Chris James

You are most welcome, Des. But I had a good laugh this morning when I realized that the genie in the magic lamp shortened the link I gave to lbgtqnati...oral predators. Kinda makes your article look like some steamy porn bash. Hmm, perhaps it might attract more attention this way?

Not sure how many of you are aware of Des' reach within the LBGT community, most I am sure. I know he appears here as a cute little furry thing with a wicked sense of humor. But he is also out there impacting the lives of ordinary humans...like me. Des' column/blog is always right on the money when it comes to current events and topics. He writes about so many things and all of them make the reader think, which seems to be his objective. I have found his commentary to be inspiring, educational, and more than I ever expected from the orange haired creature we all love. Check this out, and thank you Des: http://www.lgbtqnati...oral-predators/

Censorship is something every author cringes at hearing about and brings up images of the thought police. The MPAA sounds like a bunch of old ladies with a red marker going through films and circling the things they see as objectionable. The key word in my comment here is "old." If there is indeed a religious slant to this rating board then I feel the studios should toss them all out or boycott the rating system. Since film production is all about the money, I see the studios being the bear in Hollywood who could eat rating boards alive if they all agreed. But since a coup is not likely then I suggest we seek some fresh, young minds to populate the board. I have a suggestion: http://www.lights-camera-jackson.com/bully-needs-to-be-pg-131.php This young man doesn't mince his words or hold back when he feels something is wrong in films. I often visit his site to see what kind of review he gives a film before I go see it. He had to take a parent to go see Bully and I get the impression he thought that unnecessary. I do have some concerns about this young man's site since it is a member of a Family Values association group. A little research will show you that also in that circle are several very homophobic family values organizations and so I feel there is some guilt by association here. But the kid is 13 and his objective is to write about fun films for family entertainment. By lobbying in his blog for the showing of Bully to all ages, I think LCJ has stepped beyond his usual character and made a political statement. If he continues to step forward, follows through with his career as a critic, then as he grows older perhaps he will see that the Family Values bunch is no different than the MPAA. I think every parent should take their kid to see Bully, in fact, it ought to be a homework assignment from schools.

Bruin, Xenophobia is a delightful slice of life, and contains an abundance of truth which makes it so appealing. I wouldn't know about the racial/social differences in the UK, but they can't be too different than what we have here. It is not too unusual around here to encounter people in the market speaking Polish, Russian or any of the Middle Eastern languages. The people from other countries should not be ignored since they can share a great wealth of cultural difference. It would seem the point in the story is that we should all embrace the differences. Two people should be able to share a common humanity and overcome the ignorance of prejudice. Thoughts like that always lead me back to the sage advice of one of our greatest human minds, Carl Sagan. His lecture about our Pale Blue Dot speaks to the needs of mankind here on Earth and assumes we are all alone in the universe. Unless we learn to get along with one another there will be no second chance. A serious story, Bruin. One that deserves a little flag waving to gain attention.

Did anyone doubt that Iraq was going to revert to type once the troops pulled out? These are people whose minds are back in the fifth century and Islam wants to keep them there. Without western support Iraq would be a nation of fanatics with lots of oil. This exposure to western values will never be accepted unless those involved are part of the monied elite, in which case they are protected. The average kid in the street has no choice but to conform to the bearded radicals who will not accept change. I for one am all in favor of walking away from the Middle East. Period.

Gee, I didn't know Apple had merged with Fisher-Price...

Honestly, I don't attend film theaters anymore. The patrons are rude and everything seems to be so small and uncomfortable, so are the seats. But I have had two major movie theater experiences in my life which I will share: Washington D.C., The Uptown Theater. The opening of Star Wars, which played on a huge screen and the sound system thundered to the level of awesome, it made quite the impression. But perhaps my experience was tainted by the young man in the seat beside me. The theater held nearly a thousand, and there were only a few dozen brave souls there for the noon showing. I loved the film, but I also loved the young man. In my childhood I lived in Tokyo. At age nine I rode the streetcar downtown to a theater whose name escapes me now. But I was off on an adventure by myself to see the opening of Journey to the Center of the Earth, the year was 1959. The film was in Cinemascope on the largest movie screen in the country, the largest I can ever remember seeing. I was very impressed. I remember sitting dead center on the first balcony which put me about level with the middle of the screen. What a wonderful experience that was. So now I sit at home and watch films on DVD. The screen is small, but I have a clear picture and with headphones I don't miss a single word. No cell phones ringing or people talking. Hugo was great fun and I am waiting for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close to be released. Remember: No talking in my theater, and the popcorn is always fresh.

Ahh, school lunch...yeah, I still poke fun at them in my stories. During most of my school years I took a bag lunch and considered myself one of the lucky ones. I still consider that McDonalds serves mystery meat and I will not eat there, although the coffee has become acceptable. I recall a television interview from several years ago where the warden of the local prison bragged about feeding the inmates with a cost factor of $1.50 a day. Can you imagine what those poor bastards must have to eat? Now as for you, Des...with all those sugary cakes and candies available...how did you manage to stay so svelte?

I know they are both older now by a couple of years, but isn't it delightful to know that they represent what is incredible about that generation. There is so much negative thought about the teen years, and here we have two fine examples of what is right and good. For a long time, musicians of this caliber seemed to exist only in older generations. But following along on other videos of these two you would see that their talent only grows better with time. I am sure that a Beatles tune is just as exciting to them as it was in my day. How fortunate we are to have them.

Why am I just seeing this now? You forgot to raise the flags, Bruin. A delightful limerick about...pants. That's what we call them here, probably because so many of us can't spell trousers. I mourn the language, and the inception of baggy saggy pants. Give me a tight pair of trousers to look at (not to wear). It used to be that you could tell a guy's religion if the trousers were tight enough.

Personally, I am not ready to give up my intelligence to one that is artificial. I didn't spend all those years in school learning language skills just to abdicate my responsibility to some automated, and often flawed, tool of the computer age. I have not turned off the auto-correct features on my word processing program because I love to argue with it. Invariably it doesn't like my attempts at localized speech for a character in, say, the American south, and it hates slang. I find the poor thing, and yes, I do think of it as some creature in the machine, is slowly beginning to understand my displeasure. I will teach it to spell if it kills me. There are times when I have to laugh when the software wants to make an absurd substitute for a perfectly good English word. Type in "bosun's mate" and it wants to make it boson. It doesn't like words nautical but when I am writing about sailing it better listen to me because I have a large Webster's volume here on the desk and I can whack some sense into the machine. There is no substitute for reading to broaden the knowledge of language. I suppose that kids today only read what is required from books and text the rest. I do feel a sense of empathy for those poor English teachers who must read, in bad handwriting, the results of grade school students writing assignments. I have seen examples of such documents, complete with little smiley face punctuation and LOL at the end of a sentence. But since we have become a society of distant electronic communication I suppose we must provide a laugh track to our words so that others will understand our emotion. Texting has replaced inter-personal communication through speech for the youngest among us. Unless you are over thirty, and then it seems that generation is glued to the cell phone talking incessantly. Or perhaps the oldsters like me spend too much time tossing out thoughts on forums. I ought to be out playing tag in the sunshine.

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/02/filmaker-disappointed-distressed-over-r-rating-applied-to-bullying-documentary/ It seems the film was forced to take an "R" rating, what a terrible injustice.

take over the world. Machines don't speak our language very well, or at least some of it: http://digitallife.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/29/10542387-gunna-to-gunman-auto-correct-prompts-school-lockdown?ocid=todmsnbc11 In most circumstances like this I think it would be better for the software involved in making auto-corrections just to reject the word. What happened to the old phrase: "Does not compute?" I think they better revive that instead of playing a guessing game.

Aw, James...I don't doubt you are responsible with your weapons. If you left guns and ammunition lying around unsecured then I would feel you are part of the problem. Perhaps we have just become too comfortable with loaded weapons and are losing sight of the fact that adolescents feel the gun makes the man and allows them to solve life's minor transgressions. I could only wish we lived in a time where personal weapons were not necessary to defend our lives and property. You may have your Second Ammendment, but I think that any gun owner needs rigorous safety training to protect the rest of us. Most of the kids who commit these terrible crimes steal the guns from the adults in their lives. Shouldn't those adults be held accountable?

You're right, Cole...it is a lovely short story. I loved the intensity of the two characters. Face to face, the struggle of what life will bring them...great stuff.

The death of Davy Jones was announced today, and in my mind that ends an era of music some of us will always remember. The Monkees were not a great 1960's band, there were so many others with really good talent. But I didn't gravitate to that television spawned musical group because of their talent. Davy Jones first appeared in my life when I was 15. Teenage girls in America went nuts over the short dark haired young man from England....and so did I. That crush gave me some anxious moments when I realized he was someone I idolized. I watched the television show and heard Davy's voice on the radio until I realized what I was feeling was right for me. I had never thought of loving a guy before. I must admit that I also idolized Peter Noone from Herman's Hermits, but probably because of that snagletoothed smile he always had. Sigh, I was crushng on guys and that could mean only one thing. It was easy to worship from afar since there was never a chance of meeting either of these young stars. But while other boys around me looked at Playboy magazine, I was stealing those Teen Pop magazines off the drugstore shelf. You know, the ones only girls buy. In time I grew away from the adolescent crushes and turned my efforts to real people who lived in the world around me. But I could never tell anyone that my life as a gay boy began with Davy Jones...and now he is gone at age 66.

None of these shootings make any sense. I say the kids need comprehensive mental reconditioning and we ought to lock up the adults who own the guns. We go after the dealers when it comes to drugs, this should be no different.

Funny to think these NASCAR drivers can go 200 mph in tight formation and yet seem to screw up when they are forced to go slow and are all by themselves on the track. I don't think I would like to have Montoya behind me in a supermarket parking lot, the little old ladies are dangerous enough.

The man has been nothing short of brilliant for his entire career. Thank you for sharing, Cole.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/apps-apes-orangutans-using-ipads-paint-video-chat-174457692.html Just thought Des would enjoy seeing this...but then who knows, he might be leading the way himself.

I was just bemoaning the list of films currently showing in area theaters. I understand that film studios are a business and must cater to the masses to recover production expenses, but that often means that I am faced with less than what I consider quality films. The spate of "son of" type films is usually apalling. Spinning off sequels to films that once made money is a poor way to display creativity on any level and it happens too often. I enjoy one of a kind films like Hugo. I don't see any sequals possible there, thank goodness. But I'm sure The Pecman will back me up when I say that each element in a film comes together because of teamwork. Scorsese is an outstanding director/producer, and yet that talent depends upon the team he assembles for each element of the film. When a story flows it is because the script and the visuals have been seamlessly melded with the ability of the performers. I was never directly involved with film production as I spent most of my early professional career on stages. But I did work to set up locations for shooting, met some very demanding people and managed to stand on the sidelines while the scenes were shot. I did enough of that to be able to relate those moments in story form. But I could understand the pressures of time and budget, the flow of work and the massive effort of personnel. All that so little old me could sit in a dark theater and enjoy the work of thousands of people. (maybe tens of thousands, did you see the credits on Lord of the Rings?) But as I scan the list of films I see things like Battleship, a video game evolved into film. Is it any wonder that a silent film won best picture at the Oscars? The major film studios are churning out violence and sex because they sell, but they won't get my money. I look forward to seeing what the independent filmakers are doing this year and can only smile when I see the big distributors buying up these small films to show on the big screens of America. Hugo, The Help, Super 8, and The King's Speech were just several of the films I enjoyed in the past six months. Does anyone else have suggestions? What films did you enjoy this past year? I need to add to my DVD collection.

Mike Arram and Sequoyah are tied as winners for best non-GA story, but then we already knew what fine winning authors they are. Congrats to you both for all the hard work you put into your stories. Awesomedude should be very proud to host your work. This is a well deserved kudo for you both. Now if there was only cash involved...

If you don't read the whole article just take a gander at the third paragraph. http://bottomline.ms...ost-pump-prices "The proposed pipeline would relieve a glut of crude oil backing up in the Midwest and redirect those barrels to Gulf of Mexico ports. From there they could be shipped to world markets and repriced at higher global prices." UM, no thank you! We have the conservatives (read that as oil company CEO's) screaming that we need to drill more wells and build this pipeline to do what...ship off the precious resources we have to global markets. Does anyone see anything wrong with this? You folks in Canada ought to be pissed off as well. Yes, greed is good, or so they think. But hey buddy, that oil comes out of my ground and WTF do you think you are doing with it? I say nationalize all the natural resources in the U.S. and screw those conservative dogs who see nothing but profit. I'm sure the folks in California would appreciate a price break. (look at the red all over the map) BTW...Just read an article that the oil companies have shut down several refineries on the Gulf Coast because they aren't busy enough and so our rising gas prices are tied to lack of processing. You think that isn't price fixing? Sure, let's blame Obama. How dumb can you get, he isn't even from Texas.

Can you imagine what the genius of Mozart would have done with access to the internet? Perhaps something like this: Okay and I am clairvoyant, LOL, they just did a story about this on the NBC Evening News!

To Rick Santorum it doesn't matter what is put forth in the First Ammendment and the intrepretation that has existed for decades giving religion such broad freedoms. No, Santorum seems to think that religion trumps government, and that makes him a very dangerous man. http://www.businessw...t-absolute.html It is certain that he is catering to the religious right wing with such pronouncements, but let's take this a step further. If religious thought should dictate government policy, which religion gets to choose? It certainly couldn't be the Catholics, their leadership is the head of a foreign nation. Being a Catholic, Santorum would probably want his brand of Christianity to take the front seat. Ain't gonna happen. I am reminded that the Catholic Church has enormous assets in this country and are dominant in the health care industry. I have always agreed that churches shouldn't be taxed since they are nothing more than the result of already tithing their congregations. But should religious businesses be exempt? The only legitimate work of a church is the God business, everything else is to make money. Tax the hell out of it. Santorum is a fool that will suffer the GOP into an early grave during this election cycle. I have no political affiliation and I despise the way people expect me to choose between idiots and fools. My only hope for this country is that half the Supreme Court drops dead in the next few years and we get rid of the idiots on both sides of the political spectrum. With all the politics I will have to digest in the next eight months I expect to have a massive case of indigestion by November.