SWINE FLU contest?

The US Department of Health and Human Services is hosting a contest open to all of America to see who can come up with the most creative and effective public service announcement promoting sanitary behavior in an effort to reduce the possible numbers of those affected N1-H1. However, the Government has taken a step towards raising their level of approachability and "cool" by holding the contest on youtube. . . HILARIOUS!

The video responses vary from cute little children ( clearly prompted by their parental units) speaking about the dangers of not covering your sneezes, to med students with paltry video skills trying their best to pull an Andy Samberg ( as in, white guy rapping), and even a LEGIT-looking, pseudo-hipster performance directed under the prowess of user "c2kmedical".

If you do decide to enter, please  be courteous: i.e.; 

1. if you are a small child don't let your parental exploit you. It's called emancipation. yes you can!

2. don't try to rap about health. you won't win. ( unless you are Andy Samberg. but I don't think he would rap about health. unless it was on.. a.. boat)

3. if you are a medical group. you probably know what you are doing. please proceed. 

criticism aside, browsing the video entries is quite the gratifying time-kill

  Oh, the winner of the prize will receive $2,500 ( remember kids, it's a recession we're lucky they're not paying us in chocolate coins ). The contest ends September 16th. 

i <3 BIKEZZ

Werd, homeslizeee dem bikes be how I roll. ( LAWL- it's a pun!)

HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVESS

SKEPPSHULT NATURE (women's)

if you're in the mood for: CLASSY ride, a 100 yr old Swedish legacy of Quality with a capital "Q"

shell out: $$$$1,895 ...ouch

pair with: A trench coat, and a quaint countryside.. maybe the whiff of freshly baked baguettes? and an accent.. mmm

BAU-BIKE ( open to interpretation)

if you're in the mood for: Being the trendiest coolest bauhaus-inspired dude evaahh! baubike=art+bike in one minimalist package

shell out: you have to contact the makers in denmark to figure this one out.. but im guessing pricey $$$ owwies

pair with: An intellectual grasp on bauhaus architecture, Mondrian paintings

and a i'm cooler-than-thou swagger

1982 KUWAHARA BMX bike ( for everyone)

if you're in the mood for:  Impressing  your friends with your spielberg- savvy (well i'm sort of kidding. this bike was used in E.T the extra-terrestrial.)

shell out: i read someone bought one for 40$ at a garage sale

pair with: a basket, an alien ( or at least your weirdest looking friend)

PASHLEY SONNET-PURE ( women's)

if you're in the mood for: classy, yet approachable, not flashy, yet with that je nes sais quois. 

shell out: 465 Pounds ( it's quite british)

pair with: TWEED. what wouldnt you put in that basket? fresh produce/ a journal full of poems/ flowers/ cookies/ books

THE END

HANS BELLMER: surrealist sculpture

I was up late one night flipping about the channels and stumbled upon "The Sculpture Diaries" on The Smithsonian Channel. The focus was on the female form in sculpture. The basic ground was covered you know, Venus de Milo and blah blah. But wait a minute- towards the end of the program a darker side of sculpture emerged. The female form was no longer the greek ideal, it was morphed by Hans Bellmer's imagination into disfigured, fragmented doll-women. Surrealist sculpture created to fight the German ideal of beauty during the height of Nazi-ism. Hans had that BAMF quality associated with the Dada movement, heightened more so when he was kicked out of Germany and sought refuge in accepting France. but that wasn't it... 

His work also exposed some torturous fantasies. A conglomeration of events including his introduction to a beautiful cousin,  attending the opera "Tales of HOFFMAN" by Jaques Offenbach ( in which a man falls in love with a "automaton"), and eventually his union with Unica Zürn ( a physically gorgeous yet mentally distraught surrealist illustrator).

I cannot seem to separate the personal lives of artists with their work- each one highlights the importance of the other. Yet, I would have found his sculptures visually impressive without knowledge of his biography. Grotesque, violent and sexualized life-sized fragments of flesh may cause initial shock and repulsion but after the sting wears away you realize that sometimes people do feel that broken apart. The Venus De Milo looks stoic despite missing both arms, yet Hans Bellmer's sculptures are laid out vulnerably. Despite being surrealist, they manage to be tenfold more relatable. 

about: Purple Violets (2007)

IF YOU'RE IN THE MOOD FOR: cute/romantic/ in need of a female muse

LENGTH: 103 min

WINS: Savannah Film and Video Festival

DIRECTOR: Edward Burns

WILL IT MAKE YOU LOOK COOL?: probably not, but it's a good one to watch by yourself while giving yourself a facial or something

SYNOPSIS:This is a romance. A fairly traditional one, involving a female and a male. It doesn't get all emo on you, as is the new trend in movies of this genre. That is not to say that the movie is completely void of its sad bits, but through the cloudy gray bits is the impression of a hopeful end. 

What captivated me about the film is the performance by Selma Blair. Her silent-girl with a twinge of gamine charm persona in this movie was infatuating. She plays the role of a talented writer who lost courage in her own ability and has settled for selling real-estate and marrying an emotionally abusive husband. However a past love (Patrick Wilson) comes back into her life.