A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

You are just pissed off because Steve-O makes more dasch than you do.

They actually need to ban this?
 

Yeah, but are we (or by proxy mainstream American middle-to-upper-middle-class culture) really the applicable cultural or larger social group? It could very well be the specific sub-culture. Not in all circumstances, but it surely is in some.

Then again, I'm on record thinking that real social mobility in the US is more of a myth than is generally believed.

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

This is hilarious. I wish I would have numbered it.

I'm still laughing.

They actually need to ban this?
 

Right -- I am referring to acceptance by the larger group. But as you suggest, surely these folks don't give a jack what a bunch of vain self-important over-educated under-stimulated lawyers who waste colossal amounts of time on chat boards think about their splitcocks and forked tongues, and aren't likely even to seek employment in places run by the likes of us.

However, my guess is that most extreme self-mutilators grew up in households where people looked "normal," so they did not develop the aesthetic as children, as the adults in the National Geographic spreads probably did. So for most people, it must be rebellion rather than acceptance that motivates, at least initially, and then acceptance is found in the sub-group, which acceptance might motivate more mutilation/adornment.

They actually need to ban this?
 

The specific sub-culture we're talking about --- the one that would split tongues and penises as some sort of statement --- is always the very first to complain that people are judging them based on how they look or dress. You're allowed to think well of them for what they choose to project to the world, but you're never allowed to think poorly, because, hey, you might be misjudging.

I don't think they've completely thought this stuff through.

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

Me too.

:rofl:

They actually need to ban this?
 

The guy who did my tattoo was referred to me by his mother, who was a secretary in my old firm. When she showed me the tattoos that he'd done, I was shocked. The lower half of both legs were covered with tattoos (which were works in progress), but she did such a good job of covering up, I had and everyone else in the office had no idea that she was so adorned.

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

Uh... I don't get it. :blush:

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

I think you're new, so I'll cut you some slack. These posts are stupid and a waste of space. Private message or IM or email whoever you think said something funny and the extent to which you are rolling on the floor (with or without ass), spitting latte all over your keyboard or whatever.

RP is not new and therefore is a numbskull.

TM

They actually need to ban this?
 

That's because PLF is correct about the relationship between drug use and body mutilation. Have you ever noticed how head shops and tattoo/piercing parlors are often in very close proximity if not under the same roof?

AM(um, not that I've even been, heh, heh)M

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

Gee, Thurgreed, it's been an awfully long time since one of your "no lol" rants.

Maybe she has no idea how it irks you.

Or knows and enjoys it.

E/O

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

I always love to get a rise from TM now and again.

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

Don't worry; you're not alone, although I confess amazement that there are adults in the world who don't know this. (Spree: link to Snopes.com entry on 4:20.)

Update on car
 

Um, uh, me.

Inflatable Church
 

Spoiler not required for this one:

http://a1636.g.akamai.net/7/1636/797...ble_church.jpg

World's first inflatable church is consecrated in Britain. Full article here

Is there really a need for such a thing? Do you have to take your shoes off before you can go in? Can you bounce up and down on the pews, or would the minister frown on such behavior?

Update on car
 

Yeah, but you don't count. You're from the Midwest, where as we learn from John Buccigross at espn.com people are nicer than they are in the Sodoms and Gomorrohs that are the blue states.

Although wasn't Minnesota a blue state? Shoot. Well, whatever.

Edited to add that Texas is a red state (duh). But still whatever.

Inflatable Church
 

Very cool.

But still not as cool as the 1994 Chevy Suburban that Jesse and the boys rigged into a Chapel on Monster Garage.

http://a680.g.akamaitech.net/7/680/3...16_7_hzoom.jpg

not7y(I love that damn show)S

Inflatable Church
 

Actually, I'm kinda partial to the Cooper Mini that they converted into a (three-engine??) snowmobile last night.

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

Don't flatter yourself, the odds are its the viagra.

iLoo no hoax
 

This story just keeps getting better:

Microsoft: iLoo no hoax after all, but dead anyway
HELEN JUNG, AP Business Writer Tuesday, May 13, 2003
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(05-13) 16:28 PDT SEATTLE (AP) --

What's true with the iLoo? Microsoft Corp. and its public relations firm changed their story -- again -- Tuesday about whether the United Kingdom division had been developing an Internet-enabled portable toilet.

On Monday, three representatives for the software giant told news agencies, including The Associated Press, that an April 30 news release trumpeting the "iLoo" was a hoax and apologized for "any confusion or offense."

But on Tuesday, the company reversed itself, saying the iLoo was real but now has been killed.

"We jumped the gun basically yesterday in confirming that it was a hoax, and in fact it was not," said Lisa Gurry, MSN group product manager.

Full text: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...928EDT0358.DTL

AI Article from Salon -- No Spoilers
 

White supremacy: Blacks have a better chance surviving a slasher movie than making it to the end of a reality TV show.
By Bomani Jones

May 14, 2003 _|_ Last year we witnessed the remarkable ouster of Tamyra Gray from "American Idol," which left the far less talented Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini to vie for the show's top prize (and the honor of being financially screwed by the show's producers). Many were stunned when Tamyra, and her multi-octave range and vulnerable delivery, waved a tearful goodbye. Many will be equally devastated tonight if the extravagantly talented Ruben Studdard gets cast off by America, too.

But they shouldn't be surprised. For one thing, anyone stunned by what happens on "American Idol" is measuring idolatry by a fairly irrelevant variable -- talent.

Full text: http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/200...dol/index.html

Editorial comment: why is it never noted that Justin is black?

AI Article from Salon -- No Spoilers
 

Because Salon never lets facts get in the way of a good story.

AI Article from Salon -- No Spoilers
 

Excellent point, Bilmore.

"Coupling" Comes to NBC
 

Atticus speaks the truth.

AI Article from Salon -- No Spoilers
 

Not surprisingly, the "day pass" feature aint working for me. ANyway you can post or PM me the full story per chance? And matches made in heaven and hell if you are really into helping me procrastinate. gracias!

I missed most of the show last night except for the last number by Clay- the ballad from hell. I cant figger how americans are so into ballads, but then I never really felt Celine Dion and Michael Bolton, dawg. No accounting for taste in the land of McDonalds, strip malls, mcmansions and oreos. ANd that vibrato! Thats a bad thing, right? Why dont the judges point it out?

and how come Kim Locke never gets to go last? The poor dear always gets screwed by the lineup. Was she any good last night?

Anyone do any calling in last night? I did not.

Just as I thought
 

Especially this:

This is where the human measurement comes into play. Those voting on the idol are future fans. And considering all the research done on the digital divide, there's little doubt who's stuffing the online ballot boxes. So it's not a stretch to predict Aiken will be the winner before he sings another note. That is a function of "A.I." reality. Would white teenagers have preferred to hear and see Elvis Presley or Jackie Wilson? Jerry Lee Lewis or Little Richard? New Kids or New Edition? A young John Lennon or Chuck Berry? History has shown us that the white star was preferred in each scenario. Yes, there's been some teen-idol exceptions -- Michael Jackson, Beyoncé Knowles and Lil' Bow Wow come to mind. But on a show as realistic as "American Idol," there's no reason to expect any difference.


I would love to know the voting demographics. What parts of the country are voting the most and what age groups? Like I said last week, I have to think its the south and midwest.amd probably the more rural areas of these two sections of the country, based on carmen, josh and clay. there is just no other explanation for how far any of the three of them got (i guess clay has talent if he is your taste but he doesnt compare to some of the others, esp ruben and he is just so plain vanilla which is probably the biggest problem with him). it would be great if we could access this data. and there can be no doubt that teenagers and preteens are doing most of the voting. adults have better taste than teens as this article nicely demonstrates.

I jsut hope they are wrong about Ruben. That would not be a pretty statement if he goes.


[I]

AI Review (with Spoilers!)
 

Last night was almost enough to make me stop watching the stupid show.

They each sang three songs.

Kim went first. Her first song was "Band of Gold." Again. She was good. Her second song was terribly unfortunate because it relied on her sense of rhythm. Not good. Judges loved it. Third song was fine.

Ruben was fine. Sang "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" -- a perennial favorite. Good. Then, "Smile" -- not so good -- I think the arrangement was bad. I cannot remember what he sang third but it was Rubenesque.

Clay was shaky. First song "Vincent" -- not a good song, not a good performance. He clearly forgot the lyrics for a bar or two, but handled it gracefully. Second song, Mack the Knife -- selected by Paula because it was less lounge-y and could show his range. She's such a moron. It was high school show chorus impersonation of lounge-y. Bill Murray's old lounge singer gag would have been less lounge-y. Third song, "Unchained Melody" was okay, not strong.

Edited to add: I did not vote last night. (I was watching the replay of the Giro.) I should have voted for Ruben. I wonder if he is going to make it to the final. Clay is definitely through and Kim kept remarking about being the only girl left, so she might make it through as well.

I say bottom two: Kim and Ruben. Kim goes home.

Here's a better review with songtitles from TwoP:

"Random" My Ass
By Shack

The remaining three contestants sing three songs this evening, one selected by the contestants, one selected by the judges, and one selected at "random." I believe the English language has contacted its lawyer to consider a defamation of character suit against the show for the use of the word "random." That's because Kimberley "randomly" selects "Band Of Gold" for her first song. Well, given the way she's been treated by the show so far, she's probably happy that she finally got a handicap in her favor. Ruben "randomly" selects "Signed, Sealed, Delivered," which is a meta-comment about the contract with 19 Management he's probably already secured. Clay "randomly" selects "Vincent," a boring, too-slow song that he butchers, and thus a million new conspiracy theorists are born.

In the second round, Randy chooses "Anyone Who Had A Heart" for Kim. She sings her way through it in great, heaving gasps, but hits the notes pretty well and doesn't get overwrought. Simon gives Ruben "Smile" to sing, because he's always smiling. That's the actual reason he gives him the song. Of course, the word "smile" is the only happy word in the whole song, but nobody cares about that. And the funniest part is that Ruben actually smiles less than he normally does when he sings. Paula selects "Mack The Knife" for Clay, because she thinks it will wipe the image of Clay as a lounge singer out of our heads. Do you think I make this shit up? This is Paula, folks. Comics across the country are hoping she somehow gets elected president. Clay, of course, sings it like a lounge singer.

In the final round, Kimberley chooses "Inseparable," and pulls out all the glory notes she had avoided in her last two numbers. She makes it work, and even manages to suck all the snark out of Simon. Temporarily, of course. Ruben chooses "If Ever You're In My Arms Again," which should be right up his alley, but he just sounds off-pitch and hoarse the whole song. And he looks like he's about to keel over. Not that any of the judges would ever, ever notice. Clay closes the show by picking the most obvious high-school-talent-show choice possible with "Unchained Melody." It doesn't help that the twinkly arrangement for the song was apparently intended as background music for an episode of The Care Bears. But his oversinging is a big hit, of course.

Full text: http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com...=89&story=5152

AI Article from Salon -- No Spoilers
 

Actually the Salon article mentions that Justin is bi-racial.

But I like the fact that the author points out every obnoxious thing done by every black reality show contestant ever (and I can, of course, name ten times as many bad-behaving white contestants) and blames their behavior on the network -- how dare the network actually air footage of minorities acting inappropriately? Never mind the fact that the networks salivate over getting anybody to act like a jackass to improve the "quality" of their reality shows.

I think there is a good argument to be made for invidious (or maybe not so invidious) racism in reality tv, but that author did not make the argument.

Specifically, the casting of black people on Survivor has always looked suspicious to me because just about every damn black person they cast just so happens to extremely religious -- no stereotypes there, huh? Also, almost every black male contestant has been edited to look lazy. And I DO believe that editing is a key component of this -- I'm sure that every survivor contestant takes naps on a regular basis, but only the shots of Gervaise, Sean, Nick and Clarence seemed to make it into the final cuts of the episodes.

And if it's only racist white American voters voting in American Idol, how come there are 1 1/2 black people left in the competition, while the overal ratio of blacks to whites is much much lower?

That said, Tamyra Grey was a travesty. But she is better off for losing.

Even the fake rocks can't make this show better...
 

From realityblurred --

A producer of the UK's I'm a Celebrity -- Get Me Out of Here says the Australian location where the both the latest UK show and the US version were filmed is "a film set." Besides a roof that was added when US celebs complained about the rain, "the show's secret set includes plastic flowers, fibre glass rocks and a canvas roof to protect the stars from the worst of the rain," according to Ananova, which reports on The Sun's interview with producer Alex Gardiner. The location is also not remote. Gardiner says, "There is nothing natural or real about the camp -- it's a film set."

n(also, for those who don't know, the moon landing was faked on a film set)cs

AI Review (with Spoilers!)
 

Did someone say Giro?

It's cycling season: Time to bring out some podium girls!!!

:cheers:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/20...3/stage4/7.jpg

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/20...3/stage3/9.jpg

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/20.../stage1/10.jpg

AI Article from Salon -- No Spoilers
 

Last night, I posted something about this, but deleted it so as to not get into this discussion. Since it's here . . .

Part of the problem I had with the article was that the author felt the need to point out that Kim and Justin are "mixed-race" while Ruben and Tamyra are black.

You would think that the monolithic America described in the article would have at least as much problem voting for someone of a mixed-race as they would for someone who is black. If not more so.

Edited: because I still don't want to get into this discussion. ;)

Even(tired and cranky)Odds

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

Francis, I'm going to send you a PM that says "Fuck You."

Oh, that would be duplicative now, so nevermind.

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

Even this last stupid post is better than ":rofl:," numbskull.

TM

New Xtina pics
 

She just looks like she's quit doing crunches in that tummy-baring one to me... Oh, and, the hair looks recockulous, but I guess no more so than the grungy blond dreads she was doing before.

http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Fashio...42,568,00.html

n(in reality tv news, "funny Bob" will be the next Bachelor)cs

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

You are such a bitch.

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

:rofl:

TM

To click or not to click
 

I am terribly conflicted as to whether I should click on the freak-show link. I am definitely leaning towards not clicking on it, since it will probably offend my delicate sensibilities to the point of making me puke.

A substantially less nauseating link, except maybe for PLF
 

This is all cute and stuff, but we require substantive posts about non-substantive topics, so drop the cutesy emoticon-only posts!

How many times do I have to tell you this, Thurgreed?!!!!

Just as I thought
 

I don't know that MJ is a good example to show that a black man can be embraced by white America.

To click or not to click
 

Go ahead. It's just the politics board. What can it hurt?