences about life: women, politics, dreams, education, poverty and hopes for the future.

Wow, right? My blog writings reveal my struggle to understand and solve Native issues. This movie is a must for me. I am quite determined to form a focus group that would probably only be composed of me and one other person interested in Native issues! But by golly, this movie needs to be broken down, analyzed, and discussed! I would like to hear how other Native tribes perceive it. I would like to hear how groups of Navajo’s review it. Man oh man, I am on fire with these thoughts! Alas, that is all I will write until I can focus my thoughts on this movie and watch it.

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