Pooh's Sequel 80 Years Later

In USA Today section D on Thursday's Sept. 24, I found an article "Author strives to echo Milne's voice" that announces a new sequel to the classic tale of Pooh and his friends.

It's been 80 years since the last book of Winnie-the-Pooh was published. There are oringinally two books the first one "Winnie-the-Pooh" was published in 1926 and it's sequel "The House at Pooh Corner" was published in 1928.

The author, A.A. Milne (died in 1956) wrote the two books inspired by his son Christopher Robin (died in 1996) and his favorite teddy bear: Winnie-the-Pooh.

Now, British novelist David Bendictus with the premission of the Trustees of the Pooh Properties has written the third sequel "Return to the Hundred Acre Wood" which will go on sale October 5, 2009.

Bendictus became inspired when he was producing and writing a 1997 audio adaptaion of Pooh with Judi Dench and Stephen Fry. "All of Milnes's rhythms kept buzzing around. The actors' voices were still inmy head," said Bendictus.

Bendictus wasn't the only author attemping to compare to the original work of Milne. In the end, he was proven to have the proper writing styling and thought that matches close to what the original author had in mind.

This is like what happened with the book "Gone With the Wind", it was the only book the original author ever wrote and she died before she could write a sequel not that she was planning to write one even though fans really wanted one.

Many years later, someone did write a sequl called "Scarlett" based off the first. Of course, like with the Pooh books, special premission had to be given and to be sure that the author to do the job would write as close to the original as possible.

Since Gone with the Wind was/is famous, can you imagine the pressure to not mess up it's sequel? I can only imagine the same idea goes to Bendictus though since he's writing for children he may have an easier time.

But as Benditus also said that even though he may not know anything about donkeys he can only guess. "But guessing can be fun, too."

I've never read the original stories for Pooh, but I've always wanted to take a look and see what they are like. I consider myself a huge Pooh Bear fan so why not read where it all began?

Arrest Made Over Manga

A man was arrested after buying imported manga, a Japanese comic book that had child sex abuse and bestiality content. The man pleaded guilty and may face 15 years in prison. Manga fans are outraged that a man was jailed for "lines on paper" and that it does not protect against child abuse.

In 2003, the Protect Act was issued that outlaws cartoons, drawings, paintings and such that show children in sexual acts. I understand and agree with this law, but in the world of manga there are no rules.

In Japan, their ideas and culture involving comics are different from the US. I'm a huge fan of manga and Japanese cartoons (anime), but some of their content I question and stay far away from like the "shota" and "yaoi" genre! "Shota" is an attraction for young boys or just male characters seen in a suggestive or erotic act/pose. "Yaoi" is homosexual (not the literal Japanese translation).

According to the article, the man in question is a manga/comic collector in general and would like to get his hands on any comic of any kind just to add it to his collection. This does not make him a pervert and he has no photos of child pornography, but still there is concern about this type of art. It's illegal to have such art in America for obvious reasons, but this may also mean that some great manga from Japan may be at risk of never being translated into english even manga that does not hold such art within it's pages.

I've been a fan of anime and manga for 11 to 12 years and I would be dishearten if it is discontinued for any reason. Regarding the whole subject of this legal case, I have mixed feelings. As much as I love anime and manga, I've always had to be somewhat careful whenever I was in the market for something new just to make sure it didn't turn out to be a "yaoi" or mainly a "shota" since that can invovle kids.

There are some animes and manga that I just wonder, WHY??? Regarding children, why would you write about something like that? I don't want those types of manga/anime to be brought over to America, but I also don't want the whole manga/anime industry to be viewed badly just because of certain types of genres.

The Amish Romance

There's drama, there's romance and then there's...bonnet? A new sub genre of romance gains popularity with women! Bonnet novels are Amish romances that are generally about girls who fall in love with an outsider. They are G-rated with pastoral setting and the genre has recently expanded to thrillers and murder mysteries. Both Amish and non-Amish women alike are drawn to these tales of forbidden love, the fantasy sweeping them away!

In my eyes, this medium has brought two different cultures together in their equal enjoyment of the books and passion for reading. Yet there are also conflicting views that. Although, the books are fiction some Amish see them as incorrect or useless even. One Amish woman in the article stated that she lives the Amish life and doesn't need to read about it. Part of the Amish's religious tradition, fiction writing is viewed as a distraction while others dislike how the books portray the Amish community. Even so, there are still many loyal Amish readers with a the fan base growing strong.

I'm not fimiliar with the Amish and have always felt that we lived worlds apart because of our huge lifestyle difference. Yet books are a great source of bringing people together and I think this is a way for us to understand each other more through the very first form of communicating to the masses; books!

Link Between Online & Real Life Relationships

When I first discovered the world of Internet I felt the power flow through my fingers! E-mail and instant messaging there's no way it could get better; that's technology for you. Now we have sites like facebook where we can upload our photos and write everything and anything about ourselves to share with everyone including their mother. However, all this online 'bonding' with friends and family can turn hurtful just like what's stated in this Wallstreet Journal artical regarding Facebook.

In truth, I like logging on to Facebook taking random quizes, uploading what few pictures that I have of myself and using instant messaging to chat. The problem with this is that people can start to rely on these factors to communicate regularly with loved ones instead of taking time out of their hecktic schedule to simplely call that special someone. Then there's the boring factor, an example would be posting what you're doing at that very moment like 'Taking a nap', 'Watching Price is Right' or 'Zzzzz...'. What cares???

Also, jealousy and envy may rise because you're visiting someone else's profile more or you're no longer in the top five; something really pointless and probably avoidable. I've never felt any of this fatigue since I've a 'don't care' attitude when it comes to online interactions involving things like that of the sort. However, I've a friend who has expierenced an episode with myspace over an issue about no longering being one of the top, if not, the very FIRST member of the top five friends list among other conflicts that were rising from the depths of cyberspace. The whole thing would've been solved earlier if everyone stopped trying to fix the problem through the internet when everyone has a phone and attends the same college and just communicate the problems face to face. The way things should be...

So, next time you find yourself on Facebook or any site that allows you to express yourself just becareful and don't let it carry you away.

Radio Canada!

Just discovered a new health news blog! Click it, read it, learn it!

Hello World!

Known by many names, but here it'll be just Kat! <=^-^=>