Banned Book of the Day

As I said yesterday, this week is National Banned Books week. So without further ado here is today's banned book.

The Inferno by Dante Alighieri. A book that was described by Harold Bloom in the following way:

Nothing else in Western literature, in the long span from the Yahwist and Homer through Joyce and Beckett, is as sublimely outrageous as Dante's exaltation of Beatrice, sublimated from being an image of desire to angelic status, in which role she becomes a crucial element in the church's hierarchy of salvation.

In Bloom's description you can see why the book is both important and controversial. Though to be fair, Bloom is talking about the entire Comedy where the book-banning crowd want to single out Inferno.

When Faith Isn't Enough...A Little Meth Helps.

Ashley Smith, the woman who says she gained the trust of suspected courthouse gunman Brian Nichols by talking about her faith in God, was one of the great "everyday hero" stories of the past year. The everyday person who through kindness and faith is able to tame the rampaging villain is a story we all want to hear, even when it includes a plug for The Purpose-Driven Life . We all hope that in similar circumstances that we can have that powerful an affect on an individual.

It turns out that the rosy image of the innocent Daniel using powerful faith inspired writing to pull the thorn of hatred from the criminal heart, may not be exactly what happened.

According to the Washington Post, Brian Nichols asked Smith if she had any marijuana. She assured him that she didn't, but she did happen to have some meth he was welcome to share.

It's just like The Salton Sea, you can trust the tweakers to do the right thing.

Spiderman 3 Villains Revealed

Apparently, Kirsten Dunst is so high on pharmaceuticals that she blurted out the villains of the upcoming Spiderman 3 movie. During a press conference for the upcoming film Elizabethtown Dunst commented on the upcoming comic book film.According to IGN Topher Grace will be Venom and Thomas Haden Church will be Sandman.

Okay, let me get this straight...

I can believe that

Will be

but...

Can this become THIS?!

As I said...either Dunst is high or this is one heck of a misinformation campaign.

National Banned Books Week

National Banned Books Week started on September 24th and ends October 1st. You can find a list of books which were either banned or challenged in 2004 at American Bookseller's Foundation for Free Expression. Rob was/is a First Amendment attorney (Ed. Note: I know most of your cases dealt with Assembly, but it is still cool to say.) and I am for the most part a straight line First Amendment is absolute kind of guy, so please read the list and think about the possible repercussions of banning books. To think...To Kill a Mockingbird is on the list.

In honor of the week, I will feature a link to one banned/challenged book each day this week.

You Can't Stop the Signal!!!

As Browncoats have known for a long time, and the general public now knows, this Friday marks the release of Serenity by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Toy Story). This film marks a ressurection of an abandoned Television show (Firefly) in a new medium. I can barely restrain my excitement. I am soooooo jazzed and I envy every blogger who received "blogger credentials" to see this film, but I will be there Friday with the plebs as any true Browncoat should be.

In the joyful spirit of celebration we should all read this article from The Scotsman.

Quick excerpt:

Balding and a little on the chubby side, he is in his 40s and admits that the highlight of his week is when he gets his new comics, which he does every Wednesday without fail.

A man after my own heart. I am so happy I almost didn't mention Alien Resurrection, the one creation of Whedon's that makes me cringe with revulsion.

But I think this Resurrection will be a better one.

Oh, and if you want to see my Savage World RPG stats for the Firefly crew, you can read them here.

And all Browncoats are hereby commanded to purchase the Serenity Role Playing Game, which shipped to distributors September 13th.

Super-Geniuses, Federal Marshalls, and a Murderous Conspiracy!

John Rogers the Kung Fu Monkey, or as I like to call him Sun Woo Kung, has a post about a new show on Sci-Fi network called Eureka.



The picture has nothing to do with Eureka rather it is a representation of John...aka Monkey King...Rogers.

Will Commander in Chief Lead to Viable Women Candidates for President?

Many on the Right have complained that ABC's new dramatic series, Commander in Chief is nothing more than a ploy to advance Hilary Clinton as a Presidential candidate, but one group is using the opportunity to "draft" Condoleezza Rice into running for the office.

I would highly recommend visiting the website of the show, linked above, it has some very interesting "blog" articles regarding the Mackenzie presidency. The site gives insight into the direction the show might actually be heading, rather than speculations as to purposes.

Can Allen balance the duties of The Presidency with those of a wife and mother? This is a woman who resigned from congress after just one term “to spend more time with her family” (though those of us who were paying attention know that decision had more to do with congressional gridlock than familial obligations).

So if Congress was taking too much of a toll on her home life, what then will be the impact of the Oval Office? This is not exactly a job where you can leave your cell phone on the hall table in the evening and forget about work until the next morning.

Will Equal ?