Happy May Day...



nothing fills my sad old heart with joy more than seeing
merry dancing around a huge phallic symbol bedecked with
gaily colored ribbons ...
go out and commune with the Mother today. I shall.
peace

you have got to be kidding me...

I just picked this up off the Fox News wire...
just what the hell is going on...?
Mrs. Sad Old Goth is a teacher, I can't wait till she reads this...
I have a headache...

---

Calif. Offers Textbook Case of Political Correctness

Wednesday, April 30, 2003

By Anita Vogel



LOS ANGELES — A textbook review process in California has changed or eliminated references to everything from the Founding Fathers  to hot dogs, leaving many to charge the state with distorting history in the name of political correctness.

The textbook review process, which is routinely done in many states, is meant to eliminate or replace outdated words or phrases. But what’s happening in California has a lot of people wondering – quite literally – "Where’s the beef?"

That’s because many California textbooks will no longer feature pictures of hot dogs, sodas, cakes, butter and other kinds of food that are not considered nutritious. Nor will the books contain any phrases judged to be sexist or politically insensitive.

The Founding Fathers, for instance, are now referred to as "The Framers," in an apparent effort to make them sound less male-dominant. And there will be no more reading about Mount Rushmore, where the faces of four U.S. presidents are carved into stone, because it appears to offend some Native-American groups.

The changes, which reflect a wide range of political correctness, have been brought about by pressure groups on both sides of the political aisle, as both Democratic and Republican legislators have been lobbied.

Snowman? No more. Melt that image and replace with Snowperson. Want to sail away on a yacht? No, again. It’s too elitist.

And if you think grandpa is a senior citizen, guess what? You’re wrong. That’s demeaning, according to the new standards. He is now simply an "older person."

The laundry list of words and images banned or considered offensive is not a short one. The word "jungle" has been replaced with "rain forest." The word "devil" has disappeared entirely, with no replacement.

Many of the changes seem to represent a direct assault on historical accuracy. For example, the new guidelines dictate Native-Americans should not be depicted with long braids, in rural settings or on reservations. There are no suggestions on how they should be depicted, however.

The problem there, say historians, is that some Native-Americans did wear their hair in braids, and generally lived in rural settings before being relocated to reservations.

Some say the changes are needed to better reach out to today’s diverse student population. Others have a different name for it.

"It's outright censorship," said author Diane Ravitch, who has written extensively on the subject of how the nation's schools have dealt with the issue. "It dumbs down our textbooks, makes them bland, far less interesting than anything children might see in the movies -- even in G-rated movies or TV.

"The problems that have happened in education is that the textbook publishers and the test developers have become so sensitive to any controversy that whenever they receive a complaint it is very likely that they will remove the source of the complaint," explained Ravitch.

Textbook publishers admit they are in a bind. They say if they don't adopt the changes made by large states like California and Texas, they would suffer severe economic consequences.

Still, there are those who defend the changes made.

"I think our textbooks should to our greatest capacity be free of any type of stereotyping," said Sue Stickel, deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the California Department of Education. "We need to make sure that all ethnicities are represented. We need to make sure that both males and females are represented. We need to make sure that our materials cover the full gamut."


"Hey... which way to California???"

zzzzzzzzzzzzz...

that's the sound of my creativity sleeping
the sleep of the dead...
held fast in the arms of Morpheus...
I've been busting my ass working on
stately sad old goth... manor for the past week,
trying to fix stuff that fell apart over the winter and
do some serious cleaning out. This coming weekend
I'm going to put a new roof on my kitchen. The weekend after
that I'm going to replace the siding on the southern wall
of my living room... it's had "temporary" siding on there
for about 10 years... I think it's time. Then I need to
rebuild the gutter system on the front of the place,
it's the type of rain gutter that's built into the eaves,
lots of ornate trim and corbels, which are in serious
need of replacement... which means lots of gluing and
laminating wood together, since they don't make wood
that thick anymore (!?!?!?). Time to tune up the band saw,
m'thinks.
Of course, there is still the new roof on the front porch,
repointing the brick chimneys (I love working with brick and
mortar 30 above the ground...) All this, and getting the
grounds in shape as well. Have you ever seen those photographs
of the battlefields in World War One, with all the splintered trees and
holes in the ground? My property makes them look like
a park. Winter was not very nice to the grounds this year.
Also, I need to regrade my driveway and put down
some new crushed gravel. Oh, yeah, almost forgot about
digging out the old brick foundation from the barn that is no
more. At least the perennial beds survived the winter almost
intact, they just need some thinning out and such. The annual
beds have been turned and are ready for planting in about two weeks.
And... after I get all this done, it's time to redecorate the parlor and
the master bed chamber...
Jeez, I'm making myself tired just writing about it...

I do have something in the works, which I will spring on you soon...
a neat little photo essay of my trip to the hallowed ground of
Giants Stadium on NFL Draft Day. Yes, the sad old goth.. is a fan
of football... nothing like watching a bunch of huge guys killing
each other over an inflated porcine bladder...

so, stay tuned. If you haven't added yourself to my Guest Map,
please do so when you get the chance.

be well.

Strangely...



I'm at a complete loss for words...

Do you have any??

there's always a ghost...

that lurks around me...
it squirrels around me like
a cat that has decided to make
me it's own.

it wraps me in
invisible strings and
conspires to crawl into bed with me
and pull me from side to side,
waiting just till I think I will sleep,
then, it gently tugs.

it lives in my shoes and
bites my feet.
it rides in the back seat
of my car.
it stares from behind
my mirror.
it flows in the ink from my pen.

I don't know where it came from
or who it is, this ghost.
it shifts shape and baffles
my attempts know it or,
at least, know it better.
is it you?
or you?
or me?

I didn't ask for a ghost.
maybe it came in the mail
one day, or snuck in when
you closed the door behind you.

but, it's here,
looking over my shoulder as I write,
looking over my shoulder as I look
for a ghost.

where are you..?

Whilst visiting the girls over at Mad Pony today, I discovered a neat little tracker they have added to their page.
It is called Guest Map. I have added a button just below the Blogger button in the left hand banner. I would be really interested to find out just where you all are from, who you are and what you think of all this. Of course, only if you think it worthy of your time...
Thanks, Lauren and Kristen!
Oh, yeah, thanks to Mad Pony mom, too!
(Please let me apologize for the pop-ups that come with the Guest Map window, they're not mine...)

---

I've been suffering with severe writer's block lately, much like a Berlin Wall of the mind... lot's of good ideas on the wrong side of the wall and when they try to cross over, they get mowed down in a hail of hot lead, spewed from the Kalashnikov's of the hand/mind non-coordination border patrol... sorry.

Maybe later after I have something to eat and listen to my new Songs: Ohia CD.

later...

happy easter...

melancholia...
seems to have stricken everyone here at stately sad old goth... manor. Even pussycat. Perhaps it's the fact that the mice have moved out, now that winter seems to be gone. Perhaps the shorter nights, hence less sleep has caught up with her. She is a strange cat... she actually sleeps at night. Usually on my bed, between my legs, or on top of my feet. She snores. But now, she is bored. Maybe she's just upset that she didn't get a shot at the Emu before the Lincoln Navigator did...

life in the modern world...



on April 15th an Emu, a large, flightless bird, a native of Australia,
was killed by an SUV while trying to cross Interstate 80 in northern New Jersey.
I really, really don't know what to say...

an idle mind
is a dangerous thing...



I swear, I think I need some serious help. While surfing the net at lunch time today looking for CD's of Native American music (don't ask, ok? thanks.) I came across this CD cover. So, it seems that Shemp Howard and Claude Aikins finally decided to drop out and devote their lives to the psychotropic effects of certain Southwestern cacti...

I think I should go eat something...
I might be back... you've been warned.

this old lair...

grrrrrrrrrrr...
All winter long I didn't have the money or ambition to do any work
on stately old goth manor...
Now that the nice weather is here, it seems that, rather than being
outside working on the grounds, I'm having to play catch up on
inside projects. over the weekend I;
1. spent hours on the roof looking for a leak that I didn't find
2. drained the cover of the pool so I can open it in time
for the Memorial Day festivities
3. spackled and painted my dining room ceiling
4. put a new ceiling fan in the living room
Tonight when I got home, I touched up some areas of the staircase
walls and the upstairs landing and hallway that needed some paint.
tomorrow I am going to replace all of the downstairs heating grates
and put up some molding...
I figure at this rate I will get to the property sometime in july...
All this on top of writer's block. I have a head full of ideas, but the
connection between brain and pen is broken, so you may end up
having to read drivel like this for a while until I either get pissed off
or totally frustrated and the juices start flowing again. sorry.

stand by, there is always the chance I will have some home
maintenance horror stories...

have a nice evening.

solitary wood...

all I can do is sit here and
stare at this table.
you're sleeping and it's
four minutes past midnight.
it might as well be
four minutes past never.
my eyes feel like they're
full of sand, the beer is gone
and the cigarettes taste
like cardboard.
two pencils, a set of car keys
and a pair of sunglasses
are my company.
I could:
write a story;
take a ride;
pretend I'm blind.

googled old goth...

wow...
check this out!
i've been googled!!
be back later!

vampires are everywhere..!!!


well, well, well...
I had a great time last night in Philadelphia with The Bloodhound.
We went to see one of the offerings of the 12th Annual Philadelphia Film Festival's "Danger After Dark" series, a modern goth vampire film "Sangre Eterna" ("Eternal Blood"), an outstanding effort by young Chilean director Jorge Olguin. A brief synopsis:
A group of goth college students get deeply involved in a vampire role playing game called Eternal Blood.
As the film goes on, the game becomes reality, and it absorbs the players one by one and drags them into a world of darkness. That's all I'm going to tell you, because any more would give a lot away.
The director was on hand to explain a little bit about what he had to go through to make the film, from working with the Chilean government's film board, the difficulties of creating a balls to the wall horror film in a country where it has not been done before, to his pleasure that people actually came to see it and his humble thanks.
Then the lights went down and it was rock and roll!
From the incredible opening scene of a street battle between a trio of vampires and shotgun toting priests and nuns, to the ending with it's incredible twists, there wasn't a moment you could take your eyes off the screen.
Groovy soundtrack of Latin American hardcore and goth bands, lots of blood, gore and fangs!
Not to mention hot goth chicks galore! (not only on the screen)... Whew!
Lots of shocks, a few good laughs and a lot of good old bloody fun. This one might replace The Lost Boys as my favorite fang film!
Jorge is working with a distributor to bring this to DVD sometime this year, so keep your dilated pupils on the lookout for this one.
Gotta run... be well.

happy old goth..!

my Ozzfest tickets came in the mail today!

old man winter...

seems to have discovered Viagra...
He was able to get it up one more time and
dump about six inches of snow all over
my part of new jersey...
this is not the nice fluffy stuff, this is
wet, heavy, heart attack stuff. it's like
shoveling wet cement.
so much for spring, huh?
just another lovely day on the least coast...

Boise, black...no sugar



whenever I would come to visit you,
the second thing you would do was
put on a pot of coffee.
6 scoops of coffee.
6 cups of water.
You owned only two old mugs;
one had a picture of an angel,
the other, a map of Idaho.

number three and no wolf...

a love story.



"I'm inside out."
"What?"
"I'm inside out."
"What?"
"Are you fucking deaf? I said,
I'm inside out."
"Hmm, I think you're fucking
crazy... and stop swearing."
"mmm..."
"What's wrong with you?"
"If I told you, it would just piss you off."
"You're already pissing me off."
"Yeah? Too bad. You want to know
what's wrong with me?
Well, here you go...
Number one, I can't levitate anymore.
Number two, wood.
Number three, you're deaf.
Number four, I don't give a shit."
"You are fucking crazy."
"Maybe if I spin around real fast,
I'll puke and we'll both disappear."
"I'm going to bed, I don't want to listen
to this shit."
"Don't die in your sleep."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"No, the paperwork would suck."
"Fuck you."

what the f**k!!!



I have seriously succumbed to spring fever...
(no, that's not me above, but if this crap keeps up,
look out...)

dum de dum dum dum...

I'm sitting here drumming my fingers on the table, not a thought
worth a damn in my head...
if this keeps up, I'm going to freak...
someone I read everday has been suffering from insomnia,
I sleep like the dead and can't even come up with anything to
assail your senses with...
so, I'm going to go beat a heater, look at the stars then
go to bed...
I've made plans to party with some friends on Saturday night, lots of
wine, beer, food and tobacco...
maybe that will loosen up the old grey matter a bit...
at least I'll have a hangover story for you...
be well, stay safe, pray for peace...
'night

so...

I am in a quandry...
for some reason, perhaps due to the apparent onset of spring,
I seem to be in an unusually good mood...
while this, in and of itself, is not a bad thing, it certainly makes it hard
to put forth with the usual droll blather you have become so fond of...
It's even depressing me to read through my diaries to see if there is anything
even remotely down that would fit my mood of the not to distant past...
however, it is even depressing me to read them so....
I don't know what to say. I think I will see if the doctor can prescribe some
sort of depressant...
perhaps you can piss me off in the new comments section....

well, I'm going to go eat some red meat and drink some stout now, perhaps
that will give me the edge I need to get back to my usually somber self...
if not, then I will write happy things! right...
be back later...