Things I hate about modern gaming: stories Stories in video games blow. I don't play video games to read, I read to read. I already have books, and I don't want to read any of them in my games. It's relevant to say that I'm a published author who writes for a living, yet I still don't want to put books in the movies I watch, the music I listen to or the food I eat. Even when the dialogue in a game is performed by voice actors, I still don't want to hear it because: It usually sucks. I'd rather put my ball sack through a deli slicer...Continue reading...
Turkey is increasingly drifting into a civil war. Led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) provisional government, the politics of violence have escalated since the June 7 general elections.
Today, the peace process between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish state has come to a halt and war has started again.
Just within the last month, severe clashes have taken place in many Kurdish cities such as Silopi, Lice, Şemdinli, Silvan, Yüksekova, and Cizre, where the civilian population has been targeted by state forces. Tens of civilians, guerillas, and members of state security forces have died in the ensuing clashes. Since July 24, the AKP interim government has not been attacking ISIS, as it claims to be doing, but the Qandil Mountains in the territory of the Kurdistan Regional Government instead, as well as Kurds, democratic forces, democratic politics, civilians, women, and the opposition as a whole in Turkey.
The Turkish state and the provisional AKP government are implementing all sorts of oppressive measures, such as forbidding entry into and departure from Kurdish cities against which it launches military operations, cutting off all communication including phone and internet lines, and blocking off press and observers to prevent the truth about what is happening on the ground from reaching national and international public attention.
A curfew has been in place in the province of Cizre for the past week, where twenty-one civilians have been killed. The province of Cizre has been under siege for days, where there is serious shortage of food, water, access to basic health services, preventative treatment of the wounded, and burial of those who have been killed by state security forces. Serious concerns regarding fears of civilian massacre in Cizre have been voiced by the elected members of the parliament and civil society organizations.
In this very violent situation, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has also been targeted by AKP spokespersons and pro-AKP mass media. Almost everyday, our party officials and especially our co-chairs are being targeted by those “nationalist and patriotic” people. Many statements of AKP officials have been signaling a call for war against the HDP.
As a result of the AKP’s violent discourse, many of our buildings in several cities have been attacked by groups of people associated with racist and fascist groups. On September 8, they attacked our headquarters in Ankara, setting fire to the building. Our party archives and records were targeted specifically. No one was injured in the attack, but the building is now heavily damaged and unavailable for use.
Until now, over 128 party buildings all over the country have been attacked. Moreover, the police and other security forces of the state did not do their job to prevent the attacks.
We once again want to emphasize that HDP is not a part of these violence-based, war-oriented policies. As HDP, we did not take part in any decision-making process of the war. On the contrary, we are trying to push both PKK and the Turkish state to end this armed conflict. It should be known that it is the AKP who is insisting on war politics and implementing anti-democratic practices all over the country.
In spite of these adverse developments, we call on all international communities, civil society organizations, and the international media for solidarity and support to bring about an immediate ceasefire and the commencement of peace talks. Our call is also one for urgent action against increasing state violence, the violation of human rights, and anti-democratic practices and measures in Kurdish cities, as well as the cities in the western regions of the country.
We now need the support of the international public more than ever in order to achieve the realization of a lasting peace in the Middle East, Turkey, and Kurdistan. In this context we invite all of our friends, political parties, associations, networks, civil society organizations, and all peace-loving forces to act in solidarity with us.
We call on all democratic international institutions and forces to take concrete steps against the Turkish state’s violent, anti-democratic actions against its own people and citizens.
Any attempts to get rid of blue balls, with my hand at least, inevitably results in more blue balls.
I remember hearing about the elusive "clitoris" in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (I was 12), but it would be a decade before I ever found the damn thing. I'm going to go ahead and generalize in saying that guys don't have this issue. They hit puberty, they figure out how to jerk it, and from then on life's one big jizz fest.
What would've helped me a great deal, though, was having a vibrator.
This week, University College University College Literary and Athletics Society at the University of Toronto is including vibrators in its some of its frosh orientation kits, supplied by local boutique Love Shop.
"When the Love Shop provided this item we gave careful consideration as to whether or not it should be included in the kits. Ultimately we decided that it was appropriate for inclusion," frosh organizers said in an email obtained by VICE. "We believe that in order to create a safe campus where students feel comfortable discussing issues of safer sex, healthy relationships, and consent we must create an environment where these issues can be discussed openly."
It's likely the school's orientation team debated whether or not it was controversial to greet incoming students with, among other things, sex toys. We can guess what the folks outside Thorncliffe school, angry that their kids will soon learn the anatomical names of their private parts, would have to say about it.
Haters gonna hate, but I think it's a brilliant idea. Vibrators are a life changer. The earlier they're introduced (within reason, voting age is good), I say, the better.
Vibrators have come a long way from their origins as a tool 19th-century Victorian doctors used to treat "hysteria," now known as sexual frustration. Docs, it seems, were tired of using their fingers to provide relief for female patients, so they created a device to do it for them. These "massagers" have taken many forms over the years with the most modern incarnations designed to look like anything from a bunny rabbit to lipstick. But, despite the fact that roughly 50 percent of women use vibrators, it's still rarely discussed.
I didn't purchase my first vibrator until I was 24. A quick survey of my girlfriends revealed that, give or take a couple years, they were the same. Most of us had been having sex for quite a while before we got acquainted with vibrators, and you know what? A lot of that sex was very, very shitty.
"If I knew how good a vibrator was, I wouldn't have dated my ex for so long," one of my friends told me.
Teenage boys know what feels good to them. Vibrators help girls figure out the same. Without that knowledge, we're kind of left to the mercy of the person we're sleeping with, who is likely taking cues from hardcore porn. The end result, from a heterosexual perspective, is a lot of awkward dirty talk and sex that often becomes an exercise in getting the man off.
My first relationship was a nightmare on every level, but the sex was particularly sloppy. He was drunk a lot of the time and had no concept of foreplay—one of those dudes who will just push your underwear to the side instead of taking it off. The closest I came to feeling pleasure was when it was over (mercifully that usually meant five to ten minutes). But the most tragic part is, because I had no frame of reference, I thought that was normal. I accepted that sex was overrated, and that we were all kind of in on this big lie together, singing its praises ad nauseam.
I went on to date much better men, but the sex still wasn't amazing, in part because I couldn't articulate what I liked. And that can be frustrating for both parties. Eventually, my libido dropped off. I went months, and even more than a year, without having sex. I wasn't loving it, so what was the point? But then, at the nagging of one of my more progressive friends, I got a vibrator. It was an education in getting off. And it made me want to get off more often, both alone and with others.
They say that women reach their sexual peak in their 30s, but I'm willing to bet it would be sooner with the help of a sex toy.
The first time I had an orgasm during intercourse, I was 22. Because I hadn't known the guy that long, I bit back my urge to run around the room screaming in elation.
At the time, I wondered when I would experience that again. These days, the answer is hidden in my sock drawer.
As Paul Rosenberg, the founder of Seattle's Rain City Jacks, explains to me what exactly a jack-off club is, I am immediately intimidated. As a woman, my imagination plants itself in the middle of a scenario where 60 naked men in a room are walking around with erections, jerking and playing with themselves and one another. It felt more like a nightmare than a dream. Of course, if I really was in the middle of one of Rain City Jacks' popular jack-off events, the men there would hardly notice me or even be interested. Men go there to be with other men. To explore masturbation in a male environment.
"The energy at jack-off clubs is inevitably very focused on physical pleasure and the penis specifically," Rosenberg tells me. A prepress manager for a large in-house design group by day, he's been running Rain City Jacks since 2005. "The power of the experience lies in the exposure of what is routinely hidden and the sharing of what is almost universally private: our masturbation practice."
Rosenberg grew up outside of Chicago and was a professional actor and singer for most of his life. He first became aware of jack-off clubs in 1985 when he found a fictional article in a Honcho magazine describing an organized masturbation party. "The article turned me on in a big way," he says. Like any handsome gay man, Rosenberg had a ton of sex in the 70s and 80s. He also smoked a lot of weed and took acid on the regular, but in 1991, after a year of 12-step sobriety, he met his husband. They eventually migrated to Seattle for work. They had both been into the experience of the jack-off clubs in Chicago and were disappointed to find there was not one in Seattle, which put a damper on the open-relationship he and his husband had decided to embark on.
"Bathhouses and hookups were easy to come by, but finding even one jack-off buddy, much less a club, was really difficult," he says. "So I started one myself."
Paul Rosenberg. Photo courtesy Paul Rosenberg
Rosenberg started a Yahoo group (which is still active today) and found the response to be huge. The first jack-off club he hosted happened in a hotel room, seven guys crammed in a room; eventually the demand helped it grow into an actual organization. Today, Rain City Jacks is a premier jack-off club that has hosted more than 300 events, averaging about three a month with 60 men showing up regularly. There are fewer than such ten clubs operating in North America, and according to Rosenberg, only a small percentage of men even know they exist.
Although it's assumed that jack-off clubs rose to popularity in the wake of AIDS in the 80s when there was a heightened fear of infection through intercourse, Rosenberg says this sort of play had been going on since early history because of desire, not fear of STIs or contracting HIV.
"It's a uniquely open and nonjudgmental space that straight guys feel free to explore and intersect with gay and bi men." —Paul Rosenberg
"We do this because we want to jack-off together, not because we're scared of getting sick," he assures me.
"Jack-off clubs are a pretty small piece of what I would call gay male bonding," Rosenberg explains. "I find more non-gay-identified men at jack-off clubs than in any other venue where men are sexual with each other. While some of these guys are certainly either closeted or just starting to explore their sexuality, I've come to believe that many are indeed straight men, predominantly heterosexual guys with a desire to enjoy recreational penis play with other men... so I hesitate to call this 'gay.' Most of the men who attend clubs identify as gay, but many do not. It's a uniquely open and nonjudgmental space that straight guys feel free to explore and intersect with gay and bi men."
Rain City Jacks is a top-tier jack-off spa. He says that there is always a line-up of men waiting to get in, and there are always newcomers. Each member (it's a $25 annual fee) either flashes their card or pays a first-time entry charge. There is a locker room to safely store your clothes and belongings as well as an orientation for rookies. Usually, an experienced member will sit down with a newcomer for 15 minutes and show him the ropes. Rain City Jacks also provides a system of wristbands to let everyone in the jack-off party know where everyone stands when it comes to interaction.
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"A red silicone wrist band signals, 'Don't touch my dick.' A green wristband means, 'Don't bother asking. Everyone may touch my dick,' and no band at all, which is how most members play, just means, 'Ask before you touch my dick.' The basic rule is get consent, but the bands provide a permission shorthand."
The room is fully equipped with comfy furniture covered in canvas tarps and beds with clean linens, while oil-based lube, baby wipes, paper towels, and trash cans are carefully placed around the room to maximize comfort. The lights are dimmed to a mild level while instrumental or electronic music plays over the speakers (preferably no female vocals, Rosenberg says).
"Couches will have two or three or six men seated side by side, legs draped over one another, with everyone playing with themselves or their neighbors," he says. "And the energy is not rushed at all, but intensely focused and chill. The great majority are not into a fast orgasm but want to make the time last. Nobody leaves in that first hour."
The bathroom showers are stocked with skin care and clean-up products. Even the bathrooms have mouthwash on hand. There is never a shortage of fresh, clean towels. It's basically male-masturbation heaven. With a situation this lush, inviting, and pleasure-based, why aren't more men doing this?
"Younger guys still associate fucking with conquest, with rites of passage, with achievement of adulthood," Rosenberg explains. "Our culture is still incredibly biased against masturbation. It's referred to as 'not real sex,' 'practice sex,' even 'failure sex.' The stigma is absolutely pervasive and I think that is the first assault we make on a child's sense of sexual identity and physical self-worth, even if it comes via a benign diversion from self-exploration and stimulation, the message is always, 'Don't do that.' Obviously, we do it anyway, but the stigma has already been attached to masturbation from infancy. As long as a guy thinks that this is masturbation, he attaches negative associations to it. The younger he is, the more susceptible he is to that judgment."
While that stigma does exist for men, it is still sided with an expectation that "boys will be boys" and that masturbation is a part of their sexual exploration. While things are changing, females have been taught a very different narrative about how to relate to masturbation. I couldn't even imagine a female jerk-off club rising to even a fraction of Rain City Jack's popularity—and Rosenberg agreed. Was it a biological determination? Men walk around with an appendage that rises, signifies arousal, and can be grabbed, while a woman is constantly assumed to be in the state of arousal (or the opposite, never at all).
"Maybe it's just a natural expression of our sexual reality—much more visual and genitally focused—but 'jill-off' clubs don't really exist," he says. However, there are couples clubs, but according to Rosenberg, those still end up with an 80 percent male attendance. "I think there is a lot of value for women in group masturbation.
"One thing that always strikes me is the happy peacefulness of these guys. There is a remarkable absence of rancor, unwelcome aggression, competition. It is extremely obvious to me that when men are getting the sex play they crave; they lose their tension. It's very intense, and then it's relaxed and content," he says.
"I just encourage everyone to try it if they have any interest at all. Only experience can really tell the story of what a jack-off club—or anything else—has to offer, and people walk in with a lot of preconceived notions."
Next Wednesday, the 19th season of South Park will air on Comedy Central. Millions of people will watch it, millions of others won't. At this point, the show is a genuine cog in the chuckle-wheel that is the comedy establishment, almost rote in its quest to offend and prod. But things were not always this way.
I grew up during the tail end of the 90s culture wars, so of courseSouth Park was verboten in my conservative household. My parents had long ago forbidden The Simpsons, believing it turned an obedient child into a rude one, like those other kids down the street. The ones who said "damn" and "ass" and threw rocks at the windows of vacant houses. This, of course, made it 50 times more alluring.
But by 1997, The Simpsons was already winding down its run as an exciting, controversial cartoon. It had already turned obedient kids into rude kids. But where The Simpsons advocated a mannered, TV-PG hooliganism, South Park was anarchy. In my parents' eyes, it turned kids who were already corrupted by rudeness into the type of kids who ended up in jail.
No matter how much cultural noise was generated by the reign of Jon Stewart and the rise of Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central doesn't owe its legacy to them—it owes it to Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
In other words, the early days of South Park crossed the moral Rubicon. I was scared to watch it. When I inevitably did, it seemed like my parents were right. The older kid who showed it to me may very well be in jail right now. He used to just recreationally steal things. He would go into grocery stores, go up to the liquor bottles, and walk them right out of the store. His secret was his lack of shame. He would simply stroll out as if to say, "It's OK, don't freak out, I'm just stealing this." Of course he loved South Park.
When you step back from South Park as cultural touchstone and look at South Park as a TV show in 1997, it's shocking that it lasted so long. Its cardboard cutout animation was primitive, and not in a cute way. Those early episodes look dirty, uninviting, and disreputable. They made Hanna-Barbera's loveless "were these drawn by counterfeiters in a warehouse?" productions look downright glitzy. It had some of the most grating, belligerent voice-acting ever on television. Its tone was pervasively filthy, scatological, and amoral.
But the fact that my parents, and parents around the nation, knew about it and found the time to hate it meant it must have been an unprecedented hit. And it was. Almost overnight, it was the hottest thing in town. It only took five months to become Comedy Central's biggest show ever, averaging more than two million viewers per episode. The debut of its second season got 6.2 million viewers. (And the television landscape is totally different now, so I hold this up for cognitive dissonance rather than comparison, but Stephen Colbert only got 400,000 more viewers than that on his first episode of Late Night.)
Point is, no matter how much cultural noise was generated by the reign of Jon Stewart and the rise of Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central doesn't owe its legacy to them—it owes it to Trey Parker and Matt Stone. They single-handedly pulled the channel out of a black hole of Absolutely Fabulous reruns and a Craig Kilborn-helmed Daily Show. They defined the network. They gave Comedy Central a reason to exist.
Without that historical context, the things South Park got away with and continues to get away with look impossible. They were able to jump right over the usual ascent to mainstream credibility. They were a multimedia franchise, with toys, T-shirts, and a movie in the can by 1999. They got Joe Strummer to sing for them in an episode. They got George Clooney to play a dog in another. Hell, they got Norman Lear to consult on the show in 2003.
And while it's easy to reduce the sordid story of Isaac Hayes's role in the series to the Scientology fiasco and the grotesque way his character was killed off, the fact that he was on the show for a decade is ultimately insane. Isaac Hayes is the man who co-wrote "Soul Man," "Hold On, I'm Comin'," and "When Something is Wrong with My Baby" for Sam & Dave. Without Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave might not have even happened. Isaac Hayes is the man who made Hot Buttered Soul, the album that saved Stax after Sam & Dave's departure from the label and the death of Otis Redding. Isaac Hayes had to follow Otis Redding, and he succeeded. That's impossible. Then he wrote the theme from Shaft, a song so good that writing it should have been impossible, too.
And here he was in 1997, agreeing not just to be on the same planet as Trey Parker and Matt Stone, but agreeing to say whatever they wrote for him to say. Within a year, that meant recording the defiantly vulgar novelty song "Chocolate Salty Balls," produced by Rick Rubin of all people.
What's crazier still is that this isn't even in the ballpark of the most controversial things the show's ever done. That impossible high-water mark was cleared routinely, owing to its week-long production schedule, which made South Park the first cartoon that could get in the news cycle and kick the hornet's nest at will. Take, for example, "Hell on Earth 2006," which joked about the death of Steve Irwin just seven weeks after the fact.
It lent the show a hyper-topical relevance that no other cartoon had. The get-it-out-in-six-days policy gave Parker and Stone a platform where, if they wanted, they could just up and force people to pay attention to them. They changed the whole idea of the significance a half hour show on cable could have. They had escaped the curse of instant obscurity afforded much of the era's original cable programming, like, say, HBO's Dream On.
But what makes the show an institution, in spite of its persistent danger of being so topical that it becomes ephemeral, is the internet. Parker and Stone inadvertently future-proofed the show against the decline of cable. South Park was perfectly suited to internet consumption in a way no other 90s shows were. They had the early internet's dispassionately antisocial aesthetic locked down before the internet took over. The jokes and pace were loud and fast—it said what it wanted to say as crudely and conversationally as possible. The show's rudimentary animation style meant you couldn't ruin its intricacies with digital compression, mainly because there weren't any intricacies to ruin. This was an enormous priming force toward the mainstreaming of internet distribution. Back when Blockbuster still seemed like a viable brick-and-mortar business, a year before the Lewinsky scandal, people were already pirating episodes of South Park.
As huge as the show was for cable, it's on the internet where South Park makes the most sense. All the moral panic and 90s culture-war opposition seems quaint in the age of streaming pornography. Saying "shit" 162 times in a single episode is not novel in a venue where saying "shit" 162 times in a row constitutes a perfectly valid sentence. What once seemed shocking on television becomes more clearly the work of two college friends trying to make each other laugh. It's all suddenly normal, devoid of any shock potential.
Now that theirs is the prevailing cultural sensibility, Parker and Stone can safely say they got here first. So even if South Park somehow gets erased from Comedy Central or syndication tomorrow, that means it'll be around forever as a historical artifact: a show for the internet before anyone even knew what that could possibly mean.
19th Century drawing by Jean Frdric Maximilien de Waldeck via The British Museum
A historian in the UK just made an exciting discovery that's changing our understanding of the word "fuck."
Paul Booth, an honorary senior research fellow in history at Keele University, was recently digging around in the Chester county court plea rolls from December 8, 1310and really, who hasn't dug around in there? That was when he came upon three write-ups from the court clerk, telling the sad story of a guy with the unenviable name of Roger Fuckebythenavele, or seemingly: "Roger the Navel-Fucker."
According to Themedievalists.org "fuck" popped up seemingly by accident in 1278 as part of a translation of the German word "fulcher," meaning soldier. That really wouldn't count. This, on the other hand, would be the first instance of the word being used the way we use it today, beating out recent discoveries like the one from around 1475, or one found last year from 1528.
Here is Roger the Navel-Fucker's story in its entirety, courtesy of the UK's National Archives.
1. County court of Chester, held on Tuesday after the feast of St Nicholas, 4 Edw. II, before Payn Tibotot, justiciar of Chester (8th December, 1310) A man called "Roger Fuckebythenavele" was exacted for the first time .
2. County court of Chester, held on Tuesday after the feast of the Ascension, 4 Edw. II, before Payn Tibotot, justiciar of Chester (25th May, 1311) Roger Fukkebythenavele, exacted.
3. County court of Chester, held on Tuesday the vigil of Michaelmas, 5 Edw. II, before Payn Tibotot, justiciar of Chester (28th September, 1311) Roger Fuckebythenavel', outlawed.
What just happened to poor Roger? Granted, being "outlawed," means banished, but why the horrible moniker? Was the court clerk just being a dick, or is that Roger's real last name? To find out, we got in touch with Paul Booth, the guy who made the discovery, to ask for his expert opinion on what all this means.
VICE: What's the significance of this discovery? Paul Booth: The significance is the occurrence of (possibly) the earliest known use of the word "fuck" that clearly has a sexual connotation.
What were you doing when you found this? Part of what I am doing in my retirement is to study the legal records of Cheshire for the turbulent reign of Edward II (1307-27), which are extremely rich. This name simply popped out of the parchment. Roger had failed to answer at the county court, is being solemnly summoned ('exacted') and finally outlawed.
Was the clerk cracking a joke, figuring that Roger would never know about it? As the name is written three timesspelled slightly differently each timeit is unlikely to be the case of the clerk just inserting a joke name, I think. Even if it were, that does not take away the significance of the use of the word 'fuck' in a name.
So could it be his real name? If it is a real namea nickname, presumablythere seem to me to be two possible explanations for its application to Roger. First, that it applies to an actual eventa clumsy attempt at sexual intercourse by an 'Inexperienced Copulator' (my name for Roger), revealed to the world by a revengeful former girlfriend. Fourteenth-century revenge porn perhaps? Or it could be a rather elaborate way of describing someone regarded as a "halfwit"i.e., that is the way that he would think of performing the sexual act.
Will this instance end up in the Oxford English Dictionary? I have told the OED about it, and it's up to them what they will do. You might like to ask them, and let me know what they say.
Got any other great curse word stories from digging through these archives? I haven't come across any other names of this type myself, but my pal at Keele, Dr. Philip Morgan, tells me of names such as Hunfridus de aureo testiculoHumphrey of the golden testicle, and Rogerus deus salvat feminasRoger God-save-women, as well as the Winchester tenant, Alwin Clawecuntspeaks for itself.
Vice President Joe Biden walked America through his grief over the loss of his son Beau on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Thursday night, turning the question of whether he will run for president into the afterthought of a powerful and emotional interview that will help define him no matter what he chooses to do.
"I’d be lying if I said I knew I was there," Biden said of meeting his own criteria for seeking the presidency.
I went out to Denver and I went to a military base and I met a whole group of military families, which is not unusual, on a rope line about 100 yards form the aircraft and about two-thirds were in uniform and the other were family members and I was thanking them and I really meant it. One percent is fighting for 99 percent of the rest of us. And I was talking about them being the backbone and the sinew of this country, and all of a sudden, it was going great and a guy in the back yells "Major Beau Biden, Bronze Star sir, I served with him in Iraq" and all of a sudden I lost it. I shouldn’t be saying this, but you can’t do that. You can’t do that.
Biden, who lost his first wife and a daughter in a car crash in 1972, and Colbert, who lost his father and two of his brothers in a plane crash in 1974, spent the majority of the two-segment interview sharing stories of sorrow and resilience. Biden asked Colbert how his mother made it through the sudden deaths in their family.
"She had to take care of me. She did. No, that’s it. We were there for each other, and I had to take care of her. I had to take care of her," Colbert said. "I used to have this little joke, which is I used to say, 'Oh yes, I raised my mother,' because after Dad and the boys died she was a little non compos mentis or at least emotionally completely shattered. I would say I raised my mom from that, from the years on, for a few years."
Though none of the other presidential candidates were mentioned, the interview served as a sharp contrast between Biden's ability to bare his soul and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's unwillingness to do the same — a distinction Colbert subtly referred to in praising Biden for not being the kind of politician who tries to "triangulate your political position or emotional state to try to make us feel a certain way."
The term "triangulate" was a popular description of the way President Bill Clinton staked out ground between Republicans and Democrats in Congress — or above them — to reinforce the perception that he was moderate and reduce the effect of attacks on him from the GOP.
At the end of the interview, Colbert encouraged Biden to run, saying that his presence "would be sorely missed in the race" if he chose not to enter.
This is why I think people want you to run for president, and I know that’s an emotional decision you have to make. But it’s going to be emotional for a lot of people if you don’t run. And sir, I just want to say that I think that your experience and your example of suffering and service is something that would be sorely missed in the race — not that there aren’t good people on both sides running — but I think we’d all be very happy if you did run. And if you don’t I know that your service to the country is something we should all salute.
Here's the second part of the interview:
And here's a rough transcript:
STEPHEN COLBERT: Thank you for being here. Everybody likes Joe Biden, right? Isn’t that right? I’ll tell you why I think that is. I think it’s because when we see you we think that we’re actually seeing the real Joe Biden. You’re not a politician who’s created some sort of facade to get something out of this or triangulate your political position or emotional state to try to make us feel a certain way. We see the real you. How did you maintain your soul in a city that is so filled with people that are trying to lie to us in subtle ways?
JOE BIDEN: I commuted every day for 36 years.
SC: So it was going back to Delaware to get another piece of your soul every day.
JB: No, look, what always confuses me about some folks that I’ve worked with is why in God’s name would you want the job if you couldn’t say what you believed. There’s nothing noble about this, but ask yourselves the question: Would you want a job that in fact every day you had to get up and you had to modulate what you said in you believed? If you‘re going to run, you’re running for a reason and you want the job for a reason, and if you can’t state why you want the job, then there’s a lot more lucrative opportunities other places.
SC: I can’t imagine what it would be like to spend nine years pretending to be somebody that you’re not. Now…
JB: I’m going to give him trouble. I feel it coming.
SC: Mr. Vice President, there’s another reason people admire you and like you is that you’re a man of substance and people know that you have experienced tragedies in your life, and we are inspired by the way that you have responded to those. And for myself, and I suspect for millions of people out there, I’d like to offer my condolences for the loss of your son Beau.
JB: Thank you.
SC: I know that he was a great man, and I was hoping you could tell us a story about him. The president in his eulogy called your son Joe 2.0. In what way is that a compliment to you?
JB: You know, my dad had an expression. He used to say, "You know you’re a success as a parent when you turn and look at your child and realize they turned out better than you." I was a hell of a success. My son was better than me. And he was better than me in almost every way. The thing about Beau was, from the time he was … another expression my dad had was, "Never complain and never explain." I never one single time, my word as a Biden, ever, ever heard my child complain. When he was in that accident, lost his mom and his sister, he was very badly injured, almost every bone in his body broken, he was in a cast from his ankles, both legs, his chest, his arms, I used to carry him around with a hook in his back. And his brother, his best friend, a year and a day younger, was just about three and had a severe skull fracture and he’d sit in a room in the hospital and he’d say, "Hunt, look at me, look at me. I love you, I love you." Four years old. Nothing changed. A couple months before he died, I was at his house and he said, "Dad, sit down, I want to talk to you." And Hallie, his wife, incredible ... He said, "Dad, I know how much you love me. You’ve got to promise me something. Promise me you’re going to be all right. Because no matter what happens, Dad, I’m going to be all right. Promise me." This is a kid who, I don’t know what it was about him, he had this enormous sense of empathy. I’m not making this up. I know I maybe sound like a father.
SC: It sounds like you loved him, sir.
JB: Oh, jeez.
SC: How has your faith — I know you’re a man of deep faith — how has your faith helped you respond to having lost your first wife, and your daughter and now your son. How important is that in your life, and in what ways has it helped you?
JB: First of all it’s a little embarrassing to speak about me. There’s so many people, maybe some people in the audience, who have losses as severe or worse than mine and didn’t have the incredible support I have. I have such an incredible family. And so I feel self-conscious talking about. … Loss is serious and it’s consequential, but there’s so many other people going through this. But for me, you know my wife when she, she’s a professor, when she wants to leave me messages, she literally tapes them on my mirror when I’m shaving and she put up a quote from Kierkegaard, and Kierkegaard said faith sees best in the dark. And for me my religion is just an enormous sense of solace. And some of it relates to ritual, some if relates to just comfort and what you’ve done your whole life. I go to mass, and I’m able to be just alone even in a crowd. You’re alone. I say the rosary. I find it to be incredibly comforting. What my faith has done is it sort of takes everything about my life, with my parents and my siblings and all the comforting things. And all the good things that have happened have happened around the culture of my religion and the theology of my religion, and I don’t know how to explain it more than that. But it’s just the place that you can go. And by the way a lot of you have been through this; the faith doesn’t always stick with you. Sometimes, it leaves me. So I don’t want to come off like...
SC: I understand. You don’t want to come off as pious or a holy Joe. I understand that.
JB: I’m sure not.
SC: What inspires me, sir, about your response and your life and your service to the country and what you instilled in your children is that you have suffered, and yet through your suffering you seem to have made some beautiful things in your life. You’ve dedicated yourself to other people and helping them.
JB: Think of all the people you know who are going through horrible things, and they get up every the morning and they put one foot in front of the other and they don’t have, like I said, anything like the support I have. I marvel, I marvel at the ability of people to absorb hurt and just get back up, and most of them do it with an incredible sense of empathy to other people. I mean, it’s interesting, the people I find who I’m most drawn to are people who have been hurt and yet, I’m not going to embarrass you, but you’re one of them, buddy. No, no, no, no, no. Your mom, your family, losing your dad when you’re a kid and three brothers. It’s like asking what made your mother do it every day. How did she get up every single day with 11 kids?
SC: Well, she had to take care of me. She did. No, that’s it. We were there for each other, and I had to take care of her. I had to take care of her. Let me ask you something. I used to have this little joke, which is I used to say, "Oh yes, I raised my mother" because after Dad and the boys died she was a little non compos mentis or at least emotionally completely shattered. I would say I raised my mom from that, from the years on, for a few years. In what ways did Beau and Hunter raise you?
JB: My boys, honest to God, did. If my son Hunter was here, first thing he would give me a kiss and say, "Dad, do you need anything?" Always worried about me. And even in my public life, the boys would be, I’d be, like, doing a national debate with 70 million people watching the debate and I’d walk out of the room and the last two guys in the room would be my boys and they’d go, "Look at me, Dad, home base. Remember who you are, Dad. Remember who you are." No I’m serious. It was like my kids.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
COMING BACK, AUDIENCE CHANTS "JOE, JOE, JOE"
JB: Be careful what you wish for.
SC: As I said, everybody likes Joe. And I have to say, even talking about you in the third person, I’m uncomfortable calling you Joe. You’re the vice president of the United States. I want to give your office the respect it deserves. How much is that?
(Biden puts his thumb and index finger close together to indicate not much)
SC: People make jokes about the vice … make jokes about the office all the time.
JB: They should. No, they really should. There is no inherent power in the vice presidency. But here’s the deal: It is directly a reflection of your relationship with the president. If you have a relationship with the president then everyone knows if they do, if it’s real, that you have his back and that you also have his confidence, then you can really do something worthwhile.
SC: You’re a close policy adviser to the president, and being with him in the tough moments, there is one job that preps you for...
JB: Chief of staff.
SC: And I just want to talk about the elephant in the room, which in this case is a donkey. Do you have anything you’d like to tell us right now about your plans?
JB: Yes. I think you should run for president again and I’ll be your vice president.
SC: You said, you said this weekend that you don’t know if you are emotionally prepared to run for president.
JB: Look, um, I don’t think any man or woman should run for president, unless number one they know exactly why they would want to be president and two they can look at the folks out there and say, "I promise you you have my whole heart, my whole soul, my energy and my passion to do this." And I’d be lying if I said I knew I was there. I went out to Denver and I went to a military base and I met a whole group of military families, which is not unusual, on a rope line about 100 yards form the aircraft, and about two-thirds were in uniform and the other were family members, and I was thanking them and I really meant it. One percent is fighting for 99 percent of the rest of us. And I was talking about them being the backbone and the sinew of this country, and all of a sudden, it was going great and a guy in the back yells, "Major Beau Biden, Bronze Star sir, I served with him in Iraq," and all of a sudden I lost it. I shouldn’t be saying this, but you can’t do that. You can’t do that.
SC: We did a show in Baghdad a few years ago and this was my first encounter with your son. We really wanted to interview him while we over there. You were vice president. He was serving, active duty over there, and he didn’t want any special attention. He didn’t want to leave his unit. He didn’t want to be singled out. Why do you think he was so modest about his own accomplishments and he wanted to serve with such modesty?
JB: Because he had such great courage and such great empathy. I mean, when he got to Iraq he asked permission of his commanding general could he take the name Biden off of his identification. I forget, I think he had Roberts on it because he didn’t want anybody giving him anything special. That’s who Beau was. And by the way, Beau’s not unique. There’s other women and men who serve like that. But you know he just never, never, never … he abhorred people who had a sense of entitlement, and he went the other way. I mean, he won the Bronze Star and came home and made us all promise that we wouldn’t tell anybody that he won the Bronze Star. My word. And he went to an affair where Iraqi veterans were being honored, and he wouldn’t put on his decorations. And he won the legion of merit. He was decorated. And General Odierno, his commanding officer, said, "You must put it on." He would not wear it. That was Beau. It was like, he didn’t feel he was … my mom used to have an expression and he lived it, and I know, this is an Irish Catholic thing—
SC: No, I love how many times you’ve said "My mom had an expression," because my mom had so many expressions.
JB: I know, I know—
SC: "What’s the use of being Irish if you don’t know that life is going to break your heart." So what did your mom say?
JB: My mom used to say, "Remember, nobody is better than you, but you’re better than nobody. Everybody’s equal." My mother really pounded it into our heads.
SC: You know there’s another person who said that, and that’s Thomas Jefferson, and this is why I think people want you to run for president. And I know that’s an emotional decision you have to make, but it’s going to be emotional for a lot of people if you don’t run. And sir, I just want to say that I think that your experience and your example of suffering and service is something that would be sorely missed in the race — not that there aren’t good people on both sides running — but I think we’d all be very happy if you did run. And if you don’t, I know that your service to the country is something we should all salute. So thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, Vice President Joe Biden.
Dr Booth believes that "this surname is presumably a nickname. I suggest it could either mean an actual attempt at copulation by an inexperienced youth, later reported by a rejected girlfriend, or an equivalent of the word 'dimwit' i.e. a man who might think that that was the correct way to go about it."
El éxito de Mafalda ha trascendido generaciones y fronteras durante décadas. A esta niñita, que tranquilamente declaraba frases tan turbadoras como "lo malo de la gran familia humana es que todos quieren ser el padre" o "la sopa es a la niñez lo que el comunismo es a la democracia", puede vérsela comúnmente pegada en las paredes de oficinas o como estandarte de diversas protestas y manifestaciones. A España llegó en pleno tardofranquismo y fue muy bien recibida por diversos círculos antifascistas. ¿Qué elementos tiene este personaje para conectar tan intensamente con un público transnacional y transgeneracional?
La historiadora uruguaya Isabella Cosse se desempeña desde hace años como investigadora en la Universidad de Buenos Aires, y ha dedicado su último libro, Mafalda, historia social y política, a desentrañar los significados sociopolíticos que esconde este tierno y carismático personaje, explicando en parte los motivos de su rotundo éxito. El libro fue presentado en Buenos Aires en septiembre del pasado año como conmemoración de los 50 años de creación de la famosa tira por Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón, alias "Quino".
En tu libro sostienes que Mafalda es un instrumento muy útil para estudiar a la clase media argentina de las décadas de los 60 y 70. ¿Qué lectura se hace en Mafalda acerca de este segmento social?
En mi interpretación, Mafalda nos permite pensar dos fenómenos en relación a la clase media de los años 60 en Argentina. Uno tiene que ver con la emergencia de una identidad de clase media intelectual progresista, a la que Mafalda da cuerpo. Esta niña, desde su primera presentación, es concebida como una niña intelectual, que pone cara y da forma a esta identidad de clase media progresista intelectual que resulta relativamente nueva en términos de su masividad. Por supuesto que existían personas de esta clase social, pero lo que no existía es un prototipo, una figura, que convocase masivamente la significación que tenía y que iba a tener cada vez más este segmento social. El otro fenómeno coloca en el centro a la complejidad de la clase media. A medida que el personaje va complejizándose, la historieta introduce nuevos protagonistas que expresan diferentes prototipos sociales. Por ejemplo, el prototipo de Susanita, la mujer burguesa, preocupada por el qué dirán, por los niños, la familia, el matrimonio; o el de Manolito, el inmigrante gallego (español), cuyo máximo objetivo es hacer dinero. Con estos prototipos diferentes la historieta compone una imagen de una clase media heterogénea a partir de las tensiones y las disputas que dividían a ese sector social como las que se instalan entre Mafalda y Susanita, entre Susanita y Manolito. Es decir, la tira pone en juego una idea de la clase media atravesada por contiendas culturales y políticas que se materializan en los propios personajes aunque esto no impide que la clase media aparezca también como una unidad, una unidad en la diferencia.
¿Cómo podemos percibir hoy la historia argentina a través de Mafalda?
El libro contiene una reconstrucción de la historia misma de Mafalda -la historieta- para intentar pensar algunos fenómenos centrales de la historia de las últimas décadas, como la modernización sociocultural de la clase media, la radicalización social y política, la represión y el autoritarismo en Argentina, los intercambios culturales globalizados y la cultura de izquierda o progresista en el contexto del ascenso del neoliberalismo en los años noventa. Y lo hace a partir de pensar el humor de Mafalda en términos sociales y políticos. Presto atención a los modos en los que los y las lectoras leían e interpretaban la historieta y a los modos en que se fueron modificando y re-significando sus implicaciones sociales. El humor de Quino trabaja sobre la interconexión constante de lo público y lo privado y esa estrategia resultó especialmente rica. Una de las primeras historietas de Mafalda pone en juego la bomba nuclear. Mafalda se introduce en el living de su casa en el que están sus padres apacibles, y reproduce el ruido del estallido de la bomba. Los padres se asustan pero ella se divierte y entonces mira al lector y dice "psicosis colectiva".
A veces a través de la radio y de la televisión también entraba ese mundo.
En efecto: la radio y la televisión son los dos modos en los que Quino, a través de Mafalda, reflexiona sobre el papel de los medios de comunicación (todo un tema en los años sesenta) pero también permite colocar los problemas políticos y sociales (los males del mundo) en el escenario de la familia. Muchos de esos grandes problemas trascendían a los años 60: la guerra, la injusticia, la desigualdad, lo que ha permitido que la historieta mantuviera su actualidad, perdurase en el tiempo.
¿Cuál es la posición política o ideológica de Mafalda respecto al mundo?
Es una buena pregunta, porque Mafalda fue modificando su postura política hasta que encontró su lugar en lo que podríamos decir el Tercer Mundo. Mafalda va a ubicarse en esta confrontación entre occidente y oriente, entre capitalismo y comunismo, en un espacio intermedio, una posición que asumió entidad en los años sesenta, que le va a permitir confrontar o discutir con los dos bandos enfrentados. Y es desde ahí que ha sido increpada, desde la izquierda y desde la derecha, aunque en cualquier caso resultó central su componente cuestionador y antiautoritario.
En el momento en el golpe de estado de 1966, llevado a cabo por el general José Carlos Onganía, Quino publica el mismo día del golpe una caricatura en la que Mafalda mira al lector y se pregunta: "¿Y aquello que nos enseñaron en la escuela?". Ese "aquello que nos enseñaron en la escuela" eran justamente los contenidos democráticos que habían puesto con este nombre los militares que habían derrocado al general Perón, y que además iban a ser de nuevo violentados con ese nuevo golpe del general Onganía. Esta enorme ironía es un interrogante que podían comprender en estos términos exclusivamente quienes habían sido los coetáneos de este proceso. Éste fue un elemento muy central que hizo de Mafalda un emblema antiautoritario y que le dio enorme popularidad. Había quienes colocaban tiras recortadas del diario en las paredes, en los negocios, y la historieta era referida por la prensa para demostrar la existencia de la confrontación contra el nuevo gobierno. En estos momentos Quino profundiza en componentes vinculados con la lucha contra la censura. La propia sopa por ejemplo, que es otro elemento en el cual lo privado y lo cotidiano asumen sentidos políticos, representa, diría Quino, aquellas cosas que nos hacen tomar a pesar nuestro, representando de alguna manera el autoritarismo.
Justamente hay dos personajes en la última parte de la historieta, digamos posterior a 1968 y 1969, que coinciden con los estallidos de protesta de obreros y de estudiantes que tuvieron lugar en aquellos años. Uno es Libertad y el otro Guille. Los dos expresan los nuevos movimientos de radicalización y polarización de la sociedad argentina. Libertad está más a la izquierda que Mafalda, y hay disputas ideológicas entre ellas. Guille representa la confrontación más radical, mas desafiante en términos culturales de las nuevas generaciones. Es quizás el desafío en sí mismo cuando se ríe en la cara de sus padres, se mofa incluso de los mayores y de los amigos de Mafalda. Es el último personaje, el más descarado de la historieta.
¿Qué lecturas de género se llevan a cabo en Mafalda? ¿Qué dirías que aportó al feminismo?
Bueno, yo creo que Quino fue extremadamente sensible e intuitivo al convertir a una niña como Mafalda en la protagonista de su historieta. Originariamente protagonizaba la tira un matrimonio con un hijo y una hija. A Quino le habían pedido algo parecido a Charlie Brown, que cruzase a Charlie Brown con las famosas tiras familiares de los años 30. Este niño era bastante parecido a ese personaje, y finalmente lo dejó de lado poniendo el centro narrativo y moral en el personaje de la niña, de Mafalda. Yo creo que eso fue muy intuitivo porque expresó las transformaciones en materia de deseos y aspiraciones de un nuevo tipo de mujer. Mafalda es una niña joven, que confronta. Incluso al comienzo de la historieta es francamente andrógina, la propia figura del personaje tiene características bastante masculinas. Y le permite representar lo opuesto a lo que se esperaba de una niña dulce, delicada, que jugaba con las muñecas. Por ejemplo, Mafalda construye ella misma una camita y el papá la ve y la dice "ah, bueno, estás haciendo la camita para la muñeca", y ella responde "¡no! es el diván del psicoanalista". Es una niña que se enoja, e incluso hace pillerías como si fuera un varón, cruzando las fronteras de lo permitido y lo deseable para una niña o una mujer. Creo que en ese aspecto Quino dialogó justamente con el crescendo del feminismo.
Con la madre también se configura una relación de oposición...
Absolutamente. Estas nuevas mujeres jóvenes establecen una disputa identitaria y generacional muy densa y muy importante. Prácticamente en las mismas publicaciones en las que salía Mafalda, al lado de sus tiras, podíamos encontrar a algunas figuras femeninas del momento entrevistadas por periodistas, pronunciando discursos bastante semejantes a los que vemos en las tiras de Quino, en cuanto a las diferencias y a la desvalorización de estas mujeres domésticas, hogareñas, centradas en la maternidad, el matrimonio y el hogar.
En tu obra afirmas que a Mafalda se la puede ver en las tiendas de souvenires en Argentina junto figuras como el Ché Guevara, Evita Perón o Maradona. ¿Cómo se ha configurado ese personaje como icono nacional?
Bueno, yo creo que eso tiene que ver con la gran riqueza del humor para poner en diálogo procesos que involucran muy fuertemente a lo social. Creo además que el humor, para ser comprendido y causar gracia, debe interpelar sentidos que están contenidos en el sujeto a quien está interpelando. Debe movilizar estos contenidos, y lo que hace risible es el juego entre lo que el humor dice y lo que provoca en el otro.
El humor de Quino es extremadamente conceptual y muy exigente en esta interpelación. Ha permitido que puedan dialogar en su historieta fenómenos sociales como el feminismo o como la oposición a la censura, haciendo de Mafalda un símbolo de la lucha antidictatorial, y un fenómeno social en el cual se proyectan, se catalizan distintas preocupaciones que afectan a buena parte de la sociedad argentina. Así, Mafalda va a ser reinterpretada a partir de la llegada de la democracia en función de los derechos humanos, posteriormente va a quedar relacionada con las fisuras abiertas por la crisis del 2001, y eso la coloca en un lugar muy significativo para la sociedad argentina, vinculado además con la importancia subjetiva que tuvo para generaciones y generaciones de lectores.
¿Cómo ha sido recibida tu investigación en Argentina?
Ha sido muy bien recibida. Una de las cuestiones más movilizantes para mí de esta investigación es tener conciencia de estar estudiando una producción cultural de enorme significación subjetiva para las personas en la actualidad. Entonces los lectores me ofrecen sus propias ideas, interpretaciones y experiencias en torno a la historieta. Y yo me he sentido exigida a ofrecer una reconstrucción que contemple las variadas experiencias sociales y políticas que moviliza Mafalda, con toda la significación subjetiva que tuvo la historieta en estas anécdotas y en estas interpretaciones que me ofrecen muchos lectores.
¿Cómo llegó Mafalda a España?
Bueno, en España el fenómeno es extremadamente interesante. Mafalda es leída en un momento de ascenso del antifranquismo a fines de los años 60 y comienzo de los 70. La historieta llega a partir de los envíos que recibía la famosa librería de Miguel García que traía las novedades al círculo intelectual y progresista madrileño, ahí llega Mafalda. Y poco después Esther Tusquets, de la editorial Lumen, compra los derechos de autor de Mafalda y se convierte en un éxito, en un gran bestseller de ese momento y cataliza, al igual que en Argentina, esta expresión antiautoritaria y antifranquista.
En un momento en el que en España el humor estaba jugando un papel bastante importante aglutinando cierta sensibilidad antiautoritaria, se produjo un fenómeno bastante interesante con la revista de cómic El Globo, la cual hispanizó a Mafalda y la convirtió en su símbolo del cómic en lengua española, otorgándole una tonalidad española. En el primer número de El Globo está Mafalda en el editorial saludando con tonada española a los lectores. A pesar de que las tiras que se reproducían mantenían el lunfardo porteño, la revista intentó facilitar la apropiación de la tira por parte de las generaciones jóvenes a las que se dirigía El Globo en su doble dimensión de confrontación generacional y antiautoritaria.
Sweden Simulator; a browser-based virtual-reality simulation of many of the common experiences of Swedish life.
Created at the recent Nordic.js conference and running in any WebGL-enabled browser (though working best with Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard), Sweden Simulator currently simulates:
Walking down a street, ignoring strangers whilst pushing a pram
Waiting in a queue outside the Systembolaget
Traditional Midsummer festivities (as well as midwinter for comparison)
pour champagne down the sink at a club, as rich Swedes are wont to do
Like Hardly Art labelmates Colleen Green, La Luz, Chastity Belt, La Sera and S, Shannon and the Clams is a project that has become more notable for the strength of the songwriting voices than the particular sound. So while Gone by the Dawn is at a basic level vintage garage rock, with sweet wisps of doo-wop, Motown and surf, what’s most indelible is the honest, relatable humanity in the songwriting of Shannon Shaw (bass), Cody Blanchard (guitar) and Nate Mayhem (drums and keys). Their tools — irresistible melodies, danceably enticing rhythms and a timeless sense of cool — are merely in service to those voices.
On the band’s first couple records in particular, Shannon and the Clams hewed a little close to the ’60s. And while 2013’s Dreams in the Rat House…
…found the band more creatively recombining its vintage influences, Gone by the Dawn does so much more than conjure the past. (Give at least some credit to Shannon and the Clams’ ever-burgeoning sound to fellow Bay Area weirdo Sonny Smith of the chameleonic Sonny & The Sunsets, who produced Gone by the Dawn at John Vanderslice’s Tiny Telephone studio.)
There’s complexity, mystery and head-turning musical strangeness all over the record, turning the playfulness of Shannon and the Clams’ past albums into an off-kilter weapon that’s every bit as strong as the band’s melodic gifts. The lyrics in Gone by the Dawn come from two breakups, with Shaw and Blanchard both contributing glimpses of their own sadness, rendered real enough to feel enveloped by the same heartbreak.
Equal parts bold and vulnerable, Shaw gives herself completely to her emotion-infused vocals: the wounded and faded patience of “Corvette,” the regretful “Gone by the Dawn,” the angry pell-mell attack of “Knock ‘Em Dead,” and the album’s showstopper, “How Long?” dripping with loneliness and longing. Blanchard’s lead vocals typically transmit more pain than Shaw’s, with “It’s Too Late,” “Telling Myself” and “Baby Blue” as his strongest tracks on the record.
Gone by the Dawn deftly blends a joyful escape musically with the weighty emotional journey of the lyrics, and Shannon and the Clams have more than topped themselves on the record, pushing to a whole new level.
A associaçom cultural a Gentalha do Pichel é um projeto autogerido, que se sustenta a partir do trabalho, ativismo e achegas económicas das pessoas associadas.
Os cursos, além de serem um espaço de convívio e aprendizagem, som umha ajuda económica para manter o centro social, por isto pedimos o teu compromisso à hora de fazer o pagamento no início de cada mês.
Sem matrícula. Depósito dumha mensalidade a maiores a começo do curso que será devolta no caso de avisar com um mês de antecedência da baixa do curso. O pessoal que fique até o fim do curso nom terá que pagar o último mês graças a este depósito.
Preço por mês. Desconto de 2€ no preço do curso para pessoas associadas, desempregadas (deve acreditar-se) ou que frequentem mais dum curso.
Mínimo de inscriçons para um curso começar: 3/4pessoas.
Segundas-feiras de 12h30 a 13h30. Começo de 5 outubro. Preço 16€
As aulas de pandeireta e canto virám da mao de Carme Iglesias, integrante das Pandeireteiras Bouba, da Pontragha. As pessoas velhas da comarca, de quem aprendeu a música, estám presentes no seu modo de tocar e ensinar. De Tordoia portas para fora… Começa a rota da pandeireta!
Hatha Ioga.
Terças e quintas feiras de 09h a 10h15. Preço 30€. Começo 15 de outubro. Haverá possibilidade de consensuar horário. Também de assistir a umha aula por semana (20€) ou aulas soltas ao mês (6€ por aula).
O hatha ioga é o ioga da persistência. A integraçom de duos opostos numha uniom completa.Exercita o teu corpo ganhando flexibilidade em cada asana (postura) e diminui o teu stress mediante exercícios de pranayama (respiraçons). Goça das relaxaçons guiadas e das técnicas de meditaçom para lograr um maior controlo mental. A professora será Estefania, iniciada já na prática fai oito anos por Sanatana Dharma (Astúrias). Necesário trazer esteira e mantinha.
Gaita
Quartas-feiras de 10h30 a 11h30. Começo 7 de outubro. Preço 20€. Número mínimo de participantes: 4 pessoas.
No curso fará-se umha aproximaçom à técnica do instrumento e aprenderemos algumhas peças. O curso irá da iniciaçom ao aperfeiçoamento, trabalhando ouvido, afinaçom e linguagem musical, com as noçons básicas de teoria e leitura aplicadas à prática da música tradicional. O professor será David Canto, gaiteiro iniciado na música tradicional na comarca da Marinha, para depois receber formaçom em gaita, percussom e requinta e flautas travessas em aCentral Folque e no Conservatório, do que posue o Grao Professional em Gaita Galega. Tocou com ”Acibreira” , ”Quarteto da Gentalha”, “Arrueiro” e “Do Fondo do Peto”, além de colaborar nos últimos discos de Os Cempés e Kepa Junquera.
Tamboril
Quartas-feiras de 10h30 a 11h30. Começo 7 de outubro. Preço 20€. Número mínimo de participantes: 4 pessoas.
Neste curso praticará-se a técnica de tamboril tradicional (agarre das baquetas, batido e redobre, acentuado, etc), para a sua aplicaçom nos ritmos empregados na música tradicional galega. Fará-se um achegamento que permita a interpretaçom dum repertório variado e desenvolver-se no acompanhamento da melodia. O professor será David Canto.
Iniciaçom à dança tradicional
Quartas-feiras de 11h30 a 12h30. Começo 7 de outubro. Preço 15€. Número mínimo de participantes: 6 pessoas.
Neste curso aprenderemos pontos de diferentes zonas da Galiza para podermos participar ativamente em festas e foliadas. Será com Fuensanta Nieto, vizinha de Compostela, que bailou em diferentes agrupaçons folclóricas da comarca. Também fijo algum trabalho de campo por diferentes lugares da Galiza para aprender, de primeira mao, as diferentes maneiras de bailar dos e das nossas velhas.
Dança tradicional. Intermédio
Quartas-feiras de 12h a 13h. Começo de 7 outubro. Preço 15€. Número mínimo de participantes: 6 pessoas.
Se passaste por iniciaçom e queres continuar a aprender pontos para divertir-te nas foliadas este é o teu curso. A profe seráFuensanta Nieto.
À TARDE
Dança tradicional para quem nom sabe nada
Quartas-feiras de 20h a 21h. Começo 7 de outubro. Preço 15€.
Ensinada por Chus Caramés, que há décadas que anda no baile galego. Começa de mui novinha na agrupaçom folclórica da sua terra natal e a dia de hoje continua aprendendo da man das nosas pessoas velhas e em festas e foliadas. Além de bailadora e pandeireteira, é a organizadora dum evento muito importante para a música tradicional do país, “os Encontros de Música Tradicional de Carvoeiro”.
Dança tradicional para quem sabe um chisco
Terça-feiras de 20h30 a 21h30. Começo 14 de outubro. Preço 15€
Se já foste um aninho a dança é mais ou menos lembras o básico, este é o teu curso! Aqui afiançarás o aprendido e darás umha volta para continuares a desfrutar das festas e foliadas. Quem te ajudará é umha rapariga que sabe disso. Carme Campo aprendeu os primeiros pontos no Porrinho, aperfeiçoou-nos num grupo de Compostela e agora mantém-se aprendendo no dia a dia, em seráns e festivais de música tradicional.
Dança tradicional para quem sabe um chisco mais
Segundas-feiras de 22h a 23h. Começo de 5 de outubro. Preço 15€
Com Fuensanta Nieto aprenderemos alguns bailes de diferentes zonas para podermos continuar a participar ativamente em festas e foliadas, além de aperfeiçoar as técnicas do baile que já temos aprendidas doutros anos.
Pandeireta Iniciaçom e Aperfeiçoamento
Quartas-feiras. Iniciaçom de 19h a 20h. Começo 7 de outubro. Preço 14€. Duraçom até junho.
Quartas- feiras. Aperfeiçoamento de 20h a 21h. Começo 7 de outubro. Preço 14€. Duraçom até dezembro. Em Janeiro formaremos um grupo de gaitas e percussom com aulas concretas para isto com a gente de aperfeiçoamento que quiger participar.
Nas aulas aprenderemos a tocar os ritmos básicos da música tradicional galega, centrando-nos na técnica e no acompanhamento a outros instrumentos. Aitana Cuétara, a professora, está acompanhada pola música tradicional desde 1997. Começou sob a direçom do mestre Lolete, primeiro como gaiteira e logo já como percussionista, passando depois por outras agrupaçons e formando-se com diferentes músicos. Desde há treze anos leciona aulas regulares e cursos intensivos na Galiza e fóra.
Gaita
Quintas-feiras de 17h a 18h . Começo 1 de outubro. Preço 20€.
* Com David Canto. Ver informaçom nos cursos de Manhá.
Tamboril
Quintas-feiras de 18h a 19h. Começo de 1 outubro. Preço 20€. Número mínimo de participantes: 4 pessoas.
* Com David Canto. Ver informaçom nos cursos de Manhá.
Acordeom diatónico e piano.
Quintas-feiras de 17h a 19h. As aulas seram de 1 hora a escolher por cada aluna/o neste horário (ou de 17h a 18h, ou de 18h a 19h). Começo no 1 de outubro. Preço 22€.
Neste curso explicaram-se diversos elementos de técnica interpretativa e daram-se exercícios práticos adaptados ao nível e evoluçom de cada aluno/a. O repertório impartido centrará-se, fundamentalmente, em peças tradicionais galegas, fazendo ênfase nas próprias do acordeom e do canto, ainda que também se incluiram peças tradicionais doutras partes do mundo. A falta de instrumento ou de conhecimento musical nom é um impedimento para a assistência às aulas. O professor será Alberte Núñez Martínez quem se iniciou no mundo do acordeom da mao de Brais Maceiras depois de ter estudado piano no Conservatório Profissional de Música da Corunha. Assistiu a diversos encontros e cursinhos ofertados por grandes acordeonistas como Pedro Pascual, Cati Plana ou Xuan Nel Expósito. Toca nos grupos Sessión Vermú e Dúbida Duo e colaborou com Tiruleque ou os Tres Trebóns. Atualmente dá aulas de acordeom em diversas associaçons e intervêm em homenagens e concertos didáticos sobre o instrumento.
Música para peto. Harmónica e mais uns instrumentos miúdos.
Segundas-feiras de 18h45 a 19h45. Começo 5 de outubro. Preço 20€. Duraçom de outubro a dezembro.
Curso para todos os níveis sobre instrumentos que podem ser levados no peto, porque a música é o refúgio onde podermos agachar-nos contra o aborrecimento, a defesa da mediocridade. Curso para aprender/melhorar a tocar a harmónica em vários estilos (tradicional, folque, popular, blues…) e liçons para outros instrumentos: tarranholas, harpas de boca, assobios, colheres… O professor será Ariel Ninas (a.k.a. Mauro Sanín) músico polifacético associado à aCentral Folque, onde desenvolve a sua atividade profissional regular. Ainda que pouca gente o sabe, a harmónica é o seu primeiro instrumento, que toca desde os 14 anos e tivo em Marcos Coll (Reyes el K.O.) o seu professor. Como sanfonista, é membro da OMEGA (Orquestra de Música Espontánea da Galiza) e Ulobit (multimedia experimental).
Canto e Pandeireta.
Intermédio: segundas-feiras de 19h45 a 20h45. Começo 5 de outubro. Preço 16€
Avançado: segundas-feiras de 21h a 22h.Começo 5 de outubro. Preço 16€
As aulas de pandeireta e canto virám da mao de Carme Iglesias, integrante das Pandeireteiras Bouba, da Pontragha. As pessoas velhas da comarca, de quem aprendeu a música, estám presentes no seu modo de tocar e ensinar. Desde Tordoia portas para fora… Começa a rota da pandeireta!
Percussom Doméstica
Segundas- feiras de 21h a 22h. Começo 5 de Outubro. Preço 20€. Duraçom de 3meses.
No curso faremos um percurso polas músicas tradicionais da península ibérica, de Europa do leste e de América do sul, vendo que os instrumentos domésticos som um óptimo veículo para a aprendizagem musical de técnicas tradicionais e modernas.
Para realizar o obradoiro é recomendável trazer instrumentos domésticos como culheres, tijola, dedais de costura, caldeiro, táboas de lavar, sachos, latas, almirez ou morteiro ,… Também se podem trazer outros instrumentos de percusión tradicional para usar como base rítmica nalgumhas partes do obradoiro. Carlos Martínez leva desde 2003 até a atualidade percorrendo grande parte da península e Europa como percusionista de “Pan de Capazo”. No ano 2009 forma em Compostela a Fanfarria Taquikardia, grupo de referencia na animaçom de rua galega. Durante vários anos percorre a geografia galega como membro do grupo de percussom tradicional “PelePau”. Na atualidade o seu trabalho musical está em “Pan de Capazo”, “Os Calandracas” e o desenvolvemento das percussons domésticas, os bombos e os pandeiros de diferentes culturas do mundo.
Guitarra.
Nível I: terças-feiras de 19h a 20h . Nível II de 20h a 21h. Começo 6 de outubro. Preço: 25€.
Som ideais quer para gente que começa do zero, quer para quem já tem um nível intermédio. Nelas, trabalharam-se harmonia e técnica de forma conjunta, a un nível mui básico. A ideia é fazer aulas engraçadas onde a criatividade e a improvisaçom tenham um papel importante. Tocaram-se temas de diversos estilos (blues, rock, country, reggae, funk) e temas que proponha o próprio alunado, se a complexidade do tema o permite. O professor será Benjamín Vázquez, professor em educaçom musical e atual guitarrista de The Lákazans.
Tea & Sympathy: Clube de conversa em inglês
Terças-feiras: Nível Intermédio I de 19h a 20h; Nível Intermédio IIde 20h a 21h. Começo o 6 de outubro. Grupos de 6/7 pessoas máx. Preço 20€.
Quintas-feiras: Nível Aperfeiçoamento Ide 19h15 a 20h15; Nível Aperfeiçoamento II de 20h a 21h. Começo o 1 de outubro. Grupos de 6/7 pessoas máx. Preço 20€.
Falaremos muito. Beberemos chá. E tentaremos rir-nos muito! Coordenado por Afonso Barata, professor de língua inglesa.
Português
Nivel Básico. Segundas-feiras de 20h30 a 21h30. Começo 5 de outubro.
Nivel Avançado. Quintas-feiras de 20h30 a 21h30. Começo 1 de outubro.
Preço 14€. Duraçom de 4 meses
Com cerca de 272,9 milhons de falantes, o português é a quinta língua mais falada no mundo. Neste curso vamos aprender aqueles conteúdos gramaticais, socioculturais e lexicais que nos ajudem a comunicar com oito países lusófonos, mas sempre tendo em conta que sermos galegas é uma entrada que favorece o acesso ao mundo em português.
Carmen Saborido é uma padronesa licenciada em Filologia pela USC. Completou estudos de língua e cultura portuguesas em Lisboa. Trabalhou como tradutora, corretora ortográfica, livreira e gestora de conteúdos. Hoje é professora no ensino secundário, onde dá aulas de português a adolescentes.
Língua e cultura catalá
Quintas-feiras de 20h30 a 21h30. Começo 1 de outubro. Preço 20€. Duraçom de 3 meses. Após os três meses começará um segundo nível.
O curso de língua e cultura catalás está dirigido a pessoas que queiram adquirir as ferramentas lingüísticas básicas para entenderem textos escritos e orais em catalám, de jeito que desenvolvam as habilidades comunicativas para poderem passar da compreensom da língua ao seu uso activo. Além disso, quer ofertar umha aproximaçom à realidade social da língua catalá (extensom territorial, distintos graus de oficialidade, situaçom sociolingüística…) e à cultura que se gerou no seu território. O professor será Eduard del Castillo Velasco, licenciado em Filologia Catalá e Filologia Galega pola Universitat de Barcelona. Interessado especialmente nas relaçons entre os Países Catalans e a Galiza, dedicou-se à docência da língua catalá e da língua galega e tamém à traduçom literária entre estas duas culturas.
Criaçom literária
Segundas-feiras de 19h15 a 20h15. Começo 5 de outubro. Preço 22€
Este obradoiro pretende que todas as pessoas perdam o medo à folha em branco, que canalizem através da escrita as suas emoçons, sensaçons, pensamento, a vida… em todos os formatos: relato, conto, poesia, teatro, banda desenhada, novela (de todas as épocas desde a clássica até a atualidade).
As aulas seram fundamentalmente práticas, estudaremos os textos desde todas as perspetivas: voz, história, personagens, tempo, conteúdo… realizando exercícios de literatura comparada e debatendo entre todas as pessoas do grupo a diversidade de horizonte de expetativas que apresenta um mesmo relato para as suas leitoras e leitores. Além disto, mergulharemo-nos na perspetiva de género, examinando os polos negativos e positivos que cada relato nos ofereça. É importantíssimo abordar a perspetiva de género para nom cair em tópicos e estereótipos. Entre mais cousas, estaremos ao dia das novidades editoriais ou contaremos com a presença dalgumha autora ou autor que estudemos.
A professora será Mónica Places Torrado, licenciada em Filologia Románica, Galega e Hispánica. Trabalhei no ILG, na editora IR Indo, colaborei com as editoras Cumio, Kalandraca e Xerais. Em Ir indo comecei nos obradoiros de escrita, estudando os recursos dos relatos infantís e posteriormente, conto, novela, poesia e teatro. Levo mais de quatro anos a lecionareste obradoiro por diferentes associaçons e livrarias na comarca compostelana com grande sucesso, pois todos os anos, as pessoas participantes ganham vários prémios em relaçom com a escrita.
O amor nom é como no-lo contarom. Desconstruindo as bases do amor romántico e adquisiçom de ferramentas para melhorar a nossa autoestima.
Sextas-feiras de 17 a 19h. Começo 9 de outubro. Preço 22€. Possibilidade de troco/custe reducido em duas vagas (para mais info consultar em gentalha@gentalha.org) Número mínimo: 8 pessoas. Só para mulheres. Duraçom 3 meses.
Através deste obradoiro tomaremos consciência de como, desde os roles de gênero, as mulheres costumamos situar-nos numha posiçom de subordinaçom nas relaçons afetivas. Analisaremos como é que acontecem algumhas dessas subordinaçons (autopostergaçons, altruísmos, servilismos, cessons, renúncias…) e buscaremos ferramentas que nos ajudem a situar o centro da nossa vida e do nosso amor em nós próprias.
Este é um curso pensado para todas aquelas mulheres que queiram dar um passo à frente nas suas vidas e construir vínculos afetivos mais livres, igualitários e cuidados. O obradoiro terá lugar num ambiente de segurança e bom trato. María Rosendo é filóloga, educadora social e posui um mestrado de gênero. O seu trabalho neste campo está centrado na promoçom da saúde e a autoestima das mulheres através do trabalho grupal. Também tem trabalhado autoestima e gênero com grupos de adolescentes. Decidiu aprofundar na construçom do Amor Romántico e na ética dos cuidados na procura de relaçons afetivas mais igualitárias e livres. Continua a aprender no dia a dia.
Melhorar o meio ambiente é aforrar na carteira! Medidas de eficiência ambiental para o dia a dia.
Quartas-feiras de 19h30-20h30| Começo no 7 de outubro |Preço: 15€. Número mínimo de participantes: 5. Duraçom até dezembro.
Neste curso faremos umha achega aos problemas ambientais globais e, em particular, aos da Galiza. Trataremos de dar conselhos práticos para poupar auga, energia e mais recursos na casa ou no trabalho e tentaremos solucionar as dúvidas e equívocos que levades tempo querendo resolver. Estará a cargo dele Joana Martins, engenheira ambiental com experiencia na consultoria e formaçom no ámbito do câmbio climático e da gestom ambiental das organizaçons, trabalhando para pemes e profissionais do sector.
Ponto e tricô. Fai-no tu mesm@!
Quintas feiras de 19h30 a 20h30. Começo no 1 de outubro. Preço 14€
O obradoiro para aprender a tricotar vai dirigido a pessoas que tenham vontade de aprender as técnicas básicas de confeiçom de peças para se proteger do frio. Começaremos adquirindo habilidade com as agulhas enquanto aprendemos pontos mais elaborados e poremo-los em prática num cachecol, um gorro (ou boné) e um jérsei. Na aula também elaboraremos entre todas e todos um vocabulário na nossa língua para todas estas técnicas tam conhecidas mais que precisam de ser normalizadas em galego. A professora, Sílvia Pons é umha amante da técnica e da sua tradiçom e leva quase umha decada fazendo peças de vestir e transmitindo o seu conhecimento.
Duraçom de 3 trimestres (1 por cada peça. Cachecol/boné/jérsei) Podem ser independentes um doutro com o domínio básico da técnica.
Capoeira Angola
Segundas-feiras de 19h30 a 21h. Começo no 4 de outubro. Preço 22€. Participantes sem limite de idades: para mulheres, homens e crianças.
Nestas aulas trabalhara-se de uma forma lúdica a movimentaçao da Capoeira Angola. Também a sua parte instrumental onde entram os cantos da capoeira e os seus instrumentos: o berimbau. As participantes poderam assim conhecer a cultura afro-brasileira desde umha brincadeira com o corpo e sua movimentaçao (dança e luta), a sua história, a sua música, os seus diálogos corporais e de improvisaçom.
A professora é Cristina que pratica a arte da Capoeira Angola desde o ano 1999. Morou no Brasil, na cidade de Salvador de Bahia durante 10 anos, onde praticou capoeira Angola, dentro do grupo de capoeira Angola Zimba. Desde o ano 2009, passou a morar em Compostela onde formou a Associação de Capoeira Angola, com a qual vem trabalhando na preservaçom da originalidade e filosofia da Capoeira Angola através do ensino pratico da mesma. Por tanto, os participantes teram a oportunidade de entrar em contato e desfrutar aprendendo esta pratica de manifestaçom cultural brasileira. Deu aulas de Capoeira em distintos centros socioculturais da cidade, escolas da Galiza e participou na organizaçom dos encontros internacionais de Capoeira Angola em Compostela.
Pilates
Terças e quintas-feiras de 19h15 a 20h15. Começo no 1 de outubro. Preço 20€. Máximo de 12 alunos/as. Necesário trazer esteira.
O objetivo destas aulas é o de lograr um controlo preciso do corpo da maneira mais saudável e eficiente possível, é dizer, conseguir o equilíbrio muscular reforçando os músculos fracos e alongando os mais curtos através dumha série de exercícios controlados. Isto levará-nos a conseguir umha maior força e flexibilidade respeitando sempre as articulaçons e as costas, evitando assim dores e corrigindo más posturas. Tomaremos consciência sobre a respiraçom e a concentraçom à hora de realizar os exercícios para a sua correta execuçom. Além disto, o método pilates permitirá-nos alcançar umha perfeita harmonia corpo e mente num espaço no que combinaremos exercício físico e relaxaçom. O professor será Diego Barreiro, titulado numha das mais importantes federaçons no Estado espanhol. É um entusiasta do pilates e continua a formar-se dia a dia nesta disciplina.
Teatro
1. Obradoiro de Iniciaçom Teatral e adestramento atoral: Quartas-feiras de 19h a 20h. Começo 7 de outubro. Preço 20€
A partir da leitura e discusom de textos dramáticos, a improvisaçom e a montagem de cenas, trabalharam-se neste curso os objetivos de conhecer e utilizar os elementos de expressom corporal, conhecer e desenvolver a dicotomia gesto/palavra, de desenvolver capacidades miméticas, de distinguir ritmo e dinámica de movimento ou de utilizar o corpo como meio de expressom teatral entre outras.
2. Grupo de Teatro do Pichel: Terças-feiras de 21h30 a 23h. Começo 6 de outubro. Preço por confirmar.
Neste obradoiro pretendemos investigar, através dos vários níveis de expressom que oferece o Teatro, o interior e o arredor de cada pessoa que conforme o grupo, assim como a interacçom do mesmo grupo, concluindo com umha representaçom cénica. Trabalharemos basicamente cinco vertentes: a expressom (oral e corporal), a imaginaçom e a criatividade, a comunicaçom, o autoconhecimento e a abordagem cultural. Salientar o carácter lúdico e de dinamizaçom social que implica a prática teatral.
Zé Paredes, o professor, é ator e diretor de cena dedica-se à atividade profissional do teatro desde o ano 1996. Iniciou a sua formaçom no Porto, no Ballet-Teatro Escola Profissional. Em 2001 estabelece a sua relaçom com o teatro galego, através dumha coproduçom entre o Teatro do Noroeste, a Companhia de Teatro de Braga e o Centro Dramático Galego. Vive na Galiza desde 2002, tendo sido coordenador da Aula de Teatro da Universidade da Corunha e junto com Mónica Camaño cria o projeto Teatro Nu.
Fotografia I
Terças-feiras de 21h a 22h. Começo o 6 de outubro. Preço 17 euros. Duraçom de 3 meses (Após estes 3 meses começará com o mesmo horário o curso de Fotografia II).Número mínimo de participantes: 5 pessoas.
Mediante o curso pretende-se que o alunado tire o máximo proveito das suas cámaras, quer sejam compactas quer reflex, treinando o uso de todas as suas funcionalidades assim como aprendendo os fundamentos básicos da fotografia, para desenvolver as suas potencialidades artísticas. Além disso, comentaremos os referentes históricos e artísticos necessários para compreender a importáncia histórica da fotografia na nossa sociedade e faremos umha breve introduçom a algumhas das mais importantes disciplinas fotográficas. O professor será Toxa, fotógrafo formado na EASD Ramón Falcón de Lugo e que exerce como profissional desde o ano 2010
by stuffpodcast@howstuffworks.com (Stuff You Should Know)
Born and raised in South America, chilis were the earliest crop domesticated in the continent and among the first items brought back to Europe by Columbus. Today people are really, really into them.
¿QUÉ? Probablemente no haya un juego al que haya echado más partidas que a ‘El Grande‘. Pero habían pasado más de 5 años desde mi última partida, así que he vuelto a jugarlo para saber si realmente estamos ante un clásico de los juegos de mesa o simplemente un gran juego de mayorías. En ‘El Grande‘, […]
Like paying taxes, getting cum all over your head is both inevitable and your patriotic duty. But that doesn’t mean it has to make you cringe! Getting “skeet skeet” ejected onto your scalp can actually be a soothing and relaxing experience, as long as you have something adorable to concentrate on. Here are some cute things to think about while he squirts semen all over your brain holder:
1. A teensy baby pig tripping over himself because he’s wearing oversized rain boots!!
2. A handful of kittens curiously peering out of a rustic woven basket. D’awww!
3. A polar bear floating on its back while eating a pumpkin!
4. Haley Joel Osment in Forrest Gump. So little!!!
5. A four-year-old girl from Japan discovering snow for the first time and crying from inexplicable joy. OMG!!
6. The friendship between the roly-poly young Boy Scout and the cynical old man in the movie Up.
7. Baby otters eating mini cupcakes on their backs while yawning!
8. Pikachu saying his own name! “PIKA-CHUUUUU!”
9. A baby gorilla wearing a bonnet in a bassinet while doing the sign language for “I love you.” Wow!!
10. A dog recognizing its owner after she comes home from war. All the feels!!!
11. A frumpy freshman girl in a back and neck brace being asked by a varsity jock to prom!
12. Mr. Big aimlessly driving around Paris in hopes of finding Carrie Bradshaw!! UGH!!!
13. Separated-at-birth twins discovering each other’s existence and hugging on a sunny hill in Central Park!
14. An elderly couple smiling at each other under a pink sky!!
15. Paul Rudd paying for dinner with a handsome grin. AHH!!!!
And now there’s cum on your dome! Easy, right? These adorable and cute images are sure to make you “aww” and “ooh” while he jerks it all over your head.
Aquí en México hay dos estilos de marisco: los platos del sur le ponen catsup Por contra en el norte, hacen el marisco más claro sin tanta salsa.
Imos ver .... eu coido que é certo.
Este de aquí é un plato típico do norte: Aguachile de camarón.
Se cadra nesta foto, coma ten varios tipos de marisco (camarón, pulpo e callo), e a salsa é negra (o habitual é vermello ou verde), pero en realidade o marisco vai apenas curado con limón e picosísimo chile. Logo ponselle unhas hortalizas e xa vai.
Pa comparar, un plato típico Veracruzano: o cocktel de camarón.
Eu son moito máis do aguachile, o cocktel non me gusta nada.
Imaxino que para un galego, calqueira dos dous platos é un pouco unha aberración: demasiada cousa. Pero bueno, no caso do aguachile, básicamente é marisco acompañado cuns cantos vexetais (cebola, pepino e aguacate), que de feito podes ou non comer. Iso sí, picante.
O aguachile especialmente: habitualmente os aguachiles son algúns dos platos máis picantes da comida mexicana. Usase un chile especialmente picante: o chiltepin. Supoño que vos sorprenderá, pero nunha marisquería mexicana é onde habitualmente teñen as salsas máis bravas. (Bueno, as salsas máis intensas, pero non as máis persistentes: iso é outro tema os mexicanos distinguen moi ben entre o picante que arde e o que deixa a un "enchilado").
Nota amigos galegos: se queredes probar un aguachile, non tedes que viaxar a Sonora ou Sinalóa. Podedes pasar por Lalín, onde no Restaurante Molinera fan a súa versión do aguachile:
Aguachile de navajas y xurel no Molinera: un dos platazos do ano, fresquiño è un chisco picante pic.twitter.com/MonIWxUBzB
Tamén lembro ter tido novas de que algún outro restaurante galego tivo aguachiles na súa carta. Pero en iso teredes que axudarme os que vivades polo país.
Imgenes extradas del hashtag #putipobres en Twitter
Piensa en la tpica foto porno: un apartamento de lujo, unacama enorme, lencera cara y un chico o una chica posando ante una cmaraprofesional perfectamente maquillados e iluminados. Ahora quita la cama, borrael lujo y deshazte de la lencera cara. Ni maquillaje, ni iluminacin, ni nada.El nuevo escenario es un barrio pobre, una casa humilde, paredes desconchadas yropa vieja tirada por el suelo. En el centro, una joven se apunta con un mvilantiguo, quizs el que t tenas hace cinco o seis aos; se est haciendo unafoto, sin ropa, o como mucho lleva lencera, eso s, de mercadillo. Esta es laltima moda del sexo y su nombre lo dice todo: pobrezafilia.
Atrs qued la mansin de Playboy con todas sus chicasrodeadas de lujos. El morbo ya no viste de marca. Las putipobres, como las hanbautizado en Internet, se muestran en medio de un cuarto desordenado que suelerepetir siempre el mismo atrezzo: una pared de ladrillo sin pintar, un techoinacabado, muebles viejos, un colchn sin sbanas tirado por el suelo y si todoest sucio... mejor, porque cuanto mayor es la pobreza, mayor ser despus larepercusin de las fotografas.
El fenmeno, entre el erotismo y la discriminacin, llevapoco ms de un ao recorriendo las redes sociales y una de las primeraspersonas en analizarlo fue la psicloga mexicana Cindy Gabriela Flores: "es msuna fobia hacia las expresiones erticas de las clases socio-econmicas menosfavorecidas, pese a que usan el prefijo filia, que hace referencia al amor osimpata, pues los comentarios reflejan agresin y sarcasmo". Y es que a cadafotografa suelen acompaarle frases ms cerca de la humillacin que de laexcitacin. Existen por ejemplo una serie de reglas no escritas que sirven paramedir el xito de la foto, como que aparezcan vrgenes o santos en la habitacin,que la ropa no sea de marca, que est presente la camiseta de un equipo deftbol local... Y hasta se valora la presencia de algn viejo juguete, sobre todopeluches de algn nio con el que conviven o de una infancia que muchas vecesno queda demasiado lejos.
Es esto fetichismo, voyerismo o simplemente humillacin?Para la ciberfeminista Cindy Flores la respuesta est clara: "Creo que, ms quefetichismo por la pobreza, podra reflejar un juego de poder y quiz ciertosadismo, pues se trata de un tema donde quienes critican, lo hacen asumiendoque se encuentran en una clase socioeconmica con mayores recursos econmicosque quienes aparecen en las fotografas y tambin hay un elemento que parecierareflejar la sensacin de un colectivo o una masa cohesionada en contra dequienes se consideran ajenos, diferentes... Y a quienes se excluye de ciertaforma".
Lo cierto es que cada da aparecen nuevas fotos sobre todocon chicas de pases de Centroamrica, principalmente Mxico (donde el fenmenose ha expandido con mayor velocidad), aunque tambin hay fotografas de chicasde Honduras, Venezuela o Colombia, siempre segn los propios usuarios. "Si noson latinas no es #pobrezafilia", asegura un mensaje que no recibe contestacinen Twitter. El objetivo principal de la pobrezafilia son chicas, principalmentejvenes, en torno a los veinte aos, aunque de vez en cuando aparecen tambinalgunas imgenes de chicos fotografindose en las mismas circunstancias.
Pero, cmo llegan estas fotos a publicarse? Es difcilresponder a la pregunta. Para la psicloga Cindy Flores "por la distancia ydespersonalizacin que se lee en los mensajes, parecera que se trata defotografas tomadas sin autorizacin de quienes las tomaron, aunque podratambin tratarse de imgenes recibidas y compartidas". Se supone que algunasimgenes son realizadas por las propias jvenes que libremente las comparten enInternet.
Sin embargo en muchas ocasiones las imgenes surgen en elmbito privado y acaban siendo pblicas. Aqu es donde entra la figura de losdenominados "cazadores": usuarios que rastrean la red en busca de fotos robadaso filtradas para luego difundirlas, principalmente a travs de Twitter y conhashtags como #Pobrezafilia, #putipobres, #misseria o incluso#TanRicaYTanPobre. "Se trata ms de un acto de humillacin o intolerancia, yadentro del hashtag. Pues pese a que las fotografas originalmente reflejanintenciones erticas, han sido sacadas de su contexto", explica Cindy Flores.Las jvenes acaban finalmente en un enorme escaparate de morbo y humillacinmuchas veces sin saberlo y sin que nadie se preocupe siquiera por ocultar suscaras, como si la pobreza ya se las hubiera borrado bastante.
En cambio, quienes difunden las fotografas se esconden bajoel anonimato de cuentas con seudnimos y fotografas falsas y si se intentacontactar con ellos, el silencio es la nica respuesta que ofrecen. Tampocoquieren hablar las pocas jvenes cuyas fotografas recorren la red y que s hanpodido ser identificadas durante la elaboracin de este reportaje. Aqu nadiehabla y todos miran.
Hace unos meses se publicaba en Internet una informacinannima que anunciaba la creacin del hashtag #prosperafilia con el queinstituciones mexicanas intentaran ayudar a las chicas que aparecan en esasfotos. Al final la noticia era solo una broma. Nadie parece tomarse en serio elfenmeno de la pobrezafilia, pero s que empieza a generar cierta preocupacinen el mbito de los derechos humanos la falta de sensibilidad social querefleja
Qu se debera hacer? La respuesta no es fcil. En suanlisis para la web Reversos.mx, donde Cindy Flores es editora de la seccin Libido, se dan algunas claves: "Es una preguntamuy difcil de responder. Es muy complejo el tema, pero quiz si se promovieraun mayor respeto y menos prejuicios, un cambio social, este tipo de expresionespodran disminuir, pero no podemos dejar de lado esa parte oscura del serhumano, esa que nos disgusta reconocer y que, sin embargo, nos demuestra una yotra vez que no somos tan dueos de nuestra psique como nos gustara creer".
La paradoja de las nuevas tecnologas es que la pobrezafiliaest a la vez a miles de kilmetros y en nuestro propio telfono con un solotoque de pantalla. Tan lejos como para no preocuparnos, tan cerca como paraimportarnos.
My typical Sunday usually involves a host of errands, a Netflix marathon, and the occasional brunch. My plans for last Sunday? Paying to get my ass smacked by a complete stranger.
SCONY (Spanking Club Of New York) has dedicated its time and efforts to hosting private, old-fashioned spanking parties for the past two decades. Run by a sweet-looking older woman who goes by “Ms. Margaret,” the club meets once every month in Manhattan’s East Village, where private rooms are set up for some good, clean, ass-smacking fun.
There are some rules to abide by: No floggers or cat-o-nine-tails (which are whips), and safe words (yellow for slow down, red for stop) are listed as absolute must-follows. Refreshments are served and you’re encouraged to bring a snack to share, as well as your alcoholic beverage of choice.
Upon discovering that spanking parties are actually a thing that happen in my hood, I decided that I absolutely needed to see this for myself. I asked my friend Andrea to come along (actually, she volunteered) and we signed up for a Sunday funday of ass-spanking.
After knocking back a few drinks at a nearby bar for some liquid confidence, we walked over to the address listed on the site and pushed open the nondescript door. We were immediately met with the resounding sound of asses being smacked.
There was a front table, which had three name tag selections: blue if you were a bottom (meaning you wanted to get your booty slapped), red if you were a top (meaning you wanted to smack some money makers), and white if you wanted to do both.
We were greeted by Tom, the husband of Ms. Margaret, and were asked to fill out name tags (we both chose white). We paid the $25 entry fee (a steep $50 if you’re a man).
After signing in, a group of older men approached us but their efforts were quickly thwarted by Ms. Margaret, who swooped in like a mama cat protecting her newborn kittens, and pulled us aside to give us a much-needed newbie schpiel.
“The two of you are going to get hounded,” she told us, “so I’m going to pair you up with someone who’s been here a while.”
Enter Kristi, a wholesome-looking 30-something who likes to get her caboose whacked on the regular.
Kristi and Ms. Margaret made it clear to us that we didn’t have to do anything we didn’t feel comfortable with during our first time out, and told us that if anyone here did or said something to us that was off-putting, we should flag one of them down right away.
She also noted that the women here “run this sh*t,” meaning we do the picking and choosing of who we’re going to “play” with (that’s what they called it), not the other way around.
After the much needed pre-spank pep talk, we walked out behind Ms. Margaret and Kristi, through a sea of potential spankers that ranged from normal looking 20-somethings to men and women who probably have grandkids. Wide-eyed, we took a seat at a table that was placed in between two private, curtained off “play” areas.
Andrea and I made small talk with Kristi and were then joined a by young, clean-cut guy named Nick. Nick told us about the spanking convention he’d just gone to down in Texas, and how he’d been at it this for a year now, having found this place after he got out of a particularly bad breakup.
As the conversation continued, I saw an old man and woman emerge from one of the private rooms, laughing.
“Why thank you, sir,” the old woman said, fixing her hair from the ordeal. “This is the most fun I’ve had in quite some time.”
“My pleasure, my darling,” he told her, and then kissed her hand.
As I was watching this all go down, I realized that Andrea was making a beeline for the table that had a small selection of alcohol, which seemed like a smart idea given what we were both about to go through with.
We discussed how the heck we were supposed to go from making casual chit-chat with these strangers to actually getting our badonkadonks beat. We decided to take the middle school approach and tell Kristi to tell Nick that we’d both really like for him to spank us.
Nick graciously obliged, and the three of us headed into one of the private spanking rooms, which were bare except for two wooden chairs.
“I’m going to spank you first,” Nick told Andrea. “Then you, and then both of you at the same time.”
We agreed. Nick instructed Andrea to turn around and hold onto the back of one of the chairs. Then he took his hand and smacked her left butt cheek really, really hard.
Nick continued to go at it while Andrea and I tried not to laugh at how bizarre this whole thing was. Andrea had an easier time keeping the giggles to a minimum since she was mostly saying, “Ow!”
Finally, she told Nick that she’d had enough and it was my turn.
After watching Andrea go first, I thought I knew what I was in for. But when I went to stand over the chair the way that she had, Nick shook his head. He sat down on one of the chairs, then took me over his lap like a child, and proceeded to spank my tail-feather.
It hurt. Really, really bad.
I tried to be tough and take it for as long as I could. But around spank eight or nine, I had to ask him to stop.
Then, it was Nick’s turn.
Nick was technically a top but he gave in and let us spank him. We each gave a solid effort to leave our mark on his butt cheeks, but he didn’t give us any indication that we were doing any damage.
We did a grand finale that involved both of us playing his butt like a set of bongos, which I’m pretty sure he wasn’t into. But he was a great sport.
After achieving our goal of experiencing all that the spanking club had to offer, we made a very prompt exit, stopping to kiss Ms. Margaret goodbye, thanking her for the hospitality.
What struck me the most about this whole experience was how normal everyone in attendance was. The seasoned regulars we came in counter with are the same people you’d expect to run into at your office water cooler, or feeding quarters into the dryer at the laundromat, or in line behind you at the grocery store.
This has made me think differently about all of my acquaintances, about how little you really know about a person when it comes to what makes them tick, what they’re into, and what gets them off.
Andrea and I probably won’t be attending another spanking party any time soon. But if you’re interested in dipping your toe into the world of NYC spanking parties, I’d definitely recommend paying Ms. Margaret a visit.
La revolución de las amas de casa que muestran su compra semanal de Mercadona ha llegado a YouTube. En un mundo que en apariencia está dominado por veinteañeros que hablan a un público adolescente, estas mujeres han conseguido conquistar a una parroquia con sus vídeos de unboxing, esa tendencia que consiste en abrir cajas (las que sean).
Estas sorprendentes mujeres españolas, que han demostrado saber cómo se usa el programa de edición de Windows Movie Maker, no solo se dedican a desvelar qué productos de limpieza o alimentación hay en sus bolsas de la compra, también recomiendan “potis” de maquillaje, cocinan con la tele de fondo y se nominan para hacer tags. Es decir, retransmiten en diferido cómo es son sus vidas de amas de casa. Hasta graban vídeos con sus madres, como este de Conchi Córdoba, una de las estrellas de este nuevo gremio.
Conchi, también conocida en internet como Bella Dorella, es una andaluza casada y con hijos que se dedica a sus labores, y a contarlas en YouTube. En la información de su canal, deja claro que no busca suscriptores ni miles de visionados, pero en solo un año y medio ha conseguido más de 12.000 seguidores fijos y 2.600.000 reproducciones. En sus vídeos caseros hay de todo: desde tutoriales sobre cómo utilizar la escobilla del WC, hasta consejos para cortarse el flequillo y ahorrarse "unos duros" en la peluquería (más de 90.000 visualizaciones).
Las amas de casa de YouTube empezaron siendo un reducido grupo, pero los años y la constancia les están convirtiendo en estrellas de las redes. Conchi no respondió a nuestra petición, pero sí lo hizo otra de las más queridas, Encarni (4.500 suscriptores en su canal), a la que la fama digital la ha llevado hasta la televisión. Gracias al desparpajo que la andaluza muestra en la red, recibió una llamada de los redactores del programa Cámbiame de Telecinco, aunque, lamentablemente, no fue elegida por los estilistas.
Encarni, de 46 años, vive con su marido y sus dos hijos en Estepa, un pueblo de Sevilla. Hace ocho, por casualidad, descubrió los vídeos de señoras que hablan de sus cosas en YouTube: “Empecé a hacerme seguidora de algunas y pasaba coraje porque quería comentarles en sus vídeos, así que mi hijo mayor me abrió un canal”. Después de pasar más de tres años como espectadora, se decidió a grabar su vida como ama de casa: “Mis primeros vídeos ya tuvieron más de 300 reproducciones porque me conocían de comentar. Ahora tengo 4.000 y pico suscriptores. Lo comparto todo con mis niñas”.
Las niñas es como Encarni llama a las seguidoras (mujeres, en su inmensa mayoría) de su canal, a las que ha ofrecido más de 500 vídeos desde hace cuatro años. La sevillana sube a YouTube sus compras, secretos de maquillaje y hasta las sesiones de bicicleta estática.
Encarni se encarga ella misma de editar, y también gestiona sus redessociales, aunque asegura que se le suele olvidar compartir los vídeos. Confiesa que no tiene una rutina establecida para subir su material: “Los pongo según los hago. Un día llegué a subir cuatro vídeos del tirón”. Aunque asegura que lo suyo es sólo un hobby, Encarni ya es partner de YouTube, es decir, rentabiliza económicamente sus vídeos a través de una colaboración con la plataforma. “Pero rica con esto no me voy a hacer, que me dan veintipocos euros al mes. Y los productos de los que hablo me los pago yo”. Esa es otra de las categorías estrella de las amas de casa, la valoración de productos terminados. Guardan los envoltorios de las toallitas húmedas, los botes de champú vacíos y los de los productos de limpieza para hacer un análisis exhaustivo frente a la cámara.
Encarni declara a Verne que ni los supermercados ni las marcas se han puesto en contacto con ella para enviarle productos que mostrar a cámara. A pesar de que Mercadona es su supermercado de confianza (aunque asegura que a ella la cosmética de Deliplus no le ha ido muy allá), nunca ha recibido noticias de ellos: “Las chicas del súper sí saben lo que hago, pero no creo que los jefes sepan que las señoras hacemos esto”.
Al contrario de lo que cree Encarni, en Mercadona sí están al tanto del fenómeno. Desde el departamento de comunicación de la cadena de supermercados aseguran que algunas amas de casa comparten sus vídeos con ellos a través de las redes sociales (más de 400.000 seguidores en Facebook y casi 80.000 en Twitter). Inciden en que son “completamente espontáneos y voluntarios, ya que Mercadona ni está detrás ni los patrocina”. Tampoco envían carros de la compra LIDL, Carrefour o DIA, los otros supermercados en los que compran estas mujeres, ni los bazares de los chinos a los que también dedican críticas.
Encarni cree que a ella quizás no le envían productos porque nunca mentiría: “Si algo no me gusta, yo a mis niñas no les voy a engañar. Claro, eso a los del super no les conviene”. Es cierto que se muestra muy sincera en la red, aunque esa falta de pelos en la lengua le ha causado algún problema. Conchi Córdoba dejó de ser amiga de Encarni después de que ambas se dedicaran una serie de tensos vídeos: “Éramos muy amigas, pero tuvimos un malentendido por unos mensajes que Conchi se tomó a mal y hasta su marido terminó amenazándome en el canal”. Estos son algunos momentos de la trifulca.
La contestación de Conchi:
Pero, a pesar de todos los problemas, Encarni se queda con lo positivo. Ella ha tenido momentos bajos en su vida de los que YouTube le ha ayudado a salir: “Si estoy más triste o con algún problema, ahí está el apoyo de esta gente, que no conozco, pero que me ayudan mucho. Y hay muchas personas con depresión a las que les va a venir muy bien ver vídeos y comentar”.
Más allá de compartir sus compras y de los malentendidos a los que puedan llevar algunos comentarios, las señoras de YouTube, son, por encima de todo, amigas. Para Encarni son especialmente importantes Yasobas, una mujer cubana que vive en Alemania (de las primeras a las que Encarni siguió), y Pilar Roca, valenciana residente en Madrid. Ambas son youtubers expertas en maquillaje, aunque Pilar, además de ser una apasionada de los vídeos, es licenciada en Derecho y opositó en dos ocasiones. Encarni comparte con Pilar horas de teléfono cada vez que alguna de las dos tiene un problema, aunque aún no se han desvirtualizado: “Es difícil coincidir porque vivimos lejos y cada una tiene su vida con su marido”.
Pilar ha conseguido que su esposo aparezca en sus vídeos. Lamberto también tiene su propio canal, pero se asoma al de su mujer para hacer uno de esos vídeos de maridos que maquillan a sus esposas (más de 13.000 resultados en español en YouTube), o mostrar a la cámara juntos sus regalos de San Valentín.
Su cercanía y autenticidad ha convertido lo que hacen en un fenómeno único que apenas tiene referentes fuera de nuestras fronteras. Existen amas de casa portuguesas similares, y también en Estados Unidos y América Latina, aunque no tienen ni el número de reproducciones de las españolas ni sus señas de identidad.
El éxito lo han conseguido saltándose algunas de las normas no escritas de cómo debe ser un vídeo de YouTube. La duración de sus vídeos es más que excesiva, muchos de ellos sobrepasan la media hora, y sus temáticas no resultan especialmente novedosas. Las señoras no utilizan un guion ni planifican dónde van a grabar. Tampoco tienen en cuenta cuál es la mejor hora para subirlos, ni se alían con influencers para conseguir reproducciones. Aparentemente, en YouTube, están suspendidas. Sin embargo, su público les otorga un sobresaliente.
Es quizás esa falta de dogmas lo que les ha otorgado la fama. Lo cotidiano y lo natural funcionan. Bueno, y que son muy divertidas.
Bonus track
Os dejamos un vídeo del marido de Conchi Córdoba recomendando sus películas favoritas.
Actualización (14 de septiembre de 2015): Días después de que se publicara este artículo, Encarni se puso en contacto con Verne para hacer una serie de aclaraciones. La primera es que la polémica con Conchi Córdoba se zanjó hace tiempo: “Ahora mismo tenemos una relación cordial, todo aquel malentendido ya quedó solucionado”. Además, el orden en el que tuvieron lugar los acontecimientos es diferente al mostrado; el vídeo de Encarni “Mensaje para Conchi Córdoba” fue después del subido por Conchi “1805 gracias”. Encarni también ha pedido que se maticen las declaraciones en las que hizo referencia a la intervención del marido de Conchi Córdoba en la discusión: “Nunca me amenazó”.
Driven to Kill. The "hit-to-kill" phenomenon in China where a driver who has accidentally struck a pedestrian will stop to run over them again, or multiple times, to ensure they are dead. Trigger warning for text descriptions of gruesome vehicular murder. Lots of links to photos and videos in the article that you should click at your own discretion.
We’ve posted here before Captain Beefheart’s 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing, but this list of the eighty-two “commandments” of the great film director Alejandro Jodorowsky makes that look like a fortune cookie.
Ooh, girl!! Get ready for the best news of your life: These two people you’ve never met are now deeply sad!
Yassss!!!!
Jon Hamm, an actual human man with thoughts and feelings, and Jennifer Westfeldt, another real human living life much in the same way you are, announced their split recently, which is fantastic news because he is a handsome sex man on a show you like!!!
“With great sadness, we have decided to separate, after 18 years of love and shared history,” said the couple in a joint statement. “HOLY FUGGIN’ SHIIIIIDDDD YUUUZZZZZZ,” said you and your roommate to each other while body rolling in your kitchen!!!!
You needed this!!
The two strangers, who are famous and also humans, are presumably going through a very dark period—VICTORY FOR YOU!!! After months of swirling split rumors, Hamm’s rehab stint earlier this year, and reported strife over whether or not to have children, they are likely facing the hardest moment in their adult lives, all without the person they relied on the most; their lover; their best friend.
You are KILLING it right now!!!!
Westfeldt was reportedly holding out hope that Hamm would eventually decide to start a family. “I never thought I’d be this age and not have kids,” she said to the Times a few years ago. Sources say that she ultimately reached her limit and left him while she still had the biological ability to become a mother, despite having been there for him through his treatment for alcoholism last winter.
DAT. GOOD. DICK. IT’S ALL FOR YOU NOW!!!!
While the Hollywood power couple was not legally married, they were wholly devoted to one another. “Our lives are entwined,” said Hamm, to People magazine just last year. Any humans who felt that way about one another would assumedly be feeling lost, confused, and maybe even ashamed from all the public attention on their most personal feelings.
US Weekly reports that now you have a chance with the sad man.
Spotify sure has their hardcore music fans pegged; they’ve debuted a new app that automates the process of making sure you were into a band before everyone else and thus assuring that all the money you’ve spent on bowties, skinny jeans, and old-timey home decor was not a waste.
Spotify users can navigate to the web-based app and log in to find out just how ahead of the curve they’ve really been. If you’ve been within the first 15% of listeners for a “breakout” artist (over 20 million streams and 2,000% listening growth between January 2013 and June 2015), you’ll be verified as an early listener with a “kudos,” because there’s really no more obnoxious word for “congratulations.” If you don’t fall in the first 15% of listeners, we assume you have to hand over your hipster card along with any and all flannel clothing.
On top of being a bit of fun for music lovers, the app is probably a way for Spotify to show off to advertisers how its user data can be crunched to identify trends, as The Next Web points out. Or they produced the entire app ironically. Whichever you think is more likely.
Cats are enormously popular as pets. In Europe, they recently overtook dogs as the most popular companion animal. You love your cat. But, animal behaviorists tell us, your cat doesn't actually love you.
Researchers at the University of Lincoln (UK) found that although dogs experience separation anxiety when their humans are absent, cats don't really care. As long as their physical needs are addressed, the absence of their humans is unconcerning. Sarah Knapton writes for the National Post:
“Previous research has suggested that some cats show signs of separation anxiety when left alone by their owners, in the same way that dogs do, but the results of our study show that they are, in fact, much more independent than canine companions.
“It seems that what we interpret as separation anxiety might actually be signs of frustration.” To find out if cats needed their owner to feel secure, the researchers observed how 20 cats reacted when they were placed in an unfamiliar environment together with their owner, with a stranger or on their own.
The study monitored the amount of contact sought by the cat, the level of passive behaviour, and signs of distress caused by the absence of the owner.
“Although our cats were more vocal when the owner rather than the stranger left them with the other individual, we didn’t see any additional evidence to suggest that the bond between a cat and its owner is one of secure attachment,” Prof Mills said.
The researchers insist that cat owners should take their findings as a compliment. A cat doesn't stay with you because it emotionally has to, but because it wants to. The National Post quotes cat expert Celia Haddon:
This study shows cats do not need their humans to feel safe, they look after themselves. But in a way that’s a real compliment. Cats won’t live in an unhappy home, they’ll just walk out.
Photo via Flickr user Yelp Inc.
Like Hardly Art labelmates Colleen Green, La Luz, Chastity Belt, La Sera and S, Shannon and the Clams is a project that has become more notable for the strength of the songwriting voices than the particular sound. So while Gone by the Dawn is at a basic level vintage garage rock, with sweet wisps of doo-wop, Motown and surf, what’s most indelible is the honest, relatable humanity in the songwriting of Shannon Shaw (bass), Cody Blanchard (guitar) and Nate Mayhem (drums and keys). Their tools — irresistible melodies, danceably enticing rhythms and a timeless sense of cool — are merely in service to those voices.
