Having just “celebrated” banned books week in America, I started thinking about the importance of reading, the beauty of stories and how much books enrich all of our lives. And most of my thoughts came back to one single theme:

W.T.Eff?

Banning books? Seriously? First Obama gets attacked from those crazy moms who think he’s out to brainwash children by giving them talks on the importance of education and now reading is bad for children, too?

The whole thing is just absurd. Have people even read the books they’re trying to ban? How can a story about a pooh named Winnie who likes to eat honey and play in the woods with his other anthropomorphic friends possibly be bad? It seems like a book that is deemed “good” and “appropriate” these days is a book that will not inform your child of the existence of sex, racism, violence, homosexuality, the devil, bad language, and any other concept that will cause children to ask you awkward questions. The whole banned books thing will probably cause my AP Literature class to be renamed AP Literature That Will Morally Damage Your Soul.

Does this mean we should ban Pokemon as well, since the little animals “evolve,” which therefore enforces the idea of evolution and is therefore anti-Christian and therefore is Satanic? Winnie the Pooh may be the poster child for the obesity epidemic, his friend Eeyore for depression, and Kanga for single moms everywhere, but that doesn’t mean our younger siblings can’t read about them. I happen to like Tigger, even if he does have ADHD. And although Harry Potter may have “witchcraft and wizardry” and whatnot, it’s still one of the most significant contributions to literature in our lives, and as such, should be available to anyone who wants to read it.

So let’s take the attention and money away from banning books and focus on some more important things that should be eradicated from this planet. Because in 2009 there are so many things worse than kids in capes flying around on broomsticks or finding a lion in your closet. Read More »

You know when you hear about something and all you can think is, “WHAT???” Yup. That’s all I could think when I heard about Porn for the Blind. I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in. Yes, Porn for the Blind.

The website is a non-profit organization that has volunteers contribute audio descriptions of sample movie clips from adult video sites. The thing is, though, these audio recordings are incredibly un-sexy. It’s not like some woman with a breathy voice is describing the porn scenes and moaning into the microphone. Generally, it’s a nerdy sounding guy describing the porn very matter-of-factly. “There is a bra draped over the chair.” “The man begins to vaginally penetrate the woman.”

Sexy? I’ll let you come to your own conclusions. Read More »

That said, allow me to move forward a bit: celebrities are powerful. The fashion world knows it--it's why they use celebrities as models and covergirls and spokespeople. Celebs sell. But is it going too far when the product celebs are selling is a presidential candidate? Read More »

It’s not new that people are chasing fame via YouTube with their crappy videos and bad covers. Usually this fame is sought after.

However, UK resident Bryony Matthewman has built a huge international fan base doing what us Americans do best! Making fun of people for no reason! Check out her tips to Jamie Lynn (as if she’s Britney).

Enjoy!

Have you heard of this new ridiculousness that is taking over the internet?

Last night, while on the phone with my 30 year old brother, who might I preface this article with, is one of the most conservative people I know.

There is quite the age gap between us and he spent my college years lecturing me on why I should never drink the punch, how beer is actually made out of yeast-piss and how that everything I wear, even if it’s a birka or a burlap sack, is too provocative.

So imagine my surprise when he sent me to a porn site.

“Um, I’m sorry, are YOU of all people, sending me to a porn site?”

“Just do it and watch the video in the center, its funny”

Now let me warn you- to be fair- that this is far from funny. If throwing up my dinner is considered funny, then yes, I guess calling this funny would be appropriate. So as I sat there screaming on the phone, my brother and sister-in-law were in fact, highly amused.

Funny is in the eye of the beholder I guess. Read More »

Yesterday, we let you in on Andy Samberg’s total domination of SNL, but what you may not know is that he was ruling the internet way before then with his best buds Akiva and Jorma (now SNL writers) in a comedy troupe called The Lonely Island.

Take a mid-day break and check out some vintage Samberg (all the way from 2001!) in the faux rap group Incredibad. And when you’re finished check out all of their hilarious vids here!

He’s EVERYWHERE! He’s a PHENOMENON! He’s THE NEXT BIG VIRAL VIDEO STAR!

You may not have heard the name Chris Crocker before yesterday, but thanks to Britney and her whore-endous VMA performance, his not-so-uncommon rants via YouTube are now, seriously, all over the Internet and he has the most watched Myspace pages of all.

But this southern 19-year-old, who on his Myspace page, calls himself “The New Christ” wants to meet the “man of his wet dreams” (don’t we all).

He only reveals his hometown as Real Bitch Island (I wonder if Americans can point out this gem on a map) has been viewed millions and millions of times before – he has just never had this much media attention.

The stars have finally aligned for Crocker and his…passion…for Britney and pink lipstick has catapulted his popularity overnight.

He has 66 YouTube videos, all bat sh*t crazy postings about everything from hair flipping to nose picking.

He also does characters! My fave is Earl Annie Edna, who will probably be in my nightmares tonight. But none are as in demand right now as “Leave Britney Alone,” which has gotten well over a million clicks and is simply addicting to watch. Read More »