craigslust.org

Is that a typo? ... -- Picture courtesy of craigslist

by blogSpotter
Craig's list is the "uber" web-based bulletin board service that has dominated the news recently -- because of an alleged craigslist murderer no less. Founded by Craig Newmark of San Francisco in 1995, craigslist is actually unsophisticated in both its appearance and intentions. With a simple text interface, craigslist just lays out all the marketing and social network opportunities for a given metro area -- the style resembles a greensheet or alternative newspaper layout. The service has been drawn into controversy recently because Philip Markoff, a dashing 23 year old medical student, was revealed to be leading a double life as the "craigslist killer".

It seems that this Philip was into gambling and girls (roughing up, robbing and killing said girls for gambling money). Now msnbc added to our knowledge base today, by saying that Philip was also into boys and cross-dressers (Dr. Phil might describe this as being pansexual). This All-American psycho was staunchly defended by his fiancée-in-denial -- "There is no way Philip could have done this," she said in desperate refutation, maybe hoping to preserve her Pottery Barn registration web site.

But investigators had the goods on Philip -- they associated his cell phone calls, his emails, his security camera images and even some "souvenirs" in his apartment with the assaults. Philip's misogynistic actions are not dissimilar to a young man here in Dallas who thought it was OK to run down a prostitute with his car. The only thing lower than a prostitute is a young man who thinks he has the right to judge and dispose of "lesser" people. The driver here in Dallas received the death penalty for his efforts; Philip might get off easier being affluent and white.

The public has been shocked by the craigslist events, illogically blaming craigslist for what happened. There are only a jillion lonely heart clubs, Usenet forums and social networking sites where similar things could've happened. We Americans like freedom of access and freedom of movement -- part of the overhead that comes with that is the risk of "stranger danger". I'm not at all defending Philip or anything that happened -- it's just incumbent upon the parties to take safeguards. Maybe meet in public or tell others who you're meeting.

The Internet has been blamed for many things now -- ponzi schemes, murders, identity theft and statutory rape to name but a few. All of these things were doable (and done) with snail mail, telephone and direct contact. The Internet just sped up the process. The Internet, like most technology is a white magic that enhances life and a simultaneous black magic that brings with it the ability to confound and destroy. Such is also the dual nature of cars, planes, mainframe computers and nuclear power. Does that mean we should banish these technical advances? No it does not. It means we should banish (or arrest as the case may be) our baser selves. And we should rise to the promise of technology -- which when applied towards its best uses, is almost like magic in the great convenience it gives us.

© 2009 blogSpotter

Family Guy Butchers a Cat

This aired on 4/19 ... -- Picture courtesy of FOX

by blogSpotter
I’ve been a fan of Family Guy for several years now. I’ve loved the fact that nothing is sacred, they tackle all taboos. I even referenced them in my most recent blog about Texas. I’ve blogged about them twice before, with one admonition that they show too much animal cruelty – one episode showed a sheep after it’s been half-eaten alive. Up to now, the shows have shown violence to farm animals, and the violence is implied not shown on-screen.

Imagine my surprise on the 4/19/2009 episode when they showed Peter Griffin kill an innocent cat (Quagmire’s pet) with a straight razor. In this “gag”, it’s supposed to be a prank where Peter is shaving the cat. But he kills the cat and then jokes about it, even holding up the animal’s severed foot as a “lucky cat paw”. The barbarism of this scene sickened me enough that I had trouble going to sleep. I abhor violence – even semi realistic cartoon violence.

Cats have long been battered, demonized and destroyed in movies and TV shows. In the National Lampoon Christmas movie, one was electrocuted. In a King of the Hill episode, a cat was portrayed as a screeching, hissing monster. Cats screech and hiss with about the same regularity that dogs go for the jugular – it’s a very rare defensive behavior. That actually should be beside the point, because wanton cruelty to defenseless animals is never justified.

When I looked at various FOX TV forums covering the 4/19 show, I was amazed to see this kind of pattern …

o Roughly 80% of respondents didn’t even mention the cat – they focused on the “A” plot about decriminalizing marijuana – how could the cat not register??
o Roughly 10% of the respondents (almost entirely men) thought that the scene was hilarious – they never saw anything funnier
o Roughly 10% expressed vague concern that it might have gone too far and “cat people” might be upset

Apparently Seth MacFarlane, the series creator has a problem with cats and cat owners. He portrayed the cat as blandly impersonal, like a gerbil. The “joke” was that cat ownership caused Quagmire (usually an insensitive, macho playboy) to turn into a “crazy cat person”. It wasn’t enough for Macfarlane to slur cat owners or imply that cats have no personality, he had to butcher one also. Did MacFarlane just have a difficult breakup with a woman who loves cats? That might add insight to such a horrible script.

In a complex world, it’s sometimes hard to peg good and evil – I’m still not sure about the various players in Pakistan or Bosnia/Herzegovina. In human affairs sometimes we have gradations of evil. But cruelty to animals is a different thing entirely. There is a warm place marked in HELL for people who are cruel to animals, do not pass purgatory , do not pass “Go”. Family Guy didn’t dismember a person or a dog – that would’ve gotten calls and letters. They casually and cavalierly dismembered an innocent cat and then laughed about it. It would’ve been remarkably inappropriate even if it were a mouse or a toad.

I sent my concerns to Dallas Fox Affiliate KDFW and also left a comment on series creator Seth MacFarlane’s Facebook page. I’m rather amazed that the voice actors and other series employees didn’t object when this plot line was advanced. Just amazed. Family Guy creators – beware of the bad karma you’ve just heaped upon yourselves.

© 2009 blogSpotter

Should Texas Secede?

Would Big Tex like to fly the coop? ... -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Rick Perry is the long-serving, Democrat-turned-Republican Governor of Texas. He inherited the office in 2000 after “Shrub” was elected President. Perry, who had been elected Lieutenant Governor in 1998 inherited the role from Shrub. Perry is primarily known as a hardened fiscal and social conservative – his biggest legacy as governor will probably be the Legislature scrapes whereby he nearly let Texas public schools go unfunded. The glib, superficially handsome 57 year old stepped in it a bit last week during the conservatives’ “Tea Party” tax protest. He suggested that Texas could secede from the Union (having once been a Lone Star Republic) if Obama’s administration doesn’t do right.

I’ll preface this by saying that Perry’s tongue was firmly in cheek – he wasn’t serious. His remark was nevertheless heard around the world, and even became fodder for Jay Leno’s monologue. Voters even took him literally; Reuter’s polled Texas voters and found that 36% thank we have the right to secede and 25% said that we should secede.

Where to begin? In an episode of Family Guy, the Griffin family visits Texas – Texans are depicted as ultra-conservative, right wing nut job Christians. In fact, in one scene Texans are shown as braying donkeys. “How unfair” you might say, and you would be wrong. Texas is the state which perennially fights over the teaching of Darwin’s theory in public schools. Texas rushed to the fore to pass a Defense of Marriage Act nearly ahead of any other state when gay civil rights raised its “ugly” head – God forbid we would honor gay marriages or civil unions. Dallas, Texas is headquarters for some of the most obnoxious television ministries in the nation – where grossly pompadoured grifters bilk viewers for money using crocodile tears and miraculous touch healing.

Texas is now a hub for anti-immigrant emotions which have very nearly led to racial vigilantism and which now have us building a ridiculous fence along the Rio Grande to keep “them” out. Mr. Perry, please take down that wall lest you want us to resemble East Berlin in every major respect.

You know what? Perry, you should secede. Don’t let the door hit your turn-coat ass on the way out. And Texas? What can I say … I shouldn’t bite the hand of a balanced-budget state where I’m gainfully employed. Texas, watch your step. You have the reputation of an ultra-conservative, hard-ass KKK-loving, Jesus misquoting state of intolerant W. Bush-loving assholes. That is pretty well the long and the short of it. We’re not just a fly-over state, we’re a fly-to-avoid state. Can Texas be loved back to tolerance and understanding? Let Austin (minus the state “lege”) and Travis County be your conscience as well as your guide. Texas – shape up, There are seriously those among you who want the whole state to ship out.

© 2009 blogSpotter

Burgers and SquarePants

I like SquarePants and I cannot lie ... -- Picture courtesy of Burger King

by blogSpotter
I'd like to preface this by saying, "It's a free country". Now, it shouldn't be necessary to state the obvious but it turns out that would be incorrect. We seem now to have a whole squadron of "lifestyle police" to tell us how to live our lives -- even to the extreme of pulling TV programs and passing municipal ordinances to assure our basic goodness. Let me list some things that I, as a sentient adult, know are probably not good for me:
Cigarettes, alcohol, red meat, high fructose corn syrup, sugary cereals, and fried anything.

Nobody needs to wag a finger in my face, telling me these things are bad -- I can read warning labels, cholesterol charts and bathroom scales. Unless we're intending to reenact Prohibition from the 1930's, we'd probably rather have individuals empowered to make these choices at an individual level. Please, no arrests for eating a Twinkie or a bucket of fried chicken... the added pounds will be punishment enough. Unless these things I've mentioned are feeding into a crime network, the "crime" is pretty well victimless.

What brings me to this level of ranting?? Reaction to a prefectly valid Burger King commercial is what. It shows the Burger "King" (their mascot wearing a creepy King mask) dancing to a modified version of Sir Mix-A-Lot's 1992 hit "Baby Got Back". This version of the song is modified to promote a Burger King tie-in to SpongeBob SquarePants -- a toy is included with a children's meal. The song now goes, "I like SquarePants and I cannot lie ...". It shows a bevy of go-go dancers behind the King, dancing with what appears to be phone books stuffed in the back of their skirts. SpongeBob is shown gyrating to the same song on a nearby TV set. I have to say, the commercial is "adult-oriented" in a PG-13 way and it is hilarious. Look it up on YouTube for a good laugh. It seems that the Lifestyle Squadron, represented by "Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood" is appalled, simply appalled. They don't like read meat, Sir Mix-A-lot or lame, tame sexual innuendos. How "dare" Burger King tie this in with a children's beloved TV hero?

Where to begin? First of all have a f***'in since of humor, people. Political correctness and food police have nearly numbed our funny bone. Secondly, the commercial is played on shows like Family Guy and How I Met your Mother -- hardly shows that your kid should be watching anyway. Burger King fully understands the concept of appropriate audiences. The commercial is aimed at adult people who will actually be driving the car and making the purchase. Thirdly I might add, SpongeBob is a rather acerbic and adult-geared cartoon for anyone who's failed to see many episodes. SpongeBob is more in the teen domain of Bart Simpson than the kiddie domain of Dora the Explorer. I love the show myself, and I also love Sir Mix-A-Lot.

So where does that leave us? It leaves us with feely-mealy, overly sensitive thought police who know how to suck all the fun out of life. But guess what? Burger King is perfectly within its rights -- so are Sonic and Jack in the Box with their silly, guy-oriented commercials. It's called a free country. Appreciate it, Lifestyle Squadron, or get over it.

© 2009 blogSpotter

Hedwig's Angry Inch

Is it Hedwig or Hansel? -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
I’m in an early Spring funk, experiencing a bit of writer’s block. Hopefully it will clear up along with the unseasonably cold, rainy skies outside. Regarding politics, I feel remiss that I’ve commented so little on Obama’s presidency after 3 months -- after all I gave so much time to W. Bush. I’d have to give Obama an A-; I think he’s dealt earnestly with all the things he has to deal with. He’s shifting emphasis from Iraq to Afghanistan and holding some failing companies’ feet to the fire with regard to business recovery. Has he stepped in it a couple of times (e.g., driving Rick Wagoner away from GM)? Assuredly -- but there are a lot of cow patties to step around these days.

HEDWIG
Hedwig and the Angry Inch came out 8 years ago, and was a hit in all the art house theaters. For whatever reason, I thought the topic was unappealing and the trailers didn’t engage me -- I just watched it for the first time this weekend. The movie is, on the surface, about a transgendered entertainer named Hedwig who’s chasing his ex-boyfriend, Tommy Gnosis, (also a successful singer) across the U.S.. It seems Tommy dumped Hedwig after finding out he had a sex change, and stole all the song material which Hedwig had written for them both to share.

Let’s queue to Hedwig’s past, in order to explain the movie’s present: The “angry inch” comes from the fact that Hedwig had a botched operation which left him with an inch of penis remaining. Hedwig started life as Hansel, a sexually confused East German boy who fell for an American (male) GI at age 14. East Germany wouldn’t let a couple emigrate away unless it was a man and a woman, so Hansel had a sex change and took the name “Hedwig” from his mother’s passport. They came to Kansas where the GI promptly dumped Hedwig for another young boy -- Hedwig was left to pay his own way in life with a cabaret act, performing at various dives and sometimes odd jobs like babysitting.

Queue to the movie’s near-present: Hedwig meets a slightly younger, 17 year old boy named Tommy on one of his babysitting jobs. Tommy is a deeply religious boy, wholesome and All-American. Hedwig turns Tommy on to glam rock and also steals Tommy’s heart. They become soul mates of sorts, until a session of heavy petting reveals the angry inch. Tommy can’t handle a transgender and runs away (with all of Hedwig’s music no less). Tommy starts a successful career as glam rock singer Tommy Gnosis.

INTERPRETATION (PLEASE!)
The movie has an interesting ending, which might be subject to several interpretations. Hedwig and Tommy meet again and have a song duet on an empty stage, facing each other. Where it looks like they’re about to embrace, Tommy turns and walks away. The next scene shows Hedwig dressed as a man, looking a bit like Tommy, even with Tommy’s trademark silver cross painted on his forehead. Hedwig hands his blonde wig to a band mate, signifying that he no longer wishes to do drag as Hedwig.

I will offer my own dime store insights …

o Though Hedwig and his manager have filed a lawsuit against Tommy for copyright infringement, Hedwig cares nothing about the money. He just wants Tommy back.
o Hedwig is looking for his “other half” as is said to exist in Greek mythology and honestly believes it exists in Tommy.
o Hedwig comes to realize that the missing half was in himself all along, and merely suppressed. His tragically weird childhood could be blamed for a lifetime of flashy drag routines.
o At the outset, you think that Hedwig is "angry" that an inch still remains -- at the end of the movie, there's the prospect Hedwig is actually angry that 5 inches were removed, as he reasserts his identity as a gay man (and no longer a transgender woman).

I may have it all completely wrong -- it would probably take a Masters in Psychology to give this movie its correct meaning. In any case, Hedwig is a fascinating movie -- watch it and see if you pick up another vibe besides anything I’ve said above.

© 2009 blogSpotter

Reliving the Night of the Hunter

Will LOVE beat HATE? -- Picture courtesy of MGM/UA

by blogSpotter
Tuesday night, I had to stay up 'til 2AM to babysit a production process for my job. I needed a chilling, thrilling movie to help keep me awake -- I scored the mother lode with 1955's Night of the Hunter on my Apple TV. I have to digress for a moment; when I looked up this movie in Leonard Malton's Showtime movie guide, he only gave it 3.5 stars. If ever a movie deserved highest praise of 4 stars it is Night of the Hunter (abbreviate hereon as NOTH). I think Malton comes from a more conservative, conventional background so I'm not surprised that he gave only 2 paltry paragraphs to this ground-breaking movie. Sometimes it's a to a movie's credit if Malton shorts it a little.

So why was NOTH preserved by the US Library of Congress and rated one of the 100 best thrillers of all time by the American Film Institute? Set in West Virginia of the 1930's, the movie tells the story of Harry Powell -- a psychopathic, woman-hating evangelist on a murder spree. He cons, marries and murders women partly for their money and partly out of a perverse joy in punishing the "evil, weak sex". In NOTH, Powell has just been sprung from prison after serving a term for car theft. While in prison, Powell has received an inadvertent tip from cell mate Harper that Harper's family might know where he stashed $10K of stolen money. Harper is executed for his crime. Powell is released and seeks out Harper's bereaved widow, Willa, and children -- in hopes of finding their money. With his handsome and compelling style, he endears himself to Willa and marries her.

The children are precociously intelligent and do not like or trust Powell. They resist his demands to tell where the money is hidden. At a point where Willa finally discovers Powell's demonic intent, he cuts her throat and drives her car into a nearby lake, with her in it. I'll compress some details here for brevity... The children sense that Powell has done something to their mother and flee in a small boat, down the Ohio River. Powell hunts them via horseback on a road that courses along the river bank. The children dock their boat near the farm of Rachel Cooper, an elderly Good Samaritan who happens to raise homeless kids. She takes them under wing, basically adopting them as her own. In an ironic twist, Rachel is also very religious -- singing the same type of hymns ("Leaning on the Everlasting Arms") as Powell. In a climactic stand-off, Rachel wounds Powell (who has located the children at Rachel's farm) with a shotgun blast and has him arrested.

NOTH was decades ahead of its time in both subject matter and style. It's fascinating (and possibly disturbing to the devout) that the arch extremes of Good and Evil are Bible literate evangelizers. NOTH had sexual content and references that while not explicit would have been downright shocking to a 50's audience -- Powell tells Rachel on their wedding night that she's evil to be wearing a negligee and consummation would be a sin. NOTH is absolutely stunning in its black and white hues -- there are shadows at play, reflective waters, and various frogs, owls and spiders that populate the foreground in the scenes where the children flee. The music is haunting, and the camera angles are unusual. The movie is one of only two directed by actor Charles Laughton -- it's thought that he borrowed his style from German Expressionist movies of the 1920's. This would put the Germans about 70 years ahead of their time, stylistically speaking.

Night of the Hunter was a commercial dud upon its 1955 release. No doubt, the people of the "I Like Ike" era would have trouble digesting a movie which darkly, starkly insinuates that organized religion could ever be misused to such evil purposes. The Powell character has "LOVE" tattooed on his right hand and "HATE" tattooed on his left (a piece of cinema imagery stolen by many imitators since 1955). Powell hoodwinks the ladies at the outset by having his hands wrestle each other -- "LOVE" wins over "HATE", of course. At the end of the movie, LOVE really does win out over HATE and maybe that's the only message we need to distill from all the things that happen in this incredible film.

© 2009 blogSpotter