"Sexting" now an official word

Yes people, it is not no longer an obscure word used by cooler than hip teens, gangsta-rappers and the occasional redhead blogger. "Sexting" is among the new words accepted by the Oxford Dictionaries online. The other soon-to-be classics are: "onliner", "scareware", "cyberbullying", "clickjacking", "Tbh"(to be honest), and "fnarr fnarr" (which I had no idea of. Marsian influence? No, apparently it means sniggering. )

Technology and short acronyms are creeping their way into our dialectic, whether we like it or not. If this shortening of announced words gets any more trendier, I wonder if in 50 years we all talking legitimately with cut down words. A new language?

"Sexting" now an official word

Alcohol Consumption in the World

Let me present to you: the map of drinking around our sweet planet. To be honest, I really thought Australia would be higher. And North America. Oh Europe, you really should know better. How did your country fare out in this?

Alcohol Consumption in the World

The Wife test -keep her or leave her?

This post is dedicated to my anonymous male friend, who is battling with these demons, as we speak. I am talking about those pesky late-night moments, when the thought creeps  into your consciousness -is s/he worth it? Shall I go on? Is this meant to be? Decisions, decisions. To be, or not to be.
(That is the question. Still. )

Yes, those scientists of the 1930s were crafty. They came up with a scientifically formulated rating chart to ease those tensions clouding your judgment. See, it is easy to rank the spouse!  Much like giving points in the Eurovision song contest, this table gives you all the answers. Hmm, better keep that suspiciousness under the belt. So not ladylike. Aw, I do hope she keeps over the 24 points!

Well, this picture would not be perfect without the opposite, now would it?

Let´s introduce the Husband chart, or in other words, is the dude worth keeping around anymore. 

Like a lot of these 1930s "inventions", this one was criticized as well. Really? And I thought this was so scientific and accurate! No way! Poor George Crane. The shrinks don´t always get it right.

Personal bias be damned. 

Although most people who read the test today find it humorous and obviously dated, Crane did attempt to make it scientific. His method was to interview 600 husbands on their wives’ positive and negative qualities. Then he listed the 50 demerits and merits that arose most frequently. Crane, did admit to using a personal bias in weighting the items that he thought were most important in marriage. (Via neatorama)

The Wife test -keep her or leave her?

Scientology and The Road to Freedom

Religion is a sensitive topic. The ones with strong beliefs on its power are always eager to defend its importance for our existence. How can one be human without spiritual guidance, a system that molds our choices and provides safety from lingering fears on pure arbitrariness in the universe? For some of us, atheism is simply absurd. Spiritual vacuum is feared, condemned and it can even be considered a morally questionable representation of the character at large.

 I do recognize the feeling of shelter religion brings, it is easier to live with someone/something giving straight  answers to everything (no matter how correct they are). There is no uncertainty or questioning of choices: things are, as given. It is a matter of placing your ultimate trust in the hands of someone, and something. This trust can be easily exploited, however.

When there is demand, there is supply. A friend of mine had an intriguing encounter with this specific church in the past. Well-dressed, well-spoken woman on the streets of Brighton offers a free personality test. After the test (which in its complexity was nothing but random general questions of nothing important) the results were given. No surprises there, the need for help was regarded as immediate. My friend was apparently "in dire emotional stress and going nowhere" without intervention. Relief would come in the form of dianetics. And countless courses, I assume.  Without going into specifics of Scientology, as I suspect most of us have heard the stories on thetans, aliens, suppressive persons, auditing and the perils of modern psychiatry, I present some hip music by the church of Scientology.

In 1986, Scientology put out an album of songs created by no other that the great L. Ron Hubbard himself.
The lyrics are exactly what one would imagine, preaching the ARC triangle, devils of psychiatry etc. This is "the Road to Freedom" , indeed.

Scientology and The Road to Freedom

Winners of Sundance 2011 movie festival announced

Winners have been announced, and here is a short list of some of the lucky filmmakers:

The Grand Jury Dramatic Prize went to "Like Crazy" by Drake Doremus. The film tackles a long-distance young love story between an American and a Brit. Actors include Felicity Jones, Anton Yelchin and Jennifer Lawrence.

The Grand Jury Prize for US documentary film was given to "How to Die in Oregon", by Peter D. Richardson. Documentary deals with euthanasia in Oregon, where it has been legal since 1994.


US dramatic directing award was given to "Martha Marcy May Marlene" by Sean Durkin. Traumatized woman flees a religious cult and tried to rebuild her life.

Directing award for US documentary was awarded to Jon Foy for " Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles". Foy´s documentary describes an urban mystery when a man pieces together the meaning of hundreds of cryptic messages that have appeared on city streets across America. Foy was particularly happy about his win, since according to his own words he was working as a cleaner a few weeks back. Talk about a lottery ticket!

The World Cinema Jury Prize: Dramatic went to "Happy, Happy" by Anne Sewitsky. Norwegian film tells the story of a sex-starved housewife, who tries to control herself when a new neighbour moves in.

The World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary was given to "Hell and back again", directed by Danfung Dennis. Story of modern warfare in Afghanistan told through the eyes of a Marine soldier.


Special Jury Award for acting went to Felicity Jones from "Like Crazy". 


The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award was awarded to Sam Levinson, from "Another Happy Day".
 A pair of wild siblings go to a chaotic family wedding.

Hmm, this makes me think "Like Crazy" and "Martha Marcy May Marlene" may be the ones to watch out for.

Winners of Sundance 2011 movie festival announced

What women may, or may not want (for Valentine´s day)

That dreadful time is approaching again. Pressure to buy blood diamonds,  child labor chocolates, teddybears from China, plants and other trinkets just to prove (s)he matters. Because we are living in a material world and we are material girls(and boys). Oh, the stories I could tell of past Valentine´s days gone crazy weird.
But let´s not get into that.

Remember  guys, the measure of love  has been set. Namely by this fellow, who actually built a 400-square-foot closet for her wife into the guest bedroom. Modeled after Carrie Bradshaw´s walk-in-closet in the movie "Sex and the city". The cost? A mere $175 000. Spare change, right?

Money and material aside, what is it that women want? Let´s get some semiprofessional help into the picture.
Meet Dr.Love, or as otherwise known, Jay Herrod. The man may seem like a peculiar oddball, but some of the lines may hit the right note. Sort of. My favorite is number 5: all women have a set pattern. Figure it out and a man may  figure her out. After these golden tips no woman is safe from surrendering to the hunt.

And if all else fails, remember guys (and gals): Wine is fine but whiskey´s quicker.

What women may, or may not want (for Valentine´s day)

"I´ve been careless with a Delicate Man"

While waiting for some new material from our fabulous miss Fiona Apple, let´s see some of her older classics. "Criminal" from her 1996 album "Tidal" is considered by many to be her greatest, and did receive a Grammy-award. (While accepting the award, she gave her famous "don´t model yourself after what we say" -speech)
The music video, directed by Mark Romanek, was controversial, and raised concerns over exploiting Apple. Although she was 19-years-old at the time, she looked years younger, to the point where the music video was judged borderline child pornography. The whole early image of Fiona Apple teased the public with "a malnourished, depressed Lolita" -denotations, with or without her blessing.

The video starts with Apple taking a picture of "us", making us the voyeur of her actions. She knows she is being watched, and thus takes the control of the gaze from us. The space is dim and dark, and the lighting gives an impression of a flashlight being forcefully focused into something morally ambiguous escaping harsh judgment. We should not be watching this, yet we want to. The stuffed animals and beer bottles move into the images and so does a scantily dressed Apple. The scene being played out looks disturbing, yet Apple never gives away the control.  Half-clothed, laid out bodies next to Fiona appear just before she sings "I´ve been a bad, bad girl". The other people remain faceless, plain body parts which are used by the main subject. The idea of an orgy is played with, presented to us as a night gone awry, and the seemingly under-age girl is looking for redemption for her actions. The sin being here is her desires, and hiding in the closet cannot erase sexuality. Apple moves to kitchen tables and begins to undress. By now it is clear that we are not watching a woman, but a "child-woman" still maturing. In her thin and fragile frame she appears uncomfortable, vulnerable and awkward.

The images of a sports car seem at first out of place, until we see Apple trapped and half-naked in the backseat of the car. Someone is taking pictures and video of her, making her an object. She is shown enjoying herself being filmed, yet her body movements suggest there is something more sinister going on. The forbidden sexuality is hidden in closets, bedrooms, showers, bath tubs, pools and cars- yet made visible to the voyeur inside of us, watching her. While she sings " I´ve got to make a play, to make my lover stay, so what would an angel say, the devil wants to know" she admits her guilt and deception for the first time. The final images of the floating dish detergent are an all-too obvious metaphor to be discussed and the video ends with Apple lying on top of sleeping men while turning her gaze away from us, ashamed. Although the lyrics of the song "Criminal" suggest Fiona is on control of the sexual situations laid out for the audience, the visual imagery of the video imply otherwise.

"I´ve been careless with a Delicate Man"

Next year´s Oscar-movies?

Oscar-nominations for this year have been announced. The list was pretty much what was to be expected, on the basis of the Golden Globes. But I´m not interested in that now. Personally I am already looking at next year, and eying future possible hits. Here is a list of movies that catched the industry´s attention so far at this year at Sundance movie festival. More to come as the festival progresses!

"The Future" by Miranda July tells the tale of awkward people in love and an adopted cat. Music by the legendary Jon Brion. The plot outline does not promise much, but festival-goers seem to love this quirky and strange movie.

"Salvation Boulevard" by George Ratliff. The cast is full of star names: Jennifer Connolly, Pierce Brosnan, Marisa Tomei, Ed Harris, Greg Kinear. This is a comedy/thriller about a born-again Christian escaping from the fundamentalist members of his mega-church. The storyline seems very promising and current, considering the state of religion in North America these days.

"Martha Marcy May Marlene" , film directed by T. Sean Durkin has gained a lot of buzz mainly because of the lead performance by Elizabeth Olsen (yes, the sister of those cape-dressing twins). Olsen plays a young girl trying to rebuild her life after fleeing from a religious cult. Another great topic of the times.

Another appealing movie about religion. If Sarah Palin and the tea-party have done anything, is putting this topic of God back into our radar. "The Ledge" by Mathew Chapman deals with an atheist arguing and then fighting with a conservative Christian. Homophobia is also present. Liv Tyler and Patrick Wilson star in this film.




And the stream of religious topics wont´t end! What on earth is going on over here! (I blame it on Fox News, the source of reliable and unbiased public information) This time it is "The Red State" by Kevin Smith, and it is horror. A group of teens come in contact with mid-western religious fanatics, and all hell gets loose. The movie has not gained as much buzz as Smith´s crafty idea to self-promote and self-distribute the movie with a 12-city roadshow tour. He plans to utilize his 1.7 million Twitter followers, rent theaters and charge premium ticket prizes in order to pay back his financiers before the official October release date. Hmm.

Think this theme is done and used for this year´s Sundance? Think again. Vera Farmiga stars in and directs "Higher Ground", where a woman struggles with her faith after spending 20 years with a cult. Farmiga has gotten praise for her directorial debut and she is sure to be watched in the future.

"Margin Call" by J.C. Chandor was the most anticipated movie on this year´s Sundance. This piece has an impressive cast  with names such as Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Mary McDonnell and Jeremy Irons, along others. "Margin Call" retells the story of the early stages of the 2008 financial meltdown over a 24-hour period in an investment bank. So far the reviews for this movie have been mixed. The first scene is supposedly brilliant, but the rest of the movie lacks the promise. It is safe to say that between now and October 2011 (which is the official release date) anything could happen. Films are known to be even re-edited after the initial pre-screenings at the festival circuit. People might also have high expectations for this touchy topic and how to handle it. Director Chandor has decided to approach this theme with a heavily dialogue-filled angle, which might not please the audiences or turn out to be commercially lucrative.

Even Al Pacino cannot make it a success every time. "The Son of No One" starring Pacino, Katie Holmes, Ray Liotta and Juliette Binoche was reportedly so weak, that the screening on Monday resulted in "an exodus" of people all though the screening. Hardly anyone (who was left) applauded afterwards.

Next year´s Oscar-movies?

Killer-Barbie on the Loose

I´m not quite sure what boys do with those toy soldiers, when playing with them as a kid, but I do remember vividly those elaborate stories and backgrounds we girls built for Barbies. Bold and the Beautiful has nothing to offer in comparison to little girls when it comes to soap opera plot lines. The set ups, the dresses, the shoes, the hair... In fact, I think I do have some female friends who still own their Barbie-dolls and display them like antique on their book shelfs. (Mine were given away behind my back- I know, I´m full of bitterness.
So traumatic.)

While the tales were always full of females, there was only one or two males in the game. Barbie-dolls were much more desired to get from the shop than the boring Ken-dolls. So inevitably, the plays turned into strange depictions of a "Land of Amazons" where the few guys ended up assisting the female queens. Poor fellows.
Here are some interesting images by Mariel Clayton, showing Barbie as a sort of "female Dexter", giving her very best in serial killing to the wobbly Ken. Scenes are disturbing, hope you don´t lose your sleep over it!

Killer-Barbie on the Loose