DO YOU UNDERSTAND LIFE??

[caithream]

Firstly - does anyone have Rocky Raccoon and/or You Know My Name by, duh, the Beatles? I have no idea why I don't have them, and I need them in my life. Or, ooh, any good covers of Rocky Raccoon?

Tonight I went to a local, very small winery that I've kind of fallen in love with. A friend of ours plays the acoustic guitar and sang everything from Simon and Garfunkel to They Might Be Giants to Johnny Cash. They have a reeeaally good wine slushie that probably has WAY too much sugar in it but was still so good, and was pretty much exactly what I needed after dealing whiny moron clients all week.

AND THEN we went over to said friend's house and watched The Room and my God, have I ever talked about The Room here? This is not a movie that you watch. This is a movie that you experience. Read the very first review here and maybe, maybe one can understand why this movie is so amazing and so awful. But probably not. If you haven't seen it, seriously, get on that.

Also. Someone linked this blog regarding Misha's Random Acts, in which the author criticizes how this charity is basically being run. The interesting part, however, is that Misha replied back to her. And reading her article I can... sort of maybe understand where she's coming from, or at least just acknowledge some parts of the argument. What I don't understand is how being philanthropic to the people around you could be deemed irresponsible and not worth any time or effort because a) it's Misha's gotdam charity, he could raise money to have sweaters knitted for the whole state of Rhode Island if that's what he wanted to do, and b) just because your next door neighbor is not dying of starvation or lost everything in a flood, that doesn't mean he or she is unworthy of "saving," as it were. The proposed random acts of kindness don't have to be monumental; it can be subtle enough to make someone's shitty day just a little better.

If I WERE to argue anything about this charity, it would be to maybe change the percentages slightly of where the money would be going. But hey, the way I see it is that Random Acts was Misha's initial idea to begin with, and due to the increasing need in Pakistan and Haiti, funds also opened up for those areas too.

And lol, when the author said, We’re not talking about C-list actors that I happen to find attractive, Misha rebuttled with: ...so much energy and so many resources [are put] into fandom. I think all of that energy is great, but my thinking was, perhaps, if we could harness a fraction of those resources (both creative and fiscal), we could put some of this c-list idolatry to good use.

C-LIST IDOLATRY. It's sad because it's true. The idolatry part, not the C-list part. You're at least a B+ lister to me, Misha.

Comments

[riverdresses.livejournal.com]

OMG, wine SLUSHIES? DO WANT. I wonder if they make those here in California. Hmm, maybe up in wine country . . .

[caithream.livejournal.com]

I bet you could definitely find them somewhere in California, haha! I had never heard of being able to make slushies out of wine before, but somehow they keep the alcohol REALLY REALLY COLD ('cause, you know, lower freezing point, etc) without it being just chunks of ice. Yummy stuff!

[castiel.livejournal.com]

I kind of lost respect for Misha for a while there because of how much pandering to fandom that he did. He's always struck me as a sharp-tongued, intelligent guy, and I always love that but then it seemed to become less of that and too much "fandom slut." He's toned it down, lately, and I must admit that this charity of his, which you're right in that he should be able to do whatever the hell he wants with it, as well as his intelligent, thought out response to that blogger is warming me up to him again. Well played, Collins. Well played.

[caithream.livejournal.com]

I could understand why some people would start to get annoyed by it - personally I love that shtick, he's just like... an in real life troll, haha - but basically, I think, he's just playing a role that people keep wanting to see. But he is a VERY intelligent person, yes, and to see that go to waste would be upsetting. Even though he knows he's not some higher up there celeb, it's awesome that he's still ~using his powers for good~ haha.

[skygazing.livejournal.com]

I think what I love most about Misha's charity is that it does exactly what it says - harnesses the resources of fandom. The blogger had some valid points, but the way I see it...this might be prompting people who otherwise would not be getting involved to donate money and think about helping others. Every charity has it's different angle - some people feel very strongly about animal rights and donate a ton to PETA. I have different persuasions and so my money goes elsewhere. Not having very much money at this point, I don't know if I can financially support The Random Act at this point, but I absolutely support its goal of having people help people, even in small ways.

And my gosh! the man is well spoken. It makes my heart fluttery lol. :)

[caithream.livejournal.com]

Ahh Ali you hit the nail on the head! :D I think that was exactly Misha's point, that, if you're going to spend so much time/money/effort on something for a show on the CW, why not use that energy to help others as well? And yes I was thinking the exact same thing about funding other charities. Charity is charity, to me, at least, and to criticize someone's efforts on trying to make the world a better place? Come on now.

And yeesss he is! He would be that kind of guy in a lit class that would seem like an annoying know-it-all, but that I would end up being SO drawn into his intelligence I'd be all, DATE. YOU. ME.

[nerdwegian.livejournal.com]

I'm disgusted with this whole thing. Misha's trying to do some good, and it's his choice how he wants to do it. The fact that people are legitimately wanking about fucking ORPHANAGES fills me with so much fucking rage, I can't even think about it because it literally makes me want to do physical violence to innocent walls.

Speaking as someone who was IN an orphanage, if the system is fucking broken, people should work to fucking fix it, not just HERP THE DERP to the fucking max. Seriously. I haven't raged on random people on the internet ever before in my life (you know me, I mostly just love everyone), but this is... I am so biased on the subject I can't even see straight. That's probably it.

[caithream.livejournal.com]

Yeah, totally. Knowing him he's not going to be discouraged, but still! When people start criticizing your intent to do-good-and-be-good, that's got to be a little upsetting.

And as far as the orphanage thing, yes, I agree. I also like that he clarified that he knows someone firsthand IN Haiti to help distribute those funds because... I don't know, maybe it's just me, but her argument on how that money should just be given to a bigger company just made me recoil because bigger companies don't necessarily equal smarter use of that money, or even the use of that money for where it was INTENDED, ie: Misha's wanting it to go directly to the orphanages. I just feel so blah about someone ragging on a CHARITY, for God's sake.

[caithream.livejournal.com]

YES. That's exactly it 100%. It blows my mind that people end up spending HUNDREDS, like over $500 to sit at the front row of a Con or something, or spend a year and a half putting together a quilt that, guess what, they're not going to take (and yes, I have witnessed and heard about said quilt) when money like that could be funneled into something actually useful. I adore Misha for saying that and actually putting that out there. And yeah, I'm guilty of spending too much on previous Cons (though compared to others, my spending is pretty tame, lol), so this definitely puts things into perspective for me too.

[berreh.livejournal.com]

Every time I see a reference to The Room, I think of you. Not sure if that is a compliment or not, but it's true! :p