January 10, 2004

Randy Kennedy needs to get over himself. He spends 1,258 words bitching in The New York Times about how long it takes for modern movie credits to roll.

Kennedy compares the 1922 vampire classic, "Nosferatu," a movie that was shot in a box and lists 16 end credits, to "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King," which offers almost 10 minutes of closing cred. "Return of the King" took years to create; it's a spectacle of acting, scenery, music, makeup, costume, fight choreography and special effects. Of course the credits are long.

And you know what? I sit and watch every single credit make its screen appearance. If I've been entertained for three and a half hours, I can certainly give credit where it's due.

January 9, 2004

Don't carry an almanac in your backpack. Don't check one out of the library. And definitely avoid buying one at your local Barnes and Noble. Over the holidays, the FBI told 18,000 police departments that almanacs could be used for terrorist planning.

College student Lara Hayhurst just wanted to take her fish, MJ, home for the holidays. Imagine her surprise when she learned the animal was listed on the Transportation Security Administration's terrorist watch list.

In 2001, I wrote a column decrying the U.S. government's decision to detain thousands of Americans and foreign nationals. With little or no evidence of criminal activity, these people were deprived of the right to counsel and due process.

Turns out they were also brutalized during their forced imprisonment.

According to the Washington Post, hundreds of videotapes that federal prison officials claimed were destroyed show how detainees at a New York detention facility were victims of physical and verbal abuse. As many as 20 guards slammed detainees against walls and excessively strip-searched them.

Wake up, America. Your fear of terrorists has given the Bush administration free rein to arrest people without charging them, torture suspects in custody, spy on ordinary citizens and invade sovereign countries without any evidence of weapons of mass destruction or ties to Al Qaeda.

January 8, 2004

If you're a reporter for a newspaper or magazine, you can interview inmates in the Texas prison system. But if you're writing a true crime book, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice says bugger off.

Last summer, best-selling author Suzy Spencer was barred from visiting with convicted killer Celeste Johnson simply because she writes books instead of articles. Since then, she has enlisted the help of the National Writers Union and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

"We find it ironic that you would seek to limit access to the very journalists who have the ability to provide the most thorough and detailed accounts of criminal cases. This criterion is arbitrary and unfair to nonfiction book authors," Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee, wrote in her letter to prison system general counsel Carl Reynolds.

If the good people of Texas hope to read true crime books in the future, they must protest this arbitrary policy. Just e-mail the TDCJ Ombudsman Program, or call (512) 463-7837 in Austin and (936) 437-1303 in Huntsville.

More than 750 people were killed in Puerto Rico last year, a homicide rate that's triple the U.S. average.

When a stray bullet killed his 16-year-old daughter last August, Nestor Muniz vowed to lower the country's crime rate. According to The New York Times, he has organized a march with other relatives of murder victims, lobbied politicians and worked to inspire a collective sense of responsibility among Puerto Ricans.

Mr. Muniz, I'm pulling for you. Keep up the good work.

January 7, 2004

I'm very impressed with the political ads created by the 15 finalists in the Bush in 30 Seconds contest. Once the celebrity judges (Michael Moore, Jack Black, Janeane Garofalo, etc.) choose the winner, that commercial will air on national TV. But why wait? Check out all of the video spots now.

I've noticed an interesting trend on The Blog of Death. The people who receive the most tributes are not necessarily the most famous. In fact, it's the lesser known entertainers who seem to have struck a chord with audiences:

Terry Lester, actor (soap operas) - 60+ tributes
Jonathan Brandis, actor (teen idol) - 50+ tributes
Gary Stewart, country music singer - 30+ tributes
Trevor Goddard, actor (JAG) - 15 tributes
Kellie Waymire, actress (soaps and Star Trek: Voyager) - 7 tributes

January 6, 2004

I don't listen to radio. I get my news from the Internet and CNN, and my music from iTunes. Yet when I heard that some guy from "American Idol" was replacing "American Top 40" host Casey Kasem, 71, I felt a sad pang of regret.

Farewell Casey. You will definitely be missed.

Peter Harlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle calls the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy "the most pee-inducing series of films in the history of cinema." Combine a 3 hour, 20 minute film with a supersized diet pop, and the need for relief becomes a struggle of epic proportions.

January 5, 2004

A new Jaded Writings column has been posted. This week, I discuss how easy it is to give the gift of life.

"Love is, above all, the gift of oneself."
--Jean Anouilh

January 4, 2004

Voting has begun in the annual Preditors & Editors Readers' Poll, which honors the best print and electronic publications and authors. I'm honored to be nominated for Best Poem, Best Nonfiction Story, Best Short Story, Best Poet and Best Zine Editor.

To participate, hustle over there before Jan. 21. If you vote for me, please accept my thanks in advance!

As if you were born into a world of tears,
you always tend to look at the darker things in life.
Inside you're a hopeless romantic.
Drawn to things like the occult and mysteries,
you spend your time daydreaming of "What If's."

What Type of Soul Do You Have?
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Past Afterthoughts