PicoBlog

There is a moment in the Barbie movie when Barbie (Margot Robbie), in the midst of dancing at a Barbie party, turns to her Barbie friends and asks, “Do you guys ever think about dying?” The record scratches. The music stops. Dolls don’t think about death, the silence seems to say. Human beings do. It’s the first clue that Stereotypical Barbie is off to break the mold of plastic perfection — and teach viewers that meaning can only be found in the pulsing, painful, ecstatic mess of mortality.

Last weekend, outfitted with pink Crocs and a pink leopard-print jumper, I went to see the mega-blockbuster film Barbie. This movie undoes the conventional understanding of Barbie and showcases her as a feminist icon disrupting patriarchy in Barbieland and also in the real world. Like many in the audience, I was both entertained and moved by the film in all its saturated color. It challenges gender roles and offers hope for social change.

My wife and I went and saw Barbie: The Movie, and I have mixed feelings. First, the opening scene was weird, the little girls in the desert smashing their baby dolls, and the giant Barbie. What the cream puff? [Update, I have since been informed that it’s a comical rehash of the opening sequence of 2001 Space Odyssey, now I get it]. Second, it was hilarious, I LOL’d several times, so many good lines, had me in stitches.

Thank you for joining us! We are Lou and Adelle Barlow, cohosts of your favorite podcast, RAW impressions. Here you will find Lou’s podcast music, lyrics, stories behind the songs, Adelle’s meal plans, cooking life, crafty projects and more! No thanks but I want to!ncG1vNJzZmiakae5sMPFmqSipKmcsq%2Bx0ZqjZ6ull8C1rcKkZZynnWQ%3D

Although the Golden State Warriors finished as a .500 team just twice this decade, they still featured amazing players. The best year for them was 2007. Under head coach Don Nelson, they made the playoffs for the only time this decade and got to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time since 1991. Here's a look at five players who made a difference during the decade: Baron Davis, guard, 2004-08

Welcome to my April newsletter, which this month focusses on a class of prehistoric monument that, in my opinion, attracts far less acclaim than it deserves: the Bronze Age burial mound, or ‘barrow’. If you’ve spent any time in rural Britain, you’ll be familiar with these grassy mounds, which we Welsh refer to as ‘twmps’, and which on OS maps are labelled as ‘tumuli’ (as they were known to the Romans).

IBWAA members love to write about baseball. So much so, we've decided to create our own newsletter about it! Subscribe to Here's the Pitch to expand your love of baseball, discover new voices, and support independent writing. Original content six days a week, straight to your inbox and straight from the hearts of baseball fans. Did you know…. . . Barry Bonds is one of only five players in AL/NL history to record a 40/40 season with at least 40 home runs and 40 steals, which he accomplished in 1996 with the Giants.

We don’t talk about Al Rosen much anymore. The peak of his career was over seventy years ago, and his career was so short that he never had much chance of being elected to the Hall of Fame, so he’s not really in the forefront of baseball discourse. But Rosen had one of the greatest five-year runs of any third baseman, and had perhaps the best single sea… ncG1vNJzZmiokaq5pcPHoqueZqOqr7TAwJyiZ5ufonyxe8Gaqp6akaG5br7EppymmpWnwG6ty2apqKuVow%3D%3D

This will be a pretty short edition today, as I’ve got holiday prep on top of book crunch time to deal with, so pardon the somewhat abbreviated entry. Hal McRae was a really good player. More importantly, he played hard. Like really, really hard. Hard enough that George Brett credited him with teaching him how to play. Hard enough that they outlawed the … ncG1vNJzZmiokaq5pcPHoqueZqOqr7TAwJyiZ5ufonyxe8Gaqp6akaG5br7EppymmpWnwG60wKVkppuilrI%3D