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10:45 p.m. - 2004-02-03
Recuperation.
I received a "mail delivery failure" notice from diaryland last night. Apparently, someone sent something that was censored or banned on the website. The note said something about the user - youd_vl5r1 - not having an account with the e-mail service that was the vehicle for transmission. They referred me to a site called MIMEDEfang so that I could see what was going on. The site offers scanning services for webmail. I'm guessing from the "attachment" that was included in the notice that it might have been the norvag virus in some form.

A lot of focus on packaging over substance these days isn't there, dear diary. On the weekend there was an "essay" by one of the local male columnists about why one political party was doing better in attracting media attendance at their functions than the other. His conclusion - better looking, more manicured women. Yes, I seem to recall that that party has a book that female candidates are required to read that directs them how to manage their personal grooming - as in make-up and hair care. Real substance there all right. The problem is the girls still have to sing from the same old policy songbook as the boys. So far, despite the columnist's protestations otherwise, that songbook has been enough to keep voters away in droves. Fromage ceci.

Then there was the superbowl thing. Uh huh. Well as far as I can tell, from the reports I've read or heard - not having witnessed that actual game or halftime show - the outrage seems to be about the fact that the 'salacious' exposure was done by someone middle-aged. That is the word always accompanying the word "breast" in every article I've come across. I think that the media might find itself on the wrong side of female consumers very quickly though, if it starts referring to women in their 30s as "middle aged".

Quite frankly, given the fact I banned daytime soaps in my home decades ago for the graphic sexuality and immorality I saw when they were switched on in error, I have difficulty understanding the uproar. Add in the various talk and reality shows, the prime time "comedies", the assertion that a restaurant like Hooters is a family venue, the 'clothing' or lack thereof, regularly displayed at any number of awards shows. The word that comes to mind is hypocrisy. All I can derive from the uproar is that what is offending viewers is that the person flashing their body at the cameras wasn't young and toney enough for them. The alleged sudden manifestation of nearly universal community prudery is otherwise unexplainable given the regularly displayed examples listed above. What is really odd, given the supposed uproar in the US, is that the Canadian networks had a total of two complaints, considerably less than for the Brittney-Madonna incident.

So, since everyone else seems to be indulging in conspiracy theories I'm going to propose one myself. Recently, I read that a number of "over 40" female stars have banded together to challenge the casting practices of the studios. They are calling to attention and accountability the ludicrous practice of casting barely 20 year old female actors as the love interests of male stars in their 60s. It is odd that Sir Sean Connery can still be voted one of the sexiest male stars, yet a female star that age is considered a crone. I've seen a photo of Sir Sean's wife - who is close to his age - and she is quite beautiful. Therefore, maybe what the networks staged on Sunday was the first pre-emptive strike to stop "middle aged" female stars from claiming roles that have a romantic element, by making it appear that society finds women over 30 tooo unappealing to be in such movies. N'est pas?

Spent some time with my Dad yesterday - just a quick trip for groceries and lunch. Both of us were suffering from stomach flu; the kind, you know, when nothing stays down while at the same time hunger is a constant. I felt unusually weak - I think dehydration was becoming a major factor. I found even the walk through the grocery store difficult. I know I wasn't making a lot of scintillating conversation over lunch either. Couldn't even keep the news stories we were discussing straight. Ms Ficus took advantage of my Dad when he was leaving. He's not used to having to think about protecting the cats, so he had the front door wide open - she went tearing out, stood belly deep in snow shivering and looking shocked and then streaked back inside. I was going to attend the funeral of the school friend who died last week after my Dad leftt, but I didn't think I could manage the bus trip let alone the service. Frustrating.

Today was spent cleaning up and doing more preparation for the trip. Talked with several of my election staff from last event and some of the new people I'll be having come on board. Played soccer with the kittens - Badger and Ficus - they think that is the best game lately. Read to the family and wrote to you dear diary. Just low key things that allowed the body to recuperate. I don't want to have to attempt six hours of traveling feeling the way I have the past few days.

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