Contemporary Community Standards

It is nice to know that nothing “obscene” is ever broadcast on television, not even on the subscription services according to the FCC. It also feels great to know that the FCC prohibits all “indecent” and “profane material between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.” because these are judged as “times of the day when there is a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience.” So, all of us parents, we have nothing to worry about. Open the bags of potato chips for our little couch potatoes and enjoy the evening programming – it is sure to be uplifting as there is nothing “indecent”, “profane”, or “obscene” showing. Just look past the immorality, scandalous clothing, sensual situations, violence, and “bad” language… wait! I suppose that I cannot call the language “bad” because it is not “obscene”, “profane”, or “indecent”. “Bad” is to philosophical a word that our enlightened society has outgrown, and after all, we all know it is relative to community standards. As the FCC says, these things are judged “applying contemporary community standards”. So all of the wonderful programming we watch meets our standards. But the FCC does not actually “monitor particular programs or particular performers, but rather enforces the prohibition on obscenity, indecency and profanity in response to complaints.”

Why are we not complaining? Because we have adopted Hollywood’s morality as our own. Everytime we watch “bad” programming and wince we compromise our personal morality until ultimately we feel comfortable with “contemporary [Hollywood] community standards”. Think about it.

Check out the rules for yourself on the FCC website:
http://www.fcc.gov/eb/oip/FAQ.html#TheLaw

Here are a few other links that will help to clarify some things:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patently_offensive
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_v._California
http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2004/FCC-04-43A1.html

Crazy hair catfish chinese man

Dad: [looking at Lisi's drawing] "Thats a cool crazy hair catfish chinese man."
Lisi: [making a slightly offended face] "Thats mommy!"

You are never quite sure what your 3 yr old is really drawing.

??

Evie: "Daddy, can I have an ice cream cone full of oatmeal?"

Smart

Our little girls are Harry Potter fans, and they know the spells.
Evie made an interesting observation the other day, "Stupefy has a little bit of stupid in it."

12 Days of Christmas

Date Night

So Jude and I went on our first date since before Sabrina was born. We grabbed a bite to eat at Steak n Shake, went to the mall to get some of my favorite treats-chocolate covered gummy bears-and headed over to The Flying Monkeys. I love celtic music and Irish dancing. They had a celtic band called Slip Jig playing AND they had Irish dancers. It was a ton of fun.

34,000 WORDS

I feel like I have so much to catch up on! Instead of writing about it I thought I'd post pictures instead. A picture IS worth a thousand words, right?

Halloween

Getting ready.

About to put pixie dust on (eye shadow).

Somebody did not like the way I did her hair. =) "This is not how Snow White does her hair, mom!"

Snow White and Star Fairy (yes, she may look like an angel, but Lisi wanted to be a fairy so we got a little creative)

Enjoyable

I love it when he hits the high notes.
It makes me smile; I hope that it does the same for you.
-Jude

Big Sisters

Lisi and Sabrina

Evie and Sabrina

Sabrina

Our little angel number 3.
Weight: 6.15.5 rounded to 7.0 lbs
Length: 19.5 inches
Time: 09:36 a.m.
Name: Sabrina

Interesting

My little mommy

Ashley and I sometimes believe that we run the castle but this is the face of the real boss. I feel completely confident that if Ashley were to die, Evie would keep me in line. She lets me know if I do not have a lunch when I am leaving for work, and that my feet smell like "avocado and cucumber". She is a bucket of sunshine in my life.

and a video....

My Little Skater-Girl

Lisi could spend all day on the pipe. She just lays down on the board and rides. She doesn't make a sound at all and is never ready to get off when you finally stop. The only thing you might here from her is "faster", if you you are going to slow. We bought her her own set of gear - she is adorable.


and another video...

Pink and Pretty Lisi

Lisi is my little attitude girl. She is as precious as they come though.
Here are some photos of her.


and a video of her dancing ballet...

Don't Snicker

Here are a couple of words defined on the inside of a snicker's wrapper. I found them entertaining.

Substantialiscious \sub-'stan(t)-shu-'li'shus\ (noun). The weight of something when you weight it with your tongue.

Peanutopolis \pE-nut-a-pu-lis\ (noun). A state of mind making you feel very strong and powerful, almost mayor-like.

Pipe Dream

Some of you may know that back in the day Jude skateboarded. It was something he enjoyed doing, but he never really got into it too much. However, he always dreamed of having a half-pipe. So, he got online and found some plans and started working on it a few weeks ago. He finished half of it this past weekend. When it is done it will be twice as wide. This has not stopped him and the girls from enjoying it anyways. Lisi was the first one to try it out.

Lisi skateboarding



Evie skateboarding




To come:

Jude throwing down massive tricks. Ummm...maybe not massive. And "thrown down" might more accurately describe the outcome. Love you babe.

Too Cute

A few weeks ago Evie started crossing her eyes. At first I thought she was just playing around. But after three weeks it just kept getting worse and worse, so I called the doctor and made an appointment. Evie actually did really well at her visit despite having to get her pupils dilated and people constantly shoving things in front of her eyes. (Thanks Meg for sending me a few e-mails to help me prep her for the visit!) The doctor said she was farsighted but that it should correct itself over time. Until then she would need to wear glasses. So, we went to Target's optical center and Evie picked out her "princess" glasses (I had to get her excited about it somehow). She has been wearing them now for over a week now and is doing so much better. She is really good about keeping them on. And of course we had to get Lisi a pair of "princess glasses," too!

You cannot have too much Lord of the Rings

This is pretty cool. An independent not-for-profit Lord of the Rings prequel was created by die hard fans. It comes out on Sunday (3 May 2009) free to download and enjoy at your own discretion. The quality of the video appears to be amazing.
Watch the trailer, my preciouses.

Trailer 2 - The Hunt For Gollum [2]
by HuntForGollum

IT'S A....

Well, for everyone who thought that I was having a boy.....including myself.....were wrong! Yep, I'm having a girl! I was very surprised when she told me. I really, truly thought I was having a boy. I even had a name picked out secretly. I haven't even thought of girl names. We are very excited however, and Evie gets another little sister (she did NOT like the possibility of having a baby brother). The most important thing is that she and I are both healthy. We look forward to August/September when she arrives!