This Is The Downside I Speak Of

Kiddie PORN!  I'm saying that loud and clear, just so no one confuses this with a rant about something inconsequential.  I watched kiddie porn last night, did you?

Shameless on Showtime is not one of my favorite shows, it falls into the same "better than nothing" category as True Blood for me.  I did enjoy the parade of guest stars on Shameless - I say did because I became a non-viewer of the show directly after the kiddie porn scene - and it was wonderful seeing both Louise Fletcher and Chloe Webb last season.  And did I mention Joan Cusack?  I just love her, she's a national treasure.

But last night, and now this morning, there is nothing you can say to me to get me to support those pedophiles.  And, if you are still watching after last night's episode, I'm going to think you are a pedophile, no joke.

If you're not familiar with Shameless, it is a remake of a British import about a poor family doing whatever they can to survive.  The Gallagher kids pretty much have to raise themselves since their mom keeps taking off and dad is an alcoholic/pill popping/deadbeat/con artist.  Oldest sibling Fiona has taken over for her parents and dropped out of school to raise her brothers and one sister.

Deb Gallagher, played by 14 year old Emma Kenney was brutally victimized in last night's episode by the producers of that show and, of greater importance, by her own parents.  Her story line involved Deb's first trip to the community pool, and what started out as a cute story soon turned ugly when the mean girls at the pool criticized Deb's flat chest.

The show truly lived up to its title during Deb's second trip to the pool, after she had taken her older sister's matching bra and panties to wear.  The pedophile director lingered on Deb's covered body as she sat by the pool and worked up her nerve, then skeevily showed her dropping the first towel and rise up so she could dramatically drop her second towel.  Then there she was, a 14 year old girl put on film for all the world to see in a bikini, constantly fiddling with the ill fitting top as it exposed the undersides of her breasts.

KIDDIE PORN

I am not a prude, I can look at tits, dicks, trannies and shoe lickers all day - as long as they are mature, consenting tits, dicks, trannies and shoe lickers.  But I'm a parent, I have a daughter who was 14 once, I was a 14 year old girl once, so I can say with authority that no 14 year old girl wants to parade around in a bikini for the historical record.

So why do her parents think this is ok?  Why do you think this is ok?  Aren't you the same people who keep asking why sickos are shooting up schools?  Because this passes for entertainment, Lindsey Lohan's meltdown is entertaining to you.  These children are abused in front of your eyes and it's ok with you.

It is not ok with me.  It was not ok when Madmen decided that Don Draper's adolescent daughter could play with herself on television, nor when that same child actress was filmed on a bed in her underwear.  NOT OK.

It is not ok for Will and Jada Smith to pimp out their kids on the red carpet, it is not ok to put children on reality shows.  These children are actors/entertainers second, they are human beings first and we seem to think those children are somehow different than ours because they are actors.  But they are just kids, doing what their parents are telling them to do and being forced to compete with adults in an adult field.

In any other industry, that would be called abuse, but since these kids are on TV, no rules apply.  It's only going to get worse you know, if no one says anything, if no one does anything.  In fact, it is probably already much worse than we know, because we are only seeing the successful children.  But what about all those others, the ones you don't see?

How many kids with fame whore parents in Hollywood are doing art films, student films, web projects, etc.? I wonder how many of those projects were never actually intended for mainstream audiences, I wonder how many of those fame whore parents gave their children willingly to pornographers and called it art?

The industry of children entertainers makes a lot of money, so you know the Hollywood types are not going to police themselves.  The star-making machine is very well known to devour the weak, which River Phoenix would be happy to tell you had he not opted to kill himself instead.  Shirley Temple was our first child star, and our first cautionary tale about child stars, and virtually nothing has changed since then.

Child actors are not commodities, they are people who are not given a real voice in what happens to them. They are the white slaves of the new millennium and they are paraded like slabs of meat in your living rooms.  

YOUR living rooms, not mine.  I'm taking the sanctimonious high ground on this one.

WANDERER Part 18

At The Fountain

Churashom was well concealed behind the trees north of the roaring geyser, his tribe was moving southward again and he was sent to scout ahead because of the water spout.  The violent earthquake from a few months past had ripped open the ground, freeing the ferocious water from deep below and it gushed wildly high into the sky.  The whole area around the spout was sparkling as the sun glinted off the drops of water and a giant arc of colors encircled the rocks around the geyser.

Churashom allowed his eyes to take in the spectacle of beauty for several long moments before moving in for a close look.  He was just about to step out of the trees when the girl came over the rocks from the south and he froze back in his place.  He had never seen a person such as that before, with her long pure white hair and pale skin, but Churashom knew about Wanderers from the stories.  He watched her scramble over the rocks around the perimeter of the geyser and saw the look of joy on the girl’s face.

He waited for the other Wanderers to show themselves, it was well known that the pale ice people always traveled in family groups just like his own.  But no one else came over the rocks and the girl never looked back or called out.  Instead Churashom watched as she removed the badly patched tunic from her body and stepped joyfully into the water.  Hearing the stories about the White Wanderers did not do them justice, this girl had skin the color of milk and Churashom slowly moved out of his hiding spot to see if she really had eyes the color of the sky.

He did not try to hide himself as he skirted the trees, but her back was to Churashom as she danced in the misty drops of water and she could not hear him over the roar of the geyser.  His hails to the girl went unanswered as he moved closer, but another sound caught Churashom’s ears and he went still.  The Wanderer must have heard it too because her head turned back in the direction of the rocks she had come from and called out.

Churashom knew that sound was not the sound of people, that was danger coming right towards the girl as a golden brown bear loped out of the rocks.  Bears were frightening opponents, this one still looked young, but he was still of a size to kill both Churashom and the Wanderer easily.  His mind raced as he tried to think of a way to save the girl, but the bear was walking right toward her and she was not moving.  Perhaps she was paralyzed with fear and Churashom wanted to protect her, to prove himself to this lonely Wanderer so she might consider him to be a worthy mate.

The girl stopped dancing but not smiling and amazingly turned to hold her arms open wide for the bear.  Churashom was stock-still, he had never seen anything like it, no one had ever even heard of such a thing; because the bear did not charge the Wanderer at all.

It did not snarl; it did not rear up on its legs and flash its deadly claws, it simply walked to the girl shaking water from its shaggy head while she laughed.  The girl resumed her dance then, Churashom could even detect a song over the roar of the water; she jumped and stepped all around the bear, reaching out to stroke its body with long arms.

This was no mere girl, not just a stray Wanderer that had crossed Churashom’s path, anyone who walked with a bear must be a very powerful shaman too.  She was a sign from the gods, a rare gift that Churashom wanted for himself.  Such a woman could not be treated with disrespect and cowardice is not the trait of a worthy mate so, even though his heart was pounding in fear of the bear, Churashom stepped into the water too.

The water was freezing cold but Zurak didn’t notice, she was so overcome with joy at finally reaching the spout that all she could do was dance in the sparkling spray.  Even Taeyo seemed happy, the bear’s fur was soaked with water and he kept shaking it off in a way that looked like he was dancing too.  Suddenly, Taeyo went still and Zurak heard the low growl that meant danger was nearby, Zurak realized that she had left her staff by the rocks and began to pray as she turned around.

Taeyo was not moving, but his posture was ready to charge as threatening growls simmered in the bear’s belly.  The man was just standing in the spray of the geyser on the other side but not moving towards them; he was not moving at all.  He had jet black hair and coppery skin just like the other people Zurak’s family had met as they traveled down the Golden Land.

Zurak and the man just stood and stared at each other for several long moments before the man put his hands up in a gesture of greeting.  This was the first human contact Zurak had since the night of the shipwreck and she was overcome with feelings of joy, fear and relief.  She wanted to run to that man, to feel his skin and hear his voice; Zurak wanted proof that he was real.

Taeyo did not need convincing and his ever loudening growls broke Zurak from her stasis.  It was clear to Zurak that the man was afraid of Taeyo, but he did not flinch nor did he move for a weapon.  He just stood there with his hand up; Zurak was impressed with his bravery although Taeyo was not.  But she had not wandered so far by herself just to allow her little brother to eat the only other person Zurak had seen in years.

Even though she knew that Taeyo was a bear, Zurak hoped against hope that she could reason with him.  Very carefully, very slowly, Zurak placed one hand lightly against Taeyo’s fur and whispered, “Please.”

WANDERER Part 17

Eureka

CaveWomen, Inc. was doing pretty well in the nearly two years since its inception.  The blog had grown by another half a million readers and attracted a fourth sponsor, a small hemp clothing company.  The retail portion of the web site featured many articles of stylish clothes like T shirts and pullovers sporting the CaveWomen logo along with accessories such as backpacks.  The first book had been published, Petra’s Glyphs: Songs in the Key of Stone was a collection of Pet’s whimsical stories inspired by the glyphs.  It was more of a coffee table book than serious academic tome and monthly sales were steady.

There was even enough money to pay a small salary to the owners and retain a freelance research assistant, but in Pet’s view, it was still a failure.  The expedition in their first summer had yielded absolutely nothing of interest, no new glyphs or circles, just the same old caves.  And yet, it was the search itself that seemed to capture the attention of so many people.

Pet and Tass had never promised results, they had not proclaimed that they would solve the mystery of the Sonoma rune.  Their job was to explore, they were on a quest to find more runes and suss out their meanings if possible.  The appealing thing about them, in Tass’ view, was that they were just two girls with no real education or training bounding into the realm of traditional science without invitation.

They did not seek approval from the academic community, they were mavericks and the public responded to the purity of their goals.  Pet was hoping they would respond today as Tass sent out a tweet for strong backs in their area.  It was July and they were canvassing the area around the Sonoma cave; the previous summer was spent searching Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties. 

This year they were focusing on the northeast, but found nothing so far except for one very high quality carving of the Starfleet insignia.  Pet could only wonder at what conclusions future scientists would draw upon finding that insignia, perhaps that her culture worshiped aliens like gods or something else equally idiotic.  The fall of boulders that Tass was stubbornly refusing to move from did not seem very promising to Pet either, however she trusted her partner enough to play along.

Tass was a social media virtuoso and her tweet yielded a group of nearby hikers who treated Pet and Tass like celebrities almost.  After some consultations and testing the stability of the boulders, Tass and three of the helpers set about dislodging one from the top of the pile.  Pet and the other two scurried around collecting the small rock falls while watching for snakes, wobbling footholds and any other lurking dangers.  While she collected rocks into a small pile, Pet noticed another cairn farther on that had a familiar shape somehow.  Her mind went back to that day in Sonoma, it had been a pile of rocks that started this whole venture and perhaps she had been overlooking some vital clues, although piles of rocks were ambiguous at best.

But it was one of those thoughts, the pernicious ones that wouldn't go away once it was conceived, and Pet went to get her camera.  Tass’ obnoxious exclamation stopped her though.

“Ha!  I clucking knew it!!”  Tass made sure to catch Pet’s eye down below with a smug raise of the eyebrows and said happily, “Cave!”

Pet’s heart began to thud, it was racing even though she could not see inside and she had to take a deep breath before climbing up.  Most of the hikers were trying to peer into the darkness behind the boulders; they only got a good view of Tass’ rear end because her front end was stuffed into the opening with a flashlight.  The muffled exclamation from the cave was easy to hear and Tass’ next exuberant utterance echoed off the rocks.

“Rune!”

Pet grabbed on to Tass’ leg like a vise, trying to simultaneously pull her friend out and push herself in, but there was another exuberant utterance.  This one came from down below, from the one hiker who was still collecting rocks. 

“This one isn’t a rune!!” A girl named Courtney said as they all looked down and six jaws found the basement.  What she had was a jigsaw puzzle of sorts, a puzzle made of rocks with many pieces missing and it was most definitely not a rune, nor was it a circle.

The group was quiet for several long moments before on of the male hikers asked quietly, “Is that a…bear?”

WANDERER Part 16

Moving On

Zurak’s mind came back to her very slowly; for a few ugly moments she thought that her body had washed up on the beach all over again.  There was darkness all around her and yet a hot wind was huffing against her hair as Zurak’s wits began to reassemble themselves.  She could taste dirt in her mouth and a sharp stinging pain in her shoulder made her cry out when she tried to move.

The hot wind began blowing afresh and an urgent grunting sound came with it; Zurak could feel something warm and furry pressing against the back of her head.  Her nose recognized Taeyo’s scent, and Zurak began to remember the earthquake as she gingerly moved her parts around.  Once she had started moving, Taeyo’s grunts became softer, as though the bear was relieved that she was still alive, but he kept on nudging her head with his muzzle.

The tree had fallen on Zurak, but the earth had opened up beneath her so that she was not pinned at all.  However, she was trapped beneath the branches of the tree and there was not much room to move in the crevasse; Zurak wiggled carefully because every movement sent fresh slaps of pain down her left arm.  Hot tears from the pain stung at Zurak’s eyes; she did not want to cry out and invite curious wolves to investigate.

After a few minutes, she was able to wriggle onto her back, Zurak could see the bright stars against the inky blackness of night and Elune’s light gleamed from Taeyo’s golden brown hide.  The tree branches were a cage around her; she ignored her screaming shoulder and grabbed on to one of the branches Taeyo had pushed aside.  If she could snap off some of the smaller ones, there would be enough of a passage for Zurak to escape.

The bear’s big head was pushed through the branches as he huffed and tried to lick Zurak’s face.  She was very happy that Taeyo had survived the rending, but he wasn't being very helpful, so Zurak opened up her mouth wide and showed the bear her teeth.  It was a favorite game of theirs, both of them would peel back their lips to expose all their teeth and playfully growl at each other.  Immediately Taeyo opened his mouth with a very welcome sweet grunt as Zurak quickly pushed one of the smaller branches inside.

Taeyo seemed startled at first and there was a little flash of something, possibly anger, in his animal eyes.  But he reflexively bit down on the branch, snapping it off and tearing it away from the tree with two powerful shakes of his head.  Zurak grabbed another branch over her head and began to pull her body out slowly; Taeyo pushed his head back through to help widen the opening.

It seemed like it took hours to get out of the crevasse, but Zurak finally pulled herself free.  She was exhausted and there wasn't enough light to try and find the cave, so she curled up next to Taeyo and fell asleep on the dirt.

The new morning sun showed Zurak the extent of the damage done by the earthquake.  She and Taeyo had been in the area for many months, but nothing looked familiar to Zurak anymore.  Many of the trees were lying on their sides, the course of the stream had been altered and the sweet spring had stopped flowing altogether.  Rocks and boulders were strewn everywhere, many featuring fresh rips like battle field wounds.

There was a new noise too, coming from the east, that was like a steady constant rumbling.  Zurak was only dimly aware of the new noise as she and Taeyo stood in front of their old cave with the remains of Zurak’s possessions between them.  Many rocks had fallen to seal off the opening, but she had found a small passage in to salvage as much as possible.

Her shoulder still throbbed dully, but none of her bones were broken, so Zurak had repaired her sled as best she could and prepared to move on.  Before they left, Zurak arranged a few rock piles; she had never stopped leaving messages for other Wanderers and still nursed the hope that someday her people would find her.  With that, Zurak and Taeyo started walking east towards the sound; she didn't know what else to do or where to find the next landmark and that was the best plan she could think of.

It took most of the day to scramble over the rocks because Zurak was being very tender with her wounded shoulder.  But they reached the top of their little stone valley just before sunset and stood gazing to the east, the bear and his girl.  Zurak fell to her knees to sing the blessings of Elune, crying and laughing at the same time with the delirium of relief.

Far in the distance, an enormous water spout had ruptured during the earthquake, sending plumes of blue water high up into the air.  This was the landmark Zurak had been searching for, Elune had told her to follow the water and the plume arced out towards the northeast.  Zurak’s excitement was palpable, because even Taeyo seemed excited, but her journey was almost over now.

The spout was the second to last landmark in Zurak’s vision, the Well of Provenance was not far now and maybe the monkey people weren't far away now either.

WANDERER Part 15

Getting Real

There was very little upside to being completely alone in the world.  Petra had given this a lot of thought and knew there was really only one advantage; if you were all alone then there was nobody to tell you what to do.  She was trying to be patient with Anthony, but her patience was wearing thin as she listened to his same old arguments.

“I just don’t see how this blog thing will last Pet,” the accountant said from his swiveling chair behind the desk.  “It’s not a secure investment and your resources aren’t unlimited.”

Pet bit off a sarcastic response in favor of a deep calming breath out of respect for Nana Bert.  Anthony Soares was the son of Nana’s best friend and the person who stepped in to manage Pet’s finances after the accident.  The gas company who owned the semi that had T-boned her father’s truck and killed both Pet’s parents had given her a substantial settlement and she was the sole beneficiary of all the properties and monies from her parents and two sets of grandparents.

Anthony had tried repeatedly to get Pet into college and, failing that, to set her up in some kind of business.  He had never respected her blog or its ability to generate income and he considered her glyph hunting to be an irrelevant hobby.  He was not a bad man, just an incredibly practical man who believed in numbers, not romance.  Pet was not surprised that Anthony objected, but she did not need his approval and she gamely tried to find a civil way to convey that.

Pet fastened her eyes on him and asked, “Have you looked at the blog lately?”  She could tell by his expression that the answer was no and continued, “Almost one million readers as of yesterday, almost as many Twitter follows.”  She leaned forward in her chair, not letting his eyes wander away, “Petra’s Glyphs has three sponsors now and the Expedition Fund has raised almost two thousand dollars since we started it three months ago.”

It was quiet in the room as Pet leaned back into her chair and let the accountant absorb the numbers.  CaveWomen, Inc. was a legal entity in the state of California now; it was a real business, with a real plan that had real potential for success.  Tass and Pet had spent most of the winter setting it all up and Araceli used her lifetime of skills acquired working for the State of California to navigate all the paperwork.

Expeditions cost money; proper equipment needed to be purchased along with vehicles and associated travel expenses.  Pet frequently sent out samples to various laboratories for all kinds of test, which were not cheap, and they still needed to eat regularly, so she had come downtown to see Anthony.  Summer was almost here and Pet was eager to get the tedious stuff done so she and Tass could finally get down to business.

The accountant looked through the incorporation papers again and the partnership agreement twice more before taking off his glasses.  “And Ms. Romero isn't contributing any funds for the start up?”

“No,” Pet said through a slightly clenched jaw.  Tass had no funds; Pet was the one with the cash, but Tass was the one who made things happen.  That was a skill beyond price, one that Pet did not possess, but Tass attracted people with a vivacious energy that came to her very naturally.

Anthony surrendered to the look of surety in Pet’s eyes and nodded feebly.  “Well, we have offers on all three properties, but I want you to keep the apartments.  That one is bread and butter, more than the other two combined,” he said.  He saw Pet preparing to object and rushed to say, “There will be more than enough from the duplexes to get your enterprise off the ground.  If you need more later,” the accountant paused here and gave Pet a look of his own, “then we can discuss that later.  Agreed?”

Pet looked at the offers for the two duplexes; Papa Burt had dabbled in real estate and left three income properties for his granddaughter.  In California, that was better than gold and Pet could live her whole life comfortably off the proceedings.  Anthony was right, she had to concede that, and she finally gave him a big smile.

“Two thousand in donations in less than three months?”  He leaned back in his chair and appraised Pet anew, “Who’s handling the money?”

Valentine

In loving memory of Charles Howard who left us for good one year ago today.

You're my funny Valentine
Sweet comic Valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable, un-photographable
Yet you're my favorite work of art
Is your figure less than Greek?
Is you mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak, are you smart?
Don't change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little Valentine, stay
Each day is Valentine's Day

Lyrics by Rodgers & Hart

WANDERER Part 14

Rent

The bundle of leeks Zurak was carrying smelled very pungent in the warm spring sunshine and made her stomach growl a little.  Tonight there would be a fragrant soup for Zurak’s belly with succulent chunks of frog meat, but she would most likely be dining alone.  Taeyo had left in search of food, the bear cub had grown very big since Zurak found him and now had to range wide to find enough to eat.

Taeyo was never gone for long, one or two days might pass before the shaggy golden brown bear would come back to the cave with a blooded face and full belly.  It was getting time to leave the cave though, time to continue the search for the Well of Provenance, now that the seasons had changed.

The decision of where to go next was what kept Zurak where she was and she went over the details of her vision as she walked.  Elune had come to Zurak the night of Zonate ritual; the moon goddess had taken Zurak into the heart of the Golden Land and shown her the way.  But the vision was hazy in Zurak’s memory and she was very concerned that she had missed one of the landmarks along the way.

That was all she really remembered, the landmarks; but so far she had found them all.  First had been the sulfurous spring, which was easy to find because the damp stench traveled easily in the air, then Zurak found the two trees twisted into a lover’s embrace just a month after.  She had been forced to wait many weeks by the place where four rivers joined together until the waters subsided enough for her to reach the banks of the one Elune showed her.

Zurak found her current cave by following the tongue of the laughing rock that was pointing east, but now she was unsure of how to proceed.  She had to decide between east or north and Zurak was strongly considering another ritual for guidance as she picked a path over the flat rocks by the river.  During her vision, Zurak had been bathed in the waters of a mighty spout that gushed out of the Earth straight up into the sky.  So far Zurak had seen many kinds of water, ponds, streams, spring and even fizzy, but no geysers, no great water spouts at all.

All of a sudden, the air around Zurak went completely quiet, the birds stopped tweeting, the bugs stopped buzzing and it seemed that even the wind stopped blowing.  Zurak froze in her place, looking all around for impending danger but seeing none, and dropped the leeks as she tightened the grip on her staff.  All was heavy stillness around her for a long moment before the cacophony of thousands of birds all taking wing at the same ting shot out from the trees..

Zurak gasped, startled by the sound and sight of the sky filled with birds flapping madly towards the east.  Cold fear began to run in her veins and a voice inside her head screamed at Zurak to run, then the very earth beneath her feet began to pitch wildly from side to side.  A loud, ominous roaring came from deep below the rocks that got louder as Zurak was knocked to her feet, rocks big and small were falling all around her as Zurak curled up into a ball.

She prayed desperately to Elune as the ground continued to shake around her; she could hear the ground ripping apart and trees screaming in agony as they were violently uprooted and tossed aside.  The shaking did not stop, not like the other small rumbles that Zurak had felt regularly as she walked, this time the Earth god was very angry.

Time fell away from Zurak as she clung to the rocks, she prayed for her own safety and prayed harder for Taeyo’s, but the shaking would not stop.  The ground she was laying on began to buckle, Zurak could feel the ravenous earth trying to swallow her up and desperately tried to roll away.  The fresh screams of the tree closest to Zurak drowned out her own, she saw it falling towards her as if seeing it in a dream, like it was not really real.

But it was real and it was coming down on her; she managed to find her feet but couldn’t keep her balance on the quaking ground.  Zurak saw the shadow of the thick branch just a split second before everything else went dark.