Not Surprised

There was a suicide attack yesterday in Israel. As usual the media focused on the terrorist instead of his victims. Israellycool tries to correct the obvious bias and disrespect by remembering the victims.

Julie Gives Real Answers To Those Pesky Teen - Girl Quizzes

Okay I Know Italy Has A Certain Reputation

But this is ridiculous (by the Prime Minister no less!)

I Wonder...

What Would Jesus Brew?

I wonder if people would find it more offensive if it was Muhammad instead of Jesus? Anyway, i think one of the voices is Amy Sedaris who i think is quite funny, the actual video is so so funny but i like the 1930's animation style.

Pet Peeves: Death

1. When people who have been in a major catastrophe where a lot of people died or have survived a rare and often deadly disease claim that it must have been because G-d wanted them alive or he was looking out for them. Morons. What about all the other people who died? Are you something special and the other jerks deserve to die? Fuckin morons who don't think.

2. When someone dies of lung cancer and everyone just has to mention if the person did or didn't smoke. News flash it doesn't make it less tragic if the person did not smoke. When (an average) person dies of a heart attack do people remark on the diet and exercise routine of the said person? Is it bad for your health to smoke? Obviously yes. But i HATE, HATE, when people who don't smoke feel compelled to feel more sorry for lung cancer victims who didn't smoke. Another news flash it's CANCER! It doesn't only come from the EVIL cigarettes, it's genes and environment people. It's bad no matter how you get it. I was very sad to read Dana Reed died, but it pissed the shit out me how everyone mentioned she wasn't a smoker - yes because all those people who smoked deserved to die!

Talk To The (Flying) Cell Phone

Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been charged with assaulting her housekeeper with a cell phone after she was arrested at her Park Avenue home this morning, police said today, in the second New York celebrity phone-throwing incident in 12 months.

Okay, first time i can understand but twice? I think it's time to learn to spend time away from the cell phone and more importantly not to use physical violence to get your message across. Stupid celebrities.

And look at the mother of all excuses for bad behavior: My parents made me do it or my traumatic and sad childhood.

After that incident, in which she assaulted her assistant Georgina Galanis with a telephone, she blamed her fiery temper on lingering resentment towards her father for abandoning her as a child.

All The Brokeback Parodies You'll Ever Need

Enough already. The movie wasn't that good to begin with and the theme song begins to really get on your nerves. Never the less enjoy.

Cartoony

A few years ago i started to subscribe to comics site that would send one comic strip of my choice to my e-mail box. At first the option was unlimited to how many different comic strips one could subscribe. Then it changed and you had to pay for more than one comic strip to be sent to your inbox. I chose Boondocks, although my favorite comic had been Get Fuzzy. Sometimes Boondocks would be funny, on a more rare occasion it would be sharp, but for the most part it was ultra-liberal Bush bashing drivel. At some point i stopped opening the e-mails because the strip got so bad. Then i decided to switch to FoxTrot, thinking i might as well take advantage of the free offer and not have to delete all those Boondocks e-mails. So i was delighted to see this:

On UN

Gib reminds me why i love John Bolton so much. Seriously, he's the best thing that happened to the UN since...well ever.

Love Shot

I was looking at some photos of a female blogger that will remain anonymous. Typically this blogger's flikr profile is all about food, places she's been, and organization tools with some very rare self-portraits. In most of her self-portraits she looks off. Not exactly ugly but the buoyancy of her writing that i expect to somehow resonate on her face always falls short of my expectations. Even her professional wedding pictures looked flat.
And then, the other day i saw a photo of her and she absolutely glowed. That energy and wit found in her writing finally showed up in her face. And the difference? The photo wasn't a self-portrait or taken by a professional; instead it was taken by her husband.
This reminded me of my friend who all in all is an attractive woman but not in the traditional sense; lets just say people (especially of the opposite sex) are drawn to her. She has a certain sensuality about her that is hard to explain without meeting her. Every time i've taken photos of her they tend to make her look horrible (and i pride myself on taking good portrait photos.) When i complained about not being able to take good photos of her, she revealed her theory that only her husband can take good pictures of her. "He sees me, like no one else does."
So there you have it, if you're not photogenic marry someone who loves you and make them take pictures of you.

What I Learned From Watching V for Vendetta*

* Taken as an allegory for the Bush/Blair administration

- You know that avian flu that might kill half the earth's population? The American government is probably behind: a) developing it b) decimating among the population (preferably among the children).

- Also remember 9/11, all those Israeli suicide bombings, the Madrid bombings, and the London Bombings? It was probably a government plot to indict all those scary Muslims which the racist Europeans and Xenophobic Americans hate. Remember it's a religion of peace. All those terrorists attacks were pinned on them by Amerikkka or Israel.

- The most persecuted group in the world right now are Muslims, a close second are homosexuals.

- Christianity is an evil, evil, evil religion all its priests/pastors are pedophiles or sadomasochists.

- There is nothing more brave than being a writer/actress/director (bonus points if you're a homosexual too!)

- Bush will go on for at least two more terms causing riots and the great downfall of America. Fuck the Constitution.

- Oppressed people are all noble and if you give them a mask and a cape they will come out in perfect lines to show those evil meanies in government what they are made off.

- Blowing up buildings/old monuments is a great way to change the world.

-Everyone who is in power is tainted and evil....except maybe one or two people who have realized WHAT THIS IS REALLY ABOUT. It also helps if you're a scientists. Scientists are all good people but are tricked by nasty priests and uber-violent dictators to perform their dirty work.

- There is no irony what so ever about V living the wet dream of every yuppie ever imagined. None.

Basically Steve's post sums it up best. Except i didn't even like the "action" part of the movie.

Silly Morning Test

Sex Bomb

Tom Jones' rendition of Sex Bomb will forever remind me of my trip to St. Petersburg as a very impressionable eighteen year-old. Lets just say the memory also includes male strippers and early morning/late night deserted streets of Peter. The video of the Evgeni Plushenko reminded me of the this great campy song. The performance although more goofy than funny is still enjoyable.

Fun with Church Signs

A while ago i got this message in an e-mail. So now i converted it on the church generator sign. Fun.

Via - Ace

Dating from the guys point of view.

I think Allah would like this movie. Ah, L'Amour comes from a great tradition of Don Hertzfeldt's animated shorts, i saw it years ago. I first fell in love with Hertzfeldt's work when i saw Rejected. After seeing the movie, i kept quoting a phrase that shouldn't really be written here...but if you seen the Bitter Films' short, just remember the little cloud with the "tiny problem." Here's one of my favorite stills.




I might not agree with everything in the film but it's still pretty darn funny.

Snarky Definition of Blogging Goals

I found it quite amusing.

My Clooney Dislike

I don't know why that man annoys the crap out of me but he does. So it seems Mr. Generous and all humankind loving is donating his Oscar gift bag to charity. It probably has nothing to do with this.

A Hairy Situation

Men always make fun of women for caring too much about their looks. But here's a little secret i have come to observe in gay and straight men alike: their hair is sacred. Men obsess about their hair (or the lack of it) just as much as women obsess about their weight. Granted their are probably exceptions to this rule. But i've been told too many times to "watch the hair" not blog about this phenomena. I'm still a little fuzzy on why hair is so important, all i know is that it is.

Ryazanov's Last Movie

He's decided not to direct anymore movies afer he finishes his last film, Andersen: Fantasy on a Theme.

Ryazanov's office is lined with visual references to Danish writer Hans
Christian Andersen, the "often ambiguous and unhappy figure," as Ryazanov
calls him, whose life and stories provide a loose framework for the film.

However he is doing many other things in the meantime, like opening a film lover's cinema house in Moscow. Good to know. I know his last efforts haven't been as good as his earlier work so hopefully Andersen will be good.

Worth Checking Out

Many times Sophia's photography have blown me away. She can turn the most mundane subject and make it new, interesting, and compelling. Not only does she have an incredible eye for singular moments but she also has the extra factor of an expansive imagination (check out the fork & macaroni photos) which makes viewing her work a always an enjoyable surprise. I feel like lately there have been very few enjoyable surprises in my life. Things seem to take their natural course. So it's always nice to check in with an old friend and see something inspiring.

(P.S. Sophia is also an incredibly talented story teller to boot, alas the girl erased her blog. Grrr.)

Another Persoanlity Test

Genuine Builder

My Personal Dna Report


via Karol

I Take This Meme As A Sign Of Love

My nickname: I have many... my real name lends to a lot (mostly obnoxiously obvious) nicknames. My friend Sam has lot of good ones - he usually calls me Fun-stuff. One of my closest friends calls me Monkey. I'm also a Bear (hence Petite dov). My favorite nickname was given by my sister, it's short and sweet.

My hometown: Leningrad and Needham, MA.

My team: I don't really follow any sports either. I like watching soccer from time to time. I'll root for the US or Israelli teams (sometimes for the Russians/Ukranians - figure skating.) However, i rather play the sport than watch it.

My theme song: Elliot Smith's Between the Bars and for happy occasions Leonard Cohen's Closing Time

My drink: Since i was fifteen it has been gin & tonics - clean and simple.

My occupation: Student / Future Hobo

My spare time: Reading way too many blogs, watching movies, taking long walks outside, travelling, planning my sister's bachelorette party.

My hiding spot: My car.

My book: The Little Prince and Deniskini Stories (both children stories)

My hero: My Parents (corny but true), my sister, Theodore Herzl, Leo Tolstoy, George Burns.

Pass it on to Jessica, Esther, and Writersbloc.

The Next TV Show I Might Actually Watch And Like

Gilmore Girls have been extremely disappointing this season and Arrested Development has been cancelled. So unless i'll be swayed by some people to watch reality tv i think Sons and Daughters is the next show i'll be watching.