Another Day Out with Kyle

Since I now only work on the weekends, it leaves me with a lot of free time during the week. I try to set aside at least one day a week where I take Kyle out somewhere. He's only got about six months left before he starts Kindergarten, so I suppose now is the best time to have some bonding with him.

This week we went to The Blanton Museum of Art (the best museum in Austin, in my opinion), and the Capitol building. When we were looking at contemporary art, Kyle made me laugh by saying "Look at that scribble scrabble!" (see picture above). I couldn't have said it any better. Some of the pictures indeed looked like "scribble scrabble."

He made me laugh again when we were in the Capitol building. When I told him we were inside the Texas Capitol, he said "Is there a lower-case building?"

As Bill Cosby used to say, "Kids say the darndest things"

Review - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3-D

Last night I took my daughter Sara to see "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" on the big screen in 3-D. It's my least favorite of the "Star Wars" series, and I don't particularly like 3-D movies. Actually, I try to avoid 3-D movies if possible, preferring the 2-D version instead. But...this was a rare exception. I was curious as to how they would do "Star Wars" in 3-D. I also wanted Sara to have a chance to see "Star Wars" the way I saw it when I was a kid, and maybe she would feel some of the same magic I felt when I was her age.

We saw the movie at the local "Alamo Drafthouse" theater. I was later surprised to find out that the movie was completely sold out. I was expecting a small crowd. Not a sold-out crowd. The place was packed with Star Wars geeks.

The 3-D was pretty good, but not great. There were no mouth dropping "WOW" moments. There were very few moments of objects coming out at you. Even the "podrace" scene, which seemed to have lots of opportunities for cool 3-D tricks, didn't really impress me much.

The movie still had all the same problems as it did back in 1999. It was obviously aimed at small children, yet the story was far too convoluted for them to follow. Taxation on trade routes and blockades? Senators arguing in committees? How is a 6 or 7 year old going to understand all that? Then you've got Jar Jar, one of the most annoying characters ever created. It turns out, though, the kids love Jar Jar.

"What was your favorite part of the movie?" I asked Sara. "Was it the Obi Wan/Darth Maul fight scene?" (in my opinion, the best part of the movie)

"It was when Jar Jar's tongue went numb." Sara replied. "He's so silly."

So there you have it. Maybe George Lucas knew what he was doing after all. My daughter loves Jar Jar and all his wackiness.

From what I have read, Lucas plans to release a 3-D version of each "Star Wars" movie for the next 6 years. Which means we will have two more inferior films to go before we get to the classic, "Episode IV." I'd like to see that one again on the big screen, but I think I'll probably skip the next two.

Fighting For Freedom!! ... (of speech)

Just when I start thinking that nobody is actually reading my blog, I suddenly receive not one, but TWO emails threatening legal action against me for something I have posted. Both came within the same week.

I assumed if anyone complained about the content of my blog and threatened legal action, it would have been from the small group of individuals whom I have trashed over the years: Julie Jo Thompson of Hess, Lilliane Salazar of Wi-Fi Link, my brother's wife, or even my sister. But no. Instead it comes from something I wrote 4 years ago on my first blog.

The first issue comes from what an anonymous poster left in the comments section of my blog entry, "Why Taiwanese Women Like Foreign Men." (update 5/14/13: That blog entry was deleted when I published my first book.  That blog entry is now in the book.)  "Anonymous" wrote a meandering comment about Taiwanese women picking up foreigners in the bars and pubs of Kaohsiung. He mentioned a few names of women "to be aware of", using their English name, not their real, Chinese name. One particular gentleman didn't like it, and sent off this email to me (I'm deleting the name of the woman in this email):

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Perhaps I was mistaken to think that your blog was attempting to present an intellectual argument about the interrelationships between Taiwanese women & western men. It appears you are only interested in propagating sensationalist banter.

Ms. (X) is a close friend of mine & the complete rather than half-story as posted on your blog was well known to me long before I became aware of your posting. The same person who posted anonymously on your site also posted similar comments in the San Diego Reader. I have since written to that person, who happens to be the wife of the person who cheated my friend & knowing her legal accountability for those comments, has promptly & graciously removed them within 2 days of my request.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2011/jun/14/travel-kaohsiung-taiwan/

If I was to publish that I met your wife in a bar & she propositioned me to have sex, then that would be slanderous unless I could prove the same?

I strongly suggest that you remove references to my friends name.

If I was to publish the full details of the other side of the story this would cause extreme embarrassment to Mrs. B, who has already suffered immeasurably due to the immoral behavior of her husband. Alternatively, I could file a legal suit in Taiwan which would include a demand for removal of the references & damages.

You are a married man & possibly a parent. I appeal to your better judgement to correct the injustice that has been presented on your blog.

Thank You

Paul R. Gannaway

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I made my own comment later, stating that I can only delete comments, not edit them. Not only that, but I have a rule that I don't censor anyone. I publish all comments here, no matter how good, bad, banal, stupid, crazy, or obscene they might be. The only comments I have ever deleted were spam. I used to get bombarded with spam when I allowed people to comment without moderating.

Obviously, I wouldn't allow something that goes too far (racist, hate speech, for example), but I've never seen that on either of my blogs. I didn't particularly like this guy using my wife in his example of slander, but I guess he's trying to make a point in his own "sensationalist" way.

I realize some people would just delete the comment at the first sign of any controversy, but for me it's a matter of principle and of Freedom of Speech. What "Anonymous" wrote, in my opinion, had some merit. It presented another opinion to the topic. Other people have since presented opposing arguments. One side claims that the women are the problem. The other side claim the men are the problem. The argument has balance.

The second issue was far less controversial. It was about a photo that I used on my follow-up entry: "Why Taiwanese Women Like Foreign Men (Part 2)" I wanted to find a photo of a mixed couple, and I didn't want to use yet another picture of me and my wife, or David and Pi Chi. So I used a wedding picture that a Taiwanese woman sent me back in October of 2004. It wasn't personal, I just thought the picture was appropriate for the topic.

Well, apparently her husband didn't appreciate the photo being used. He then fired off this email to me the very next day (grammar and spelling mistakes are his, not mine):

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I am letting you know as of 1/30/2012 10:20am central time the phone you are using on you blog -"Grace%2BWedding%2B3.JPG" is a private photo that you have taken for your personal use on your website. You are being informed that you must cease and desist from using this photo and remove it from you site or future action will be taken against you. Do not take this lightly. I have already reported this abuse to google and will have your site shut down if you continue to violate this privacy issue.

Neal Goodacre

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This was his very first email to me. Angry and confrontational. If he had just asked me nicely I would have likely removed it right away, since the picture wasn't that important anyway. I could easily find another one.

So, I caved in on this one because it wasn't my personal photo. It was a photo that was emailed to me by his wife 8 years ago. Maybe I had a right to use it. Maybe not. I probably could have left it up for years until Google asked me to take it down. But I decided to be nice about it, even though this guy showed a serious attitude problem.

If anyone would like to read that old blog entry and offer their opinion, I'm open to all comments. My wife thinks I did the right thing by taking the picture down. She also agrees that I should leave the comments as is, since, like I mentioned, the legal, Chinese names were not given anyway. That would be like me getting upset over someone writing "Chen Dafoo was a crappy English teacher. This is a name you should be aware of." "Chen Dafoo" just happened to be my Chinese name when I was living in Taiwan. I honestly couldn't care less.

I guess the bottom line is, people really need to lighten up.