From Allah's blog

Allah is blogging these days, you know. If you don't know, you should. Today he's posted some of the poems from the latest Paradise poetry quarterly. They can be found at http://allahakbar.blogspot.com/

This is my...well, not my favorite, but it really gives you a feel for the dedication and fervent religious faith that would lead to, well, just read:

Abdallah, you have expressed in words what Allah is feeling in his chest! And yet, as good as this poem is, truly it pales in comparison to the following. The author is a young Palestinian father named Abu. At least, he used to be a father: Radical Islam is too hardcore for our version of Abraham and Isaac to end with some wussy psych-out at the end.

"Ramallah, Saturday Morning"

My son is in front of the TV
Watching American cartoons
About a good man with a rifle,
A bit slow but committed,
Trying to destroy an enemy
Who taunts and confounds him.
I sit at the dining room table,
Testing the charges, packing
In the rat poison and screws,
Hearing him laughing at
The Zionist propaganda,
Sympathizing with the prey
Instead of the hunter.
I know better. In those cartoons
Is the fate of our people:
1967 all over again
Each time the hunter sticks his gun
Down a hole and it comes up
Behind him, and shoots him
Right in the ass.
The device is ready. I stand up and
Press it to my waist to measure.
Small, much too small--but then
It wasn't made for me to wear, was it?
I call my son over and try to explain
In terms he can understand. He starts
Crying and screaming, but I know
What to say to him now, I know
How to calm him now, and as I
Lean in to tighten the belt 'round
His tiny waist and press the bus
Schedule into his tiny hands, I whisper
To him the words that will change
His political sympathies in a heartbeat:
"Be vewy, vewy quiet. You're hunting wabbits."


Your son's wascally sacwifice shall not be forgotten, glorious Abu! Someday you too shall hunt wabbits with Allah in Paradise!

Why I like fanfic

I enjoy reading fanfic. I enjoy it most, of course, when the fiction is actually good, though sometimes reveling in the sheer awfulness of something can be fun in a way. But the main reason I like fanfic, besides getting more of my favorite shows/movies, is seeing how fanfic writers can fill in the blanks, or show me things I've never seen before--but make perfect sense when you have it explained to you.

On Stargate they've mentioned that Star Wars is Teal'c favorite movie--he's seen it many times. You learn this when Teal'c and O'Neill show up at Maj. Carter's house to see if she wants to go out for beer and pizza. Teal'C is wearing a cowboy hat. When Maj. Carter turns them down, they discuss what to do instead. Teal'c announces that "I have heard of a place where humans do battle in a ring of jello." O'Neill throws him a phone. "Call Daniel."

So I wrote off Teal'c's interest in Star Wars as a joke. As camp. (Like Beetlejuice talking about The Exorcist: "I've seen it 57 times and it just keeps getting funnier every time I see it!"

Only there's another take on this. To wit: The Scarab by BK the Irregular (http://www.geocities.com/dhrachth/bk/scarab.htm), which is a Buffy/Stargate: SG-1 crossover story. It's a pretty good story, but the scene that prompted me to write this is the one in which Buffy comes downstairs to find Teal'c watching a video of Star Wars (the SG-1 team are camping in her living room for reasons that I won't go into). Try this one:

She quietly went down the stairs to see an odd tableau.

Major Carter was asleep on the couch, looking as young as Buffy herself. Colonel O'Neill was on a mat on the floor, far enough away from Carter for propriety's sake but still awfully close. Carter's hand had flopped off the couch and was brushing O'Neill's cheek.

Riley was by the door, pistol in his lap, cup of coffee by his elbow, relaxing now with the rising sun; and by the television set, sitting in a lotus position on the floor, was the man who answered to the name Teal'c.

"You're all clear, kid; now let's blow this thing and go home!"

Buffy looked at him; the implacable fighting machine had a genuine, childish smile on his face as he watched the climax of the movie, and when the Death Star finally blew, she almost expected him to pump his fist in triumph.

Some guard, Buffy thought; he's so wrapped up in that movie that we could get assaulted by a hundred vampires and he might not notice. She sighed and quietly padded her way over to Riley, ready to give him a shock.

"Tarith'na. Were you able to sleep?"

She froze. "Uh ... yeah. Guess you weren't as wrapped up in the movie as I thought?"

"I have learned to be aware of many things at once. Riley Finn stands guard, but I am ready," he said, laying a hand on the staff weapon at his side. "I rarely have a chance for ... pure enjoyment."

"You really like it, huh?"

"Among my people, stories of hope and triumph against a powerful foe do not exist. All who do so, we learned, are doomed to fail." He indicated the screen, where Princess Leia was draping a medal over Luke Skywalker's neck. "I wish I were able to tell my son this story."

"You had a son?" Buffy asked, gingerly, hoping she didn't step on a land mine like she had with the Colonel.

"He lives yet," Teal'c responded, almost reading her mind. "I have not seen him in several years, but he and his mother are safe and well."

Teal'C likes Star Wars because it's a story of hope and triumph against a powerful foe, the sort of story you aren't likely to have ever experienced when you live among a people who've been slaves to cruel, vicious "gods" for thousands of years. OF COURSE Teal'C enjoys Star Wars. I feel foolish for not having understood this before.