Don't Read The Emperor's New Clothes

It has sexual content. Surprised? So was I. Apparently, there is an illustration of the emperor's rear. No joke. Read the Texas ACLU's list of banned and challenged books in Texas schools to find out what other ridiculous challenges were made. It baffles the semi-enlightened mind.

Vice President Good Hair?

Watch out Condi...

Austin American Statesman - September 29, 2006

PERRY MIGHT WANT EIGHT MORE YEARS

Four more years just might not be enough for Gov. Rick Perry. Trying to bat down speculation he might be vice presidential material in 2008, Perry has been telling editorial writers and reporters not to assume too much. Perry says he might seek a third four-year term as governor in 2010. That would mean Perry, who followed George W. Bush into the governorship when Bush was elected president in 2000, is at least contemplating being governor for 14 years.

BBC: Posterity Ten

We met Brad Foster at his booth during the Pecan Street Festival in Austin, a few weeks after we decided to open the Banned Books Cafe. We were immediately drawn to his art work, especially the "Athenaeum," or library to infinity. We could not keep this particular piece on the wall, as customers would purchase it. But this drawing (on the right) is "The Librarian." She oversees one of the window tables, perhaps our most romantic, peaceful setting. And she has presided over many an intimate meal at the BBC. Of course, she's for sale, but nobody seems willing to disturb the ambience in this corner. The Librarian will someday grace a spot over a table in another locale. Stay tuned for details ... BBC out.

BBC: Posterity Nine

We bought this bar from a Mexican furniture importer. It sat in our living room for a couple of years, then was relegated to the garage. Then we made it the centerpiece at the BBC, where it supported our New Mexico pistachios (we've eaten most of them), the Himalayan salt lamps we have for sale. One problem, we forgot to put price tags on most of the stuff on the walls, and therefore nobody asked about purchasing them. This bar is for sale, as is a lot of other furniture we have collected over the years. Send email if you're interested in purchasing art, books or food at the BBC.

BBC: Posterity Eight

This is my view of our customers from the kitchen. We had no choice in the design of the wall that surrounded our work area. We would have preferred to have one of those glass enclosed deli refrigerators, where customers could see our products. We could have it loaded it with tempting cakes and pies, salads, etcetera. Incidentally, we offered fresh salads when we first opened, but we had to stop. The carnivores who live and work around the BBC greatly outnumber the far-and-few-between vegetarians who visited us. We actually use many of those spices pictured here in our soups and on our pizzas.

BBC: Posterity Seven

I once worked as a pizza delivery driver. My wife hated it. But it gave me good experience in the fast-food industry. For instance, I would never leave pizza pans on the floor, then re-use them without washing them. Some other things I witnessed would make one barf, but I'll spare the details. I got a crazy notion to make pizza one day at the BBC. It was a good way to come up with a vegetarian dish. This is one of the prototype pizzas I produced, and I think I fed it to my wife. That's why there are raw jalapeno peppers on this one.
I spent about a year-and-a-half delivering pizzas, until one night when a snot-nosed assistant manager insisted that I take the late shift so he could go hustle up some booty with his buddy, who was a new hire. I cashed out my receipts, took my tips, stuck them into my pocket, and walked out the door. Snot Nose never saw me again. I hope he has a long and illustrious career in the fast-food pizza industry, he deserves it.

BBC: Posterity Six

Some of our diners loved this table. It's on the wall next to art work by Brad Foster, a five time winner of the Hugo Award, which is science fiction's Oscar. Brad designed our logo, and we love it; plan to print it on some t-shirts so people will ask us "what the hell is the Banned Books Cafe?" Some people get it, some people don't.

BBC: Posterity Five

The author of "Black Like Me" was from Texas. He and his family had to flee their hometown after his book was published. And no, he didn't die from the dye he put on his body so he could go undercover as a black man in New Orleans and other parts of the Old South. I read this book when I was about eleven years old. I reread it this summer, and found that it was not quite the adventure I remembered it to be. Griffin in my opinion did not go far enough in his research, in my opinion. But it was a good old "college try," and we keep a copy of his book at the BBC, or somewhere ... maybe somebody's reading it now, but it's in our small collection of banned books.

BBC: Posterity Four

Leland Outz showed up one night at the Gunter Hotel. He wore his trademark photographer's vest, but I insisted on asking him; "Are you a photographer?"
"Of course I am," he replied with that smirk of his.
But he was acting like wallflower, so I grabbed him and walked around the room, introducing to the "usual suspects" who hung out at the Gunter, the Esquire Tavern, the Beethoven Mannerchor and other venues during the three-year life of the revived Cottonwood City Press Club. A previous incarnation of the press club was lodged in the basement in a building in La Villita, but that was before my time, when reporters would be assessed on what they had for lunch by the gravy drippings on their vests. When Lee lunches at the BBC, he usually sits underneath his photos on the wall. They're for sale, but people balk at the price, which is reasonable for such large-format prints. Some people just don't see the value in things.

BBC: Posterity Three

My handwriting is terrible. And my daily specials sometimes turned into weekly specials. But this is the original chalkboard where I communicated my daily fare to the dining public. Many people saw it and passed on to their favorite restaurants, but the ones who did found out that I can actually cook. I'm making pozole this coming Friday, back by popular demand. And I found an old soups and stews cookbook at the antique store on Broadway and Ninth streets, and the BBC kitchen will develop more great recipes. The pozole, by the way, is my Mexican mother-in-law's recipe. She operated her own little "fondita" in Mexico City, in the same apartment where my wife grew up.

BBC: Posterity Two

Hunter S. Thompson allegedly shot himself in the head on the day before my birthday, February 20, 2005. This is a shot of him in Austin in 1990. Visit the web site to see what he is holding in his other hand. WGR, a BBC blogger who was left out in the cold when I reset this blog, designed the poster for the third annual press club party. The press club is now defunct. But we all had a great time while it lasted. One night on regular Wednesday at the Gunter Hotel, I put a little plastic penis with legs on the wooden bar. I wound it up and set it off in the direction of three lovely women who were having a cocktail. Instead of throwing ice, or worse, their glasses at me, they welcomed him with open arms. They giggled, laughed, and played with the little penis crown, then set it on its way. Later on, I went in search of my wind-up penis, and found it stuck in the middle of the queso dip. I rescued it, washed the cheese off its little legs, and hid it in one of the potted plants. I wonder if it is still there. Now, how the hell did I end up telling this story? I bought the penis in Austin, and I have never seen it since I left it in the second floor bar at the Gunter Hotel. I hope it found a good home somewhere.

BBC: Posterity One

This is the Banned Books Cafe, opened on Juneteenth (June 19th), in Cottonwood City, in the Downtown Business District. We registered the web site in March, but we didn't know we would open a cafe. The idea was to have food, art and banned books. We didn't have any idea how much people would love the idea of reading banned books while having lunch.

Nervana blogs about dealing with teenagers

Only Grrrl has been checking out a new blog lately: Second Ring of Nervana (link to it above). Nervana has some pretty bad arthritis, and something is always on her nerves... hence: Nervana. (Catch the layers on meaning?)

She's still getting the swing of her blogging... and typing without thumbs is sometimes hard for her. But I bet she'd appreciate your comments!

I enjoyed this particular post.

We Need A Vacation

When we opened the Banned Books Cafe in June, we let the kids take over the entire operation and we went to Port Aransas, we let our kites out and we sat in the burning sun for three days, watching the ships go in and out past the jetties. Now, more than three months later, we long for a longer road trip, with sights and sounds we've never experienced before. I've been to thirty-one states and three foreign countries, and I've seen Murmansk, Russia through a periscope on board a nuclear submarine (that doesn't count as a vacation). I'd like to add three, four, maybe five more states to my list. And since I used to live in the San Francisco/Bay Area back in the early 1970s, I would like to see how it has changed in all those years. People tell me I won't recognize it. Horace Greeley said "Go West, young man," and we're thinking about taking him up on his offer. Banned book to take along for the ride? I think I'll re-read George Orwell's "1984." Maybe it will put things into perspective for me.

Big Bad Wolf

Can't talk now. Wolves scratching at the door. Animals we've never seen in Cottonwood City before. From the South, North, East and West. Hungry for glory. Gonna blast the Alamo doors down. No time for the reenactment, this is real.

Banned in Poth Texas

My first and favorite banned book was Catcher in the Rye. I was a Freshman at Madison West High School struggling to deal with acne, terminal shyness and a budding awareness of something not quite right with my parent's marriage. For my 14th birthday my Mother, who was no doubt worried about me, wrote that she hoped "love, honesty and considerations for others" would be my guides in life. Yeah right.

Back then I felt I had quite a bit in common with Catcher's flawed antihero Holden Caulfield. I saw most other people as phoneys, an attitude that went hand in hand with getting in trouble with authority. Here was a paradox. Was I in trouble because of my attitude or was my attitude a rational response to my situation viz people who had me over a barrel?

It took me awhile to get my head on straight. There were the predictable bouts with depression, self defeating behavior and morbid romanticism. It was much like the adolescent narrative of Holden's life. No wonder I loved Catcher. Holden was like a voice in my head when he said

Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be.

Trouble is, it's hard to pay your bills while standing on the edge of some crazy cliff.

Unlike Holden I didn't get kicked out of school though I surely deserved it at times. I went to a nice liberal arts college in Northfield Minnesota where the only major industry was the Malt O Meal factory and the air downtown always smelled a bit like a bowl of cereal. I even got into law school and graduated, just barely. Though by that time I was decidedly over educated I felt no more ready for the adult world than I was at 14.

I sort of fell into things passively, eventually finding myself representing poor people in South Texas. I plied my trade in places like Poth Texas, a dying little railroad town in the Scrub Brush Country Southeast of San Antonio. Poth's long decline started when the new highway bypassed it and the trains stopped coming.

In Poth I once represented a single Mom who was being evicted from public housing because her little boy was such a hellion. The Justice of the Peace who heard the case was a prim woman with lots of bible verses framed and hanging on the walls of her office which also served as a makeshift courtroom. I went through my usual spiel about the strict rules governing public housing evictions and how the apartment manager had it in for my client and couldn't be believed. The little boy sat quietly next to his mom the whole time. I got the feeling I wasn't making much progress with my canned arguments. But at least the kid was being well behaved. It must have been excrutiatingly boring to have to sit still through all this serious talk. I was starting to bore myself. Then for some reason it occurred to me to ask the Judge "Has Your Honor ever read Catcher in the Rye?"

She shook her head no. The look on her face told me she had no idea what I was talking about. It was the same look she gave me as I went on and on about public housing regulations.

"Well Your Honor, it's about a young man who's only real desire in life is to wait and watch over children as they play, making sure they are safe and catching them when they fall. Because some children do fall and they need someone to help them up. And we're not just talking about a fall off a swingset here. Sometimes a child is in danger of falling from grace. Your Honor has the opportunity today to be a Catcher in the Rye for this little boy."

It was probably a good thing the Judge had never heard of Catcher. I doubt she would have been swayed in my client's favor had she had known I was invoking ideas from a banned book in her courtroom.

Banned Books Week Celebrated Here

For Banned Books Week, the official press release.

"(CHICAGO) More than a book a day faces expulsion from free and open public access in U.S. schools and libraries every year. There have been more than 8,700 attempts since the American Library Association (ALA) began electronically compiling and publishing information on book challenges in 1990.

Twenty-five years after the first observance of Banned Books Week, more than 1,000 people stayed past 1 a.m. debating a request to remove nine books - including "The Things They Carried" by Tim O’Brien and "Beloved" by Toni Morrison - from a Chicagoland school district. The books were ultimately retained.

"Forever" by Judy Blume was one of more than 70 titles a Fayetteville, Ark., mother requested be removed in 2005. Twenty-five years earlier, the book was restricted in the Park Hill (Mo.) South Junior High School library because the book promotes "the stranglehold of humanism on life in America."

"Throughout history, there always have been a few people who don’t want information to be freely available. And this is still true," said ALA President Leslie Burger. "The reason more books aren’t banned is because community residents - with librarians, teachers and journalists - stand up and speak out for their freedom to read. Banned Books Week reminds us that we must remain vigilant."

Bookstores and libraries around the country will celebrate the freedom to read with exhibits, readings and special events during Banned Books Week, September 23-30, 2006. First observed in 1982, Banned Books Week reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. City Lit Theater in Chicago and ALA will kick off the week with theatrical readings from recently challenged books September 24. The ALA also will participate in a virtual panel discussion with author Chris Crutcher ("Whale Talk") and 15 high schools on September 25. Participants will hear about Crutcher’s experiences as a frequently challenged author, learn more about the history of book banning in the United States and examine contemporary issues in intellectual freedom and access to information.

The virtual panel discussion is sponsored by MAGPI at the University of Pennsylvania and utilizes Internet2. Additional support is provided by the Ohio State University and Educational Service District 101 in Spokane, Wash.

There were 405 known attempts to remove books in 2005. Challenges are defined as formal, written complaints filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. About 70 percent of challenges take place in schools and school libraries. According to Judith F. Krug, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, the number of challenges reflects only incidents reported, and for each reported, four or five remain unreported.

"We are as busy as we’ve ever been in fighting censorship attempts in schools and libraries," Krug said. "Libraries are no longer simply about books - but also about DVDs, videogames and online information."

Robie Harris’ "It’s Perfectly Normal" was the most challenged book of last year. Rounding out the top five most challenged books in 2005 were:

· "Forever" by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language;

· "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group;

· "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language; and

· "Whale Talk" by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the ALA, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book."

If only

Merriam Webster's word of the day today was lotusland. It would be nice if when M-W sends you such a nice word, that it would also be an indicator of how your day was going to be. You know, like a good word fortune. Today it felt more like taunting because my day was the opposite. Maybe they should have sent me a different word like purgatory.

lotusland \LOH-tus-land\ noun

*1 : a place inducing contentment especially through offering an idyllic living situation
2 : a state or an ideal marked by contentment often achieved through self-indulgence

Example sentence:
With its white sands, stunningly blue water, and beautiful sunsets, the island is a lotusland for beach lovers.

Did you know?
In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his men discover a magical land of lotus-eaters. Some of the sailors eat the delicious "lotus" and forget about their homeland, pleading to stay forever in this "lotusland." (It is likely that the lotus in question was the fruit of a real plant of the buckthorn family, perhaps the jujube, whose sweet juice is used in candy making and which has given its name to a popular fruity candy.) The label "lotusland" is now applied to any place resembling such an ideal of perfection, but it also carries connotations of indolence and self-indulgence, possibly derived from the way the sailors refused to work once they reached the original lotusland. The dreamy unreality of a lotusland is a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

She died when she was 28 tears old

Andy Warhol never paid Edie Sedgwick for her performances in his films.

Lisa Sorg's First Story in The Independent

My former editor at the San Antonio Current, Lisa Sorg, who incidentally was the very best editor the Current ever, ever, ever had, has had her first story published in the Independent Weekly in Durham, North Carolina. She now works for that publication as an investigative journalist.
And who did she take on with her first story? The Durham Housing Authority, which apparently likes to beat up on the poor and elderly; in other words, their tenants.
Enjoy!
And Lisa, thanks again for freeing me from the slavery that was the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.
The Current will never achieve the greatness it had during your tenure as editor.
I'm hearing many complaints from its readership - and its presence is no longer felt at City Hall.

BBC Bookshelf is Now Defunct

Early visitors to the BBC should remember this bookshelf. It's where my minuscule collection of banned books was on display throughout the summer.
Nevermore.
The books now line one of the window ledges, and it is painfully obvious how few there are.
The plan is to find more banned books, and to replace the now-missing bookshelf that enchanted so many visitors. It's a temporary condition, signifying my willingness to undergo periodic metamorphoses (I hope I spelled that right) during my lifetime.
One of those, for example, was when I quit my day job and opened the BBC. Until then, I had never made tomato soup, or pozole.
Speaking of pozole, it is Mexico's national celebration soup. We watched Spanish language news last Friday night, when President Fox delivered the famous grito that launched the Mexican fight for independence from Spain. Then the cameras panned over bags and bags of hominy, the mainstay of pozole.
We cooked it the next day, using my mother-in-law's recipe, and it was delicious, or more properly, muy sabroso. The chile de arbol was quite hot, and if you got it into your sinus area, it was a real choker.
We made more on Monday, and announced it to the world. We then made a huge discovery - the populace in our immediate area hardly know what pozole is.
I marveled at that little fact of life, however trivial it may be.
So we renamed it "Chicken/Pork/Hominy Soup," and more people ordered it. I still have half a pot of pozole, so I'll try to take a picture of a nice steaming bowl of it, and post it here in the near future.
Anyway, eight 'o clock again, and it's time ... you know ... to put on the coffee.

Things Which Really Ought To Be Banned II

I've always supported the obviously penumbral right to teabag in one's own home or dimly lit alley.


Constitutionally Protected Tea Bagging
Originally uploaded by phlash.

But people in Illinois have simply gone too far. Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn urged people to mail teabags to two electric utilities to protest rate increases. After post office officials demurred claiming the practice would clog up the works, Lt Gov. Quinn suggested ratepayers just send in a picture of a teabag. I'm not sure how that edict will be interpreted. Noun or verb? But if my monthly copy of the National Review is a day late or despoiled in any way there'll be hell to pay!

My cat is neurotic

David Bowie's Area should NEVER be banned!

It's twue! It really is "EVERYWHERE!"

This was going to be a delayed early morning rant about how, $1,300 later, my Only Carrrr is still idling like a tractor, sputtering and making a whirring sound like it's about to take flight (except, how could it, it idles like a tractor) and won't pass inspection... and how I'm stuck at a Starbucks (subverting the capitalist experiment by hijacking free wifi from the salon--let's call it what it is--it's a Beauty Shop-- next door) to blog about it, all because the guy at the car place treated me like a DUMB GRRRL and it really pissed me off.

Whew!

But then... I was reminded of the inescapable fact that David Bowie's Area really and truly is everywhere.

I'm just glad that everything 80's is back, or Starbucks would not be playing all my favorite songs from highschool and I' d still be fuming futilly (is that a word?) at Gary the car guy... who is probably going to act patronizing when I go back later.

New Rant: BBC Down to the Wire

Hey Dummy, you can throw your trash in here...

Not much time to post. On deadline, got to get editorial copy done for ad trade in tourist magaziine distributed right here in Cottonwood City, the Belle of the Southwest. Computer at home filled with dizzying array of games to entertain the teenage wasteland. This morning I confiscated the cable that connects the internet, and the video game controls hooked to the TV that was left on all night.
I'm fighting heavy traffic on I-35. My gas tank was empty. My hired help is deserting me within a couple of weeks and I'm facing the nightmare of hiring outside help.
I chased away a couple of derelicts (defined not homeless, just panhandling to get drunk) from my front door; actually, I grabbed one by his filthy jacket and spun him out the door as he was harassing my customers. "I wasn't doing anything wrong," he sputtered at me.

The Banned Books Cafe is located in the heart of what remains of the Wild Wild West, a cannonball's throw from the Alamo, deep in the land of the mesquite and chaparral.

It's eight o'clock, and now I've got to put the coffee on...

Damn, she had some fun

With this many bloggers on one blog, there really should be more ranting and raving going on. Things have just gotten too sad here at BBC. I propose that a picture of our bad ass hero on her Hogg be a jumping point for us to change the world like she would want us to. Rock on Ann!

Ann Richards A True Texan

A prominent local banker walked into the cafe this morning for a cup of coffee. He is in his early nineties, but he's pretty spry for his age, and he still maintains an office in the downtown building where we do business. I noted that this was not his normal routine, coming into the BBC for morning repast, although he has stayed for lunch. He says the name of our cafe inspires him.
But this morning it was different. The newspaper in his hand revealed the news of Ann Richards's demise the day before.
"She was a very good friend of our family," he said gently. "We're going to miss her."
He recounted how his family would take vacations to the coast with Ann Richards and her family.
He also lamented how many friends he has lost over the years. "When you are ninety-three years old, you see a lot of people go before you."
I called my wife to greet this man who was feeling the loss of a great friend. She recounted to him that after she became a citizen of the United States, the first person she proudly voted for was Ann Richards in her bid for re-election as Governor of Texas. He seemed to appreciate that bit of information.
In hindsight, her 46 percent to 53 percent loss to George Bush in that year's race for governor was in fact a tragedy for the entire nation. Look at the mess we're in today.
Rest in Peace, Ann Richards, we love you here at the BBC.

I will miss Ann Richards

Near the end of my time in DC, I was really lonely and lost. I missed home. I was crying all the time.

One morning after riding the metro in to work -- and making my strongest effort to avoid eye contact with anyone for fear of breaking down uncontrollably in tears, I decided to stop in at Starbucks for a mocha. I placed my order, paid and got into the other line to await my drink, still not making eye contact with anyone.

A few minutes later, for some reason, I was compelled to turn around and see who was behind me.

It was Ann Richards.

I gasped and smiled and lunged at her like we were long lost friends. Luckily I recovered my wits and stopped myself!

I said, "Hi, I'm from Texas, and I miss home."

She asked me what I was doing up there. I told her.

She said she tries to stay out of DC as much as possible, "This town is toxic."

We said goodbye. I got my mocha, went to work and turned in my resignation. I was moving back to Texas.



Now, go read Pineapple's story. It's better.

Things Which Really Ought To Be Banned

People dressed like Elvis should not be allowed to jump over sleeping babies. It's just wrong.

Let's ban all work documents instead of books

While I am anti book banning, I'm just wondering if someone would ban some of the crap I have to read at work??? I was looking for spatial gaps today, but the only spatial gap I found today was between my ears.

D.H. Lawrence Must Have Seen The Future

Consider this excerpt from D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterly's Lover," from Villa Mirenda, Tuscany, Italy, 1928; it's the first paragraph.

"Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically. The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins, we start to build up new little habitats, to have new little hopes. It is rather hard work: there is now no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles. We've got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen."

Think about it...

Do You Know What Your Kids Are Doing On The Computer?

Okay, this is irritating. The mouse has a creep in it. Meaning it drifts to the top of the screen. It's a direct result of our teen-ager playing endless computer games, using instant messenger. Simultaneously he is playing a football game on the TV, and ratcheting up the minutes on his cell phone, with the house phone attached to the other ear. He does this shit for hours, until way past bedtime. We are an nth degree from taking the computer away.
Did I say this mouse creep is really irritating?
There's no reading of books. No interest in anything but computer games.
Parents, do you know who your kid is talking to on instant messenger?
Better check it out.

I Found Out Who Tried To Hack This Blog

It's a matter of time ... MORON...

On another note. Did anyone notice who financed the big media extravaganza 911 Memorial on CNN and every other corporate media outlet?

The automobile companies.

Guess what automobiles run on?

OIL ...

First out after Larry King & His Cowboy Boots was ... don't rely on my notes ... no wait, somebody switched to ABC's fictional 911 movie.

The ad? Peanut butter. How comfortable.

Scene from movie, with Condi and Cheney ... horrified look, "this wasn't how we planned to make ourselves and our corporate buddies wealthy beyond reason."

Scary movie, but it's the same as in the White House nowadays ... fiction.

Er, that's the presidency and its cabinet ... and the movie, which frankly, I didn't watch. I don't watch network tv, too many euphemisms.

Back to the tv ads following Larry's Boots. Warner Bros movie, "Iwo Jima," coming out friday. War movie ... who's surprised? Still on ABC (sorry) "ABC Dot Com's 'Dancing With The Stars'"

"Ben Gay," for first responders and victims who live. For those little hurts.

Again, in case we missed it ... "Dancing With The Stars."

Oh yeah, here we go. Vroooom.

Hyundai has declared a Jihad against Honda and Toyota. The Hyundai challenge will not stop until its competitors are ground into scrap heaps. Nice analogy for the mess we're in, huh?

Now the local TV.

Weather: "It's raining."

Charles Gibson (why am I still stuck on ABC? They cut my cable.

My take on it? Intelligence failure by the American public. Bush/Cheney 2000.

Oh, here it is, the remote ... Anderson Cooper 360 ... commercial "Principal Financial Group ... Hyundai's Jihad again ... Movie, "The Black Dahlia," starts Friday.

Lunesta ... "Sleep Through Life." Try beer, it tastes better. But don't take it with alcohol.

Taco Bell ... Kevin Costner in "The Guardian." ... Botox ... Overstock.com ... "It's all about the 'O'" ... Silvia Kristel starred in an erotic movie, "The Story of O," but 911 Entertainment didn't advertise renting that movie. It's all about new.

Wait, let's escape in a brand spanking new, just off the lot with a huge debt "Dodge Lincoln Mercury." ... how about a "Ford Fusion" ... Hyundai again ... North Side Ford (hit 'em in the gas tank) ... "There's no more comfortable place in (the New Philippines) to buy a Ford." ... Yeeehaaah ... "San Marcos Toyota" ... Back to CNN and Larry's Booots, no it's Anderson Cooper 360, fondling an artillery shell, searching for Osama Bin Laden and the profits he earned from the Bush Family and their mom and pop business in Afghanistan ... turn to FOX NEWS? ... Forget it, I'm signing off so my son can ruin this computer with his video games.

Who's tuned in more to reality? YOU DECIDE...

He's a wild and crazy guy!

It could have been worse...

Was Larry King Wearing Cowboy Boots?

Immediately after our idiot president made a speech in which he vowed to make his friends even more wealthy by pursuing his brand of "war on terrorism," Larry King went to a live shot somewhere in NYC - or was it Jersey? - with four 9/11 widows.
All due respect ... ladies, but Larry appeared to be wearing yeehaw Texas-style cowboy boots. Black bottoms, brown stovetops, and was that a Christian cross near the top?
And why was he twisting his ankle so much? Those things do hurt till you wear 'em in.
I wonder if Larry King plans to relocate to Crawford if/when he retires from the public spotlight?
Lots of wood choppin' to do down on the Lil' Ponderosa, Larry.
Somebody correct me if saw something else. But they damn sure looked like cowboy boots to me.
Yeeeeeehaaaaaaah.
Oh, Land Rover was one of the tv advertisers on CNN immediately following the president's speech. Chalk one up for Tony Blair.
Yay, there's Hillary. Re-elect the Clintons to the White House!
I'm not making light of Sept. 11, 2001. But there's a limit for my tolerance for bullshit.
Bush had no right to make that speech. He was speechless the day it happened.

New Blog Members, Welcome Aboard

There should be some new perspectives on this blog soon, when our new members get up and running. Just remember, write or post anything you are passionate about. And if you have photos, put 'em up there. Be patient, more potential bloggers will be invited, and I'll get around to posting some of my own photos soon. Thanks for joining the Banned Books Cafe blog - especially you-know-who.

Sept 11, 2001... later that day

Yes, today is a day to remember, relive, reflect on, and mourn. People in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania are holding moments of silence to mark the instants their lives were changed five years ago.

One could—and should—consider the ordinariness of the instants that preceded the terrible crashes.

One could—but should not—succumb to cynicism upon this reflection. Each moment holds infinite possibilities for peace, love, connection, renewal, and forgiveness.

On this Sept 11, I'd like to commemorate the day by remembering the moment of possibility that followed—the moment when the whole world grieved for "us," the people of the United States of America, who were stunned and then utterly overwhelmed by the enormity of the catastrophe.

There was a moment—do you remember it?—when the whole world was "on our side."

We had the chance, in that moment, to make changes that might have made our world a little less scary. Unfortunately, our “leaders” instead launched a war without end that some might argue has made “us” the most terrifying nation in the world. True, this “war on terror” is only one of many ways our “leaders” and country commit the world to chaos, rather than community.

From one perspective, the war on terror is the global forum through which we act out our infantile rage at being made so vulnerable (or made to recognize our vulnerability). That humanizes the official reaction a little, maybe.

But, I suggest we don’t go that route. The “war on terror,” is not being conducted in the heat of psychological trauma. Even if it started out that way (which I would argue it didn’t), the “war on terror” is the product of calculated policy-making to advance an agenda envisioned long before the World Trade Center and Pentagon were struck by airplanes. They may have capitalized on our fear, but they knew what they were doing.

We need to respond with similar clarity and resolve. Our responses need to strategically advance our alternative agenda.

Can we who oppose the current trajectory somehow get back to that moment of possibility just after the attacks? Can we mine that moment for some new approach? Can we go deep enough into the heart of hope to reconnect with the world that so empathized with us on that day?

I think we have to. It is our only hope.

Channeling JW (not a desperate cry for attention!)

About this time last year, Only Grrrl's Only Mom was a guest blogger on a now defunct blog.

Only Mom was very witty in her blog. She used phrases like "butt-tickling hair." She discussed the difficulty of writing a piano concerto that doesn't require thumbs. She talked about her dog who barks at Jesus everyday.

Finally she sent this invective-filled rant into the blogosphere. She was pissed at "us" all for never commenting on her contributions to the postmodern virtual literosphere. I wish I had saved it, because that little woman let "us" have it in a way that would have done any sailor proud.

So, I'm channeling the Only Mom for a moment to (gently, in an Only Grrrl way) gripe and complain about the lack of enthusiasm for what's supposed to be our collective, community-building conversation.

I mean, if you're not going to comment on Fire Ant Friday, what ARE you going to comment on? And isn't "Tree Speech" at least a cute play on words, and ever so appropriate for a blog called "Banned Books?"

Community takes ... I don't know... communing? communicating? telecommuting?

That's what this blog is all about... in addition to supporting our new favorite cafe (and Mexican import-a-rama), we're building community here. And you don't even have to be a card carrying member of the ACLU!!

Emily Post would be ashamed of "us."

So: How about some feedback for Winston and Pineapple and Enrique, and the other hard working bloggers out there?!?!

I think I'll go annoy somebody else now...

Ta Da? Banned Books Cafe logo

Brad Foster designed our logo. He has won science fiction's Hugo Award five times during his career as an artist (one was a tie with another artist). Brad hails from the Cottonwood City, and now resides in Yankee Land. Now, for reference purposes, we define Yankee Land as anywhere north of the Guadalupe River. That includes Austin. Damn Yankees. Brad Foster will display his artwork for sale at the Pecan Street Festival in Austin during the weekend of Sept. 30 - Oct. 1. The Banned Books Cafe offers framed Brad Foster works. We have paid Brad Foster (as we believe in putting money directly into artists hands, not sweatshop operators - got it, Pepe Santiago?), and we intend to register it with the secretary of state. Remember, Brad Foster designed the BBC logo. We have proof that he did it. It is the official logo of the Banned Books Cafe. Does anyone recognize the fellow sitting behind the books? Comments are welcome, but not required.

Fire Ant Friday!

True, here in the blogosphere there is a "longtime" tradition of Furry Fridays. So, for those of your with allergies, here's an alternative alliterative apothegm (look THAT up!) to help you start your weekend.

Isn't she cute!

Back by Popular Demand

Here's Michael just moments before stuffing me with empanadas until I cried out "Ay Papi! No Mas!"

I Can (Ouch) Endure The Pain To Post This One

Condoleeza Rice, according to Princess Sparkle Pony, has an imaginary friend. She needs something to help her pick out shoes during category five hurricanes.

Tree Speech Blog Debuts

Hullo everyone. Welcome back to the BBC blog. Will work on links, etc, as soon as I can. Invites were sent out to member bloggers, and they are coming back.
Can't type well right now. I cut my left middle finger (the tip) while I was shaving the other night in the shower. Don't ask me how I did it, I'm too embarrassed. That's why I used the U instead of the E (ouch) key in the word "Hello" (again, ouch).
From now on I'm only shaving in front of a mirror.
The last time I cut myself while shaving, I put a couple of slices across my left earlobe, just a couple of weeks ago.
I just wanted to (this affects my E, D, and C keys - ouch, ouch, ouch) give a heads up about Tree Speech and related blog. This blogger will be invited as soon as I confirm email - maybe he will come in as "Code Name: Salamander," to avoid SLAPPS. That's "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation."

Shakespeare in Ban

Alright, not such a great pun on my part. When a lot of people think of banned books, they focus on books that are based on reality. The ugly truth is always a threat to the establishment. Just ask the current administration about that one. WMDs anyone? Since the truth can be so threatening, it is an obvious target. What often baffles me is the ban on fiction.

Over the years, Shakespeare has gotten a lot of crap -- too much sex, adult language, and violence. The way education is going in this country, we should be thankful if kids can even catch the sexual references in Shakespeare's plays. At least that means that they aren't reading the Cliff's Notes. The first Shakespeare play I was required to read was "Romeo and Juliet." At first, I thought it was boring and dumb. Then I started reading it out loud (to stay awake). That's when I realized that it was really good. Then I started reading other plays and sonnets on my own. When I was in college I took more classes about Shakespeare even though I had seen quite a few productions and read numerous works on my own.

After I started reading more Shakespeare, I started to realize how many movies were based on his plays. When I was in college, I was watching "Tootsie" instead of studying when I had this realization: "Tootsie" is "Twelfth Night". So is "Just One of the Guys". Now there is a new version of "Twelfth Night" staring some teeny bopper girl star that is coming out soon. "Twelfth Night" is a funny story with a message (how Afterschool Special!). And yet, banned for promoting alternative lifestyles. Ignoring the whole concept that people base their judgments of others on what they wear, not what they are like as a person.

Another one of my favorites is "King Lear". Banned for its violence. Let's ignore the whole part of the play about greed and loyalty. No lessons in this blood bath. Just watch "Ran" and you will not see any hard learned lessons. But I guess stories about human nature are just as dangerous as the ugly truth. And now I am no longer baffled.

Banned Books Week Looming

I've got to remember to order the posters:

"More than a book a day challenged in U.S. schools, libraries

Banned Books Week marks 25th anniversary September 23-30

(CHICAGO) More than a book a day faces expulsion from free and open public access in U.S. schools and libraries every year. There have been more than 8,700 attempts since the American Library Association (ALA) began electronically compiling and publishing information on book challenges in 1990.

Twenty-five years after the first observance of Banned Books Week, more than 1,000 people stayed past 1 a.m. debating a request to remove nine books - including "The Things They Carried" by Tim O’Brien and "Beloved" by Toni Morrison - from a Chicagoland school district. The books were ultimately retained.

"Forever" by Judy Blume was one of more than 70 titles a Fayetteville, Ark., mother requested be removed in 2005. Twenty-five years earlier, the book was restricted in the Park Hill (Mo.) South Junior High School library because the book promotes "the stranglehold of humanism on life in America."

"Throughout history, there always have been a few people who don’t want information to be freely available. And this is still true," said ALA President Leslie Burger. "The reason more books aren’t banned is because community residents - with librarians, teachers and journalists - stand up and speak out for their freedom to read. Banned Books Week reminds us that we must remain vigilant."

Bookstores and libraries around the country will celebrate the freedom to read with exhibits, readings and special events during Banned Books Week, September 23-30, 2006. First observed in 1982, Banned Books Week reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. City Lit Theater in Chicago and ALA will kick off the week with theatrical readings from recently challenged books September 24. The ALA also will participate in a virtual panel discussion with author Chris Crutcher ("Whale Talk") and 15 high schools on September 25. Participants will hear about Crutcher’s experiences as a frequently challenged author, learn more about the history of book banning in the United States and examine contemporary issues in intellectual freedom and access to information.

The virtual panel discussion is sponsored by MAGPI at the University of Pennsylvania and utilizes Internet2. Additional support is provided by the Ohio State University and Educational Service District 101 in Spokane, Wash.

There were 405 known attempts to remove books in 2005. Challenges are defined as formal, written complaints filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. About 70 percent of challenges take place in schools and school libraries. According to Judith F. Krug, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, the number of challenges reflects only incidents reported, and for each reported, four or five remain unreported.

"We are as busy as we’ve ever been in fighting censorship attempts in schools and libraries," Krug said. "Libraries are no longer simply about books - but also about DVDs, videogames and online information."

Robie Harris’ "It’s Perfectly Normal" was the most challenged book of last year. Rounding out the top five most challenged books in 2005 were:

· "Forever" by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language;

· "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group;

· "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language; and

· "Whale Talk" by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the ALA, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

For more information on Banned Books Week, please visit www.ala.org/bbooks . To schedule interviews with national spokespeople, please call or email Larra Clark at 312-280-5043 (lclark@ala.org) or Macey Morales at 312-280-4393 (mmorales@ala.org). Artwork also is available."

Stupid Moments in Florida Politics

A Florida Atlantic University communications major has made it her mission to track Katherine Harris's movements, or at least the promised updates on her own blog. Remember Harris, the woman who helped Bush steal the presidential election in 2000? Check it out, it's fun.

Texas Green Party's outlook on humans versus corporations

This ought to scare the hell of Congressman Lamar Smith's constituents in the Hinterland:

"The Green Party of Texas intends to end corporate rule and create actual democracy, rule by "We the People." In order to achieve this goal, we acknowledge that current law and judicial decisions give corporations more rights and freedoms than natural human persons. This is a legally and morally illegitimate exercise of power, and we reject this usurpation of the sovereignty of the people of Texas.

It is inappropriate for the public policy decisions that shape our communities and affect our lives to be made in private boardrooms, closed-door regulatory agencies, or expensive courtrooms. Public policy ought to be made by elected officials in public forums with real and meaningful participation by citizens.

Elected state officials (acting in our name) create corporations through charters, the certificates of incorporation. In exchange for the charter, a corporation is obliged to obey all laws, to serve the common good, and to cause no harm. We call for rewriting the corporation code of Texas to reflect that a corporation is a public entity that must act in the public interest or have its charter revoked.

We categorically reject the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railway (1886), the case that illegitimately granted corporations the legal status of "persons." Only human persons have inalienable civil rights."

No wonder Green Party candidates were banned from the November ballot.

Of course, voters don't have to pull the levers or fill in the blanks provided for them by the state elections department. They can take along a pen (preferably with ink that can't be erased) and write in their votes for Green Party candidates.

This Blog and Email Hacked. New Beginning

Watch out what you post in the form of criticism of anything in the New Philippines. It's the heart of conservatism in the United States of America, and any reporter or blogger who even reports that the river is running too low for water sports is ostracized by the powers that be.
Nevertheless, I'm starting over.
My blog name is no longer Lather.
It's Winston.
They're watching you, too.