Trousered Ape

An exercise in presumption.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Hat tip to Creative Minority Report for this bit of news about one Roland Emmerich, filmmaker, and his most recent work, "2012":

For "2012," Emmerich set his sites on destroying the some biggest landmarks around the world, from Rome to Rio. But there's one place that Emmerich wanted to demolish but didn't: the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure located in the center of Mecca. It's the focus of prayers and the site of the Hajj, the biggest, most important pilgrimage in Islam.

"Well, I wanted to do that, I have to admit," the filmmaker told scifiwire.com. "But my co-writer Harald [Kloser] said, 'I will not have a fatwa on my head because of a movie.' And he was right."

Emmerich went on: "We have to all, in the western world, think about this. You can actually let Christian symbols fall apart, but if you would do this with [an] Arab symbol, you would have ... a fatwa, and that sounds a little bit like what the state of this world is. So it's just something which I kind of didn't [think] was [an] important element, anyway, in the film, so I kind of left it out."

It makes me want to sing...sing...sing!

Bravely bold Sir Roland
Made films in Hollywood.
He was not afraid of Christians,
O brave Sir Roland.
He was not afraid of a bishop or a Pope,
Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Roland!

He was not in the least bit scared of a ruler-wielding nun,
To see a crucifix, or to smell the incense,
To hear Gregorian chant, or a Rosary or two,
To get splashed with holy water, brave Sir Roland!

Though the Catholics prayed that he might be saved
And the Calvinists said he was quite depraved
And the Amish laughed and the Lutherans wept
And the Methodists sang and the Anglicans slept,
He said, "I shan't ever change my tune!"
And he dropped his trous--

But...

Brave Sir Roland ran away,
Bravely ran away, away!
To dodge a fatwa on his head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled.
He took, when faced with Moslem wrath,
A most courageous rearward path.
They searched for him in vain, for he
Had donned a burka gallantly.
Bravest of the brave, Sir Roland!

He’d wreck Jesus in Rio with bombastic brio,
And crumple the Vatican just to show that he can –
But dare him to clobber the most holy Kaaba:
You'll see his brave embrace of dhimmitude!

Posted by Bob the Ape 6:15 AM

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The vortex of vacuity
Has got me in its grip -
My life is all fatuity
And I a dreary drip.
I'll give a large gratuity
(In other words, a tip)
To him whose great acuity
Can end my losership.

(Hat tip to LarryD for the phrase "vortex of vacuity".)

Posted by Bob the Ape 8:21 AM