Byzantium's Shores: chronicling the misadventures of an overalls-clad hippie

I apologize for my silence over the last three days, which was brought on by the unfortunate confluence of being out of town Monday to find an apartment (we found one, bigger than the one we live in now), a focus on putting all of my stuff back into boxes, and generally having not a whole lot to say anyway. I think that's because I'm generally preoccupied with moving, and the world seems to be generally preoccupied with the war in Iraq, which I'm avoiding like the plague on TV. NPR's programming seems to be "All War, All the Time", so I'm not listening to much NPR right now. I'm avoiding war coverage for a number of reasons: I don't care for the idea of watching a war on TV, especially in as sanitized a fashion as this one appears to be receiving; and I'm frankly focused on the stuff that's really going on in my life right now. (Although, this turns out to be the worst possible time for my subscription to TIME Magazine to lapse....I'll re-up in a couple of weeks, after the move is complete.)

I reject the idea that life is to be put on hold while the war is going on. There is little, if anything, that we can do to influence events in Iraq, either for good or ill, and it does little good for all of us to do nothing but watch and worry. There are still books to be read and written, music to hear, films to view, walks to take, games to be played with children, and lives to be led.

And while I'm on the subject, I have to note that while I found Michael Moore's behavior at the Oscars boorish, I'm have to note once again the almost pathological hatred some people on the right have toward Hollywood in general. Reading this post by Rachel Lucas -- someone whom I generally like even though I agree with about six percent of what she says -- I just have to wonder just where on earth all that anger toward Hollywood comes from. First of all, I guess one can certainly think it inappropriate to have the Academy Awards ceremony at all this year, although it's been pointed out elsewhere that if they held the Awards during World War II, how could they not hold them during this war, which nobody -- left or right -- thinks is likely to last even one-tenth as long as that war did. I also note that a lot of folks on the right express their anger at Hollywood for failing to cancel the Oscars, and yet I've not read a single post anywhere, by anyone, expressing the view that the NCAA Basketball Tournament should be called off. So I think we have a case of "I hate liberals, and Hollywood is ninety-five percent liberal, so I want Hollywood to be embarrassed and inconvenienced to as great a degree as possible."

Yes, Rachel, the "show" must go on. To do otherwise would be disrespectful of all those men and women who we're told are fighting in the name of a culture that allows such shows in the first place.