Unlike the much classier list of 1,0001 Movies You Must See Before You Die posted by CrazyMonk, Wikipedia provides a list of mainstream films featuring unsimulated sex. I’ve seen none, though I did at one point have an acquaintance who owned a copy of Alice in Wonderland (A Musical Porno) and I was scheduled to, but ultimately did not, see Shortbus.
UPDATE: I actually own Pink Flamingos, but haven’t gotten around to watching it yet.
Crazymonk thinks he’s SOOOOO cool with his recent swarm of earthquakes. Well guess what, DC can have earthquakes too! Oh yeah, a 1.8! Good thing I had my earthquake kit ready to go.
After CrazyMonk’s reports on the Nevada state Democratic Convention, it’s not all that surprising that the Republican convention was equally interesting. Ron Paul’s people, as usual, showed up en mass and overwhelmed the traditional republicans:
They seemed to make up more than half of the 1,300 or so state delegates to the convention. They won a key procedural vote on the rules, and their boisterous presence created significant delays, causing the convention chairman, Bob Beers, a state senator from Las Vegas, to recess the convention without selecting delegates to the national convention. The state convention is to resume at a later date.
Wherever Ron Paul goes, chaos follows. I like it.
Via Reddit.
My favorite image from the Daily Show clip that CrazyMonk linked to:
It looks like a Soviet propaganda poster. Hell, it looks like THIS Soviet propaganda poster:
Now, let’s combine them:
UPDATE: For CrazyMonk:
Athanata is mentioned in 6 books on Amazon. I am mentioned in two (Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message and Snakes on a Plane: The Guide to the Internet Ssssssensation), though someone with the same name is mentioned in a third. I was sort of proud of having two references until I tried searching for CrazyMonk–he has 24.
Damn.
Be Kind Rewind, directed by Michel Gondry, is about people who create homemade, low budget reproductions of famous movies. In that spirit, Michel Gondry has released his own homemade, low budget reproduction of the Be Kind Rewind trailer. Weird.
I’m a little unsettled by Gondry’s decision to portray Mos Def by putting on an afro wig and big black gloves, but whatever…
PS - this was totally CrazyMonk territory. Sorry.
Via Adfreak.
Movie trailers are generally CrazyMonk’s territory, but the trailer for Southland Tales is up. Go weirdness!
This is really more CrazyMonk’s territory, but it’s surprising to discover that the following is a quasi-legitimate English language sentence:
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
Who knew? Anyone feel like attempting to translate it into understandable English without actually looking at the explanatory link?
My friend Jeremy has a podcast called This Podcast Sucks. For months know he’s been asking me to listen to it and I haven’t because I don’t own an iPod. How can you possibly listen to a podcast without an iPod I ask him? He has never given me a satisfactory answer.
Anyway, in anticipation of my future iPod purchase, I actually went back and listened to the first three episodes on a borrowed iPod (the only possible way to listen to a podcast). Since I’m so far behind, I can breeze through them in quick succession like watching a TV show on DVD. It’s great. If only the content were great too. It gets less funny by the week.
Oh wait, I meant MORE funny.
Ok, that wasn’t really my joke.
Go listen to it, it’s good.
I went to the Magic Castle last night, and attended a seance for Houdini, which was all well and good, but does nothing to explain to me how this trick is performed:
In World War Two, Germany was referred to, internally, as the Fatherland. Russia was referred to, internally, as the Motherland. If this is just some translation glitch or accident of historical memory, then ignore the remainder of this post.
After seeing CrazyMonk’s post about the ten tallest monuments, I’ve been thinking about the two sculptures referred to as “Motherland” and “The Motherland,” both located inside the borders of the old Soviet Union. I’ve been wondering about the etymology of the words Motherland and Fatherland. Here’s my guess as to where they came from, based on nothing but my impression of other people’s perceptions of gender:
Soviet Russia was theoretically based on a communist system. Communist systems (prior to the phase where the state becomes unnecessary and fades away) are based on the underlying philosophy that the state will take care of the people. The state will tend to the needs of the downtrodden workers in a way that a capitalism regime will not and can not. Traditional depictions of motherhood mirror this philosophy. The mother is a caretaker and a nurturer.
Nazi Germany was a fascist state, based on the underlying philosophy that society requires order and rigidity. The state will tell the people what to do and when to do it, the people’s responsibility is to follow the orders of those in charge. Traditional depictions of a law-giving father mirror this philosophy. The father is the stern rule maker in the family who will provide what the family requires but in exchange expects his dictates to be observed.
Is it possible that these traditional understandings of gender were what caused Germany to depict the state as a father while Russia depicted the state as a mother? Do these traditional gender perceptions even apply in Germany and Russia circa World War Two? Hitler apparently referred to Germany as the Motherland; does that matter?
I’m apparently not the only one thinking about this. Is there an actual answer out there?