Farenheit 451???


Love curling up with a good book? Tired of re-runs and brainless internet surfing?

Want to help your favorite authors? Want to find new ones to entertain you?

Then please support your local bookseller. Otherwise…

By DAVID TWIDDY, Associated Press Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Wayne has amassed thousands of books in a warehouse during the 10 years he has run his used book store, Prospero’s Books. But when he wanted to thin out the collection, he found he couldn’t even give away books to libraries or thrift shops; they said they were full.

So on Sunday, Wayne began burning his books in protest of what he sees as society’s diminishing support for the printed word.

“This is the funeral pyre for thought in America today,” Wayne told spectators outside his bookstore as he lit the first batch of books.

Wayne said he has seen fewer customers in recent years as people more often get their information from television or the Internet. He pointed to a 2002 study by the National Endowment for the Arts, that found that less than half of adult respondents reported reading for pleasure, down from almost 57 percent in 1982.

Mike Bechtel paid $10 for a stack of books, including an antique collection of children’s literature, which he said he’d save for his 4-year-old son.

“I think, given the fact it is a protest of people not reading books, it’s the best way to do it,” Bechtel said. “(Wayne has) made the point that not reading a book is as good as burning it.”

Like Fathers, Like Sons


NBC San Diego has a story about a video that the FBI uses to demonstrate how gang violence is perpetuated.

In it, a toddler in diapers and his dad spend a day together. First, dad shows junior how to execute a drive-by shooting: the baby pretending the drive the car while dad “shoots” from the back seat.

Then they spend some quality time bagging drugs together. Dad uses this opportunity to continue to bond with his son by teaching him swear words and giving him alcohol to drink.

Finally, dad and junior practice quick draw skills as dad pulls a toy gun from the baby’s diaper and shows him how to hold it and threaten someone with it.

Ahhh…the joys of fatherhood.

What were they thinking?

Okay, I’ll bet you’re expecting this to be about the Grey’s Anatomy finale.

Nope, this is real life. From Reuters:

BERLIN (Reuters) – A 36-year-old German mother-of-five drove her son to a jewelry store he wanted to rob because she was afraid he may come to some harm, Bild newspaper reported Wednesday.

While her 17-year-old son and his two accomplices stabbed and robbed a jeweler in the eastern city of Dresden, the mother waited outside in the car.

“I knew he wanted to rob the shop and I was very worried about him,” top-selling Bild quoted the mother as saying.

A court sentenced the woman to three years and ten months in prison, a spokeswoman for the court said.

The scariest thing? The women has four other children! Gee, wonder what those kids have learned from their adult role models?

Time Warp!

According to the New York Times, NBC has announced part of its fall lineup. Returning series include Friday Night Lights–yeah!!!

True confession, I’m a football junkie. Grew up going to church with Joe Paterno and my Nittany Lions on Saturday and the Steelers on Sunday. When we trained our puppy to stay out of the dining room, the command we taught her was “Off Sides!” My nephew’s first words were “Touch Down!”

So combine the inside life of a high school football team, no bars held when it comes to the realities most kids face these days (sex, drugs, booze, steroids), the small town that lives and breathes football and hunky coach Kyle Chandler and I’m sold!

Kudos to NBC!

Except, the Times went on to dish out this redux nugget:

The drama that is certain to get the most instant recognition is “Bionic Woman,” a 21st-century remake of the 1970s series. This one stars Michelle Ryan as an accident victim remade with bionic parts who is embroiled in a secret government project, which also includes a previous bionic prototype, played by Katee Sackhoff. The series was once thought to be in trouble, but the pilot is now getting some of the strongest favorable reviews inside NBC.

Are they for real? The Bionic Woman is the best they got???? And it’s getting “the strongest, favorable reviews”????

Jeezit, NBC, just drop me a line next time you’re shopping for a new series with kick ass heroines! I’ve got several manuscripts I’d love to show you–and all of my characters are real women, not silicon!

What do you think? Did NBC just set back the women’s movement by twenty years or what?

What would you do?

According to the Associated Press, 2.5 million Americans are NOT watching TV this spring:

NEW YORK (AP) – Maybe they’re outside in the garden. They could be playing softball. Or perhaps they’re just plain bored. In TV’s worst spring in recent memory, a startling number of Americans drifted away from television the past two months: More than 2.5 million fewer people were watching ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox than at the same time last year, statistics show.

As a writer, I’m hoping they’re all reading!

As a pediatrician, I’m hoping they’re all out there playing with their kids and being a family of do-ers instead of a family of couch-potatoes!

What would you do instead of watching TV?

Me, I have a stack of to-be-read books calling my name like a siren’s song and a new idea for a novel (very dark and twisted!) that wants to come out and play!