This time via Journalista: a school in South Carolina has joined Virginia, Tennessee, and Massachussetts and become yet another school to deal poorly with a kid who keeps a “death note.” In this particular case, a teacher confiscated a “death note” that a student had written seven names in– and was expelled.

Now, I want to take a particular quote from the article:

“We treat situations like this the same as if a student called in a bomb threat or brought a weapon to school,” [Hartsville Middle School principal Chris Rogers] said.

…Really? You treat writings in a private notebook the same as actively threatening a school with a bomb? I mean, unless the kid was actively going around showing the “victims” that they were in his death note and otherwise trying to threaten them, I’d say that a kid with a “death note” should probably be treated the same as, say, a kid who keeps a diary in which he suggests that he’d like some people to die.

You wanna be cautious, sure. But as cautious as you would be with an active bomb threat? Gimme a break. That kid’s life has taken a serious hit for the future, and in all likelihood, he was just venting privately.

Man, what is with the Kira-watching this week?

I actually heard about this last week from a friend, and now it’s popping up all over the place. Hong Kong actor Edison Chen apparently took a laptop in to get repaired, and the repair people stole some intimate photos of Chen with various popular actresses and singers and stuck a few on the Internet.

Why should you care about this? Well, apparently in the last week somebody calling themselves “Kira” leaked more photos– there are now allegedly 1300 floating about –and promised a 32-minute video of Chen and another actress (it’s unclear to me whether it’s supposed to be with Gillian Chung or Cecilia Cheung).

If you want to see the goods for yourself (and are over 18, etc etc), you can check ‘em out at the Hollywood Grind (link via I.Z Reloaded).

I hereby call for a porn to be made featuring a guy named Kira who has a magic notebook such that he gets to have sex with any person whose name is written in the notebook. If he doesn’t specify the date or time, they will arrive in 20 minutes or as fast as physically possible. He can also specify the manner(s) in which the deed is done.

…Actually, now that I think of it, I can’t believe there ISN’T a porno like that out there. Anyone know of one?

Original Source: ACML
Secondary Sources: I.Z. Reloaded / Hollywood Grind / Wikipedia

No, for serious! Jon Stewart said so himself! Daily Show writer Kira is engaged to a guy named Billy!

…Does that mean that L’s real name is Billy?

Continuing with our regular Rob Watch, check out one of his latest. Apparently the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Phillippines is starting a “Bible Anime” program, but it also apparently doesn’t know what “anime” means, since they will be producing a line of manga-esque comics about Biblical characters and passages.

OLD NEWS ROB. This is what, like, the 86th manga version of the Bible? (Okay, fine, third or so, whatever.)

What’s way more fun about his post is his list of manga Bible scenes he’d like to see. I’ll tease you with one, but you’ll have to visit him to get the rest:

David using the Fist of the North Star technique on Goliath

So I caught word that a hacker had taken over Odex’s website and left a message about the company’s evil-ness. It’s truly heinous and makes otaku look terrible. I mean, first off, look at the color scheme. Pink? yeah, okay, if you’re a hacker and a 12-year-old girl.

As much as it’s a relief to be told once and for all that Odex is bad AND evil– not just one or the other! –the message is painful to read…mostly because the grammar s atrocious. “What happended?” “Don’t get catched?” Maybe you ARE a 12-year-old hacker.

You sure are making us anime fans look smart!

Forget Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Cats, it’s time for Catgirls: The Musical!

…Well, okay, not really. But apparently there’s going to be a dance show “inspired by manga” in Vancouver, according to CBC.ca.

French-born choreographer Serge Bennathan, formerly artistic director of Toronto’s Dancemakers, has created a dance for two called Manga that opens in Vancouver Thursday. Dancers Susie Burpee and Linnea Swan will try to capture the sense of story-telling and continuous movement found in manga in their 60-minute duet.

…Huh. Shame I can’t make it up to Vancouver this weekend.

I know the blogiverse is going crazy over some dopey article about people who are into “anime manga,” but I think I found something worse. (Edit: Due to popular demand - here is the “anime manga” article, and it was found by Brigid at MangaBlog.)

Meet AnimeMine, which is apparently a social networking website for “anime otakas.” Yes, OTAKAS. That is from THEIR press release, people. Yeesh.

(Edited #2: They’re pretty quick on the ball and have not only noticed my post, but also fixed their typo. I have included a screencap from the original version for the LULZ.)

(P.S. Sorry it’s been quiet here - between theO, some freelance deadlines, and me getting my ass kicked by a bad cold, it’s been hard to get shit done. Look for a big fat catch-up post later today, followed by me resuming my usual blogging activities.)