From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V4 #188 Reply-To: chakram-refugees@smoe.org Sender: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk chakram-refugees-digest Wednesday, July 21 2004 Volume 04 : Number 188 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [chakram-refugees] LL in Star [IfeRae@aol.com] Re: [chakram-refugees] Sin Trades [IfeRae@aol.com] [chakram-refugees] Sarmations, Amazons, Lateral Thinking and resultant synergy [Richan@] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 00:56:57 EDT From: IfeRae@aol.com Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] LL in Star In a message dated 7/19/2004 10:09:11 AM Pacific Daylight Time, abqbeach@xenawp.org writes: > >The pic had her in some black strapless dress that was just above the > >knees with a big white bow front and center. The gloves looked like > >opera length type -- up above the elbow. For some reason the big bow > >kinda reminded me of ...Miss Amphipolis even though the color was > >nothing like in the ep. > > Sounds like her outfit from the LA Gay Pride Parade. She was also > wearing a tiara, and in this case, I think the outfit was actually > quite apropos :-) It's not exactly the occasion for a fashion critique, > IMO. > Exactly. I'm not sure much of the U.S. press will ever "get" Lucy's "go with the flow and have fun" attitude about her image. The campiness of many gay events perfectly suits her penchant for "pushing the envelope." I got the impression that event organizers might've picked Lucy's outfit, or at least parts of it. Either way, I doubt she worried about how she would "play" to those outside that audience. I'm sooo glad she doesn't run her life by photo ops. - -- Ife ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 00:57:04 EDT From: IfeRae@aol.com Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] Sin Trades In a message dated 7/19/2004 2:53:53 AM Pacific Daylight Time, fsktl@aurora.uaf.edu writes: > cr: > > > >And the background soundtrack (in this scene and right through > the episode) > >of spooky-sounding echoing strings that gives a haunting, > remote feel to the > >scene. > > > I always think when Cold Case shows its credits that that kind > of haunting wail that starts them off is pure Joe. >> Yes! I noticed that too. > I think that while Xena's body is responding to the danger by turning to > face and acknowledge the men who are about to attack her, she is still > involved mentally in the ritual she has started to perform over the girl. > Her body is ready for the physical fight, her anger with the men for > having killed the girl breaks through her concentration as she glares at > them, but her soul, her mental attention is still focused on and involved > in the performance of the physical requirements of the shamanistic rite. > And so she's torn between the two worlds, the physical and the spiritual > for a few moments, with duties that call to her from each. > > In which case, her shaking her hands as she faces the men is not directed > towards them at all. This swinging back and forth between the warrior job > and the shaman job continues throughout her fight-she does the handshaking > again after she's knocked most of the guys down. But she also transforms > it into a little warning gesture as she points at the guy coming after her > and gives him one of her "Xena enjoying the battle crazed grins". And when > the battle is over, she immediately goes back to making hand gestures oer > the body of the girl, just giving a quick check over her shoulder to make > sure the guys are running away. > > Orrrrr, perhaps it's a warning. By continuing the ritual gesture even as > she stands and faces them, she's showing them that she's involved in a > religious ceremony for the dead and that they should step away and not > interfere. Death has many taboos in every human culture. Perhaps shaman > Xena offers this warning though warrior Xena wouldn't, since warrior Xena > probably wouldn't expect these guys to indulge in respectful religious > behavior. And this is what that second finger-pointing gesture meant-"See, > I TOLD you I was involved in a spiritual moment. But you HAD to try and > distract me. See what happens when you do that?">> LOL! I really like this whole explanation! Yes, there's the warning aspect, and possibly putting on a hex. But in retrospect, the "caught between two states/roles" perfectly describes her continuing focus, even as she fought the bad guys. As soon as she defeats them, she dismisses them and returns to her main goal. The only thing I'd add is that I do think warrior Xena came out in the "you did this" accusation, so was punishing them for more than interrupting shaman Xena's ritual. > The Ewokazons were > committed to the tribal unit, not just to personal issues. The Greek > amazons talked about the tribe and the Amazon nation but I never got the > feel of them as a united entity that superceded the individual. > > I did believe that the young Siberian Amazons however, did treasure the > group and were willing to make sacrifices for the group beyond just on the > battlefield. Perhaps it's the furs, but they almost appear to be a herd at > times. They gang together and run up to look at things all together, like > when they run up to Xena's body or when they hustle up to Xena on the > horse at the last battle after the Berserker is dead. >> To me, it suggested more their youth -- like teenagers who travel in packs. It also reinforced the lack of parental structure. They were all they had -- no "wise" or more experienced adult they could turn to. Oteri was the closest they had to a big sister, yet they still had to huddle together and see, decide, do things as one. I'm not disagreeing that they were loyal to the tribe. I just didn't see a "community" in the sense of a purpose, division of labor, process for communication or decision making that would enable them to progress beyond mere survival. Xena provided structure through educating them about their culture and traditions, helping them develop roles like a leader and spiritual guide. Of course, that could also lead to the kind of conflicts that occur as one part of the tribe advances in knowledge, skill or power over others -- e.g., the kind of competition, disagreements, individual agendas that we saw among the Greek Amazons. As I think of it, what Xena gave them was bittersweet -- "graduating" to a level beyond the innocence of the more singleminded "pack." > This COULD be due to the fact that they were so young when they had to > take care of themselves because Xena had killed all their adults. If so, > this really was an excellent directing job of portraying their bonding > that resulted from necessity to survive. >> Yes, as well as "maturing" to the point where they could build a true community and pass their traditions on to another generation. Excellently acted. > Damn, this is an excellent ep! >> I heartily agree. I loved how Xena and the Baby Amazons saved each other -- spiritually and physically. The lone adult who'd put them in that situation, now able to help them move beyond. Like I said before, this was, for me, the fulfillment of Phase 1 of Xena's quest. - -- Ife ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 19:00:08 EDT From: Richan@aol.com Subject: [chakram-refugees] Sarmations, Amazons, Lateral Thinking and resultant synergy Sarmatians you say! And just what does that have to do with XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS? I was trying to connect the idea behind Kira Knightly's character Guinevere in the new movie KING ARTHUR to XENA and Gabrielle's experiences with the Amazons. But as I was researching I came across some interesting suppositions. Herodotus connected the Amazons to the Sarmatians who were tribal cousins to the Scythians from IN SICKNESS AND IN HELL. Both groups were horse oriented peoples. The Scythian were eventually absorbed into the Huns. Both groups spoke a proto Iranian language (Indo European language) and hailed from the Urals. The Sarmatians made scale mail armor but not having reliable iron resources used scale crafted from horses' hooves. The Sarmatians gave the Romans grief as late as 375 AD as one of the barbarian tribes that stripped Rome of its power. The Sarmatians supposedly arose through matings between Amazons and Scythians. This reminds one of Ephiny and her husband as the Scythians sometimes get credit for being so good on horses that it gave rise to the idea of centaurs. Now for the best part. The second resource I cite has a picture of a bronze mirror from a Sarmatian grave. The backside of the mirror has a two suns one inside another representing the summer solstice and the winter solstice. Eight glyphs are inscribed around them. The symbols are supposed to be read in a counter clockwise direction. The end result is a calendar. Darn this looks familiar. Where had I seen this before? Ah! STARGATE of course! It takes seven symbols to dial an intergalactic address and eight to dial an extra galactic address. The suns are the splash of the event horizon of the gate stabilizing. http://public.kubsu.ru/~usr02898/sl2.htm I was impressed! I believe that this was a great example of lateral thinking if indeed the powers that be who created STARGATE used this as the kernel of its genesis: "Lateral Thinking is for changing concepts and perceptions With logic you start out with certain ingredients just as in playing chess you start out with given pieces. But what are those pieces? In most real life situations the pieces are not given, we just assume they are there. We assume certain perceptions, certain concepts and certain boundaries. Lateral thinking is concerned not with playing with the existing pieces but with seeking to change those very pieces. Lateral thinking is concerned with the perception part of thinking. This is where we organise the external world into the pieces we can then 'process'. http://www.edwdebono.com/debono/lateral.htm This is different from the adversarial method taught by Socrates, the public schools, and used in courts today. The trouble with this method of thinking is that it can be so destructive. (Courts today avoid having children take the stand lest they become traumatized from the experience.) As you search for the truth you strip away everything else until only the truth remains. That's why I appreciate lateral thinking. It invites creativity and creative thinking. Now for the worst part. As school ended this year our English department met in order to "standardize" everything. As I met with my cohorts to discuss how to "improve" Humanities it was suggested rather strongly that I not use my "Fractured Fairy Tale/ Xena episode" approach to Humanities anymore. I felt beset on all sides by the forces of adversarial thinking. The whole process seemed destructive. It left me with the taste of ashes in my mouth. How was I to teach Humanities now? I guess that all of you now realize that I can't use XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS anymore when I teach Humanities. But nowhere in our discussion was there any mention of STARGATE. Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarmatians http://public.kubsu.ru/~usr02898/sl2.htm http://www.silk-road.com/artl/sarmatian.shtml http://www.edwdebono.com/debono/lateral.htm Richan ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. 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