Aliens, acupuncture and Shirley

So, I was gonna blog about the UT game, but then yesterday I ran out of time, and now I've come upon something else to talk about. Last night I went to see Shirley Maclaine with a friend. It was kind of "An Evening with Shirley" set-up. Shirley spoke for about an hour then the executive director of the Paramount theater, Ken Stein, interviewed her for about 30 or 45 minutes.

I wasn't sure what to expect to be honest, and it was...interesting. Shirley is...interesting. I was aware of her sort of "out there" spiritual theories, but I'm kind of open in that regard, and I know she's a smart lady, so I was interested in hearing what she was going to say. I, uh, got my money's worth.

I can now say, based on my own experience of hearing the woman's own words, that, well, she's a loon. I'm sorry, Shirley. You're very smart and a talented actress, and I'll still enjoy you on screen, and I even kind of like you, but you're a loon.

I don't think she's a loon because she believes in acupuncture points and suggests people have dead teeth removed to cure acid reflux. Can't say I buy it, and me, I'll take Pepcid, but I think there's something to acupuncture, and Lord knows we don't understand everything about the body and our nervous systems, etc., so I'm open.

I don't think she's a loon for not liking George W. Bush. Lots of people don't like him or his policies, so that's okay. You're entitled. I think it's intellectually dishonest to say that he's an example of us "dumbing down" and wishing he'd die. The implication is that if you don't agree with her politics, you're stupid and shouldn't exist, and that kind of cop-out argument always loses me. So, she loses points for intellectuality with that, but that doesn't make her crazy.

I don't even think Shirley is a loon for believing in aliens. I actually think it's highly unlikely that out of the entire universe, we're the *only* sentient beings. There's very little of the universe we've been able to explore, so how can we possibly know what other life might be out there? And could other life have visited here? Sure, why not? And would we know? Maybe not. If they've made it to us, they've passed us technologically, so theoretically, they could have ways of communicating or cloaking themselves that would slip right past us. Imagine if you went back in time 100 years and could use your cell phone and your microwave, watch your tv and use the GPS in your car. People would freak and think YOU were an alien. Who knows what we'll discover and develop in the next 100 years.

But. When Shirley said computers were developed from technology the government found at the Roswell crash...well, I'm sorry, Shirley. I just can't follow you there. I'm not kidding, people. She said that. And she believes it. Apparently, we humans aren't capable of advances like that all on our own. I wonder who showed the Roswell aliens how to make computers?

She also said that if your dog smells, it's because you don't love him enough, because if he really felt that you loved him, he'd take it upon himself not to smell to please you. Yeah. She said that.

There was also something about us creating George W - it was part of some point about us creating reality or something...I don't know...I tuned out at times and started thinking about how I'd donate money to the Paramount to help preserve it if I hit the lottery. That seemed like a more reasonable train of thought at the time than whatever it was Shirley was babbling about.

The best part of the evening was the interview with Ken Stein. He was an absolute delight. I really enjoyed him. He came at the interview not with some elitist "Inside the Actor's Studio" approach, but as a fan and just a normal person, and you sort of felt like his questions and his reactions were the ones you would have if you were up there. At one point after Shirley had given some esoteric answer to something, he even said, "Sometimes you talk about things I don't understand, so I'm just going to move on." The audience died laughing, because, good Lord, it was so true.

Don't get me wrong, Shirley was a great interview. She was honest, open, funny and real. She had rapport with Ken and with the audience, and I liked her. But I think part of her ease was how easy Ken made it. Kind of like that old SNL skit, "The Chris Farley Show." Ken didn't pound himself on the head or say, "Remember that scene in 'Terms of Endearment' when you yelled at the nurse? That was cool." But that "regular guy" feeling was there that endeared him to you - or to me anyway. Good job, Ken.

And, uh, good luck Shirley. If the aliens do come and abduct someone, I'm thinking you're first in line, and the word on the street is that it isn't entirely pleasant.