Thursday, August 21, 2003
So I finally got around to watching Bowling for Columbine since it had its DVD release a couple days ago. I definitely enjoyed it on the whole, but I have to admit that I think Moore got it wrong on the gun issue. It's no secret (although I'm sure it will surprise some of you) that I'm a dues paying NRA member and strong supporter of relatively no-questions-asked gun rights.
I'll ignore the fact that the movie made a number of fundamental misrepresentations (for example showing footage of rockets used to launch satellites and implying that they were “weapons of mass destruction”) and repeat the paradox that was discussed in the movie — why does America have less guns per capita than countries like Canada, but then have a staggeringly high murder and crime rate? Moore got it right — it's because that's superimposed on a culture of fear (which serves to distract from the nation's imperialism both on an international and a domestic “class war” level), but he got the solution wrong, and he appears to have fallen prey to some corporate misdirection in the process.
He kept coming back at guns as a problem rather than a symptom, even ended with a truly insulting interview with Charlton Heston — while he clearly exposed that the real problem is wealth disparity, corporate power, and media fear-mongering (he almost got it right by going after Dick Clark), at least in the movie he was afraid to point the finger squarely at the true enemy… and even made fun of those (like the opening interviews with the militia members) who actually spoke out against the real problems in America — namely conglomeration and consolidation of wealth/power, and the use of that wealth and its resulting political strength to oppress and control the population.
Moore makes the mistake of demonizing guns, when instead he should realize that guns are a balancing factor (not to mention that they are also proof of a population recognizing the imbalance and responding to it) — which is exactly why the government and the wealthy fight very hard to keep them out of the hands of the citizenry. To make a metaphor, let's say that we could prove that pornography leads to rape and oppression of women (which I do not believe). Would the solution then be to penectomize all men, or to go after porn? Under Moore's line of thinking, penectomy would solve the problem… which clearly would only attack the symptom, as well as stopping people from having healthy sex.
Anyway, I enjoyed the movie, but I think it was misguided. I hope (and I hear rumor) that his next movie will go after the real enemy: corporate America and the xenoaristocracy of the rich. While I would recommend reading between the lines as you watch Bowling for Columbine, I would though still recommend it in general.
Thursday, August 21, 2003
Whenever Mastitis is linked off the front people, people tent to get kind of freaked out (and for good reason). From the reports that I get, it's disturbingly common, especially among heavier women (I assume both due to bra pressures irritating tissues and inexperienced piercers placing the ring badly due to the nipple being distended). I won't be updating Risks or the Glossary until I've got the new software written, but I wanted to share this email here:
I am a 33 year old female with 7 body piercings. I have tongue, both nipple, both inner labia and a vertical and horizontal hood piercing. I have had no problems with any of my piercings except for my left nipple piercing. I think that the piercing was done too deeply. It went through my areola instead if the nipple. After 14 months of waiting for it to heal I decided to take it out due to continuing discomfort. Three weeks after I removed the barbell a very large abcess formed. I went to the Doctor and they had to perform surgery to remove the abcess.
Exactly one month later I was back in for a second surgery to deal with a staph infection and another abcess. Exactly one month after the second surgery I was back in again to have a third surgery to deal with a staph infection and a infection called actinomyces. I am now one month past the third surgery and will likely require a fourth surgery. There is a small possibility I may actually have to have my breast removed. I love my piercings and take very good care of them. But If I had been aware of this as being a possibility I would never have gotten the nipple piercings. I have been told by my surgeon that I am the fourth person she has done surgery on due to a infection related to a nipple piercing.
I have enclosed a picture taken shortly after my second surgery, it shows the wound and my inverted nipple (the nipple inverted as soon as I took out my barbell) I am fine with this picture being posted as a way to educate about possible side effects.
Now, of course you could say “but it was pierced wrong” or “but she should have known not to take it out like that”, but that's really beside the point, and doesn't make these risks any less real. So please consider that if you're a woman and want to get a nipple piercing that it's essential that you will go to a top-notch piercer that'll place it properly (not intersecting the lactiferous sinuses!).
Thursday, August 21, 2003
Davi had posted a link to this to comment on the Klumps looking guy, but I'm more disturbed by the bottom tagline. Now, we all know that CNN's tagline is “the most trusted name in news” and FoxNEWS is “fair and balanced”… I'm quite impressed at MSNBC's new slogan… I'd say it's extremely edgy, to say the least!
Thursday, August 21, 2003
So I just got back from Toronto… one forgets not having been in a big city for a while not just how stinky and smoggy those places are, and also how rude. The big-city media I think has very effectively purputrated this myth that small town equals closed minded, when all of my experiences suggest the opposite.
I can walk freely here in tinytown; no one particularly cares or comments, and when they do, while it may have a yokel tone, it's entirely nonthreatening. Toronto on the other hand was nothing but whispers and surrepticious angry stares… I don't know if it was fear, or anger, or what it was, but it was pretty unpleasant and uncool.
I think the answer is the picture below, taken from our front yard by me a few minutes ago. Somehow I think the only way those people are going to see this scene is if nuclear armegeddon strikes in their backyard. And that's very sad, and it helps me understand why they are so full of despair (not that it justifies their hostility).
I remember years ago when a friend moved up to Toronto to live with us (who some of you may have seen on the cover of various pro BMX magazines). Like me, he had stretched ears; his were about an inch at the time (this was long before that was subculturally “normal”). He came from a medium sized town, big enough not to know everyone, but small enough still to maintain some decency and courtesy.
Several weeks into living in Toronto, I remember him sitting on our kitchen floor, sobbing… because he wasn't used to everyone staring, everyone insulting him under their breath, and everyone treating him poorly just for having stretched ears. In a small town, you're still a person… In a big city, you're just a stereotype I suppose.
Thursday, August 21, 2003
I was doing some egogoogling (or whatever the term is for searching for your own name) and came across this old article from my friend Chris at Shift magazine. I thought it was a funny description of me (not that I consider myself particularly hardcore, at least not in comparison to this lunatic):
Modern humans have some pretty thick hides: This is something I learned on the weekend. My Saturday night began when I lugged a backpack full of beer to Shannon Larratt's house, on Toronto's Bathurst Rd. "The exciting stuff happens in the evening," read Larratt's email invite. "...(T)here's suspension, fireworks, firebreathing, TLC filming, BBQ and even a porn shoot in my basement. Come by any time you'd like, bring anyone you'd like." Larratt owns BMEzine.com, a community site for body modification enthusiasts. He's the most hardcore guy I know.
Anyway, the next two paragraphs are about Marty… I'm writing this entry in part because I promised I'd plug his first BBQ as host (IAM Niagara, September 12-14). Marty's been a fixture at pretty much every official BBQ, so I assume it'll go well, and it's a nice junction/centre-point between Canada and the US. Anyway, the quotes:
So I figured we'd see some crazy stuff at his party. We walked up and there was a smiling, tattooed dude swinging from a black crane. He was about ten feet up. We got a little closer and discovered he was hanging from thick metal hooks that pierced his skin at the shoulder blades. The hooks stretched the skin into a taut, leathery wrinkle, maybe three inches out from his body.
Smiling, the guy ran through some dance moves from the last couple of decades — a surreal highlight reel. The Running Man. A Travolta-style disco point. The Mixer. A few minutes later they lowered him and his girlfriend jumped into his arms. Then they raised him up again. His skin held.
For those of you who don't remember (or weren't there), there's a video clip of it over at movies.bmezine.com (hosted by Bobbin) — it's the one at the very bottom of the page… I have to admit it's pretty fun to see everyone over two years younger! That video also documents someone's wang, and the knocking over of the original suspension tower.
PS. Warning: If you were at these events, it may be somewhat emotional to watch these…
