This should be in some kind of sexist “hall of fame”! Honor House Products Corp. was responsible for Sea Monkeys, X-Ray Specs, Jet Rocket Space Ships, Polaris Nuclear Subs and apparently “stuffed” female heads… ugh.
In honor of this horrific vintage ad, here are The Animals performing “It’s My Life” with a stage set consisting of mounted female heads.
(via The J-Walk Blog)
Daniel Craig as the international symbol of machismo, James Bond, goes through a dramatic transformation to help send a message about the inequalities that exist between men and women.
Directed by Sam Taylor-Wood and scripted by Jane Goldman, the video Equals was created for the Equals partnership, a coalition of charities brought together by Annie Lennox to celebrate the centenary of International Women’s Day on March 8th.
“Together we’re stepping up the call for an equal world. And we want you to join us.”
The voice-over is Dame Judi Dench reprising her role as “M.”
For a minute there, I thought that someone must’ve hacked into The Washington Post’s website and hijacked George Will’s latest column, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich and the spotlight-chasing candidates of 2012.
Why do I say this? Because for once I actually agreed with something that George Will wrote. And if it wasn’t a hacker, does this mean that I woke up this morning in Bizarro World?
Let us not mince words. There are at most five plausible Republican presidents on the horizon - Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, former Utah governor and departing ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, former Massachusetts governor Romney and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty.
So the Republican winnowing process is far advanced. But the nominee may emerge much diminished by involvement in a process cluttered with careless, delusional, egomaniacal, spotlight-chasing candidates to whom the sensible American majority would never entrust a lemonade stand, much less nuclear weapons.
He’s right. Mike Huckabee is a genial idiot & admitted Creationist. He’s got exactly zero chance of carrying a single blue state and probably well aware of this himself.
Newt Gingrich? Why waste even a second contemplating this loud-mouthed, oafish grifter’s chances at the Presidency? He’s impossible to take seriously
Sarah Palin? Next
Haley Barbour? Barbour could win a few Republican primaries in the South, but that’s about it. Think he could take a single blue state or much of anything above the Mason-Dixon Line? Haley Barbour against Obama? Child, please!
Tim Pawlenty doesn’t have an ounce of charisma, he inspires no one and he’s a horse’s ass to boot. I doubt he could win a primary anywhere outside of his own state, except for the presence of all the even shorter midgets who might join in the race. (You can picture Pawlenty doing the electoral math in his head: “These guys (and Palin) suck, but I suck less!”)
Jon Huntsman? Well, Huntsman’s not an idiot and he’d be by far the Republican most Democrats and independent voters sour on Obama could vote for without holding their noses. It should go without saying that this salient fact makes Huntsman a certified no-hoper! He’d never get through a GOP primary season. Not worth serious contemplation for this reason alone. What’s the point, then? There is none. Look for Huntsman to drop out first, unless he thinks he can pull a John Anderson.
Mitch Daniels? Daniels is very, very popular in his home-state and has a competent record for the most part. He received more votes for a re-election than any candidate ever in the state of Indiana. His national profile is still too low to be able to say much about him this early in the game (a plus). Regarding Mitt Romney, the teabaggers and evangelical Christians will never, ever warm to the guy. The more he tries to court them, the more unelectable he will become. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place.
So did George Will sell his townhouse in Bizarro World or what? When even he can’t deny the obvious when it’s this… obviously obvious it doesn’t speak well to the GOP’s chances of taking the White House in 2012. It will be interesting to watch how other establishment Republicans and conservatives react to the anticipated field of such tepid GOP presidential candidates.
Approximately 26” x 22”
Designer Andrew Hartzell says, “Yes, this is real. And they’re very nice. I use one myself.”
The Wu-Tang Bath Mat is available for $20.00 over at Hartzilla.
Update: It appears the price is now $25.00.
(via TDW)
More forward thinking hip-hop, at last! This is the kind I really dig - addressing issues of sex and sexuality which (come on now, let’s be honest) hip-hop has never had a great track record for. Especially where women and gays are concerned.
Shunda K is one half of the out-spoken, lesbian, Christian rap group Yo Majesty. Hailing from Tampa, Florida, Y!M have developed a significant cult following throughout the world, signing to one of the UK biggest indie labels, Domino, and releasing their album Futuristically Speaking… Never Be Afraid in 2008. Their singles “Club Action”, “Don’t Let Go” and guest spot on Basement Jaxx’s “Twerk” have all proved big club hits, and taken the traditional Southern hip-hop sound into areas more electro-friendly and uptempo.
The band are currently on a temporary hiatus, but Shunda has been busy, with guest spots on Peaches’ “Billionaire” and DJ Flore’s Raw album under her belt. This January she released her debut solo album The Most Wanted, preceded by the singles “Here I Am (ft Scream Club’s Cindy Wonderful)” and “I’m Da Best (ft Yo Majesty’s Shon B)” on Fanatic Records.
Yet again defying the traditional notions of what “Southern hip-hop” means, The Most Wanted keeps the dancefloor pressure at an uptempo maximum, with production from UK garage and funky artists like Deekline and French electro producers like Les Gourmets. Shunda K matches them step for step with a breakneck flow that covers God, gays, love, sex, spirituality, enlightenment, education and pussy. Yeah, lots of pussy. The album’s first video “Im Da Best” has just dropped, and sets the scene perfectly:
Shunda K - “Here I Am (ft Scream Club’s Cindy Wonderful)”
Shunda K - My Light (ft Tan)
The Most Wanted has got great reviews already, with MTV Iggy declaring “This is an exciting, deep, and original work of hip hop. Get on it.” Shunda K now stands as the world’s best known and respected gay hip-hop artist. Could she be the first gay rapper to cross over into the mainstream?
The Most Wanted is available here.
This article was co-authored by Phil Zuckerman, a professor of sociology at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA and Dan Cady, an assistant professor of history at California State University, Fresno. He publishes on the history of the American West, music, and religion. Since Huffington Post didn’t pay them for this, I hope they won’t mind if I post it here in full, it’s quite a good read and so eloquently put.
What is addressed here should be examined in every church in America:
The results from a recent poll published by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reveal what social scientists have known for a long time: White Evangelical Christians are the group least likely to support politicians or policies that reflect the actual teachings of Jesus. It is perhaps one of the strangest, most dumb-founding ironies in contemporary American culture. Evangelical Christians, who most fiercely proclaim to have a personal relationship with Christ, who most confidently declare their belief that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, who go to church on a regular basis, pray daily, listen to Christian music, and place God and His Only Begotten Son at the center of their lives, are simultaneously the very people most likely to reject his teachings and despise his radical message.
Jesus unambiguously preached mercy and forgiveness. These are supposed to be cardinal virtues of the Christian faith. And yet Evangelicals are the most supportive of the death penalty, draconian sentencing, punitive punishment over rehabilitation, and the governmental use of torture. Jesus exhorted humans to be loving, peaceful, and non-violent. And yet Evangelicals are the group of Americans most supportive of easy-access weaponry, little-to-no regulation of handgun and semi-automatic gun ownership, not to mention the violent military invasion of various countries around the world. Jesus was very clear that the pursuit of wealth was inimical to the Kingdom of God, that the rich are to be condemned, and that to be a follower of Him means to give one’s money to the poor. And yet Evangelicals are the most supportive of corporate greed and capitalistic excess, and they are the most opposed to institutional help for the nation’s poor—especially poor children. They hate anything that smacks of “socialism,” even though that is essentially what their Savior preached. They despise food stamp programs, subsidies for schools, hospitals, job training—anything that might dare to help out those in need. Even though helping out those in need was exactly what Jesus urged humans to do. In short, Evangelicals are that segment of America which is the most pro-militaristic, pro-gun, and pro-corporate, while simultaneously claiming to be most ardent lovers of the Prince of Peace.
What’s the deal?
Before attempting an answer, allow a quick clarification. Evangelicals don’t exactly hate Jesus—as we’ve provocatively asserted in the title of this piece. They do love him dearly. But not because of what he tried to teach humanity. Rather, Evangelicals love Jesus for what he does for them. Through his magical grace, and by shedding his precious blood, Jesus saves Evangelicals from everlasting torture in hell, and guarantees them a premium, luxury villa in heaven. For this, and this only, they love him. They can’t stop thanking him. And yet, as for Jesus himself—his core values of peace, his core teachings of social justice, his core commandments of goodwill—most Evangelicals seem to have nothing but disdain.
And this is nothing new. At the end of World War I, the more rabid, and often less educated Evangelicals decried the influence of the Social Gospel amongst liberal churches. According to these self-proclaimed torch-bearers of a religion born in the Middle East, progressive church-goers had been infected by foreign ideas such as German Rationalism, Soviet-style Communism, and, of course, atheistic Darwinism. In the 1950s, the anti-Social Gospel message piggybacked the rhetoric of anti-communism, which slashed and burned its way through the Old South and onward through the Sunbelt, turning liberal churches into vacant lots along the way. It was here that the spirit and the body collided, leaving us with a prototypical Christian nationalist, hell-bent on prosperity. Charity was thus rebranded as collectivism and self-denial gave way to the gospel of accumulation. Church-to-church, sermon-to-sermon, evangelical preachers grew less comfortable with the fish and loaves Jesus who lived on earth, and more committed to the angry Jesus of the future. By the 1990s, this divine Terminator gained “most-favored Jesus status” among America’s mega churches; and with that, even the mention of the former “social justice” Messiah drove the socially conscious from their larger, meaner flock.
In addition to such historical developments, there may very well simply be an underlying, all-too-human social-psychological process at root, one that probably plays itself out among all religious individuals: they see in their religion what they want to see, and deny or despise the rest. That is, religion is one big Rorschach test. People look at the content of their religious tradition—its teachings, its creeds, its prophet’s proclamations—and they basically pick and choose what suits their own secular outlook. They see in their faith what they want to see as they live their daily lives, and simultaneously ignore the rest. And as is the case for most White Evangelical Christians, what they are ignoring is actually the very heart and soul of Jesus’s message—a message that emphasizes sharing, not greed. Peace-making, not war-mongering. Love, not violence.
Of course, conservative Americans have every right to support corporate greed, militarism, gun possession, and the death penalty, and to oppose welfare, food stamps, health care for those in need, etc.—it is just strange and contradictory when they claim these positions as somehow “Christian.” They aren’t.
It’s the Dangerous Minds Radio Hour episode 17 with your returning champion, Brad Laner. A quick glance at the playlist will reveal a raucous incursion into many beloved realms of psychedelic feedback and caustic, cheap synths. These are a few of my favorite things…
01. Amon Duul II - Archangel’s Thunderbird
02. Dr. John - Stealin’
03. Game Theory - Dripping With Looks
04. Tuxedomoon - 19th Nervous Breakdown
05. Crawling Chaos - Left Hand Path
06. The Byrds - The Christian Life (Gram Parsons lead vocal version)
07. The Electric Prunes - Long Day’s Flight
08. The Beautiful Daze - City Jungle Pt. 2
09. Quicksilver Messenger Service - Calvary
10. 13th Floor Elevators - I’ve Got Levitation
11. The Groundhogs - Cherry Red
12. Whitehouse - Avisodomy
13. Further Instructions
Download this week’s episode
Subscribe to the Dangerous Minds Radio Hour podcast at iTunes
Video bonus: Members of The Beautiful Daze mascarading as the grooviest fake band in history, The Sacred Cows as previously blogged about by Marc Campbell here :
Eddie Kirkland died on February 27 in Tampa, Florida. He was killed in a car accident while driving to a gig. He was 87.
A monster of a guitar player and a thrilling performer with a deep history within the blues community, Kirkland toured for 8 years with John Lee Hooker, was a bandleader for Otis Redding and played with Little Richard and Ben E. King, among many others. But despite his formidable credentials, Kirkland never broke out of the hardcore blues circuit to a wider audience.
Mr. Kirkland became known for his impassioned singing; wailing guitar lines (he was among the first to bring blues guitar into the electric age); vibrant stage presence (he favored bravura headgear like turbans and huge bandannas); and boundless energy, expressed not only musically but also acrobatically.”
The New York Times obituary here.
Eddie Kirkland with Foghat at the Palladium in New York City, 1977. Fuck yeah!
The Foghat footage is followed by a fan made video from last year of Eddie in rehearsal.
