I wish...

I wish this show had been available back when I was seven years old: Mathica's Mathshop. It's an educational program for teachers to show in their classrooms -- 20 15-minute episodes designed to teach kids about math and fairytales at the same time. It's the story of Mathica, an elf who only wanted a job being helpful, but all the helping jobs (with shoemakers, and a certain toymaking workshop, for example) were already taken, until she comes upon a mathmagician's shop.

And it's not just the concept that's neat. I love the actress who plays Mathica (Kelley Nedal); so often, these educational shows come off as cheesey and flat -- particularly when they try to be cool. But Kelley Nedal almost sparkles (Considering that the script, by its very nature, must be pedantic). Unfortunately, the show was only made for two seasons ('93 and '94), and I can't find any evidence that's she acted in anything else -- just this one role for TVOntario. I wonder where she is today....

(I'm writing about this now, because this program was broadcast as a blockfeed on my pbs station in the wee hours the other morning, so teachers could record it for their classrooms)

More political rage, in greater, horrific detail

I'm linking to this example of patriarchal reasoning from alryssa's journal, because it needs to be exposed to light, and fought, with all our strength.

And here's my reply -- I stand behind every bit of wording, too:

A couple of weeks ago a woman in my area took a handgun, and shot herself in the stomach in order to abort her pregnancy, because she was so desperate.

:::Uses her "Nemesis with her arm around her sister's shoulder" icon, but changes the caption to: "You: Fuck yourself to the deepest ring of your own Hell!":::

Oh, and also wanted to make this point:

• The reason the rape victim must be a virgin "saving herself for marriage" is that the rapist has "spoiled" the property of a future husband. And any woman who doesn't want to be her husband's property doesn't deserve protection.

Napoli and his ilk haven't gotten so bold (yet) as to say this last bit out loud, but they're thinking it. Trust me.


Note: Nemesis was the Goddess of Divine justice, sent to punish those humans who believe they have the right to play god because they assume that wealth = divine favor.

[ETA: There is a certain Right-to-Life element in the Disability Rights movement that argues: "Liberal abortion rights is an assault on Disability rights, because they would allow women to abort a feotus if they knew ahead of time that their baby would be born with a disability -- and then, where would you be, huh?"

To which I answer: "But disabled children are 50% more likely to be victims of physical abuse at the hands of their families, because a) they are often the focal point of additional strain on the family in terms of finances and needed attention, and b) because they often can't fight back or run away. This resentment and anger toward the child would be even greater if the mother was forced to give birth against her will. And those children who are put up for adoption have a harder time getting families than able-bodied children, facing an entire lifetime living in orphanages and institutions. What kind of right to life is it, if the life is a torment?"

Personally, I am glad I was not aborted ... but my family was well-off, and I had a mother who had the means, education, and fire-in-the-belly needed to fight on my behalf. I am one of the very, very lucky few.]

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

The American Broadcasting Company's show Commander in Chief seems to have disappeared off the airways... has it? Anyone got any news whether or not it is actually cancelled, or just on hiatus, or what?

It was never up to the calliber of the best West Wing episodes, to be sure, but it was nice to see the idea of a woman being POTUS at least surfacing in our culture for a while... Imagining something is the first step, after all, to making it a reality.

Of course, as the show is set in the future-near-enough-to-be-the-present, she couldn't actually be elected president in her own right and still be a believable character in a believable story. She had to have been put on the ticket as vice president, for political reasons, and then come into office after the president dies.

But there is another way a woman could become president in the future-near-enough-to-be-the-present -- a way that could happen (but probably won't) if the Democrats retake the majority in the House and Senate in the next election (November of this year).

This is the next political drama I'd like to see -- on T.V., or but actually, in real life:

1. A Congresswoman is chosen to be minority speaker of the House of Representatives (IRL, this is Nancy Pelosi).


2. The majority party is corrupt, and is voted out of power; the minority speaker becomes Speaker of the House.


3. The opposition party now has enough seats in the House and Senate to impeach the president.


4. The vice-president then becomes president -- but he's even more corrupt, and is also impeached in short order.


5. The protagonist of our political drama, Madame Speaker, is next in line in the Constitutional order of Succession, and she then becomes President.

Wouldn't that be a way-cool story? Wouldn't you like to see that?

I would...