Most Challenged Books

Book banning is so medieval.

I agree with that statement!

Some states has already banned several books. Really, what is wrong with people, especially Christians? They are fictional, for God’s sake! I like Harry Potter’s series. They are fun to read. I don’t take them seriously. It does not mean that I am a believer in magic. Some Christian think they are evil because they practice magic (or Wiccan religion). Did they read? Probably not. Yes, they do practice magic, but they are not necessary evil. See, Harry Potter is not evil. He saves people many times from evil. He is the hero. That is the good thing. He always fights against the evil/bad people. He is a great detective as well. He discovers many things to put stop to it, for his school’s own good. If it is not for Harry, the school will be a disaster. It would be taken over by the evil. What he did is a good magic. But again, it is only fiction and wildly fantasy. I enjoy many fantasy books, that got me into a different realm. I like to be into different places and explore new places that it is never existed. It is for my own good, and a relief of the stress.

I have seen some of books are attempted to be banned… like “I know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” and a few books of Judy Blume. Roald Dahl. Mark Twain. Madeleine L’Engle. I don’t know exactly why are they banned. But not all people hate those books, so leave them alone and let them unbanned for others to read for their entertainment. For those people (perhaps they are Christians) who want to ban them, don’t read them. That is simple. Just don’t. It is free of speech; more specifically the first Amendment. I understand that some of them, or at least most, conflict with the bible. You have to remember there are many Agnotics, Deists, Atheist, Partially Christians (or perhaps I should say Liberal) out there, that may enjoy those books, knowing it is only fictional and entertainment. It is all about how well written is in the book. It is art. Those authors have talents for it, to entertain the world of reading.

Laura Mallory is one of them who try to ban Harry Potter series. She has not read them yet. She wants them banned at their local library in GA. She went to the Board of Education (BE) and told that Harry Potter series “are an ‘evil’ attempt to indoctrinate children in the Wicca religion.” But BE lawyer said, “If schools were to remove all books containing reference towitches, they would have to ban “Macbeth” and “Cinderella.” He has the point. They has been around for years, and children love them. They did not practice Wiccan religion. When I was young, I watch ‘Wizard of Oz,’ I love that movie. It did not drive me to Wiccan religion. I think Laura is overworried that they will be obessed with it. She needs to relax!! Let the children enjoy the fantasy of the magical world. They will outgrown them and move on.

I could not help but to giggle when I read that Laura Mallory is labeled as an “Idiot of the Year” by Washington Post. The link is here. Sorry, my bad. But I am giggling, still.

You can read the link: Why are books challenged?

The Top Most Challenged books of 21 Century (2000-2005)

1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
2. “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier
3. Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
4. “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
5. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou
6. “Fallen Angels” by Walter Dean Myers
7. “It’s Perfectly Normal” by Robie Harris
8. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz
9. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
10. “Forever” by Judy Blume

The Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged books of 1990 to 2000:

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

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A Great Flash Animation.

It said it is one of the best flash animations in 2006. Enjoy it.

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December 9, 1985

When i was a young kid, I watch that TV movie at least 5 times after the first release. It was my favorite of all the time. It made me cry. I was only ten years old when I first saw that movie. Imagine that! In some ways, i can feel connected to that story, but not so much because the story setting happens in early 1930 and late 1950. (My estimation)

The TV movie is Love is Never Silent; it was released on December 9th, 1985 on NBC. After that, it was on Hallmark a few times. Moreover, it was in the “Hallmark Hall of Fame” production. It is based by Joanne Greenberg‘s novel, “In This Sign,” which was first published in 1970. You will see two images of the novels… This first one on the left and top was in 1973 (5th printing). The second below was the reissued edition in 1984. I will buy that book and read it then I hope I can find this movie to watch again. I will never get tired of this story. Simply put, it inspired me. It is filled with sadness, happiness, and hardship. It is full of life. It also is filled with hate and love.

It was mentioned in the NY Time in 1985. You can read this article here.

The movie/book summary – my version:

It is about two deaf parents of two hearing children. The deaf parents had hardship and worked hard to stay together and raised their daughter. The unfortunate event was the loss of their son. Their son fell from, probably, 4 floors to the public sidewalk. They couldn’t afford a nice coffin; they had to get a cheap wood box. It were hard on them… Then the daughter grew up and the daughter partially gave her parents a hard time. They depend on her a lot for anything. Not only that, but also she was embarrassed to have deaf parents. She wanted to be happy. It was lonely for her. Later, she fell in love with a man who is in Army and got married without meeting her parents and for their approval. They were disappointed because they have not met him and wonder how he would think of them… At first she was heavily hesitated to tell him about her deaf parents. She did not want him to meet them that soon. But he said he accepted immediately. She was relieved. So after getting married, she and his new husband and her parents met for the first time. It was a awkward moment. As soon as she had a baby, they were still protective of their daugther while growing up and want to be there for her and her new baby. She wanted to take of herself and her new family. But everything in the end, everything was OK. Everyone was happy and got along well.

The novel’s summary version:

Abel and Janice Ryder begin their married life together with all the hopes and dreams of a young couple deeply in love. But before long they realize that their deafness stands as an immense barrier between them and the society that seems to work only for those who can hear. Inexperienced, ignorant, and bewildered, they leave the harsh environment of a school for the handicapped and enter the insensitive world of the hearing. Through years of debt and misunderstanding, hardand degrading work, the raising of a hearing daughter, common tragedies and joys, they learn that the remarkable tool of sign language enables them to survive and, indeed, to forge a love too powerful to be broken by the painful, extraordinary world into which they were born. In astory that spans four generations, we are witness to one family’s struggle to carve a place for itself out of the tides of wealth, war, and human strivings that have swept America in this century.

What is amazing is that the whole time through the movie, the LOVE is never silent. It was beautifully written and filmed. The signing of hardly missed. They focus on signing and fully body signing as well… It is a wonderful deaf movie.

My favorite character is Janice Ryder played by Phyllis Frelich. She was my inspiration. When I watch that movie, it made me realize how lucky I am today. It was hardship for her and her family back then. It was not easy. She had to be hideous and not be exposed her deafness to the public in her early years. She always had been a strong woman.

Unfortunately, it seems hard to find this movie in the rental movie, even online. Or try to buy one. I say it is a rare movie. You can take the glimpse of two movies I found on yourtube.com below. Enjoy it.

This is my most favorite of the whole movie, it is the ending of the movie below.

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300

What is 300?

300 is the title of the graphic novel, written and illustrated by Frank Miller and painted by Lynn Varney. I have read the 300 graphic book (actually in comic books – 5 individual books). My roommate has them. I got the opporunity to read them. The art work in the book was wow… but first let me explain why it called 300.

The Battle of Thermopylae on August 8-11, 480 BC; it was a famous battle. Why? There were only Leonidas I, the king of Sparta, and his 300 Spartans and 700 Boeotians were fighting against Persia’s vast army of nearly 200,000. For two days, Leonida withstood the Persian attacks, and then he told most of his troops to leave but kept his 300 Spartans to fight to the end. Finally after the third day, the Persia army engulfed them to the end. The 300 Spartan lost the battle on the third and last day in the Battle of Thermopylae.

In the comic book, it says that the Spartan army won three battles but lost 1. That is not bad for the 300 army. However it is a fiction novel. Only the truth is that the 300 Spartan did fight against a vast army of Persia for three days. The rest, I am not sure if they are true.

They are making the movie called 300, too, based on the graphic novel. The trailer looks good. There are also still photos from movie and from the graphic book after this video for your pleasure of viewing.

If you cannot get this video working, you can go here and there. The ‘there’ link is from Apple.com. It is not the same trailer you see here on my blog or the ‘here’ link above. I like the google video’s trailer better than Apple’s trailer.

The Movie will be out in theaters on March 16, 2007:

from the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley:

Other link: MySpace’s 300 site

Additional info: I forgot to mention about two movies (actually one movie already made and another one has not made yet). There is a movie called The 300 Spartan in 1962. I am going to check that out. Another movie has not been made yet. It said it is a remake of The 300 Spartan but would be called Gates of Fire. The distributor is Universal Pictures. It’s still been around for some time since 2001. It is based by a novel called Gate of Fire by Steven Pressfield. You can read the excerpt of Gates of Fire. You can read more on the film and the book here.

Correction: According to Gates of Fire novel from the official site, it said that:

‘ In 480 B.C., an invading Persian army, 2-million strong, came to the mountain pass of Thermopylae in eastern Greece. Led by King Xerxes, they were met by the finest three hundred Spartan warriors where the rocky confines were so narrow that the Persian multitudes and their cavalry would be at least partially neutralized. Here, the Greek loyalists hoped, the elite force could hold off, at least for a short while, the invading millions.’

What is Heliodisplay?

***I wrote this entry a long time ago…and I forgot to post it.***

Remember holographic displays in Star Wars movie…

There is a device similiar to the Star Wars halo thing. But this device is not a halo. It has something to do with the air to display images from the computer. This product is called Heliodisplay M2 projector, has been raving around for some time since around August 16, 2005. It is good for giviving presentations or displaying any products to anyone like giving an advertisement.

This projector costs $20,000.00. It is expensive, but it will go lower once it get very popular. Right now, business, musuems, expos use them. It will go to the home entertainement soon. It will be very cool!!! You can watch movie using this projector from your laptop or computer with DVD capability. It would be fun to sit back and watch in your own living room.

You can watch the video below:

If not working, you can click here.

The link is http://www.heliodisplay.com/

Have You Ever Try Playing Lego in Ice?

No ? Wanna to try it? You have to play fast! It is challenging and fun! Dang, you would to buy a lot of trays like this, to play with. But for me, I like to have one of those as ice for water. It will look cool in the glass of Water in a matter of minutes. You can buy it from here for only $7.99 each.

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Funny Ad…

I like other country’s ads… they are funny. Some are straightforward. Some say it right there. US is not like that… they are very careful with the ads here…

You can watch that ad… but be warned… it probably is not safe at work. Actually, it is nothing like nudity. Maybe it is no harm to it to watch while you are at work. I don’t want to say too much what it is about… At first, I was a bit puzzled… and did not undertand until the end. Ahh, I get it. It was really funny.
Ok, ok, the hint; I will quote a sentence from its video:

‘A nervous bachelor cools off his troops before a hot date…’

The ad is here.

Tom Cruise, Kate Holmes, and Suri

My friend wanted me to check the cover on the Vanity Fair. I was stunned how beautiful the baby is. She already has a lot of hair. Blue eyes! WOW… a good comibination of Tom and Kate in Suri… you can read Vanity Fair’s Press Room here.

The magazine already have come out on September 6th in New York and Los Angeles, but anywhere else will be out on September 12th. I will make sure I get that magazine, why? Not just the photos of them, but also I want to read one of my favorite author, John Grisham’s story in it. If you see the label on the right on the top corner, that is where it got my attention. He writes a story called A Real Life: Murder Mystery.At everything, I am looking forward to those when it comes out.

By the way, congrats to Tom and Katie!

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Movie News Flash

Click the image to watch the WTC Movie Trailer.

It talks about two police officers telling their story what happened before, during and after.

The movie will be out in the theaters on August 9, 2006.

The Movie:

On Friday, May 19 the “World Trade Center” trailer will debut in theaters with Sony’s Da Vinci Code.“World Trade Center” is a true story about courage and survival. It seeks to honor the good that we saw on September 11, 2001 in the face of such evil. Paramount Pictures is extremely proud of the spirit of this film, but understands the obvious sensitivities in releasing a movie about September 11th.

To that end, Paramount has been communicating with 9/11 family and survivor groups since last fall on all aspects of the film. Recently, we have shared information with these groups pertaining to the movie trailer specifically, and which movies it will be paired with, as a way of preparing those directly impacted by the attacks.

We wanted to make this information available to all visitors to this site due to the sensitive nature of the trailer, in the event that a 9/11 family member, survivor, or other concerned party may wish to avoid this trailer for any reason. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Paramount Pictures

Official website: http://www.wtcmovie.com. It requires flash. A nice flash movie at the beginning once you enter the site… it will take a while to load a flash movie.

New Single Album Cover … Get Together

via [madonna's personal blog]