Saturday, October 30, 2004

Richard Scarry's "Fun things to do while drunk" and other children's books

The kids over at Something Awful have been having fun with PhotoShop. Please see Children's Books All Grown Up. 12 pages of goodness.

via Norbizness

Friday, October 29, 2004

femiphobia


Swaggering machismo got a new lease on life after the post-9/11 attacks, as Republicans tried to appropriate not just patriotism but also masculinity as a GOP virtue. Attacking the manhood of the opposition has become a signature tactic of any GOP election strategy. So it isn't surprising that the 2004 presidential election campaign has been played out over the past six months as a battle over John Kerry's masculinity. Be it his "sensitivity" on the war on terror or "girlie-man" preoccupation with the lack of jobs or health care, Kerry has been forced to defend himself from a barrage of rhetoric carefully designed to cast not just him but the entire Democratic plank as the epitome of feminine weakness.

[snip]

In working-class culture, hyper-masculinity is understood more in terms with physicality, and it might be expressed in drinking, gambling, fighting, and so on. Over the years, this kind of working-class hyper-masculinity has been appropriated by those in the upper classes. It's seen as being more authentic because it's a more primitive expression of manhood.

Have you seen that movie Fight Club? That’s a movie about white-collar men who are unable to affirm their masculinity, [men] who live in a corporate hierarchy, and need to appropriate brutal pugilism that is their fantasy of working class masculinity. I think it relates, in part, to the inchoate sense that working as a paper shuffler, or as a bureaucrat, or in a cubicle, that there’s something unmanly about that. The popularity of boxing in the 19th century is actually about middle-class men who were drawn to the sport.

And so you see the kind of swaggering, cowboy pugilism among members of the elite like W. because that almost makes him seem like a regular guy.

[snip]

One of the central features of what I call a phallic stance is the denial of weakness – the repudiation of dependency and the need for collaboration in all its forms. This is what we’re seeing. We have an administration that is, almost, congenitally incapable of acknowledging any mistake because to acknowledge a mistake is to really risk their manhood. To acknowledge a mistake, especially a mistake that involves failure to listen to advice – the proverbial refusal to ask for directions – imperils their manhood. And so, instead of this kind of behavior being pigheaded arrogance, it’s framed as manly resoluteness.

AlterNet interviews Stephen Ducat (The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity").

Murphy's Law Calculator


Mathematicians have now come up with a rule for predicting the law of “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong". They say the formula allows people to calculate the chances of Murphy’s law (or Sod’s law as it is also know) - and to even try and beat the bad luck.
Murphy's Law Calculator

friday elfgirl blogging


Posted by Hello

more scary stuff

How Wingnuts celebrate Halloween.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

scary stuff

Still don't have a costume for Halloween? Check out these easy to make scary costumes.
I think that I'll go as Jenna Bush's Liver.

via Boing Boing

Hell On Wheels


The documentary film Hell on Wheels is in need of help in the post production process.

First and foremost, we are seeking people who can transcribe interviews.
In order to do this, you will need a VCR and the word processing program Word.

At a later stage we will be seeking editing assistants who will log and digitize footage onto a Mac G5 to be edited in Final Cut Pro.

These positions are non-paid, but we’ll be your best friend.

Please respond to: info at hellonwheelsthemovie dot com

Thank you,
Bob Ray
Werner Campbell
CrashCam Films


al-Khansa


For a male al-Qaida fighter, life's rules are fairly straightforward: you fight, you die. But what about for a woman? What about the wives and mothers who feed and care for husbands and rock babies to sleep? Theirs is usually a mysterious and impenetrable world, but recently, Al-Qaida experts reported an oddly feminine blip on the terrorist radar.

Al-Qaida, it seems, has begun publishing al-Khansa, an online women's magazine in Arabic. It's a far cry from Martha Stewart Living. Twenty-three rose-colored pages define just what an Al-Qaida woman's role is and how she can best succeed. The articles are so shocking they would be humorous if they weren't meant seriously. One provides instructions on caring for a husband's gunshot wounds. Another offers tips on educating children for holy war, while another admonishes women to watch their weight -- not in order to attract men -- but to be ready for battle.

From Spiegel Online.

upcoming rollergirl events

Thursday, October 28th

The Rat City Rollergirls & Tablet Magazine Present: A Freakshow & Talent Showcase. Featuring our Rollergirl's Bands (Augustus Sweetheart, Batum Schrag, Ball with Tail and Moc Moc)!
Join them at the Comet Tavern!
Time: 7:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Address: 922 E Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122
Phone: 206-323-9853
We're also holding Talent Auditions for half-time acts during our roller derby bouts (our official roller derby competitions)! The Freakshow & Talent Showcase is an open audition for Announcers and Sideshow Acts - all oddities and obscurities appreciated! $6 Admission.

********************************************

The premier all female flat track roller derby league from Chicago, The Windy City Rollers, is having it's very first fundraiser fiesta! come and see why the windy city will never be the same again...

Liar's Club 1655 w. fullerton (a block west of ashland @ fullerton, fool)
8pm-2am
$5 suggested donation at the door
there will be a slew of WCR dames to entertain you throughout the evening:
derby dj's
derby shotgirls
derby beer tubs
derby bartenders

hell there's even gonna be arm wrasslin' with your favorite derby dames!

not to mention silent auctions-including bidding on double dates with the girls of the windy city rollers...

*plus* it'll be your first chance to meet the derby dames AND get your filthy paws on limited edition windy city rollers merchandise!

with all us gals on skates, it's certain that pleanty of hot sk8 mayhem will ensue!



Saturday, October 30

Get your spook on at the RENEGADE HALLOWEEN PARTY.
9PM
THE ROGUE
423 N. SCOTTSDALE RD



Sunday, October 31

White Ghost Shivers Halloween Ball

It could get spooky, y'all! The only entrance to the ball is through a haunted house. But have no fear! The Texas Rollergirls will be there to protect you with our super powers... and a rousing round of musical chairs. Other fun stuff includes a costume contest, kissing booth, fire twirling, pie throwing, performances from Gypsy Baby, Schave & Reilly, and White Ghost Shivers, and more.

Time: 9:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Where: House on the Hill, 319 Addie Roy Road
Tickets: $15 in advance at Cheapo Discs - $25 at the door

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New York's Village Halloween Parade.The Gotham Girls will be out and dressed to impress for this year's Village Halloween Parade. A New York City staple for 31 years, the parade is the biggest public Halloween celebration in the world and is attended by more than 2 million people each year.

The parade will make its way up Sixth Avenue, starting at Spring Street and ending at 22nd Street. It will also be broadcast LIVE on local television network NY1.

7PM. Sixth Avenue (between Spring Street and 22nd Street)





Posted by Hello

more get your war on here.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Texas vs. Arizona rosters announced

The Texas Rollergirls have accepted challenges from the Arizona Roller Derby (AZRD) and Tucson Roller Derby (TRD) to compete in the first ever inter-league flat-track roller derby games. All teams in this series of games are comprised of skaters from different teams in their home leagues.

First, the Texas Rollergirls will travel to Arizona to play in Phoenix on Saturday, November 6 and in Tucson on Sunday, November 7. Then, the AZRD and TRD will travel to Texas to play in Austin on Sunday, November 21.

Details and rosters are as follows:

Date: Saturday, November 6
Time: Doors at 7 PM and game at 8 to 11 PM
Location: Surfside Skateland, 1625 E. Weber Dr., Tempe, AZ 85281
Ticket price: $10
Ticket outlets: Eastside Recs, Plush Living, ReZurrection, Perihelion Gallery & Bookstore, Stinkweed Recs, all valley Zia locations, all valley Cowtown Locations, Glendale Guitar & Keyboard City, Surfside Skateland, any AZRD skater, and http://www.ticketweb.com

Texas Rollergirls:
5 Misty Meaner¨C Team captain
4x4 Loosetooth Lulu ¨C Team co-captain
00 Sparkle Plenty
.44 Derringer
4 Hydra
8 Eight Track
10 Trouble
12 Bettie Rage
28 Muffin Tumble
31 Jen Entonic
47 Speedy Marie
i Pixie Tourette
XX Cat Tastrophe
13 Anna Mosity (alternate)

Arizona Tent City Terrors:
9 Babe Ruthless
22 Ivanna S. Pankin
23 Denise Lightning
50 Sheriff Dent
64 Kick Start
67 Helen Wheels
70 Lawna Moher
77 Bam Bam
99 Trish the Dish
138 Sick Girl
666 Dazy Duke
888 Brassy Knuckles
911 Gamzilla
3¡Æ Ms. Tress Trouble
XXX Suzy Homewrecker

Date: Sunday, November 7
Time: Doors at 2:30 PM and game at 3 to 6 PM
Location: Bladeworld, 1065 W. Grant Rd., Tucson, AZ 85705
Ticket price: $8 in advance, $10 at the door
Ticket outlets: Bladeworld, Surly Wench, any Tucson Rollergirl, and out-of-towners can purchase tickets through Kim Sim: kimsin @ tucsonrollerderby . com (minus the spaces)

Texas Rollergirls:
5" Dagger Deb ¨C Team captain
67 The Wrench ¨C Team co-captain
3 The Crusher
4 Bloody Mary
8 Strawberry
10 Kitty Kitty Bang Bang
21 Buckshot Betsy
22 Slim Kickins
23 Tinkerhell
23 Electra Blu
56 Lucille Brawl

Tucson Saddletramps:
666 Jezze James ¨C Team captain
13 wyatt eeka ¨C Team co-Captain
0 Clit Eastwood
6 Six Shooter Flo
14 Zoe Bowie
45 Juana Chisum
74 Kamanche
333 Doe Holliday
1881 O. Kay Corral
.30-.30 Bitch Cassidy El Bombadora

Date: Sunday, November 21
Time: Doors at 6:30 PM and game at 7 to 10 PM
Location: Playland Skate Center, 8822 McCann Drive, Austin, TX, 78757
Ticket price: $12 in advance (available 11/1/2004), $15 at the door
Ticket outlets: Cheapo Discs, Beerland, and Playland Skate Center
It's gonna be a double-header bout. First up..

Tucson Saddletramps:
666 Jezze James ¨C Team captain
13 wyatt eeka ¨C Team co-Captain
0 Clit Eastwood
6 Six Shooter Flo
14 Zoe Bowie
45 Juana Chisum
333 Doe Holliday
1881 O. Kay Corral
.30-.30 Bitch Cassidy El Bombadora

Texas Rollergirls:
34 Devil Grrl ¨C Team captain
666 White Lightnin' ¨C Team co-captain
7 Lucky Strike
13 Cheap Trixie
13 Vendetta von Dutch
21 Buckshot Betsy
51 Lady Stardust
69 Scarlot Harlot
74 Pussy Velour
111 Annie Social
187 Rosie Cheeks
5" Dagger Deb
666 The Blade
XX Cat Tastrophe

And then:

Arizona Tent City Terrors:
9 Babe Ruthless
22 Ivanna S. Pankin
23 Denise Lightning
64 Kick Start
67 Helen Wheels
70 Lawna Moher
77 Bam Bam
99 Trish the Dish
138 Sick Girl
666 Dazy Duke
888 Brassy Knuckles
3¡Æ Ms. Tress Trouble
XXX Suzy Homewrecker

Texas Rollergirls:
13 Anna Mosity ¨C Team captain
19 Reyna Terror ¨C Team co-captain
21 Dinah-Mite
00 Riff Scandell
5 Misty Meaner
5 Tomcat
10 Trouble
11 Melicious
23 Electra Blu
27 Barbie Crash
66 Barbarella
68 Nasty Habit
99 Bunny Rabid
420 Sedonya Face
40 oz Freakwood Smack

Come one - come all - it's sure to be a blast.[All rosters subject to change due to injuries, arrest, drunkenness, missed plane flights, and general rollergirl irresponsibility.]
Thanks Hydra.

Rest In Peace

An Open Letter to Americans from

Riverbend.


I guess what I’m trying to say is this: Americans, the name of your country which once stood for ‘freedom and justice’ is tarnished worldwide. Your latest president has proved that the great American image of democracy is just that- an image. You can protest, you can demonstrate, you can vote- but it ends there. The reigns were out of your hands the moment Bush stepped into the White House. You were deceived repetitively and duped into two wars. Your sons and daughters are dying, and killing, in foreign lands. Your embassies are in danger all over the world. ‘America’ has become synonymous with ‘empire’, ‘hegemony’, and ‘warfare’. And why? All because you needed to be diverted away from the fact that your current president is a failure.

Some people associate the decision to go to war as a ‘strength’. How strong do you need to be to commit thousands of your countrymen and women to death on foreign soil? Especially while you and your loved ones sit safely watching at home. How strong do you need to be to give orders to bomb cities to rubble and use the most advanced military technology available against a country with a weak army and crumbling infrastructure? You don’t need to be strong- you need to be mad.

Americans- can things be worse for you? Can things be worse for us in Iraq? Of course they can… only imagine- four more years of Bush.

Texas Book Festival

Some highlights from the upcoming Texas Book Festival.

Saturday, October 30

Joyce Carol Oates. Reading and Q&A. 9:30am. Capitol Auditorium.

Laurie Lynn Drummond. Reading and Q&A. 10:30am. Capitol Extension Room E2.010.

Death Row Reality. Ricardo Ainslie, Long Dark Road: Bill King and Murder in Jasper, Texas. Ralph Blumenthal, Miracle at Sing Sing: How One Man Transformed the Lives of America's Most Dangerous Prisoners. Panel discussion moderated by Larry Fitzgerald. 12:30pm. Senate Chamber.

What's so Funny About Politics? Jim Hightower and Molly Ivins. Panel discussion moderated by Evan Smith. 2:00pm. House Chamber.

Sunday, October 31

Sunday Morning Talking Heads. Lou Dubose and Jan Reid, The Hammer: Tom DeLay, God, Money and the United States Congress. Robert Bryce, Cronies. Glenn Smith, Politics of Deceit. Panel discussion moderated by Gary Chapman. 11:00am. House Chamber.

Seymour Hersh. Interviewed by Evan Smith. 12:15pm. Paramount Theatre.

50 Years of the Texas Observer. Ronnie Dugger, Geoff Rips, Jake Bernstein, Nate Blakeslee, Char Miller, Lou Dubose, Robert Bryce, Karen Olsson. Panel discussion moderated by Molly Ivins. 3:15pm. Paramount Theatre.

looking for something to do this evening?

TEXANS FOR KERRY
BRING BUSH HOME RALLY and RAMPAGE in Bush's ol' backyard


We may not be a battleground state, but we can show the world that MILLIONS of Texans are fed up with Bush and ready for him to come back to Crawford for good! And maybe we can throw a little bad juju on Bush's ol' stompin' grounds.

When: Tuesday, October 26th (one week before the election!) 6:00pm -- March begins at 6:30 Downtown pub-crawl to follow!

Where: Waterloo Park Parking Lot Southeast corner of the park off 12th Street – across from the Brick Oven. Lots of free parking at state garages starting at 6pm!

Let's show our strength in numbers -- there are probably more Kerry supporters in Austin than voters in Wyoming--they get 3 electoral votes, we don't get shi*, except a chance to make some noise and show our outrage!

Please bring SIGNS, BANNERS, MEGAPHONES, etc. Also, please forward this to everyone! We want to make a huge splash people…!

This being the Halloween season, politically-themed COSTUMES encouraged.

For more information, or to volunteer call Texans for Kerry at 512.453.5329!!


Then head on down to Beerland where Austin will be showing Demons. It's a movie about um...demons. 7:00pm Admission is free.

Don Knotts is Dubya.
QuickTime required

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Hell Marys, Hell Yeah!!!


Anna Mosity Posted by Hello

Ulmers still in 2nd place

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg 12. Spieltag
SSV Ulm 1846 - Heidenheimer SB 3:0 (1:0)

Derbysieg am Freitag Abend: mit 3:0 (1:0) besiegt der SSV Ulm 1846 den Aufsteiger Heidenheimer SB und hat als Tabellenzweiter jetzt 25 Punkte und 27:15 Tore auf dem Konto. Vor 3.200 Zuschauern im Ulmer Donaustadion ging der SSV 46 vor der Pause durch Milton Tembo mit 1:0 in Führung (35. Minute). In der 2. Halbzeit machten Christian Sameisla und wieder Milton Tembo mit einem Doppelschlag in der 51. und 52. Minute den Ulmer Sieg klar. Am Samstag in einer Woche (15.30 Uhr, Stadion Kreuzeiche) sind die Ulmer beim SSV Reutlingen zu Gast.

The Ulmers hada nice win this weekend and are still in second place, 5 points behind Karlsruher SC Am. Next Saturday, Ulm (7-4-1) travels to SSV Reutlingen (6-4-2).