Now, it seems the federal court and the FCC are scrambling a bit to keep up with the ever evolving landscape of curse words. One of the arguments is that the word “fuck” is used more to express frustration than sexual obscenity these days. But the real challenge for the FCC is the examples for this argument.

At this point, even our president and vice president will use it casually in its nonsexual sense. In March 2002, Bush interrupted a meeting Condoleezza Rice was holding and yelled, “Fuck Saddam. We’re taking him out!” And Dick Cheney famously said “Go fuck yourself” to Patrick Leahy on the floor of the Senate.” ~ “How Does a Dirty Word Get That Way?”

It brings a new meaning to presidential address. Now don’t get me wrong, regardless of your opinion of the people in question and the office they are holding - if I was president or vice-president, I would be cussing up a storm, too, 24/7/360. As a parent what am I supposed to do now when I catch one of my kids swearing, “Now Junior, I don’t want you going around swearing like a President.” Here is some interesting historical information on the f-word;

The obscenity fuck is a very old word and has been considered shocking from the first, though it is seen in print much more often now than in the past. Its first known occurrence, in code because of its unacceptability, is in a poem composed in a mixture of Latin and English sometime before 1500. The poem, which satirizes the Carmelite friars of Cambridge, England, takes its title, “Flen flyys,” from the first words of its opening line, “Flen, flyys, and freris,” that is, “fleas, flies, and friars.” The line that contains fuck reads “Non sunt in coeli, quia gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk.” The Latin words “Non sunt in coeli, quia,” mean “they [the friars] are not in heaven, since.” The code “gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk” is easily broken by simply substituting the preceding letter in the alphabet, keeping in mind differences in the alphabet and in spelling between then and now: i was then used for both i and j; v was used for both u and v; and vv was used for w. This yields “fvccant [a fake Latin form] vvivys of heli.” The whole thus reads in translation: “They are not in heaven because they fuck wives of Ely [a town near Cambridge].” ~ Dictionary.Com

Now that’s one nasty poem, even by today’s standards.

This is an interesting subject to stew on as a dad. As a boy growing up, swearing is a rite of passage. The swearing I did as a youngster was steeped in “vulgarity” rather than being “offensive.” Shit being a classic example; it is not really offensive but is definitely vulgar. My friends and I took a reductionist approach to swearing, meaning, my friends and I could say pretty much anything we needed to say using entirely curse words. Case-in-point; “Dude, my bike is broken,” becomes, “Fuck, the fuckin’ fucker’s fucked.” Poetry, pure poetry, my friend. Actually, it sounds more like dialog pulled straight from HBO’s, “Deadwood.” Though this is nothing new; I will venture to say that kids across the world do this; so do grown-ups. The proof is in the dictionary. There are a dozen and a half definitions for the word shit - the word is a veritable swiss army knife, for shit’s sake.

I think the underlying point is that we canonize a curse-word by forbidding it or shaming it. It is clear to me that the general etymology of curse-words are rooted in blasphemy based on the day’s current moral thermometer. We know this because the curse-words of yesterday aren’t necessarily the curse-words of today.

Back in Shakespeare’s day, when one’s lineage mattered a lot more, the word bastard was so offensive it was often written “b-d.” Contemporary readers might not recognize the power of a line like this one, spoken by Capt. MacMorris in Act III of Henry V: “What about my nation? Is my nation a villain, and a bastard, and a knave, and a rascal?” ~ “How Does a Dirty Word Get That Way?

At what point has a curse-word lost its venom? If the FCC changes its stance on certain curse-words are we going to hear a lot less *beeps* and a lot more shit? And more importantly, do you the parent really give a shit, anyway?

Related Links;
Slate | How Does a Dirty Word Get That Way?
Slate | When Do Papers Print the F-word
Washington Post | Cheney Dismisses Critic With Obscenity
New York Times | Court Rebuffs F.C.C. on Fines for Indecency

   

Gil has also designed successful furniture ranges for Offi, Simplicity, Alex Toys, Ameriwood, Crate and Barrel, and Williams-Sonoma. Gil’s influences include Gerit Rietveld, Jean Prouve, Donald Judd, and a delight in everyday objects he learned from his cartoonist father.

(Via CASAkids.Com)

   

It’s angled walls, twisted roof, and endless possibilities, create a world of imagination that every child enjoys! The Kid’s Crooked House is a safe, fanciful place where a kid’s dreams come to life.

(Via KidsCrookedHouse.Com)

   

(GrowBots Via Etsy)

   

I recently stumbled upon this site and find myself intrigued with these photographs and the stories they tell. They seem to have been printed from lost and forgotten rolls of film found in antique cameras purchased at flea markets and yard sales over the years.

Of course, most of these photos document anonymous family outings, countless vacations and such — but what captivates this new Dad is the timelessness of the parent’s disposition as seen in the eyes of each Mom and Dad in these photos. You see all of their concern, hope, pride, happiness and even sorrow through the austere eye of these great old cameras.

“Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.” ~Henri Cartier Bresson

What I absolutely adore about these images is these photos represent the history of the Ordinary Moments as opposed to the “Big” History you read in the school books. This is the stuff that happens before and after the World Wars when the soldiers go home and sit in their backyard and have a quiet barbecue with their in-laws.

(Via LostFilm.Com)

   

It’s time to start thinking inside the box and that box is “green” and it has a little solar panel on top of it and an inverter and possibly a rechargeable battery mounted inside of it. Here is a wonderful low cost solution (under $150 U.S.D.) for creating your own d.i.y. solar energy source.

It’s a dark and stormy night—too dark. Your home has lost power. Fortunately, you’ve got a fully charged power plant, built from an inexpensive solar panel and a rechargeable battery. Eight hours of sun will produce enough juice to watch An Inconvenient Truth—twice—on a portable DVD player. You can even find inverters that will turn the station into an AC outlet. Add additional panels and batteries, and you could power the margarita machine and the flat-panel too.” ~ PopSci.Com

Related Links;
Popular Science | The DIY Solar Charger

   

FlipClips are individually crafted flipbooks, created using your own digital video. Start by uploading a video under 30 seconds in length. They accept most common digital video formats, including MOV/QT, AVI, DV, MPEG4, MPEG2, Motion JPEG, and 3GPP. This means you can upload stuff from a DVD (MPEG4) or your digital camera (DV, AVI, or Motion JPEG) to the site.

FlipClips are available in three styles, and are made using only the best materials around.

(Via FlipClips.Com)

   

1. What was the original name for Curious George? Curious George’s original name was Fifi. (Via KidReads.Com)
2. Where did author Ludwig Bemelmans write his first book and what was it? By the end of World War I, Bemelmans was a U.S. citizen. He returned to New York and continued to work in hotels and restaurants. Since his arrival in America, Bemelmans had been honing his artistic skills, taking art lessons when he could afford them… Bemelmans’ first children’s book, HANSI, was published by Viking in 1934 but we may recognize him as the quintessential author of the travels of a little French Orphan named Madeline. (Via KidsRead.Com)
3. Where did A.A. Milne purchase the stuffed Edward Bear that would soon after become his famous muse? Pooh was purchased at Harrod’s department store in London and given by A.A. Milne to his son Christopher Robin on his first birthday, August 21, 1921 and became the central character of the famed Winnie the Pooh stories. He was called Edward (proper form of Teddy) Bear at the time. (Via ClassicPooh.Com)

Related Links;
Pete’s Tavern | Grammercy Park, New York City
Harrod’s of London

   

I’m rooting for you. I want you to win this thing, really. No one was able to get last month’s giveaway questions, so we will continue in the category of Children’s Literature — but I am upping the ante. Whoever answers these three questions correctly will win two video game titles.

The Rules: Unfortunately, this give-away only works if you are in the United States - sorry Canada, sorry Mexico, sorry rest of the planet, nothing personal, I’m just not interested in paying too much for the postal. Let’s see how it goes. I am going to ask three questions and the first one to get them right wins the prize. I will post the winner when the contest is over.

The Prize: The Game Titles include: Ultimate Spiderman, Tony Hawk Underground 2, Wolfenstein, Doom III, Call of Duty. This is a friendly give-away and I will not field any questions about the prizes beyond this information. If you win but do not find a game that you like or can play, I will hang onto to it and offer it to the next contest. Just to be clear, the Winner will get to choose two video games and it will be sent it via U.S.P.S.

Best of luck.

The Questions:

1. What was the original name for Curious George?
2. Where did author Ludwig Bemelmans write his first book and what was it?
3. Where did A. A. Milne purchase the stuffed Edward Bear that would soon after become his famous muse?