Doodlings

I'm experimenting with mashing-up classic art-works. First up is Rene Magritte's "Infinite Gratitude"

I wanted to emphasise the notion of infinity so I placed recursive insets of the work to generate a vanishing point (like on the cover of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma).

The repetition of the floating men also alludes to what is perhaps Magritte's most famous work, "Golconde".

Anyway without further ado, here's the result:

I'll have to Photoshop the edges etc.... something I'll get around to one of these days.

Next up: H.R. Giger meets Brueghel!!!

Ching chong ling long ting tong

Alexandra Wallace's infamous YouTube rant generated the usual two-minutes hate from the expected quarters and resulted in her dropping out of UCLA. Did she deserve this? I'd say not. She was simply giving her opinion (love it or hate it) on an actual event that she had witnessed, and passed some observations on Asian cultural mores. The tone itself was more crass than offensive, but without any overt incitement to violence it seems surprising that anyone should spend more than a couple of minutes musing on it before passing on to something more worthwhile.

Just some thoughts on the matter:

• At her age (early twenties, I'd guess), everyone should be allowed some slack for injudicious remarks. Granted, it was very foolish to put the video up in this day and age (how could she be so unaware of the PC-police?) but if everyone was to be slapped down for stupidity then the world would be a quieter, duller place.

• The backlash from Asians, particularly ethnic Chinese individuals, reeks of hypocrisy. I'm half-Chinese myself and I know what we say about other races when no-ones listening.

• However impolitely expressed, there is an element of truth to her observations.

• The selective hypocrisy of minority race champions and leftie/liberals in the whole affair is not unexpected but still nauseating. What are the odds of this generating widespread outrage and the perpetrator being hounded out of town if the tables were turned? Actually we don't even need to speculate, Kent Wong, a professor and open borders advocate at UCLA itself, didn't seem to do his career any harm by race-baiting "white old guys".

Well, even though she has now been made an example of, I would still counsel caution to the satisfied parties before they overly indulge in congratulatory back-slapping. My main concern with shrill protests from these protected minorities is that they don't take into account that the silent majority, in fact any group that is the defining majority in a particular society, has limits to its tolerance especially if it feels it is on the road to losing this status and being marginalised. They would do well to remember that white males have been incredibly violent in the past and they may have helped nudge the clock hand forward just a tiny bit here.

Why should I care? I'm not American or a resident and non-white to boot. To me it's a simple question of fairness. Ideally I would prefer a society where it is possible to express robust, no-holds-barred views about race, sex, religion, culture etc... but failing that, then the hands-off approach should be applied fairly on all sides. The current situation, with designated target groups (who have to take everything lying down) and protected groups (untouchable due to past discrimination) is just a breeding ground for resentment on one hand, and over-reach on the other.

Anyway, to lighten up, this guy rocks.

Lest anyone thinks that I'm cutting the fair Alexandra some slack because I fancy her, I actually think she's a bit of a porker (although others may beg to differ). From those pics she appears to have put on a fair amount of weight in a few years and seems to be a typical specimen of the chubby white chick. I would guess when she hits 28 or 29 she'll be sagging and drooping all over the place and her thighs will be so riddled with cellulite that they'll look like cottage cheese. That's when she'll realise that she ought to have eaten more bean sprouts and tofu!

Sex, Sports and Sand....

I've been mucking about on Google trends (to the detriment of my work efficiency, LOL). What a fantastic resource this will be to future historians! I remember reading 20-odd years ago a lament by a professional historian that the displacement of the epistolary record (letter writing, I'm feeling bombastic today) by the telephone had led to a dearth of primary material for historical research. As ever, this was just as dawn was breaking on the advent of email. And with blogs, Facebook, Twitter etc... so much of the minutiae of contemporary life has been recorded for posterity that future historians will be spoilt for choice.

Anyways, I was just checking out web traffic statistics for Basel and there was this interesting correlation:

There's a mysterious gap in the middle of 2010 for hits to a well-known site for human anatomy aficionados. The lacuna coincided partially with the 2010 Football World Cup.

Nevertheless, there was still a gap even after the Final (11th July). July-August however are the summer vacation months and sure enough the search term for vacation, ("ferien" in Swiss-German and not the Hochdeutsch "urlaub"), peaks during the latter stages of the World Cup and carries on for the rest of the period.

So what would a social scientist make from this? Porn consumers are predominantly male* (No shit, Sherlock), sports (especially a once in four years extravaganza) can trump sex, most porn traffic comes from the 20-40 crowd who decamp for the summer sun-and-fun vacations,....

*on the assumption that guys are more likely to be keen football fans, just like women are in general more interested in fashion.

Anyway, in keeping with the blogpost title, just a little eye-candy...... ;-)

A team that's guaranteed to score!

Knickers In a Twist

Just spotted this hilarious ad on CNN. Can't wait for the squeals of outrage from the femosphere. You go Grrrrls! LOL

Of course if the tables were turned and we have a cougar day-dreaming of bronzed guys from her latest holiday, then its move along folks, nothing to see here......

Equality's a bitch.

Respiração (no Ar)

Pink Floyd's Breathe (In the Air) makes a great bossa nova tune when played with the right rhythm (I don't think I got it quite right, though). It's chock-full of minor9, seventh, sus and Maj7 chords that just cry out for re-interpretation. I think the closest the Floyd ever got to a soft jazz vibe was in St Tropez and Biding My Time.

And yes, I'm singing in a ridiculous gay/fey voice as a nod to Astrud Gilberto.

Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us Pt.II

Today is International Women's Day and I must say I'm quite surprised that Google hasn't commemorated it with a suitably themed logo (neither google.ch or google.com).

Anyway my personal tribute to the ahem, weaker (OK gentler) sex is posting this performance by Sam Phillips of her haunting composition that's been on my playlist for weeks now.

Eat da PooPoo!!!!

So wrong that its right. To paraphrase Wilde, "One would have to have a PC-heart of stone not to laugh".

Fave bits are where he shoves the gay porn in the face of the recoiling Bishop, and later at the two-minutes hate with the frenzied crowd reaction. I'm also tickled to think of Pastor Martin Ssempa trawling the internet for hours searching for gay porn. 

Disclaimer: I don't give a shit what consenting adults get up to in the privacy of their Turkish baths so long as no gerbils are harmed. As a heterosexual man I'm all in favour of homosexuality as it means less competition for me. But while I support gay marriage, their right not to be molested/discriminated against for their predilections, etc....I draw the line at gay adoption or at off-the-rack InstaFamily's like Elton John's and whatshisface's. Its all very well to feel virtuous, inclusive and liberal in benignly condoning (or even celebrating) these self-styled courageous smashing of moral taboos, but everything generates a reaction and society has been going downhill these last 40 years after the Sexual Revolution and the concomitant decline of absolute moral standards. It's time to draw the line on the more militant demands and say we will not bend over backwards to accommodate their ends.

Hat tip to Oriental Right