If Ya Can’t Beat It, Buy It

The mayor of Casselberry is attempting to buy a local strip club in Casselberry, FL to turn it into a civic center for church clubs, wedding receptions, ballroom dances, etc.

Rachel’s strip club is up for sale, not the building, but the entire business, which means the city would have to pay an amount which would not be legitimate for the purchase of a building for the purpose of a civic center:

At a bare minimum, one insider said, the business would sell for $7 to $9 million.

Essentially, it’s a way to get rid of one of the two remaining strip clubs in the town, and this isn’t the first time they have tried to get rid of this club. So, basically, having failed over the last couple of years to force them out, they’re now going to try to buy them out. And their attempts to justify it are hilarious:

Other than the poles and stages, the building could pass as a nice place for a wedding reception, instead of bachelor parties.

Granted it’s a nice looking strip club, but give me a fucking break. Can you really see church clubs in there?

And of course, some people are really naive:

“I’m sure some of the wives would be much happier if there husband’s go here or boyfriends,” said resident Barbara Frazier.

Basically, if this goes through, the remaining strip club will have a monopoly on the town’s titty bar business or the people will drive to surrounding areas. The mayor should be more responsible with the tax payers money and not use it on a vendetta against one club, although I’m sure the club owner wouldn’t mind making out like a bandit at the city’s expense.

Hollywood and “Torture Porn”

A new article from AdAge.com discusses the new fad in Hollywood – “torture porn.”

No, not actual snuff films. Films like Hostel, Hostel 2, Saw, Saw 2, Saw 3, Turistas, and on and on.

Maybe it was just me, but Hostel was boring, as was Saw, and thus I did not see the Saw sequels, won’t be seeing the Hostel sequel or the Hostel knock off Turistas. However, the MPAA and Hollywood seem to have developed a concern with these films, and apparently, it boiled over recently with promotions for the new movie: Capitvity.

In late March, owing to what Mr. Solomon insists was a printing mix-up, outdoor billboard ads for “Captivity” banned by the Motion Picture Association of America went up all over Los Angeles anyway…

But after the “Captivity” firestorm, the MPAA brought the hammer down. For the first time, the ratings board suspended its rating process for two months in order to punish After Dark and Lionsgate for their transgression.

Now, based on the article’s description (not able to find any images), I can see why there would be a concern with the billboard, but the concern from the movie industry who spend millions to promote these films seems a tad disingenuous. And the MPAA’s concern, ha, we know how that goes (just don’t show them as sexy):

Mr. Roth has some hard-won tips for horror filmmakers: Woman bathing in blood? OK with the MPAA. Woman bathing in blood while fondling her own breasts? Not OK with the MPAA.

These movies are nothing more than gore fests lacking in story, depth, or any entertainment value. It took Hostel forever to get going, and when it did, there was nothing especially frightening in the movie. And Saw, I won’t even go there, but I want my money back. Could it be that Americans are so vapid that they enjoy these films, and are such wussies that they are scared by them?

Sounds about right. On Bravo yesterday, they were doing a show about the 30 scariest scenes from the movies. Now, most of them I would not consider scary – like the scene from Cabin Fever (a movie where I was kind of rooting for everyone to die because they were stupid enough to stay at the damn cabin) – but what struck we most was when came time to discuss the movie Grudge. And what was most intriguing and I believe the most important thing to take away from the program was the the director of Grudge – Takashi Shimizu, who directed the original Japanese version – noted that the movie had to be changed for its American audience.

Why? Because most Japanese horror movies are significantly more frightening than our latest generation of American horror movies, which are so focused on gore that they lose the more haunting elements which make a movie truly scary. But for my money, give me The Abominable Dr. Phibes (yeah, I know it’s not scary, but dammit, it’s Vincent Price).

Smoking In The Churchyard

Not anymore. Not in East Anglian churches at any rate.

Churches and cathedrals are being made to display the signs or face forking out a £200 fine when the ban on smoking in public places comes in force on July 1.

As is noted in the article, these churches – and I dare say any church in the world – have not had a problem with smoking in their sanctuaries:

Jan McFarlane, Norwich Diocese communications officer, said churches had effectively always enforced a smoking ban without the need for signs.

Exactly, they didn’t need government involvement to handle this issue. Imagine the possibilities when people can act freely on their own.

And Fr. James Walsh Dean raised concerns about the propriety of the government involving itself in church affairs:

He added that as the sign will have to go in the porch it was the first time the government had a say in what went into the cathedral and he feared it would become the thin end of the wedge.

The government needs to stay out of the church door just like they ned to stay out of private businesses with regards to this issue. In this case, the signs are clearly unnecessary. In other cases, private property owners should be allowed to deal with issue of smoking as they wish. Churches have always had the understanding that no smoking is allowed, and they can enforce it. Other places can do the same.