Athens Event: New Film Debut at Cine

"Vanaja", winner of "Best Debut" at this year's Berlin Film Festival, is coming to Cine of Athens this Friday for a short run. A film set in India (hence the photo of South Mumbai's Gateway to India), "Vanaja" is the student project of writer-director Rajnesh Domalpalli and his thesis for Columbia University.

"Vanaja," an "emphathetic treament" portrayed by non-professionals living in the village where Mr. Domalpalli shot, is a study of an alcoholoic low-caste fisherman's daughter, living in a rural town. Vanaja's dreams of being a dancer keeps her sane through her days working in house of the local rich woman, Rama Devi. Ms. Devi unknowingly teaches Kuchipudi to Vanaja, who gains the strength to perform in public and attracts the attention of Devi's less than scrupulous son, Shekhar. The rest can be described as a conflict of class and gender, deeply hinting at Domalpalli's underscored social criticism.

"Vanaja" starts running on Friday, December 7th at Cine...the film geek rumor mill has it that Indian beer and Indian snacks may be served at Cine, making the ticket price and chance to see a foreign film in Athens all that more enticing.

Special thanks to Raj D. for the scoop.

And As Long As It's "Women's Day" on the Quail...

Participation in Girl Scout Programs are helping devout Muslim American girls assimilate, grow confidence, and sell kick-ass cookies.

Speaking of Girl Scouts, does anyone know a girl scout? We here at the Quail would be seriously grateful if somebody could get us the hook up on some Thin Mints.

EDIT: We'd settle for Samoas, if that helps.

Hormones and Anorexia

University of Sussex researchers have recently found evidence that suggests that tendency towards anorexia may be programmed in-utero. A mother's hormones may determine the likelihood that a baby will become an anorexic later in life. In keeping with previous research on the topic, "women are usually much more likely than men to have the eating disorder." However, under certain circumstances, men have the same odds of developing anorexia as men: "But a University of Sussex study found men with a female twin were more at risk...This suggests the hormones released to aid female development may be key...The only exception was among mixed-sex twins, where the male was as likely to develop anorexia as the female. The researchers wrote that the most likely reason was because of sex steroid hormones released into the womb during pregnancy."

Interesting - but how does this research tie in with body image issues and gender?

Wow: This Woman and Lakshmi Tatmae Should Get Coffee

First and foremost, the photo above isn't of the woman I'm about to write about; the photo is of Monica Bellucci, the film star. But when I Googled "woman freak" to find a picture to accompany this story, Google Image mysteriously suggested this photo of Monica Bellucci. So I posted it. Though I'm really curious...if Google Image thinks Monica Bellucci is a freak, what does this mean for the rest of us who lack Y chromosomes? Hebbard--any theories?

Anyway, so this post is really about Wang Fang, an amiable waitress from Chongqing City, China, who was born with her feet on backwards. Really. And she's made it 27 years with this, um, different ability and has no plans to change the orientation of her feet...in part because it enables her to outrun most of her friends.

Think I'm kidding? Make the jump, and come back and tell me about it.

EDIT: The Quail Editorial Board is in no way suggesting that 4 year-old Tatmae should consume coffee, as well.

Memoirs of a Sorostitute

This week in NYT's "Modern Love" column, Kelly Valen nee Dick recounts why she left -- or was effectively abandoned -- by her sorority and how that experience affected her [in]ability to trust women.

Valen reflects on her unfortunate year in an unnamed sorority. As if the typical classism, group bulimia, coordinated abortions (don't even ask), and the odd barn dance were not enough to make her run, Valen reveals that her first sexual experience occurred while she was unconscious at a "ledge party," which is where a frat brother engages in some form of sexual activity with an unsuspecting coed in a room specially equipped "for the viewing enjoyment of their voyeuristic brethren, who watched from the window’s ledge." (No criminal charges were filed, nor was that discussion even raised.) Though the frat brother was isolated to the point that he decided to drop out of school the following semester, he was the one who made the choice to leave.

Valen, by contrast, was summarily dismissed. Valen's reaction to the rape, being less social and dressing differently, sparked the sort of nastiness that only post-adolescent women can generate: insults, gossip, blame, and the cruel self-righteous hypocrisy only capable of a certain type of sadist. Valen was later expelled for "not being sorority material." She was told of her expulsion as a group of her sisters confronted her--alone--surrounded her, and told her in no uncertain terms that she needed to be out of the house ASAP.

What inspired Valen's piece, a recollection of events twenty years past? She ran into one of her former sisters, one of the pack that had personally kicked her out, while shopping for clothes for one of her daughters, which brought it all tumbling back. The funny thing? Her sorority sister greeted her like they were old friends.

I suppose we all have stories about mean girls and frosty bitches, but I have yet to meet anyone who knows exactly why women do terrible things to other women. And unlike the signs of male bullies such as (arguably) a certain physique and swagger, mean women are not so easy to spot. In my experience, it's usually the ones who are very nice up front who turn out to have the nastiest dark sides -- but maybe this is because you just don't see it coming.

But just to change it up, my question goes out to the guys in the audience...why do women hate other women?

EDIT: Jezebel may have the answer.

I Only Hope They Do What I Hear about To Guys Like You in Prison

Sorry for the moderately graphic political cartoon, kids, but the LA Times is reporting on yet another sex scandal in the Catholic Church. Ex-priest Michael Stephen Baker, who plead guilty yesterday to charges of sexual molestation, was sentenced to 10 and a third years in prison.

Here are some choice cuts from the LA Times:

"For many, Baker symbolized the church's failure to protect its most vulnerable parishioners: He allegedly molested more than 20 youngsters in his 26 years as a priest and had confessed his problem to Cardinal Roger M. Mahony in 1986. Instead of alerting police, Mahony, then a bishop, sent Baker to a treatment center in New Mexico and later reassigned him to serve at nine other parishes, where he allegedly victimized other children.

And, when authorities sought records from the church to help build a case against Baker, church officials vigorously fought to keep that information secret...

Among the more than 500 alleged victims and 200 clergy members accused of misconduct, Baker's case was the one Mahony had said "troubles" him the most. The cardinal, who is considered the most powerful prelate in North America, publicly apologized in 2004 to the diocese's 5 million Catholics for his mishandling of Baker.

Baker was first charged with more than a dozen crimes against young men in 2002 -- including the molestation of Severson -- but those charges were voided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court ruled that California lacked the power to retroactively extend deadlines to prosecute older crimes, known as statutes of limitations. The decision wiped out hundreds of potential criminal prosecutions, and left largely to civil lawyers the task of determining the nature and extent of the scandal."

Which brings me to many questions to you, dear reader:
1. Where the evidence necessary to uncover a crime is willfully supressed by an organization aiding and abetting felonious child molesters, should the statute of limitations be tolled until such evidence is turned over to the state?

2. Given the chronic and widespread problems with the Catholic Church's (mis-)handling of pedophiles in the clergy, should the special class of perpetrators be treated differently by the law? In the same way that there are laws against murders and against murders in the context of hate crime (generally with different sentencing), should there not be a law specifically addressing priests who molest children, arguably breaching a higher (or at least different) duty that of a baseball coach or next-door neighbor molesting a kid?

3. Where is the Vatican in all of this?!? Catholic League, where are you on this?!? Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I feel like molestation causes slightly more harm to the youth than "The Golden Compass."

EDIT: The Catholic Church is distributing a comic book to teach kids to report sexual abuse as soon as it happens, though lawyers representing clients sexually abused by priests claim that it might have the adverse effect. (Good scoop, Greg!)

Are the US and Iran Making Amends?

It appears that the US and Iran have climbed back from the precipice. Violence in Iraq is falling rapidly, and the US is toning down the aggressive rhetoric against Iran. This is great news considering that just weeks ago it seemed like war was all but inevitable. Hopefully the thaw will continue.

Slate supports Pasty news, and more

I tend to scour Slate every couple of weeks, and it's kind of nice to get on there to find a wide array of exciting news, as opposed to checking it every 15 minutes to see whatever is new, like I used to do when I was working and staring at my computer for at least 6 hours a day (sound familiar to anyone?). So, in that vein, here are a couple of stories from our friends over at this fine voice for online news that align with some of the news we've presented in the last couple of days, probably more eloquently put than what we have here:

- In context with the Sudan teddy bear situation, the "Explainer" column clarifies proper etiquette when naming your child after a holy figure, such as Jesus or Mohammed.

- Further, the site's "Sports Nut" feature discusses why there probably shouldn't be a BCS National Championship Game this year, because, in his reasoning (and as an LSU fan, to boot) is that every team already has proven they are NOT the best team.


- Finally, in other, not related to Pasty Quail, Slate news:

The Diaries of Facebook’s founder have been released. Turns out he's a pretty big asshole.

Maybe some of you are not terribly into reading about this guy’s personality, but in the true Facebook spirit, here it is, out there for the world to see.

A Spot of Humor: Fox News abusing sponsors, or just "understanding how advertising works?"

I stumbled upon this funny story from a site that purports itself as a source for media news, which seems to be upset with Fox News for not running an anti-Bush ad.

The story is that Fox would not show an ad saying that Bush is destroying the Constitution, and though it isn't explicitly stated, the article seems a bit peeved by this fact.

This is a spot of criticism clearly written by someone that doesn’t understand "how advertising works." If Fox doesn’t want your money because they don’t like your ad, they can do that. A media network is in no way required to run every ad that comes their way.

At least, though, the spokespeople at Fox aren’t shy about having a quick jab at their critics, as is evidenced by the email they sent to the website, reproduced here:

"Hi Owen --

We cannot approve the spot with it being Danny Glover's opinion that the Bush Administration is destroying the Constitution. If you have documentation that it is indeed being destroyed, we can look at that.

Sorry about that,

Erin"

Look, I don't like Fox News either (or any other cable news network for that matter), but if you're trying to expose them as a pro-Republican organization, I think you're about [however long the network has been in operation] years too late.

Some actual thoughts on The Golden Compass

I've been writing day in and out about the controversy surrounding this upcoming epic film, and have yet to address specifically the issues at hand. Though I have been clear in mentioning that many American Christians are wary of "The Golden Compass," I found a good article from the LA Times outlining the views of Philip Pullman (pictured), the author of the books upon which the movie is based.


In this article, I realized for the first time that Pullman actually does appear to be a “heretic.” Though I might not agree with what the boycotting Christians view as a heretic, in the context of what their accusations, he certainly is.

For example:

"Pullman once told an interviewer 'His Dark Materials' [a fantasy trilogy of Pullman's "children's" books, of which 'The Golden Compass' is a part] is about 'killing God,' and that he wrote an op-ed piece describing C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" as 'ugly and poisonous.'"

As C.S. Lewis is well-revered by American Christians, this statement is pretty egregious in itself, but I'd also say that describing books that he wrote for children in this way understandably lead to the current outrage. However, it seems that Britain's leading religious people, including THE head of the Anglican church, don't share the fury that has arisen here in the U.S.

"Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, has enthused about 'His Dark Materials' and participated in an onstage discussion with Pullman when a stage version of 'His Dark Materials' was produced by the National Theatre in London."

Furthermore (and take this last one with a grain of salt, because the writer worships Pullman pretty hard in this article):

“Although Pullman has some vehement detractors among Britain's Christians, the liberal clergy there have more often valued his books for tackling the great questions of existence: life, death, morality and humanity's role in the universe. They regard his fiction as a springboard for discussion, the kind of discussion that does sometimes lead people to embrace God.”

I do think this is a good point. Atheism is a religion much like Monotheism; a belief in no God is much closer to belief in One than belief in Many. Some atheists, in fact, are monotheists, they just refuse to define the name of what is infinite and unknowable — which can be defined as one thing (nothing), which is also the same as everything. Broken down, an omnipresent, infallible and omnipotent God covers pretty much the same ground. Why couldn’t moral ethics in those two worldviews align?

Yes, Pullman said his books are about "killing God." There, I can see the problem, even though what he said seems to have been taken out of context. However, there's a larger issue here; the people who want this movie banned see Atheism only as anti-Monotheism, which simply is not true. Most people think of the self-proclaimed Atheists that dress in all black in high school and claim to hate God; yet, these people are not Atheists, because they believe in the monotheistic God enough to want to hate Him.

Atheists can be moralistic and they can have positive things to say. If this film is promoting Atheism, by banning it detractors are simply asking their kids to see it. Yet, like some Christians in Britain, as the article states, and like many others elsewhere, Atheism in certain contexts is not a threat to Monotheism because it does not claim to oppose it, it simply refuses to define it. Therefore, the manifestations of this world can be exactly the same; without God, love for our fellow man and justice and peace on Earth (or in the world of The Golden Compass, as the case may be) can remain relevant.

Germany Goes All China on Scientology

Western Democracies generally pride themselves on religious freedom, if not tolerance. However, Udo Nagel, Hamburg's Secretary of the Interior is seeking to ban Scientology, stating that Scientology urges pursuit of "anti-constitutional goals in an aggressively fierce" manner.

As a member of the EU, Nagel and Co. are probably just mad that Xenu chose Boeing Spacecraft instead of Airbus.

Gawk This

Now, we here at the Quail don't normally call out other prominent members of the Blogosphere, but we would be remiss if we didn't take on the biggest dog on the block.

Half of Gawker's editorial staff jumped ship on Friday, including Emily Gould and Choire Sicha, long-time managing editor, without having new gigs lined up in advance. That's usually not the best sign...Reactions to the news have ranged wildly, from...
* The New York Times's peaceful report of what happened
* New York Magazine takes snarky pot-shots
* The Daily Swarm politely edits stories from other news outlets, letting us know that the writers in question objected to a new pay scale scheme whereby they were compensated based on the number of page views, not the number of posts
* And Gawker covers its own HR problems

We Got Your Music Links

* Behold, the new battleground for the RIAA v. downloaders! No, not Crater Lake -- just the U.S. District Court in the great state of OR. The Oregon Attorney General, Mr. Hardy Myers, filed an appeal in the district court, respectfully requesting that the court investigate just exactly how the RIAA gathered evidence that 17 U of Oregon students allegedly infringed on copyright. The Oregon AG is NOT pleased about the RIAA's subpeonas and does not appreciate the RIAA's attempts to discover the names and identities of the 17 students. "She flies with her own wings," indeed.
* Bonnaroo Rumor Mill: Led Zeppelin and Metallica may be confirmed on the 2008 bill.
* Ann Powers of the LA Times not only tells us why indie rock is diverse but which artists are the front-runners of the movement. Take that SFJ.
* Chris Dortch, director of the upcoming documentary on the Atlanta Music scene "We Fun," gets interviewed by Paste Magazine.

Oh...and did you know that recording rap is now an illegal offense in Iran? Yikes.

Today...in Robots!

* The London Times has an update on robots capable of carrying automatic weapons in combat situations. Nearly 1000 Talon, a bomb disposal robot created by QinetiQ, have been sold thus far. The U.S. government is readily considering purchasing additional quantities of SWORD (Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Direct), an update of the Talon bot. SWORD bots, which can be operated by remote by laptop, are capable of moving nearly 6 MPH, can carry automatic weapons, climb stairs, avoid rocks, bushes, and all that jazz. At a cost of just over £100,000 ($206,480) per bot, they're a steal.
* And Regina Lynn, the Wired sex and lifestyle columnist, tells us 10 Reasons Why She'd Rather Marry a Robot.

It's a Small World?!?

Cracked.com recounts the 9 most racist Disney characters, for your time-wasting pleasure.

Oral Roberts Scandal: God Speaks Out Again

Today's update on the Oral Roberts University president's recent resignation involves one of Richard Roberts' right hand men mentioning that God told him to do whatever Roberts said.


George Pearsons, the chairman of ORU's Board of Regents, also is going back on what he publicized as God's request. I applaud him for taking a stance against this economic corruption, but Pearsons demonstrates why claiming to speak God's word can become a problem. I don't mean to denigrate Pearsons, because he didn't expect Roberts to be corrupt, so I can't fault him for saying what he truly believed.

Yet, when these leaders — who are looked up to by many students and parishioners — project themselves as models of Christian values and violate these values, where does that leave those in their spiritual guidance?


In addition, I have an update to Roberts' connection with The Church Business inquiries, which I've been covering for weeks now. Pearsons is in fact the son-in-law of Kenneth Copeland, one of the preachers currently under investigation by the Senate (follow the above link for more info. on that situation):

When George Pearsons accepted the position of chairman of the ORU regents in May, he said in an address to the board: "I am standing here today because the Lord clearly spoke to me and said, ‘Do whatever Richard Roberts asks you to do,'” according to a copy of the address.

Pearsons is the son-in-law of Kenneth Copeland, a televangelist and ORU regent. Pearsons said in the address that the "covenant” between the Roberts and Copeland families also contributed to his decision to accept the chairman position. He said the "families are forever connected.”

Holding the Roberts in such high regard is typical of many ORU regents, particularly the other ministers and televangelists serving on the board, the president of a religious watchdog group said.

"They all, in essence, pay obeisance to Oral. They all almost bow down in Oral's presence,” said Ole Anthony, president and co-founder of Trinity Foundation, which has investigated religious organizations, including ORU, for decades.

But after the lawsuit was filed and regents initiated an outside review of the claims, Pearsons' stance appeared to change.

Pearsons recently said "the buck stops with the board” when it comes to Richard Roberts' future at ORU. He has maintained that stance, despite the Roberts' public claims of innocence and Oral Roberts' vow that his son would return to power.

This delineates pretty well an example of what amounts to a Royal Family in American Evangelicalism. I wonder how common these kind of connections might be?

The Golden Compass - 4 More Days. . .

Until the epic battle for our souls!!


As we draw nearer to the pending apocalypse, commercials for The Golden Compass have shifted from showing anything about the actual film simply to depicting battle scenes, complete with the tagline "From the Studio That Brought You 'LORD OF THE RINGS'."

My guess is that with the movie coming out this Friday, the marketers are trying to attract people that are not interested in the film, but only in something that's like Lord of the Rings. I seem to remember similar tactics for "The Chronicles of Narnia," which is mostly about Jesus.

However, there's also a feeling that maybe some of this is to deflect the controversy and avoid showing what the movie actually is about? Or, maybe it's trying to draw in unsuspecting potential Atheists? Am I analyzing this too much?

On that note, here's today's update on the hubbub.

Again, keep your eyes peeled for my review of the film next Monday.

Another clash between Islam and the West?

Though I am ideologically opposed to generalizing an entire half of the world against a specific religion (especially when a strong majority of that religion isn't made up of radical militants), here's an interesting story regarding a Dutch politician's most recent attempt to incite rage in the local (and global) Islamic community.

To reiterate, I don't see this as part of the epic battle between the “West vs. Islam,” but more appropriately, it's a specific jab at radical Muslims that will not accept criticism of their religion. I do think that Geert Wilders (pictured), the man in question who desires to make a film depicting the less-than-virtuous side of the Prophet's life, makes a good point in trying to stand up for free speech with regards to all things Islam, because the violence that comes from criticism on this topic is unconscionable.

However, that does not preclude the fact that his idea for the film is anti-Islam propaganda, and though it is his goal, Wilders' proposition will stir up a lot of negative (and possibly needless) controversy. That said, I think he should produce his film if he feels strongly about it, though antagonism never really gets people very far.

My question is, though, how can he advocate “free speech” and then call for the Qur’an to be banned? If he wants a war, then he’ll get it. Sadly, this exposes exactly the thing he wants to do, which is incite militant Muslims to riot against him. Clearly he doesn’t want this problem to be mitigated, otherwise he wouldn’t fan the flames.

The main point here is that calling this a war between "the West" and Islam is very unfair to the rest of us. Most Muslims are not at war with Western Culture; in fact, many of them are simply trying to live within their tradition apart from the radical theocracy that is abundant in the Middle East, because they don't see their own beliefs reflected there, either. Therefore, while Wilders' objection to militancy is understandable, simply pissing people off is only going to make life harder for the Muslims that are not involved with that small minority; because no effort is being made to understand the religion as a whole, or engage with particular individuals, each Muslim gets lumped into a negative category.

In this sense, there is a conflict between Western Culture and Islam, because there is a perceived rift. If we're talking about being champions of free speech and free expression, then we need to be able to differentiate between those who are utilizing that freedom appropriately and constructively and those who are not, on both sides of the "clash." If unjustified violence and blind hatred fall into the realm of "not," then there's work to be done on all sides.

Updates!

I am in the middle of finals this week so I don't have much time to post, but I wanted to give a few quick updates on some big stories from last week:

- Putin's United Russia wins control of the parliament in dominating fashion; the West calls for investigations of suspected fraud.

- Hugo Chavez's effort to become dictator of Venezuela was turned back at the polls.

- The teacher involved in the Sudanese teddy bear scandal has been pardoned and released from prison.

Can't Spell "Sugar" without "UGA"

Though this phrase has lost some of its meaning — seeing as the old adage usually comes in context with winning the SEC Championship to make the Sugar Bowl — our good ol' Georgia Bulldogs are headed to New Orleans on New Years' Day for the 3rd time in 6 years.

Thanks to The Great Pumpkin and his underachieving set of bastards some call a football team, we didn't get a chance to play LSU in the SEC Championship, and therefore didn't have a chance to go to the National Championship game, even though we were ranked #4 going into the week, and numbers 1 and 2 lost this weekend. However, I'm proud of LSU and our fine conference, which will have another chance to wax Ohio State, keeping the BCS crystal trophy in the south. Just wish it could have been us.

That said, I'm excited for us to play Hawaii, which remains the only unbeaten team in Division I-A. Here's ESPN's breakdown of the game. There is some concern about overlooking this team, as they haven't gained much respect due to their soft schedule and weird lifestyle out there in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. However, their quarterback Colt Brennan is the NCAA's all-time leader in touchdown passes, and there's not much else to speak of on their team, so I think we should be able to handle focusing on stopping him — the only problem will come if we can't do that.

As an addendum, I heard we're going to break out our black jerseys again; hopefully Evil Richt will show up with them and remember the last time we played a team in the Sugar Bowl with a high-flying offense and virtually no defense.

Finally, GO DAWGS!