Pryor, Narnia, Tookie, in that order

Whatever you think of his comedy, Richard Pryor was a giant - and he's gone.

Richard Pryor, 1940-2005

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My daughter and I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe yesterday. Predictably, the lines were long to get into the theater and tickets were hard to come by... but it was definitely worth the wait. Akin to Harry Potter, I also found interesting similarities to Passion of the Christ. There were plenty of positive messages in the movie.

Four out of five stars.


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Stanley "Tookie" Williams, co-founder of the gang called the "Crips," and convicted murderer of four, is set to be executed Tuesday at San Quentin in California.

Many celebrities are urging Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to grant clemency to Williams, who, they say, has "turned his life around" in prison.

The first question that must be asked is, are you also prepared to forgive thousands of other convicted murderers who are now judged (by celebrities, families or others) to have turned their lives around?

This is no simple debate, but regardless of the circumstances or any perceived rehabilitation, clemency simply cannot be granted in this case. The message such an action would send - that it's okay to found murderous gangs and kill whomever you deem deserving - would be terribly destructive to societal peace and order. It would also negate the value of the lives of those four he singlehandedly killed, and the thousands who have died at the whimsy of the Crips.

Williams has written children's books condemning gang violence and warning against the gang mentality and lifestyle, and his proponents say carrying out his sentence will negate his positive work. My feeling is, what better, more poignant way would there be to punctuate his life story than to force him to pay society's toll? I fear any other ending would send a severely detrimental message to children.

This is not to support or indict the legitimacy of the death penalty, at the time of the murders, it was simply the law of the land.

And, that this man could qualify for the Nobel Peace Prize is a travesty, in my opinion.


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It's Sunday. Whatever you end up doing, don't - and I mean this - DON'T YOU DARE have more fun than I am. I mean, shit.