Challenging My Father's Viewpoints: Why the Straight-Ticket Sucks

I know there have been a lot of opinion pieces about politics lately, but just hear me out. I won't be quite as bad as most of those.

When it came to the election on November second, I'll admit that I voted largely Democratic. But that was because the Democratic candidates were the ones I consider to have the stances on issues, arguments, and plans. It was not just because I checked the straight-ticket box on the ballot and went on with my day. No, surprisingly, I actually researched the candidates and the issues, then made my decisions.

So I was furious -- no, livid is a better way to describe it -- when my dad told me that he just voted the straight Republican ticket.

I have no problem with him voting Republican at all; that's just the way he was raised (he is a good ole farm boy, after all), and that's the way he's going to stay. My problem lies in that despite being a remarkably intelligent guy, my dad would just take the easy route on voting. And my dad doesn't usually take the easy route on anything. He has to make everything complicated. (Like slicing a stupid pizza. If it's a square, he can't just cut it into a grid. No, he has to cut it the same way you would cut a round one.)

The biggest problem I had with him voting straight-ticket was the fact that in doing so meant he had voted against Proposition B, the legislation imposing laws against puppy mills. The fact that my dad, who gets so absolutely silly over our pure-bred dog in a way that he never got silly over me when I was a child, could vote against a proposition protecting puppies and grown dogs from such cruelty almost made me cry. It didn't seem to matter to him that our Cocker Spaniel could have easily been one of those dogs from the puppy mills.

No, of course, it didn't. Because he thought it was too much of a Democratic legislation. So he voted against it. And then thought there was nothing wrong with voting no on protecting puppies.

Of course, the whole ordeal just made me livid. And it reminded me how much I hate politics . This stupid bipartisanship hasn't helped the government much at all; instead all political venues have now turned into giant schoolyard fights between Republicans and Democrats. Sides always have to be chosen, and it almost always boils down into Democrat versus Republican.

My dad asked me how I had voted. I told him, expecting to get the same reaction I'd gotten when I had told him that I'd voted for Obama. I did.

I probably should have told him that I had voted the gay Democrat ticket. He probably would have had a heart attack.
 

Migraine + Couch = No Homework + Harry Potter Marathon

This past weekend, Friday and Saturday were particularly hectic for me, so of course I wound up with an excruciating migraine on Sunday morning. Which basically meant I got absolutely no homework done and spent all day switching between naps on the couch and watching movies. Since I had all day to kill, I figured why not have a Harry Potter marathon?

Even in my headache-induced coma, I could still remember that I'm eager for Christmas break because it means I finally have the chance to go see the first half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that I've been dying to see (no pun intended) ever since the book was released. This fleeting thought was enough to make me pop in my much-played Sorcerer's Stone DVD and start the marathon as a sort of refresher course.

I ran into a tiny little problem though. Of the six movies already out on DVD, I only own four: Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Goblet of Fire, and Half-Blood Prince. This in itself isn't that bad; my favorites (GoF and HBP) are included. No, the problem lies in the fact that I've only seen Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix once a piece, and of course they're the movies I don't own. Well, drats.

But I still managed to enjoy the ones I did watch (perhaps because I've read the books far too many times to count), even with plot holes I probably wouldn't have understood if I hadn't read the books first. And it was nice to remember all my favorite parts from each of them. I'll try my best to keep the descriptions accurate.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Okay, I'm not gonna lie, but my favorite lines from this one really have nothing to do with any major plot lines. And I wish I could find a video of either of them on YouTube, but alas! no luck. But maybe HP fans will understand.

Courtesy of HarryPotter'sCauldron.blogspot.com

The first one is fairly early in the movie, right around the time Harry meets the Weasleys for the first time. Mrs. Weasley is hurrying Fred and George along, and they play the classic which-twin-is-which trick on her. But then one of them drops my favorite line in the whole bloody movie: "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother." That line would be great with just an American accent, but Oliver or James Phelps' awesome British accent makes it even better.

I knew there was a really slim chance of finding my second favorite line in the movie on YouTube, so I didn't even try. But it's dropped by another minor Gryffindor, Quidditch Captain Oliver Wood, when he's explaining the rules of the game to new Seeker Harry. I am always far too entertained by his simple line "Bludgers. Nasty little buggers." in his heavy Scottish accent.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I slept through a large majority of this one, so a lot of the details are a little fuzzy. But I can always remember this one pictured at left. Not to mention Mr. Weasley's awesome line a few seconds later: "Now tell me, Harry, what is the function of a rubber duck?"

The basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets is pretty cool too, even I hate snakes with a fiery passion. I just hope I never run into him when I'm down at the river or the lake next summer.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

For me, this one has always been obvious. Since they cut some of my favorite scenes from the movie (the Quidditch World Cup game and the creatures Harry encounters during the Third Task), I have to follow it up with a scene I know for sure is in both the movie and the book and is always good for a laugh: Malfoy the Amazing Bouncing Ferret. I'd include a video, but they've all had embedding disabled by request, so here's a link.  I also enjoy McGongall giving the dancing lesson to the Gryffindors.


Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Even though I usually hate it when random things get added into movies, but I thought the scene with the Muggle waitress making a date with Harry, who then stands her up because he leaves with Dumbledore, was a nice touch.  And the scene when Ron accidentally eats the love potion-laced candies meant for Harry, you have to admit it's pretty dang funny:




Sorry, but that's all I got. I'm lucky I managed this. Happy Finals Week! Please don't die. You would be missed.          

This Time of Year, Enough is Enough.

This is me. (Courtesy of TVSquad.com)

This post is going to make me sound like a total Grinch. But it's barely December, and I'm already sick of Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I love the holiday. I love spending time with my family and tearing into all the presents.

No, what I hate is that Christmas is freaking EVERYWHERE. There is no escaping it anymore. In fact, there was very little chance of escaping it even before Thanksgiving. It doesn't help at all that I work retail part-time. We had a few Christmas songs thrown here and there into our already-irritating overhead music selection. But that music selection got even more irritating when it switched to nothing but Christmas music. The week of Thanksgiving.

All Christmas music wouldn't be so bad. If it weren't the same six songs over and over again with a few different ones randomly thrown in. I swear, I could be at work for roughly six hours and hear twelve different versions of "Little Drummer Boy" or "Santa Baby" or "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Not to mention I just get really ticked off whenever I look at these stupid pyramid-shaped thingamajigs that basically look like trees made of red plastic ball ornaments and that seemed to be sprinkled randomly throughout the entire store. It's not really the way they look, although that irritates me, but it's the fact that they were put out on the sales floor along with the rest of the Christmas decorations at the end of October.

I've decided that we've started celebrating Christmas way too early in the year (is it too much to ask that we wait until after Thanksgiving is over?) and that there's also too much Christmas overkill. But maybe that's just the frustrated thoughts of an equally frustrated retail worker.

(Oh, and just a hint, please be nice to us. This is one of our busiest seasons, so we're doing our best, but we can't do everything. And your being rude to or impatient towards us isn't going to do you any favors at all. We have the tendency to act passively aggressive towards you in subtle ways you won't notice.)

Okay, now that I've done my little rant, I can take a deep breath and calm down a little bit. To make up for my tirade that made me seem like the new Grinch, I thought I'd share with you some of the things I DO like about Christmas. At least in the days/weeks leading up to the holiday, my favorite parts are watching my favorite Christmas movies. And I guess I'll be like Santa and make my list.

First up on the list is one that does double duty for two holidays. I usually save Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas for the month-and-a-half span between Halloween and Christmas. And even if I don't get around to watch it, you can bet I will be belting out the soundtrack in my car several times throughout the holiday season.

Courtesy of IMPAwards.com

Second up is one of my all-time favorites. I can remember watching Christmas Vacation when I was about five or six years old and laughing at all the parts I didn't understand but still thought hilarious. It's even funnier now that I actually get it. Plus, it helps that I finally realized that Rusty is actually played by the same guy who plays Leonard on The Big Bang Theory (small world and mind now blown, huh?) And who can't help but laugh at Clark's awesome, "mature audiences only" tirade?




Third on the list is another of my childhood favorites: A Christmas Story. This was an ode to all the kids who were sure they'd never get the thing they wanted most for Christmas. It's also one of those Christmas movies that used to have a full 24 hours dedicated to; now, though, I have to settle with watching it with my DVD player set on repeat. And there are so many great scenes from the movie: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid," all of the main character Ralphie's long-winded descriptions of the Red Ryder BB Gun, "the F-dash-dash-dash" scene, the tongue-stuck-to-the-flagpole scene, the "I can't put my arms down" scene, or the infamous leg lamp. (By the way,you can buy the leg lamp here.) But this is one of my favorites:




Another of my favorites is the classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Don't get that confused with Jim Carrey's The Grinch. The two cannot even be compared. Jim Carrey's version wasn't narrated by Boris Karloff and didn't have the song "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch." It didn't stand a chance in my book.

Courtesy of Aveleyman.com

A new favorite of mine is ELF. This one was surprising because I typically don't like Will Ferrell all that much (so sue me), but it still had its hilarious moments like "You smell like beef and cheese, you don't smell like Santa!" And for true Christmas Story fans, grown-up Ralphie has a brief cameo, which makes the movie even better. A new Christmas classic and the star from another classic? Yes, please.

Well, my list is complete, and if you don't mind, I think I'll go check it twice and watch some of those movies. Especially A Christmas Story. But just remember: "You'll shoot your eye out." :)

News of Dark Shadows Recently Overshadowed...

Over the last few weeks, Hollywood has mainly been buzzing with all kinds of new information about the upcoming release of the first installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Simply scrolling through all the posts on the MTV Movies Blog is enough to illustrate my point.

But there's one story I'm a little distraught that didn't raise a bigger fuss. (Don't get all judgy on me, claiming I'm not excited about one of the final HP films finally arriving in theaters; I totally am, but it shouldn't need this much publicity. After all, it is Harry Potter.) No, I'm upset that nearly none of my friends have recognized or even heard about the announcement of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton's latest project, a film adaptation of the '60s TV show Dark Shadows.

Depp & Burton on the set of their last project Sweeney Todd 

Maybe I'm just weird like this, but ever since I'd heard the rumors about the project, I've been anxiously waiting for official confirmation. So when I saw the post on MTV Movies Blog called "Johnny Depp Sinking His Teeth into Vampire Role for Tim Burton's 'Dark Shadows'," I pretty much flipped out. With the vampire's sudden popularity, I was just waiting for the day when Tim Burton would undertake a vampire project. Which is largely due to the fact that his spin on vampires probably won't be as romantic or sex-driven or cliched as most of the vampires in recent popular character.

Not to mention Johnny Depp would probably make one of the coolest, most badass vampires.

But when it comes down to it, I don't really know a whole lot about the original TV show. So I went over to good ole IMDB and checked out the summary they had, which wasn't all that helpful: "Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera, which follows the strange happenings to the Collins family and their surrounding friends. The show features everything from Vampires, to Witches, werewolves... you name it." But I have since done a little bit more research, just shy of watching the show somewhere online, and the most important thing I've learned so far is that the show circled mainly around the vampire Barnabas Collins (who will be Depp's character in the movie adaptation) and his supernatural friends who live in and around the small Maine town of Collinsport. And this doesn't tell a whole lot about the central plotlines of the TV show, but I did find the original opening credits to the show. You can check it out below:



The general storyline certainly seems like a good one for Burton to sink his claws into: A small town with some kind of supernatural beings haunting it. (Hmmmm...Sleepy Hollow, Nightmare Before Christmas, or Corpse Bride, anyone?) And of all the major Hollywood actors who could possibly get roped into the vampire scene, who better than Johnny Depp? Maybe he can do to vampires what he ended up doing to pirates.   

Talk About A Throwback to the Old Days...

I guess I'll be honest. Instead of working on the massive amounts of homework I had, I chose to procrastinate and watch one of my favorite TV shows on DVD. And the one I picked over the weekend was one of my childhood favorites, Dinosaurs, the sitcom starring none other than dinosaurs.

Courtesy of Sharetv.org

Because I was only a year old at the time Dinosaurs premiered, I'm guessing that I just always caught the reruns. But I can remember watching the show and always spouting off the trademark line, "I'm the baby, gotta love me!" (For the longest time, though, I could never remember the name of the show and could only call it "that show with the dinosaur family and the baby with the big purple eyes.")

Now, however, I can watch it and see and/or appreciate so many things I hadn't when I was younger. For instance, little me probably never would have cared that the Sinclair family and all their friends existed only thanks to the Jim Henson Creature Shop, which had also been responsible for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (another of my childhood favorites). In recent years, though, it completely blows my mind how awesome those dinosaurs looked in the days before CGI took total control over the industry.

And I know for a fact that little me also never would have gotten any of the very-grown-up references or morals. At five or six, there is no way I would have understood the jokes about the mating dance or even the drug abuse episode where dad Earl and siblings Robbie and Charlene go a little overboard eating a plant with side effects similar to those of marijuana. But, like so many of my childhood favorites, I can laugh at all those jokes I'd never gotten when I was little.

Not to mention I now remember exactly how hysterical the family baby -- fondly named Baby Sinclair -- was. In case you don't have any idea, you can check the Youtube video below of some of Baby's best moments from the first and second season:



Considering how much I loved this show growing up, I was so excited when I found all four seasons on DVD (on sale here from Amazon). And given that I've actually never seen the series finale for the show, I was a little devastated to find out that it had nabbed the number 6 spot on Cracked.com's List of Most Soul-Crushing Series Finales in TV History. But I guess a TV show starring dinosaurs couldn't be guaranteed a happy ending.   

Same Basic Plotline, Three Different Series

Lesson #226 - Vampirism, courtesy of SurvivingtheWorld.net

The fact that Halloween was yesterday combined with the fact that I am grossly behind on some of my favorite TV shows makes me realize exactly the nearly-disgusting overabundance of vampires in our culture lately. (I'll openly admit that I help contribute to this gross overabundance, but I'll have more on that later.) Seeing this picture over the weekend did little to change my mind.


Vampires are freaking EVERYWHERE. And I hate to admit this, but they're kinda starting to really bug me.

That said, I can't really complain too much. I am desperately trying to catch up with two of my favorite TV shows, one of which is currently in an off-season and the other which is currently in its second season, both of which are about none other than vampires. Not to mention, I'm also a little ashamed to admit I own the entire Twilight series and have already seen the three movies that have already been released.

But let me explain.  True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, and the Twilight franchise are my guilty pleasures. Maybe even not that guilty. But they all entertain me to some extent. With True Blood, it's the fact that a lot of the romanticism is stripped away from the vampires, which may or may not be attributed to it airing on HBO. I mainly watch The Vampire Diaries for the character Damon; his smart-ass, don't-get-in-my-way-or-I'll-kill-you attitude rarely fails to deliver. (Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so, according to this article on IO9.) And Twilight, well, it's just so bad it's almost good. Almost.

Courtesy of Photobucket.com

My biggest pet peeve about all three of these, though, is that you could basically strip away all the character names and personal backgrounds and all three story lines will still be pretty much identical, as the chart can explain. Granted, each series has its differences, but those are very few and far between.

Thankfully, vampires finally have some competition in pop culture obsession with classic horror movie characters. AMC's new zombie show, The Walking Dead (you can check out the show's site here) is certainly a forerunner to help zombies knock vampires off their pop culture throne. Which is becoming more and more likely, according to this article from Comcast.

Well, now I have another TV show I'll have to keep with every week. And I hope this one won't have a love triangle or a werewolf lurking around. 



 

I Think I'm Getting the Fear

Fall break is over (sadly), but I did use the opportunities of no classes and no work to my advantage and re-watched some of the great classics stowed away in my DVD collection. One of these was the complete mind-warp Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The movie, starring Johnny Depp and Benecio del Toro as well as a hodgepodge of other celebrity cameos, is a really intense story about two men who basically go to Vegas and spend the next several days in a illegal-drug-induced haze. The trailer from Youtube is below, but I should warn you that there's some adult material (mainly drug use, but hey you've been warned):



As disturbing and somehow equally hilarious as the movie is, though, the book is even more so. It did make one of my lists from my troublemaking post, for the explicit and gratuitous drug use and the chaos that follows. But it still ranks pretty high on the list of my all-time favorite books. I will admit that I first learned about the book only because I had watched the movie, which I had only watched because Johnny Depp was in it.

Yet between the two, the book is my favorite. I managed to find it one day in a secondhand bookstore (where it was buried in the journalism section), bought it without a second thought, and went home to devour it immediately. Fear and Loathing is one of the few books I've read where I spent nearly every page laughing because everything was so comically unbelievable. And thanks to one book, I was introduced to one of my all-time favorite authors, Hunter S. Thompson.

I want to be able to call Thompson my journalism idol, particularly for his unique Gonzo style where the writer becomes the subject and where the journalism almost becomes fiction. Thompson pushed the boundaries of his writing every single day wherever he worked (but especially Rolling Stone) and made quite the impression on nearly everyone who ever met him. That much is obvious from the numerous stories told in the oral biography Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson, which was edited by Thompson's own RS editor Jann Wenner (check out the NY Times review for the book here). But Thompson was way into drugs and alcohol to really prove himself as a good role model, so I scratch his name off my list of role models.

Anyway...back to Fear and Loathing. There's been disagreement on whether the movie is a good interpretation of the original story, but I really have no opinion on that because I'm partial to both the movie and the book for different reasons. So instead, I thought I would share some interesting trivia about both that only a sometimes-obsessive fanatic would know.

Courtesy of The London Telegraph

Trivia Fact #1: Johnny Depp, who plays Thompson's autobiographical Raoul Duke in the movie, lived in Thompson's basement for four months to better imitate the journalist. Also, Depp's entire wardrobe throughout the movie consisted of Thompson's own clothing from the Seventies, and the red convertible you can barely see in the photo at the right is also Thompson's own '71 Chevrolet Impala

Courtesy of zuguide.com

Trivia fact #2: In the first twenty minutes of the movie, we already see our first celebrity cameo, and it's fairly unexpected. Check it out at left and see if you recognize him (this one's hopefully kinda obvious). In case you can't, probably due to the bad picture, it's Tobey Maguire pre-Spiderman days with a really bad hairdo (I think I've read somewhere it's a wig). And it's impossible to tell from this photo, but Maguire's shirt has a caricature of Mickey Mouse that is identical to the one found on the same character's shirt in Ralph Steadman's original illustration for the story.

Screenshot taken from Youtube.com

Trivia Fact #3: Okay, this one really has nothing to do with the book, but it's still entertaining. When Depp and del Toro's characters go to the Circus Circus Casino (called the Bazooka Circus Casino in the movie), they pass by this statue. According to Johnny Depp, this same gorilla now "lives" in his front yard. (Which is interesting because in the book, Duke and his companion Dr. Gonzo contemplate and even buy a gorilla off some guy while they're in Circus Circus.)



Okay, I could go on and on about either the book or the movie because I love them both. But I should probably stop while I'm ahead and leave this discussion where it is. If you're wondering where I get most of this stuff, all the facts I mentioned above, as well as more entertaining trivia, can be found on IMDB's site for the movie.

So if you're looking for whacked-out, and hilarious yet disturbing entertainment, then you have to check out Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. (Just read the book first, trust me.)  And if you have read the book or seen the movie already, tell me your thoughts about it.

Sometimes I wish there was a real-life 'like' button.

What's on your mind? Just saw an amazing movie...wait a minute...


Oops. Wrong website. Let me write myself a reminder: THIS IS NOT MY FACEBOOK PAGE.


Sorry, but after seeing The Social Network earlier this week, I have Facebook on the brain too much. I thought I was bad before seeing the movie, but it's somehow worse now.


And by the way, the movie's awesome. You should totally go see it. (Peter Travers of Rolling Stone did give it his first 4-star rating of the year in his recent review.) In case you haven't seen the trailer yet or just need your fix until you can go see the movie in theaters, here's the trailer:



Sadly, though, I already knew some of the storyline before I went to see the actual movie. Not just what I'd seen on the trailers and what I'd read on the Internet. No, I'd already read most of the story in this June 2008 article from Rolling Stone, which was published not long after all of the lawsuits involving Zuckerberg and Facebook were reconciled.


Even though I specifically try to avoid reviews for any movie I want to see, I must admit that I did read a couple for The Social Network (especially Peter Travers' in Rolling Stone, but that was his fault, not mine) as well as several articles about the cast.


For instance, this article on Yahoo! Movies discusses how two different bodies but the same face played the Winklevoss twins who sued Facebook founder Zuckerberg for ripping off their idea.  WorstPreviews.com has a story about Andrew Garfield's future stint as the starring role in the 2010 reboot of the Spider-Man franchise.


But the article that threw me for a loop is this one from Yahoo! Buzz. It doesn't help that it has no picture of Rooney Mara nor does it give any information of what movies the actress has acted in before. So I went into the movie with no idea of who she was or if I'd even seen her in another movie.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I finally recognized her, about ten minutes after her character's initial appearance and then abrupt departure from the opening scene, as Nancy from the 2010 Nightmare on Elm Street remake (which was actually pretty good, despite my dislike for remakes and the movie's lack of the original's Johnny Depp character Glen). So Rooney goes from the high school student Nancy terrorized by the infamous Freddy Kreuger to Zuckerberg's (most likely) fictional ex-girlfriend who was the ultimate catalyst in the founding of Facebook. Check out the picture below with her and Jesse Eisenberg as Zuckerberg:

(Courtesy of heyuguys.co.uk)

I don't know about you guys, but I'm already dying to see it again. But I'm curious: Are you eager to see The Social Network? Or are you indifferent? (Either way, I make no judgments!)

   

A Rant to Encourage Troublemaking

Okay, I know this post is now a little outdated, but I have to say something important.

I hate banned books. Or, better yet, the idea of banning books. I think it is one of the dumbest things a person can do. And sorry to say, I won't agree with anyone who says otherwise, no matter how good of an argument they give me. I will never, never advocate banning books. Or burning them either, but that's a different topic.

Last week, I felt like I was totally sticking it to the MSU professor who wanted to ban Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five and two other books from Republic's school district's libraries. It was sad, really, how defiant I felt for reading Slaughterhouse-Five for my Theory and Practice class that same week.

Not to mention last week was the American Library Association's Banned Books Week. So in a little-late tribute to the 28th Banned Books Week, I've made up two lists: a) Books that Never Should be Banned, and b) Banned/Challenged Books that Shouldn't Have Been.  List (a) is mainly for laughs, but List (b) will be my serious attempt at arguing against the banning of books.

So here it goes...

Books that Never Should be Banned

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

Courtesy of Amazon.com

   
 This journalism/fiction work (don't even ask how that works--it's too complicated to go into now) is a shining example of why you should never combine a trip to Vegas and an entire arsenal of illegal drugs.  (The movie is also a great example of why Johnny Depp should never be bald or wear a dinosaur tail; also too complicated to explain...)

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Courtesy of Amazon.com

 The middle third of this book in particular is a gruesome example of how truly twisted, evil, and sadistic some people can be. The world isn't all sunshine and candy.

The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

Courtesy of Amazon.com

 If this series is banned from school libraries, how else are American kids supposed to learn what "snogging" is?

American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis

Courtesy of Amazon.com

  Just like 2666, this book shows us how messed-up some people are. But be warned: If you're looking for the same message with a lot less gore and violence, just watch the movie. It's still pretty bad but nowhere as horrifying as the book, which managed to make this list of The 10 Most Disturbing Books of All Time.

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Courtesy of Amazon.com

Come on, now, shouldn't everyone have access to the road map of Hell and Purgatory just in case they need to know how to get out?

Shutter Island by Denis Lehane

Courtesy of Amazon.com

Trust me, the book is even better than the movie (which was pretty hard to top, in my opinion). And everyone needs a good look at a twisted insane asylum, especially one of which Leonardo DiCaprio was given free range.

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

Courtesy of Amazon.com

 

I'm nowhere near close to even finishing this book for Theory and Practice, and already I can see why some people would probably want to ban this book. Nevertheless, students need a good book to pick up and read...and reread...and reread...and still be confused.

Banned/Challenged Books that Shouldn't Have Been

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Courtesy of Amazon.com

 

 

This American classic is often banned for profanity and racial slurs, but the often-overlooked fact is that the profanity and racial slurs were common to the era and region in which the story takes place. Besides, it's more of a growing-up story rather than a story that, according to the Warren, Indiana, school district which banned it in 1981, "represents institutionalized racism under the guise of good literature."

The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

Courtesy of Amazon.com

 

 

 

One of the most infamous banned books of all time, The Catcher in the Rye is almost always banned for its use of gratuitous profanity and because some parents consider Holden Caulfield a bad influence. But truthfully, most of the music and artists these days use more profanity and are worse role models than Holden ever did or was.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Courtesy of Amazon.com

 

Fahrenheit 451, regardless of the profanity and graphic language used, is banned because eventually the Christian Bible is burned. But one of my favorite blog posts ever points out something important about Fahrenheit 451: "It's an entire novel about the future government banning (and burning) books because they could inspire critical thought." Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call ironic.

The Adeventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Courtesy of Amazon.com

Even though they're technically two books, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn got mashed together in this list because they are usually banned for the same reasons: the use of the much-frowned-upon "n" word (you know which one I mean), and Tom and Huck aren't proper role models for youngsters. Never mind that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered one of the best examples of anti-racism literature ever written.

 

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Courtesy of Amazon.com

This one is also commonly banned or challenged because of profanity as well as racial and religious slurs. Again, though, none of those seem a legitimate reason for banning a book.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Courtesy of Amazon.com

There are so many reasons people argue this book should be banned that I don't even know where to begin. So I'm not even going to attempt listing them all. The MSU professor, however, recently claimed that the book "contains so much profane language, it would make a sailor blush with shame." (You can read Professor Scroggins's original Letter to the Editor here.)

1984 by George Orwell

Courtesy of Amazon.com

According to this list from the ALA, 1984 was challenged in 1981 because it was considered "pro-communist and contained explicit sexual matter." But it also provides an excellent insight to the future of what the world might become if we let Big Brother take over.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Courtesy of Amazon.com

 This one is challenged more than it is banned, but most under claims that it contains too many sexual references and that it is too depressing for young adults to read. But I, and plenty of other people, believe that the book is an important depiction of the desperation faced by hundreds of thousands of the Nazis' victims.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Courtesy of Amazon.com

In 1980, Brave New World was actually banned from a school district right here in Missouri because some parents believed "it made promiscuous sex look like fun" (also from ALA's list of commonly banned/challenged books). But this book is similar to 1984; both books offer disturbing views of what could happen thanks to an oppressive government.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Courtesy of Amazon.com

This one is also commonly banned for profanity and sexual references. Still not legitimate reasons to ban a book, especially an American classic like this one (And one of my all-time favorites).

Reviewing this list, I find it entertaining that some of my very favorite books make the second list: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and The Catcher in the Rye. Maybe I just like being a troublemaker, at least in the eyes of people dumb enough to attempt to ban books.

But at the same time, I find I have to agree with Dr. Fuller's response to Scroggins's Letter to the Editor.

So go on, be a troublemaker and check out a banned book. Even if it's not Banned Books Week anymore.

 

"I'm Baaaaaack..."

...so says Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

And he most definitely was last week.  The fourth season of his hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory premiered last Thursday to hysterical laughter, at least in my living room anyway.  Here's a short clip for those who missed it, but be prepared: you will probably want to watch the whole episode.

According to Big Bang Theory's unofficial website, The Big Bang Theory Site, nearly 14 million people tuned into the season 4 premiere, allowing the show to come in finish "first in its [time] slot."  So it looks like Big Bang will definitely be around for the rest of the TV season, which is perfectly fine by me.

In other entertainment news, WorstPreviews.com reported this morning that British actor Stephen Fry will play the role of Sherlock Holmes's older brother Mycroft in Sherlock Holmes 2, the sequel to Robert Downy Jr.'s pretty popular action-flick Sherlock Holmes.  Fry called the chance to play such a role "a once-in-a-lifetime thrill." (The whole story can be found here at WorstPreview's website.)

So far, entertainment updates over the last week have been pretty good.  Between the season premiere of Big Bang, the release of the trailer for Part One of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and the news of Tim Burton's Cheshire Cat joining forces with Sherlock Holmes, Hollywood has me in a really good mood.

Something Has to Change

So...I had a major epiphany this weekend when I got in my car to leave for work and blast the same old CD just as I do almost every Saturday.  The music had just started to blare when I suddenly realized that I get stuck in ruts far more often than I should.

By ruts, I mean canyons.  There are days when I will listen to the same CD or band on my iPod or in my car repeatedly until I know the words and rhythms of the music so well that I don't even need to listen to it anymore.  Then there are days, whole weekends even, when I will seriously watch the same TV show or movie on DVD over and over and over again, even though there's a pretty good chance I've already memorized every line.  When I grab something to eat from a fast food restaurant, I usually choose between two options, and more often than not, my choice never varies.

For some people, this is perfectly normal.  I know it certainly is for me. 

I'm pretty sure I've figured out why.  I am not the biggest fan of change.  I don't like it.  But I do like familiar things.  It's just the way I am.
 
And I've decided that I'm going to do something about this because if I'm not willing to change little things like my music or TV or movie or fast food preferences, I won't be willing to change bigger, more important things in my life that might lead to amazing things.  I don't want to become this poor old man.

So I think this picture, which I found while on StumbleUpon, pretty sums up how I plan on thinking from now on:

 

And I'd like some help on this.  So offer up some kinda-out-there suggestions for movies or TV shows or music, and I'll start making more of an effort to widen my horizons and maybe help widen some of yours too.

"I Can't Tell You the Secret!"

This week ahead is sure to be a good one, at least in my book.  It's not like I'm going to a friend's 21st birthday party (which I am) or have anything exciting planned (which I don't).

No, it's something much geekier than that.  This Tuesday, the third season of The Big Bang Theory comes out at long last on DVD.  And it's only one of the funniest and my absolutely favorite shows on TV.

For those not in the loop, The Big Bang Theory is all about beauty and the geek.  Or geeks, rather.  In the first season, the cute waitress Penny moves in across the hall from and makes friends with uber-smart-but-socially-handicapped Leonard and Sheldon.  The three of them--together with the smart-yet-awkward Howard and Raj--wind in a friendship that often results in hilarious culture-clashes.

Most of those clashes, the most hilarious anyway, are all thanks to the eccentric Sheldon Cooper.  Who can resist laughing at his irritating knock or his famous punch line or his geeky twist on Rock-Paper-Scissors?

After all, Sheldon makes the show.  Actor Jim Parsons has already been nominated for two Emmys for his portrayal of the lovably-irritating Sheldon, and his popularity is growing just as quickly as the show's.

So one guess what I'll be doing with my free time after Tuesday.  Besides counting down to the Season 4 premiere on the 23rd.

And tell me: Have you partaken in the hilarity of Big Bang?  If you're lucky to have done so, what's your favorite episode or Sheldon-ism?

Later, my fellows geeks!
Jess

Well, hello, Internet! 

I have to admit, I never thought that I would actually have my own blog.  It was one of those fads/trends I never really took any interest, but oh well, I guess change happens.  Anyway...so here I am!

In case you're wondering, this blog will definitely revolve around an entertainment theme.  Sorry to disappoint you if you were looking or hoping for something else, but the large majority of my free time exists around entertainment, especially movies and television and books, so I'm a bit of a self-taught expert.  But I won't bore with celebrity gossip.  Instead I hope to offer the occasionally random trivia about popular movies or TV shows, as well as enlightening some of my audience about the more obscure yet equally awesome jewels of the genres.

Anyway, most of my entries might seem completely random, but that's probably because I am one of the most random people I know.  So consider this your fair warning.

And to get a peek at some of the randomness that goes on in my head, check out one of my all-time favorite YouTube videos: The TV Theme Medley.

Until next time, Internet, have a great day!
Jess