Crimes of the Century - No. 22 - Columbine Massacre, 1999

COLUMBINE MASSACRE, 1999

Just when you think it couldn't get any worse.  Today's crime of the century is another horrific nightmare.  And if any of you have ever watched the movie, "We Need To Talk About Kevin," you would understand where I'm coming from.  Most of you reading this probably recall the incident, because it was only 14 years ago.  What is so sad about this whole thing is that the massacres continue until this day.  Need I remind you of Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook?  And there's countless others I'm sure.  But its just people killing people, not guns killing people, right?  I think both issues need to be addressed, not just one.

While the article by TIME (below) gives insight into the crime, you can also go here to read the drama as it unfolded on that terrible day in 1999.

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School shootings were already a problem before April 20, 1999. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris knew that theirs had to stand out. So they planned to make every previous incident look podunk, and they videotaped their boast so the world would know what they had set out to do. And so they turned Columbine High School into an abattoir: murdering 12 schoolmates and a teacher, wounding 24 other people and then, finally, killing themselves in a drama seen live on television. It was not quite the 250 they had hoped to kill, but it was enough to make the incident the worst school shooting in American history. This sudden eruption of violence in the middle of one of the most solidly upper middle class communities in America set off months of soul searching. Parents and school officials discussed the prevalence of violent music and video games; a similar concern arose over school sociology -- bullies, outsiders and teen goth culture. Parents asked: what are the warning signs that our children are turning out to be their own enemies? On their tapes, Klebold and Harris talk about anger management but not the expected kind. Rather, they were learning to ratchet up their anger and yet keep it secret from everyone else -- until the day they had to turn it on full blast.

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TIME Magazine posted this article online several years ago, along with a list of 24 additional notorious crimes that I have been posting and will continue to post every Saturday on my blog.  Hope you enjoy.

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To read the previous 21 crimes - click my logo below.

 

Saturday Morning Coffee Break: The Closet

Today's Saturday Morning Coffee Break is another great film I posted back in 2009 on Peter's Daily Blog.  At under 3 minutes, the film is really strong and shows how a short film such as this can still make quite an impact.  

I fell in love with it then and still in love with it now.

In the film an old man recalls the moment that defined his life, in which his attraction and friendship with a neighboring boy is crushed by the boy's homophobic father.

If you wish to look back at some previous issues, click my logo below and enjoy.   

Make sure to check out Saturday Morning Coffee Break every Saturday for another classic or current gay short film.

The Excuse Creator [NSFW]

This is for all you folks that love to come up with excuses.  I know, some are really valid, so just take it lightly, okay?. LOL.  Choose your "Lead-in", "Perpetrator" and "Delaying Factor".  Oh, and it's NSFW because of some of the language.  The more you do, the more you'll laugh.  Enjoy.

This Is Water by David Foster Wallace

This video is 9 minutes long, but truly inspirational. If you have some time, I highly recommend watching it.  Bookmark it for another day, share it on Facebook, Pin it, Skype it, do whatever you wish with it, but make sure to watch it sometime in your life.  It doesn't matter if you're in college, high school or an alumni - this video is for everyone.

Author David Foster Wallace was asked to give the commencement address to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College. However, the resulting speech didn't become widely known until 3 years later, after his tragic death. It is, without a doubt, some of the best life advice we've ever come across, and perhaps the most simple and elegant explanation of the real value of education.

The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

Here you go.  A Scientific 7-minute Workout - so you have no excuse.  I think we all can find 7 minutes out of 1,440 in a day, right?

"The exercises should be performed in rapid succession, allowing 30 seconds for each, while, throughout, the intensity hovers at about an 8 on a discomfort scale of 1 to 10... Those seven minutes should be, in a word, unpleasant. The upside is, after seven minutes, you’re done. "

Courtesy of The New York Times, an article in the May-June issue of the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal does just that. In 12 exercises deploying only body weight, a chair and a wall, it fulfills the latest mandates for high-intensity effort, which essentially combines a long run and a visit to the weight room into about seven minutes of steady discomfort — all of it based on science. 

“There’s very good evidence” that high-intensity interval training provides “many of the fitness benefits of prolonged endurance training but in much less time,” says Chris Jordan, the director of exercise physiology at the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Fla., and co-author of the new article.

A Message For Children and A Warning For Adults

This is pretty cool.  An amazing innovation that could literally save a life.  Considering all the recent events over the discovery of the three women who were kidnapped as young children or teenagers, giving a little to this foundation to help abused children wouldn't hurt.

The ANAR foundation has developed an advertisement that uses a lenticular lens to display two different messages at the same time;  One for adults and one for children.  The one for children urges the child to seek help with a number to call, whereas the adult version has nothing listed.  It uses a technology where only certain heights can see certain messages.  This will give the child a chance to find help without alerting the abuser.

Post Secret Fridays - Issue 116

 PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

 See More Secrets. Follow PostSecret on Twitter.

Want to see older Post Secret Friday issues?
Click my Post Secret Logo Below.

It's My Friday, and I'm In Love!

I don't know what it's like to work on Friday's anymore.  It's just something that doesn't exist in my life.  So in honor of Thursday being my Friday, I thought I'd share this cute animated video :-)

How I See My Dog

The Oatmeal has given us a couple charts on how we see our dogs and how our dogs see us.  They're pretty spot on. Lol.  You can see the other side, after the jump.

after the jump...

Movies To Watch: The Butler

I'm just loving all these Presidential / White House movies lately.  Last month Ryan and I saw Olympus Has Fallen; This summer in Channing Tatum's new movie, White House Down, we lay witness to almost every national monument being blown to bits, and finally, this fall, Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker, Cuba Cooding, Jr., Robin Williams, James Marsden, Alex Pettyfer, John Cusack, Jane Fonda and many others, star in The Butler.

I'm definitely eager to see this one, not only because of the huge cast, but for the true story of a man who served 4 American Presidents and witnessed 4 decades of American History.  Check out the trailer - it's pretty powerful.  Oscar worthy? Maybe.

 

How I See My FriendBeast by The Dog

So here's the flipside of the diagram The Oatmeal shared with us earlier - this one is by The Dog.  Want to know how it views it's "FriendBeast"?  Take a look. Lol.

Airigami Dinosaur

Man, I thought the balloon twisted Buzz Light Year I posted on Monday was crazy cool, but this has got to cut the cake.  Talk about taking balloon twisting to a whole new level.

Watch this awesome time-lapse video of 20-foot balloon acrocanthosaurus come to life, created alongside plants and insects.

The geniuses behind this tumultuous task are a group of artists who call themselves Airigami. Check out their website, it's pretty darn cool.

Are People Really This Stupid? Issue No. 35 - Facebook is Full of Them - Part II

Ahhh, the lovely world of Facebook.  Are people really this stupid?  Pick one that's not like the other. LOL.

And if you haven't had enough, there's always Facebook is Full of Them - Part I

Do It Yourself Graduation Cap Flask

This is for all you college students of legal drinking age.  Let me say that again.  This is for all you college students of legal drinking age. Lol.  Dominque Zamora over at Foodbeast created a DIY Graduation Cap Flask, and not because her job prospects after graduation look bleak, but because sitting through a lengthy 2-hour ceremony is not something she's looking forward to.

Her words after the jump...

A Song About Immigration, Fiats and Sexy People

I was about to watch a video on you-tube when an advertisement pops up.  My first thought was to skip it, as I normally do, but after letting it play for a minute I got dragged into it.  I'm assuming all you club-goers have heard of the song.  It's titled "Sexy People (The Fiat Song)" featuring Pitbull.

Italian singer-songwriter and actress, Arianna Bergamaschi, better known as Arianna, released the song earlier this year.  She spoke to Artist Direct as to why she made the track: 

I'd made a track for a friend who does music for commercials. I was at home and they called me asking to suggest a song that's like the dance song "Tu Vuò Fà L'Americano". That's a Neapolitan song from Naples. They wanted a song like that because the commercial was about immigration. They wanted to speak about Italian immigration in L.A. I knew the Italian song very well, and they just asked for a suggestion. I said, "Torna a Surriento" is one of the best because it speaks about immigration. I sang it for a little bit since the commercial was 30-seconds. I didn't imagine it would get four million views on YouTube, and we'd do a song [Laughs]. I'm a singer in Italy, and I've done so many things including theater and musicals. It's like a dream for me to be here. I wanted to do a single in the U.S., but I didn't expect it. Everything feels like an unexpected dream."

Check it out, it'll make you dance.

Our Idiotic Governor, Rick Perry, Labels Us Flavors of the Month

So yeah, the title says it all.  I really don't have much to say on the subject, because I'm tired of having to defend myself or "My Family", but this man is up there with Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin.  Nuts.

I was in Boy Scouts from Junior High through High School and if you ask me, it wasn't the "gay scouts" I was afraid of.  It was the straight ones that were horny and needed help.  These people go on chastising gays when it's the STRAIGHT "dads", "uncles", "cousins", "friends" who are molesting boys.  Hell, the Catholic church is full of them too.

Read an excerpt below and tell me you don't want to throw up.

“I know there are those in the world today that would tear that apart. But the fact is this is a private organization. Their values and principles have worked for a century now. And for pop culture to come in and try to tear that up because it just happens to be, you know, the flavor of the month so to speak and to tear apart one of the great organizations that have served millions of young men, helped them to become men and become great fathers. That is just not appropriate. Frankly, I hope the American people will stand up and say, 'Not on my watch.'” - read more here

I guess Ricky forgot there were 2,000 cases of abuse prior to 1994 in the United States alone.  And these were the only ones that were reported.

Must Watch: Robinsons 'Pals'

Why is it that everyone makes cool advertisements but us?  Oh wait, we have this diet coke commercial I posted earlier. Lol.

The following British commercial for the juice drink, Robinsons, starts off with two friends hanging out with each other.  As the day goes on, they kick the ball, run after each other, and play Star Wars.  When the day reaches it's end, the two boys call it a night.  

Are they friends or something more...  The outcome will surprise you.  Check it out.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

We love to use it in our pies, eggnog, spice cakes, etc., but did you know Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.

Want a little Oleander tea with that?  Things that make you go hmmm...

Things We Can Do To Save The Environment - Issue No. 19 - Buy Green Power, At Home or Away

pic from a farm near my parent's home

I didn't know we could opt to buy green power; I guess I'll have to look at our bill to see where our energy is coming from.

Every time we go visit my parents down in Corpus Christi, TX, we see wind farms as far as the eye can see, and this is something I never would have pictured growing up.  What's ironic about the whole thing is... that the power generated by these farms are helping cities hundreds of miles away, and not necessarily the local community.

Giving credit to TIME,  I'd like to thank them for showing us the many ways we can help save the environment.  Just one person can make a difference, and it starts with YOU!
 
                                                   ~ Peter aka Blade7184  

19. Buy Green Power, At Home or Away

More than 600 utilities in 37 states offer green energy, but unless you read the fine print on your bill, you may not know if your power company is one of them. (To find out, visit eere.energy.gov/greenpower.) If you don't live in a green power zone, you can support the industry by buying renewable energy certificates, which allow you to purchase green energy in another part of the country. The extra dollars will dispense green power to the national power grid.

Make sure to follow Blade 7184 every Tuesday for a new issue of Things We Can Do To Save The Environment.  Each issue is thought-provoking, informative and may hold the key to saving your children and grand-children's future.  Please feel free to click on my logo to read previous issues.

The Evolution of Batman

A comprehensive and extensive chart of the Batman logo evolution, spanning over 72 years from 1940 - 2012 to map the transformation of a timeless hero.

The Thinnest Vending Machine In The World!

Wasn't I just talking about being a recovering Diet Coke addict yesterday?  And then this damn Slender Vender commercial appears on the screen, and I'm craving Diet Coke all over again!  I hate you!!!

All that aside, the vending machine, which dispenses small aluminum bottles, is pretty cool.  Check out the video below - it has a catchy tune.

Just Sayn'

Hey, the next time Ryan and I go to T.G.I. Fridays I'm going to ask the Balloon Twister to make me a full-size Buzz Light Year.  Just Sayn'.

A Very Special Moment - Issue #10: Omelette

This is the cutest and sweetest short film I've seen in a very long time.  And I guess it's even more special because Ryan and I are pet owners.  

For the past 3 years my little Duchess has layed on my chest at night and then snuggled underneath the covers as I fall asleep.  Before that, it was Princess.  And both protected me with their lives; Duchess, even more so.

But this film isn't really about a pet, it's about cooking for someone you love.  You'll have to watch the video to understand.

Loving One Another - Issue No. 026

Cyanide and Happiness: Show

Gay of Thrones: Game of Thrones Episode 5 Recap

"WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS???"

It's time for a little gay humor.  And Game of Thrones!!!! :-)- 

If you're behind two episodes, then it probably wouldn't be a good thing to watch the recap.

Feel free to catch the previous Gay of Thrones recaps here.  They are absolutely hilarious!

25 Signs You're Addicted To Diet Coke

Speaking as a recovering Diet Coke addict, I thought I'd share these humorous pics, courtesy of the folks at Buzz Feed.  These 8 pics were totally me!

1. This is a regular occurrence in your car.

2. And at your desk.

3. This is basically you worst nightmare.

4. Seriously, how could anyone favor Diet Pepsi?

 5. Your perfect day looks very similar to this.

 6. If someone tries to steal your Diet Coke from the fridge, you will riot.

 7. Contrary to popular belief, you don't order Diet Coke because you think it will make you skinny.

 8. You order it because...

There's 17 more reasons why you're addicted to Diet Coke at Buzz Feed, check them out.