February192008
movie review
Teeth
1 OUT OF 5 RATING: 2.5
Writer-director Mitchell Lichtenstein’s (artist Roy Lichtenstein’s son) feature debut is a horror comedy combining elements of atom-age 1950s horror films with mythology and feminist theory. The result is a B-movie satire—with a few funny and gross moments. A risky idea that in my opinion has turned into a lower-tier Troma production. Dawn (Jess Weixler) lives the life of a normal suburban teenager, except for the two nuclear reactors looming over her house. A goody two-shoes by any measure, she leads the local chapter of a chastity group, lecturing younger children on saving themselves for marriage. The set is staged for an awesome feminist discourse, but in literalizing the myth of vagina dentata, Lichtenstein trivializes it. Though good for a few laughs, the one-note Teeth is just another trite rape-revenge fantasy, the promise of its fierce premise unfulfilled because Lichtenstein fails to adequately account for Dawn’s pleasure as she goes on her chopping rampage. I felt the film took many wrong turns and I was sadly disappointed.
affairs of the lips: why we kiss
Researchers are revealing hidden complexities behind the simple act of kissing, which relays powerful messages to your brain, body and partner.
- A kiss triggers a cascade of neural messages and chemicals that transmit tactile sensations, sexual excitement, feelings of closeness, motivation and even euphoria.
- Kisses can convey important information about the status and future of a relationship. At the extreme, a bad first kiss can abruptly curtail a couple’s future.
- Kissing may have evolved from primate mothers’ practice of chewing food for their young and then feeding them mouth-to-mouth. Some scientists theorize that kissing is crucial to the evolutionary process of mate selection.
(@sciam)
survival in space unprotected is possible, briefly »
This research is interesting, but, um, please stop throwing dogs and monkeys out of the airlock.
what is the violence of the global? »
Jean Baudrillard explains how “today’s terrorism is not the product of a traditional history of anarchism, nihilism, or fanaticism. It is instead the contemporary partner of globalization.”
(@whoknew.org) Who Knew is an information design network devoted to ‘difficult content’ - ideas and issues that are commonly misunderstood and censored. Every 3 months, students graphically communicate texts considered complex, confusing and/or controversial - things that make us go, “Who knew?”
Five bands were commissioned (by GAP) to write five songs based on five different colors. Five directors then shot music videos of each song/color. The result is Sound of Color. Dntel, one half of The Postal Service, lends his signature sound to the color Red. Director team Blip Boutique take us on an inspired journey into a world where the real meets the imagined—call it the world of Red. Be sure to check out all of the colors! Neat project!
what is your favorite author's favorite word?
In David Lodge’s 1984 novel, ”Small World,” a literature professor fond of computer programming presents a novelist with a fantastic discovery: by entering all the novelist’s books into a computer, the professor can determine the novelist’s favorite word. The computer knows to ignore the mortar of sentences — articles, prepositions, pronouns — to get to ”the real nitty-gritty,” Lodge writes, ”words like love or dark or heart or God.” But the computer’s conclusion causes the novelist to shrink from ever writing again. His favorite word, it finds, is ”greasy.”
Two decades later, Amazon.com, improving on its popular ”search inside the book” function, in April introduced a concordance program, whereby a click of the mouse reveals a book’s most frequently occurring words, ”excluding common words.” Further clicks reveal their contexts.
(@ NYT)
definition
Zen·zi·zen·zi·zen·zic
–noun
1. The zenzizenzizenzic of a number is its eighth power. This term was suggested by Robert Recorde, a 16th century Welsh writer of popular mathematics textbooks, in his work The Whetstone of Witte, published in 1557, although his spelling was zenzizenzizenzike.
The word is obsolete except as a curiosity; the Oxford English Dictionary has only one citation for it. It survives as a historical oddity.
2. Zenzizenzizenzic has more Zs than any other word in the English language.
February142008
Happy Valentines Day everyone!
Source: Mr. Toast’s Valentines Cards
. Are you ready for Valentines Day? You’ll be sure to impress your sweetheart by giving them a Mr Toast Valentines Card. Pair that up with a Mr Toast doll and you’re set!
February132008
retro shades »
Super Sunglasses is a line of retro acetate sunnies whose shape is based loosely on an oversized interpretation of RayBan’s original Wayfarer. The glasses come in a distinctly late ’70s-early ’80s palette of hot pink, grass green, and off-white. Next season, Beckerman will add more hues, alternate silhouettes, and even some funky metal decorations. For more information, see (link).
