most def listen to MOS DEF's upcoming album
WISH I WAS AT THE BLACKSTAR CONCERT IN NY YESTERDAYMos Def - Words - The Ecstatic - available 6/9/09
SHOTTAS
IF BELLY WASN'T ENOUGH
speaking of Belly, its follow up movie was the worst movie ever made:
Belly 2 aka Millionaire Boyz Club
(if you catch these scenes on your tv change the channel)
PORN BY NUMBERS... (best excuse you never came up with)
Porn by Numbers Kit
Review by Ann Andriani
This is a complete erotic paint by numbers kit. Now, you can become an erotic painter with ease.
Initial Thoughts
My boyfriend and I stumbled upon this site as we were surfing the net one night. Since I’m not an artist, I mean not an artist by any sense of the word.I figured this would be something to try. Plus it’s sexy, so how can I pass up the opportunity? I checked out the different pictures that were offered to paint and placed my order via Paypal. I wasn’t sure how quickly I would receive it or even in what quality I would receive it in because I was making a purchase on what appeared to be a free homepage/server. That usually makes me a little learly, however, there was nothing to worry about. I received my kit rather quickly, I believe within a week, and was extremely impressed with what I got. Now I can’t tell enough people about it!
What you get Each kit includes the following:
* A full size 8″x10″ numbered, outline of the print on real canvas.
* Approximately 3″ long tubes full of paint that is needed to complete the picture. All colors are supplied.
* If the background is a solid color, you get a little jug of that.
* 1 paint brush
* A postcard of the completed picture to guide you along
* A plastic box frame for you to store your painting once it’s finished
What I Liked
This kit comes with absolutely everything you need to paint your own erotica. I didn’t have to go out and purchase a thing! The paint supplied is more than enough for the picture, so you don’t have to worry about running out. The paint brush you are supplied with is of good quality; I used it for my entire painting and it didn’t give me any problems. Each tube of paint has a clearly printed number on the cork top, so there’s no possibility of you accidentally grabbing the wrong tube.
paints supplied in porn by number kit
Since I’m not an artist, I know nothing about shading, blending, etc. but with the numbers, I was able to just kick back and enjoy myself. It was a very relaxing experience for me, someone who is not a painter and who is never happy with the things I do. I painted this on my dining room table. If I happened to slip and get some paint on the table, it came off very easily and did not stain. My hands and clothes were also safe, everything washed away easily with soap and water. This is a very good thing because since I haven’t done this in a while, I was like a little kid getting it all over the place, but now that I’m finished, there’s no trace of any paint in my house.
My nails are not short, so at first I thought that would give me a problem removing and replacing the cork tops on the paint tubes, however that was NOT the case. The cork was sturdy, none of the tops broke on me. In fact, my project is finished and they are still in tact.
What I Didn’t Like
I can’t really say there’s anything I didn’t like. There was some confusion over the colors, but I honestly think that was due to my lack of experience. There were some colors that I was instructed to use to shade the one side of the woman’s face. However, when I applied the paint and even after it dried, it looked a little too dark, so I wound up making my own revisions and painting over the darker colors with lighter colors until I felt that it was more pleasing to my eyes. If that would have caused me run out of paint and not finish the project, I may have considered it a flaw in the product, but it had no affect whatsoever. I’m finished and still have plenty of paint left over.
I noticed that I had a lot of cracking on my painting, but I think that’s also due to my lack of experience. My boyfriend, who is more experienced with this kind of thing, had told me when I started to paint light layers. In my excitement, I think I applied it pretty heavily initially, so that was also my error, not any fault of the product. At least I know now to be careful with the next one.
A Quick little tip
Even though I’m no expert, I do have one tip. Since I don’t have a painter’s palette, I wanted to keep all the paint colors easily available to me, so I can see the numbers. I stood all the tubes inside a short drinking glass, which allowed me to quickly and easily grab the correct color, take off the cork top, paint right from the tube, stick the cork top back on and place back in the glass. It made things very easy and I didn’t have tubes of paint rolling all over the place.
The only thing I would change
This is kind of funny because it has absolutely nothing to do with the product. The website address is not something that’s easy to memorize due to it’s rather long and nondescript URL. The only way to really get back there is to bookmark it. If it was something easy to remember, people could get there more easily and maybe then more people would be able to experience such a great kit. So if you’re interested in this but aren’t going to purchase it right now, make sure you bookmark the page.
Finished Painting
Overall Thoughts
I haven’t engaged in a fun solo project like this in a long time and I haven’t painted anything in over 15 years.probably longer. I haven’t done it because usually I’m just not patient enough with myself and the process, and I know that a good painting can’t be done in one day/night. Plus, I haven’t found anything that I really wanted to paint. The stuff I’ve seen in craft stores just seem boring, but because I’m a pervert and love all things sexual, this was the perfect kit to get me started.
As of the time of writing, all available pictures are erotic, meaning there really isn’t any hardcore porn. It’s all in good taste, so this is something that you don’t have to fear someone seeing when leaving it out to dry. I can see this being a great erotic gift idea for that special someone or friend.
I had a blast with this! These past couple of months have been rather stressful for me and relaxing is not something that has come very easy, so I was a little concerned about starting this artistic project now. However, with the kit being so complete and with it being paint by numbers, I found this to be not only fun, but extremely relaxing; a great way for me to spend my free time.
I’m pretty sure my painting didn’t come out as good as others that have purchased from Scarlet_A…see there’s the perfectionist in me. However, when I started this project, that was not my goal; it didn’t have to come out perfectly. I purchased this kit for the experience and had a very enjoyable and very relaxing one at that. If you’re more experienced with painting, I’m sure yours will look much better. However, that’s also the point…you don’t have to be an artist to have fun with this or to make a good looking painting.
Wow, the review is almost finished and I haven’t even mentioned the best part about these kits.At the time of my own purchase and writing this review; they’re only $15.00 with an additional $5.00 for postage, that’s amazingly inexpensive! I can say with certainty that I will probably be getting the whole collection.
This Porn By Numbers Kit got a perfect rating… I believe this is the only product on this site to get a 5 out of 5 rating! The price is more than affordable, it’s a steal. You get everything you need to complete your painting. If you want to get different color paints you can, but you don’t have to. If you want to get more brushes you can, but you don’t have to. You can even get another frame, but you don’t have to. This project is literally accomplished right out of the package when it arrives. Including the box frame to display it in, that was the icing on the cake for me. I give this sexy product a perfect rating because I honestly don’t know what else could have been supplied for such an affordable price. There was nothing I needed and even though the my painting is not the most beautiful, I had a great time doing it! Bravo Annette!
OH Bama
Inside the Obama Family PR Machineby Richard Wolffe
April 19, 2009 | 7:13am
As the Obamas mastered the media again this week, thanks to the rollout of their dog, Richard Wolffe reveals how the president's instincts and the first lady's discipline – and staff – are creating an image juggernaut.
Of all the picture-perfect moments of the Obama White House, few compare to the young Obama family introducing their new dog Bo to the press. There were Malia and Sasha chatting about their new pet on the South Lawn. There was the first lady on her knees petting the new addition to the family. There was the commander in chief jogging in his suit alongside a Portuguese water dog.
“Puppy me!” urged Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s Daily Show, as a respite to the president’s wonkish economic speech. Cue pictures of Obama running with his new dog, as Stewart applauded like a seal. “I really want to see the moment where he has to stop and pick up that dog’s shit. My guess is even that he will pull off in an elegant manner.”
Despite the iconic images that emanate from the White House each week, there is no Reaganesque Michael Deaver inside the West Wing.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the Obama White House is the most masterful image-making machine in politics since the Reagan era. And you’d be half right.
Despite the iconic images that emanate from the White House each week, there is no Reaganesque Michael Deaver inside the West Wing. While the president has two message guys in his inner circle – chief strategist David Axelrod and press secretary Robert Gibbs – neither of them are what you might call image-conscious, trading in words more than pictures. Their personal images underscore that point—Axelrod’s wardrobe in particular serving as a running joke inside the Obama campaign; he only started to wear a suit and tie on entering the White House—burnish that fact.
Rather, the most memorable images are often the result of opportunism and the projection powers of one Barack Obama. And the place where image control is a more disciplined business is the East Wing, among Michelle Obama's staff.
The back-story to Bo’s rollout is more revealing than you might expect, reflective of the ad-libbed nature of Obama’s image-making and the people who shape that image. Up until the moment of the press call, there was to be no first family in attendance. According to a senior White House aide, the initial plan was for just a staffer to walk “Bobama” in front of the cameras.
Even when the president and first lady decided to take the lead, there was no plan for their daughters to join them. Malia and Sasha wanted to take part themselves at the last minute. There were certainly no plans for the president to run with his dog across the South Lawn. It turns out that the memorable images came from the Obamas themselves, not their handlers.
Why the sensitivity and limited plans from the staff? One explanation lies in the painful experience of last July 4th, when the family sat down with NBC’s Access Hollywood for an interview. It was Malia’s 10th birthday and the family was feeling relaxed after a day of parades, hula-hoops and picnics in the small town of Butte, Montana. That was when the family let down their guard. The TV crew attached microphones to the Obama girls, saying innocently that they were just looking for some ambient sound like a laugh or sigh in response to their parents.
Instead interviewer Maria Menounos turned the questions to the girls and they jumped right in, delivering enough exclusive material to spin the footage over several nights of TV.
As his daughters engaged in the unscripted interview, Obama shot several angry glares at his staffers off camera. He finally wrapped up the interview when Menounos began to push the girls to get a pet dog, offering herself as their dog trainer, and warning them about the difficulty of dealing with medical problems at the rear end of dogs. Obama asked the girls to leave before a subsequent magazine interview and made his displeasure known to his staff over the next several days.
The lessons of Access Hollywood were only half-digested. Inside the White House, Obama’s aides have taken a hard line against press questions about the girls’ friends, schedules, habits and interests. As much as possible, the president wants to protect his children and their privacy from enormous worldwide attention.
Still, there is a gray area that remains unresolved. The family has posed for magazine photo shoots together and released official photos of the first day at school. Unscripted moments can take place—if and when the first family decides to break its own rules. And judging by the coverage, they can provide some of the most memorable images of this young presidency. The Obamas are still trying to find a comfort zone between total exclusion and limited access.
Their normal state of affairs is more, rather than less, restricted. Team Obama has never been afraid to confront and control the media. From day one of the presidential campaign in February 2007, it could command a large planeload of reporters and cameras. On that first weekend trip to Iowa, more than two years ago, Obama berated the press for focusing more on a photo of him in a black swimsuit than, say, his position on healthcare or the war in Iraq.
Such a focus on image is not surprising for a president whose best-selling books are a memoir and a personal prescription for what ails politics, and whose “No Drama” persona was perhaps best burnished during the campaign by his cool, casual poses on the covers of Rolling Stone and GQ. More eye-opening: the real discipline—and arguably the real success—lies in the East Wing, with the first lady’s staff. Day-to-day message control for the family lies with Michelle Obama’s press office, especially with communications director Camille Johnston, who used to work for Tipper Gore, and press secretary Katie McCormick Lelyveld, who performed the same job through the long campaign.
Sometimes Michelle Obama’s image-making is effortless. Her much-publicized clothes for her European tour were selected by her long-time stylist Ikram Goldman, who owns a boutique in Chicago.
Sometimes the image-making is an intensive effort. Michelle’s team expended enormous energy fending off hostile stories through the election. Some were factual, such as her comments about being proud of her country for the first time. Some were laughably false but still damaging, such as the unsubstantiated rumor that she had used the word “whitey.”
The results, whether intentional or accidental, are impressive. Michelle Obama has an approval rating that eclipses her popular husband. According to a recent Gallup poll, the first lady has a positive rating of 72 percent and a negative rating of just 17 per cent. The president reaches 69 per cent positives and 28 percent negatives.
Those numbers place her at Laura Bush levels of popularity just a few months into the White House. For someone whose frowning face used to accompany unflattering stories in conservative magazines, that is an image worth framing.
Richard Wolffe is an award-winning journalist and political analyst for MSNBC television. He covered the entire length of Barack Obama's presidential campaign for Newsweek magazine, traveling with the candidate and his inner circle from his announcement through election day, 21 months later. He is now writing a book about the Obama campaign, entitled Renegade: The Making of a President, to be published by Crown in June 2009. Before Newsweek, he was a senior journalist at the Financial Times.
from the daily beast: HERE
Honda creates the first "Terminator"
Honda thinks up mind-controlled robots
A video of the robot mind control system shows a user being shown a card with a picture of a hand on it. After pondering his hand, the command from the user's brain is then transferred to Asimo, which acknowledges the request by raising its robotic limb. Thankfully, users are not required to wear Crocs.
(Credit: Honda)
We're not just moving toward the day when robots can do everything for us. We're apparently moving toward the day when we can just think about what we want done, and get it (almost) presto.
Japan's Honda Research Institute and precision-equipment manufacturer Shimadzu on Tuesday demonstrated a rather mind-boggling technology that lets humans control a bot through thought alone--thus taking the pesky button pressing, voice commands, and remote controls out of the equation.
The system uses a black helmet fitted with sensors to measure brain activity corresponding to thought.
(Credit: Honda)
But don't start trying to telepath your Scooba into writing your doctoral thesis just yet. For now, researchers are focusing on getting the latest version of Honda's Asimo humanoid bot to perform simple actions like raising an arm or leg.
The system involves a helmet full of electroencephalography and near-infrared spectroscopy sensors that monitor electrical brainwaves and cerebral blood flow, signals that alter slightly during the human thought process. The robot controller thinks of one of a limited number of specific gestures it wants from Asimo, which has been fitted with a Brain Machine Interface.
The data is then analyzed on a real-time basis to distinguish what the user imagined and transmitted wirelessly to the bot, which makes corresponding movements.
Researchers in Tokyo showed a demonstration video of the system in which a user is shown a card with a picture of a right hand on it. After the user thinks about his right hand, the command from the user's brain is then transferred to Asimo, which acknowledges the request and raises its own right robotic limb.
Unfortunately, the scientists did not demo the technology live due to what they said were space constraints and concerns about possible distractions to the person's concentration--presumably in the form of blinding flashbulbs and the stunned faces of onlookers.
Honda nonetheless says tests of the system have produced results with 90 percent accuracy.
-CNet
Iron Man v Bruce Lee
Canadian filmmaker Patrick Bolvin presents a rather well done one minute video, which images a fight between Bruce Lee and Iron Man.
Mr Hudson: There Will Be Tears
He might not sell the most, if any records right now, but this guy is one of the best artists on this earth.
STEEZ-TASTIC: CHIDDY BANG... SOONER OR LATER
THESE GUYS ARE EXTREMELY INTRIGUING. Chiddy Bang is a new group from PHILLY. They are providing all their music for free right now. CHECK THEM OUT YOU WONT REGRET. SOONER OR LATER IS FABULOUS.
BAND HOMEPAGE: http://www.myspace.com/chiddybangphilly
FREE MUSIC DOWNLOADS: http://www.purevolume.com/chiddybang
FREE MUSIC DOWNLOADS: http://www.purevolume.com/chiddybang
STEEZY: Nike Air Tech Challenge Hybrid
Nike combines Aggassi's entire career of style to create these ATCs. BUY HERE
Barry O to the Naysayers
"I realize there are those who say these plans are too ambitious to enact," Obama said. "To that I say that the challenges we face are too large to ignore. I didn't come here to pass on our problems to the next president or the next generation — I came here to solve them."
You Know Prison is Big Business When...
Criminal correction spending is outpacing budget growth in education, transportation and public assistance, based on state and federal data.States have shown a preference for prison spending even though it is cheaper to monitor convicts in community programs, including probation and parole, which require offenders to report to law enforcement officers. A survey of 34 states found that states spent an average of $29,000 a year on prisoners, compared with $1,250 on probationers and $2,750 on parolees. The study found that despite more spending on prisons, recidivism rates remained largely unchanged.
From the NYT.
BRUNO: Sacha Baron Cohen's genius lives on
Sacha Baron Cohen's new film, 'Bruno,' premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas this past week. Anyone stupid enough to get fooled this often by the brilliant Cohen deserves the public humiliation this film should bring. If you were nervous whether the follow-up to Borat could live up to the hype, the following reviews should alleviate your fear:
"A jaw-on-the-floor wow. Sacha Baron Cohen has done it again, delivering another WMD slam dunk of hysterically subversive mocku-comedy. The film's take-no-prisoners approach was breathlessly funny, but no doubt some will ask: Has Sacha Baron Cohen gone too far?" -- MTV
"To the say the material was funny is a laughable insult itself. This brief look at Bruno quite possibly promises a more raucous laugh than Borat, which is no small feat. It may just redefine outrageous and will probably outdo Borat." -- First Showing
"It was hilarious, envelope-pushing as always, but with Cohen's talent to layer it with some real hard looks at who we are as a people and a commentary on how people really act." -- AICN
"What we saw was brilliant. I can’t wait to see the rest." -- Cinematical
"You'll laugh and groan in all the right places, but it will never not feel familiar. It's funny deja vu, but it's still deja vu." -- Hollywood Reporter
"If you're a 'Borat' fan and were worried that Cohen had lost the anonymity necessary to dupe stereotypical Americans with humorous results, rest assured 'Bruno' is hilarious." -- FSR
"While the screening was funny and surprising, it did not pack quite the same punch as one’s first exposure to 'Borat'. So far, these 'Bruno' scenes lacked the truly subversive bite that made 'Borat' both outrageous and thoughtful, playing it safe rather than really pushing the limit." -- Los Angeles Times
Pope Benedict goes to Africa preaching AIDS IGNORANCE
YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Tuesday reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS as he started a visit to Africa, where more than 25 million people have died from the disease in recent decades.
The Pope, who arrived to a tumultuous welcome in the capital of Cameroon, also said the continent's people were suffering disproportionately due to the global challenges of food shortages, financial crises and climate change.
"It (AIDS) cannot be overcome by the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, they increase the problem," he said in response to a question about the Church's widely contested position against the use of condoms.
The disease has killed more than 25 million people since the early 1980s, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, and some 22.5 million Africans are living with HIV.
His words were some of his most explicit on the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS since his election in 2005.
The Church teaches that fidelity within heterosexual marriage, chastity and abstinence are the best ways to stop AIDS. It does not approve condoms but some Church leaders have been calling for allowing their use in rare cases between married heterosexual couples where one partner has the disease.
"The only solution is two-fold: the first is a humanisation of sexuality, a human, spiritual renewal which brings with it a new way of behaving among people and, secondly, a true friendship, especially for those who are suffering, a willingness to make personal sacrifices," he said.
He called for "correct behaviour regarding one's body".
TUMULTUOUS WELCOME
The Pope was greeted by tens of thousands of dancing and singing people lining the 25 km route from the airport to the city.
With the number of practising Catholics dwindling in the developed world, Africa is seen as vital to the Church's future. But the relationship is not without controversy, mainly over the condoms issue.
"At a time of global food shortages, financial turmoil, and disturbing patterns of climate change Africa suffers disproportionately," he told crowds on his arrival.
"More and more of her people are falling prey to hunger, poverty and disease. They cry out for reconciliation, justice and peace, and that is what the church offers them," he said.
Speaking to reporters on the plane, the Pope said the economic crisis was a product of a "deficit of ethics in economic structures".
"Ethics is something that should not be outside economics, but inside it. The economy does not work if it does not carry an ethical component inside itself," he said.
In his arrival address to President Paul Biya, Benedict called on Christians to tackle violence, poverty, corruption and abuse of power, issues that have continually stifled the continent's progress.
Many in Cameroon have called on the Pope to send a strong message to his host, Biya, who has ruled for over 26 years.
Biya's time in power has been marked by accusations of high-level corruption and human rights abuses. The security forces this week destroyed street-side stalls that provided an income for thousands, in a bid to clean up the city.
(Additional reporting by Tansa Musa)
SO FLY(wire): Nike Pinnacle Flywire Windrunner
Nike's Pinnacle collection is filthy. the material on this piece is so nice I feel guilty looking at it.
Instead of a War on Poverty they gotta War on Drugs so the Police can Bother Me
Great article from the Economist."Legalisation might encourage legitimate drug companies to try to improve the stuff that people take. The resources gained from tax and saved on repression would allow governments to guarantee treatment to addicts—a way of making legalisation more politically palatable. The success of developed countries in stopping people smoking tobacco, which is similarly subject to tax and regulation, provides grounds for hope."
Regulation always works better than prohibition. Stop wasting our damn money!
POST SCRIPT: Also found this gem from Time Magazine:
Pot is, after all, California's biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion a year in sales, dwarfing the state's second largest agricultural commodity - milk and cream - which brings in $7.3 billion a year, according to the most recent USDA statistics. The state's tax collectors estimate the bill would bring in about $1.3 billion a year in much needed revenue, offsetting some of the billions of dollars in service cuts and spending reductions outlined in the recently approved state budget.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)