Yea, though I walk through the valley of the ultravixens

Rest in peace, Russ Meyer. May you be rewarded in the afterlife with large-breasted ass-kicking ultravixens as far as the eye can see.

Hail to the chimp

Take a close look at the top right corner of the Harvard Primate Neurosciences Lab site.

Better start practicing your pirate talk

In preparation for International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19, here's a primer on pirate lingo. It includes such fine pirate pick-up lines as "Come on up and see me urchins" or for the ladies, "I've crushed seventeen men's skulls between me thighs!"

The "icon of drug use and eroticism" died, not surprisingly, from drugs

An autopsy on Rick James shows that he died of a heart attack that may have been brought on by the nine different drugs found in his system. While none of the drugs were at levels that were life-threatening in and of themselves, apparently it can be dangerous to be on cocaine, methamphetamine, Xanax, Valium, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Vicodin and Digoxin all at once (yes, I know that's only eight, but the BBC didn't name the ninth drug). James' family attributed his death to natural causes. I guess being on nine different drugs at once was pretty much a natural state for Rick James.

Sex and bicycles, together at last

I can't think of anyone I know who would be interested in pictures of naked chicks with bicycles. Nope, no one comes to mind...

Stripping in solidarity for a country in mourning

OK, so I'm off by a few days, but here's a tribute of sorts in honour of the third anniversary of 9/11. Doesn't she look sad?

Another Ramone bites the dust. Rest in peace, Johnny.

The growing egomania of Michael Moore

Michael Moore announced yesterday that he will submit Fahrenheit 9/11 for Oscar consideration in the best picture category rather than best documentary. His rationale, in part, was to give other documentary filmmakers a chance at winning the Oscar. If there was any doubt that Moore is a raging egomaniac, his assumption that he would win best documentary if he entered for it is a pretty decent indication. I mean, I generally liked the movie, but it's no great piece of documentary filmmaking, and to say that its win at Cannes wasn't for political reasons is really hard to believe. That's not to say it wouldn't win if entered, but I wouldn't consider it a given. The election is in November, but the Oscars aren't until March. If Kerry wins, the impetus to vote for it as an anti-Bush political statement disappears.

Mindset List

Beloit College recently released its annual Mindset List - a list of generational 'facts of life' for the entering freshman class, meant as a guide for the faculty and staff to help understand where those crazy kids are coming from. As usual, the list is as much a generational statement about the faculty and staff as it as about the students.

2. Desi Arnaz, Orson Welles, Roy Orbison, Ted Bundy, Ayatollah Khomeini, and Cary Grant have always been dead.
3. “Heeeere’s Johnny!” is a scary greeting from Jack Nicholson, not a warm welcome from Ed McMahon.
14. They never saw Roseanne Roseannadanna live on Saturday Night Live.

I mean, Desi Arnaz and Orson Welles? Surely there are more recent dead celebrities to use as cultural reference points. There ought to be junior professors about my age and I've only seen Roseanne Roseannadanna in reruns. And The Shining came out in 1980. Johnny Carson retired form the Tonight Show in 1992.

IKEA Stampede

It had to happen sooner or later - a sale at IKEA in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia created a stampede in which three people were crushed to death. See, this is why I generally stay away from sales at IKEA. It's hard enough to avoid getting trampled on a regular Sunday afternoon, let alone when there's deals to be had.