In the vein of groundbreaking films like Shortbus, Irreversible and 9 Songs, comes Sex Stories, a humanistic and lighthearted exploration of the many pleasures, quirks, and follies that inhabit people's sex lives. Two simultaneous dinner parties unfold - one for a group of female friends, the other for their male counter parts. At each dinner table, the conversations quickly delve into the characters recent sexual escapades: there's the adventurous couple tries "swinging", the middle-aged woman who notices a spark of interest from her daughter's boyfriend, and the young newlywed who thinks sex simply isn't for her. With comic subtlety, the film captures the many contrasting views - men's, women's, young and old, conservative and liberal - about what it means to be a good lover.
By Felix Clay Published: July 19th, 2014
If you're a regular reader of my work, you know I have a preoccupation with sex, awkwardness, and blowing sunshine up people's asses. Thing is, I used to be a very cynical, pessimistic, angry sort of runt. I was sarcastic and surly much of the time,
That sounded kind of aggressive, but you know what I mean. Tacos are not on this list because you are probably already eating one right now.
Croquetas
Croquetas are fried, breaded little morsels of creamy ground ham or chicken or cod fish. They're great finger foods at parties, and positively transcendent in sandwich form between two slabs of buttered Cuban bread. Then again, you could place literal garbage between buttered Cuban bread and it'd be delicious.
If you don't mind your home smelling like "fried stuff" for the next several years, you can try to make them yourself.
Essentially "potato balls" (stop), papa rellena translates to "stuffed potato." These are fat, breaded little spheres of velvety mashed potato, lovingly surrounding a generous spoonful of ground beef, usually mixed with onions, peppers, and chopped olives. And angel smiles.
"Pupusa" is a fun word to yell out your car window, and it's also a delicious treat comprised of a warm, fluffy corn cake that transports delicious fillings straight into your face. You could make a pupusa out of anything, really, but I'd recommend serving with any combination of soft cheese, shredded pork, and refried beans. Top your pupusa with curtido (a slaw made of shredded, pickled veggies) and tomato sauce and you're golden.
"Pastel" can mean different things across Latin America (cake for some, pastries for others). In this case, it refers to a flaky, sweet layers pastry filled with goodness. For a savory treat, try pastelitos filled with chopped, spicy chorizo sausage or ground beef with onions and olives. These are quintessential party foods, and also great for a hearty midday snack.
And the recipes to use to learn the best versions.
A Deliciously Melty GRILLED CHEESE
Serious Eats has a great step-by-step slideshow of how to make the ultimate grilled cheese. The key tip is that you should toast one side of each slice, sandwich the cheese between those toasted sides, then toast the other sides. Directions here.
Set the oven to 450°F, toss veggies with oil and kosher salt, spread out on a baking sheet so they aren't too crowded, and roast until they look/taste good. The only trick is that you sort of have to understand which veggies take a little longer to cook — harder veggies like carrots, potatoes, broccoli, etc., take longer than soft mushrooms and tomatoes — so you'd cut those into smaller pieces so everything cooks at the same rate. Follow a couple of recipes and you'll get it no problem after a few times. Get a basic recipe here.
The caftan is a loose, body-covering garment that resembles traditional clothing from Asia and the Middle East. It invaded Western fashion in the 1910s and again in the 1960s. In both of those eras, it was a combination of exoticism and comfort that attracted wearers. Caftans were a welcome change from corsets at the turn of the century, and the bullet bras and tight girdles of the mid-century. Anna Yanofsky of Exhibiting Fashion tells us how caftans are so appealing even to women who are expected to show off their bodies.
“When Christina Hendricks is talking about it on a talk show, we’re all completely aware of how sexy she is,” Yanofsky says. “The caftan isn’t a burlap sack, it’s usually so diaphanous that it moves with the air and with the body, so it goes from hiding the silhouette to emphasizing it, based on the movement of the wearer.”
And the caftan’s ability to obscure so called “figure flaws” also has a great appeal to any celebrity who’s pregnant or carrying post-pregnancy baby weight. You’d think a bombshell like Hendricks would have nothing to hide, but her body is endlessly scrutinized in the media today, whether she’s being lusted after or insulted. A caftan must be liberating for any starlet who’s constantly being watched and picked apart.
“She has this gorgeous body, but it’s definitely not a high-fashion silhouette,” Yanofsky says. “We still are very much in the era of models as clothes hangers. There must be so much pressure on her, with everybody always commenting on her body, whether good or bad. But caftans are also just really comfortable. She talked about eating casseroles and putting on your sunglasses, just relaxing in her caftan. It’s not a shapeless muumuu or an ‘eating dress,’ but it definitely gives you a lot of breathing room.”
"Put the Evil Queen in the cargo hold. She's worth a lot of money to me."
Here's Amber Arden cosplaying as the fairest bounty hunter in the land. The huntsman tried to kill her, but he changed his mind when she changed him into dust. You can see more photos at her Facebook page.
What do you do when your fire-type Pokémon sets fire to your couch or your psychic Pokémon starts broadcasting all your dirty thoughts? You take a cue from pet shaming folks and force them to wear a sign detailing their bad behavior.
Nine artists at Brickworld Chicago did the world an incredible favor by creating an exhibit recreating scenes from The Princess Bride through the magic of Legos. You know how Westley and Buttercup were in Twoo Wuv? Well, that's what we're feeling for these sets.
As a summation of his life's work, mythologist Joseph Campbell went on a speaking tour during the last decade of his life. The filmed three-part series Mythos, over fourteen hours, is available on YouTube. Mythos IMythos IIMythos III. The series is also available on DVD.
"The residents of Denmark regularly report the highest levels of life satisfaction in the world. Economists Eugenio Proto and Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick cautiously submit that there is a genetic component to this high level of contentment."
I’m in a parking lot in New Jersey at the Vans Warped Tour, watching a rapper ask a crowd of teenagers to put their middle fingers in the air if they don’t give a fuck. He's standing under a sign that says "no moshing." The kids toss black balls around. At one point, a DJ stops playing EDM to blast Jay Z’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulders.” Then the EDM comes back on.
In case you haven’t already realized, Warped Tour is no longer the summer event Blink-182 described in their song "Rock Show." A lot has changed.
From a distance, the event looks the same it probably did in the early days, when skateboarders who called me "faggot" made up most of the audience. These days, the crowd is different. In the parking lot, I meet a former Marine tailgaiting with his co-workers and baby sister, who wears a bandana and chugs tequila. They blast hardcore from their car speakers and the marine shows me his manliest scream.
People still attend Warped Tour in hoards, but once upon a time, it meant something to attend or play here: It meant you were emo, pop-punk, or scene, or you belonged to a band that had a ridiculous name like Bowling for Soup or Cute Is What We Aim For. But now, at least at this weekend’s Camden stop, I see kids dancing—not moshing—to EDM, rap, pop, hardcore, and pop-punk—a variety of genres encompassing, well, everything.
Green, black, and yellow tents still fill the parking lot where the event takes place. My favorite tent was the one raising awareness about testicular cancer as Yellowcard plays "Ocean Avenue."
Where, in previous years, bands like Paramore, Fall Out Boy, and No Doubt played the show both before they were famous and after they had become superstars, the biggest act I recognized on this year’s roster was Yellowcard—a one-hit wonder. In the history booth, the most recently famous musician on the wall is Skrillex. He performed at the Warped Tour when he was an emo band called From First to Last, which never took off.
I never went to Warped Tour when I was a teenager—or if I did, I must have gotten too drunk to remember—but my friends went, filling my Facebook feed with pictures of emo kids while I shopped at Hot Topic and listened to My Chemical Romance at home. When they got back, they talked about waiting for hours—I mean, like, six hours—through terrible opening acts to see one good band, but at this year’s Warped Tour, nobody waits for bands. Instead, kids sit against fences, texting.
What does it mean to play and attend Warped Tour? I'm unsure, so I decide to ask the bands.
My first stop on the Warped Tour is the Maine’s tour bus. The Maine has played the Warped Tour several times. I remember scene girls listening to them in high school. As I drove to Warped Tour, I received text messages from someone on their team who somehow found my contact info, asking me to interview the guys. I've never heard their music, but since middle school, I’ve fantasized about five smelly, emo guys gangbanging me on a tour bus. So I agreed to meet them.
Luckily for me, their bus smells like a used condom wrapped in a dirty sock. Twelve guys live on the bus, and the living room space feels hot (temperature-wise). I expected their bus to look this sexy and gross—Alexa Aimes, a porn star I know, was engaged to a member of a Warped Tour band, and she said one year she had a queef contest on a bus. Bands lined up to have a queef-off with her. Great, right?
At the same time, living on a bus with 12 dudes doesn't sound fun. I sit down with the Maine and ask how they manage to masturbate when they live in a glorified hallway, beds piled on top of each other. They all say they're used to life on the road and typically wait to bust a nut until they make a stop at a hotel, which means they might go days without ejaculating.
"The problem on this bus is the curtains don't hang down to the bottom of your bunk," one of them says. "You have to know what your angle is [if you masturbate on the bus]."
I pretend to be the Barbara Walters of Warped Tour as they talk—but really I'm just thinking about having a gay bukkake with all the guys in the Maine.
After a brief absence from the Warped Tour, the Maine decided to play the event again to gain new fans and attention. Their song "Birthday in Los Angeles" is a catchy song I'll probably listen to the next time I fall in love. That said, it’s unclear if the Warped Tour can launch any of their songs to the top of the Billboard charts, considering that, in the purple press room behind the amphitheater, I see no legitimate members of the press—only teenagers with flip-cams who claim to run blogs.
One blogger stops me. “Mitch!” she screams. I look up, unsure who she is. She tells me she met me when I was reviewing an Aaron Carter concert at a Mexican restaurant last fall, because she’s the “manager” of Aaron’s opening act.
Moments later, I hear an Australian musician tell a blogger, “My idols played [the Warped Tour]. Legends.”
The only band who seems to realize that no career breaks are coming out of the Warped Tour is the Protomen, a rock band that smells terrible and paints their faces silver. One of them hears I’m from VICE and asks, “Why is VICE here?” After a brief interview, they pick me up and throw me over their shoulders.
The only band I meet with radio potential is Hunter Valentine, a (mostly) lesbian rock band best known for opening for Cyndi Lauper and appearing on The Real L Word. They’re also competing in the new VH1 talent show Make It or Break It from Linda Perry, the songwriter and producer behind P!nk and Christina Aguilera's biggest songs, which makes sense considering their songs are catchy.
Kiyomi McCloskey, the lead singer, is also media-savvy. She tells her bandmates to remember I have a recorder on. If the band does take off, they'll succeed because of their social media presence and reality TV appearances, not the Warped Tour.
Like most girl-fronted bands at the tour, Hunter Valentine are playing on the Shiragirl Stage.
The terrible press room hasn’t stopped Shira, the 32-year-old Warped Tour veteran, who created the Shiragirl stage. Performing as “Shiragirl,” she’s basically the Penny Lane of the Warped Tour—a veteran believer of the movement who has lived a life of being almost famous.
In 2003, she joined the tour as a TRUTH MC, encouraging kids to avoid cigarettes. She noticed there were no girls performing and proposed to Kevin Lyman, the tour’s founder, that they start a girls-only stage. He said no, because the next year was the tenth anniversary. In an act of defiance, Shira drove a pink RV onto the tour ground the next year and set up performances across from the stage.
“Girls saw pink and came running,” she says.
The stage was so successful, the next year Lyman invited her to set up the Shiragirl Stage, a stage where only girls could perform. Shira played with her band, Shiragirl, and both Paramore and Joan Jett played the stage.
After several years without the Shiragirl Stage, Shira has returned this year for Warped Tour’s 20th anniversary—but now she’s singing EDM instead of pop-punk.
At the Camden tour stop, she dances with chains and climbed over her dancers, while wearing a cheap-looking Lady Gaga rip-off outfit better suited to 2008 than 2014.
"I wanted to do something with my dance training," she says. But considering EDM is trending right now and she used to sing pop-punk, it seems like she's trying to cater to the market.
Shira says Limey's smart to make sure the tour adapts to the changing market, but also admits she's nostalgic for old aspects of the Warped Tour, like NoFx and the skate ramp—nevertheless, she still believes in the tour. To her, genre doesn't matter. The Warped Tour is a "punk-rock summer camp."
The teens treat Warped Tour more like a mall encompassing 2014's biggest trends than a punk rock event. Vendors try to sell them hats with the word swag on them and weed shirts, but the kids would rather sit around and gossip.
The teens have different theories about Warped Tour's failures. One kid with very spikey hair tells me that the influx of younger crowds—and the need to appease them—has ruined the tour.
“Warped used to be awesome,” he says. “Now [there's] no moshing because kids are coming.”
The only person who seems to need the tour is the marine veteran I met outside the venue. While serving in Afghanistan twice, he says, he listened to hardcore and pop-punk because it was one of the few ways he could get through his difficult emotions both during and after the war.
"My first deployment it was all heavy shit," he says. "I will fucking be [hardcore and pop-punk] until I fucking die."
These two girls from New Jersey love the Warped Tour—they think their generation has no use for the labels like emo, pop-punk, and scene that made the Warped Tour thrive during the Bush years.
“There’s no labels,” one says.
“Besides nobodies,” the other corrects her.
In the history booth, this sign hangs about the birth of the Warped Tour and why the tour matters, but the quote contradicts itself. The internet has formed an accepting generation that, for the most part, doesn't need subcultures, because everything they could ever want is on the internet, and they listen to rap, EDM, and hardcore.
If kids have the internet and EDM, do they really need punk rock?
Gentlemen- If the position allows for it, look your lady in the eyes for that initial thrust- it’s near guaranteed to get her going a bit more right from the start (it feels like you’re ‘in tune’ or some shit, I dunno) and that’ll pay off for both of you the rest of the time!
Guys: even if you’re not the moaning type, do it if you’re really enjoying it. Not crazy, screaming moaning. But if you’re feeling good, make a little noise. My SO just did this last week and I was turned on like never before
For everyone engaging in hetero sex, I must recommend butt plugs for women. They are the best things ever. Why? Because the vagina and the anus share a common wall. This means that anything you put in a girl’s ass will make her pussy tighter. With my last girlfriend we worked our way up from beginner toys to one of my own girth (slightly above average, nothing crazy), to her the added tightness made it feel like my dick was as thick as a soda can, if that sounds like too much, you can always stick to smaller toys. Side benefit, they loosen up the anus, making anal sex more comfortable.
If you get a hair in your mouth when going down on a girl, just stick your tongue out and lick her inner thigh. Its drier and non-hairy so the hair will stay and she will just think your mixing it up a bit. It can kill the mood when you have to stop to fish the hair out with your hands.
During missionary, place a pillow under the female’s butt. The male will penetrate deeper, and rub against the G-Spot with each thrust. Also, a footboard makes for deeper penetration/ great calf exercise!
I’ve yet to find a woman that doesn’t love the following move:
When in the spooning position during sex, use your free hands to massage the clit and nipples. You can get a motion going where you’re pumping in and out with your penis, while rubbing on and off of the clit with one free hand and working the nipples with the other. I’ve found that most girls cum violently when this move is applied correctly.
When going down on a woman pull her bottom to the end of the bed. This way you can stand on your knees on the floor and you will not strain your neck or be uncomfortable. Go longer and have more pleasure for both of you.
When giving a blowjob, and you are pulling away from the penis, open your mouth wider to let some air through and suck in (so he can feel the air rushing). He is will feel the cold air come in and it will create a tingly contrast against your warm mouth. Boyfriend loves this every time I do it
I seem to see a lot of best-for-women tips here. That said, my favorite tip which makes me go deeper down on another guy is to slowly exhale (through the nose). For some reason it retards the gag reflex, allowing me to go just about fully down. Plus, at such a slow speed, he really enjoys it…
When you give a blowjob, use your hand in combination with your mouth and synchronize your strokes so that your hand is basically working as an extension of your mouth. Helps those who easily gag and gives you an extra four or five inches of “mouth.”
Men have G-spot too, their prostate. Use a lot of lube when you play with the back door. Silicon lube is better, because unlike water-lob, it doesn’t dry so you don’t have to put it on again and again.
Men can have an orgasm from the prostate and from the penis in the same time. I’m not a man, so I can’t tell if it’s good, but it sound pleasant.
When a girl is on top, make your hand do the ‘Spock’ symbol from Star Trek. Then put the base of your penis between your middle and ring finger. This allows the girl to grind her clit on your knuckle while being penetrated.
When fingering someone, especially if you’re simultaneously going down on her, use your middle finger and your ring finger, rather than your middle finger and your index finger. (Think: looks like Spider-Man throwing a web.) These fingers are longer, and when you curl them in an upward motion, they hit the G-spot just right. They’re also more maneuverable if you’re flat on your chest with your elbows supporting your weight, which is the best position in which to go down on a lady.
When your girl is on top, instead of having her move up and down just have her stay down and grind her hips back and forth. It stays deep and feels great.
Guys: Finger her while she’s blowing you. You can feel her moaning (which is sexy as fuck) and it gives you a sort of control over her – the harder or more gently you go, she follows suit. Besides, she’ll be more than happy to blow you for 45 minutes straight if you’re keeping her legs shaking the whole time. Just saying.
Get her to masturbate for you while you lay over her. While she does that you can focus on kissing neck, ears, nipples etc. While she rubs her clit, slide just the tip of yourself in. The guys will have a lot of self-control while this is going on. She will soon tell you she’s about to cum.. As she is slide the rest of your penis into her and feel her cum on you. She swore that this was a great way to orgasm and it was always an intense one for her. We would sometime do this in the spoon position that got her to squirt a few times.
When going down on a girl ignore the clit. Work her pussy lips until they’re super engorged. I mean fat. Once its like that work the clit for all your worth. She’ll be comparing guys to you for the rest of her life.
A bit late, but for my fellow guys who have a bit of trouble lasting: alternate the Fibonacci sequence (look it up if you don’t know how, I can’t link on mobile) and counting down from 100 by 7s in your head, while holding your breath as long as you can. Eg: 1 100 1 93 2 86 3 79 5 72 8 65…
While giving a blowjob, rapidly spell out the alphabet with your tongue on the tip of his penis – then switch back to deep-throating to provide different types of stimulation. It drives guys crazy and, when my friends tried this tip (no pun intended), they said it was very well received and – and it is now their go-to technique.
Years ago when driving home after work at 4 am. I was so tired to the point of almost falling a sleep at the wheel. Instead of pulling over to nap. I whipped it out and started stroking it. Kept me wide away for the 62 miles home.
When I have a stomachache, usually from an allergic reaction I can make it go away 99% of the time by jerking off. I’ve reasoned that the same part of the brain that is responsible for pain is the same part of the brain that controls arousal (sexual) so by stimulating myself I take away the part of the brain that can feel that horrible gut wrenching pain.
Cocaine makes you horny as all fuck, but causes impotence. The good news is that since Viagra is a vasodilator which lowers blood pressure, it not only gets you hard as a rock, but acts as a safety mechanism for your heart if you happened to have ingested too much cocaine. In other words, mixing coke and Viagra not only combats impotence, but is also rather safe!
in the event you finish all over a lady. encourage her to sit tight and instead of just going for tissues/paper towels, get a cloth hand towel and drench with hot water, making sure to wring it out. your cleanup has now turned into a de-facto hot towel massage. additionally, she now doesn’t have to leave the bed to go wash up and you can get right to wrapping up with her. Lovemaking doesn’t stop just because you’ve both come.
Although none of the hyper-attractive members of the Thought Catalog staff have ever been denied sex, I have, and I know that it can make you feel bad, unsexy, all that. But in all those times I was denied sex (both of them) I’ve never felt the need to keep track of the reasons given. One Redditor’s husband did.
Yesterday morning, while in a taxi on the way to the airport, Husband sends a message to my work email which is connected to my phone. He’s never done this, we always communicate in person or by text. I open it up, and it’s a sarcastic diatribe basically saying he won’t miss me for the 10 days I’m gone. Attached is a SPREADSHEET of all the times he has tried to initiate sex since June 1st, with a column for my “excuses”, using verbatim quotes of why I didn’t feel like having sex at that very moment. According to his ‘document’, we’ve only had sex 3 times in the last 7 weeks, out of 27 “attempts” on his part.
*Washes hands*
That’s pretty rough and both Deadspin and the Daily Dot agreed that this isn’t the best way to do things, the Dot going so far as to remind the world that sex isn’t owed to any man. That is, of course, true, and completely besides the point.
Consider that this husband had begun keeping a sex spreadsheet and by his wife’s account is a completely normal and sane person.
Let that sink in.
How much lack of sex does one man have to put up with before he moves on from internet pornography to Excel scorekeeping? I’d warrant it’s A LOT. I’d go so far as to guess that this had been the ongoing and normal situation in this household for far more than simply the month and a half where the sexsess rate was 3 out of 30 (a terrible average). That may be the average at places like Deadspin or the Daily Dot but we here at TC demand our sex lives be vibrant and almost constantly talked about. But seriously…
Sexual compatibility is important and if your overwhelming reaction to your mate’s attempts to woo you is that “you feel gross” or “you feel sick” or “you want to watch a Friends rerun” then maybe don’t be surprised when he or she eventually gets exhausted with your self involved BS and draws a line in the sand or simply leaves. For my part, I’d assume my partner was cheating.
Sex isn’t owed but it’s expected in a sexual relationship. If it’s not being given freely and enthusiastically then it’s time to change the nature of the relationship.
Kyle Baker nació en 1965 en New York, Estados Unidos, es dibujante de comic y novelista gráfico.
A los 17 años de edad ingresa en el Hunter College High School y empieza a trabajar para Marvel Comic, entra en contacto con artistas como John Romita Jr., Al Milgrom, y Walter Simonson. Con el tiempo se convirtió en asistente de entintador, pero dicha labor no cumplía con las expectativas de Baker.
Aunque desde un tiempo a esta parte haya desarrollado toda su actividad en DC o Marvel (con proyectos tan alocados como Plastic Man o una de las muchas series dedicadas a Masacre) no podemos olvidar que la carrera y fama de Kyle Baker está más que cimentada en los títulos que publicó a partir de 1988, año de publicación de la hilarante ‘El show de Cowboy Wally’.
Desde ese momento, y aunque su actividad se diversificó mucho con pequeñas apariciones en esporádicos números de series regulares o proyectos especiales tanto en Marvel como en DC, fueron sus novelas gráficas las que sirvieron para demostrar el talento visual y narrativo de uno de los dibujantes más personales del mainstream (aunque aquí habría mucho que precisar) norteamericano.
Baker ha ganado 8 premios Eisner y 5 Harveys.
El Show de Cowboy Wally: ¡El estridente y divertido tararí-tarará del mundo del espectáculo! ¡Prepárate para el Show de Cowboy Wally!
Leyenda de la televisión, estrella del escenario y de la pantalla, y emprendedor de éxito. Sin mencionar al bocazas gordo, repugnante y engulle-cervezas, de aficiones y principios discutibles. Sí, es Cowboy Wally, la estrella de la innovadora primera novela gráfica del creador Kyle Baker, ganador de un Premio Eisner. Así que siéntate y echa un vistazo a los entresijos del rodeo más loco de la Tierra: ¡El mundo del espectáculo!
I Die At Midnight: Las Buenas noticias: Muriel ha decido regresar con Larry.
Las Malas noticias: Larry se acaba de tragar un botella de píldoras. Y no puede decírselo o ella lo dejará de nuevo.
Con el estómago lleno de veneno, Larry debe correr por todo Manhattan para encontrarse con la única persona que puede salvar su vida y guardar el secreto. Pero primero tiene que librar a una multitud de millones en Times Square -- y al maníaco ex-novio de Muriel.
Una divertida y jocosa historia que solo a Baker se le podía ocurrir. I die at Midnight es la historia de un hombre buscando el amor verdadero y una razón para vivir. ¿En Nueva York? Tendrá suerte si encuentra un taxi.
Por qué odio Saturno: La excéntrica columnista Anne Merkel solo es feliz cuando se queja... de sus editores, de estar soltera en Nueva York y de quedarse sin whisky. Pero cuando su hermana, a la que hace tiempo que no ve, aparece y afirma ser la Reina de las Astro-Chicas de Cuero de Saturno, Anne va a desear no haberse quejado nunca de nada.
Kyle Baker crea algo diferente en Por qué odio Saturno... combina tintas atrevidas, acuarelas sepias muy sutiles un guión dinámico. Spin Magazine
Por qué odio Saturno se ha convertido en un éxito sorpresa... Baker escribe sobre las relaciones adultas en una loca ciudad y ataca la cultura pop de un modo muy divertido. Chicago Tribune
Fuerzas Especiales: Miniserie del genial caricaturista Kyle Baker, ganador entre otros premios, de 8 Eisner y 5 Harveys. Fuerzas Especiales es una miniserie de 4 capítulos narrando las desventuras de un grupo de soldados no aptos para el combate en la guerra de Irak, particularmente la de un soldado autista (basado en la historia verdadera del enlistamiento de un adolescente con esas características). Con ironía y humor, Baker muestra las presiones creadas por el sistema para reclutar a cualquiera que se pueda, y cómo tales personas pueden desenvolverse en un conflicto armado.
You are Here: Una de las mejores obras de Kyle Baker,ese genio del humor y el arte secuencial. Con solo echar un vistazo a estas paginas,nos imaginamos a los dos protagonistas correr por las calles de Nueva York. Un regreso a la gran manzana para Noel,con encuentros con viejos conocidos y alguien a quien no desearia volver a ver. Para Helen, un primer viaje que puede convertirse en el ultimo
O Ateneo Ferrolán conmemorará en decembro o centenario do seu nacemento cun Congreso e actos de homenaxe. Nena prodixio, líder esquerdista, activista do feminismo e da educación e a liberación sexual, foi asasinada pola súa nai con 19 anos de idade.
Durante los años cincuenta el desierto de Nevada llegó a acoger hasta cuatro explosiones nucleares al mes, que algunos curiosos observaban desde la distancia permitida mientras disfrutaban de picnics domingueros. Eso eran tiempos felices. Una época en la que no existían cinturones de seguridad, los medios de comunicación no dejaban de anunciar los beneficios para la salud del tabaco, las zapaterías tenían potentes máquinas de rayos X para que los chicos jugaran a medirse el pie y la comida de los supermercados tenía hasta dos mil aditivos químicos. Los niños americanos acumulaban en sus cuerpecitos elevadas cantidades de estroncio 90 gracias a este despreocupado estilo de vida y así de sanos crecían, con esas mejillas coloradas y una radiante sonrisa, como Bill Bryson sin ir más lejos. Un americano nacido en Iowa e inglés de adopción que no solo sobrevivió a esa infancia, sino que además la añoró —no todo va a ser recordar los ochenta, oiga— en su autobiografía Aventuras y desventuras del Chico Centella, un libro tan recomendable y entretenido como todos los demás que ha escrito sobre los temas más variopintos. Lo que no te mata te hace más fuerte, o en este caso más polifacético.
De forma que dicho libro nos proporciona una excelente ventana desde la que asomarnos a los primeros años de este hijo de periodistas, de quienes heredó o aprendió una insaciable curiosidad por todas las ramas del conocimiento humano. Para una mente analítica la sabiduría puede alojarse en cualquier lugar, solo hace falta mirar con detenimiento el tiempo suficiente. Eso hizo en cierta ocasión en la que quizá nunca fue más acertada la expresión nietzscheana de que cuando te asomas al abismo el abismo te devuelve la mirada, la ocasión en la que se puso a estudiar el ano de su amigo de la infancia Buddy, que años después recordaba como «rojizo, prieto y ligeramente fruncido». Así comienzan los grandes divulgadores. Pero su inquietud intelectual también abarcaba la por entonces novedosa televisión, los cómics de superhéroes, la literatura y por supuesto el cine, con películas de serie B de sensacionales títulos como El cerebro que no quería morir, Zombies de la estratosfera, El hombre del planeta X y tantas otros que moldearon sus fantasías convirtiéndole en lo que es hoy en día.
La memoria es selectiva y cuanto más tiempo pasa más tendemos a recordar solo los momentos felices. Algo de eso hay en esta autobiografía, sin duda, en la que abunda el sarcasmo y las observaciones críticas en torno a la Guerra Fría o el racismo aunque el tono general sea alegre y nostálgico, lo que contribuye a hacer la lectura más agradable. Pero qué demonios, debió ser una buena época y lugar aquella en que se daban noticias como esta: «La batida organizada en el lago Pocotopaug en busca de una persona presuntamente ahogada fue suspendida el martes al comprobarse que uno de los voluntarios que participaban en la batida, Robert Hausman, de veintitrés años de edad, natural de East Hampton, era la persona a la que se estaba buscando. Des Moines Registrer, 20 de septiembre de 1957». Sea como fuere, quedó atrás esa América conservadora de los años cincuenta y comienzos de los sesenta —tan apacible y humana en unas ocasiones como desquiciadamente paranoica e intolerante en otras— y Bryson, tras pasar un tiempo en la universidad, decidió probar suerte en Europa.
Corría el año 1972 y su primer viaje a lo largo de Europa sería el embrión del libro Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe, que publicaría casi dos décadas después. Un año después se establecería en Gran Bretaña, donde consiguió un empleo en un hospital psiquiátrico. Allí conoció a una enfermera que se convertiría en su mujer. Más adelante pasaría a trabajar como periodista en The Times y The Independent y en 1987 lo dejaría para centrarse en la escritura. Desde entonces publicó varios libros de viajes caracterizados por su tono humorístico y desenfadado y por la cantidad de información de todo tipo que proporciona acerca del lugar que visita. Su historia, su política, sus costumbres… Siempre desde una aguda capacidad de observación. Incluso puede deleitarnos si la ocasión lo requiere con la descripción de los órganos sexuales de un ornitorrinco. Una información que nos hace crecer como personas y que podemos encontrar en su muy recomendable En las antípodas, sobre su viaje por Australia. Un país en el que su primer ministro muere tragado por una ola mientras daba un paseo por la playa y acto seguido sus ciudadanos lo homenajean poniéndole su nombre a una piscina es sin duda un lugar que merece la pena visitar y conocer mejor, y nuestro protagonista nos ayuda a ello. Pero no es la excepción, una prueba de lo bien que es capaz de diseccionar el lugar que visite es que su libro Notes from a Small Island fue elegido por los lectores ingleses como la mejor descripción que se haya hecho sobre su país. También tiene otro sobre su ruta por las carreteras secundarias de Estados Unidos y, no contento con viajar en el espacio, también lo ha hecho en el tiempo en Shakespeare.
En esa obra se remonta al Londres del siglo XVI y XVII, una ciudad que podía llegar a perder la cuarta parte de sus habitantes en solo una década a causa de la interminable lista de enfermedades que la azotaban. Pero el flujo de provincianos cubría las bajas y el célebre poeta fue uno de ellos. Dado que los datos biográficos disponibles sobre este autor son casi inexistentes y Bryson no quiere caer en la redacción de una obra de ficción meramente especulativa, su recurso es describir la sociedad y costumbres de la época y más específicamente, cómo era el mundillo teatral en el que el Shakespearese movió a lo largo de su vida. El teatro isabelino alcanzó un esplendor artístico extraordinario pero tuvo que sobrevivir en un entorno muy competitivo en el que le disputaban el público espectáculos tan sugerentes como el de poner chimpancés montados a caballo y atacados por una jauría de perros. Ante eso no era fácil decantarse por una obra como Hamlet, que podía durar sin interrupciones más de cuatro horas. Así que a cambio del penique que costaba la entrada había que ofrecer tramas intrigantes, humor, violencia, amor arrebatado y lo que hiciera falta. A veces se les iba la mano, como cierto actor que al empuñar un mosquete en plena representación mató sin querer a una mujer embarazada del público y dejó gravemente herido a otro. Eso no hay compañía contemporánea por vanguardista que pretenda ser que lo iguale. En un contexto así el mayor escritor de todos los tiempos creó su obra y gracias al amor por el detalle que muestra Bryson y a su sólida documentación podemos comprenderlo mejor.
Su interés por Shakespeare está estrechamente relacionado con el que siente por la lengua inglesa, a cuyo origen y evolución ha dedicado uno de sus libros más conocidos —al menos en el ámbito anglosajón— aunque también más cuestionados, su The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. Aunque elogiado por su estilo vivaz y divertido, también recibió críticas por su etnocentrismo y por ciertas imprecisiones que contenía, por lo que posteriormente fue ampliado y actualizado en Made in America.
Otro libro suyo de temática histórica es En casa, una breve historia de la vida privada. No tan breve, dado que cuenta con más de seiscientas páginas, pero una lectura muy amena por la gigantesca provisión de anécdotas e información sobre la vida cotidiana durante los últimos siglos. En él puede encontrar uno todo lo que necesita saber sobre miriñaques, fórceps, teléfonos, abonos o tenedores, así como de las consecuencias sociales más amplias con las que interactúan (la revolución industrial, la esclavitud, el comercio internacional…). Una obra muy interesante, pero si hablamos de «breves historias» entonces nos falta la definitiva.
Una breve historia de casi todo fue publicada en 2003 y además de ganar numerosos premios como el Descartes, concedido por la UE, se convirtió en uno de los libros más vendidos de los últimos años en todo el mundo. Lo cual es casi prodigioso teniendo en cuenta que hablamos de una obra de divulgación científica. La clave estuvo en aunar conocimientos de varias ciencias y recurrir a anécdotas biográficas de los investigadores que hicieron historia, encontrando un difícil equilibrio entre respetar la inteligencia del lector y contárselo de forma sencilla y sin que requiera conocimientos previos sobre ese campo. Buena divulgación, en definitiva. Esta vez no hubo reproches por parte de expertos, siempre tan ansiosos por demostrar su autoridad ante cualquier osado que quiera entrar en su terreno. Se trata, como él mismo admite, de «el libro en el que más empeño he puesto y el que mejor he escrito», uno que aspira a abarcar casi todo el universo y que encauza como ningún otro esa proverbial curiosidad que ya de niño le llevó a asomarse a los confines de lo posible. Quién sabe si el cosmos, visto con la suficiente perspectiva, pueda ser también rojizo, prieto y ligeramente fruncido.
Da Comissom de Local andamos a montar um “recunchinho chilau”no terraço do pichel. Andivemos a trabalhar na mesa e os bancos e agora resta lixar e pintar. Aproveitaremos para arrumar o espaço para goçar dele este verao.
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No he podido evitar acordarme de la recién inaugurada exposición de arte pop en el Museo Thyssen al econtrarme con el trabajo de este autor. Y es que los cómics, dulces, golosinas y aperitivos forman parte de la cultura popular, que aquí se unen para protagonizar sorprendentes pinturas hiperrealistas.
Son obras del artista estadounidense Doug Bloowoth, que demuestra un dominio perfecto de las técnicas de pintura más tradicionales al plasmar en lienzos, usando óleo y pinceles, estampas que podrían confundirse con fotografías o con arte digital. En esta serie el autor apuesta por evocar la nostalgia en el espectador, con elementos que nos llevan a la niñez.
Quizá hoy en día ya no es una imagen tan relacionada con los niños, pero hace unas décadas los cómics o tebeos eran uno de los entretenimientos favoritos de los más pequeños, y no tan pequeños. Leer un cómic de Batman o Spiderman junto con un paquete de galletas o una bolsa de caramelos era uno de los sencillos placeres de la vida.
Al menos así lo ve Blooworth, que se acuerda de su propia infancia y disfruta rememorando aquella época a través de sus pinceles. Es ya un artista veterano que después de una larga trayectoria disfruta realizando esta serie de obras, las cuales además han conseguido rápidamente una gran popularidad, recibiendo incluso encargos personalizados.
Blooworth se licenció en 1974 en Artes Comerciales y ha trabajado desde entonces en proyectos muy diferentes, empleando diversas técnicas artísticas. En su carrera ha destacado sobre todo en ámbitos de publicidad, caricaturas, carteles y diseño de iconos. Esta amplia experiencia asentó las bases sobre las que ahora trabaja para elaborar sus pinturas fotorrealistas con un aire tan pop.
No alcanza el hiperrealismo más extremo de otros autores pero tampoco lo busca, y sin embargo sus obras despiertan rápidamente la simpatía del espectador, que conecta con facilidad con su peculiar universo, algo ingenuo, pero que al fin y al cabo apela a ese niño que todos seguimos llevando dentro. Si pudiera encargarle una obra que reflejara mi infancia en su estilo, sería un cuenco de cereales con tiras de Mafalda y cómics de Astérix.
Soul Jazz Records’ new ‘Punk 45’ album is a collection of tracks of twisted, raw and energized proto-punk music from the early 1970s, ahead-of-its-time music which led the way for the birth of punk in the second half of the 1970s. Punk 45: Sick On You! One Way Spit! After the Love & Before the Revolution: Proto-Punk 1969-77 is the third volume in this series, following on from two earlier albums as well as Soul Jazz Records’ massive 400-page ‘Punk 45’ cover art book (compiled by Jon Savage, author of the seminal punk book ‘London’s Dreaming’, and Stuart Baker of Soul Jazz Records). While the first in the series, ‘Punk 45: Kill The Hippies! Kill Yourself!’, focused on the rise of underground punk in America,…
…and the second album, ‘Punk 45: There Is No Such Thing As Society’, did the same for punk and post-punk in Britain, this album draws upon some of the stripped-down hard garage and post-glam sounds of mainly obscure bands that existed in the early 1970s – that were to prove the template for the forthcoming punk movement. This new ‘Punk 45’ album is a unique collection of proto-punk tracks from across the USA – Cleveland’s Electric Eels, San Francisco’s Crime, Los Angeles’ Zolar X, Baltimore’s George Brigman and more – as well as from the UK, with Joe Strummer’s pre-Clash 101ers, the speed-induced R&B of the Count Bishops and others.”
1. Debris – One Way Spit
2. George Brigman – Jungle Rot
3. Death – Politicians In My Eyes
4. The Hammersmith Gorillas – You Really Got Me
5. Crime – Hot Wire My Heart
6. The Mirrors – She Smiled Wild
7. Hollywood Brats – Sick On You
8. Pastiche – Derelict Boulevard
9. Cabaret Voltaire – Makes Your Mouth Go Funny
10. Jack Ruby – Hit & Run
11. Victoria Vein and The Thunderpunks – Rear Guard Action
12. Electric Eels – Cyclotron
13. Count Bishops – I Ain’t Got You
14. Rob Jo Star Band – Acid Revolution
15. The 101ers – Keys To Your Heart
16. The Killer Kane Band – Mr Cool
17. Simply Saucer – Here Come The Cyborgs (Part 2)
18. Zolar X – Space Age Love
19. Hector – Wired Up
20. Stavely Makepeace – (I Want To Love You Like A) Mad Dog
21. Radio Pete – Just A Patsy
(Photo: Estrada Photography)
(Photo: Estrada Photography)
Soul Jazz Records’ new ‘Punk 45’ album is a collection of tracks of twisted, raw and energized proto-punk music from the early 1970s, ahead-of-its-time music which led the way for the birth of punk in the second half of the 1970s. Punk 45: Sick On You! One Way Spit! After the Love & Before the Revolution: Proto-Punk 1969-77 is the third volume in this series, following on from two earlier albums as well as Soul Jazz Records’ massive 400-page ‘Punk 45’ cover art book (compiled by Jon Savage, author of the seminal punk book ‘London’s Dreaming’, and Stuart Baker of Soul Jazz Records). While the first in the series, ‘Punk 45: Kill The Hippies! Kill Yourself!’, focused on the rise of underground punk in America,…