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News Roundup

Bad News

…and then there’s this kind of news:


…which is when the Border Patrol should have started shooting, “to protect the senators’ lives”.


…can’t see why she’s upset; it saves her having to move twice, when President Braindead is tossed out of the WH.


…which in the case of classical music, is clearly true.

And still on the theme of “Campus Foolishness”:


…which is fine — just as long as the total cost of reparations is added to their student loans.


…somebody please tell me this is an April Fool’s Day joke.


…and if you thought the Eyeties were being overrun by Arab and African refugees before…


…cue sad violin music:


…no doubt just the latest in a whole series of kitchen screwups which finally caused him to snap.


…hamster, meet Mr. Garbage Disposal.


…just the latest in our “Extreme Self-Delusion” series.

Now it’s time for INSIGNIFICA:

    

And finally:


Okay, I admit that this particular pic wasn’t in the actual photo shoot, but whatever.

Foreign Darwinism

Mocking Furriners

What the title means is what happens when tourists travel to a foreign country and then act stupidly — usually with the excuse “But it isn’t a problem back home!” — and are then astonished when they’re arrested, abused or have similar bad things happen to them.  Here’s an excellent example of such stupidity:

Police in Dubai arrested a group of people for public debauchery over a widely-shared video showing naked women posing on a balcony in the city.
Violations of the public decency law in the United Arab Emirates, including for nudity and other ‘lewd behaviour’, carry penalties of up to six months in prison and a 5,000 dirham (£983) fine.
The sharing of pornographic material is also punishable with prison time and a fine of up to 500,000 dirhams under the country’s laws, which are based on Islamic law, or Shariah.

I know, I know;  the airwaves and newspapers are going to be full of cries such as “How ancient and barbaric are their laws!” along with excuses such as “They were only having a little fun!”

Yeah, ancient and barbaric they may be, but let us not think for a moment that these silly tarts didn’t know that what they were doing was illegal in the country they were visiting — I’m willing to bet that this was part of the allure of acting like this — and now they’re going to discover exactly what happens to “whores” and the “debauched” in the oh-so-enlightened UAE, with their swanky hotels, huge shopping malls and international airport.

The “Darwinism” I refer to in the title doesn’t mean Darwinism taken to its extreme, of course.  That’s what happens in little garden spots such as Southeast Asia, where drug smugglers face the death penalty.  By comparison, this is small potatoes:

I would have little problem with this bunch of idiots getting a few light lashes with a cane — a fairly common punishment in those parts for that kind of behavior.  I’m not suggesting this particular punishment, of course, but all in all, it could be worse.

Take it from someone who knows:  after a while, your ass stops tingling after a caning — and given the choice, I’d gladly take that over six months’ imprisonment in an Arab jail.

Monday Funnies

Funny Stuff

Today, it’s our special Vegetarian Edition:

 

And if get excited by these vegetables, you need help:

 

That’s enough of that filth.  Time for something more wholesome:

And finally, a fruitarian I could get behind, so to speak:

Bonus prize for guessing the band’s name… no?  Here they are.

Power & Beauty

Drive Time

A couple weeks ago, C.W. posted this pic:

It is, of course, one of the earlier offerings from the once-defunct and since-resurrected Wiesmann company, and as lovely as that picture is, it doesn’t do the car justice.  Here are a couple more:

Here’s the interior:

From Wikipedia:

Wiesmann used BMW six-cylinder engines to power its MF models, until the introduction in 2003 of the GT MF4, which used BMW’s 4.8-litre V8, and the MF 5, which used the M5’s 5.0-litre V10.

The cars are all, of course, hand-built and don’t ask about the price.  (Okay, okay:  think new Aston Martin DB11 price for a secondhand Wiesmann MF 5.)

Lottery payout permitting, the MF4 would be on my shortlist of “Outrageously-Overpriced Self-Indulgent Midlife Crisis Cars”:

Come to think of it, it might well be the only car on that list.

Don’t ask me to pick between the Roadster (ragtop) or GT (roof).  Nor between the tan or white leather interior.  As for automatic- vs. manual transmission… that, I could decide.

Disturbing Juxtapositions

Entertainment, Music

Sometimes I wonder if I’m going crazy or if I just see things that aren’t there.

Here’s one example.  I woke up the other day with a song glued into my brain — you know what I mean, right?  Anyway, the song was Pink Floyd at their most wonderfully obscure, i.e.  See Emily Play.

So of course I went onto Ewwwtchoob and watched the thing.  All the way through, though, I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that the video was reminiscent of another piece of surreal moviemaking — and then I remembered the final scene  from Antonioni’s Blow Up.

The two scenes are in no way alike, cinematically speaking — one is in black & white and is essentially a music video, while the other is deathly silence played in color.  But both are mimes, and wonderfully executed.  Was it the mimes, or the similar locations in a park which triggered the association?

Or maybe it was just Syd Barrett and Michelangelo Antonionini who were crazy.

Afterthought:  I think Blow-Up was created (1965-66) before See Emily Play was filmed (1967).

And just to drive everybody else crazy (why should I be the only one), Blow Up featured the Yardbirds in the famous (and disturbing) night club scene.  Which is why I sometimes associate Jimmy Page with Antonionini.

Unpaid Endorsements

Entertainment

For those who haven’t yet seen it, do yourselves a favor and try to find the Brit TV show The Last Detective, starring the brilliant Peter Davison as “Dangerous” Davies.

It’s a funny, gentle show about a lovable loser (who is mocked, abused and ill-treated by his boss and colleagues in a police station, not to mention his bitch of an estranged wife), but who somehow comes out on top because he just will not give up an investigation, or anything else for that matter.  (I have to say that his meekness irritated me at first;  but stick to it and you’ll be joyfully surprised when you learn that sometimes, nice guys don’t finish last.)

I may just buy the DVD set when I have a few spare pennies dug out of the sofa, because Dangerous is one of my favorite TV characters of all time.  (Yes, my DVD player can handle PAL format.)

In similar vein, there’s Vexed  (on Netflix), which in the first episode has the funniest opening scene ever.  Season 1 also stars the unbelievable Lucy Punch (Dinner With Schmucks  and Doc Martin, also only Season 1).  Funny and occasionally surreal situations.