Nudity is okay, if you're Steven Spielberg

This story is First Amendment case involving a rabid state prosecutor with a lot of time on his hands and a guy on public access who likes to show his dick. I hope that the Michigan Supreme Court dismisses the charges, it's pretty stupid. And the prosecutor needs to get a life, what a schmuck.

The guy is going to have to pay a fine and spend a day in jail.

From the Detroit Free Press:

LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the indecent exposure conviction of the producer and host of a comedy show on Grand Rapids' public access cable channel.

Timothy Huffman, 47, was convicted of misdemeanor indecent exposure in Kent County in January 2003. He was charged after a viewer complained about a sketch that aired April 7, 2000 on "Tim's Area of Control" on the GRTV channel.

The three-minute segment consisted of a full-screen close-up of a man's genitals displayed in front of a drape that covered the rest of his body. A face was drawn on the organ and a gruff voice told jokes as though it was speaking.

Huffman was sentenced to one day in jail and a year's probation, and was ordered to pay $1,035 in fines and court costs. The American Civil Liberties Union and two national television advocacy groups helped Huffman appeal his conviction, arguing it violated his free-speech rights.

But in an opinion released Wednesday, the appeals court said any "incidental restriction" on the First Amendment is "no greater than is essential to the furtherance of the governmental interest in promoting public morality by prohibiting public nudity."

Huffman, an unemployed musician-cook and father of five, said Wednesday that "a relentless prosecutor" had targeted him because he has a criminal record and lacked the resources to defend himself.

"We asked them in court, `Why don't you prosecute "Schindler's List?" It has nudity,'" Huffman told the Detroit Free Press for a story Thursday. "And they said to me - `You're no Steven Spielberg.'"

http://www.grtv.org/

Information from: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my father's Seventy-Eighth Birthday!

Happy Birthday Pop!

Last month Ma and pa celebrated their Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary.

New Pollock Paintings Found

This is kinda cool. I'm not a huge Pollock fan, but I like these early works. I think these thirty two works are a sort of bridge between his earlier work and his familiar splatter painting. Thirty two "new" Pollock works discovered in an attic. How cool is that?

I was the one who told him he should try splatering, pouring and dribbling. I said: "Pollock! Your work is for shit! You may as well pour the paint out of the fucking can. It'll look beter than the drek your smearing!" After he cried, he tried it. The rest, as they say, is history.

I like the New Yorker cartoon where two pidgeons are on a window ledge and one is saying to the other: "Pollock was a big influence."

Cool things about being in New York

You get to meet people like Michel Gondry, while shopping at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square.

While wandering around the DVD section in the basement, I thought I saw him. I caught the side of his face and his hair and I was thinking: "No, that's not..." and when I approached, sure enough it was him, so I softly called his name, stuck my hand out and introduced myself to him. Stupid me, I didn't have a card ready, or anything, but what the heck. So I thanked him for doing such innovative work and he replied, "well, that's what I do". When I started to try and have a conversation, I think he started getting a little self conscious. Seeing this I quickly finished, thanked him again and walked away, but I think I scared him off. I went back to aimlessly browsing, but I didn't see him in the area. I guess he fled, having been spotted.

Gondry directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and has done many music videos for Björk, The Chemical brothers, The White Stripes, Foo Fighters, to name a few. His style is repetition, but in very innovative ways and with great style. I'll try and dig up some links, It's late and I'm tired.

I'm still hoping to run into Scarlett Johansson at a certain cafe. she's sooo yummy. One day, she will be mine! I did see Terry Gilliam walking around Central Park, on the last day The Gates were open. I do NOT want him to be mine!

Today was fun, Moto and I wandered around the Union Square area and had dinner at Ennju, a Japanese restaurant that was very yummy and inexpensive. Moto is my Go To Guy for cheap eats and deals around the city. We went to the Megastore after sitting in the park, chatting/digesting.

I did end up buying a couple of DVD's as well. They were cheap. They are unloading a whole bunch of DVD's for $10 each!