Art

“The Kiterunner” does not contain “pornography”

Some (idiot moron) parents in Lawrence Township schools are objecting to the book “The Kiterunner” being assigned in class, because they claim there is a scene that is “pornographic” in it.
The Kiterunner is a story of children living in contemporary Afghanistan, and is a wonderful, amazing book. It is, unfortunately, fairly true to life, and there is violence and brutality in it, including a scene where a young boy is brutally raped by other young men who are bullying him, and children who later become the victims of child exploitation. But that is a fairly real picture of what can happen in countries that are torn apart by strife, as Afghanistan is. And to be blunt, the story of children bullying and raping each other can and does happen here in Indiana, too. If you don’t think it does, you’re a naive fool.
The idea that the scenes are “pornographic” — I want to go to those parents (Julie and Tom Shake are their names) and say “I do not think that word means what you think it means.”
What really sucks about all this is that because some retarded parents complained about it to the school board, the township is considering having a panel of people review all teaching materials that will be presented to students. So a censorship board is being planned for Lawrence.
Too bad the response from the school couldn’t be giving the parents a ticket for stupidity and requiring them to come back to school and get a better education so they understand what the hell “pornography” is. Stupid is as stupid does, I guess.

Continue Reading“The Kiterunner” does not contain “pornography”

Star Wars… Pants?

Lines from Star Wars that can be improved if you substitute the word "Pants" for key words.

We’ve got to be able to get some reading on those pants, up or down.

The pants may not look like much, kid, but they’ve got it where it counts.

I find your lack of pants disturbing.

Many Bobans died to bring us these pants.

These pants contain the ultimate power in the Universe. I suggest we use it.

Storm Trooper Bio-break
Storm Trooper Bio-break

Han will have those pants down. We’ve got to give him more time!

General Veers, prepare your pants for a ground assault.

I used to bulls-eye womp rats in my pants back home.

TK-421… Why aren’t you in your pants?

Lock the door. And hope they don’t have pants.

You are unwise to lower your pants.

She must have hidden the plans in her pants. Send a detachment down to retrieve them. See to it personally Commander.

Governor Tarkin. I recognized your foul pants when I was brought on board.

You look strong enough to pull the pants off a Gundark.

Luke… Help me remove these pants.

Great, Chewie, great. Always thinking with your pants.

That blast came from those pants. That thing’s operational!

Luke…..I am your pants.

A tremor in the pants. The last time I felt this was in the presence of my old master.

Don’t worry. Chewie and I have gotten into a lot of pants more heavily guarded than this.

Maybe you’d like it back in your pants, your highness.

Luke, search your pants. You know it is true.

Your pants betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially one… Your sister!

Jabba doesn’t have time for smugglers who drop their pants at the first sign of an Imperial Cruiser.

Short pants is better than no pants at all.

Continue ReadingStar Wars… Pants?

More Things I Learned From The Movies

Signals

If a tapping sound or flashing light represents morse code, there’s always someone around that can interpret the message. When Morse Code is used, the interpreter will call out words as they are being sent, rather than letters. Furthermore, a single word is represented by a few "beeps", and all words are sent at the same rate, no matter how long the word is. Example:

beep-beep-be-beep… "Help…"
be-be-beep beep… "Us…."
beep-be-be-beep beep… "We’re…"
beep beep-be-beep… "Surrounded…"
be-beep beep beep… "Send…"
be-be-be-beep beep… "Reinforcements…"
beep be-beep beep… "Hurry…" etc.

A message in Morse Code will start several seconds before someone actually interprets it; however, no information is lost, as the message actually begins when the interpreter starts to read it.

Continue ReadingMore Things I Learned From The Movies

Things I Learned From Movies

When they are alone, all foreigners prefer to speak English to each other.

If being chased through town, you can usually take cover in a passing St. Patrick’s Day parade – at any time of year.

All beds have special L-shaped cover sheets which reach up to the armpit level on a woman but only to the waist level on the man lying beside her.

The Chief of Police will almost always suspend his star detective – or give him 48 hours to finish the job.

All grocery bags contain at least one stick of French Bread.

Continue ReadingThings I Learned From Movies

The Office

  • Post author:
  • Post category:Television

Back when the Ricky Gervais version of “The Office” premiered on BBCAmerica, I watched the first season and loved it. Eventually I had to stop watching, though, not because it wasn’t funny, but because it was too real, and watching it was too much like actually being at work, and there’s only so much of that you can take. Eventually you have to get away from it and let your mind do other things.
We’ve been DVR’ing the American version of the show this season, and I’m watching several of them in a row this morning. I keep having to pause and walk into the other room, because something will happen that has actually happened to me, and it’s funny, but too painful to watch.

Continue ReadingThe Office

What I’m Listening To

  • Post author:
  • Post category:Music
Unwritten
Natasha Bedingfield
Ice Princess Soundtrack
Link expires after 7 days

I know I risk being the object of derision from some of my punk rock friends, and so be it. I love this song, and listen to it over and over in the car on the way to work. Feel free to make fun, but only after you listen to it and perhaps let it worm it’s way into your brain.

Continue ReadingWhat I’m Listening To

Fun RSS Thing to Do

  • Post author:
  • Post category:Brain Food

If you read your news in an RSS reader, here’s something fun and informative that you can do…
Go to Google News, and to a search on the term “gay.” Look in the left column of the page and grab either the RSS link or Atom link, and add it to your news reader.
Then do the same thing for the search term “lesbian.”
Now do the same thing for the term “homosexual.”
Then read the news for each of the feeds. You’ll find that on the first two terms, you’ll find GLBT news from a mainstream perspective. And on the third term, you’ll get news through the filter of right-wing nuttiness, bigotry and hate. Fun, huh? God Bless them frothing-mouthed homophobes.

Continue ReadingFun RSS Thing to Do

Quad Cities Censorship

This is an interesting article in the Quad City Times, about a book called “The Misfits” that was banned at the elementary school level in the Quad Cities.

“I knew I had all of those signs of being gay, and I couldn’t make sense of it,” said Howe, who wrote “The Misfits,” a book about four kids and their battle with name-calling. “When I figured out it was actually something that described who I was, I was terrified of being that. It was considered an illness, morally reprehensible.”
“The Misfits” launched a firestorm in the Quad-Cities when the Pleasant Valley School Board decided to restrict its use at the elementary-school level, where teachers are not allowed to read it aloud to students. The book has a gay character, Joe, who is the main character in Howe’s sequel, “Totally Joe.”
“The Misfits” also launched a national initiative called “No Name Calling Week.” The organizers of Howe’s visit are asking area schools to have their own version of No Name Calling Week from Feb. 20-24.

Ironic that they book is about not mistreating people, including gay people, but it’s being censored, although the article does talk about programs at some of the Quad City schools to prevent bullying.
It’s interesting to me because I have a couple relatives who are employed in the school system in the Quad Cities. I wonder what they think.

Continue ReadingQuad Cities Censorship