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LiteratureFree to Be... You and Me: the 35 Anniversary Edition: the book every kid needs
Free To Be... You and Me was one of my favorite movie/record/books when I was growing up. Marlo Thomas's 1972 project brought together an all-star cast to perform songs, poems and sketches that challenged gender stereotypes and delivered a fundamentally humane, loving message about being who you are and not being constrained by society's expectations. When I was a teenager, a couple of my friends, Shona and Ted, got ahold of a print of the film and showed it at my school. It was an instant smash hit. The memories came roaring back for all of us, the wonderful songs, the humor, the nostalgia. Those songs became anthemic in my social circle, and not just as some ironic throwback -- there's some kick-ass music on that soundtrack. So in the early 1990s, I decided to put up a Free to Be... fan-site, and I went ahead and registered freetobeyouandme.com. Then life intervened. 15 years went by and I kept on paying for the domain. I'm not sure why -- I guess I thought I might get around to putting up that fan-site, and I didn't want the site getting into the hands of some pornographer or similar. Last spring, I got an email from a law-firm in New York that represents the Free to Be Foundation..., a charitable trust that oversees the Free to Be project and produces educational material about gender equality. The note said that the Foundation was interested in getting the domain for use in connection with the book, and would I be interested in discussing the matter. The note did not contain any threats, veiled or otherwise. It didn't call me a domain-squatter or mention WIPO's UDRP. It was polite, friendly -- just the sort of thing I'd expect from the people who gave us Free To Be...You and Me. So I called up the lawyer, Cris Criswell, and asked him to tell me more. It turned out that the Foundation was about to publish a 35th anniversary edition of the book, with new art and a bound-in CD, and they wanted to use the domain to promote it. He explained that the Foundation was a charitable 501(c)3, with a board of directors that included Marlo Thomas, Gloria Steinem, and other people I admired and trusted. "OK," I said, "it's yours." "Just like that?" "Sure. You didn't threaten me and you're doing good work. Of course you can have it." "Of course I didn't threaten you. I figure fans have rights too." See what I mean? I asked for one thing: would they send me a copy of the 35th Anniversary edition, signed and inscribed to my newborn daughter, who was already listening to the soundtrack with me? Of course they would. I'm holding it in my hands now. It's amazing. The new art is fabulous. And I've got the CD on now, and the music is just as great as I remembered. There's Rosie Greer singing, "It's All Right to Cry," Michael Jackson singing "I Don't Have to Change at All" (!), Alan Alda singing "William Wants a Doll," Harry Belafonte singing, "Parents are People,' the Smothers Brothers singing "Helping." There's Carol Channing reciting the cleaning poem, and Mel Brooks doing the convulsively funny "Boy Meets Girl" sketch. It is just brilliant. And wonderful. If you were to distill the messages that every kid needs to hear to grow up to be a confident, loving individual who does what's right even when society sneers, if you were to turn them into great songs, funny poems, without a hint of preachiness or condescension, it would be this book and CD. Every kid needs this book -- and the organization that publishes it is every bit as great as the book itself. Hi! Hi! I'm a baby! Well what do you think I am, a loaf of bread? You could be, what do I know, I'm just born, I'm a baby, I don't even know if I'm under a tree or in a hospital or what, I'm just so glad to be here. Well, I'm a baby too. Have it your own way, I don't want to fight about it. What, are you scared? Yes, I am, I'm a little scared. I'll tell you why. You see, I don't know if I'm a boy or a girl yet. What's that got to do with it? Well, if you're a boy and I'm a girl you can beat me up! You think I want to lose a tooth my first day alive? What's a tooth? Search me, I'm just born, I'm a baby, I don't know nothing yet! You think you're a girl? I don't know, I might be. I think I am. I 've never been anything before. Let me see, let me take a little look around. Hmm... cute feet, small, dainty, yup, yup, I'm a girl, that's it, girl time. Well, what do you think I am? You, that's easy, you're a boy. You sure? Of course I'm sure. I'm alive already four, five minutes, right? I haven't been wrong yet. Gee, I don't feel like a boy. That's because you can't see yourself. Why, what do I look like? Bald. You're bald, fellah. Bald, bald, bald, you're bald as a ping-pong ball, are you bald. So? So, boys are bald and girls have hair. Are you sure? Of course I'm sure. Who's bald, your mother or your father? My father. I rest my case. Hmm. You're bald too. You're kidding! No, I'm not. Don't look! Why? Ugghhh. A bald girl. Yuck. Disgusting. Free to Be...You and Me (The 35th Anniversary Edition), Free to Be Foundation (includes free MP3s from the CD)...
Published: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:23:54 GMT - Source: Boingboing.Net - Read the articleIssuesLevin attacks "Jon Leibowitz, a.k.a Jon Stewart": "I'm really tired of these phony intellectuals ... arrogantly looking down their sizable noses at our armed forces"
During the July 16 broadcast of his nationally
syndicated radio show, Mark Levin said, "As you know, from time to time,
we monitor Jon Leibowitz, a.k.a. Jon Stewart, as well as some of the other
nudniks out there." Levin aired an audio clip from the July 15 broadcast
of Comedy Central's The Daily Show
in which Stewart said of the Transportation Security Administration's
"terror watch list":
"You know that expression, 'kick ass and take names?' Turns out
this country is really good at one of those. We -- we take a lot of
names." Levin responded to Stewart's comment, saying,
"I'd say this country is pretty damn good at kicking ass when we
have to. ... I'm really tired of these phony intellectuals -- and
that's what they are, phony -- arrogantly looking down their sizable
noses at our armed forces, at all the people who actually have to make an
effort to save this -- this society, to liberate people, and to fight this
enemy. I'm so sick and tired of it, you have no idea. We know how to kick
ass, you little dwarf, you five-foot-seven phony."
From the July 16 broadcast of ABC Radio Networks' The Mark Levin Show:
LEVIN: As you know, from time to
time, we monitor Jon Leibowitz, a.k.a. Jon Stewart, as well as some of the
other nudniks out there. And yesterday, he said this, cut 5, go.
STEWART [audio clip]: The terror
watch list is hitting the big 1-0-0-0 --
LEVIN: All right, stop a second and cue it back. "The
terror watch list." Is he sitting on a cucumber? Go ahead.
STEWART [audio clip]: The terror
watch list is hitting the big 1-0-0-0-0-0 ... 0! You know that expression, "kick ass and take
names?" Turns out this country is really good at one of those. We -- we
take a lot of names. It really is an incredible accomplishment. Let's try and
put it in perspective if we can. A million people on the terrorist watch list.
LEVIN: There aren't a million
people on the terrorist watch list.
STEWART [audio clip]: If you were to
take all the people that our government suspects of terrorism and stack them
one on top of the other -- that would be considered an acceptable method of
interrogation according to the Justice
Department.
LEVIN: Very funny, but notice the
line, "You know that expression kick
ass and take names? It turns out this country's really good at one of
those." Another put-down of the armed forces in this country. I'd
say this country is pretty damn good at kicking ass when we have to. We
don't look for fights. We don't look to go to war, but we
don't shy from them if we must. I'm really tired of these phony
intellectuals -- and
that's what they are, phony --
arrogantly looking down their sizable noses at our armed forces, at all the
people who actually have to make an effort to save this -- this society, to
liberate people, and to fight this enemy. I'm so sick and tired of it, you have no idea. We know
how to kick ass, you little dwarf, you five-foot-seven
phony. Yeah, we really do. And your show's a joke, which is why we
continue to monitor it. I don't mean funny, I mean you're a joke.
Let's go to Cody, Fort Hood, Texas,
the great WBAP, go.
From the July 15 broadcast of Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart:
STEWART: I couldn't think of a better
time for this to happen because tonight is a night of celebration. Tonight is
an exciting night. Tonight our country -- this great land that we live in has
reached an exciting milestone in the war of terror.
FOX NEWS ANCHOR [video clip]: Well,
the TSA's terror watch list getting mighty long, adding its one
millionth name.
STEWART: By the way, if I tried to do
this bit last night [no sound]. But tonight [horn blows]. The terror watch list
is hitting the big 1-0-0-0-0-0 ... 0! You know that expression, "kick ass and take names?" Turns
out this country is really good at one of those. We -- we take a lot of names.
It really is an incredible accomplishment. Let's try and put it in perspective
if we can. A million people on the terrorist watch list. If you were to take
all the people that our government suspects of terrorism and stack them one on
top of the other -- that would be considered an acceptable method of
interrogation according to the Justice
Department. And by the way,
a million people on the list, but it is a tightly managed list.
CNN ANCHOR [video clip]: Just this
month, President Bush signed a bill that removes Nelson Mandela from the watch
list.
STEWART: Hey, that's good news. The 90-year-old Nobel
Peace Prize laureate, no longer considered a terror threat. Still on the list,
of course, painter of light Thomas Kinkade, Elmo's friend Zoe, and Alan Alda. Apparently they had him now
as a-Lan al-Da. The truth is, to be perfectly frank, the one million number is
a bit inflated.
FOX NEWS ANCHOR [video clip]: It
turns out there are not a million names on the list. ... Federal officials say there are only
roughly 400,000 names on the list.
STEWART: It's only 400,000
people. The reason it's a million is because their aliases also count. So it
works out to about two-and-a-half names per terrorist. Quite frankly
embarrassing. You had a mafia watch list, you'd have a million names on that
for only like 20 guys. Uh yeah, we're looking for Freddy Angelini a.k.a. Freddy
Salad a.k.a. Freddy Apps a.k.a. Freddy Meat-a-Fish, a.k.a. Freddy Gelato also
known as Freddy Four Course, Freddy Full -- Freddy Full Dinner and of course
Fat Freddy, a.k.a. Tiny. With a million names on the list, how do find out if
you were on the list, if you are a terrorist -- if you are being watched?
It's very simple. Go online. Google the terrorist screening database and
scroll down to the end and by the time you get to the end, you'll probably be
on it. Obviously, though,
there's more important things to talk about in this country than the
hundreds of
thousands of people who have sworn to destroy it. There's also cartoon
depictions of said terrorists.
Published: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:27:07 GMT - Source: Mediamatters.Org - Read the article
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