Found this on BoingBoing, thought it too awesome not to re-post.



Click on it for larger version.

Tags: current events, heh, pictures
Current Music: The Legendary Pink Dots - Faded Photograph | Powered by Last.fm

Read this. It's not long and it's funny.

John Waters on the origins of tea-bagging.

I find myself so annoyed about the whole thing that I actually had trouble watching The Daily Show make fun of these dumbshits last night.

Tags: current events, heh

I'm sure you've all heard about Proposition 8 on California's voting ballots this year, right? A proposition designed to eliminate the recently granted right for homosexuals to marry in this state. I doubt you need me to tell you how I feel about the issue, but I read something recently that I thought summed up the entire horseshit debate on the "issue" rather nicely.

Copy. Paste.

What if this is a test from God?

There is a group of people who you disagree with on some moral issue, but otherwise they have no effect on your life in any way. You have a chance to participate in one of three choices:
A. Help them in their time of need
B. Ignore them
C. Intentionally hurt them

No matter who these people are, what would Jesus do?

How about if it's asked this way:
A. Respect their free will in this world and let God judge them when the time comes
B. Hope they burn in hell
C. Judge them and punish them yourself

Same answer?

Well, here it is in practical application:
A. No on 8
B. Don't vote
C. Yes on 8

God gave you free will? Fine. You are free to choose any of these options. You're the one who says He is watching. Somebody had better pray for your soul, 'cause it ain't gonna be me.


Those of you not living in California and not being subjected to the insanely maddening commercials being paid for by the people trying to push their "morality" on the rest of us... well, I was going to say that you're lucky, but I guess I should be glad that California has at least gotten this far.

Having said that, if this proposition passes and sticks, you won't be hearing me extoll the virtues of my state any longer.

Tags: current events

I hate Sarah Palin.

Tags: current events

If you're like me, then you didn't watch any of the conventions for either party because you can't fucking stand the fact that a 12 minute speech takes 30 minutes to say because everyone wants to applaud for 2 minutes every 30 seconds. So what you do instead is keep an eye on something like ontd_political or jlassen's blog and read up on what's being said. So you can stay informed without having to keep a barf bag nearby at all times.

I'm going to post some embedded videos that I've watched this evening here in case you have done neither. I'll put them under cuts in case embedded videos fucks up your browser or something, though. See how nice I am? You can tell I'm not a politician.

The first video I want to post is the *ahem* 9/11 "tribute" video shown during the Republican convention. Someone edited in Keith Olbermann's response to it right afterwards, which is fine because he's absolutely spot on with what he says about it. It's incredibly disgusting and exploitative and is something I would have expected to see on Bill O'Reilly's show, not at the goddamn RNC. Seriously. Fear-mongering cocksucking horseshit.

( There's no actual tribute here... )

Speaking of Bill O'Reilly, he recently interviewed Obama and aired the first segment of that interview on his show recently. The most notable thing about the clip is that Obama didn't punch that douchebag in the nose for interrupting him every 10 seconds. I don't think I could have restrained myself in such a fashion.

( Also, Obama defended himself pretty well, I thought. )

And my man benchilada posted this clip after someone else posted it of Joe Biden's post-RNC speech that I found to be pretty goddamn awesome.

( Ownage. )

And lastly, both the Daily Show and the Colbert Report have been on the fucking Win circuit for quite some time now, but Jon Stewart and Co. completely decimated McCain's claims about being the agent for change the other night. Beyond all doubt.

( That particular bit starts at about 4:19 on this video )

And that's all I have to say about that.

Tags: current events

But you all knew that already, right?

McCain says that women don't need equal pay legislation, what they need is "education and training". Because sexism isn't the reason women are getting paid less for doing the same job, right?

I don't really feel the need to expand upon that any further.

Tags: current events

Almost the first thing I read on my Friends List this morning was that California overturned the ban on gay marriage today.

It's about fucking time.

Tags: current events

And I'm not even talking about movies.

Check this out: According to "sources" at CNN, Weinstein, a Hillary Clinton supporter, has threatened to cut off contributions to congressional Democrats unless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi embraced his plan to finance revotes in Florida and Michigan.

He denies it, but...


it would be just like him, wouldn't it?

Tags: current events, douchebags
Current Music: Throbbing Gristle "MFDF II"

I did NOT need to read this this morning.

Gasoline to cust $10/gallon in the US soon?

Yippee fuckin' skippy!

Tags: current events, weaksauce

Just substitute Pennsylvania and whatever the final numbers end up being. The sentiment is the same.

Tags: current events

Tags: comics, current events

Three things, all related to this issue.

• If there was any doubt left that the story I posted yesterday about Lust, Caution actress Tang Wei being blacklisted by SARFT (China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television), now there is none. Variety is reporting that a commercial Wei was in promoting Pond's skin cream has been ordered off the air.


• I don't know if it's necessarily in the wake of the Lust, Caution thing, but SARFT has actually announced it's "list of censorship criteria". Copied from a different Variety article:

Movies are not allowed to produce films that depict hardcore sexual activity, rape, prostitution or nudity. "Vulgar dialogue or music and sound effects that had a sexual connotation" are also out. Any content involving "murder, violence, horror, evil spirits and devils and excessively terrifying scenes, conversations, background music and sound effects" is also banned.
The list also bans films that "distort the civilization and history of China or other nations…or…tarnish the image of revolutionary leaders, heroes, important historic characters, members of the armed forces, police and judicial bodies."
Other banned subjects include the reconstruction of crimes or pics that reveal police investigatory techniques. Also pics that advocate nihilism, environmental damage, animal abuse and the capture or killing of rare animals are on the censor's list.

Jesus...


• Lastly, at a recent concert performance in Shanghai, awesome singer and musician Björk apparently dedicated the song "Declare Independence" to Tibet and this seems to have pissed some government people right the fuck off. So much so that they are now looking into controlling artists who perform there even more strictly, this taken from yet another Variety article:

"Any attempt to separate Tibet from China will definitely be opposed by the Chinese people and all righteous men across the world," the ministry said on its website. "We will further tighten controls on foreign artists performing in China in order to prevent similar cases from happening in the future."

Tags: current events, movie news, weaksauce

Tags: current events

I think this is the first year ever that I didn't have any major beefs with the winners list since I started paying attention.

I will say that I was slightly disappointed that Dario Marinelli (Atonement) won for Best Original Score. I was really hoping Marco Beltrami (3:10 To Yuma) or James Newton Howard (Michael Clayton) would win, but I haven't actually heard Atonement's score yet, so I remain reserved. Probably download it and listen to it soon, though. I got some very angry text messages from The Lady after this award was announced. She's a gigantic film score nerd and is/was all about the 3:10 To Yuma score. Although, given the Academy's history in this category, it's really no surprise.

I was also slightly disappointed that Mongol didn't win Best Foreign Film. I haven't seen it or the film that won, The Counterfeiters, but the simple fact that it has Tadanobu Asano playing Genghis Khan in it is enough for me to have been rooting for it. Thankfully, The Counterfeiters is scheduled to open at the theater near my place on March 5th. So does 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, which I have been DYING to see for weeks now.

I will also admit that I was hoping Ellen Page would win because I luff her (I don't care what anyone else says, she fucking rules!), but from everything I've heard Marion Cotillard really deserved it. I didn't get to see La Vie En Rose, but I think I'll pick up the DVD when it comes out. And I'm sure Ellen will have plenty of future opportunities to win.

Otherwise, though, I'm pleasantly surprised.

Tags: current events

While reading some feeds on my friends list today, I came across a couple good reasons to vote for Obama.

This one and this one:



That's all I'm going to say about it.

Tags: current events

Da fug.

I unplug for two days and look at all this shit that happens.

• Heath Ledger dies. Fuck! The guy was seemingly right about to hit his stride as an actor and become well known as being great at what he did. Horrible. The fact that he was in the midst of shooting the new Terry Gilliam film (co-starring alongside TOM FUCKING WAITS) makes me feel even worse.


• One of the movies in 2008 I'm most looking forward to, American Crime with Ellen Page and Catherine Keener, is probably going to have it's release date pushed back to May.


• I read that over 5 million people have died in the Congo over the last decade.


• Marvel is canceling The Order, a comic book I was very much enjoying.


• The line-up for the 2008 Coachella Music Festival announced and not even Portishead coming back will get me to want to go to it.


• And, you know, the Oscar Nominees were announced, but I actually want to spend some time writing about that.


WTF, man?! All over a Monday and a Tuesday?

I'm going to Chipotle for lunch. That will make me feel better.

Tags: comics, current events, movie news, music news

Kaiju Shakedown's informative and interesting article on China and the WGA Strike.

Man, those MPAA guys are assholes.

Tags: awesometown, current events

A quick note regarding the fires out here in southern California, since there has been some concern expressed.

Everything is alright in my neck of the woods. When I came home from The Lady's around 10pm on Sunday night, there was a fire going a couple of freeway exits down from my house, but apparently it never got too big (in comparison) and didn't last long (in comparison).

That makes me extremely fortunate.

It's depressing. You walk outside in the morning and everything is tinted in an orange-red color. Including the sky. There's ash all over everything. I was driving to pick up The Lady this evening to go to the Kings game at around 5pm and the sun was red. It looked like a stoplight. And it wasn't bright, either. You could stare at it. And it's hot. I was starting to sweat just walking down the street. At 11pm. The air is thick. Breathing is hard and uncomfortable. You'd think that people who have lived here their whole lives would be used to bad air, but it's never been like this. California has fire problems every year. It's much more damaging and, for me, a hell of a lot scarier than any earthquake I can remember. But I don't think it's ever been like this before.

I heard today that the amount of land that has been burned is equal to the size of Chicago. Tons of people have lost their homes. All in my backyard.

I'm lucky.

I don't know what else to say about it.

Tags: current events

Some things you should be aware of:

• Amazon.com recently unveiled their own DRM-free mp3 music store. You go to the page for an artist you like and many of them have the option to purchase mp3s right then and there on the page. DRM-free. Sounds pretty awesome, right? Well, it ain't. Copy and pasted from Boing Boing:

Fred sez, "Brier Dudley from the Seattle Times has read the fine print on those DRM-free downloads from Amazon. Looks like the 'user agreement' strips you of your fair use rights and lets the record labels sue you for breach of contract if you cross the line."

Amazon's contract says you "may copy, store, transfer and burn the Digital Content" for personal use. But then it goes further and specifies restrictions, saying you "agree that you will not redistribute, transmit, assign, sell, broadcast, rent, share, lend, modify, adapt, edit, sub-license or otherwise transfer or use the Digital Content."

Oh, ffs. All we want to do is buy MP3s, like we used to buy CDs and records and tapes. Stuff we could make some claim to owning. You'd think that a group of people as property-obsessed as the recording industry would understand the desire to own one's music collection and have all the rights to it that copyright normally confers on those who buy copyrighted works -- like the right to sell, edit. adapt, loan, modify, etc. All the stuff the law give law-abiding customers who buy stuff. Oh well. I had such hope for this one, too.

So keep that in mind if you've bought anything from there or were planning to.


• Speaking of music downloading, a couple bands may be looking to do things the way Radiohead is beginning to do things now. Both Oasis and Jamiroquai are being apparently considering doing something similar/the same. I also read that Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails are done with their record contract and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he went this way, too.

For me, this is both good and bad. Someday, CDs are going to be a thing of the past and I think I'm forever going to be one of those people that laments their fading away. There are few things I enjoy more than spending an entire day at Amoeba and digging through their used CD bins. I know that it's still going to be a while before CDs are phased out entirely, but... I think music has just taken it's first steps in that direction.

What I love about all of this, though, is that I'm actually going to be able to put my money directly in the hands of the artists I want to support. Simple enough.

Obviously, this sort of thing is only going to work for bands as big as Radiohead and Oasis and such. They can afford it. I think it's only a matter of time, though, before this is the norm.



• And lastly, for this post, muneatsacow has started a new website for his totally awesome and frequently hilarious artwork and I want to pimp it for him.


Love At First Fight from Supernatural
Munkao.com

I especially love the Supernatural series, which... uh... focuses on the relationship between Ultraman and that Godzilla-looking thing there. Some of the images are not work safe, but most of them are totally awesome and frequently hilarious, as previously stated. Check it out.

Tags: current events, music news

Man, I love BoingBoing. They have some good readin' on the subject.



I guess Moore was on CNN last night pwning some n00bs. I haven't had a chance to watch the clip yet, but you can do so yourself right here.


Do that. I will when I have a minute.

Tags: current events

This is probably old news for a lot of you. I got a couple phone calls and emails about it last night.

The Virginia Tech killer took pictures of himself that look like pictures from Oldboy.

I...

This...

You...


Sigh.

I'm torn. Do I go on a profane rant? Or do I ignore it?

Here's what they're talking about, in case you haven't seen 'em.



You know what? I'm not going to write anything about it. Chances are that everyone reading this knows damn well how I feel about it and I'd wager that most everyone would agree, too. So why bother? There's other stuff to write about.

I just...

You know.

Tags: current events, wtf?

I haven't been keeping an eye on the news of it much. I don't want to. I have no desire to hear moronic discussion about the influence of video games or whatever the fuck, and I don't want to hear analysts talking about why they think this happened.

All that... what do you want to call it? Sensationalist garbage. I don't have the stomach for it.

Thankfully, Boing Boing can update a body without all that shit.

Tags: current events

Is it just me, or is Bush's "chiding" of Iraq over the recent executions the funniest fucking thing in the world?

Christ.

Tags: current events

I love David Rees.

Tags: comics, current events, heroes

DONE DEAL.

Music to my fucking ears.

Also, check out this KICKASS new icon I got from someone in alan_moore. PWNED!

Tags: current events
Current Music: Jonny Greenwood "Piano For Children (Live)"

Karl Rove named as the Plame Leak???

If that's true... oh man... Rove is FUCKED. As well he should be. IF it's true.

This will be the first political shitfight in a while that I may actually want to hear about. If that douchebag Rove is guilty, I hope they throw the fucking book at him. And I hope that book is in large text. Like... 500 point font. And I hope it lands on his head and crushes his skull into tiny pieces.

Tags: current events
Current Music: Wumpscut "Hang Him Higher"

So MJ was acquitted on all counts.

I am SO TIRED of hearing about this.

And now it's not going to go away...

Tags: current events

Classroom Spat Turns Bloody in Beijing 13 Jun 2005

Two Beijing schoolgirls have been condemned to six and three years in jail for stabbing a classmate and leaving her on a railway track in the hopes that she would be crushed by a train, reports said on Friday. The two girls, aged 15 and 16 and not identified by name, stabbed their classmate 17 times in February last year, apparently because she had badmouthed them behind their backs.

Their victim was still breathing, so they dragged her to a rail line, expecting a train would pass by and finish her off, but she managed to crawl to safety and survived, according to reports. The two young would-be killers received their sentences at a Beijing court on Thursday, apparently unfazed by the negative attention they were receiving.

They had applied make-up for the occasion and smiled to each other when the sentence was read out, saying they had expected at least eight years imprisonment. One of the girls said she had wanted to become a police officer and had learned the trick of placing a victim on the railroad from a crime show on TV.



And just like that... we are one step closer to Battle Royale.

Tags: current events

I just came back from having my hair cut by a drunk. She fucked it up. She was shaving the side of my head (not totally removing the hair there, but using the electric razor) and her hand slipped. Yep.

So now my head looks like a tennis ball. Or a nutsack, depending on how nice you want to be.

Pictures.

( These are large because I'm too lazy and sad to re-size them. )

Somebody do it. Tell me it doesn't look THAT bad. Or get me a hat. Maybe a wig.

I'm gonna get SO MUCH shit for this at work. So much. FUUUUUUUCK.

Fantastic Sams. Never again.

Tags: current events, pictures

Every single one of you is to go here: http://www.protect.org/california/caCampaign.shtml

Go. This is important.

California senator Carole Migden is trying to kill the Circle of Trust bill. As the powerful head of the Senate Appropriations committee, she has the power to do it. Time is running out. And there is one person in Sacramento who we know has the power to stop her: Senate president pro tem Don Perata.

This is extremely important. The Circle Of Trust bill would defeat California incest exception law. Did you know that currently in California if you get convicted of molesting or raping a child that your punishment is lessened as long as the victim is a child living under the perpetrator's own roof? The goal was family reunification, and under the new laws, in-family child molesters became eligible for probation instead of prison if they agreed to go into family therapy with their young victims.

Can you believe that shit?

Go to the page I linked above. Get some more information and take 5 minutes and help out.


And pass this on. There's only a small amount of time left.

Tags: current events