The Hothlanta Rebels Official Gab Thread

As long as we're listing movie favorites...

Moulin Rouge
Boondock Saints
Princess Bride
Pirates of the Caribean
Lord of the Rings (both, soon to be all three)
Pitch Black
Sleeping Beauty


and of course, all five Star Wars episodes. I also am a big fan of Eddie Izzard's Dress to Kill.

 

Trianiigirl: Gotta high-five you on that last comment. My wife and I are huge fans of Eddie Izzard. Apparently, he's a SW fan, too. And, we're currently ticked off at his tour schedule. Of course, he's not coming anywhere near us, but he keeps adding dates in England. It seems like he'd do a show in a field of Scottish sheep before he'd come back to Memphis, where he was once asked to "speak English" to some Redneck's kids.

 

Glad to know I'm not the only fan 'round these parts! All my best girlfriends and I are so mad that the closest Sexie comes is Washington D.C


"What is it, Lt. Sebastian?"
"It's just the Rebels, sir. They're here."
"My God, man! Do they want tea?"
"No, I think they're after something more than that, sir. I don't know what it is, but they've brought a flag."



And I loooove your signature

 

Washington DC? There are so many discount airlines, surely you could get up there for a fairly minimal cost. Don't give up!

 

I also am a big fan of Eddie Izzard's Dress to Kill.
Fill me in. Who or what is an Eddie Izzard?

 

Padme1967: Eddie Izzard is a British comedian....a British transvestite comedian, I guess would be more appropriate. But, he doesn't focus his entire act on being a transvestite. The man is truly intelligent, bringing up everything from the fact that all of the Imperials were Brits to the brilliance of Scooby-Doo to Dr. Heimlich and his maneuver. His "Dress to Kill" act, which has been on HBO several times and can be found on VHS and DVD, is probably the funniest stand-up act I have ever seen.

And he can run in heels, too.

Trianiigirl: Have you checked out his website? He has message boards as well. I haven't been there in a few months, but I am a member there.

 

Qui-Gon: I've seen the website... its quite fun. I think I registered with the boards (also as trianiigirl) but I don't think I've looked at them yet.


Padme: Someone in the YJCC asked that very same question...
He's an action transvestite! A male tomboy! He's into running-jumping-climbing trees (and putting on makeup once he's up there)! And veeery funny.

 

Hehe, I watched the Vader clip on his website. Me and my son laughed at the thin mint part. Too bad we don't get HBO
Looks like he puts on a good show.

Thanks

 

For those of you who are Izzard fans, I started a Dress to Kill Quote-a-thon game in the Memphis FanForce forums. You can find it here

 

How... very... odd... I've been a fan of Eddie Izzard's for years. I think he's hysterical, but the only movie that I've seen him in (to date) was the unfortunate "The Avengers"... and he never even said a bleedin' word! Grrrr!

On a completely unrelated note, while religious fanatics in Alabama and Barrow County keen and wail and gnash their teeth, anti-religious fanatics seem oblivious to the concept of "too far". You never hear the other side of the story...There is a sinister force at work in this country today, but it has not as much to do with 'Godless Liberals' or 'Right-Wing Christian Fanatics' as it has to do with the growing inability of the citizens of this country to leave each other alone and mind their own bloody business:

Before snack time in her kindergarten class in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., little Kayla Broadus held hands with two of her classmates and recited this prayer: "God is good, God is great, thank you, God, for my food." The alert teacher pounced on Kayla, severely reprimanded her, and reported her to the school administration. In short order, the principal sent a sternly worded letter to Kayla's parents advising them that Kayla was not allowed to pray in school, aloud or with others.

The school board then issued a triumphant press release crowing about its victory over a kindergartner praying before snack time. Thus was creeping theocracy in Saratoga Springs stopped dead in its tracks! Kayla's mother brought a lawsuit, winning Kayla the right to pray out loud. But she was still prohibited from holding hands with others while she prayed. Hearing the G-word in kindergarten might interfere with the school's efforts to teach proper sexual techniques in the first grade.

Thanks to the vigilance of an alert teacher at Lynn Lucas Middle School outside of Houston, two sisters carrying Bibles were prevented from bringing their vile material into a classroom. The teacher stopped the students at the classroom door and marched them to the principal's office. (Maybe it was just the sight of public school students carrying a book of any kind that set off alarm bells.) The sisters' mother was called and warned that the school intended to report her to Child Protective Services. When the mother arrived, the teacher threw the Bibles in the wastebasket, shouting, "This is garbage!"

In another display of tolerance at Lynn Lucas Middle School, school administrators snatched three students' books with covers displaying the Ten Commandments, ripped the covers off, threw them in the garbage, and told the students that the Ten Commandments constituted "hate speech." (Also, it would be insensitive to expose the Ten Commandments to students who had never been taught to count to 10.)

 

While I have issues with the current level of separation of church and state in this country, there is the issue of respecting others' beliefs, as well. This doesn't even get near the issue of reasonableness, either.

I don't have an issue with people bringing Bibles to school, as long as they're not trying to convert people or preach, or whatever they're called to do. Let them have their prayer and let them take comfort in the reading of the Bible. Growing up in Texas, I was often accosted by "Christians" who felt the need to inform me of my impending descent into the fires of desolation. (In my opinion, I don't consider this Christianity, but bullying.) I would've preferred it to go away. Some restraint was needed.

However, I also have Christian friends who took great comfort and joy in the Bible and their prayer group. I have Muslim friends who paused for their prayers if we were late after school. They did not impinge on anyone else's beliefs. They practiced their faith, as needed.

You also see this issue around drugs. In the name of no tolerance for illicit drugs, schools have stopped children with asthma from carrying their inhalers. If you're having an asthma attack, walking across a school to the nurse's office could mean the difference between moving on with your day or going to the hospital or, heaven forbid, even death.

There's the tendency in this country to be all or nothing. Reasonableness is often something we lack until we see how silly it is to be all or nothing on a particular subject.

Hopefully we'll move out of this phase, soon.

 

Paula pretty much summed up my thoughts on this. In my opinion, by not allowing people to practice their faith wherever they wish, you are trampling on their constitutional rights. But, it seems okay nowadays to trample on some people rights, but not others.

When I say that people should have the freedom to practice their faith anywhere they wish, I do not mean that they should have the right to go around and harrass people, but pray or read the bible wherever they wish.

I also have no problem with the 10 commandments being displayed in public. I do not see why it is "hate speech" or harrassment for them to be displayed. The 10 commandments are in line with many of our laws. If you don't believe in the 10 commandments or you are offended by them, then don't read them. It is as simple as that.

I can understand some people's argument that it seems as if the state is endorsing one religion over others. If the folks in power are worried about seeming biased toward Christianity, then display scriptures from other faiths' holy books as well. I would have no problem with this.

As for the argument that displaying holy scriptures in a federal or state courthouse is in violation of the separation of church and state mandate, I don't necessarily agree with that. What the founding fathers meant by the separation of church and state is that the leadership of the church would have no say in how the secular matters of the country were run. That is all. It did not mean that there could be no prayer in schools, or displays of holy scriptures in state or federal buildings.

Again, I am not in agreement with those religious fanatics who harrass people. I just think that people have taken the separation of church and state too far, and are thus creating more problems than they are solving. In short, they are creating fanatics on both the anti-religious and religious sides of the argument.

Like Paula said, people in this country tend to take the "all or nothing" attitude toward almost everything. I think that we would all be better off if everyone just chilled out a bit.

In regards to the 10 commandments issue going on in metro Atlanta right now: you know you have stirred up a hornets nest when the KKK and the members of an African-American church band together at a rally to voice their support for the 10 commandments. I was rather shocked when I saw that on the news this morning.

Wow, I didn't mean to get so wordy.

 

*LOL*

I read about that in the papers last week, about the KKK Grand Wizard Imperial PooBah Cleagle-Fleagle or whatever they call themselves inviting that Black church to protest with them... And I thought politics made strange bedfellows...

You guys are right on target about the "all or nothin' at all" attitude we have in this country... everybody feels like they have to go to extremes... it will tear this country apart, it's already starting to. To quote the great Eric hoffer, "It is doubtful if the oppressed ever fight for freedom. They fight for pride and power- power to oppress others. The oppressed want above all to imitate their oppressors; they want to retaliate."

Finally getting this bloody cast off my leg. Mobility, here I come! Woo-Hoo!

 

Holy crap! Elia Kazan died! What the heck! Every artist I admire is kicking their respective buckets!

 

I should probably make clear that I personally don't agree with the Ten Commandments being in a courthouse. The law is supposed to be neutral. And I don't think it's right to present that the defendants will be judged according to a particular religion. I don't agree with any religious symbols in or near a court of law. Other government buildings? Within reason, I don't have terribly many objections to that. I just think it's best not to get into it.

Granted, most of our laws are based on Christian belief, just given the development of our country. It was founded by Christians. But the country was built by every race and religion. I just don't think it maintains that whole "fair and balanced" perspective that was the intention of our court system.

And I'm done philosophizing, now.

As for the people we've lost this week, just amazing. I'm a bit torn about Elia Kazan. I don't know how I'd react to injustices like the McCarthy trials. I would like to hope I could act with honor, but I don't know. Still, he never apologized for his actions, and that I have trouble with. I will never, though, have trouble with his artistic abilities. Amazing film maker. He had such an interesting perspective in his films that made you feel like you were both observing and caught in the characters' situations. A true talent.

But I'm most sad about Donald O'Connor. I watched his "Frances the Talking Mule" movies so much as a kid. And as nice as Gene Kelly is to watch in "Singin' in the Rain," it's Donald O'Connor's performance that is the most interesting to watch.

And I'm just full of many political opinions, today. Let me return to my real life as a government worker and get some stuff done for the taxpayers!

EDIT: Typos.

 

Paula, I'm sure that whatever you do is a better use of taxpayer money than Cloaca, the 33-foot-long machine at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York whose sole purpose was to consume food and turn it into poop -- in essence, a crap generator -- at taxpayer expense. Is it art?

Oh, of course the Ten Commandments shouldn't be displayed in a courthouse, because the only reason they want it there is so that other people can see it. I doubt that any of the people protesting even laid eyes on the thing before this controversy started, and it's not like anybody's suggesting that they can't display them in their own homes or private work spaces or whatever.

Yes, Donald O'Connor is a terrible loss as well; heh... I love "Singin'", don't get me wrong, it's in my top fifty, but I have such warm memories of being a young nipper sprwaled in front of the TV watching "Francis the Talking Mule"....

As for Elia Kazan and HUAC... There is a tendency to make the McCarthy hunts a straight black-and-white issue, with the McCarthy people cast as moustache-twirling facists and the accused painted as martyrs with a saint-like glow. I don't see any reason for the man to have apologized for his actions -- he did what he thought was right. The day after his testimony was published in newspapers, he paid for an ad in the New York Times, which read, 'Secrecy serves the Communists. At the other pole, it serves those who are interested in silencing liberal voices. The employment of good liberals is threatened because they have allowed themselves to become associated with or silenced by Communists. Liberals must speak out.' When you consider that the Communists slaughtered tens of millions of innocent people -- millions more than even the Nazis did -- then you cannot criticize a man who did what he could to prevent the perceived spread of it. Kazan joined the Communist Party like a lot of people did in the early 30's because he was concerned about the depression and Hitler's rise, and liked what communists were preaching. But he quit a few years later because the Communist Party (according to his autobiography) "attempted to control thought ... suppress personal opinion ... dictate personal conduct. They habitually distorted and disregarded and violated the truth." This system (which the Hollywood Left still refuses to condemn) had already killed over 20 million innocent people by the 1950's. I can't really bring the man to task for exposing members of a closed and secret organization, dedicated by its own admission to the overthrow of the U.S. Constitution through force and deception, and its replacement by a Marxist dictatorship.

In fact, personal opinion aside, the very idea that Kazan should have been apologetic for his decision to name names, or that he should be denied recognition of his spectacular film and theatre work for it, is a brilliant example of the hideous double-standard that so many people willingly subscribe to -- if you remember, there were protestors at the Oscars that year waving the flag with the hammer and sickle. Should they be abused for showing their support for the Soviet Union, which was the bloodiest regime in history?

Without justifying McCarthy's self-serving aggrandizement and questionable tactics -- there is no way to justify HUAC intimidation and the lack of due process -- it's not a crime to oppose Communism; after all, it is a political philosophy that has spilled more blood in more countries -- all of Eastern Europe, China, Cambodia (Pol Pot, anybody?), Cuba -- than any other I can think of. Furthermore, recent access to Soviet archives reveals that the infiltration of the Communists into Hollywood and the U.S. government at the time was far greater than people were led to believe -- check out the declassified VENONA project, for instance. (there's a great book, The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and Americas Traitors by Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel -- after reading it, I do wish that McCarthy had directed his efforts towards some of the real threats instead of

 

Well, I do feel much like Cloaca, right now. Just having one of those one step forward, two steps back kinda days.

Plus, we've been put on a Continuing Resolution...again. Congress can't decide on our budget, so no hiring, no purchasing, generally making our lives miserable. I'm a bit grumpy, right now. Just as long as we get our budget before next July, I'll be happy. (Note, we got our budget in July, this year.)

But on to our debate. I totally hear what you're saying, but still don't agree with everything you say. I think there's a real issue in this country when disagreeing with an opinion or political stance blocks you from doing something. Didn't agree with it during the Dixie Chicks debacle. Don't agree with it for those blacklisted under McCarthy. Studios didn't block a convicted person. Studios blocked those accused. That was enough for most people.

As for the horror of the Communists? No arguements from me. But there are a lot of ugly 'isms in this world. I think there needs to be a better way of approaching them, is all.

Yes...my liberalism (ism! No!) is showing.

One has to wonder if this is the road of all 'isms? Are they all doomed to be twisted until they become deadly?

If you look at it on a very simplistic level, communism was supposed to put everyone on equal footing. A Utopia, if you will. (Man...I'm channeling my philosophy professor.) Would've been nice, in theory.

Now, back to my shallow life. I'm heading out to pick up the next NJO book!

 

Paula, I think that the last two administrations have demonstrated perfectly H.L. Mencken's observation that "We suffer most when the White House busts with ideas."

Blocking those accused of something is a right that a person has, and denying use of your property to a person accused of whatever is in line with that right. It's a freedom of association issue. You do have a right to discriminate -- that is, to use your judgement, values, and ethics to determine who you do and do not wish to associate with. If you do not wish to associate with people who have been accused of communist activities, you should not be forced to do so. 'Innocent until proven guilty' applies only to the impartial rule of law -- an individual is free to make those judgements using whatever method or criteria they find appropriate.

A person has a perfect right to say, "I am a Nazi, I oppose the integration of the lesser races into my supreme race and favor a facist society." But others have a right to decide that they do not wish to associate with such a person. Your potential boss, for instance, may decide that he does not want a Nazi working for him, and refuse to hire you. Your freedom of speech has not been compromised -- you are still free to say whatever you wish -- but the consequence of your free speech, in this instance, is that you find yourself shunned. And we're not talking about using force and violence to implement your ideas, which would be wrong regardless of your political views. Freedom of speech is in place to protect unpopular speech -- popular speech needs no protection. But the flip side of it is that you will face the judgement of others for your views -- just as you have a right to speak your mind, others have a right to judge you according to your words and act in accordance with that judgement.

I'll agree with you about the 'ism's, though... mass movements are to be avoided. They always wind up being oppressive and murderous. It's what happens when the individual mind is underminded by any sort of 'group mentality'.

As for putting everyone on equal footing, I wouldn't want to live in a society like that -- as far as why, I'll refer you to Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron": http://penguinppc.org/~hollis/personal/bergeron.shtml
But I can't see that Communism has ever had anything to do with equality -- it's totalitarianism, it's the destruction of individuality in favor of social and economic conformity. No good, that. Communism, Fascism, whatever, it's all the same thing, and ultimately, it has the same goal -- the domination of some over the enslavement of others.

Have we solved the world's problems yet?

 

Okay, my head is hurting from all this serious discussion.

I think that it might not be too much to ask to move the 10 commandments from inside the courthouse to another location. But, I think that harrasing children who bring bibles or the 10 commandments to school with them is totally unacceptable. Of course, I think that we all agree with that.

You know, I believe that if most folks could talk calmly about political issues without getting personal, as we have done here, then we would all be much better off.

Perhaps we should create a "middle-of-the-road" party, in which everyone is welcomed, whether they be of a more liberal bent or of a more conservative mindset. The whole purpose would be to prove that those with differing opinions can work together for the greater good, by using respect and restraint.

The motto for the party would be "voters for a more common sense future."

 

...Common sense....?

That's no way to get elected....

 

How about a less weighty subject. Has anyone finished a basement before?

I'm about to start my basement. The Home Equity Line of Credit closes in a couple of weeks and I'm good to go! I'm excited and horrified at the same time.

When I get it done, I'm going to organize a book brigade party. I have to get my entire Star Wars collection from the top floor of my house into the basement.

If I get enough people to form a chain, I might stand a chance of accomplishing this in a day. Otherwise, it'll take me months to move it all downstairs. Way too much stair climbing.

 

I have never finished a basement before. I wouldn't even know where to begin.

I am looking forward to seeing what you do with your basement, however.

And I'll be glad to be a link in the chain to get all your stuff downstairs.

 

Hmmmm...

*serious narrator's voice*

Presenting the latest cinematic triumph from Cyril Rothbottingham St. John-Smythe...

...Critically-acclaimed director of "Books in the Attic" and "Drywall"...

It was a time of change...

...A time of transition...

...A time of struggle...

...When a woman alone would find herself reaching out...

... to find help from others...

...to accomplish what she could not alone...

Winner of the 2003 Palm D'or...

Featured on over twenty critic's "Ten best" lists...

Nominated for seven Acadamy Awards, including best picture, best director, best actress, best supporting actor, and best on-set catering...

And winner of the exclusive "I Really Really Really Liked It a Whole Bunch" Award....

Merchant Ivory Films is proud to invite you to live the experience that is...

"An Unfinished Basement"

Rated PG-13 for power tools, language, and some violence. Parental guidance suggested for children under 13 and anybody who watches "American Idol".

 

Oh my GAWD! That's hilarious! I'm going to print that out and tack it up on one of the framing supports for the crew to read.

 

OMG! ROTFLMAO!