“Anger ventilated often hurries toward forgiveness; and concealed often hardens into revenge.” -Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

On March 26, 2006 I wrote the first entry on this site. As I have said before, we started this site to put a light on issues that we cared about, to focus on things that went unnoticed by major news outlets, and as a sounding board for our hopes and fears. We also started this site as a way to stay close to one another. I think we succeeded in all of those things. Maybe, it wasn’t to the degree that we initially wanted, but it was still a success.

The last entry I wrote was on January 17, 2009. I just stopped writing. I was burnt out. Burnt out on stories that focused on the right or the left; stories that focused on this group of people versus that group of people. I was completely and totally apathetic. I no longer cared about my pet causes. I could read horrific article after horrific article; it wouldn’t even awake an inkling or sympathy. This site quit giving me the things I needed so I repaid it in kind. And, I stepped away.

And, now? Now I’m angry. I’m angry at the way my life is going, and myself. I’m angry at the people saying I have no right to be angry. Because, I’m so angry at personal stuff with no outlet… that is making me angry at everyone and everything else. I’ve also used the word angry too many times in this paragraph, maybe I should move on. So now, I need the site again. I need a place to voice this before I turn into an ugly person.

The best way to start this (in my opinion) is to dive right back in. Now it is no secret how I feel about Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church, but just in case you are new here… you can read my previous article HERE. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Everyone caught up? Good. So the WBC had announced their plans to protest at a local funeral of a young service man. Naturally outrage kicked in. “Who the hell is this church”, “Just what do they think they are doing.”, and “Let’s show them what a protest really is”, were common comments. I mean, fine whatever, outrage is actually a good thing here. Somewhere along the way it turned into a circus. One person I used to consider a friend even made signs to sell for the day. But, in all that time people forgot what this really should have been about. It should have been about that kid, his grieving family, and support for them. I won’t even get into how many people didn’t know he had died before this; nor, will I talk about how many had no idea who the WBC was.

In the end, the WBC didn’t show. Last night and today people were congratulating themselves on a job well done. They convinced each other that they had scared them off and that the church didn’t have the balls to come to “our” town. Are you fucking kidding me? This is the church that protested funerals for the victims in the Twin Towers. This pissy ass small town isn’t even a 16th of the numbers they’ve seen before. They have death threats sent to them daily, and they revel in it. No, what really happened is that they gave the “church” exactly what it wanted. Why breed chaos when this town did it for them? You didn’t come together as a community. You got off on the controversy and wanted to see it first hand.

You know what pisses me off most about this, though? Not a god damned thing will change. Everyone will forget about this church again. The next funeral WBC protests elsewhere… they won’t hear about. They won’t offer “support” again. It will be a story they tell around a drunken bonfire. They will keep deluding themselves into thinking they made a difference.

Until next time, I’m still pissed off.
autumn

Lori Drew, 49, of Missouri, was convicted of 3 misdemeanor charges of various types of computer fraud. Lori Drew, 49, of Missouri, killed her 13-year-old neighbor, Megan Meier.

Sure, she didn’t shoot the girl. She didn’t poison her or stab her or strangle her. She didn’t touch her at all. But Lori Drew, 49, of Missouri, pushed 13-year-old Megan Meier to commit suicide, hanging herself in her own closet.

Early in 2008, Lori Drew, with the help of her 18-year-old assistant and her 13-year-old daughter, created a MySpace profile under the guise of a cologne-ad-esque 16-year-old boy named Josh. “Josh” began flirting with Megan, who Lori Drew knew to be depressed and, as are most girls her age, insecure.

“Josh” carried on the relationship with Megan for four weeks while Lori Drew sat amused in her own home, planning all the while to build the girl up only to tear her down farther than she had been before the whole thing started.

Finally, one day, Megan told “Josh” he was the kind of boy a girl could kill herself over and “Josh” told Megan the world would be better off without her. Megan hanged herself in her closet with her parents downstairs.

Had the fraud and bullying been conducted by Lori Drew’s 13-year-old daughter, Sarah, that would be one thing. That would be kids being cruel to one another without quite comprehending what might happen. Not excusable but somehow less astonishing. Sarah, arguably, could plead naivete, saying she didn’t know that Megan wouldn’t know it was all a joke. Sarah, arguably, could say that she didn’t really think Megan would go through with it. Sarah’s 49-year-old mother can not make feasibly make those claims. Sarah’s 49-year-old mother knew what she was doing and knew what the outcome would be. Sarah’s 49-year-old mother has been convicted of three counts of computer fraud and will receive, at max, 3 years in prison and a $3000 fine – one year and $1000 for each count, maximum. Sarah’s 49-year-old mother deserves at the very least first degree manslaughter, at the very most first degree, premeditated murder.

And what is worse about all of this, in my opinion, is not that this woman did something deplorable which will go completely unpunished. It is that people are blaming Megan’s parents for not monitoring her internet usage. They are blaming MySpace for allowing “Josh” access to 13-year-old Megan’s profile. They are not blaming Lori Drew for being a malicious, heartless, cruel woman with absolutely no moral compass.

For what it is worth, Lori Drew’s home address and phone number can be found by Googling “Lori Drew MySpace.” Fifth hit from the top is the home address and phone number (which has probably been changed by now….) of Lori Drew in O’Fallon, Missouri.

Until next time, I’ll be looking for a horse’s head on my way to Missouri.

Crimson

*For the full story, click here:

This is your blog. My keyboard died and I am blogging by phone. Fucking keyboard. I mean really… emailing myself from the phone and then copy and pasting sucks major ass. grrrr. Oh and this means I am stuck on windows till I replace this bullshit. emailing log-in info and passwords suck more. Fuck.

autumn

“Political campaigns are designedly made into emotional orgies which endeavor to distract attention from the real issues involved, and they actually paralyze what slight powers of cerebration man can normally muster.” -James Harvey Robinson, The Human Comedy, 1937

So originally I wasn’t going to post after Crimson this time. I was going to see if our Green Lady brought out the fire in our resident Democrats. I was going to wait and see what the boys said, and occasionally jump in and stir the pot. I love stirring the pot. In a group such as ours, it actually brings out some healthy discussion. However… I made the mistake of watching the news and talking to people today. I should fucking know better.

Before I get into the ranting, I’m going to break down my political leanings for you. I am not Democrat. I am not Green. I am not Republican. I am not Reform. I am not Libertarian. Are you seeing a pattern? I suppose I would be considered an Independent. I hate labeling myself in anyway when it comes to politics. That said, stick me where ever the fuck you want. I really don’t care what you expect of me. Oh, and guess what? I am undecided on this election. Yes, you did read that correctly. I am UNDECIDED. As in, I don’t know who I will vote for come election day.

So… that brings us today. I wake up bright and early, choke down my horrible coffee, and read my email. Without getting into details that would call people out and violate their privacy, I had a couple emails from a person who doesn’t like the fact that I’m fairly open about being undecided. They had a list of reasons why this makes me a horrible scum of a human being. One was if I didn’t vote for Obama I was obviously a republican and wanted Mccain to win. According to them if I did that I needed to quit lying to people and label myself accordingly.

I was going to let it go. Really, Mostly, Sorta… I was actually just going to reply to them and let them know that I thought they should stick the dick back in their mouth, and quit spewing their cum tainted trash around me. See how level-headed I am? You’ll be happy (or maybe extremely disappointed) to know that I censored myself and trashed the email reply I was going to send. I decided it just wasn’t worth the energy to prove this hateful, hateful person wrong.

I had quit thinking about it by the time I got home. I had a great day with my niece, and was thinking of how much fun we had dancing to the Wiggles. Sadly, that was brought to a crashing halt by a quote that I read.

“I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention? To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. ‘Can I interest you in the chicken?’ she asks. ‘Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?’ To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.”- David Sedaris

I know that he is speaking of those who the major news networks find to do undecided polls. I know that he is referring to those who are simply undecided between just Obama and Mccain. While I don’t know for sure, based on the previous quote, I imagine that he is one who thinks that a Third Party vote is a wasted one. Don’t get me wrong Sedaris is an amazing author (I love all of his books that I’ve read) and a great humorist. Seriously though, enough is fucking enough.

I’m sick of being told that I’ll throw my vote away if I don’t vote Obama. I’m tired of being told that I’m picking the lesser of two evils if I don’t vote for a third party. I don’t need to hear that this whole country will burn in hell if I don’t vote Mccain.

Here is a tid bit for all of you. All of our options fucking suck. They are all either bat shit crazy, inexperienced, or some form of horrid. Yes I mean all; Mccain, Obama, McKinney, Nader, Barr, Baldwinn, Keyes, Jay, Amondson, Weill, La Riva, Moore… Need I go on?

So, I’m fucking undecided. I’ll make up my mind when I make up my damn mind. I’m still tempted just the write in Ethan B. Shameless nominee for the Geek Party.

Until next time, I’ve had enough of seeing people treating political candidates like messiahs.
autumn

]]> http://beshameless.net/archives/2008/10/24/you-know-what-its-time-to-say-fuck-it/feed/ 0 http://beshameless.net/archives/2008/10/24/voting-in-todays-hollywood/ http://beshameless.net/archives/2008/10/24/voting-in-todays-hollywood/#comments Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:34:35 +0000 CrimsonLadybug
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/content/c/a/l/caldraper/html/archives/wp-content/plugins/autometa/autometa.php on line 364
http://beshameless.net/?p=98

I just found out that one of my favorite musicians is not only supporting Barack Obama, he is joining the campaign efforts. Chris, Chris, Chris…. Really?

I guess I get the “lesser of two evils” theory, but here’s the thing – He rides the fence on important issues, he doesn’t have near the experience of many of his …. er, competitors (?).

He signed the revised PATRIOT ACT because, to paraphrase, it wasn’t as good as it could be but as good as it was going to get. “Let me be clear: this compromise is not as good as the Senate version of the bill, nor is it as good as the SAFE Act that I have cosponsored. But, it’s still better than what the House originally proposed. This compromise does modestly improve the PATRIOT Act by strengthening civil liberties protections without sacrificing the tools that law enforcement needs to keep us safe.” Source Maybe I’m wrong but I think when voting on something as crucial as the PATRIOT act, one should be at least 90% satisfied and that doesn’t sound like someone who was even 50% satisfied.

“Obama says the death penalty ‘does little to deter crime” but he supports it for cases in which “the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage.’” Source So, what you are saying here is that the death penalty doesn’t accomplish anything as far as lessening crime but it makes people feel better so let’s keep it around? Not that I am saying I’m against the death penalty. I’m not. I’m not for it either. I haven’t really made up my mind either way. But be damned skippy that I will have a better explanation for my decision when I make it.

Anyway, back to the point here. Americans are really good at doing what celebrities and Hollywood tells us we should do. So, my question is why don’t any celebrities jump on the band wagon to support third-party candidates? Granted they aren’t making tabloid covers or People’s 50 Most Beautiful People lists but if Chris Walla and Hill Harper (or any Liberal celebrity) would join forces with Cynthia McKinney instead of Obama, Americans would start to realize that the Green Party is A) not soley a British thing and B) not made up entirely of tree-huggers and pot smokers (I like to use McKinney as an example because she’s ….well a She and she’s African-American…the truth is there are 16 candidates for President on the ballot in the state of Colorado….other states may have more, others fewer but every state has at least 3).

I guess it just really frustrates me to see the Third-Party candidates, the ones with truly different ideas, the ones without corporate backing and influence, the ones without celebrity backing….have no celebrity backing. If just one of the Third-Party candidates – Green, Libertarian, Constitutionalist, etc. – could get Brangelina to join their campaign efforts, or even publicly support their efforts, it could completely change the face of politics in the U.S.

I am not naive enough to think it’s all the President. Congress and Senate makes all the decisions, based on suggestions made by the President. The President can only make a few unilateral decisions, like declaration of war, for one example. The rest of his “changes” (to quote Obama) have to be put before Congress and Senate for a vote, that’s how democracy works. If a Presidential candidate could really do all they say they are going to do in their campaign speeches, this would be a monarchy at the very least, a dictatorship at the most and voting for President would eventually (sooner rather than later) go by the wayside.

But I’m tired of ranting about this. While our ballot system is arranged so that no one has to worry about other people knowing who they are voting for, I will tell you, when November 4th comes around, I will proudly mark the box next to Cynthia McKinney’s name. And not because she is the Green Party candidate or because she’s not McCain or Obama but because I have seen her voting record and she’s voted about 90% the way I would have in her position (including drawing up impeachment papers against Bush).

Until next time, I’ll be bleeding Green.
Crimson

P.S. Earlier today I heard a McCain campaign commercial on the radio blathering about Obama opposing the “rights provided by the Second Amendment,” or something blah blah blah. I just saw an Obama commercial on the television with him speaking to a group of people about how important it is for Americans to be able to defend themselves….. more proof that campaign commercials are useless but, unfortunately, the only access many Americans have to their candidates.

The dollar sign goes to the left of the number; the cents sign goes to the right. They’re going to park their cars over there. You’re showing your age. If he isn’t coming, I ain’t going.

I think a lot about the little inaccuracies that are commonly acceptable in our society. A few days ago I saw a car with the windows painted a lovely shade of shaving cream to read “for SELL.” Exactly like that; I’m not capitalizing for emphasis. The seller of said car had for in all lowercase letters and sell underneath it, taking up the better majority of the window space, in all capitals. I wanted to stop the car, in the middle of a six lane highway, and hose off the window. Let them figure out why. Then do it again when I come back two days later and it, again, says for sell.

Still mad about the stupid car on the side of the road when I went to bed that night, I started thinking. It’s really not his (or her) fault that he’s an idiot. It’s the fault of our public school system.

Before you start lacing your hate mail with anthrax powder, let me explain. In Kindergarten, we learn to share, clean up our cookie crumbs, write the alphabet, and count to ten. This is the very last time we visit these subjects in our education. In third grade we learn cursive writing, multiplication, and how to memorize the spelling of two and three syllable words long enough to pass the weekly spelling test. This is the very last time we visit these subjects in our education. Even multiplication, which is used in basically every other facet of mathematics from this point on, is never really reinforced. We are expected to memorize 2×2=4 4×4=16 16×16=who the hell cares? Numbers that size call for a calculator.

In fifth grade we learn that the Constitution was signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 17, 1787, bleu cheese is a form of mold and, to quote, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Assuming, of course, that you attend a school that doesn’t think teaching pre-pubescent kids what makes a boy a boy and what makes a girl a girl will make them want to try a little hands-on experimentation. And, according to Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, this is the very last time we visit these subjects in our education.

My point is that, while some things in our education are beaten into us (although I can think of none at the moment), most things are taught once and never again. It’s no wonder that a rocket scientist from MIT can go on Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and look like a complete doofus because they don’t remember automatically that there are 12 states whose names begin with vowels or that there are 4 I’s in Mississippi. Granted he doesn’t really need all 4 I’s in Mississippi to further the space exploration program but it amazes me that such simple things go by without anyone noticing that while they may be taught and may be taught well they are not remembered because they are displaced by other information.

We only use 10% of our brains’ capacity for learning. Imagine what kind of a race humans would be if we even used 20 or 25%.

Until next time, I’m off to fetch up on the latest versions of English syntax and World History…
Crimson

Autumn didn’t want to get into the political ranting. Autumn wanted to let it all go, avoid the trite “politicians are idiots” tirades, but Crimson wants to kick and scream.

While it will be pretty easy to tell by the end of all this, I will say now that I am a registered voter for the Green Party and if I thought it would do any good or could be achievable, I’d tell everyone I was an Anarchist. How cliche’, right? An Anarchist punk.

Anywhoooo

I saw on the “up next” blurb for tonight’s Fox news at 9 broadcast that Sarah Palin is now “officially the first woman, ever, on a Presidential ticket.” I wanted to throw the television. Senator John McCain announced last week (August 29, 2008) that he had selected Ms. Palin as his running mate and it became official tonight when she accepted the nomination at the RNC. Cynthia McKinney accepted the Green Party nomination in June. Pat(ricia) LaMarche ran alongside Green Party candidate David Cobb in 2004. In 1980, three, count ‘em THREE women were on the ballot – LaDonna Harris for the Citizens Party VP, Eileen Shearer for the American Independent VP, and Ellen McCormack for the Right to Life party for President.

What made me so angry, as a Green Party voter and as a citizen who has to search the web and read The Guardian to keep myself informed, is that because those women were all third party candidates, they get swept under the rug. But what is even more infuriating is that Former Vice President Walter Mondale ran against incumbent Ronald Regan in 1984 and Former Vice President Walter Mondale selected for his running mate Geraldine Ferraro. Mondale was the Democratic candidate and Fox news can’t even remember Ferraro’s name in their broadcast.

What started out as a rant about third party candidates being ignored and pushed aside, about the statement that “a vote for a third party candidate is a wasted vote,” has somehow developed into a women’s equality tirade. No matter how you look at it, though, Ms. Sarah Palin is getting entirely more press than she deserves. Probably because no one figured Mondale stood a chance at beating Regan….McCain has in his corner, at the very least, a sect of our society who wouldn’t vote for a “colored person” for all the pickled pig’s feet on Earth (yanno what, everyone else is playing the race card, I can too…..P.S. Cynthia McKinney is also African-American). McCain might actually have a chance in this race. So what Fox news at 9 should have said is “Sarah Palin is the first woman ever on a Presidential ticket who actually has a prayer of getting into office…..” Because you know that’s what they really meant.

Until next time, I’ll be packing. I’d rather take my chances with the IRA in Belfast.
Crimson

I watched a rerun of the X-Files last night and one particular scene got me wondering. I came into the episode late so I am not sure what caused the animosity between the two characters but a woman was at a funeral for her brother and a man wandered in to pay his respects and the woman threw a fit. It makes me wonder why people can’t allow other people, who aren’t hurting anyone else, to just exist.

Why are we so worried about what other people do with their own lives? Why can’t we just exist inside our own lives and let others exist in their’s and be happy with that? I don’t mean we should not pay attention to the world around us. I am not suggesting we should confine ourselves to bubbles and stick our heads in the proverbial sand. I am saying that we need to not be so concerned with the personal lives of people who are not part of our personal lives. It is one thing to be concerned about a friend or relative but it is another to trouble ourselves with the behaviors of people who are no more than our acquaintances. Or, more importantly, people who aren’t even that much.

It’s not just about being angry that someone we (we being me or you or Joe Smith) don’t like has come to a funeral to pay respects to someone we (we being Joe Smith and the person he doesn’t like) both love. It’s about Pro-life fanatics and Truth.com. It’s about the National Enquirer and TMZ and all of the other tabloid magazines at the newsstand and on television inundating us with the intoxicated antics of Paris and Lindsey and Britney or with Love and Mischa’s cellulite. It’s about The Real World and Big Brother.

Interfering with lives that aren’t ours to interfere with is not a new concept; people have been doing it for centuries. But just because people have been doing it for centuries doesn’t mean we should still be doing it. We are enlightened, industrialized, rational, logical human beings. We are also the only members of the animal kingdom who indulge in the pain and suffering of our fellow creatures. Other animals inflict pain on each other in their fight for domination of the pride or pack or murder but they do it to survive. Humans are possibly the most animalistic of animals (by colloquial definition of the word “animal”) because we not only inflict pain on each other for our own enjoyment but we enjoy watching other people inflict pain upon each other (or in the case of Parindsney, upon themselves). We relish it, thrive on it, live for it.

This is a short rant today because, like I said, this has been going on for as long as man has been walking erect. Complaining about it isn’t going to make it change. The best I can do is try to lead by example and change the channel when the Truth.com commercials come on because they are no better in their approach than the tobacco corporations they are speaking out against. I will live my life in my way and not allow the way I choose to live to interfere with the way others around me have chosen to live. I will make a concentrated effort to not give a flying fig about which gutter Parindsney found herself floundering in this morning or about what the cast of the Real World: the Moon is going to do for their collective job or which one of them is sleeping with which other one this week. And hopefully, through my example (or these words) I will be able to inspire at least one other person to exist solely within his own life as well.

Until next time, I will be minding my own business -
Crimson

“All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field.” ~Albert Einstein

So it’s obviously campaigning time. I know this because of the thousands of signs in yards, the barrage of TV commercials telling me that the Democratic or Republican nominee for county seat is actually the nephew of Satan, hot men knocking on the door while I’m doing yoga with a friend telling me that Dem. John Smith will fix all my problems, and the rush of typo filled ignorant email forwards swearing that Obama is the Anti-Christ. (One of these days I will make a list of the supposed anti-christs and see what number we are up to now.)

If you haven’t received these emails count yourself lucky. That or take all your friends and contacts out for drinks. They deserve it for not spreading this smut. But for those of you that haven’t read it, let me sum them up by saying they attack his Muslim heritage, his families history, quote his book (but I’ll get to that in a minute), and spout bible verses.

Just so you know I’ve read the book that the writers take their quotes from and they are extremely out of context. Yes those are his quotes, but there are other things added with it that have been magically left out. I mean that just shocks me that an anti-Obama email would leave out positive things or cut short the point that he makes. But all that aside, I just want to mention that the quotes used are things he said are in past tense. He’s speaking of previous times in his life. Goddess knows that we all use to believe things and think things that we no longer agree with now.

More over I don’t care which person you vote for they both have encouraging, and damning records. They both have ugly things they shy away from. I won’t argue with you on the fact that Obama has little experience. I won’t argue when you tell me that McCain has no idea what human equality should be. I won’t argue with you on the fact that they both have pitiful ideals on energy conservation, the war in Iraq, and fixing our economy. I won’t even blink an eye when you all try to sway what my vote will be.

I will however judge you to be a myopic, unaware human being when you try to sway me using racial issues, religious belief, or the history of someones family. Are you the exact thing that your brother, sister, father, mother, or aunts and uncles are? Or would you rather tell me that you’re family is perfect? Or that you would disown them if what they did hurt your chances to be a leader of some sort? Despite my family’s history I wouldn’t do such a thing.

Perhaps we should judge him because he’s a Muslim? Never mind the fact that he has converted to Christianity. Because once you start with a religion that’s all you can be. That’s why I’m still a God fearing Bible thumping Baptist with no idea of what any other religion entails. But back to the Muslim thing, I mean everyone knows that Muslims are responsible for all the bad things in the world, it isn’t a secular group of over the top psychotic people or just singular bad people that do horrible things. Nope not at all. I mean if that was the case there would be Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Pagans in prison too or being executed and since that never in the history of the world has happened it must be all the Muslims.

Despite the fact that people are so against Obama because they think he’s going to destroy the world as we know it, how many of them voted in the primaries? The excuse that they don’t matter is invalid. Because they are just as valid as the election in November.

So all I’m saying is think about the things you are reading and sending before you press the forward button, pick up his books and read them, Read news sources other than Fox or MSNBC, Read foreign newspapers about the state in the world, Look at the candidates voting records and where they stand on the issues. Try to verify things being said in the forwards if you just have to send them all. Most of all try to remember that your negativity does nothing but breed more negativity and ask yourself is that what we really need in the United States or anywhere else in the world?

Until next time, I’m just saying.
autumn

]]> http://beshameless.net/archives/2008/06/26/well-be-ok-as-long-as-you-quit-sending-email-forwards/feed/ 1 http://beshameless.net/archives/2008/06/01/catching-up/ http://beshameless.net/archives/2008/06/01/catching-up/#comments Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:30:29 +0000 autumn wonderful wonderful doctrine the sale doctrine golden slip by � james matthew barrie so wed the democratic fucking primaries you picked david cook david cook moving letting the golden hours slip today sale day http://beshameless.net/archives/2008/06/01/catching-up/

“You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.” ~James Matthew Barrie

So, um, hi there! It looks like I have officially broken my resolutions again. I am so super slamming at that. I’m not going to make excuses or try to talk my way out of it. I’m not even going to try to charm you all into forgiving me. I mean after all intelligent, beautiful, understanding readers such as yourself would never fall for something that cheap… heh.

Anyways, lets get back on track. There are three things that I want to talk about today. One having to do with a special meaning of today, and another is a little bit of religion news (that’s fitting since it’s Sunday). I’ll will get to those in just one minute.

First, I have to say something. A couple weeks ago important votes were cast. We were given the opportunity to make an important decision. We made the right one. Congratulations America, you have restored my faith in you. For you picked David Cook as your next American Idol! ::cheers, and fan-girls out::

Ok, ok that was horrible of me. I know, I should have been talking about how gay Californians were allowed the right to wed, or how the Democratic fucking primaries are still going on. Trust me, before its over with I’m sure I will. But I needed a little silliness. I’m happy about the decision made in California, but how can I talk about that without writing about all the negative backlash that followed? How can I mention that without saying that ignorant assholes are already trying to get the decision changed? I just wouldn’t have been able to. Likewise, I don’t have anything positive to say about the Democratic primaries. In fact, I am so disgusted with everything going on there, that I probably shouldn’t speak of it at all. So, I’m ignoring all of that for as long as I can. I’m taking this moment to enjoy the fact that a man whose music I love received the recognition he deserved. So HOORAY for David Cook.

Moving on, Friday the Vatican issued the statement that any Catholic women who attempted to become ordained as a priest, or anyone who ordained the women would be immediately and eternally excommunicated from the Church. Do I really need to tell you how much this pisses me off? I mean I know the reasoning behind it. Christ only had men as his Apostles. Therefore Catholicism decided, since J-dawg, only hung with the boys, that women couldn’t be spiritual leaders. I’ll never understand how a church that holds such respect and praise for one woman can ignore all the needs of other women. Granted, the only thing useful that woman did was bear a child. But, if nothing else this is reaffirming my disbelief and outrage of sexism in the church.

Finally, today is First Sale Day. It’s a day that affects all of us without most ever knowing. As a little proof, did you ever check out a book at the library? Accept a friend’s cast off of a book or CD? Shop at a used book or music store? I’m sure you have said yes to at least one of those. If not, what the hell is the matter with you? Stop reading this and go to the library right now. At any rate it’s thanks to First Sale Day that we can do this legally.

You see 100 years ago today there was a Supreme Court case. This case was Bobbs-Merrill v. Straus and became known as the first sale doctrine. This wonderful wonderful doctrine says that the owners of books or other copyrighted items have the right to dispose of them as they see fit. Which means I can sell them, donate them, lend them out, give them away to friends, rip out each page individually paper my wall, or what ever the hell I want. Guess what else? Even if there are notices saying that buyer that the item is conditionally licensed, that little doctrine is still in effect. It is still part of the Copyright laws. If you want to read about First Sale Day a little, ok a lot, more in depth go read this wonderful article at Everybody’s Libraries.

Until next time, I’ll be at the used bookstore

autumn

If writing is my life, music is the breaths I must keep to sustain life. I love music, have spent my entire life with music and can’t understand how others don’t feel the same way I do. William Congreve’s full quote, which is often misquoted and almost always truncated, is, “Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.” Those are words by which I live my life.

In the first week of live shows on Fox’s 3000 pound gorilla known as American Idol, the contestants, ranging in age from 15 to 30-ish, sang selections from the 60′s. Unfortunately, it does not surprise me that three of the four eliminated from the competition in this the first round of audience participation were under the age of 20. Kids today…Whoa! Who said that!?….Kids today know very little about music history. I’m not talking Brahams and Bach music history. I’m talking MoTown and Detroit Rock City (yes, I realize, they are the same place but with two totally different meanings in terms of music) music history.

At least two of the contestants openly admitted that they had never before heard the song they had chosen to perform (which, I guess, was balanced out by Simon admitting to never having heard Baby, Please Don’t Go by Muddy Waters *shrug*).

Today at work, my boss regaled me with an anecdote about her sons (aged 17 and 20) admiring the quality of “this new song,” a song that had been released when their parents were in high school. She didn’t tell me what the song was and I didn’t ask; the point of the story is that they didn’t even know it wasn’t a new song. She told me one other time about helping the younger of the two load songs onto his iPod. He was astounded that she knew most of the songs he was picking out and even more so when she told him she grew up with those songs. Again, she didn’t list titles and I didn’t ask.

Some of my earliest memories include sitting on the floor in front of my parents’ stereo, listening to a golden oldies station on AM radio. I’m not exactly a spring chicken; music from my childhood has now found its way to the oldies station line up; but I am young enough to have been born after AM radio, 8-tracks and, to some extent, vinyl. But I still know what all of those are and understand there are situations where they are better than CDs and MP3s. Granted there was no way a Sony Walkman could give you 1000 tracks at time or fit comfortably in your hip pocket but when they came out, only the coolest kids had one.

I think the part of it that saddens me the most is that the current high school and college generation, the group who will, before long, be running this country, know nothing of the music that has shaped it. No, the survival of our nation as a whole is not hinged on knowing that without slave hymns we would have never gotten jazz and without jazz there would never have been rock and roll or r&b and without r&b they would have to find someone other than Fiddy to teach them about ghetto violence and illiteracy, but it is a huge part of our history. And a lot of people, I won’t even condescend to say young people but people in general, don’t know about the progression towards rock and roll. They might know Weezer’s Buddy Holly but have never heard about Buddy Holly’s Peggy Sue.

I don’t expect anyone to have as much trivial knowledge about any one subject in their head as I have in my own but the lack of general knowledge of music and the music history that has shaped our nation’s history and, subsequently, who we are today truly breaks my heart. I guess I have said all there is to say on the subject. Until next time, I’ll be listening to the classics, both new and old. I hope you’ll join me in a sing along.

Crimson

Okay, so as time progresses and we all, dare I say it, get older. We tend to realize that of the many ways we can continue to fuck up our lives, relationships seem to be a kicker. So for the next few weeks (or months or years depending on my own work ethic) I’m going to be writing my own little guidebook on how to deal with common everyday relationship issues the shameless way. (Please note that I actually completely suck at relationships, and I do not guarantee that any of my advice is valid, in fact it will probably make things worse and antagonize already fragile situations, but at least it was an entertaining read)

For the first chapter I decided that communication would be my focus. So I devised a list of situations and tell you how I would handle them. Here goes:

1 . You haven’t heard from your partner in a week and have gotten no response to your attempts to contact him or her. The Right thing to do: Patiently await a response, if none is received, send a message of concern and let the person know you are worried, but will take a hint and move on. The Shameless thing to do: “FUCK that jerk I’m getting laid tonight!!!”

2. You and your partner get into an argument and it has come to a standstill with no compromise in sight. The Right thing to do: Wait until you both have calmed down and discuss the issue like adults, even if it means you agree to disagree. The Shameless thing to do: “Dammit, why won’t you just admit you’re wrong and get over it so we can have make-up sex already!!!”

3. You’re having a bad day, you come home and your partner has just made it worse by saying something completely demeaning and belittling. The Right thing to do: Calmly communicate that you’ve had a hard day and inform them of how their behavior has made you feel . The Shameless thing to do: Find something of their’s of value that is kind of heavy and probably breakable and throw it at their head, then curse yourself for missing. (Unless you actually hit them, in which case you will need some trash bags, bleach, and a car with a large trunk)

4. Your partner is upset with you because you have not allowed them to meet your family. The Right thing to do: Tell your partner to be patient with you, and re-enforce that you are not embarrassed by them, but you need time to prepare yourself for that step in your relationship. The Shameless thing to do: “If you’d take a damn bath and get a job, I might consider it!!”

5. Your partner comes to you and tells you something that is bothering them about you, with hopes that you both can talk about it and work it out. The right thing to do: Listen to their complaint, use this discussion to get your complaints on the table and work together to improve. The Shameless thing to do: Tell them that you will never change, and if they don’t like it they can go fuck themselves. Don’t forget to add in everything that is wrong with them that is expected to change or you’ll kick them out on their ass.

That’s all for now, I hope you have enjoyed chapter 1. Fell free to comment with your own Shameless Relationship Advice in the future

So, the title is a little windy…sue me or get over it.

The United States is a nation of freedoms and democracy where the people are not only free but encouraged to govern themselves. A government �of the people, by the people, for the people,� isn�t that what Lincoln called it in his Gettysburg address? So why then are we not allowed to make our own decisions? Why are city councils deciding we, as consenting adults, are no longer allowed to kill ourselves with our cancer sticks while we feed our alcohol addictions? Why are state Senators telling women they cannot make decisions regarding our own bodies?

This of the people, by the people thing really gets me stirred up. I realize that we can�t put everything to a vote or we�d never do anything in this country but hold elections. But issues that directly affect us, affect our lives, affect our freedoms; issues such as where and when we can smoke, if and how we can abort a pregnancy; should, without question, be put to a public vote. Not only be put to a public vote but the vote should be publicized and made known to everyone of legal voting age. For at least a week, if not longer, before the vote is held it should be plastered all over the local news stations, the newspapers, fliers stapled to telephone poles� That way if you don�t vote, you have no reason to complain about the results and no excuse for not voting.

In this country, people are made to find information on their own. Which is all fine and dandy if you know where to look…or want to take the time to look. But the problem is people either don�t know where to look, don�t want to look, or don�t know they have to look. Governments know this and hide announcements of public issue voting on page 14D where no one bothers to look. That way, they have met the obligation to inform the public but no one ever set a standard of how the public should be informed.

What brought me to this rant? One more U.S. city has enforced a smoking ban as of 10:00am local time on January 11. Louisville, KY has joined the list of smoke free cities. Okay, I am a smoker living in a smoke free city but that�s not the reason it ticks me off. Well, not the whole reason, anyway. When I was in college, the city I was living in at the time implemented a ban. Within a few short months one cocktail waitress (er� �server�) was raped and murdered and another severely beaten on their cigarette breaks at work because they were no longer allowed to smoke inside the bars where they worked. In a city of roughly 100,000 people. Some barkeeps in the area started sending bouncers outside anytime their waitresses left to smoke. Others simply refused to adhere to the ban, stating that they were not putting the welfare of staff and patrons at risk over a ridiculous law they had nothing to do with in the first place.

Ban supporters will say that smokers can quit or smoke in their cars if they are concerned about their safety. But in some cities, smoking in their cars is not even an option. In some cities, government officials are considering (and in others, they already have) widening the jurisdiction of the ban to include public sidewalks, parking lots and�yes, boys and girls, private properties such as cars.

If someone tries to tell me that I cannot sit in my car with my windows rolled up and hotbox myself into an early grave, they are going to be met with a severely unpleasant response. No one asked me if I wanted cigarettes and smoking to be outlawed and if they had they would have heard a loud and resounding, �Hell no!�

To bring the whole rant full circle, how can we conscientiously send military troops to foreign countries to implement democracy, a government where the citizens are free to make their own choices, when our choices and liberties are stripped from us right and left?

“Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood.” – William Penn

Hello again my lovelies. I hope that Ethan’s last post didn’t cost you all to much time. At the least, I hope that it cost you less time than me. That’s why you haven’t seen me in weeks. I’ve been correcting all of my tags, and I’ve been reviewing grammar rules. I may even make Ethan proof read this so that I don’t look like a complete moron. Which is bound to have happened in some of my previous posts.

But, lets sit and discuss his post for a minute, shall we? I’m interested in hearing what you thought of his post and what you gained from it. Meanwhile, I’d like to tell you what I learned from it. Grammar aside, it is very important that you choose your words correctly.

Misspeaking can change the whole meaning of your statement.. It can make you look ignorant, racist, uncompassionate, or just a plain ass. I was having a conversation last night with someone who loved to throw the word faggot around. You have to understand that when you use that word, despite the feeling behind it brings up negative emotions.

Yes in this case that was his intent; to be insulting, to display negative feelings about something that he didn’t like. Once I objected he continued to try to justify his choice of words by making the statement that it was ok because he uses that word to �insult straight people.� And, that it was ok because he had gay friends.

Let me point out the flaws in his retorts. First off, if you feel the desire to insult someone wouldn’t it be better to point out their faults? I mean seriously if you want to piss them off just �read� them. Point out their horrid choice of dress or their lazy eye. Something that will connect to them. I don’t condone meanness or insults, but wouldn’t that be the best way to go about it?

Secondly, I have gay friends is no excuse. In that case you should hold the word with more respect because of the times your friends have had it thrust in their face. Many times they were hurt by that word, why let it breed? Taking a line from Ethan’s book… I have had friends of other ethnicities, but I don’t use the words nigger, wetback, coon, beaner, chink, haji, kyke, wop, etc.

Needless to say his arguments became more ridiculous after that, until he realized that I wouldn’t bite any of them. One that astounded me the most was �Well, I’m for free speech�. Yes so am I but I’m also intelligence, compassion and understanding.

Until next time, I think the gene pool needs a little bleach,

autumn

There are few times I get aggravated with grammar while browsing online. I know that the educational system in this country is seriously lacking in many areas, however, is it that hard to teach our young people their own language? We really need to revamp the educational system.

I let the more than occasional error of ending a sentence with a preposition slide. We’ll leave that for a later post. Hell, I even do it when I’m lazy. Most do.

I am, by no means, a grammar expert. However, I do know how to use “I” verses “me” when tagging a photo I have uploaded for the world to see. I see this way too often. I know you do as well.

Just think about a friend’s Picasa, Flickr, Photobucket, Myspace, Facebook, etc. Think about a photo of that friend and someone else which has been tagged with a description. More often than not, the description will say something like, “Joe and I” or “Jane and I skiing”. I know that many people think this is correct and feel “smarter” when they use “I”. However, it is horribly wrong.

If you’ve made this mistake, here’s a hint for you. Take the examples above. If you can leave off the “Joe and” or the “Jane and” and say the rest of the description and it makes sense, it’s correct. So for the first example, you’re left with “I”. Incorrect. Second example, you’re left with “I skiing”. How does that sound? Exactly. It’s wrong. Go look at your own photos and see if you’ve made the same mistake. I trust you haven’t.

Support Article: here

ethan

Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday

Well, it�s a Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday
Whatever you do, watch what you say
If you�re easily offended well that�s okay
It�s a completely non-offensive and politically correct holiday

We catch up with our three cowboys one cold December night huddled around the camp fire.
How �bout we sing some holiday songs?
Yeah, hey George, you wanna lead us off?
Yeah, I got one.
Oh Chri- BLEEP -mas tree oh Chri-BLEEP-mas tree how lovely are thou branched�
Why am I getting bleeped again?
Haven�t you heard guys?
You can�t say Chri-BLEEP-mas you gotta say Holiday
I can�t say Chri-BLEEP-mas?
No you might offend somebody.
Who is offended by Chri-BLEEP-mas?
You know you might offend the BLEEP and the BLEEP and the atheists.
What?

Time to politically correct.
I�ll lead this off.
On the first day of Chri-BLEEP-mas my true love said to me�

Jimmy, are you listening?
What?
You can�t say Chri-BLEEP-mas.
Why not? You can say BLEEP on the last record.
Why can�t I say Chri-BLEEP-mas?
I didn�t make the rules.
Hey listen guys, it�s not that difficult, all you gotta do is change Chri-BLEEP-mas to Holiday.
You know, instead of saying white Chri-BLEEP-mas, you say I�m dreaming of a whi-BLEEP Holiday.
Why did I get blipped?
You�ve got to say Caucasian.
So I have to sing, I�m dreaming of a Caucasian holiday?
Sure, that won�t offend anybody.

Well, it�s a Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday,
Whatever you do watch what you say
If you�re easily offended well that�s okay
Why do these people have to feel that way?
How come they get offended so easily?
It�s a completely non-offensive and politically correct holiday
I�m just trying to come up with a song here.

Let�s sing one together, everybody ready?
George?
Ready.
Bill your ready?
I�m ready.
Jimmy? Jimmy? Jimmy?

Okay!
We three kings of BLEEEEP are bearing gifts we�ve traveled real far�.
Sorry boys, you have to say Asia now.
What?
Oh, come on just try.
We three kings of Asia are�.
That sounds like horse BLEEP
Oh lord, okay.
How �bout Little Drummer boy?
Nope, that offends short people.
And you can�t say drummer �cause that will offend real musicians.

How �bout little �hahaha- town of meddle hell.
What�s this with all the short jokes?
Hey how �bout we do Silent Night?
No, it�ll offend people who�s hard to hear and afraid of the dark.
What did he say about a shark?
SHARK? This happens every year.

Well, it�s a Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday,
Whatever you do watch what you say,
If you�re easily offended well that�s okay,
It�s a completely non-offensive and politically correct holiday.
Hohoho!
No.
I can�t say ho?
No you might offend some women.
So basically we can�t sing anything?
I think that a bunch of bull BLEEP.
Softer George it�s more effective.
(in a quieter voice)I think that a bunch of bull BLEEP.
You now what? I don�t care who we offend,
I�m gonna sing Chri-BLEEP-mas carols if I wanna sing Chri-BLEEP-mas carols.
Louder man it�s more effective.
I don�t care who we offend, I�m gonna sing Chri-BLEEP-mas carols if I wanna sing Chri-BLEEP-mas carols.
Me too.
We wish you a merry Chri-BLEEP-mas, we wish you a merry Chri-BLEEP-mas, we wish you a merry Chri-BLEEP-mas, and a happy ne-BLEEP year.
We can�t say new; it�ll offend the old folks.
And you never wanna offend them.

It’s funny…on the surface. But dig a little deeper and you will find that the world (no, really, it’s the whole world not just our little corner of it, as can be seen here) has gone completely bananas over the winter holiday. What brought this up, you ask? Mi madre (somebody better hit the SAP button and fast!) was listening to the radio this morning and the DJ’s were discussing the local Mall Santa and his overalls and “ha, ha, ha”….I’m sorry, but what on Gaia’s green Earth is offensive about a red velvet suit with fur…nevermind I just answered my own question.

I guess our local Santa has gone overboard in forgoing his red suit for a pair of overalls but Santas all across the globe are being advised that “ho, ho, ho” might, and I quote, frighten children and offend women. Santa offends women but they keep letting Fiddy make records?

Here’s the thing, boys and girls, the point of Christmas, or “the Holidays,” if you prefer, is to be with loved ones, give gifts (“gifts” here does not necessarily mean toys and games and baubles and things, it also means care and comfort and time and warmth), and celebrate life. Whether you believe it to be the birth of a savior or the rebirth of the Earth, it is still a celebration of life and of love. The point is NOT to bitch and complain that the corporate office of Home Depot has banned any “religious” music from their stores at holiday time or that WalMart DOES play religious music. The point is NOT to be offended by something Santa Clauses said before there were garden hoes much less pimps and hos.

I just want to go back to when things were merry. Dinner with my whole family, carols around the piano (so what if I forced everyone to play this game with me?! It still happened), spots before my eyes (Grandma had an old 60′s model camera with real flashbulbs so I was 10 before I figured out spots were not a normal part of everyone’s Christmas), homemade cookies and candies and cocoa, snow (somewhere in all of this PC-ness, we got rid of the snow too). I hate snow but it really adds a little something extra to Christmas Eve. I miss velvet dresses and patent leather shoes and brightly colored boxes with bows and the half-hour long Chuck Jones animated Grinch and Cindy Lou Who. And I miss seeing the fat Santa (Yes, I said FAT Santa, DEAL WITH IT) at the Mall.

And she muttered as she wandered off sadly, “Happy Non-religious Day off from work to all, and to all a good night.”
Crimson

“Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others even as we respect ourselves.” — U Thant

Wow, have you all noticed the regular updates? I’m thrilled that we seem to be falling into a system where writing is getting done. Most of that is thanks to Crimson. I think that I have finally convinced her to become a regular author instead of an occasional contributor. Ok, ok so I begged, bribed and eventually threatened. But, hell whatever works. So welcome her to the team, and show her what wonderful readers you really are.

Speaking of work, Ethan is tweaking a few things on the site. While you may not notice this visually, it’s really great stuff. He may have a great surprise where you can search for posts by author name. I’m not making any promises, but hopefully that will work out.

Now moving on to what I want to bitch about today. I’ve actually been thinking of posting this story for awhile now, but I had to put it to the side a few days. That way I could actually write something other than “Oh those stupid fucking bastards, what devil did they sign a deal with to prevent being assassinated.” Along with my personal favorite curse words. I think that I’m to that point now, but we’ll find out together.

So by now, you all know who I’m talking about when I say Fred Phelps. Yes the antichri… er um… the evangelical preacher of Westboro Baptist Church. The once civil rights lawyer. Now, I’ll give you time to pick yourself up off the floor…. steady? Ok good. Yes I did say that this evil bastard use to be a civil rights lawyer. He worked on behalf of African Americans for various suits. Also notably, he sued then President Ronald Reagan for appointing an US Ambassador to the Vatican. Phelps claimed that this failed to be separation of church and state. He was eventually disbarred in 1979 for committing perjury.

So what the fuck happened? Did the disbarment affect his mind so badly that he became a living scum? I don’t really know how the switch happened. I’ve run across dozens of theories. So instead of listing them here, I’ll leave it to your imagination. We do know that he is anti-gay, anti-semitic, anti-sweden, anti-canada and against flag idolatry. Fred Phelps refers to the United States as “A sodomite nation of flag-worshiping idolaters.”

But on the other hand, he supports Fidel Castro for his response to homosexuals. He also was a temporary fan of Saddam Hussein. He wrote letters to Hussein complimenting him and asking to come to Iraq and make a speech. When his request was granted Phelps and the other members of the insane lunatic gathering then traveled and proceeded to protest the US. The love affair was short lived however because after Saddam was hanged Phelps released a video which stated that both Saddam and Gerald Ford were now in hell.

Phelps has targeted many people and groups with his infamous protesting. and his favorite seems to be funerals. Some of the targets include Jim Wheeler, Matthew Shepard, Diane Whipple, September 11, 2001 victims and those involved in rescue attempts, Gwen Araujo, the Columbia disaster, Fred Rogers (who the fuck can be against Mister Rogers, for crissakes), Americans killed in war (over 80 funerals so far), Canada (Phelps has a website strictly for this and many of the others but I refuse to post them), Ronald Reagan, Reggie White, Pope John Paul II, Averett University graduation ceremony, 2005 London terrorist attacks (their victims and rescuers), Hurricane Katrina victims, Sweden, William Rehnquist, The Sago Miners, Coretta Scott King, Sam Brownback, Michael Guest, Pat Roberts, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Ed Rendell, The Amish School Shooting, Billy Graham, 2006 North Carolina tornado victims, Huntsville bus accident, Saddam Hussein, Gerald Ford, Nyia Page, The 2007 tornado outbreak victims, Louis Theroux, Kevin Smith, Jews, The VT massacre victims, Jerry Falwell, The Cheney’s (when Mary had her Son), Craig Thomas, Ruth Graham, Keith Allen, Tammy Faye Messner, Ireland, Minneapolis Bridge Collapse, Utah mine disaster, Italy, Larry Craig, Gregory Bowman, 2007 California fires, and the Jokela High School Shooting.

Jesus fucking Christ and Mother Mary on a pogo stick. You would think that God would strike him dead to protect his image. It’s just that… Argh. Fuck, shit, damn, hell, whore, bastard, blasphemer. See what this ignorant piece of trash does to me? I can’t even think of rebuttals to the things he does. I’m sitting here waiting for him to take of the mask and be a time traveling Ashton Kutcher. “You’ve been future punk’d, bitches.”

Since we all know that isn’t going to happen I will leave you with a happier note. As of October 31, 2007 the evil fucker is 11 million dollars shorter than he was. A federal jury awarded the 11 million to the father of a Marine, who was killed in battle. Phelps had protested the funeral. Albert Snyder won the suit, and he is believed to be the first family of the fallen soldiers to do so. The jury awarded him $2.9 million in compensatory damages, $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for emotional distress. Of course, Phelps intends to appeal the decision and said “Oh, it will take about five minutes to get that thing reversed.” Well I sure as fuck hope he doesn’t. I also hope that this helps ease some of the pain that those affected by his intolerable bullshit. I also hope that others file suit and are given justice as well. I wonder could we all band together and sue him? I mean just having to read thing he has said has made my IQ drop 50 points… thus I have emotional damage.

Until next time I’m going to start plans to protest his funeral,

autumn

And to be totally honest, I don’t even get peanuts. I am on the fence about the Writers’ Guild of America strike that is, as I type these words, entering Day 5.

On the one hand, “This is not about millionaire screenwriters,” [Tim] Robbins said. “This is about middle-class writers trying to support a family and make mortgage payments” (from KNBC.com, Day 4: WGA Picket Lines Draw More Celebrities).

Okay, THAT I get. Probably 80-90% of those of us holding a BA in English and/or some form of writing from any state college or university across this great nation of ours is working at an hourly wage job, living paycheck to paycheck, and writing freelance pieces on the side at a rate of $30 a pop, $100 for the lucky ones.

But what I don’t get is striking for more money. First of all, you aren’t getting paid for striking so that’s kind of like shooting yourself in the foot. Second, speaking from the point of view of a writer, a big reason writers write is the desire to entertain. If you are a stellar waitress (pardon the PIC) but you go on strike because your boss wants half of your tips, who are you punishing? Your boss? No, he’ll just find someone else to do your job. Yourself? A little, but you can still find another job waiting tables somewhere else. Your customers are the ones who will suffer from your absence. The same is true for the audiences of these striking writers. The networks’ execs have already planned to fill the slots with reality shows because they are not scripted by WGA writers. The statement I read (and subsequently lost the link to) made it sound like they have a hundred contingencies so the writers are welcome to sit around and not get paid for as long as they would like.

I am not saying that the writers should settle but from a writer’s point of view, I am not sure that the way they are going about this is necessarily the best way.

I saw Saw. Opening night a bunch of my buddies and I patronized the local cinema to experience the latest in the Saw franchise and I have to say, “Excuse me, Sir, I’d like a refund.”

The original Saw, which opened Christmas Day, not Halloween like it’s predecessors, was amazing if not completely flawless. There wasn’t a single hole in the plot, not a moment where you said, “Hey wait a minute, didn’t he…,” thus questioning the continuity of the plot… Hmm there’s that word “plot” again. What is that word she keeps using? Merriam Webster defines plot as “the plan or main story (as of a movie or literary work [we'll discuss prioritizing "movie" above "literary work" later]).”

Story? Plan? These things were definitely absent from this, the fourth installment out of a rumored seven in the Saw series (Seven?! Are you cereal?). Of course there was minimal story which is how it qualified as “movie” and not “snuff.” You have the cop from the last movie, played by one of the Mandylor brothers (Costas, I believe – they’re interchangable, right?), and his partner who are looking for the cop from the second movie (Donnie Whalberg) who has been missing for several months. That’s pretty much it. That and the addition of cookie-cutter, by-the-book G-Man, Agent Strahm played by Scott Patterson, who my buddies and I all agreed couldn’t die or we’d cry.

You can’t kill Luke!!!

Sorry, where was I? So, Saw IV pretty much abandoned all concepts of plot and character development for the sake of shock and gore. I plugged in the original, uncut, unrated (but if it were rated it would be NC-17 in all of its uncut glory) DVD and just as I had remembered, it wasn’t like that. There was a plot – a twisted and quite impressive plot – that had gotten spattered with blood. Saw IV was a pool of blood where someone had come along and dumped out a box of magnetic poetry then shuffled the random words around with the toe of his sneaker.

I got a little off subject here. The real point behind all of this ranting and raving is censorship and how we, as consumers and movie-goers, suffer from it. I was inspired by an article in Britian’s Sunday Mail, written by Jeff Giles, regarding Warner Bros. Studios’ decision to make the upcoming Burton/Depp endeavor Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a family-friendly, pg-13 holiday romp. Basically, this writer is sick to death of capitalist censorship. The writers of Saw IV (who were not, by the way, James Wan and Leigh Whanell, which may have been part of the problem) get to splatter blood and brain matter all over the screen with no plot or direction and Burton is forced to cut out his murder scenes to appease the parents of all the 14-year-old giggly school girls who think Captain Jack Sparrow is hot stuff. We wouldn’t want to lose their box office bucks just because of a little blood and gore.

I get that a lot of money was put into this film; Burton is good at that, plus there are some pretty big names on the cast list, including but not limited to his regular faces Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter as well as Alan Rickman, Sascha Baron Cohen (who drives me batty but other people dig him so I guess whatev) and Anthony Stewart Head who plays only a small role but even so, seeing his name on the cast list made me squeal with delight. No, really, I actually squealed.

Oops, I get that a lot of money was put into the film and they’d like to make some kind of profit on it. But those of us who have been fans of the Burton/Depp partnership all the way back to Ed Wood wouldn’t care about a little blood and gore. I am not saying that without the family element it would be a runaway blockbuster but let’s face it. It probably won’t be anyway. It’s a Stephen Sondheim musical from a-way-back and musicals notoriously don’t favor well in the box office. But it’s Tim Burton and Johnny Depp for chrissakes!!!! They are amazing together!

Anyway, I guess this rant has gotten long enough and I have beaten this horse until it no longer resembles the horse it was to begin with. If anyone else is tired of seeing potentially great movies butchered in the editing room just to make a few more bucks in the box office…well, there isn’t a petition to sign, and I can’t see you throw your hands in the air, or hear you shout but you can take comfort in knowing that you are not alone in your disgust.

We all know Albus Dumbledore is believed to be gay. It’s all over the internet. While reading online earlier, I came across another video clip I hadn’t yet seen:

I immediately send the link to Autumn to get her opinion. I thought it would be interesting to post a raw conversation she and I had. Autumn gets a little heated — look:

ethan: ok, here’s what I was thinking when I thought about Dumbledore….
the conservatives freaked out at Harry Potter because it dealt with magic, witchcraft, blah blah blah….so, then when the gay thing came up, suddenly, it was ok to read/watch–when he is thought of as being straight.
so which is it?

autumn: lol, depends on which is worse at the time.
But, I always say magic is horrible and blasphemy until the Christians need, want or are entertained by it

ethan: it just pisses me off that suddenly it’s ok with them to accept Harry Potter now that there’s something “worse” than magic

autumn: I know. You know what my biggest problem with this is?

ethan: what?

autumn: Ok so Dumbledore is gay, but its not mentioned in any of the books… and
I can understand why some parents don’t want to explain it or condone it for their children. I don’t agree but I can see why in their shallow hate-filled mind that they don’t want to deal with it…So stop drawing motherfucking attention to it. It’s not in the god damned book.

ethan: right, i can see that too … why are they still making such a big deal of it?

autumn: Not to mention he’s a fictional character. I mean, when he swore off jelly beans because he ate a snot one did all the lil kids of the world quit eating jelly beans?

ethan: lol, true

autumn: and besides that… is it really kid kids that read it anymore or is it the teenager or 20s kids that followed it along since they were kids?

ethan: that’s a good point too, it is our generation that followed it. sure, kids are going to read it, but they’re not (usually, unless they’re like you) going to sit down and read all 7 books in a week. they’re going to be spaced out somewhat

autumn: Because if that’s the case the parents don’t need to worry, all teenagers will discuss ass-fucking whether or not the best wizard in the world took advantage of it

ethan: lol

autumn: But you know whats the worst of all. Rowling said that she thought Dumbledore loved Grindelwald (which if you ever read the 7th book you’ll know) but they don’t hook up they were to busy being asshole teenagers trying to take over the world. So Dumbledore never even got the dick

ethan: poor Dumbledore. that’s so sad

autumn: yep it is
hell even Hagrid got a piece of ass

ethan: i really didn’t want to have to think about that

So, there you have it folks. This has been an example of a typical conversation between us. I bring up a topic that plucks a nerve and off she goes. One never knows where she’ll land. Take this instance as an example — she left us with a mental picture of Rubeus Hagrid and Olympe Maxime gettin’ it on. Thanks autumn.

ethan

Allow me to begin with a few words about myself. Crimson is my name, writing is my game. I am an audiophile and bibliophile, all about the learning. I got myself sucked into this nifty site through a years long friendship with Autumn. That said, the story that she requested I bring to you:

Watch this video!!! Now, read this:

My first thought when this video started, with the anchorman’s “Tonight we have a warning about a teen phenomenon…,” was to hurl my computer through a plate glass window. Then, I realized that it wasn’t poor Chloe’s fault that seemingly intelligent people refuse the simple process of social education. So I set her back down and continued listening.

As I mentioned before, I am an audiophile. Music is one of the most powerful forms of communication that we have and to hear it being acosted in such a way seriously pains me. Here’s a little crash course in what these people don’t get.

First of all, a simple math problem for you to chew on. Hormones + School pressures + Peer pressure = teen angst. Raging hormones cause sexual excitement at all the wrong times. They cause disfiguring and mutiliating acne (just ask any 16-year-old with a bad case of it). They cause distracting interests in the opposite (or same, if you prefer) sex. School is all about competition. Be the best in your chosen extra cirricular endeavor, be that sports or theater or knowledge bowl. Get good grades so that you can get into a good college and then get a good job (that crock of crap is another rant for another day). Teenagers are horribly cruel animals. They will destroy each other at the drop of a hat, even members of their own pack (or flock or murder…did she just say “teens” and “murder” in the same breath?!).

Trevor Kelley and Leslie Simon wrote a book (which you can see the reporter holding in his hot little hand) called Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture. Trevor Kelley and Leslie Simon work for AP (Alternative Press) Magazine and were, just last week, on the Fuse network’s Steven’s Untitled Rock Show, talking about and promoting the book. They address many of these issues from the standpoint of journalists in the mix. They spend day after day after endless day with these emo bands, you know, the ones stirring up all the trouble. If anyone has any authority to report on the subject, it would be Trevor and Leslie, not some stuffed-shirt local news reporter from Bumsville, Utah.

Basically, here’s the scoop. Not all “cutters” are emo, not all emo kids cut. I went to high school with some of the poppiest, preppiest Barbie dolls I’ve ever met and they cut. They cut because it was the “in” thing in the 90′s. Oh wait, the in thing in the, what decade was that? The 1990′s. So, what you are saying, Crimson, is that this isn’t a new thing?

Moving on, not all emo kids wear black. Not all kids who wear black are emo (some of them are called Goths, Wizkid, and some of them listen to heavy metal and express their emotions by hitting things smaller than themselves). Not everything starts with the Internet, Al Gore, and emo definitely is one thing that didn’t. One of the first bands I ever heard the tag emo applied to (in 2002) was Weezer. Weezer is by no means dark or new, but they are definitely pre-Internet craze. The blue album came out in 1994…there’s that 90′s business again.

As for emo guys wearing girls’ pants and make up…Kiss was doing the make-up thing long before these kids were glimmers in their horny adolescent parents’ eyes. And, seriously, take a good long look at Nick Zinner or Tyson Ritter. Do you honestly think a guy who is 5’10 and has a 25 inch waist can find jeans anywhere but the junior girls’ department? As for “gender bending,” did anyone else notice that all of the so-called gender benders in that shot were boy-types? It seems that even when attacking the emotional issues of today’s teens and twenty-somethings, girl-on-girl is still cool.

I think my favorite part of the whole story was the blonde mother (end sarcasm). First, she calls her kid on his/her cell phone and asks, “What’s emo?” Then, after the kid explains it to her in his own words (which were obviously the blanket description of those outside the emo culture), she has to clarify, “But that’s not you, right?”

Clearly this hysteria, like most bouts of it, is being fueled by a lack of education as well as a lack of any desire to have an education. The short and curly of the whole thing is that emo culture, or music, fashion, whatever you want to call it, has made it okay for kids to have emotions. It is finally okay to be Ally Sheedy when all around you are expecting Molly Ringwald (would someone out there please help to clue in those who missed the Breakfast Club and therefore that painfully obvious pop-culture reference)

The problem is that humans have this uncontrollable need to blame someone or something for all of the bad in their cozy little suburban worlds. Do you all remember about ten years ago when Blink 182 was blamed for some kid’s suicide because the kid was playing Adam’s Song when he died? Today it’s emo music (in an aside, I’d like to find the clueless bastard who put together the AFI montage, as well as whoever gave the idiot reporter the lyrics to I Will Follow You into the Dark, and stab him or her in the head with a pencil, is that emo enough for you???), yesterday it was gangsta’ rap, before that heavy metal and video games. In the 40′s it was swing music and swing dancing. Bet you didn’t know that Count Bassie and the FREAKING jitterbug were responsible for pre-marital sex, the Great Depression, heroin…Hitler….Hiroshima…the atomic bomb….should I continue, or do you get the point?

The hell of it all is that the media understands this human need to place blame so they latch on to something hip (something that word is not) and exacerbate that need with expose’s and urgent social warnings on the local news at 9. Is it any wonder that I turned my back on journalism long ago?

I recently drove past a rural church and read their marquee:

“Members only. Trespassers will be baptized!”

The quasi-harmless message of active recruitment into the faith disturbs me. Let me explain. The fact that the congregation is actively recruiting does not actually bother me in the least. Religions throughout time have survived by spreading their faith by different means. The message that disturbs me is that the church is saying, “You’re welcome to come in, but if you do, we’ve got you.” If I were in the market for a new religion, I would not enter through their doors. I’m imagining a trap door hidden below a gaudy mat in the vestibule next to a coffee pot leading to a vat of “holy” water. Ok, that’s a bit extreme, I admit. Instead, why not send a more welcoming message that says, “Come by, check us out. If you like us, hang around.” This way, people wouldn’t feel pressured to join their membership rosters just by visiting. Granted, if this approach were taken, some religious gathering spots may begin to resemble retail outlets instead — flashing lights, soothing music, comfortable pews, etc. all vying for fresh meat and wallets.

Is it any wonder why attendance in many organized religions has slumped in the last decade? Continuing into the future beating Fire and Brimstone in Hell ((Thomas Vincent)) into the heads of today’s population will drive them away in droves. With so many other belief systems existing, it’s simply a matter of time before such religions will become the lonely minority in this country.

ethan