sharz

Why do all the good animes seem too short (with the exception of Code Geass- it was getting screwy and Gintama - it's still going :P) and all the bad animes seem to drag on?

I guess I'm annoyed because I want more Saiunkoku Monogatari after a massive re watch of all 78 episodes. The novel summaries sound fascinating but there's not enough for another season :S

I have to say...facebook has leeched me away from LJ...

www.gayhusbands.com/checklist.htm

• You have a normal sexual appetite, but your mate thinks you have excessive sexual needs.

That could just mean that he doesn't want sexual or HE has low libido. It happens, it really does.

• There is a decline of sexual activity early in your marriage.

See above.

• Your husband is repulsed by normal sexual activity.

OK - this might be a sign or maybe he has a weird fetish...

• Your mate admits to having had more than two homosexual encounters.

Obviously, author has not been to an all boys high school or Greece for that matter.

• Your husband reveals he's bisexual.

Yes because bisexual = GAY *face palm*

• Your partner visits gay bars claiming he’s there only to hang out with his gay friend(s)

There's something wrong with that?

• Your mate watches porno movies with gay male scenes.

So all females who watch lesbian scenes are now also lesbian? Any straight male who watches Queer as Folk is gay as well? Please

• Your mate makes continual homophobic comments.

Maybe he's homophobic? But yes, the 'thou dost protest too much' thing MAY apply

• Your partner’s ego appears to be boosted by compliments from gay men.

Oh please, oh PLEASE!

And here is how to catch him in the act!

www.gayhusbands.com/catchhim.htm

I am also incredibly curious as to what she has to say about bisexuality, I really am. I'm tempted to pretend to be a 'straight wife' with a 'gay husband' just so I can find out.

The rest of her books are funny: Doomed Grooms, Straight Wives, Shattered Lives, oh lord, oh lord and all the 5 star ratings come from women in a similar position to herself or gay married men about to come out; which I suppose is her target audience but really.

It's mostly anecdotal but hey I suppose such news would come as a shock to most people.

Oh well, she's taken a very traumatic experience and learnt to make money out of it.

If you want complete and utter garbage, read this:

roissy.wordpress.com/dating-market-value-test-for-women/

Though it does subtly tell us what's so wrong with society these days in finding partner (even though I'm sure it doesn't meant to).

I mean, I've dated 'Pickup Artists' and they aren't anti-women or even have ridiculous standards for datebility. I think this guy just goes for the 'easy' ones. Most of them try and give a stereotypical 'good time' which is OK. They find something that works and stick to it.

I suppose you can make an art form out of anything :P

But check out the cute end note on his website:

Unlike the men who took my Male Dating Market Value test, I do not expect *any* women to be completely honest with themselves taking the Female Dating Market Value test. The female ego is simply way too fragile to absorb the shock of such a brutal self-assessment. Therefore, I will be mentally subtracting 10 points from every woman who posts her score here in the comments

Very cute. The site should be renamed ' Girls with Low Self Esteem and Guys with too Much Arrogance' :P He gives pickup artists a bad name.

Quality over quantity. Picking up chicks isn't that difficult if you stopping thinking too hard about it :D

Oh, and his guide to dating foreign women is even more hilarious.

But the best advice on his site is "fuck her like it's your last fuck", with that kind of attitude, it very well might be :P

http://lege.cz/archiv/pedo1.htm

Fished out from the depths of dot_poly_snark

The lengths the human mind can go to convince itself that something is acceptable.

Two news articles that made a bad day even worse. Although the last was kind of funny.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5588968/mother-guilty-letting-daughter-die/2/

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5589479/man-pushes-wouldbe-china-suicide-bridge-media/

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2009/04/26/part_time_lover/?comments=all

Thanks dot_poly_snark for this one.

http://russiatoday.ru/Top_News/2009-04-14/Hairdresser_turns_robber_into_sex-slave.html?fullstory

Thanks Clydie for the story.

Finally, a femme that doesn't play damsel in distress.....but really, wasn't there a better way to get laid?

I bet the police investigation is going to unveil that this was all an elaborate setup to get the spice back between a failing boyfriend/girlfriend couple which went sour.

Seriously, why would you keep a pair of pink handcuffs at work?

I'm not into furry handcuffs. Handcuffs, fine, but not furry ones.

The thief got pawned by a YELLOW belt? Isn't that like the lowest rank?

Still, if that had happened to a woman (or OLGA got raped) everyone would be furious...

Or what happens if Olga had been the armed robber the was raped repeatedly....hmmm

But talking of disgusting

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/04/report-iraqi-militia-killing-gay-men-with-painful-form-of-anal-torture.html

How inhumane *shudders*

I think, in a lot of ways, men are more discriminated for being homosexual than women are.

Hop over to this link and read the review
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/decadent_by_shayla_black/

" “Fuck!” he snarled.

He tilted her up again, her legs now resting on his shoulders, and positioned himself and began to push.

Into her back entrance.

Kimber drew in a great, shocked gasp, her hazel eyes wide. “Deke?”

“What the hell are you doing?” Luc barked.

Tensing a little more with every inch he pushed inside Kimber’s tight passage, the tendons on his neck standing out, the muscles in his arms shaking, assailed by the amazing sensations of being slowly enveloped by her tight, ready flesh, Deke could barely form a word. “Fucking her ass. Saving her life.”

Wow. Talk about a lifesaving procedure you’ll never see on-camera on, say, Grey’s Anatomy."

LMAO. Virginity and buttsecks!

I've noticed that osreoben has friended some of you. They are a bot or a troll. Don't friend them back.

Now.....not so much:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24848739-2,00.html

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,,24874216-2,00.html

"his penis should belong to me"

*laughs* Oh dear god.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5250438/porn-industry-seeks-bailout/

Porn encourages self-sex most of the time. Besides in a country that has one of the highest teen birth-rates, the fact that porn =/= realistic sex and is a source of human trafficking, STI/STDs...I don't think it's in much need of saving.

Besides, sex is a basic human need, it doesn't need the porn industry to stimulate it. Sex would exist without porn (though porn would not exist without sex).

Now I understand that people, including myself, make grammatical errors, spelling errors and whatever else....

But this:



How could this occur when many cards, websites, shop windows, TV advertisements and so forth have MERRY Christmas written on them, even in non-English speaking countries?

Good old facebook. I don't know whether I should be offended because I am being commanded to perform nuptials with a public holiday or cringe because the mistake is repeated THRICE in the passage, therefore discounting the possibility of it being typo.

Please note, I am for now, in the spirit of Christmas, ignoring all other errors in the message :P

Not to mention the people speak Arabic as their native tongue :D I was hoping, for their sakes, they used a bad online translator but no Arabic to English translator would ever replace ملكك with 'ur' or رجاء with 'plz' :P

Oh and caring:

Interesting and very true podcast about the proper use of "I could care less".
http://www.johncleesepodcast.co.uk/cleeseblog/2006/12/john-cleese-podcast-18.html

Mr. Cleese is an odd fellow but highly entertaining.

It makes me think of the Two and Half Men episode"

Girl: I'm pouring my heart out to you and you couldn't care less!

Charlie: That's not fair, I could care less, a lot less.

Wherein, it (the usage) would be correct if Charlie was implying that he did care to some extent but could care less however the girl believes he doesn't care at all.

Incorrect, however, if Charlie is trying to imply that he doesn't care at all.

http://www.fstdt.com/fundies/latestcomments.aspx?archive=1

ACCORDING TO ATHIESTS : A self sustaining eco-system cosmically farted it self into existance, after which, life evolved from some sludge in a pond, like so many ninja turtle movies, the fact that all life supports all other life is conviniant coincidence, & two confused men packing each others poop, is the same thing as a man & a woman procriating.

Dont pretend your theoogy is any more rational that ours, sweety.

KaptainChronic69

LMAO! Farted itself into existance? Packing each other's poop.

Hey, hey, keep the ninja turtles out of this OK? :D

When we talk about "proof," we may be referring to different standards. In the courtroom, if you're talking about a civil trial, proof means a preponderance of evidence, kind of like a 50/50. If you're talking about at criminal trial, proof means beyond a reasonable doubt, which I analogize to a 95% certainty. By scientific methods, the probability of evolution is less than 1/(1*10^7000). That corresponds to 99% certainty of creation followed by thousands of 9s. I personally consider that kind of certainty "proof." The proof of creationism is absolutely manifest, and Job has lots of excellent verses besides the one quoted by the starter of this thread.

It's great to have faith, but I think informed faith is even better.

THIS is the state of informed faith. My faith in humanity just vomited a little.

The proof for those numbers are? Please god, don't let this person EVER study law.

I can not get away from that webpage without a sore stomach.

Dear god.

Because I wasn't allowed to a wear a skimpy prom dress.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_33kGu-ONWo

Personally, IT'S A PROM...not a club. Of course it violates dress codes. Jeebus.
But seriously, out of all the things to fight oppression over. *shakes head*

I was kind of amused by the comment about her being flatter than month old soda. Very wicked.

Not work safe by the way :D

Thank you Bhuz for just killing me.

This stuff is hilarious!

http://www.blogdeshowmatch.com/2008/08/vdeo-de-natalia-fassi-bailando-rabe.html

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1572108/

The sword balancing in her butt crack was one thing but the second one just pawns it all.

Why do people think this is bellydance?

I was howling with laughter for the whole thing.

On a better note:

Here is some awesome pole dancing- the guy is just shirtless and nothing lewd :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcZBNPULCiQ

THis is work safe:
It's just a parody of some famous bellydance- hilarious in a good way this time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2N8ShCi_HU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VbxooEGoi0

The Dina one is particular funny :P

First:
http://www.sexparty.org.au/join.html

Australia finally has a political party that represents the sexual rights of Australians. Excellent

Second:
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/sex/10-things-not-to-say-on-a-first-date-285893

Number 8 on the list is a treasure :P Please, do people really date without obtaining such information from each other? Besides, just because YOU are monogamous, it doesn't mean that you would expect your partner to be....oh wait, hold on, the whole one trooo lurveeeeee thing. Pardon me.

Third:
http://community.livejournal.com/polyamory/2660191.html?view=52628575#t52628575
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=664147
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24639854-421,00.html

It's not all good news, if I was living with someone for several years and decided to part amicable, I wouldn't want to pay them maintenance if they weren't able to support themselves, especially if I had children to look after down the track. It needs a bit more definiton because some of issues brought up by the articles.

For example, a man cheats on his wife (who also has kids) with another woman. If the man and his 'mistress' spilt up and the his wife also divorces him, the maintenance payments should come AFTER the wife has had the 50% share of assets unless there is a very good reason for doing so.

It should be a case by case basis and it needs more definition but new legislation often does and the rest will be supplemented by case law. I think it's progress :D

Fourth:
Message in a Yahoo group
"I'm sort of known for having this very argument with clergy members.
It runs like this.
"How many penises do you have? And how many holes does a lady have to put it
in?"

As the commentor bramblekite said, according to that logic, women should be allowed to have three husbands.

Personally, I'd extend it say that woman have the option of 3 husbands OR 3 wives however males can only have 2 wives- I mean we are only counting holes here. Penises don't count :P

I should be studying for exams but once again, I find myself procrastinating.

So I bring you mix of mini summaries, reviews - let's be honest; with ramblings would be the most accurate word.

Movie: XXY directed by Lucía Puenzo. I believe the title refers to a genetic condition in males. It's an independent, Argentine film and it's won many awards I believe. Does it deserve all of them? In some respects, the movie did handle the topic in a rather in-your-face manner. Did it truly represent hermaphrodites and their struggle? Maybe some one but I don't think movies can ever do an issue justice anyway.

The story is about Alex who was born a hermaphrodite and is currently at a decision on whether to choose a particular gender or not, a lot pressure on a 15 year old. Her parents take her to a remote seaside town in order to "avoid the opinion of more idiots" as her mother puts it, and also to avoid persecution 'as a monster'. The movies doesn't really have a plot as it centers around Alex's struggle with her condition. Interestingly, she is referred to as 'she' even though she has stopped taking the medical to feminine her. The actor Inés Efron played the part of an androgynous lanky youth quite effectively who is not sure about her sexuality. I was really impressed by her.

To sum it up, Alex's mother invites some friends over for a visit, it seems innocent at first unless you find out that one of the family friends is a plastic surgeon. Alex falls for his son, Alvaro and they have sex (by Alex's request)- except in a twist, the Alex penetrates him anally and Alvaro ends up liking it and propositions again her later in the movie which leads him to wonder if he is gay- another aspect of the film that is left ambiguous (as well as Alex's choice at the end- currently her mother is pushing her to be female).

Later on, 3 boys from the village more or less sexually assault Alex and pull down her pants to have a look at her genitals, quite a scary experience which is interrupted. In the end, Alex takes the hard road by refusing hormones or an operation but just before the guests leave, Alvaro says he loves Alex to which she replies that 'he's looking for something else'. So everything is left rather ambiguous in regards to Alex's and Alvaro's sexuality. I do believe that Alvaro's father (the plastic surgeon, is homophobic which is going to make it hard for Alvaro if he needs to come out of the closet any time soon).

Alex was an entertaining character, often quite temperamental and impetuous. The film didn't really utilize the beaches- why is the colour always grayish and stormy? Alex's father who is a very understanding character wasn't fleshed out enough, he spends too much time looking moody and there wasn't even much reaction when he discovered Alex and Alvaro having sex. She IS only 15 after all.

However the movie was gripping, very sensuous in some places, you could feel the sexual tension and I enjoyed it, it made me think. It's low budget but it didn't get me the way the King and the Clown did or the Masseur did even given it's subject.

Movie: Holding Trevor. Basically about a homosexual guy named Trevor and the issues he faces with not going anywhere in his life as a screen writer, dealing with an ex-boyfriend who is a drug addict and forging a new, health relationship with a medical intern.

Once again, the movie doesn't have much plot but there's a kind of dark, cynical humor that Trevor has which made the movie more enjoyable. He spouts some pretty deep advice and self analysis that any audience member could relate to, especially when dealing with his career and his ex-boyfriend (who dies by the way). The main problem with this movie is that it's not outstanding, I can't decide if it's averagely outstanding or outstandingly average. There are parts where you laugh, nod in relation and feel like you can really relate to Trevor but you walk away without the buzz of having seen an excellent movie. It's just good. I think it faces the same problems as XXY, it's trying to capture an emotional process on a visual medium but it doesn't quite get there. I would still recommend that people watch it though, particularly because what could have been a generic gay romance flick is turned into something a bit more real which in itself is an achievement. The fact that he's gay seems very normal and any heterosexual person could also face the issues that Trevor would face.

Book: The God Eaters. I've been looking forward to this one, I read it online and then I gulped the book down as if I'd never read it when the hardcopy arrived.

http://chartreuse.studiowhippingboy.com/g_e_contents.html - Entire book, word for word.

It was entertaining to say the least, I really loved some of the humor

" Ash remembered yesterday's effort to remain calm despite the sight of Kieran naked, and the thought threw him off his stride, but he tried to keep up the bantering tone. "You think if I change my last name they'll let me in the bath before the water's brown?"

"If that worked, we'd all be named 'Aaaaaa.' I'm surprised we get to bathe at all. Water's expensive around here." "

Keiran can be funny as well as Ash who starts out a sniveling wreck but finds a lot of emotional strength and backbone as the novel progress and as Ash gets tougher, Keiran gets softer. In that respect it has a lot of romance novel qualities about it but I could enjoy it because of the well written character interactions and how the romance develops.

This actually has a plot from everything persecution on Native Americans by the Commonwealth as well as it's spiritual aspects in how god wars against each other, not similar but kind comparable to Jennifer Fallon's Medalon trilogy, only here certain individuals are borne with 'Talents' such as Kinetics or Empathy rather than 'MAAAJICK', however the multitasking abilities of Ash and Keiran sometimes put that to question, especially towards the end. Also homosexuals or 'inverts' are persecute under the religion of the Commonwealth which of course is enforced upon the conquered nation but that becomes a little lost in the romance between Keiran and Ashes - that's one of my nitpicks. It turned from a sci-fi/fantasy with romance to a romance with sci-fi/fantasy a little towards the end. I still enjoyed the book to my very great and pleasant surprise probably because the pace picked up considerable.

During the start of the novel, it is about their imprisonment and subsequent escape and their relationship is at it's founding stages, plagued with insecurities of "Am I good enough for him?". When their romance is mostly cemented the action picked up quite a bit which helps to from becoming too sappy (a risk at some points), you feel like the characters are getting out of character even considering 'character development'.

Some of these plot elements aren't unique but the way they are woven together makes the novel unique, it's like western meets romance meets modern fantasy meets historical commentary. I like how the characters aren't perfect but they don't let circumstances hamper them especially when they work together.

My only other nitpick is that sometimes the smart guy - Ash sounds uneducated and sometimes Keiran sounds too smart of hardened killer/assassin/whore/self educated individual- I'm talking in terms of vocabulary because they are both smart characters in their own way.

Some of the elements are a little too convince, especially the supposed charisma of both of them but that's mostly at the start of the novel and fades off.

Otherwise, I REALLY liked this novel, it was a gripping and highly enjoyable read and there'd better be more! An excellent book for a debut author!

Here's summary from one of my favourite websites:
http://unique.logophilos.net/?p=432

I don't agree with that reviewer in regards to the perspective changes, probably because I love Sarah Monette and her style is distinctive in that she alternates between two main characters, sometimes three as well. George R Martin also does that with great effect so it didn't bother me at all. I think a sign of a good author is being able to handle the perspectives of many different characters because it adds a complexity and depth. That's a saving point in God Eaters because the characters themselves are kind of stereotypes and therefore run the risk of become 2 dimensional.

I believe that even though this book is available free, it's definitely worth getting it in hardback. I could reread for quite a while!

DVD: Ansuya Lavish Layer Vol 2- For those not interested in bellydance, scroll down.
Ansuya has always been one of my favourite performers but not my favourite teacher. She's good but something gets lost in translation in a video vs her in real life. Lavish Layers Vol 2 was slightly harder but not that much harder. Sometimes the background music was too loud and you couldn't hear Ansuya properly and sometimes it was too soft but it never matched the moves you were doing :S That said, her demonstrations are excellent and her explanations are decent. There was sometimes about Rania's performances I hated but her instruction was good -maybe because she is also a fitness instructor but for Ansuya, I'd rather buy her performance videos and attend her workshops than buy her instructional videos.

News: Yes Barrack Obama won. Not surprised but only time will tell. It was interesting to see footage of people crying in joy at his victory. He is definitely charismatic, something which Bush isn't. I just wonder how much he's controlled by the Democrats and how calculating and manipulative as a leader he is.

It's interesting what this article says:
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24606890-5018194,00.html

“In a lot of ways they are very similar characters, comfortable with details and with a problem-solving mentality,” Professor Garrett says of Mr Rudd and Senator Obama.

Wouldn't you want that in all leaders?

So: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=42430
"According to new research from the Australian National University (ANU), marriages where the woman is better educated than the man are more likely to end in divorce."

They say this may reflect two factors - educated women may be more financially independent and more able to support themselves outside of the marriage, removing a potential barrier to divorce or separation - and also such couples may experience greater conflict or dissatisfaction within the relationship, possibly because they are not adhering to the traditional gendered roles within marriage.

On the other hand the researchers found that couples with the opposite pattern of educational attainment - where the man had the tertiary qualifications and the woman did not complete high school - were not so likely to split up and were if anything more stable.

HOWEVER:
The study found the lowest rate of separation was among couples where both partners reported tertiary qualifications

Well good- at least the article doesn't say "Well the best way to decrease divorce rates is to deny women education".

I think it's a stereotype but uneducated men tend to be more easy to tell than a uneducated woman. Divorce isn't necessary a bad thing but it's just like the unemployment rate- there needs to be some divorce in society so that people aren't stuck in unhappy marriages BUT the rates shouldn't too high. By marriage I also extend that definition to de facto and homosexual unions.

It interesting the notes about how adhering to gender roles help in marriages where there is an education disparity. I don't think it's healthy personally, but the success of a marriage isn't always measured by happiness or achievements of particular partners.

Oh yeah! Worth going to, this one.