RPGs are my favourite type of video games, so despite a tendency to play as good a character as possible, I’ve done my fair share of the kind of stuff seen in this video. So true, so funny.
During his panel at C2E2, Jeff Smith talked about Ramona DeLay’s request for Bone Vol. 4 to removed from local elementary schools in her Minnesota district:
“It just broke yesterday; I don’t know anymore about it than you do,” Smith said on Saturday, responding to a question from the audience. “She objected to the gambling, smoking and drinking and the sexiness. I feel sorry for her son. He’s going to be really embarrassed, but you know, not everybody has to like my stuff. That’s fine. But I really can’t go along with this un-American concept of banning books. Let the Nazis do that.”
And really, he’s right. This has to be awful for her kid. And like I said before, why not just ban it from the house?
According to Michelle Figueroa (a friend of DeLay’s who left a lengthy, angry comment on my previous post claiming, among other things, that people like me are the reason why there’s so much conflict in this world), we don’t have the whole story. She also encouraged me to speak to DeLay myself so I could get the full story. So I’ll say again what I said in my response to Figueroa: if Ramona DeLay really feels like her side isn’t being heard, she can email her side of the story to tara@versusboredom.com and I’ll post it for her in full. Regardless of whether I agree with her request to have the book pulled from schools (I don’t), I’m curious to know what that story is, if it’s actually being distorted the way Figueroa says it is.
In the meantime, I’m going to start reading Bone and passing it on to any kids I know.
Jeff Smith responds to effort to remove Bone from school district’s libraries
Ramona DeLay, a resident of Apple Valley, Minnesota, wants the 4th volume of Jeff Smith’s Bone withdrawn from her local school district after her son brought it home from his school’s library. In her formal complaint she talked about gambling, alcohol and tobacco use in the book, as well as “sexual situations between characters.”
Seriously? She’s taking objection with Bone? It’s being read far and wide by kids, carried by Scholastic. Banning the book is overkill. If DeLay objects to the content, why doesn’t she just ban it from her house? Or take the more reasonable step of teaching her son to think for himself and talk to him about how it relates to his values? In the local news article she said:
“That week was his DARE graduation week, and I was a little shocked that my son was reading a graphic novel that had illustrations and content relating to drinking and smoking and gambling,” DeLay said. “We’d just celebrated his graduating DARE and he was reading about everything they taught him not to do.”
Seems like that would have been a perfect opportunity talk to her son about the content and reinforce everything he had just learned. Too bad she took the way of fear and cowardice.
Parent’s complaint prompts Dist. 196 to consider withdrawing graphic novel (via The Comics Reporter)
Jorge Garcia, who plays Hurley on Lost, recently gave the L.A. Times a tour of various shooting locations on Oahu. It’s a fun trip down memory lane.
You can also catch him blogging here. It’s consistently one of my favourite blogs, even if I can’t put a finger on why.
Jorge Garcia takes The Times on a special ‘Lost’ tour
One-line review: If you like fiction but also like snark, you’ll like this podcast.
Brought to us regularly by Chris (The Smart One), Ezra (The Funny One) and Alex (The One That Knows Web Design), Read it and Weep is a podcast where a small band of intrepid guys suffer through terrible books and movies to review (and revile) them for our edification and entertainment.
I haven’t listened to all of the episodes yet, but so far I’ve really enjoyed this series. Given my love of bitchiness and hating on Twilight and anything by Nicholas Sparks, some might say it’s a natural fit with my tastes.
Check it out and let me know what you think. I suggest starting with their episodes on The Notebook, which provided me with further proof that I don’t need to go anywhere near that book or movie.
Have you ever stopped to consider that if Ophelia had a sassy gay friend, she may have opted not to kill herself? Or Juliet might have opted not to use that dagger to the midsection? Or Desdemona could have been saved from being killed by Othello? I didn’t, but thankfully the people at The Second City Network did.
A good friend and I launched a new site this week and we’d love for you to check it out. It’s called The First Time I Ever and it’s a place for people to come and share their stories about the first time they ever did anything. We already have stories about the first time someone went on a date with his wife, got a black eye and cooked.
Share your own stories and let us know about the first time you held your child, went to school, got grounded, or maybe even arrested. If it’s funny, sad, weird, interesting–we want to know. Submit your story here or email it to admin@thefirsttimeiever.com.
Ever wonder how the weather where you are compares to Star Wars? Now there’s a site that will tell you. Get your Star Wars Weather Forecast.
You’ve probably both seen the recent Tiger Woods commercial and heard of Christian Bale’s outburst from last year. But what if you put them together? Genius.
Via Jezebel
Dixie Carter died today at the age of 70. Like many, I’ve always thought of her in relation to her character Julia Sugerbaker from Designing Women, a genteel southern woman who wouldn’t bow to anyone.
Check out this clip and remember how fantastic she was:
Dixie Carter, ‘Designing Women’ Star, Dies
