SYTYCD

Whew. They finally got rid of Ryan. There were some strong dances on the show, and the chaff was definitely getting weeded out, and audience voting seemed to reflect it, and the judges couldn't fan Ryan on without losing some of the stronger other dancers, so she fell this time.

This was the last week of the established couples dancing; henceforth, it'll be individual scoring, the dancers paired with "all stars" from past seasons (debatable point -- I saw the names of some of the "all stars" they chose, and I have problems with a number of them, who are shameless attention hounds and stage hogs -- I almost pity the contestants who have them for their partners; you'll see).

These are my favorites of this week...

Melanie and Marko 1

Melanie and Marko 2

Melanie and Marko had two strong routines, naturally. The first one, a tango, went very well, of course. Their chemistry nailed it, but their moves were solid as ever. The second one was the drippy kind of contemporary dance routine that judges and audiences love. I mean, they danced it beautifully, and the routine was solid, but the emo contemporary stuff always chafes at me. I always feel like lyrical contemporary (or whatever they call it) is an easy category for them to dance, because you just crank up the emo and if you're halfway good at dancing, you can nail it. Since Melanie and Marko are both very good at it, it's a sure-fire win for them as a category.

Jordan and Tadd 1

This was one of my favorites of the night. Trippy and rhythmic. Jordan is not one of my favorites this season, but she's very good, just the same, and they nailed it with this piece. This was the darkest piece of the evening, and was just coolly conceived and executed. Nicely done.

Caitlynn and Mitchell 2

They pulled out the stops on this raunchy number, with Caitlynn busting about every move she had. And it worked very well with Janis Joplin's singing. This was easily the most brazen number of the season, but they carried it off well, and I think audiences dug it. Caitlynn's not quite as good as Jordan or Melanie, but she brings an athletic prowess to her style of dance and has that competitor's instinct that makes her a dark horse favorite. I don't think she can actually dethrone Melanie or Jordan, but she may get close.

Clarice and Jess 2

Clarice is another dark horse. She's better than Caitlynn, but I think is not quite up to Melanie and Jordan level. She is beautiful, and is very good, however, and definitely connects with the audience. The judges didn't quite like the above routine so much, but I dug it, thought it was dynamic, fun, and energetic, and Clarice owned it, and Jess partnered very well with her (Jess is the best showman of the guys, easily. Strong dancer with great performance chops). The above number was hot on its own merits, versus the overt bump and grindery of the Caitlynn and Mitchell number.

Sasha and Alexander 1

Sasha and Alexander danced well, but I feel like they are doomed. Neither of them is enough of a performer to secure a proper foothold with the audience, in my view. That's unfortunate, but it's abundantly clear -- Jess can mop the floor with Alexander, and Sasha's willowy razor-blade style comes up short against the petite riffola of all of the other gals, rather than standing out, somehow. In the above piece, Sasha totally makes Alexander her bitch, which probably cost both of them votes, in terms of audience expectations and what-not. Sasha looks like she would be comfortable as a dancer in Thunderdome or something.

Snicker

This made me laugh...

PMAAS

I have to hand it to the creators of the Pippa Middleton Ass Appreciation Society. What a genteel institution to honor such a noble rump!

P-Middy. *cackle* I love that this blueblood will be forever known for her stellar ass, and how she actually managed to upstage her sister's royal wedding with it. Damned funny.

Jamming

I'm amused at the fall of "The News of the World." Rare to see a Murdoch media property suffer the consequences of its morally bankrupt administration. I doubt anything could sink Faux News -- although who knows?

Speaking of ignoring reality (tip of the hat to global warming, which scientists agree is happening, which the weather is bearing out, but which remains somehow controversial in the US, captive as we are to the petroleum industry), the storm that blasted through here yesterday was pretty intense -- it knocked out power for ~600,000 people! By last night, 490,000 people were still without power. That's one serious storm! I was amazed at how dark the skies got, how quickly, and how fierce it was. Of course, I had left my apartment windows open, so things got soaked that were near the window. D'oh!

We actually had a proper power outage in our building (and/or neighborhood, I couldn't tell), like for about 45 minutes. I have flashlights for the boys and me, so we went into the hall and talked with neighbors, and then the boys and I went upstairs to the deck, where a number of the neighbors had gone to wait out the outage. That was fun, as it was nice and breezy up there, and everybody was in bemused good spirits about the outage (since those happen rarely in my 'hood -- this is the first one I recall in at least five years; other 'hoods in the city are less fortunate, have power outages more frequently). Anyway, the boys and I sat on some lounges and just enjoyed ourselves. I'd already called ComEd to inform them of the outage (as had others, clearly), so we just had to wait it out, and 45 minutes later, the power was back on. It's all good.

I had planted some seeds with the boys a month or more ago, and was pleased to see a tiny lemon tree seedling sprouting in B1's planter. B2 was, of course, flummoxed that nothing had grown in his planter. I told him it happens sometimes, you can't predict whether a seed will grow or not, but can only plant it and water it and hope it grows. But it was nice to see the seedling -- now my Clementine sapling will have a buddy. I can't even remember how long I've had that Clementine. I'll have to dig back through this blog and see. It's been a year or two, at least. It's now about 5 inches tall, I think.

Saw a variety of buskers on the Mag Mile -- some hippie-looking guy with a purple guitar, playing Hendrix-on-Quaaludes groovy jazz kind of stuff (think the opening of "Little Wing," but not as good, of course. He just kinda meandered musically. Then another block or two down from him were a couple of chicks, one with a violin, one with a cello. The cellist looked like a refugee from a Tim Burton movie -- bright red hair and black-and-white striped stockings. Couldn't hear their music, as I was on a bus, but that was an atypical pair of buskers (there is an Asian father-daughter violin duo I used to see, very Suzuki Method kind of thing, the girl sawing away with mechanistic virtuosity while father/grandfather accompanies her). Also, there's this cowboy-hatted guitar guy who frequents one of the tunnels and plays an augmented guitar thing (like he's got one of those miniature karaoke machine things that "accompanies" him). He looks like a cross between Stanley Kubrick and my old school principal Vaclav, which is kind of disarming when I pass that guy. I've been meaning to photograph him at a distance, as his presence in the tunnel in silhouette, leaning against the tunnel wall, looks kinda cool.

Amazed how deep into July we are. How quickly this summer is going by.

Speaking of culture jamming, this piece is interesting. The section on aesthetic brutalism (and the sound clips) particularly amused me.

Unstuck

Today doesn't feel like a Sunday to me for some reason.

I'm catching Soundgarden next weekend. That should be fun.

Been feeling under the weather the past week, which has preoccupied me. Bleah.

Making the Casey

I'm not going to say another word about Casey Anthony after this post, but just looking at her pictures, you can see she has the psychopath eyes thing going, that flat aspect, the eyes of a person devoid of compassion, empathy, or shame. Psychopaths always have that "tell" in their eyes, that inner emptiness at the heart of whatever superficial glibness and serpentine charm they may possess. The eyes say it all.

Not to say they can't cry crocodile tears when it suits them. In fact, psychopaths are known for that, to be able to conjure up the tears when it suits them, but the emptiness of their gaze is something they have a tougher time concealing. In that respect, the eyes really are the mirror into the soul. Odds are that the rather short neuronal path from brain to eye (borne out of evolutionary necessity, no doubt -- you need that visual information FAST), it's probably transmitting faster than the psychopath can react, or they likely have to consciously mask it to try to conceal that emotional emptiness, and maybe it's hard for them to do. Just watch out for folks with those empty, flat eyes...

Ryan's Hope

I figured out why the judges gush over Ryan -- it's because she's a student/protege of one of their choreographers, Mia. Probably accounts for why Ryan got a bit dance part on "House," as well. Makes me feel like there's a bit of a conflict of interest there with her, relative to the other judges. Of course, "America" votes on the people, but if the judges are there to gush about Ryan's performances, they can lead some of the voters. And what's more, if Ryan ends up in the final three (as she did last night), they can choose somebody else, giving her yet another chance. I was intrigued to see Ryan in the bottom three, given how effusive the praise was from the judges. The thing is, she's not as good as the other women dancers. She's a good dancer, but she's up against several great dancers, and I think audiences can tell, even as the judges give Ryan standing ovations and what-not. We'll see how long they can float her.

I was pleased that Melanie and Marko skated through again. Clearly Melanie remains the best of the women, although some of the others are definitely doing their best to try to keep up. This season has more leg lifts than I recall in past seasons, like all of the other women are keen to not cede that ground to Melanie, who can get her leg straight up without so much as a tip of her torso. The other women dancers are doing them, too, like "See? See? I can do that, too!" Melanie's still got great performance chops. I will be very surprised if she doesn't win this season.

Melanie and Marko

Of course, the costuming and Lady Gaga song made me wonder -- "America is a whore?" Bahah! But they performed the dance well (and note Melanie holding that arabesque before they start, still as a statue).

Jazzy Women's Closing Routine

I hate that they call'em "girls." Also, note how they are sure to catch a lot of Ryan shots during the rehearsals. "Quick! More Ryan shots!" And they also put Ryan on the wing of the actual performance, and in the front row, just so you can be sure she gets a lot of camera time. Sucks to be a non-Ryan dancer this season.

SYTYCD

"SYTYCD" was good last night, although I didn't think the numbers were as good as the week before, at least Sonya wasn't on there. She's my least-favorite of their choreographers (and it was interesting to contrast yet another zombie dance routine -- Sonya's fell flat [although they blamed the dancers and music for it, as ever] but this week's zombie routine was much stronger, better-conceived [can't remember the choreographer for that one]).

As ever, the judges seem to love Ryan -- the fraggle-haired blonde. They really love her, and I'm confused as how this protege of choreographer Mia managed a bit part on "House." WTF? Is this playing into their fanning her through and gushing over her performances? I dunno. She's not nearly as strong a dancer as poor Miranda was. And she's definitely not in the league of Melanie, or even Jordan or Caitlynn (surprisingly, Caitlynn has been bringing it, although she's not in Melanie's league). Anyway, Ryan has the favor of the judges, for some reason I can't determine. It is bugging me.

Casey Closed

The one thing Casey Anthony will have to reckon with, beyond, say, book deals and what-not, is that the Mark of Cain is a real thing, in the sense of people's awareness of who she is and what she (allegedly) did. She'll have to go somewhere far away, where there are no televisions, will probably always have to look over her shoulder, will be haunted for the rest of her days. And since she's going to get some prison time for lying to the police (and why DO people lie to police officers? That seems like such a foolhardy gambit), Casey Anthony is going to have to watch out, because somebody in that prison is likely to want to have a go at her. Anyway, she got away with it, somehow, but she won't get away with it, too. It's like OJ and his declaration that he'd never rest until he found his wife's murderer(s) -- I imagine he thinks that every time he looks in the mirror. Ha.

Casey

Not much to say about the Casey Anthony case, except repeating what my lawyer stepdad would always say: "Juries are stupid, and are prone to manipulation." So, there you have it.

Looks like it's going to be a frickin' hot day, although maybe some storms are pending. We'll see.

I had the boys last night, as Exene had some bike woes she needed to take care of, and asked if I could take the boys. I was happy to, and they were happy to have me mind them last night, anyway. B2 conked right after I'd made them dinner. Little man was tuckered.

Fairness Doctrine

Good piece in the NYT, the evolutionary roots of fairness in human beings. Nothing that surprises me, particularly, but it does show how maladaptive reactionary ideology is with regard to a functional society.

'Our rise to global dominance began, paradoxically enough, when we set rigid dominance hierarchies aside. “In a typical primate group, the toughest individuals can have their way and dominate everybody else in the group,” said Dr. Wilson. “Chimps are very smart, but their intelligence is predicated on distrust.”

Our ancestors had to learn to trust their neighbors, and the seeds of our mutuality can be seen in our simplest gestures, like the willingness to point out a hidden object to another, as even toddlers will do. Early humans also needed ways to control would-be bullies, and our exceptional pitching skills — which researchers speculate originally arose to help us ward off predators — probably helped. “We can throw much better than any other primate,” Dr. Wilson said, “and once we could throw things at a distance, all of a sudden the alpha male is vulnerable to being dispatched with stones. Stoning might have been one of our first adaptations.”'

Trust, reciprocity, mutuality -- higher functions versus lowbrow primate functioning like bullying and dominance hierarchies. Big shock. Kind of puts the whole reactionary ethos in a new light -- they're not only retrograde in their ideology, but are actually retrograde on evolutionary lines, too. Old primate thinking, truly hidebound in their outlook (since "trust" is not a cardinal conservative virtue -- and studies bear that out, too, how fearful, paranoid, and distrustful reactionaries are).

Sparkler

Happy Independence Day! Last night was kind of surreal, because I could see all the fireworks displays at the horizon, in the suburbs, which makes for a trippy kind of vista, fireworks in the distance, literally at the horizon, rising over the city. Chicago itself didn't have any fireworks this year, owing to budget woes, although I think they did the usual launching of them at Navy Pier, the weekly summer firework fest that happens there (which kind of drives me bananas -- fireworks every weekend? It's like celebrating Christmas year 'round. It takes the fun out of it! You need some downtime, or else it becomes a slog.)

Have to go on a grocery run today, but the boys should enjoy that.

I watched "The Way Back," a Peter Weir movie, and although it was highly rated, and Weir had done a few good shots with memorable images, I found the movie to be not what I had hoped it would be. The movie was supposedly inspired by real-life happenings, but there wasn't enough going on in the movie plotwise, nor characterwise, to make the trip worthwhile. Guys escape a gulag in Siberia and cross Siberia by foot to freedom. Seemingly inspiring tale of survival, but it ended up just a picturesque slog, with people dying along the way. Grand vistas, tough terrain, but mostly just people walking, and not even talking, and the ending strove for some poignancy, but was robbed of depth and meaning by the lack of characterization. I mean, the characters were all wretches of various stripes, victims of Soviet repression, one way or another, but the story just dipped its toes in the lives of these characters, so you never got a real sense of who they were, what they were doing, how they got put in the gulag, and so on. They needed to rewrite the story and delve deeper into the characters. And even the trip itself got glossed over in parts -- I mean, the guys cross Siberia, Mongolia, lurch into Tibet, confront the Himalayas, and then the camera skips over that and they're in India, at the end. They skip the Himalayas?? WTF? We see them slogging over desert and dying of hunger and thirst in the desert but we don't see them managing to walk their way over the fucking Himalayas? Cinematic robbery! The problem the director faced was that so much time had been wasted on the front end of the story, that by the time they reached the Himalayas, it was like "Oh, and they made it over. The end." Bahah! Have you ever read "Going After Cacciato" by Tim O'Brien? That is a great, picaresque war novel about guys literally walking away from the Vietnam War. It's a very cool novel, and that epic sense of travel is wonderfully conveyed. I had hoped that "The Way Back" was going to be like "...Cacciato," but it wasn't. It was just drawn-out and boring and dismal, without enough characterization for the trip to matter to the viewer, and without enough plot for the trip to be particularly exciting. We hear about things (like dangerous peasants who get bounties for capturing prisoners) but we never see them, there are no encounters with them. Anyway, the movie got great reviews, but I wasn't impressed by it, and I wanted to be. The raw material of the movie could've made for something truly grand and epic (I mean, even the concept of it inspired: "Crossing Siberia in Stalinist Russia. On foot!"!) but it so wasn't. Fail.

Oh, and Mark Strong was in this one, too, amusingly enough, although his role is small and largely inconsequential. But I was like "Holy shit, there's Mark Strong again!"

Morning

I had the boys at the tennis courts this morning, teaching them the basics of tennis. B1's height gives him a good opportunity for strong play, and while he's left-handed, he's somewhat ambidextrous with tennis, favoring his right hand for swings. I got B2 a little racquet of his own, and while he's got a natural sense of hand-eye coordination and speed, was more inclined to be ball boy, which was cute. The boys enjoyed themselves; I'll take them out weekend mornings for that, weather permitting. I haven't played tennis since the 90s, but since the boys are old enough and big enough to start that, I'm going to do that with them.

Speaking of that, I'm watching Djokovic v. Nadal on Wimbledon at the moment.

This article amused the hell out of me: Magneto and Charles Xavier, a love story? Apparently the sexual subtext in that new X-Men movie is pretty thick.