Hosted by hot buttered rum.
This week's open threads have been brought to you by food topped with butter.
Open Thread
Hosted by hot buttered rum.
This week's open threads have been brought to you by food topped with butter.
Quote of the Day
"Look out weekend 'cause, here I come, because weekends were made for fun." — Debbie Deb, giving fair warning to the weekend and explaining her motives for the move. I could not agree more.
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, makers of Nigel Tufnel Amps. They go up to eleven!
Deeky: It's Here!
Deeky: Sleepy Jack Is Sleepy
Deeky: Who Let the Dogs Out?
Deeky: Finding Jack
Deeky: Just FYI
Leave your links in comments...
It's Here!
Finally! After decades of waiting! It seemed like this day would never come but it has! Atlas Shrugged: Part I: Shrug Like There's No Tomorrow is now available on DVD!
Official Atlas Shrugged Movie DVD
Get your copy at the Official Www.atlasshruggedpart1.com Website for only $19.95! ("In stock. Order now for immediate delivery.") Or, get it at Amazon for $15.49 (Free market!) or download it for $3.99 (48 hour rental, free market, too!) or $14.99 (own it forever (i.e. until your harddrive crashes!)!). Or Qwikster it! Sorry, it isn't on Redbox yet (the market has spoken!)
It's also on Blu-ray in case you want to see the special effects in super high definition on your 97" plasma TV. (I thought plasma came from blood. They're not making these TVs out of blood are they?! "Personhood!") Oddly, the Blu-ray version doesn't seem to be available on the film's website. (Free market?) But that's okay, they make it up to you.
With this!:
Official Atlas Shrugged DVD: Collector's 4 DVD Box Set
For the collectors! If you collect Atlas Shrugged DVDs, this is the must have Atlas Shrugged DVD this season! Some of the exciting features in this set:
Each DVD contains the FULL Theatrical Release of ATLAS SHRUGGED Part I which opened in limited release nationwide April 15th, 2011 (Whut?)
"I am John Galt." fan video compilation (35:06) (35:06!)
"The John Galt Theme" slideshow (3:17) (Hawt!)
"The World of Atlas Shrugged" audio program (MP3 and ROM) (ROM? Huh?)
"Welcome" from FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe (Fun!)
Barbara Branden on the Passion of Ayn Rand (Also fun!)
Exclusive footage from the April 14th premiere (Not fun!)
And if that's not enough, it comes in three (three!) separate editions! One with an actual film cel (recycling!) for $139.95 (a fool and his money!) and another with a film cell plus an autograph from someone (be surprised!) for $179.95! (Paypal not accepted.)
Just in time for Christmas! (Also, Santa: so NOT the Randian ideal. Those kids didn't earn those Legos!) Shake the invisble hand of the free market and get yours today.
Question of the Day
So now that Brett Ratner is out as producer of the Oscars, and Eddie Murphy, the star of Ratner's new film, has dropped out of the hosting gig: Who should host the Oscars?
Should anyone be inclined to answer, "Who cares?", I'll kindly request setting aside the apathy in favor of acknowledging that the Oscars are watched live by millions of people globally, and more than a billion consume coverage of the event of some kind. Legitimate arguments about the Oscars being self-indulgent, exploitative, reliant on and promotive of kyriarchal narratives, and boring aside, who is chosen to host matters—especially when it's not another straight white cis dude.
I'll throw my vote to Aisha Tyler, who is not only hilarious but a seriously underrated TV presenter. (Does anyone else remember when she hosted Talk Soup?) Runner-Up: Cat Deeley.
Quote of the Day
[Trigger warning for misogyny.]
"Ew, gross! Who the hell does this ugly bitch think she's fooling?"—Contributor MP at the website of the Herman Cain PAC, referring to Karen Kraushaar, one of the women who received a settlement in the 1990s after alleging that Cain sexually harassed her.
Because of course "ugly bitches" can't be sexually harassed. Gee, where have I heard that before...?
Here is a screenshot, in case they ever have the decency to take it down and the indecency to do so without acknowledgment that it ever happened.
[H/T to Lauri Apple.]
For Immediate Release
A bunch of people have asked me if I have any thoughts on Brett Ratner and his stupid misogyny and gross homophobia.
Yes, I do: He seems like a real asshole.
An Observation
All day, I've been waiting to hear how the "people" for whom Mississippi 26 had been written—fertilized eggs—reacted to the news that the cruel voters of Mississippi had denied them their personhood.
I'm still waiting. I'm thinking that might be because they're not actually people.
Mutual Rescue
by Shaker BrianWS
I've always wanted a greyhound for as long as I can remember. When I was finishing college at Portland State University in Oregon, I volunteered time with a greyhound rescue group there, but I wasn't ready for a dog at that point in my life. After several years of winding my way around the country, and finally settling back in the Chicago area, I knew I was ready for a dog.
I met Dudley for the first time when I went to visit Liss for a lazy afternoon last spring, and I can confirm that, at that point, it was ALL over for me being without a dog. I work at home in a job that leaves my summer really busy (and frequently takes me to work events outside of the home) and my winter/spring the complete opposite where I'm home all the time—so the transition period of fall was the perfect time to bring home a canine companion. Near the end of my busy season of work, I went to the annual picnic for American Greyhound with Liss, the rescue from which she and Iain had adopted Dudz, so I could meet the dogs available for adoption.
I had my heart set on getting a black female greyhound. Doing research on the website before the picnic (i.e. endlessly mooning over dog pictures), I fell in love with a black female greyhound. I checked her page daily to see if she had been adopted yet, and, much to my dismay (for me) and happiness (for her), she was soon adopted. But I was just SURE that I wanted to bring a black female greyhound home with me. I even had this brilliant plan to name my new female dog Paget (after Paget Brewster from Criminal Minds). I kept checking the website.
Fun With Site Meter
So yesterday I noticed that someone came to Shakesville by searching for:
I wasn't sure I even wanted to know what that was about but I googled it anyway and, yes, we are up there as a google hit when you look for that particular phrase (note: I did not find an actual sex position called a "pastrami sandwich", though apparently a "reuben" is one according to that font of wisdom, Urban Dictionary). Excellent.
Currently the top five searches bringing people to Shakesville are:
1. shakesville
2. how to fuck
3. scarlett johansson naked
4. shakespeare's sister
5. gay sex
[Previously in Fun with Site Meter: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven]
Autumn
There is a fierce autumn wind blowing here, whipping the dwindling leaves from their branches with petulant truculence. On one side of its bellicose gusts is the fading warmth of summer; on the other, the ominous chill of the coming winter. It blows dark silver clouds across the sky so quickly that a stormy darkness yields to bright amber sunlight and comes back again in a moment, giving time the unnatural feeling of a time-lapse film.
The wind creates a cacophony of sound: Rustling leaves, crackling branches, flags ripping away from the polls that hold them, the sound of great numbers of trees swaying like a skyborne tide, its own whoosh of portent.
I throw open the windows to let in the tempestuous air. The cats race to the windows and press their faces against the screens; the dogs lift their heads and their noses twitch, their eyes grow wide as if in recognition of a forgotten part of an ancient self. The air fills their lungs and possesses them. They are beyond frisky: For a moment, they are wild, just like the air.
[Video Description: Scenes of trees in the wind from around my garden, this morning. Set to Yann Tiersen's "La Corde."]
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by autumn.
Recommended Reading:
Kaimipono: [TW for misogyny and harassment] Harassment, Male Privilege, and Jokes That Women Just Don't Get
Vanessa: Planned Parenthood Launches Campaign Targeting 2012 Candidates
Andy: Highlights of Hillary Clinton's AIDS Speech at the NIH (Video + Transcript)
Alissa: Church-Backed Abortion Bill Sparks Protest in Russia
Richard: [TW for fatphobia] The Term "Obesity Epidemic" Is Unjustified and a Harmful Scare Tactic
Mimi: [TW for misogyny; objectification; symbolic disembodiment] No Comment: PETA Doesn't Want You to Wear Your Own Hair, Either
Lady T: Why Watch Romantic Comedies?
RIP Heavy D: See Arturo and Renee.
And here is a very cool picture of a cat batting a mouse, which I recommend not clicking through to view if you are disturbed by images of the violence of natural catdom. (Note: The red on the cat's paw is a leaf.)
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
