Big Think

 All one can do is continue to articulate, read books, and write blogs expressing your point of view.
 

Joel Burns

The last few weeks having been very hard for me. The hatred stemming from the Westboro Baptist church, Christine O'Donnell's insanity, and finally, Mormon speaker Boyd Packer's talk to his members about how being gay is a person's choice and him telling people that they can change if they want to.

I'm all about equality for all people, and when such insidiousness gets vocalized from the above groups and gets blasted across our news media, it makes me so angry. How unfair to say that gay people in the armed forces deserve to get killed by the Taliban because God hates homosexuals. And for Mr. Packer to state that "being gay" is a choice just shows how obtuse he is, and for that matter, anymore that listens to him.

But when I first heard Forth Worth councilman Joel Burns, all that anger washed away. Not because I came to terms with people's irrationality and prejudiced fears, but because I know that anger is not the solution. Understanding is. Please watch, listen, and help to end this prejudice. People are dying.

Satire

 So what do you think of this bit of satire on our US economy situation?
 

Silents you can hear

I've never seen any production of Phantom of the Opera. Not the play, or movie, or book. Not that I haven't wanted to, just that opportunity hadn't presented itself. But that all changed last night when I decided to do something different on a Friday night and purchased a ticket to see Vox Lumiere - Phantom of the Opera.

The idea of this new production company is to combine artistic elements to create something new, and in that sense, they succeeded. The classic silent film plays on screen at the back of the stage, with images so profound and shocking you find yourself mesmerized.

The production though mixes in a Rock Opera atmosphere by having dancers choreograph modern scenes to try and relate Gaston Leroux's classic novel onto a modern stage. from beautiful musical scores depicting love lost, to speed metal music which sounded like Metallica, it all rocked.


This show kicks ass. The images and scenes from the silent film haunt me. Seeing Lon Chaney on film portraying the Phantom took my breath away. This show may not be for everyone, as was evident by the chairs that were empty as intermission ended, but those that left early missed a classic display of new art. Too bad losers.