A Priest, a Computer, and Writer Walk into a Bar...

There's a saying that's escaping my fogged memory at the moment equating writers who are controversial/offensive to their being relevant. However it goes, it seems I'm a little more relevant today than I was yesterday.

I apparently offended a person or two earlier today who may, or may not have understood my intentions behind a joke I made on Facebook. That honestly was not my goal as such, but I feel strongly about the issue behind it all and hope that the explanation I provided on there and reprinted here provokes thoughtful discussion on the subject because it deserves it.

The joke went as follows:

The Vatican announced the release of a tablet computer called the iPed. Unlike Apple's product, you can only touch it when no one's looking.

Designed to be both topical and potentially a little controversial, I was simply doing a mash up of items currently in the news and targeting it at the guilty parties alone: it was not an anti-religious statement or even a blanket statement that I believe to be true about all priests -- some are quite sincere in their calling and do much good in this world and have my complete respect -- and it was certainly not directed at followers of Catholicism, unless, of course, it's someone who finds pedophilia to be acceptable or a non-issue. To those individuals I say, if you were offended, then good.

So here's my reply reprinted from the thread and I'll let it stand as my statement on the matter.


And to reference Steve Martin, "Comedy is not pretty!"

-B


I am not, nor have I ever been a follower of the Catholic faith, but I respect every person's right to believe as they wish; when it comes to my particular thoughts on matters of faith/religion/spirituality, the vast majority of my friends do not entirely believe as I do -- I believe that Jesus is the Messiah but also observe the seventh day sabbath and the associated holy days as well as follow the laws of clean and unclean meats, etc -- and I'm comfortable with this and love them for who they are whether we see eye to eye on all issues or not. My friends represent a wide spectrum of cultures, races, and ideologies on issues of things of a religious nature, including those who think it is folly: I love and am interested in people, period, and focus on our commonalities as a starting point for bonding and accept, admire and often learn from our differences. I try to never force my particular beliefs on others but rather to simply be an example because I believe an individual's suppositions and the gift of free choice are very personal things and I respect everyone's entitlement to the decisions they make in that regard whether it is line with my personal views or not. There are INFINITE opportunities for contention in this life, so I prefer to avoid confrontations under most circumstances. I am always willing to DISCUSS beliefs, but I'm very rarely the first one to introduce them into a conversation and I absolutely refuse to argue issues; what purpose would it serve other than possibly salving egos?

But that doesn't mean I am without opinion and sometimes I express what's on my mind as I feel each of us have the privilege to do; and I generally try to do so with some forethought because all actions have the potential of consequence; some folks will agree and some won't and that's fine. The expression of an opinion is NOT NECESSARILY something to get bent out of shape about, even though the temptation to do so may often be there. So, as to your questions, Paul: I'm an equal opportunity offender; I have no problem offending the offensive no matter who they might be, and that's exactly who the barbs of my joke were SOLELY aimed at: those involved with the atrocities that have gone on for ages, whether they be the actual molesters or those who cover up for them; in my book, one is just as complicit as the other. Would I express the same sentiments if the perpetrators were Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Pagan etc or even of my own personal faith, you ask? Without hesitation. If I were the one guilty of such offenses, I'd expect and advocate punishment so why should I hold anyone else to a lesser standard?

And I'm certainly not ignorant to the fact that, as you stated, corruption is everywhere; that's a given potential when humans attain power. In line with that, I'm also sure that other organizations have similar issues to varying degrees and, if so, those will come to light in their own time; even the Bible – the basis for all beliefs claiming Jesus as their Lord -- states in Numbers 32:23 “and be sure your sin will find you out” does it not? But the fact remains that at this present time, the magnitude of a longstanding problem within the priesthood of the Catholic church and the appalling and inexcusable confederacy of those in high office who sought to merely absolve the wrongdoers without, at the very LEAST, their removal from office has been brought full force to the attention of the world. It's no longer primarily the fodder of jokes or merely an urban legend as some seem to have long thought. And neither is it being sensationalistic in calling attention to it: it's reprehensible and those involved should be and NEED to be called into account for their actions.

A fundamental attribute and teaching of ALL religious beliefs is standards of morality, conduct and ethics, and those who serve in the capacity of that faith's leaders, expectedly, are to be both examples to and the guardians of the people that follow the practices of that belief and therefor are held to the highest standards as a result. So when someone BLATANTLY abuses their ordained authority and tramples upon the trust put into both the individual and the office — ESPECIALLY something perpetrated on children, as is the case here -- then I have a VERY, VERY serious problem with that and zero qualms with expressing such.

In fact, what really sticks in my craw in all this and where I lose further respect for those within that particular organization and how it's being handled is the blatant attempts to use methods of misdirection — likening it to the persecution of the Jews; forgiving the Beatles, etc -- and halfheartedly acknowledging that there is an abhorrently egregious problem within the ranks and not doing something to expunge it; I have a million times more respect for an individual or organization with a serious problem at hand that takes responsibility and acknowledges and deals with the issue rather than tries to sweep it under the rug or obfuscate the particulars of the matter. These are the types of actions that affect a person for the entirety of their life and handling it so callously does nothing to improve the situation or to justify the trust placed in either the organization or the individuals running it.

Bottom line: I'm less concerned with the organization than I am with those betrayed by it, but if the outcome of what has been brought to light does not result in a serious internal examination of past and existing policies and procedures and rectification of things -- if that's even a possibility at this point -- then The Vatican can only expect further repercussions and outcry by those who are watching. If they feel that they are bleeding from all this, then they need to put down the razor in their own hand; the only innocents in all this are the victims.

RE: My Blog Schedule...

It was originally my intent to do a weekly blog every Monday, and I apologize for having failed in doing so, but due to many factors at this present time I'm rethinking my plans and giving myself some flexibility in the matter. I'll still try to post weekly but it's no longer my goal to do so; at least not for now. Instead, I'll revamp my schedule with the intentions of writing a new blog at least once a month and more frequently whenever possible, but I'm still not making it a hard and fast rule here. It's simply a case of having a lot on my plate right now in terms of producing stories and possibly even a script and those things have to be my priority. I'm the type of person that doesn't like to promise something I can't deliver and that's what I have been faced with in terms of my blog. While I like the challenge of giving some rigidity to my posting schedule, I also have to be realistic in this regard. I'll announce via my Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace accounts when there are new additions and I hope folks continue to read and tell others.

Thank you one and all for your understanding and support!

-B

My Report on and Review of the Latest HorrorHound Weekend (March 26-28, 2010)!

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend HorrorHound Weekend, a convention celebrating all things related to the horror genre, particularly film and broadcast media. I've been at every occurrence of the show held here in Indianapolis since it first launched in July 2007 but I was unable to attend the show in Pittsburgh, nor did I go to the one held in Cincinnati. Of the shows I've been to, this particular one was, in my opinion, THE BEST offered to date. All other cons, take note: THIS is how you do a show RIGHT.
The show's sponsor and titular source of name, HorrorHound Magazine, delivered a guest list this time that was absolutely phenomenal and the size of the crowds attending each day was a strong indication of that. Some of the notable guests responsible for attracting such a huge throng to Indianapolis included: George Romero, Clive Barker, Elvira, Sid Haig, Tom Noonan, Doug Bradley, Simon Bamford, Greg Nicotero, Ken Foree, Mike Christopher, Tom Savini, Joe Bob Briggs, Danny Roebuck (as Dr. Shocker), and many, many more! In fact, there were so many great guests present that I'm simply not going to list all of them here: click HERE for a complete registry of guests in attendance or click on any one of the individual names above for more information on that particular guest.
Also included in the festivities was a record-setting assembly of Media Horror Hosts: 83 as reported by author, drive-in enthusiast and host of Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater and Monstervision, Joe Bob Briggs via his Twitter page. The gathering of so many macabre emcees was done in tribute to the late Maila Nurmi, aka Vampira, television's first horror host. It really helped set the tone of the show seeing so many in their outrageous, inventive and darkly-fantastic costumes throughout the weekend. After all, how many times do you get an opportunity to see a werewolf at a urinal?
A staple of the show, the HMA.net Mask-Fest was bigger and better than ever this time with some fantastic, frightening and phantasmagorical examples of the craft on display. And, as per previous iterations, the film festival, guest panels, vendor areas with incredible memorabilia galore and the after hours parties and gatherings provided a lot of additional entertainment value for the price: master of the hula hoops, Alexander J. Hamilton, is a show unto himself.
A special inclusion and highlight of the weekend was the debut presentation of the uncut work print for Clive Barker's Nightbreed. Never before publicly viewed by an audience, this showing was preceded by a well-deserved HorrorHound Magazine lifetime achievement award presentation to Mr. Barker; the award was offered to him by an iconic representation of one of Barker's most famous characters, Pinhead, dressed and made up in full cenobitic regalia and bowing in deference and respect to the famed author, artist and filmmaker who had created him. This was followed by a Q& A session, enjoyably emceed by HorrorHound writer Jessica Dwyer, who introduced and oversaw the entire portion preceding the film's showing. The panel was comprised of Clive Barker, Doug Bradley, Simon Bamford, Ashley Laurence and John Harrison and included Mr. Barker inviting the audience to engage in a dialogue on the modern state of literary horror. After the lively Q&A session, the film was presented to an anticipatory and appreciative audience.
At present, Morgan Creek, the studio that owns the rights to the footage, has no plans to follow through with a DVD release of the completed version of the uncut project, so if you would like to help Mr. Barker and company demonstrate to Morgan Creek that there is indeed sufficient interest to support such a release, email: philandsarah@clivebarker.info or send a Tweet via Twitter to @philandsara. More information, including the history behind the footage's discovery is available on Clive Barker's Official Site.
The majority of attendees and guests that I spoke to both during the convention and afterwards reported similar favorable experiences to that of myself, but I've also seen a handful of complaints posted by individuals on various forums that it was too crowded and poorly organized, etc. The turnout was huge and was accompanied by some problems inherent with that, but those issues were addressed and dealt with in as reasonable a fashion as could be expected of the organizers and volunteer staff and I would suspect, comparing my experience this time to those in the past, that it was most likely a case where the actual number of attendees far exceeded the expectations projected by advance sales and other indicators; the venue has always sufficed at previous shows. I'm sure it impacted individuals most who only attended for one or two days of the show, and, sadly, no experience could reasonably be expected to be flawless and without incidents, but by-and-large I would rate the experience an overall success:

* * * * */5

Until Monday...

-B