Month: December 2009

I Think I Saw This on “Glee”

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

A teenage high school girl in Texas was benched by the coach of her volleyball team because she’s pregnant, even though she presented a doctor’s note that stated she was ready to play.

On the one hand, I understand her and her parent’s anger, and of course the inevitable law suit. But here’s the thing: I’m reminded of the fireman who took his young son on a joyride on the fire truck after he’d gotten permission from his superior to do so. And the son fell off and injured himself and the guy sued the fire department contending they shouldn’t have let him do it in the first place. Which, in fact, they shouldn’t have, but that’s not the point. The point is that a lot of people have trouble with the concept of personal responsibility. Which is a long-winded way of saying that if a pregnant girl is allowed to participate in a high speed, contact sport, Title IX notwithstanding, and she sustains an injury that causes her to miscarry…can’t you just see the parents turning around and suing the school, contending that they shouldn’t have allowed her to participate in a high-risk sport? For that matter, it’s entirely possible that the school’s insurance carrier would refuse to provide insurance to cover a pregnant athlete. Some sports, it’s not an issue: Swimming, for instance. But volleyball, soccer, La Crosse?

How to solve this problem? Four words:

Remember, kids: Use condoms!

PAD

The Princess and the Frog

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

There’s any number of reasons that I’m thrilled to see the return of Disney’s 2-D animation department (God bless you, John Lasseter), not the least of which is that the swan song of that venerable institution should not have been the horrific misfire that was “Home on the Range.” So instead we have “The Princess and the Frog” which initiated controversy when it was first announced that the lead character was named “Maddy” and was a maid. This caused great resentment since “Maddy” apparently sounds like “Mammy” if, I dunno, your ears are clogged. My objection to the name would be that after Aurora, Mulan, Ariel, etc., “Maddy” just doesn’t sound especially exotic. Oh, and people didn’t like that she was a maid, which apparently is, I dunno, demeaning. Personally, if I were a maid, I’d be kind of insulted by that attitude, but that’s probably just me. So instead of being on the social level of Cinderella, she was instead rewritten into being an aspiring cook, thus putting her on par with a Pixar rat. Problem solved.

So with that controversy set aside, was the film worth the extra expense and time involved in our taking Caroline to see it during its limited release at the Ziegfeld?

The answer is, Hëll yes. Because for all that computer animation can accomplish in terms of storytelling, groundedness, and brilliance, the one thing I have never seen is a CGI film that I would characterize as “enchanting.” The title of the Amy Adams film got it exactly right: “Princess and the Frog” is enchanting.

Continue Reading “The Princess and the Frog” →

Seven Years Ago Today…

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

…a massive snowstorm was dumped on Long Island. Kathleen and I were unaware of it because we were in a small, windowless room, catching sleep where we could, while Kathleen labored to bring our daughter into the world.

She succeeded splendidly. It was not until some hours later that I emerged from the hospital to discover the car buried under a foot of snow. I then skidded several times on the way home on ice-slicked roads, where newly minted big sister Ariel wanted nothing except to turn right around and head back to meet her little sister. That joy would wait until the following morning.

Today her little friends and cousins are en route and we are looking forward to spending yet another birthday with little Miss Caroline. Snow is not predicted until later this evening. This time Caroline and her mommy and I will have windows through which we can watch it all together.

PAD