Banned Books

Time just slips away from me - in the midst of lotsa work, lotsa worry (sick father, sick sweetie, and I think my 401K is now a 41k), I nearly forgot about Banned Books week! Luckily, the nice folks at the Fayetteville Flyer and the Arkansas Times reminded me with two really nice articles, bringing me back to reality and my bookshelf. I'm happy to say that some of those banned books are ones I own, have read multiple times and love.

But I had to throw in a list (thanks to the Forbidden Library) of some of those challenged books that both asks and answers that timeless question, what the hell some people were thinking. Here's a few of my favorites (with snarky editorial comment in italics afterwards):

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Challenged in Wise County, Va. (1982) due to "sexually offensive" passages. Four members of the Alabama State Textbook Committee (1983) called for the rejection of this book because it is a "real downer." OMG, really? A young Jewish girl starts a diary on her thirteenth birthday, right before she and her family are forced into hiding by the Nazis, and someone in Alabama thought it should've been more upbeat? Ye gods.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Removed from a locked reference collection at the Boulder, Colo. Public Library (1988), where it had been placed because the librarian thought the book espoused a poor philosophy of life. Wonder what they thought of the Tim Burton version? Probably locked away in some reference DVD library...


The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. Challenged in the Laytonville, Calif. Unified School District (1989) because it "criminalizes the foresting industry." Um, Dr. Seuss? Really? Now I'm surprised that the Cat and the Hat wasn't challenged by an organized group of interior decorators and babysitters.


The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll by Jim Miller, editor Challenged in Jefferson, Ky. (1982) because it "will cause our children to become immoral and indecent." Obviously an opinion that was written by squares. Dude, that was the frakkin' point! Hand me that spliff! Rock and Roooollll, baby! Woooooo-hooooo!


Where's Waldo? by Martin Handford Challenged at the Public Libraries of Saginaw, Mich. (1989), Removed from the Springs Public School library in East Hampton, N.Y. (1993) because there is a tiny drawing of a woman lying on the beach wearing a bikini bottom but no top. They obviously missed the point - yer supposed to look for the goofy guy in stripes, not the beach bunnies. Brought to you by Overachievers Anonymous.


A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle Challenged at the Polk City, Fla. Elementary School (1985) by a parent who believed that the story promotes witchcraft, crystal balls, and demons. Challenged in the Anniston Ala. schools (1990). The complainant objected to the book's listing the name of Jesus Christ together with the names of great artists, philosophers, scientists, and religious leaders when referring to those who defend earth against evil. Yeah, 'cause Jesus is too busy looking for Waldo amongst all the beach bunnies to be fightin' the devil, right?


Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein This book was challenged, but retained in the South Texas Independent School District in Mercedes,TX (2004). Parents objected to the adult themes - sexuality, drugs, and suicide - found in the 1962 Hugo Award-winning novel being used in a summer Science Academy curriculum. I guess I'm most surprised that there haven't been more challenges for this book, especially to the 1991 restored edition, but it has certainly made it's mark on our society. Grok?        

Got a book you love that others hate? Let me know in the comments!

Scary pic of the day

Well, this is just so bloggerific, I had to link to it.

Brace yerself...

image from the lovely & talented folks at Arkansas Blog 

Now, truthfully... do ya need a cold shower?

Living in a Dump... Truck?

I am NOT a neat-clean freak. God knows that Felix Unger would have several hissy-fits just looking at my messy desk. Indescribably, I am drawn to pictures of terribly organized people, but this guy just blew my frakkin' mind.

image from apartment therapy blog

He refurbished a garbage truck as his residence. Seriously. Talk about a DIY genius. Click the link to check out more pics and drool over the incredibly organized garbage truck dweller.

Pirates > Religious Nutcases

In celebration of Talk Like a Pirate Day, here's a heartwarming story from our barefooted and dungaree'd Natural State of hilarity:

photo from Arkansas Blog, taken by Brian "the Brave" Chilson

who wandered into a den of pirates at risk to life, limb, and his personal rum supply

Thank you, Arkansas Times. I needed a good laugh tonight. More rum! ARrgh!

Snake!

OK, I'm not much of a gamer. Anyone who's ever played cards with me already knows this. Even so, I remember this game from my second cellphone - and I loved it. So here's a web version, courtesy of the good folks at Download Squad, who brought it to my attention. If you find a minute or two in your busy day (not you Kevin, get back to work - hee hee!) to just space out and play a game, this one's easy to learn and hard to master. (And you get to be a snake!) Enjoy!

 

image courtesy The Download Squad

Now the Hockey Moms are Pissed...

OK, this is funny, I don't care who you are....

Lies, Damn Lies

Y'know, it takes a lot to offend me, but I am offended by McCain/Palin. As a voter, I want to see integrity in the people who seek high office. I see no integrity in politicians who lie, have their lie disproven by multiple sources, and continue to use the same lie - like I'm not supposed to know the difference. They must think I'm stupid, along with the rest of the American voters. They must think I'm not paying attention. I'm driven to believe that they must not think it matters, as long as they win.






They're wrong. I'm paying attention, and so are a lot of people. I'm paying attention to how community organizers are derided, I'm paying attention to how a VP candidate won't give straight answers to questions, when she concedes to answer questions at all. I'm paying attention to how even on a fluff show like the View, people are calling out the lies and searching for some answers.

Meanwhile, here's the funniest photoshopping I've seen in a while (thanks to Chez's blog):

Love this!

OK, not only do I blog, I also read blogs (other than the ones by people I actually know - see blogroll, eh?), and I thought Chez had one of the, if not the best of the week. Check it out.

Oh yes, I have a new desktop pic! ;-)

Funny, I was thinking the same thing.

And here's the thing that's bugging me too... They've been in power for eight years. They support all of Bush's policies. And they say they're bringing reform?


UPDATE: Just have to throw out the link to the delicious article by Roger Simon on the Politico entitled "Why the Media Should Apologize."


Just frakkin' hilarious, about the time I needed something a bit less serious.Like this!

Two recent losses

You may only know him from the thousands of movie trailers that his magnificent voice graced, but that's the way Don LaFontaine wanted to be known. He may have been the most productive voice actor ever, and though we live in a world where a boatload of folks will try to imitate him, he was one of a kind. Here's a great pic from SWINDLE - so now you know what he looked like.

Photo from Swindle Magazine/Aaron Farley

Again I go to the movies and remember the large screen and larger than life stories I saw in my youth. One of my favorites was "Smokey and the Bandit," and I really wanted a Trans-Am as cool as the one Burt Reynolds drove. I actually went to see "Smokey and the Bandit" with a buddy that could've passed for Burt's buddy Jerry (though I was nowhere near as cool as Burt). Tonight I'm sad to learn that Jerry has finally succumbed to Father Time and Gravity. Thanks for the pickin' and all the laughs, Jerry.

Summer Movie Review

Now that it's Labor Day and the summer is officially over, I can finally confess: of the top fifty grossing movies this year, I've seen only four this summer - Dark Knight, Iron Man, Indiana Jones, and the Incredible Hulk. Of the four, my Sweetie saw two of them with me, the best and the worst. Neither of us were happy with the Indiana Jones movie, and both of us were blown away by the Dark Knight. I enjoyed Iron Man over Hulk, mostly because of the actors involved. Downey did a great job with Tony Stark's character, and I'm quite looking forward to Shellhead's next adventure. Norton brought a greater depth to the Hulk as expected, and I was impressed by William Hurt in his role as Gen. Thunderbolt Ross, but there were some minor missed notes that kept me from enjoying it as much as Iron Man. She'll see both on video eventually, but I couldn't've dragged her to see another Hulk flick, because I don't think she's ever forgiven me for the first Hulk flick (thanks fer nuttin', Ang Lee!).

The ones I missed that I wanted to see were Hancock, Wall-E (both of which I still have a pretty good chance of seeing before they leave the theaters), Kung-Fu Panda (just because of Jack Black, but it also got pretty good reviews), Get Smart, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, Tropic Thunder, Cloverfield (out on video, but how scary can a monster movie be on video? I'll have to write a whole 'nother post on Godzilla - when I first saw it, on TV with commercials, and when I finally saw it on the big screen), Pineapple Express, Hellboy 2, and Harold & Kumar Escape (also out on video).

Actual movies (not TV series or other DVDs) that I've rented this summer were Paprika (quite delightful) and In the Shadow of the Moon. I suppose I should count Prey for Rock and Roll, as I watched it Saturday, but it kinda left me flat (not as sharp of a film as I like - OK, I'll stop with the music jokes so the rest of you can catch up after an appropriate interval of silence).

Now, what the hell did I wind up watching at home? I completed the Star Trek Voyager series, thanks to Netflix and my ever-indulgent Sweetie. It's become my second-favorite Trek series, behind Deep Space Nine and just slightly in front of the original series (which a lot of folks refer to as TOS). Not a lot, but slightly, and I credit both the completion of the series arc and the more-consistent writing with putting Voyager over the edge. I got lots of love for Kirk, Spock, Bones, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov, but Janeway, Chakotay, Torres, Paris, Neelix, the Doctor, Tuvok, Kim, Seven, Kes, and even Naomi Wildman stole my heart across the Delta Quadrant.

My Sweetie also found some love for Netflix, specifically at first for their streaming videos, where she got caught up in MI-5, Monarch of the Glen, and McLeod's Daughters, and wound up renting the ones that were not streamed. We wound up increasing our subscription from two to three so she could have her 'own movies' coming in. Good job, Netflix!

But now summer is over and it's time for some serious movies, and I really have no idea what's in store. I've not kept up online, don't know what's in the hopper (except that they moved STAR TREK - the only film I might've actually gone to see on a Christmas Day - and yes, I think it's awful that theaters are open on Christmas Day, but that's besides the point)... So, I'm just curious (and fishing for comments): what movies are you looking forward to in the next four months? Don't be shy, just reply!