Oh Nostalgia

I came across someone posting an old New Kids on the Block video and it not only reminded me of my once love for the band. It took me back to the days when I rocked not one, but two NKTB watches. I had shirts, a towel, lunch box and most importantly two dolls (Jonathan Knight and Donnie Wahlberg). My parents should have known that this would just send me down a path of collecting things (which I must say is getting quite less now that I am getting older).

But the blog posting also reminded me of a Conan O'Brien sketch from years ago. It was something that we watched in Journalism and English numerous times my sophomore year of high school. And after a good, lengthy search on the internet, I finally found it (you have to scroll down and click "dudez-a-plenti's greatest hit...).

One of my favorite Conan sketches ever, next to "hasta la vista reef" and the greatest summer of the show.

Banned Books

We are in the midst of Banned Book Week (Sept. 29-Oct. 30) and I can't help but think back to the first time I had encountered the idea of a "banned" book. It must have been the summer before second or third grade and I was leaving the library with my dad and brother. There was a woman there trying to get our library to ban some books and I don't remember the specifics of the conversation, but I am pretty sure that in a subtle (or knowing my father a not-so-subtle) way told the woman she was an ignorant fool. And after explaining to my brother and I what that woman was doing there I remember thinking that she was a fool. Didn't she know about the First Amendment (my smart ass knew all about freedom of speech)? And from that moment on I was always enthralled with the idea that there were books that "challenged" and why people would be against them being on the shelves of libraries across the nation.

To me, the reasons why are ridiculous and it seems to only be a handful of people in the country who have a problem. They say that it is not appropriate storyline, language or matter that should be discussed by parents. 1) If you don't want your kid reading a book, don't let them (this obviously becomes more difficult as they get older, but it is the same argument used for violent video games or movies) 2) This is why this next generation is going to be sheltered idiots not knowing how to interact in the "real world."

The whole point of a book is the historical, cultural context surrounding it. And really its not as though books are as negatively influential as those TV shows, movies or video games. When was the last time you saw a kid paddle down the Mississippi with an escaped slave? (No. 5) Or a doll come to life or something equally as "scary" and unreal? (No. 16) And last time I checked EVERYONE goes through puberty (No. 40, 61, 95 and 58) Of course there is my personal favorite of stupid Margaret praying to get her period because she thinks that it will make her fit in (No. 62). Despite it not really accurately portraying the true pains of Aunt Flo, it is something that ALL girls go through.

Censorship is something that I am never going to completely understand, and finding the fine line of where I stand is difficult, but I do know for one thing, banning books is something I will never agree with.

Here is the list for 2006 (courtesy of the ALA):

• "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group;
  
  
• "Gossip Girls" series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language;
  
  
• "Alice" series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language;
  
  
• "The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things" by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
  
  
• "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
  
  
• "Scary Stories" series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity;
  
  
• "Athletic Shorts" by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language.
  
  
• "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group
  
  
• "Beloved" by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group;
  
  
• "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence.

Happy Friday

This is something that everyone needs to see* on mornings where they are running late to work, are bleeding from the ankles from new shoes and had a PMS filled night before





















*now obviously, I have NO IDEA if these were actually meant for me, but it doesn't really matter because it made me feel better, and so it really doesn't matter

Those who haven't learned from the past are doomed to repeat it

So I had the intentions of writing about Vogue's record-breaking ads in their latest issue having 727 pages ads out of 840 pages total. Then go off on my rant about why I don't really like Vogue and that this just ads to my dislike for the magazine, blah, blah, blah.

But after perusing the latest news updates on my homepage, I was reminded of the "Jena 6" trials that are going on right now. This got me curious to read up more about the events, trial and people involved since I had been hearing a lot about it lately. Of course it was difficult at first trying to find an unbiased website, but eventually I did and, while I am extremely upset about the blatant racism that led up and is surrounding this case, can I say I am surprised? No.

In a town where the demographic is 85% white and 12% black, where most of the black population lives in run-down, low-income housing, where a woman with a four year degree in business can't get a job as a bank teller simply because she is black (stats from bbc.co.uk), are we really surprised that the powers that be would call hanging nooses a "harmless prank"?

Nooses still have (and probably will for a long time) a huge impact on not only the black community. They even have an impact on me, middle-class white girl. I know what they signify, I know the symbolism, the connotation of nooses hanging on a tree that some black kids wanted to sit around. The fact that the rest of the town, the school board can't see and understand how this would be threatening, how this would lead to racial tension with the students is beyond comprehension.

And of course, along with all this you have everyone weighing on their opinion (myself included...obviously) and some of the blogs/articles are valid and the you have other ones like Anastasia Goodstein who thinks that a forum would have been a good idea and that if there had been a place for students to express their feelings about the nooses being hung then none of the other incidents would have occurred.

No shit, sherlock. But does she honestly think that in a town where at the high school there is a "white tree" to begin with that there are going to be people who are open to discussing race? Give me a break, shoot, those ideas don't even work at schools in the liberal Pacific Northwest, when "nigger" written in graffiti on a dorm hall and earlier in that year nooses hung as well (yep, that happened two years ago at SU). No one really talked about their feelings on race or even the issue of the graffiti, all the suggestions about having a more open conversation about race, etc. fell on deaf ears. What makes Anastasia Goodstein think that a town like Jena, Louisiana would be open to such an idea if us "liberal, non-racists" can't even do it?

There are a lot of problems surrounding this issue, and I think one of the most important ones is that no one seems to be writing about this besides the blog-o-sphere and the local papers. A search on the AP site reveals nothing, a quick Google News search comes up with the same thing. Where are we as journalist on such a major issue? Is it because I am in the PNW that we just don't seem to care? That we are "beyond" this? That it doesn't affect us?

I mean, come on, look what we did with the Duke lacrosse/rape case. This case has just as much surrounding it, yet you don't see it anywhere near the front page of the NYT do you?

Sometimes it can be so frustrating living in this world, and I know I have it easier than most


Make up your own mind:
Google News Search
Wikipedia
Democracy Now!

Observations from the workplace

I was just semi-coffee raped right now. So I get working in an office with a bunch of "computer geeks" that I would have to be dealing with things, like social awkwardness, "interesting" fashion sense, etc. Little did I know that also meant people taking my hot water that was in the middle of brewing coffee for their own cup for tea. Which, fine would be okay if there was no other way to get hot water and then was a life or death computer emergency that this person had to attend to but could only do so with a cup of hot tea. But there is and there wasn't.

Right next to this gentleman was the HOT WATER dispenser, which has the sole purpose of dispensing HOT WATER. But oh yeah, that's right there was someone else filling up their cup, so it was obviously more important to interrupt my coffee brewing then to wait the FIVE SECONDS it took for the other person to finish.

I'd like to think that the usurpage of my water was merely a mistake due to this guy's social ineptness. But another part of me thinks that it runs a little deeper, that because a) I am girl and b) I have a green badge as opposed to his blue badge that he gets to be rude and cut in the hot water line.

And I know the "girl" argument might seem a bit antiquated. I mean, hello it is the end of 2007, get over it you crazy fem-nazi right? But really, I think that there is still a lot that going on here, especially since this a tech industry job and their aren't a lot of women in this building. Plus there is this room called the"team room" that has Foosball tables, couches and such. But I have only seen guys in there, never girls, its like a "No girls Allowed" clubhouse or something.

But mark my words, I will (eventually) make my way into the Foosball room and no longer will I allow someone to take my hot water, take that socially awkward but incredibly rude computer guys

The greatest news since the last time I heard a story like this

And everyone laughed when I said they were real. But HA! who is laughing now, a woman in Texas found a Chupacabra!
Yes that is right, crazy Texan lady found the road kill of the mythical blood sucker and all my years of claiming they are real have been vindicated.

I leave you with these photos to ponder.

*editor's note: I do realize that could all be a HUGE hoax. But it is still nice to know that unidentifiable roadkill is initially thought to be a Chupacabra as opposed to like just a dead dog or something

"no one wants a one-eyed prostitute"

Three-day weekends are always more exciting when you have something like a job or school that you don't ave to go to on Monday. And man, was this past weekend eventful. I'll try to be brief in my recaps.


Saturday:

The day started off early (really early considering we stayed up late catching up with an old friend) helping a friend move. It went much quicker than wen we moved since they rented a moving truck and didn't have to keep moving lots of furniture. It gave us also enough time to shower and get down to see The Shins at Bumbershoot. They were good as the last time I saw them. And man, was the crowd who came to see them was HUGE. We definitely did not think that they would draw that big of a crowd. The rest of the day was spent wandering from stage to stage and eating our way through the shows. I got my yearly fill of elephant ears, slushy drinks, and blocks of curly fries.

The evening brought local hip-hop group Common Market, who always know how to put on a good show, whether it is a big crowd like at Bumbershoot or a small one at my alma mater. But the best was yet to come when we saw Gym Class Heroes. They were AWESOME. Travis is an incredible MC. He made each of the songs sound better than the album and not too different that you hated it. Plus he just makes me swoon.


Sunday:


This was a low-key day, until the evening when I trekked downtown to see "Superbad," which was so hilarious. You know it was funny when my companion (who I have known for 4 years) was shocked to find out that I had a loud laugh. But, it was just great. It is one of those movies you could watch over and over again and still laugh just as hard and just as loud as the first time.


But the best part of Sunday was when I was waiting at the movies I saw Mary Kay Letourneau and her husband and first kid! Yep, that's right, the same Mary Kay Letourneau who slept with her sixth grade student. Isn't that great? I almost died of excitement. (side note: I know I am going to hell for gawking...but really who fucking cares? It was MKL).


Monday:

This was another Bumbershoot filled day. Two great back-to-back shows with Joss Stone and John Legend. Both of whom were as good as you would expect. Though John was much more exciting and moving around than I thought he would be. The only downside was that Joss' mic was too low so you had to strain to hear her talk. But then again, the times that I did hear her, she was rambling on and on about finding love, etc. That all would have been more believable if she wasn't just 20 years old. Gimme a break kid, what do you know about love?


Again the middle of the day was spent killing time, eating and people watching. It was then time to go watch The Frames. Seeing them live made me want to own all their music even more. Plus they sang my favorite song from "Once." They were able also to get the whole crowd to sing along at one point, a feat that many of the bands I saw were not able to pull off.


This of course was all leading up to the grand finale of a reunited Wu-Tang Clan. Now I will admit that I am not up on a lot of Wu-Tang music, but the fact that they have not performed together in how many years and I got to go to one of the handful of shows that they were putting on, that's pretty awesome. They also did a pretty cool tribute to ODB as well.

Everyone holding their lighters or cellphones in memory of ODB. It looked much more awesome in real life

Other news not related to me:

Roddick vs. Federer= hopefully not a loss for Roddick...but really you can only be too optimistic. Next Andy, we'll get them next year.

Congratulations to my favorite author who just gave birth to her first daughter.