THOUGHTBOX

Describing anything coming out of that country is a difficult task. This video is a TV broadcast of the Mass Games finale held by the "Ever-victorious Workers' Party of Korea" on September 4th, 2001. It's surreal because of a few reasons. The first would be the sheer amount of people performing incredibly intricate choreography. When you think about it even more, you being to realize the impressive amount of work and practice that went into a parade essentially for one man. A man who liked to have his people believe he is some sort of demi-god, but more than that, a man who ends up casually flipping thorough a magazine during this impressive - and depressing - display.

Aceasta poveste a pornit ca un simplu post pe blogul meu, ca o destainuire, nu ca un manifest. Nu m-am asteptat ca povestea mea sa fie distribuita, share-uita, re-publicata in fel si chip. Nu m-am asteptat la valul de e-mailuri, mesaje private, comentarii, de miile de vizualizari atat pe blog cat si pe site-urile care mi-au re-publicat povestea. In continuare sunt uimit de gradul de atentie pe care a primit-o patania mea. Si asta ma pune intr-o situatie dificila. Nu stiu cum sa abordez aceasta atentie. In mare parte, feedback-ul primit a fost pozitiv. Oameni pe care nu i-am vazut in viata mea, si pe care probabil ca nu-i voi vedea vreodata, m-au sustintut, mi-au dat sfaturi, mi-au oferit servicii legale pro-bono, si-au aratat solidaritatea... Nu am cuvinte pentru a multumi acestor oameni pentru grija si atentia aratata unui strain. Am fost extrem de miscat de valul de simpatie generat de destainuirea mea. Pe de alta parte, mereu vor fi indivizi care vor contesta genul asta de marturii....

Am hotarat sa tin blogul up-to-date cu evenimentele legate de ceea ce am patit eu. Azi am fost la Judecatorie pentru a depune o contestatie, dar nu am apucat pentru ca imi trebuia un avocat sa o redacteze, si n-am reusit sa dam de avocat (avocatul s-a oferit pro-bono sa ne reprezinte) de dimineata, asa ca am amanat pe maine.

Duminica, 15 ianuarie, ma aflam cu un amic pe Bd. Magheru in jurul orei 23:00. Dupa un ceai in oras, am decis sa vedem cu ochii nostri ce se intampla in centru. La sfarsitul serii, am regretat aceasta decizie. Dupa ce am vazut destul din proteste, am decis ca nu mai doream sa avem nimic de-a face cu manifestarile si ca era momentul sa ne ducem acasa. Pentru a evita multimea si actiunea de la Universitate, am luat-o pe Victoriei in intentia de a prinde un taxi la o intersectie. Intre timp ne-am si oprit la un supermarket non-stop, unde am luat mancare (pentru acasa, in general paine si altele pentru sandwichuri). La coltul cu Capsa, un grup de jandarmi ne-au oprit din drum si ne-au rugat sa asteptam langa cofetarie, pe Academiei. I-am intrebat de ce fac asta: raspunsul a fost ca ne retin un pic dupa care ne vor da drumul. Pe moment nu ni s-a parut atat de iesit din comun, dar pentru a nu agrava faptele am decis sa fim totusi rabdatori si sa terminam cat mai repede cu aceasta treaba. ...

There's a little bit of a mess going on in Bucharest right now. At the moment, everything's still a little crazy and reports are often conflicting. I'll get back at the story as soon as things clear up. UPDATE Read more about this on BBC  here.

Hey you know, not a big fan of PETA or it's cheesy get-a-woman-naked to sell....uhm..sell...PETA (?) style of marketing. But really, I do appreciate a beautiful lady. By the name of Yvonne Strahovski. Selling something. Read about the ad  here! SEXY SELLS....NO SHIT If you need any other remind that SEXY SELLS!...check out Desigual's latest ad campaign entitled...well, "Arrive half naked - leave fully dressed". Shoppers in Germany were offered huge discounts if they turned up in their underwear, and the campaign worked because half-naked people flocked not only to be the first 100 customers at the store (these people would receive free stuff), but also because it attracted fully-clothed people who showed up to watch the nekkid peeps. And I think this is genius: Desigual combined our inborn love for FREE SCHTUFF with the irresistible lure of solid price cuts and, of course, the voyeuristic "i-want-to-see-naked-sexy-people" kind of lure that sells ...

Let me start this bit off by mentioning just how huge of a Star Wars fan I am. Like many other boys my age, I was fascinated by the fairy-tale like sci-fi space opera and the je ne sais quoi that made Star Wars beloved by millions of fans.  To this day I can’t properly express what it is about Star Wars that makes it so appealing. It’s awesome, it’s organic, it’s realistic in an interesting way (for once, it’s not set in our future or even our corner of the universe…that helps open your mind up and make room for things that you would normally frown upon if the franchise was set in a more familiar setting), it’s got struggle, heroism, space battles, villains and heroes, super-powers, princesses and queens, lasers, sword-fighting … It’s got EVERYTHNG guys love. It’s basically a pot-pourri of every single thing young (and old) boys fantasize about. Maybe that’s why it’s so dear to us Star Wars fanboys. And yet, those unfamiliar with the behind the scenes dramas of the franchise de...

So this happened in the world of sci-fi fandom.. Then this... Then this honorable diplomatic response... And than good old Shat goes on and has it --wait for it-- shat on.

So i read some more about Sydney Spies' story about her school board rejecting a provocative yearbook photo, and I was wrong: it would appear state law actually protects her right to have that picture included in the yearbook. According to a Colorado statue "students of the public schools shall have the right to exercise freedom of the press". Furthermore, "no expression contained in a student publication, whether or not such publication is school sponsored, shall be subject to prior restraint." In that case, maybe they should let Sydney have her way after all. If she really believes that picture defines her (if it were me, I wouldn't be so proud about it), and state law defends her right to publish future regrets, why shouldn't she be able to? America is, after all, the land of the free. Read more here!

You see, this is the kind of thing that makes me doubt that the laws of Darwin are properly respected on Toddlers and Tiaras . When I think about the parents (and indeed, environment/society) that spawns these child abominations and sets them loose upon our TV boxes, my skin crawls as my body naturally retracts into a fetal position, awaiting the inevitable apocalypse via giant, sassy BEAUHH-TAY QUEEENS from the far reaches of hell. I have a theory about where these children come from. It involves the special circles of hell dedicated to trailer park parents living on road kill that commit the souls of their newborn to the very tentacled horror that impregnated them with the spawn of evil. Then they unleash this festering brood of cabbage-patch demons to desensitize us to this kind of depravity and gradually acclimatize the world to the horrors the Brood of evil are planning to conquer us all with. But that's just me. What do you think?

So, this happened at Durango High Scool, Colorado, USA... Student Sydney Spies got her high hopes crushed when the school rejected the picture she chose for her yearbook, considering it too sexy for the album. The school allowed its students to pick out their own pictures for the upcoming yearbook, and Spies chose one that was considered too provocative. The school board defended its position stating that they do not wish to "diminish the quality of the award-winning yearbook with something that can be seen as unprofessional". Dear old Sydney maintains her freedom of expression was infringed upon by the school board for disallowing her chosen picture. I have to agree with the yearbook editor. It would have been unprofessional to include those pictures among other more conventional yearbook stills. They're not selling anything with that yearbook, no need for sideboob. There's no reason for one particular student to stand out for this kind of stuff in an otherwis...

A gym in Dubai stirred up a hornet's nest of controversy on Facebook after the company, The Circuit Factory, released an ad spoofing the Auschwitz concentration camp for their facility. Yup. Here's what the company's founder had to say:  “The idea of the campaign isn’t to upset anybody. The way branding works is (listen closely to this expert) you want people talking about your business. We want them talking about us, but we don’t want people to take offence at it. He added that he used the Auschwitz image because the classes are "like a calorie concentration camp." Now before we throw stones at these people for profiting from genocide, furthermore, before we ask how these people released this ad thinking they will not stir this level of controversy - it's wise to remember, they probably did realize it's going to be that controversial. And they profited from it. Not saying I support their use of this historic event for advertising purposes here. I'm...

What do you think?