Posted by Bunny.
Hi folks! Forgot to tell you last week that we posted a new episode. You can watch a video of Ehren Watada speak about his decision to refuse to go to Iraq. Click here to watch the episode.
Filtering by Category: 2006
Presents
Posted by Pinky.
How embarrassing. I got presents from Bunny, Mimi & Kim and I didn't have presents for them. They didn't seem upset that I didn't have anything for them and I honestly don't think they are but I still felt kind of bad about it.
Mimi & Kim gave me one of my favorite things in the whole world - food. Well, not actual food, but they gave me a coupon for a free Burger King cow sandwich and small order french fries. They said they found it on the ground near highway 127. Bunny made my present herself - I can most accurately describe it as a cross-stitched doll of me (photo below). As you can see I tacked it to the computer monitor with double-stick tape, it's really neat. It looks like pixel art except it's all stitched by hand (paw) in thread.
Any suggestions for how to have a money-less Christmas?
~p.
Christmas & Buying Stuff
Posted by Pinky.
Tomorrow is Christmas, isn't it? "Merry Christmas" to everybody out there! I mean, only to all of you who like to hear that, and for those of you who are offended by Christmas wishes, my apologies for even bringing it up. I'm actually not Christian, whatever that means. Actually, since I don't really know much about religion, maybe I should use my delete key to erase all this and keep myself out of trouble.
Except for one thing: I'm actually totally fascinated by how pissed off some people get when it comes to religion. I'm not religious myself, so it's not something I'm apt to understand easily. I do know that religion is a major factor contributing to people acting very, very badly towards each other. I've also heard of many examples in which religion is apparently the reason behind some very wonderful human behavior. I'd like to understand more about how people reconcile these two apparently opposite realities. Maybe this year I do some episodes about religion?
Actually it's easy to get confused about Christmas. Bunny and I hopped a truck to Las Vegas last week to check out the mall action - you should see the crazy activity at the shopping malls out there. It was intense, kind of like a frenzy. People were stressed out and spending tons of money. It reminded me of when I used to think Christmas was a holiday invented by retailers (I only found out about the Jesus-God connection like, maybe two years ago). I like the idea of giving gifts, and I like the idea of receiving gifts too. The thing is though, we don't have lots of money and what little money we do have goes directly to buy food, water, electricity, maintaining equipment, and so on. You know, the necessities. So we certainly don't have any money to spend on presents.
Which raises a logical question: If you want to show somebody that you appreciate them (during Christmas, during whenever), what's an appropriate way to do this other than buying them a present? Because judging from what we saw at the malls, there's probably no real alternative to buying stuff right?
Please e-mail me any ideas you might have. Because tomorrow is Christmas (it snuck up on me) and I don't have any presents for anybody, and I don't want them to think that I don't care about them.
~pinky
Bunny X-stitch
Dear Bunny,
My name is Geena and I really like The Pinky Show. Good work! I also happen to enjoy cross stitching as a hobby. Since I know you like cross stitching too I made this portrait of you. I hope you like it. By the way, why is the show not called The Pinky & Bunny Show?
Best wishes, Geena
Hi Geena, Thanks so much for the cross stitch art! I really look cute as a cross stitch. Thanks for doing me instead of Pinky. The reason why the show is named after her is actually kind of a long story but I agree with you that the show would be better with a different name (like, The Bunny Show?). I used Photoshop to put the cross stitch art in a frame until I can find a real frame the right size to put it in. Also I'm going to post the pattern so that other people can have a x-stitch Bunny picture too. Again, thanks for the art! Love, Bunny
![[ download the free cross stitch pattern ]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/50f48bcde4b0c7661ad2ccae/1362052019727-W057ATIZ0YFIZMQFOG8M/x-stitch_bunny.jpg)
Crimes Against Humanity Video
Posted by Bunny.
Great news everyone. We have a new episode available. You can learn all about crimes against humanity and war crimes by watching this interview with Peter Weiss from the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Pinky’s Nightmare
Posted by Bunny.
Pinky's been having nightmares about schools recently. You can watch the episode here.
Christmas Card
The Health Care Crisis version 2.0
Posted by Bunny.
New/old episode posted: The Health Care Crisis, Part I. Previously posted way back in January as a text-only episode, we finally updated it to include sound and (moving) pictures. It feels a bit like we just took a step backwards but it was bugging us that that episode wasn't available in video form. Now we try to go forward with finishing up the new episodes.
Things have been slow around here because we ran out of money a few months ago. Things are hand-to-mouth.
Halloween Riddle From Kim
Posted by Kim.
Q: Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?
A: Because it was too chicken! lol
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Posted by Bunny: ?? That doesn't make any sense…?
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Posted by Mimi: Kim… Actually the punchline is supposed to be "Because he didn't have any guts"... *rolling eyes*
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Posted by Bunny: Oh… wow. Okay.
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Posted by Pinky: Come on you guys. This diary is supposed to be project-oriented, or maybe educational, in some way.
Today's quote courtesy of: Frank Zappa
Posted by Pinky.
I don't know what kind of music Frank Zappa composed or played, but I like Frank Zappa because he's funny and gives good parenting advice:
The first thing you have to do if you want to raise nice kids, is you have to talk to them like they are people instead of talking to them like they're property.
Seems like a good idea, but also seems like a principle not too many adults believe in.
~p.
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Posted by Bunny: Lots of Frank Zappa content on YouTube. Check him out.
Bunny Was Here
Posted by Bunny.
Last weekend Pinky and I went into the city (Los Angeles). It was really hot and it took us a long time to get there. Pinky had a lot of stuff on her mind and almost got run over - twice. While she did her meetings I took the opportunity to go visit the house where I was born since it was nearby.
It's right next to the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City. The place still looks about the same although I didn't see anybody there who I thought I might be related to.
I had several brothers and sisters but they just disappeared one by one; cars. I left home when I was the last one. And I met Pinky literally minutes after deciding to leave. I took a picture of the exact spot where we first met (below). So much trash around here.
~Bunny.
Mr. Stroud Responds Again
Posted by Pinky.
I just heard back from Mr. Stroud in Syracuse. His e-mail:
Idiots,
So what were we supposed to do? Just let them kill our families as we sit around and do nothing? Do you even know anybody who died at ground zero? Go tell their children how you plan to do nothing to bring those terrorists to justice. I'm so sick of all your whining about peace and consider this conversation over. J. Stroud
You know, I read Mr. Stroud's e-mail several times, and the most striking thing for me is how he apparently sees retaliating with violence as the only ‘real' or ‘legitimate' response to violence - fighting for peace, or understanding, or healing looks a lot like 'sitting around doing nothing' to him. I think his inability to even imagine an alternative to violence is actually a large part of the problem. Of course he's not the only one - we (all of us on planet Earth) wouldn't be in such a giant mess if we'd put as much effort into fighting violence instead of supporting it.
~p.
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Posted by Bunny: This is America. You’re going to have to give some examples of exactly what “fighting for peace” looks like.
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Posted by Kim: I hang out with you guys all the time and even I have a hard time thinking of examples. But punching someone in the nose is super easy to imagine!
Mr. Stroud Responds
Posted by Pinky.
I received quite a few e-mails in response to yesterday's (September 11) diary entry. Most of them went kind of like ‘hey pinky i didn't know there were so many other things that happened on other 9-11s', stuff like that. This one interested me the most though:
Dear Idiot,
I mourn on September 11 because as an American I feel we all need to remember those who lost their lives to the terrorists. I'm not going to feel bad for people killed in a battle 700 years ago in England. We are talking about New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania in 2001. Different time, different place - get it? You have no right to tell me, or anybody else, how to mourn. Fuck you very much. J. Stroud
Syracuse, New York
He raises an interesting point (the part before the fuck you part) and I thought that responding would be a good way for me to explain a bit more regarding my reasoning and intentions. Here it is:
Dear J. Stroud,
I wasn't telling you how to mourn. My point was that everyone remembers some deaths while omitting others. For example, my friend Pat was killed by a truck this past January 31. If I want to light a candle for Pat this coming January 31, without having to light candles for all other bunnies run over by trucks on every January 31 since the beginning of time (and believe me, that would be a lot of candles) of course I'd be totally entitled to do that. But a personal memorial service for a single bunny is not the same as a national day of remembrance wherein an entire nation reflects upon a violent, traumatic, history-changing event. One is personal (me & Pat), the other involves the transformation and re-writing of an entire nation's identity - isn't that a big difference? What I'm saying is that for certain things I’m more interested in what nations end up doing, rather than individuals, especially when armies, bombs, and thousands of civilian deaths later become involved.The official response of the U.S. government to the September 11, 2001 attacks was to answer violence with more violence. So apparently revenge is a justifiable response to killing, which of course is not a new idea. That's why I placed September 11 (v. 2001) alongside the other September 11s (versions 1297, 1649, 1683, 1709, 1944, 1973, and 1982) - it was my way of pointing out that throughout history, many human beings have rejected life and peace in favor of death and war. I know there are always more than a few people out there who believe that life and peace are good, but the fact is that horrible things like these still happen. I'm trying to understand how and why.Remembering September 11, 2001 as yet another example in a long line of human beings' failure to overcome their violent tendencies helps me to keep my eyes fixed on one of my long term goals: I want human beings to be more conscious of the suffering they create through their selfish thoughts and violent actions. I'm going to keep working towards that.
~pinky
Anniversary of the Modern Non-Violence Movement
Posted by Bunny.
While Pinky posts her gloomy, all-bad-news September 11 entry over in her diary area, I'm going to remind everybody that September 11th is also the 100th anniversary of the birth of the modern non-violence movement. On September 11, 1906, Mohandas K. Gandhi first publicly put forth his call for a method of resisting violence with non-violence. Ironic, isn't it? Find this on the front page of your local newspaper!
We were also surprised to find out, after the fact, that Oahu public access TV Channel 56 aired our Pinky Show episode The American War: The U.S. in Vietnam this morning at 6:30 a.m. When we first submitted the program for broadcast we had actually been told that they were going to show our program starting September 30, but apparently somebody at Olelo decided to kick off their September 11's broadcast schedule with our show. We only found out when we started receiving phone calls from people telling us they had just finished watching it and really liked it (public access TV requires contact info at the end of every program). Nice…
~B.
Other September 11s
Posted by Pinky.
Those terrible airplane attacks happened on today's date, exactly five years ago. I just saw a newspaper poll that concluded that for Americans, "September 11 ranks as the most pivotal event in history".
The poll did not need to explicitly state that September 11 refers to the destruction of the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93 - everybody knows; it is assumed. But a quickie review of world history shows that September 11 has been a violent day many times over. Just a few examples:
September 11, 1297: The Battle of Stirling Bridge between Scottish and English forces. Over 5,000 people killed.
September 11, 1649: Oliver Cromwell's forces (English) massacre the Irish at Drogheda. Approximately 3,000 people killed.
September 11, 1683: The Battle of Vienna begins between the armies of the Ottoman Empire and various Central European kingdoms. Around 20,000 people killed.
September 11, 1709: The Battle of Malplaquet (France versus England/Netherlands/Austria). About 40,000 dead or wounded.
September 11, 1944: The RAF (British Air Force) firebombs Darmstadt, Germany. About 12,000 people killed.
September 11, 1973: A U.S.-supported coup deposes democratically elected President Salvadore Allende of Chile. From 1973-1990, military dictator Augusto Pinochet would murder, torture, and ‘disappear' the Chilean people by the tens of thousands.
September 11, 1982: Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Shatila camps (Lebanon) are abandoned by international forces assigned to protect them, allowing Phalangist militia to enter the camps and massacre Palestinian refugees while Israeli forces seal the camps' perimeter. No one knows exactly how many civilians were killed - estimates range from 700 to 3,500 people killed.
Those who perished on those airplanes, or at the World Trade Center, or at the Pentagon, will be remembered today. These other victims of violence, for the most part, will not be mentioned or even remembered. If we believe that all life is precious, and we want to be respectful to all, then what to do?
~pinky
Am I Neurotic?
Posted by Pinky.
I just read some articles about the SMART-1 research satellite at the European Space Agency's website. It's been orbiting the moon for the past three years or so, carefully mapping the moon's surface, testing its solar powered thruster, and other scientific-y stuff like that. Anyway, the mission came to an end four days ago, on September 3rd, when the satellite was deliberately crashed into the surface of the moon. Is that for real? Doesn't that suck for the moon? I mean, I don't know if you've ever looked at close-up photographs of the moon's surface, but it's real pretty up there. And now there's about 630 pounds of space garbage littering the surface of the moon that wasn't there before. How long's it going to be just sitting there, looking all messy, before someone goes there to tidy up?
I get pretty annoyed whenever I see someone toss a cigarette out a car window, like the Earth is their own personal trash can. To me this is just a bigger, more moon-oriented example of the same idea. According to the European Space Agency, "SMART-1 ended its journey in the Lake of Excellence region, in the point situated at 34.4° South latitude and 46.2° West longitude." Okay guys - apparently you know exactly where you crashed it - now go clean it up!
~p.
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Posted by Bunny: That's moon vandalism.
Lancet Report: Haiti
Posted by Pinky.
I was reading a report in the British medical journal The Lancet about human rights abuses in Haiti. It stated, among other things, that 8,000 people were murdered and 35,000 girls and women raped or sexually assaulted in the Port-au-Prince area during the period immediately following President Aristide's removal from power in February 2004. The crimes were committed mostly by the police, UN peacekeepers, anti-Lavalas (Aristede's political party) groups, and other associates of the U.S.-backed interim government. Assassination and rape were basically being used as instruments of social control and punishment for political affiliation, and all of this has been going on for the past couple of years right off the coast of Florida. The report was published in the journal's September 2, 2006 issue, so it's been in circulation for several days now. I've been watching the front pages of lots of major U.S. newspapers and news websites and so far I haven't seen any references to it appear anywhere.
An obvious question: Why not? It can't be that the numbers aren't shocking enough, or the crimes not heinous enough (i.e., death squads gang raping children - isn't this generally considered news?). And it can't be that Haiti's too far away for us to care - I'm looking at my globe right now and I can cover Florida, Haiti and Cuba with my paw all at the same time (and I have really small paws). I can only assume that its absence must be for 'other reasons' - I shudder to imagine.
So what is in the news at the moment?
• the recent quadruple-murder/dismemberment in Maine;
• The Crocodile Hunter's death-by-stringray;
• Andre Agassi's retirement from "tennis" (a.k.a. giant ping-pong);
• Pluto's demotion from planetary status to glorified asteroid;
• etc., etc., etc.
It's not that I don't think any of the above stories are worthy of inclusion in a newspaper, because, yeah, I actually did read all of those stories too. *cough* [ Bunny's note: Pinky reads People magazine! ] But I’ll bet you $20 [ Bunny: she doesn't have $20. ] that if you did a poll of a million newspaper readers, most of them would (maybe reluctantly) agree that these stories really don't have the same degree of social relevance as the Haiti story. Which kind of raises a potentially interesting question: Why do we gravitate towards reading stories that we know aren't important?
I'm kind of wondering why we read the news. I mean, some of us are almost addicted to it, like it's an absolutely essential ritual we have to do every day, right? But do we read the news as a 'first step' towards actually going out there and changing the world? Or do we read the news as a more passive form of entertainment and self-gratification? (I'm guessing more often the latter) And if it's more of the latter, I wonder if these kinds of choices imply something's gone wrong with our sense of values. It's hard not to wonder how and why we became the way we are. Sorry, no real answers yet, just questions. As always, for those of you out there who have all the answers, please feel free to e-mail them to me here.
Oh, by the way, we're making some pretty good progress on our next episode. Hopefully it'll be done sometime next week (it's fairly short, we're calling it a 'donut & coffee' episode). On a side note, this one will be the first in which Bunny and I actually have music in the background. So far the 'music' (gotta put that in quotes) we made is very bad - “tortuous” - but we want to try out not having just empty space behind the narration, and we also don’t want to pay for music.
~pinky
Gandhi Quote
Posted by Pinky.
I read various newspapers every day. I also read books everyday. I put them both in my head and let them fight it out.
In contrast to the (apparently) currently popular idea that war/invasion/occupation are all effective ways of spreading democracy, today's book-quote:
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"
- Mahatma Gandhi, Non-Violence in Peace and War.
We still like Gandhi, right?
~p.
The Pinky Show on TV
Posted by Bunny.
We just heard that our most recent episode, The American War: the U.S. in Vietnam will be aired on Olelo, public access television channel 56 in Hawaii at 10pm, 9/30, 10/1, 10/7 and 10/8. That's cool because 10pm on that channel (weeknights) is Democracy Now! so maybe somebody will not realize it's the weekend and accidentally watch our show.
The American War: The U.S. in Vietnam
Posted by Bunny.
The Vietnam War episode is finally done, you can see it here. So far the response has been really great, and that makes me feel good because it took us a long time to put it together - lots of reading, lots of searching for appropriate pictures, lots of maps to draw (Pinky), and so on. I went to Washington D.C. to do the research - It was hard work but also fun because I had some time to sight see and act like a tourist before coming home.
Now on to the next episode. Pinky has already started writing. At least the next couple episodes will be much shorter ones - we're going to try to have them fall in the 6-8 minute range. So it won't be long before we have a new episode on our site, my guess is in about 10 days or so.
I've finally posted Pinky's diary entry - just kept forgetting (sorry Pinky!). You can read it here.
Thank you.
~B.