Friday, March 30, 2007
Klaxons - Magick
Crazy music video for the amazing band Klaxons. For all you keeners, the song is called "Magick" and I'm aware that it's a spelling mistake.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
DeliciousSongs.com?
I just finished completely revamping what was DeliciousMusic. Among the changes there's now a POP-OUT playlist in the top right corner, Javascript running on every MP3 so you can just press the little green play button to listen to a song, an upcoming shows calendar and a completely new posting format.
For the time being it's URL is http://delicioussongs.blogspot.com but I'm going to have to buy a .com URL for it. I can't decide on a name so anyone with some ideas please email them to me. It doesn't have to be Delicious-XX, it can be anything.
For the time being it's URL is http://delicioussongs.blogspot.com but I'm going to have to buy a .com URL for it. I can't decide on a name so anyone with some ideas please email them to me. It doesn't have to be Delicious-XX, it can be anything.
William Spencer Hollarado!
William Spencer's Part in The Denver Shop Video Hollarado! Old school with a new school twist.
Incredible Leg Strength
FBB-Kasie Cavanaugh does 30 Reps with a Man on her Legs: That's a powerful Woman.
Neighbors react to alleged slay-grilling
HOUSTON - For at least two days, neighbors at a city apartment complex noticed an acrid aroma, black smoke and leaping flames coming from two barbecue grills on the balcony of a second-floor apartment.
What, neighbors at the Red Oak Place apartments wondered, was going on in the unit where 27-year-old Timothy Wayne Shepherd lived? What was he burning at all hours, for days at a time? The answer turned their stomachs.
According to law enforcement officials, Shepherd dismembered, and then burned the body of his former girlfriend, Tynesha Stewart, a 19-year-old Texas A&M University student. Nothing remains of Stewart's body, Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas said at a press conference Saturday.
READ MORE--->
What, neighbors at the Red Oak Place apartments wondered, was going on in the unit where 27-year-old Timothy Wayne Shepherd lived? What was he burning at all hours, for days at a time? The answer turned their stomachs.
According to law enforcement officials, Shepherd dismembered, and then burned the body of his former girlfriend, Tynesha Stewart, a 19-year-old Texas A&M University student. Nothing remains of Stewart's body, Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas said at a press conference Saturday.
READ MORE--->
Things I Don't Remember - Ugly Cassanova
Ugly Cassanova is the side project of Modest Mouse lead singer Isaac Brock. His album "Sharpen Your Teeth" was released on Sub Pop in 2002 to much critical acclaim, but no one seemed to notice. Hopefully you will enjoy this truly amazing video that he had made for the song "Things I Don't Remember."
Barton vs. Winona St.
Barton comes back to win the national championship, down 7 with 45 seconds to play. The win ended Winona State's 50+ game win streak, dating back to the '05-'06 season.
28 Weeks Later Trailer
The trailer of the much anticipated sequel of 28 Days Later. Plot: Britain has been emptied. There’s nobody there. It’s completely dead. And six months later the Americans arrive to reboot it back up again. But, of course, something goes wrong.
Beauty & Brains: Celebrity Babes with High IQs
Last week I ran across an article about a gorgeous cheerleader for the Houston Texans who also happens to be an aerospace engineer for NASA (click for full story).
Of course the story got me wondering about other, more famous women with interesting academic pedigree or intellectual pursuits; because, as we all know, there really is nothing sexier than a beautiful woman with some serious smarts. I knew that if I could figure out who those women were, I might just be able to come up with a list of ladies more impressive than the annual popularity polls published by magazines like People and Maxim.
READ THE LIST--->
Of course the story got me wondering about other, more famous women with interesting academic pedigree or intellectual pursuits; because, as we all know, there really is nothing sexier than a beautiful woman with some serious smarts. I knew that if I could figure out who those women were, I might just be able to come up with a list of ladies more impressive than the annual popularity polls published by magazines like People and Maxim.
READ THE LIST--->
Monday, March 26, 2007
One Thousand Posts
Here we are already at 1000 posts in a little under 5 months. I hope everyone has enjoyed so far. I look forward to posting another thousand videos and links.
I wanna take this opportunity to thank everyone that contributed to the website: Jonny, Toner, Dave, Sheldon, Tomson and everyone else that has supported the website.
Here's a couple of my favorites so far to celebrate:
MAN BOOBS!
Stupid Criminal
Girls Costume Warehouse
Shakira - Hips Don't Lie
Non-Newtonian Fluid or "The Custard Walk"
Extra Special YMCA
Sealab - Moby Dick (Whale Cancer)
Bender as a Human
Bender is my hero.
YoutTVLinks.com
And as an added bonus, the NEW SOUTH PARK
Friday, March 23, 2007
Dump in Winnipeg Square
Homeless man caught on camera taking a dump in a flower pot in the middle of Winnipeg Square.
Charlie Sheen and Rosie O'Donnell
Believe the 9/11 Theories
Celebrities are so stupid. "Loose Change" has been debunked many times by scientists and engineers.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Big Train Clips
British sketch comedy along the lines of Monty Python.
Murder at the Dinner Table
To Scale
Hitchcock's Working Class
Murder at the Dinner Table
To Scale
Hitchcock's Working Class
UK Undercover: Islam
TV 4 in the UK aired a special report where an undercover reporter went inside mosques and infiltrated islamic extremist groups in the UK, recording the meetings.
Barry Bible
Highlights of the fifth episode of "Live Hot Puppet Chat". The episode responsible for getting SRTV (a college TV station) shut down in Fall 2005.
Fireworks, Comet and Lightning
Sometimes the sky itself is the best show in town. On January 26, people from Perth, Australia gathered on a local beach to watch a sky light up with delights near and far. Nearby, fireworks exploded as part of Australia Day celebrations. On the far right, lightning from a thunderstorm flashed in the distance. Near the image center, though, seen through clouds, was the most unusual sight of all: Comet McNaught. The photogenic comet was so bright that it even remained visible though the din of Earthly flashes. Comet McNaught continues to move out from the Sun and dim, but should remain visible in southern skies with binoculars through the end of this month. The above image is actually a three photograph panorama digitally processed to reduce red reflections from the exploding firework.
Monty Python's Dead Parrot Sketch
acted out by scammers
This is a video created by a Nigerian email scammer who thinks he is producing a video for a scholarship payment from a victim he tried to scam. Unfortunately for this particular scammer, the "victim" fought back and created a fake video production company with promises of cash.
Charlie Brookers ScreenWipe - Computer Games
Charlie Brooker Reports On The History Of Computer Gaming.
Daewon Song and Chris Haslam
This is a clip from Almost - Cheese and Crackers. The video is 20 minutes of Daewon Song and Chris Haslam in a mini ramp. It starts off near the end at which point they've exhausted the entire library of known tricks and begin inventing new ones. The combination of their creativity and skill makes for tricks like vertical kickflip nose grinds and half cab blunt big spin 540 shove-its.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Sealab 2021 - Pipe Talk
This one is for Jonny. I'm betting he's crying right now watching it. "Where'd you get those KICK ASS PIPES!"
A Love Ballad
More music and lyrics by Bo Burnham. He's got a bunch of good ones on hiw youtube page.
The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing
The is a documentary about the unappreciated art of film editing. It shows how film editing came about, and explains all the groundbreaking ... all » ways it has changed the film watching experience. There are a bunch of interviews from big names in the film industry including Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, Jodie Foster, and many more
Floating Magnetic Top
The Gyroscopic force of the spinning top keeps the magnetic system stable until it stops spinning. It floats in a magnetic well where magnets in the base repulse magnets in spinning top.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Reporter Mauled by Cute Kitty
Funny clip with pretty Cleveland reporter attacked by a cat. Her reaction is priceless.
Fox Attacks: Black America
Fox has an awful record of airing bigoted views and highly problematic framing around race issues.
Norman Baker - Certified Tough Guy
Baker doing shots of vodka, snorting gatorade powder and squeezing lemons in his eyes.
GOOD Magazine: Nuclear Weapons Transparency
Short documentary explaining how many nuclear weapons are held by each country.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Texas Republican Party Platform 2006
My favorite is: "Dispel the myth of seperation of state and religion."
HipHop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes
Riveting documentary that examines representations of gender roles in hip-hop and rap music through the lens of filmmaker Byron Hurt, a former college quarterback turned activist. Conceived as a “loving critique” from a self-proclaimed “hip-hop head,” Hurt examines issues of masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in today’s hip-hop culture.
Real Men Love Robocop
Whether you know it or not, one of the greatest tragedies of the 21st century has been the lack of any sort of Robocop revival. It seems that every action franchise of the 80’s and 90’s has experienced some sort of comeback: GI Joe and the Transformers are getting their own movies, Rocky got its final chapter, and Rambo’s is on the way. But Robocop remains in a sort of nostalgia limbo: it’s too old to be relevant, and it’s not old enough to be nostalgic. It is with great affection, then, that we look back on the original Robocop (not the crap sequels), and all the things that made it so great.
Read the rest of this article on why real men like robocop.
Spin
Using the 1992 presidential election as his springboard, documentary filmmaker Brian Springer captures the behind-the-scenes maneuverings of politicians and newscasters in the early 1990s. Pat Robertson banters about "homos," Al Gore learns how to avoid abortion questions, George Bush talks to Larry King about halcyon -- all presuming they're off camera. Composed of 100% unauthorized satellite footage, Spin is a surreal expose of media-constructed reality.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Fucks Per Minute
There's an amazing Wikipedia article that lists the films that most frequently use the word fuck by "total fuck counts" and "fucks per minute". The list is even represented in a charts with links to all the movies.
Link: List of films that most frequently use the word "fuck"
Link: List of films that most frequently use the word "fuck"
Top Model doesn't undetstand 'Anti-Fur'
If it's any consolation she got booted out at the end of this episode.
Vixy.net
Vixy.net is a website that allows you to download embedded videos and save them as .avi format. When you submit an url, it will download and convert to the video format automatically. Then you can download the converted file. No need to download and install any software, it does everything for you.
Lewis Black - Red, White & Screwed
Lewis Black is a Grammy Award-winning American stand-up comedian, author, playwright, and actor. He is known for his regular appearances on Comedy Central's The Daily Show delivering his “Back in Black” commentary segment, in which he ridicules recent trends and cultural phenomena.
Lewis Black’s style of comedy is that of a man who, in dealing with the absurdities of life and contemporary politics, is approaching his personal limits of sanity. Sarcasm, profanity, shouting, and trademark angry finger-shaking bring emphasis to his topics of discussion. He once described his humor as "being on the Titanic every single day and being the only person who knows what is going to happen."[WIKI]
On religion:
On hunting:
On Iraq and New Orleans:
Lewis Black’s style of comedy is that of a man who, in dealing with the absurdities of life and contemporary politics, is approaching his personal limits of sanity. Sarcasm, profanity, shouting, and trademark angry finger-shaking bring emphasis to his topics of discussion. He once described his humor as "being on the Titanic every single day and being the only person who knows what is going to happen."[WIKI]
On religion:
On hunting:
On Iraq and New Orleans:
Alexa.com - Website Traffic Ratings
Alexa is a website tracker that ranks websites by how much traffic theyre getting. You look at the top 500 lists sorting it by country or subject, or you can just enter website ur's and see how they rank worldwide. Me and Dave spent a half hour trying to see who could come up with the highest ranked websites while avoiding the obvious. Here's the top 20 in canada.
1. Google.ca
google.ca - Site Info
2. Microsoft Network (MSN)
Dialup access and content provider.
msn.com - Site Info
3. Yahoo!
Personalized content and search options. Chatrooms, free e-mail, clubs, and pager.
yahoo.com - Site Info
4. Google
Enables users to search the Web, Usenet, and images. Features include PageRank, caching and translation of results, and an option to find similar pages. The company's focus is developing search technology.
google.com - Site Info
5. Thefacebook
An online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges. FAQ, news coverage, schools covered, and terms of use.
facebook.com - Site Info
6. YouTube
YouTube is a way to get your videos to the people who matter to you. Upload, tag and share your videos worldwide!
youtube.com - Site Info
7. Windows Live
Search engine from Microsoft.
live.com - Site Info
8. Myspace
Social Networking Site.
myspace.com - Site Info
9. WikiPedia
An online collaborative encyclopedia.
wikipedia.org - Site Info
10. Msn.ca
msn.ca - Site Info
11. EBay
International person to person auction site, with products sorted into categories.
ebay.com - Site Info
12. EBay Canada
eBay's online auction site in Canada, featuring Canadian auctions and listings around the world.
ebay.ca - Site Info
13. Blogger.com
Free, automated weblog publishing tool that sends updates to a site via FTP.
blogger.com - Site Info
14. Government of Canada
Canada's official website. Access information on departments, services, and programs regarding the Government of Canada.
gc.ca - Site Info
15. Microsoft Corporation
Main site for product information, support, and news.
microsoft.com - Site Info
16. Craigslist.org
craigslist.org - Site Info
17. The Internet Movie Database
Features plot summaries, reviews, cast lists, and theatre schedules.
imdb.com - Site Info
18. Passport.net
passport.net - Site Info
19. Megaupload
Megaupload is a "leading website of the world" for transferring files easily, with complete security and free of charge.
megaupload.com - Site Info
20. CNN - Cable News Network
Includes US and international stories and analysis, weather, video clips, and program schedule.
cnn.com - Site Info
Peace and love in the NHL
Opposing players standing arm in arm as they watch teamates beat each other up.
Mechanic: I have sex with cars
(The SUN) Mechanic Chris Donald loves his work — he has sex with CARS.
And he admitted last night: “Some men like boobs and bums, but I much prefer curvy bodywork.”
Chris, 38, has a recognised psychological condition that makes him physically attracted to motors.
He has had sex with more than 30 different models in 20 years — plus two motorboats and a pal’s JETSKI.
Chris, who DOES have a girlfriend, confessed: “A nice car for me is a feast for the senses. It’s about smells, feelings and tastes. If I see a gorgeous Mercedes I know I’d love to jump into bed with it.”
His weird obsession mirrors that of electrician Karl Watkins, who The Sun revealed was jailed for having sex with pavements in Redditch, Worcs, in 1993.
Chris has his own website devoted to his bizarre fetish — and claims there are 500 other cranks like him, including women.
But unlike doggers who have sex with strangers in chilly car parks, the motor engineer uses a heated and carpeted double garage at his home for the strange liaisons.
He has met more than 20 people online who have driven their cars over for a service.
Most like to video Chris exhausting himself — while they are pleasuring THEMSELVES.
<---READ MORE
And he admitted last night: “Some men like boobs and bums, but I much prefer curvy bodywork.”
Chris, 38, has a recognised psychological condition that makes him physically attracted to motors.
He has had sex with more than 30 different models in 20 years — plus two motorboats and a pal’s JETSKI.
Chris, who DOES have a girlfriend, confessed: “A nice car for me is a feast for the senses. It’s about smells, feelings and tastes. If I see a gorgeous Mercedes I know I’d love to jump into bed with it.”
His weird obsession mirrors that of electrician Karl Watkins, who The Sun revealed was jailed for having sex with pavements in Redditch, Worcs, in 1993.
Chris has his own website devoted to his bizarre fetish — and claims there are 500 other cranks like him, including women.
But unlike doggers who have sex with strangers in chilly car parks, the motor engineer uses a heated and carpeted double garage at his home for the strange liaisons.
He has met more than 20 people online who have driven their cars over for a service.
Most like to video Chris exhausting himself — while they are pleasuring THEMSELVES.
<---READ MORE
Pseudomamma on the foot
"An unusual presentation of supernumerary breast tissue on the foot." Basically this chick has a nipple on the bottom of her foot.
If you're skeptical like I was you can read the full medical article: Pseudomamma on the foot.
If you're skeptical like I was you can read the full medical article: Pseudomamma on the foot.
Giant Walking Robot Dinosaurs
The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan has created some incredible new animatronic dinosaurs that can actually walk around and growl.
Subaru Impreza Wire Frame Sculpture
Computer-generated outline? Nope. It’s real. Dubbed “Modern Japanese Classic,” this 1:1 Subaru Impreza wire frame sculpture is the work of British artist Benedict Radcliffe.
30 Strangest Deaths in History
Some fo these are really funny like Death by Overcoat Parachute Failure, Death by Garbage, Death by Bottle Cap and my personal favorite Death by Poison, 4 Gunshot Wounds, Beating by Clubs, and Drowning all in one.
Here's another example:
Read them all: 30 Strangest Deaths in History
Here's another example:
Death by Re-creation
In 1991, a 57-year-old Thai woman Yooket Paen was walking in her farm when she accidentally slipped on a cow dung, grabbed a naked live wire and got electrocuted to death.
Soon after Paen’s funeral, her 52-year-old-sister Yooket Pan was showing her neighbors how the accident happened when she herself slipped, grabbed the same live wire and also got electrocuted to death.
Read them all: 30 Strangest Deaths in History
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Family Guy - Elmer Finally Catches Bugs
This is one of my all-time favorite Family Guy clips. There's something strangely satisfying about finaly seeing him catch that "wascally wabbit".
Does Snuff Exist?
Channel 4 Documentary investigates the truth behind snuff movies. Extremely interesting.
Ski-Gliding The Eiger
François Bon and Antoine Montant did the world first speedflying descent of the mount Eiger in Swiss. See more here: http://www.acro-base.com
Step-mother of sport killing teen speaks out
You might have seen this story on CNN about the teens that murdered a homeless guy and then equated it to the sort of thrill one might get from a “violent video game”. What you are about to read is an email sent to Penny Arcade by a reader who also happens to be the step-mother of one of the teens. It’s an extremely personal email sent by a very brave woman and I’m honored to share it with you.
Gabe,
Your news post about the kids and the homeless man yesterday made me sick to my stomach, before I even read the CNN article. I knew what it was going to be about before even reading the article. It was not the article itself, or even your post that made me sick, it was the fact that I know this boy. Or, rather that I could be considered one of the “parents” of this boy.
The boy’s father and I have been together for almost seven years, and I had what I guess could be called a “stepmother” relationship with the kid. To say that living with this kid was hell would be a complete understatement.
I don’t think I have ever actively hated anyone in my entire life, but this kid just makes my blood boil.
As I write this, my teeth are clenched, my hands are shaking, and my whole body is seething with the hatred I feel for this kid and what he has done. Seeing the article brings back all the horrible memories from when he lived with us.
He was constantly in trouble in school, with the cops, with us, with his mother, and with anyone else who was an authority figure. Not a week went by that the school or the cops wouldn’t call us for something. His attitude was basically “fuck you, I don’t have to listen to you” said with a shrug.
We tried absolutely everything we could think of to get him to behave like a normal human being… we tried groundings, negative reinforcement / punishment, positive reinforcement, counseling, and anything and everything the counselors suggested. We tried to get him interested and involved in extracurricular activities, like hockey, drama, music, art, anything, but he got himself kicked out of every group he was in with his “make me” attitude. When we would ground him, we took away everything. No TV, no computer, no phone, no leaving the house, no snacks or junk food…. Everything. When he was grounded, he was only allowed to sit in his room and read or draw. He was actually a pretty good artist, and we tried to encourage him to spend his time working with his talent. He would just sit there and take it… the groundings had absolutely no affect on him at all. Most of the time, he didn’t even remember why he was being grounded. At the end of it, we would ask him if it was worth it to have everything taken away in exchange for what he did… he usually just shrugged. He could be grounded for weeks, or a month at a time, and then the very next day would do something to get back in trouble again. Most kids get grounded or punished a couple of times, and then they want to avoid having to go through it again… not this kid, nothing seemed to phase him.
And we’re not talking the usual teenager stuff, like coming home late, or refusing to do the dishes. We’re talking stealing cars, setting fires, drinking, getting picked up for drugs, beating up handicapped kids at school (yes, really) stealing things out of our house… all with this “I’ll do whatever the fuck I want” attitude.
We had absolutely no idea what else we could do. We already had him in counseling, and we did everything the counselors suggested. We tried rewarding his good behavior (what little there was) to try to get him to see that when he behaves like a normal human being, things are good and people enjoy being around him. Nothing phased him at all.
Then, things took an even worse turn when he decided that whenever he didn’t get his way, or we did something he didn’t like, he told his counselors and teachers that we were abusing him. (Never happened.) And for some inexplicable reason, everybody believed him. I understand that child abuse is a very serious situation, and that they have to take every possible case seriously, but this was clearly a case of him manipulating people to get what he wanted. We had people from the school, cops, and social services over at our house or calling us on a weekly basis stating some new abuse that he had made up. At 14, the boy was already 6’3” and over 200 pounds. Of course, there was never a mark on him, because no such abuse ever took place.
One particular night (cops involved, as always) he decided that he didn’t have to listen to anything we said, and that he wasn’t coming home. He went to live with his mother, where things got worse by the day. He stole everything out of her home and sold it. He invited gang-bangers and drug dealers to her home, and she feared for her safety constantly. She called the cops numerous times because she feared for her safety, but again, the boy said that she abused him, and the cops always took his side. (For reference, the mother is about 5’3” and barely clocks in at 115.) He planted a loaded gun in her room, called the cops and told them that it belonged to the mother’s boyfriend. The boyfriend actually ended up serving time because of this fucking bastard kid. She had two other young children in the house, and the gun and the abuse charges were an intentional plot to get the other two kids taken away from her. She tried restraining orders against the kid, but since he was a minor, they wouldn’t allow it. Every time he got picked up, she pleaded with the cops to take him to jail, maybe that would finally get though to him, but they just kept bringing him home to her. I don’t understand why everyone who was involved with this kid just blindly took this juvenile delinquent’s word over all else!
The night that he and his friends murdered that poor homeless man, the mother said that he was acting particularly cocky. Then he threatened to kill her. We had absolutely no idea of what he had done until they found the man’s body. He was immediately waived into adult court (at 15) and sentenced to 15 years. We were all absolutely sick with grief for this man.
We were also sick with guilt… “What could we have done differently?” was a constant question in all of our heads. After the kid was sentenced, all the cops, counselors, social workers, and people at the school that had been dealing with him contacted us and his mother and apologized for not taking us seriously. They are all trained to take all accusations of child abuse seriously, and as a part of that they blindly took the kid’s side for everything, and dismissed us as “the lying abusers”. Many of them told us that they wished they would have taken our pleas for help seriously. Everyone thought we were exaggerating about how fucked up this kid was.
I completely agree with your statement of “These kids were twelve kinds of nuts and that’s a fact.” But the reason I am writing this to you is that, after reading your news post yesterday, I felt that I needed to defend the boy’s parents. His mother and father and I did absolutely everything we could think of to try to keep this kid in line. Even the kinds of things that normal teenagers get in trouble for would have been a blessing compared to what we’ve been through with him.
What I gave you today is a very small sampling of the kinds of things we were dealing with every single fucking day with this kid. When people hear about what he’s done, I can always sense the “I’m sure there was something you could have done” comment coming up. What would you have done? How do you deal with a kid like this? Like I said, we did everything the counselors suggested, and nothing seemed to matter.
If you want to add another element to the “nature vs. nurture” idea, this boy has a brother. Both boys were raised in the same house, with the same values. The brother has developed into a kind, considerate, responsible, and independent young man. He is currently working his butt off right now to save up money to go to school for architecture. The only thing I regret is that we spent so much time and energy dealing with the bad kid that this boy missed out on having a normal family life with a normal sibling relationship.
I am sorry this got so long. I have been reading PA since the very beginning, and I feel that both of you are very much like me. I think we are the same age (29) and I have been a lifelong gamer like the two of you. I can’t stand hearing about the so-called correlation between games and real-life violence. Video games DID NOT make this kid who he was, and it’s unfortunate that the correlation is there.
The thing that really gets me with this whole thing is that the kid knows full well that by equating what he’s done to a video game, that he will generate controversy and media coverage. It makes me sick that the media is jumping all over this, because that is exactly the result that he wants.
The only good thing (if there is such a thing) that has come out of this whole ordeal is that the kid is behind bars. That is exactly where he needs to be.
Again, I’m sorry about the length of this. Thanks for allowing me to “tell my side” of the story.
So there you go. There’s the other side of the story. He’s decided to use videogames as a scapegoat because as crazy as he is, he’s not stupid. He knows exactly what he’s doing. The sad thing is that it will probably work.
Taken from Penny-Arcade.com - Wed, February 21 2007
Gabe,
Your news post about the kids and the homeless man yesterday made me sick to my stomach, before I even read the CNN article. I knew what it was going to be about before even reading the article. It was not the article itself, or even your post that made me sick, it was the fact that I know this boy. Or, rather that I could be considered one of the “parents” of this boy.
The boy’s father and I have been together for almost seven years, and I had what I guess could be called a “stepmother” relationship with the kid. To say that living with this kid was hell would be a complete understatement.
I don’t think I have ever actively hated anyone in my entire life, but this kid just makes my blood boil.
As I write this, my teeth are clenched, my hands are shaking, and my whole body is seething with the hatred I feel for this kid and what he has done. Seeing the article brings back all the horrible memories from when he lived with us.
He was constantly in trouble in school, with the cops, with us, with his mother, and with anyone else who was an authority figure. Not a week went by that the school or the cops wouldn’t call us for something. His attitude was basically “fuck you, I don’t have to listen to you” said with a shrug.
We tried absolutely everything we could think of to get him to behave like a normal human being… we tried groundings, negative reinforcement / punishment, positive reinforcement, counseling, and anything and everything the counselors suggested. We tried to get him interested and involved in extracurricular activities, like hockey, drama, music, art, anything, but he got himself kicked out of every group he was in with his “make me” attitude. When we would ground him, we took away everything. No TV, no computer, no phone, no leaving the house, no snacks or junk food…. Everything. When he was grounded, he was only allowed to sit in his room and read or draw. He was actually a pretty good artist, and we tried to encourage him to spend his time working with his talent. He would just sit there and take it… the groundings had absolutely no affect on him at all. Most of the time, he didn’t even remember why he was being grounded. At the end of it, we would ask him if it was worth it to have everything taken away in exchange for what he did… he usually just shrugged. He could be grounded for weeks, or a month at a time, and then the very next day would do something to get back in trouble again. Most kids get grounded or punished a couple of times, and then they want to avoid having to go through it again… not this kid, nothing seemed to phase him.
And we’re not talking the usual teenager stuff, like coming home late, or refusing to do the dishes. We’re talking stealing cars, setting fires, drinking, getting picked up for drugs, beating up handicapped kids at school (yes, really) stealing things out of our house… all with this “I’ll do whatever the fuck I want” attitude.
We had absolutely no idea what else we could do. We already had him in counseling, and we did everything the counselors suggested. We tried rewarding his good behavior (what little there was) to try to get him to see that when he behaves like a normal human being, things are good and people enjoy being around him. Nothing phased him at all.
Then, things took an even worse turn when he decided that whenever he didn’t get his way, or we did something he didn’t like, he told his counselors and teachers that we were abusing him. (Never happened.) And for some inexplicable reason, everybody believed him. I understand that child abuse is a very serious situation, and that they have to take every possible case seriously, but this was clearly a case of him manipulating people to get what he wanted. We had people from the school, cops, and social services over at our house or calling us on a weekly basis stating some new abuse that he had made up. At 14, the boy was already 6’3” and over 200 pounds. Of course, there was never a mark on him, because no such abuse ever took place.
One particular night (cops involved, as always) he decided that he didn’t have to listen to anything we said, and that he wasn’t coming home. He went to live with his mother, where things got worse by the day. He stole everything out of her home and sold it. He invited gang-bangers and drug dealers to her home, and she feared for her safety constantly. She called the cops numerous times because she feared for her safety, but again, the boy said that she abused him, and the cops always took his side. (For reference, the mother is about 5’3” and barely clocks in at 115.) He planted a loaded gun in her room, called the cops and told them that it belonged to the mother’s boyfriend. The boyfriend actually ended up serving time because of this fucking bastard kid. She had two other young children in the house, and the gun and the abuse charges were an intentional plot to get the other two kids taken away from her. She tried restraining orders against the kid, but since he was a minor, they wouldn’t allow it. Every time he got picked up, she pleaded with the cops to take him to jail, maybe that would finally get though to him, but they just kept bringing him home to her. I don’t understand why everyone who was involved with this kid just blindly took this juvenile delinquent’s word over all else!
The night that he and his friends murdered that poor homeless man, the mother said that he was acting particularly cocky. Then he threatened to kill her. We had absolutely no idea of what he had done until they found the man’s body. He was immediately waived into adult court (at 15) and sentenced to 15 years. We were all absolutely sick with grief for this man.
We were also sick with guilt… “What could we have done differently?” was a constant question in all of our heads. After the kid was sentenced, all the cops, counselors, social workers, and people at the school that had been dealing with him contacted us and his mother and apologized for not taking us seriously. They are all trained to take all accusations of child abuse seriously, and as a part of that they blindly took the kid’s side for everything, and dismissed us as “the lying abusers”. Many of them told us that they wished they would have taken our pleas for help seriously. Everyone thought we were exaggerating about how fucked up this kid was.
I completely agree with your statement of “These kids were twelve kinds of nuts and that’s a fact.” But the reason I am writing this to you is that, after reading your news post yesterday, I felt that I needed to defend the boy’s parents. His mother and father and I did absolutely everything we could think of to try to keep this kid in line. Even the kinds of things that normal teenagers get in trouble for would have been a blessing compared to what we’ve been through with him.
What I gave you today is a very small sampling of the kinds of things we were dealing with every single fucking day with this kid. When people hear about what he’s done, I can always sense the “I’m sure there was something you could have done” comment coming up. What would you have done? How do you deal with a kid like this? Like I said, we did everything the counselors suggested, and nothing seemed to matter.
If you want to add another element to the “nature vs. nurture” idea, this boy has a brother. Both boys were raised in the same house, with the same values. The brother has developed into a kind, considerate, responsible, and independent young man. He is currently working his butt off right now to save up money to go to school for architecture. The only thing I regret is that we spent so much time and energy dealing with the bad kid that this boy missed out on having a normal family life with a normal sibling relationship.
I am sorry this got so long. I have been reading PA since the very beginning, and I feel that both of you are very much like me. I think we are the same age (29) and I have been a lifelong gamer like the two of you. I can’t stand hearing about the so-called correlation between games and real-life violence. Video games DID NOT make this kid who he was, and it’s unfortunate that the correlation is there.
The thing that really gets me with this whole thing is that the kid knows full well that by equating what he’s done to a video game, that he will generate controversy and media coverage. It makes me sick that the media is jumping all over this, because that is exactly the result that he wants.
The only good thing (if there is such a thing) that has come out of this whole ordeal is that the kid is behind bars. That is exactly where he needs to be.
Again, I’m sorry about the length of this. Thanks for allowing me to “tell my side” of the story.
So there you go. There’s the other side of the story. He’s decided to use videogames as a scapegoat because as crazy as he is, he’s not stupid. He knows exactly what he’s doing. The sad thing is that it will probably work.
Taken from Penny-Arcade.com - Wed, February 21 2007