fly your geek flag.

Without consulting Google or Wikipedia, tell us one of the claims to fame of Mr. Ron Obvious from Neaps End.

the hilarity of violence.

My brother gave Quinn a Tom & Jerry DVD for Christmas.  The other day, I sat down with him to watch it, and it's a gem.  It's a collection of all the original 1940s and 1950s Hanna/Barbera/Quimby cartoons, not the later (crummy) Gene Deitch or Chuck Jones ones.  These are the ones that won seven Academy Awards.

There's something utterly hilarious about the over-the-top cartoon violence mostly inflicted on hapless Tom.  I hadn't seen any of the Tom and Jerry cartoons in ages, and it occurred to me that the entire series, Academy Awards and all, is not only one of the best animation features of all time (if not the best), but also completely politically incorrect. 

What is it about the PC mindset that's so infuriating to me?  It's not the intentions of the people perpetuating it.  Well, maybe it is--these are the folks who preach that violence is always unacceptable under any circumstances, even in self-defense, and that's why the current generation needs to be shielded from the images of a cartoon cat getting its tail smashed in a waffle iron.

I watched a ton of violent cartoons as a kid.  I've watched poor Tom getting his butt handed to him by Jerry many times, and the more outrageously the manner of it, the funnier it was.   I've watched Elmer Fudd go full-auto on Bugs many times with that double-barreled shotgun of his, and I can't count the number of times I've laughed at Wile E. Coyote's Acme products backfiring on him.  (For someone who's never had a good experience with the product line, he was unreasonably brand-loyal.)

Yet even at six or eight or ten years of age, it never occurred to me to stick my brother's hand into a waffle iron, or throw him head-first into the open fridge.  Why is it that I was able to see the cartoon violence in context, and to correctly classify it as caricature, yet the current guardians of youth welfare think that the current generation of kids lacks that ability, and that only complete non-exposure will prevent them from playing Tom to their little baby sibling's Jerry?

Of course, now that I'm a bit older, I recognize a bit of a libertarian bent in the old cartoons.  It occurred to me that all the characters on the receiving end of the most gratuitous cartoon violence are almost always the ones who initiated force against their opponents.  Jerry wants to be left alone--it's only Tom's initial aggression that triggers the epic onslaught.  It's the same with Bugs Bunny, and the Road Runner--the good guys are always minding their own business until the bad guy comes around and tries to eat them, at which point the violence is not only hilarious, but completely justified as well.  There's a great educational message here: Don't give an attacker what he wants, give him a hammer in the face. 

Of course, that kind of message is equally unacceptable to the PC crowd, isn't it?

whaddaya know.

Mascara-wearing "Leave Britney Alone!" emo boy Chris Crocker lives in East Tennessee.

We're so blessed.

never had a doubt.

The sorting hat says that I belong in Ravenclaw!

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Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose intelligence is surest."

Ravenclaw students tend to be clever, witty, intelligent, and knowledgeable.
Notable residents include Cho Chang and Padma Patil (objects of Harry and Ron's affections), and Luna Lovegood (daughter of The Quibbler magazine's editor).

Take the most scientific Harry Potter
Quiz ever created.

Get Sorted Now!

lindsay borrows sumdood's pants.

A few weeks ago, we watched a re-run of the "Parent Trap" remake. Robin and I were both commenting on what a cute kid Lindsay Lohan was back then, and what a talented little actress she was at eleven already.

What is it about sudden fame, lots of money, and lax parenting that turns those kids into complete train wrecks? (Whoops, I guess I answered my own question there.)

Now Miss Lohan is barely twenty-one, and already a graduate of the Drew Barrymore School of Comprehensive Substance Abuse. Her latest foibles include getting arrested in a Santa Monica parking lot for DUI, and having a baggie of cocaine in her pocket. Now she's looking at possession charges and definite jail time for repeat DUI offenses. Oh, and the baggie of coke? Turns out the drugs "weren't hers", even though they were found in her pants.

Maybe this is the dastardly work of Sumdood again?

Lots of work to do...gotta drop off a doggie at the vet's for a tooth cleaning, which necessitates two trips to the vet office with both kids. If you've never left the house with an infant and a toddler in tow, you likely have no idea of the supply train and the intricate ballet of nap- and feeding time coordination required for such an excursion. Then I have to run back to the casa and straighten things up a bit, because Tamara and Art Eatman are making a house call around lunch. (I've known Art for nigh on eight years now, but I've never actually met the man face to face.) In between, I have to do some prep cooking for tonight's crock pot extravaganza, Asian Spiced Pork Ribs with Noodles.

Ah, the high-flying life of the stay-at-home dad. We don't get caught snorting coke...because we can't afford it, and even if we could, there'd be no time to snort it.

useless trivia.

The Governator, being Austrian-born, is fluent in German.

However, when his movies are dubbed into German, he doesn't provide his own voice. He is dubbed by a German voice actor instead, because Arnie's Austrian accent is too thick. (To a speaker of standard High German, the southern dialects like Bavarian and Austrian sound quaint and "mountain rural" at best, incomprehensible at worst.)

The voice actor who dubs Arnie is also the regular German voice for Sylvester Stallone and John Travolta, which would cause an interesting dilemma if they all ever decided to sign up for the same movie.