Subverse Aphrodesia

Article teaser reads as follows:
Spunky, brainy Colombian sexpot rides her bicycle down the cobblestone street of your mind

I further appreciated this comment half-way through.
Shakira's as big a weirdo as Devendra Banhart, only more talented and more focused.

Artist's self-portrait as on display at Toad Hall, North Scranton.

I bought one of Paul's pieces this past spring. A sinple boot sole tacked on to a colorfully painted board. I'm not sure what about it appealed to me. Maybe it was because something that shouldn't have been visually interesting had somehow become so, if only because the artist asked us to something that didn't immediately meet the eye. In the end, it was his story that really got me. It's one that you won't read even an inkling of in the official obit below.
Which kind of makes his suprising death even sadder, somehow.
Diana had discovered him selling his artwork at the flea market. She explained that he had no formal art education whatsoever -- which you could guess by looking at the childlike enthusiasm that eminated from his pieces. He just decided one day, after retiring, that he wanted to make art. And he did. He gathered found objects and began to glue and paint them together in some really delightful compositions. She called Michaels her favorite outsider artist. Pure. Anyway, it wasn't until after she actually introduced me to this artist, whose work had delighted my conviction that art is for everyone, a populist pasttime in which we should all engage, that I actually purchased that first piece and took it home.
He was a quiet man who looked down when he walked with a kind of shuffle. He seemed embarassed to be spoken to yet filled with pride that I might have genuinely admired his work.
The last time I saw him was at an open house at Toad Hall prior to Christmas. It seemed like the quanity of his work had grown exponentially. And he had really taken the experiment to the next level. I wanted to buy something, but I was broke.
So I bought a second piece just this Saturday. After the fact. After I found out we had lost him. Too late perhaps, but I felt like I had to for some reason, had to support this release o f energy, this expression he had found in life before he gave up.

Saddest Goodbyes.

Paul E. Michaels, Jermyn, died Wednesday (January 11, 2006) at Tyler Memorial Hospital, Tunkhannock. He was the husband of Virginia (Koncewicz) Michaels. They were married for 40 years.

Born in Factoryville on Oct. 22, 1941, he was the son of the late Kenneth and Rena (Wheelock) Michaels, and stepson of Gladys Michaels of Factoryville. He was a graduate of Lackawanna Trail High School. He served in the Army and Navy during the Vietman War. He was employeed by Thomson Electronics for 32 years and most recently was employeed at Elegant Moments, Eynon.

The really, truly hideous side of pretty
Alternet blog posted by Maria Luisa Tucker, January 12, 2006.

"Thankfully, a new television series is quietly exposing the ugly side effects of a world obsessed with feminine beauty. "The Secret Lives of Women," which premiered December 13th on the Women's Entertainment channel, has documented the real lives of porn workers, plastic surgery addicts, and women with eating disorders."

I know I'm probably not going to find it at the library so if I don't buy it or someone doesn't buy it for me ... I won't be reading it.
I like what Natalie Moore has to say about it on Alternet. But that's only how I heard about the book. It's not why I want to read it.

So.. then, the question still remains. Why? Maybe because her life seems on one hand to be so far removed from mine there is still this tragic common ground we are both walking upon.

I read about this last week in an Associated Press story but wasn't sure what to say. Now I'm thinking, how bout yuck?
Student targeted British mobile phone company Dot mobile has announced it plans to translate the texts of classic literature into text messages -- funky abrgd code and all.
Shakespeare's complete works is supposed to be out by April 2006.

The AP story gave these examples.
from John Milton's "Paradise Lost":
"devl kikd outa hevn coz jelus of jesus&strts war." (The devil is kicked out of heaven because he is jealous of Jesus and starts a war.)
from Jane Eyre:
"MadwyfSetsFyr2Haus." (Mad wife sets fire to house.)
Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice":
describes Mr. Darcy as "fit&loadd" (handsome and wealthy).

No, I haven't checked to see if its some horrible urban myth cause the AP story was on CNN and that seems legit.

I want a Fabulous Floating Inflatable Villa now daddy!

Guardian Unlimited claims the article that's undoubtedly my favorite read of the week.

Titled "Stiff competition for Bad Sex award ," Michelle Pauli's story published on Nov. 28 reviews the longlist for this year's Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction award, a.k.a. Britain's "most dreaded literary prize."

She writes. "Among the 11 contenders for the prize this year are some of the biggest names in literature, including Salman Rushdie, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Paul Theroux. Of the three, Theroux's offering, from Blinding Light, is arguably the most deserving of the prize, with its description of a character's orgasm as
...not juice at all but a demon eel thrashing in his loins and swimming swiftly up his cock, one whole creature of live slime fighting the stiffness as it rose and bulged at the tip and darted into her mouth."

(an Utne Web Watch referral)

Jesus in space: Negativland's Mark Hosler talks to a man who makes robots and murals for Christian theme parks.

Materials for Pinecone Owl: Pinecone, jiggle eyes, feathers, pipe cleaner, piece of yellow construction paper or felt, white glue, scissors, gloves

Use gloves to hold the pokey pinecone. Glue on jiggle eyes and feather tufts that look like ears. Cut a small triangle with scissors from yellow construction paper or felt and glue it in place for a beak. Take a pipe cleaner and bend it to form two feet. Glue the feet in place.

Ever wonder what those oddly named Jones Holiday sodas actually taste like? Turkey & Gravy? Brussels Sprout?

Matt and friends at pop culture blog x-entertainment.com have tasted them so you don't have to.

The review is not only an informative read, it's an entertaining one. You'll be hard pressed not to laugh at the poor bastards who actually subjected themselves to such oral torture for curiosity's sake.