The Idiot of the Week Award goes to the Mensa candidate behind this petition at Petition Online. The genius is demanding that the upcoming Two Towers sequel to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring be renamed.Quoth the idiot: “Those of us who have seen The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring know what an amazing director Peter Jackson is. When I learned that there apparently [emphasis mine] was to be a sequel, I was overjoyed. However, Peter Jackson has decided to tastelessly name the sequel ‘The Two Towers’. The title is clearly meant to refer to the attacks on the World Trade Center. In this post-September 11 world, it is unforgiveable that this should be allowed to happen. The idea is both offensive and morally repugnant. Hopefully, when Peter Jackson and, more importantly, New Line Cinema see the number of signatures on this petition, the title will be changed to something a little more sensitive.”
Even Petition Online itself is agog, adding a disclaimer preceding the petition. “Please Note: The Two Towers is the title of the JRR Tolkien book originally published in 1954, the second book of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The title was thus established some 47 years prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center towers.” (Which were called the Twin Towers, anyway.)
Good for them. Shame on the petitioner. A quick visit to a bookstore would have saved him from looking like a fool. [1:13 PM]
Postscript
My compliments to Paul Shrug, who responded to the above the petition. ‘I, too, was galled, shocked and disoriented upon learning of the cynically crass title of Mr. Jackson’s new film. I would also like to start a petition to rename Steven Spielberg’s ‘Minority Report’ because of its blatant insult to people of color. Also, the upcoming film ‘About A Boy’ is a clear endorsement of pedophilia. I am also deeply troubled at the subtitle of the new ‘Star Wars’ installment, ‘Attack of the Clones’. This scandalous title is a none-too-subtle implication that scientifically duplicated humans or other animals are violent and hostile in nature — clearly an affront to copied citizens everywhere. As an avid filmgoer, I shall shed many tears until these senseless titles cease.’
Just saw a commercial for channel 4’s “The Defenders” — they’re the hardhitting reporters who do exposés usually on cops and other government employees screwing around on the job. This got me thinking. Channel 2 has a similar group, and they’re called “The Problem Solvers”. So wouldn’t it be cool if “The Defenders” did an exposé on “The Problem Solvers”?
I’ve noticed that a lot of personal web sites include fan fiction, homemade stories inspired by characters from television or movies. Since I’m always interested in hopping on Internet bandwagons (or at least climbing slowly with lots of huffing and puffing), I’ve given thought to adding some fan fiction here at the SFG site. I don’t have any actual stories, but at least I’ve got a few ideas…
I just had an idea. I know the M&Ms brand is running a contest for a new color and to drum up interest in their candy. It dawned on me that they might be able to drum up more interest by offering different colors every season. They already offer red and green M&Ms for Christmas and pastel colors for Easter — but they could offer new colors every three months. Imagine vibrant yellow and orange colors for Summer, red and brown colors for Autumn, white and gray for Winter, and light green and blue for Spring.
One thing I’m rather proud of is my changeover to using rechargeable batteries. My CD/MP3 player was using up AA batteries at an alarming rate and I was forced to buy 8-packs of Duracell Ultras every couple weeks. I got so tired of this (and of keeping the spent batteries, rolling about the floor of my car, in some vain desire to recycle them somehow) that I finally tried some NiMH Energizer rechargeables (chosen for their small recharger) which I got at Best Buy. I couldn’t be happier. The recharger came with four batteries (for a total of about forty bucks), and I just alternate the batteries two at a time to continually power my MP3 music.
A little post Earth Day note. Our President unveiled his “Clear Skies” environmental plan today, which awards companies points for low emissions (which they can barter to companies with high emissions). This is the great “let the marketplace decide” smokescreen Republican leaders always use when they don’t want to tread on someone’s expensive shiny shoes. (And also the reason why I’ve been waiting twenty years for HDTV.)
Since it’s still doubtful we might get to see Jimmy this year, we might as well make do with what we have. Right? So we’ve delved into the vaults to offer some more audio for you. It might be old, but at least it’s new.
I can’t believe the amount of junk-mail spam with which I’m being inundated. This last week alone the amount has doubled if not tripled. I suppose I should enjoy it though, since so many women seem to want to show off their webcams to me. Funny how they all seem to want my credit card number too, though.