The End

Happiness! The End, the last book in the series A Series of Unfortunate Events came out last Friday, and I finally made it to Hasting and purchased my copy. If I didn't have a test tomorrow, I'd be reading it right now; odds are I'll break down some time this evening and use it as a break from studying.

Weekend Update

I managed to see two movies last week. The first was shown at the Union, sponsored by the Origins center, Kansas vs. Darwin. It was a documentary of the Kansas board of education's decision to add "equal time" measures to the science standards last year. I came away like I always do from those: sad, angry and depressed. I mean, this is the stuff that made me not want to be a teacher anymore. But if you know me, chances are you've already heard me rant about this subject, so I won't add any more on this.

The other was Man of the Year, Robin Williams new movie. I have to say, I was a little disappointed. It wasn't at all about what it was advertised as, first off. Robin Williams, unfortunately, wasn't quite as "on" as I expected him to be, given the caliber of his previous work. A lot of the humor, especially earlier in the movie, seemed very stiff and forced. Most of the characters are painfully unbelievable, which doesn't help that as the movie went on, a lot of plot holes crop up. So you end up with two-dimensional characters who are chronically forgetful or just plain stupid. The value of the movie lies in the small things, the wonderful wry comments and one-liners; a cast made up mostly of comedians delivers these pretty well. If you have nothing else to do, go see it. Just don't expect a masterpiece, and you won't be disappointed.

Because I like linking news stories, I'll do a couple. A story that gives me hope; a satire that makes me laugh; and haven't I (and a bunch of other people who are much smarter than me) been saying this all along?

Employees, Weekends, and More Diversions

I saw Dane Cook's new movie, Employee of the Month, yesterday evening, which for me was tonight, since I still haven't gotten a full night's sleep. I found it to be a pretty generic love story, although set in a Sam's Club type location. I dunno, it has a few good laughs, but I don't know if I'd recommend paying admission to see it. I guess I'm not a fan of love stories anyway, though there are a few I own. Sitting not 3 feet from me at the front desk is Big Fish, which I love. I'm watching Fifth Element, but you know. I own it, is the point.

In related news, I fully support movie theaters being able to jam cell phone signals on their premises. Seriously, what makes people think they're important enough that someone is not going to be able to wait until after the movie to talk to them?

I'm really getting to the point where I hate weekends. They're more or less weekdays, except a lot of my "enforced awake non-gaming" time is between 3 and 9 am. Due to that, I don't really ever want to stay up late on those nights, though I've started to do it anyway. The only night I could conceivably stay up late is Sunday, but there's class the next day, which also requires me to be awake. Stupid class. Of course, this weekend has me extra-irritable, what with 2 tests on Monday and all.

Since I don't feel like studying right now, I looked through some trailers for upcoming movies. Here are my picks. (these are links to trailers, by the way) Eragon: it's a movie based on a book I haven't read, but probably will read after I see the movie, if it's good. Stranger than Fiction: Will Ferrell is a genius, and this looks like another good one. Zen Noir: the idea behind this one delights and amuses me. Jesus Camp: I really don't know if I'm brave enough to watch this; it seems like the kind of stuff that will genuinely terrify me. Expect a long, long rant if I see it. Spiderman III: from what little I know of Spiderman, I was always a fan of Venom. Dualities always make for good villans. Apocalypto: I mention this only because it confuses me. It's Mel Gibson... so I assume there will be needless brutality. I can see Saw III for that. I won't, but I could. America: Freedom to Facism: I'm hoping for something more even-handed and lacking in cheap theatrics than Michael Moore can deliver. I genuinely see about one documentary a year; if I don't see Jesus Camp, it'll be this one. Maybe I'll get ambitious and see both. In any case, expect a diatribe if I see this one as well.

My Weekend and More Adventures in Censorship

My long weekend proved to be entirely worthless; out of the three or four things I meant to get done, I think I actually did 1.5. I plan to do the other half of the second task as work this morning, we'll see how that goes. But, I got my Shaman to 48 and played several games of DotA, and that's important too. Kind of.

I what I consider to be entertaining news, parents in Montgomery county, TX, are calling for a ban of the book Fahrenheit 451 from their daughter's classroom. Full story here. As reasons, they cite "discussion of being drunk, smoking cigarettes, violence, "dirty talk," references to the Bible and using God's name in vain." I've read Fahrenheit 451. Yeah, they discuss drunkenness. So does most classic literature, including the Bible (I include this due to the obvious religious background of the complainers). Discussion is not advocation. As for smoking, first of all, same thing as drinking; if you live in America, you can't get away from the image of smoking as being "cool". Violence: same thing, how do parents actually think they affect things by complaining about this anymore? Fahrenheit 451 is not a violent story; there's one act of violence in the book; really, find another book, great or not, that doesn't have one (again, the Bible). Dirty talk? Used sparingly, and as far as this works, tastefully. Also, I'm guessing this family has a TV in their house, and I'm guessing they let their kids watch it; therefore, if language is a concern, the book may not be the first place they need to look. As for the biblical references, one of the major themes of the book is the role of religion in society; the world of the book is a world of atheists who remember religion, and a couple of lengthy discussions are had as to the benefits and ills of religion. Be you religious or not, they're interesting and rather insightful conversations.

There are two great irionies in this story. One, the obvious one, is that Fahrenheit 451 is a book about censorship, and now people are trying to ban it. Being that the book deals with the negative consequences of censorship taken to an extreme, this makes me laugh, and it makes me a little sad. The second irony, as pointed out by the article, is that the proposed ban was suggested during Nation Banned Books week, the celebration of free speech and its triumph over censorship. The irony is staggering.

My favorite part of the story, however, is near the top. "said Alton Verm, adding that he had not read 'Fahrenheit 451.'" He's calling for a ban of a classic piece of literature, a brilliant social commentary, originally written more than 50 years ago in response to Cold War Era McCarthyism, Russian artists and writers being suppressed by Stalin, and, going back further, the Nazi book burnings that happened all across occupied Europe, and he HASN'T EVEN READ THE BOOK? In the words of Kuffs, "what a toolbox."

There's a difference between protecting children and trying to force your own preferences on other people under the guise of protecting your children. If you're really such a pretentious moron that you think your opinions are always right and that no one should think differently than you, what business do you have having children? There's also a difference between protecting children and keeping them so insulated that they're not allowed to think. Yes, keep children from reading pornographic or truly obscene material, like things that would advocate genocide or whatever. But allowing kids to read and be exposed to things that they might not agree with, or god forbid, might actually offend them and force them to think, that's not something that should be taken away. That's something that should be encouraged. Kids taught to think about the world around them might actually grow up to be adults who do the same.