You knew what culture we live in when you chose not to put on underwear, Mrs. Hathaway (Updated with addition)

Update:  Apparently no, no I am not.

Okay, I've been sitting on this one for a day or two, but I have to ask: Am I the only one whose heart is not all-aflutter at Anne Hathaway's saying

"I'm sorry that we live in a culture that commodifies sexuality of unwilling participants,"

and/or who thinks Hathaway's "wardrobe malfunction" was a deliberate publicity stunt (for Les Misérables)?

I may be wrong. I frequently am. But just let me put this in your head: It wouldn't be the first time she's used her body to sell a film. Remember Love & Drugs? Yeah, neither does anybody else.

But that entire advertising campaign, with Hathaway's active and enthusiastic cooperation, broke down to "See Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal (for those so inclined) take off all their clothes and have hot steamy sex."

So, I may be wrong. I frequently am. But...

Guess what, kids!

...that's right!  It's time to play...

Who's Searching for me Now?

Someone in Newnan, Georgia found this blog early this morning (my time) by "bing-ing" "ben varkentine." To the best of my knowledge I do not know anyone in Newnan, Georgia. I don't even know anything about it.

Oh yeah...

...it's that time again, folks.  "That time" being the second of my twice-yearly metaphorical awkward clearing of the throat and nudge of the head towards my Amazon.com wish list.  You'll find it to your right.  Thank you as always for your consideration.

PS:  Oh, again, as with the birthday subtle hint, of course the items/downloads need not only be purchased from Amazon.

This is...not even ARGUABLY...one of the greatest things I have ever seen on YouTube.

And I'm not saying that just because one of the clips is of a woman calling my name...

I'd hate to be either Carl Reiner or Mel Brooks when the other one dies.

Look how they love each other.



PS: H/t Mark Evanier.

Best. Sports bra. Ever.

To vampires, Jennifer Connelly is what's known as a "fang tease."

To the small % of you that will get the significance of this...

Tara Reid was seen leaving a bar recently.

Yeah, I know.  So what else is new?

This is:

The bar she was leaving? Named Annabel's.

The reason she was there?

Attending a birthday party for somebody named Ben.

She's calling me, I tell you.

That's right, envy me. I totally had this.

Ah. for the days when it was exciting for one "action figure" to hand another a brown manila folder!

A time I never lived in...

...these are the kinds of images (and sounds--it's Miles Davis playing "It Never Entered My Mind") which make me feel nostalgic for such a time. One of my answers to the question:  When and where would you go if you had an actual TARDIS?  has long been:  The late '40s, Los Angeles...



(I always feel the need to qualify that, however, by saying I recognize I'm saying it as a white, heterosexual male.  If I weren't all three of those things it's quite probable I would feel differently)

Oh, and h/t M. Evanier.

Quick, some people ask me questions

Paul Ryan posts online Q&A, gets 200 views and one question. Campaign declares it a great success.

FYI, this blog's average daily view count is just over 200. So if just two of you ask Q's, I can honestly say the blog is more popular than Paul Ryan.

Young voters to Scarlett Johansson: Show us your tits

Scarlett Johansson to young voters: Get involved

"Alone." A Poem by Edgar Allan Poe. Illustrated via image searches.

From childhood's hour I have not been

As others were; I have not seen

Mojave Express - Fallout NV by ~SerenitysRiver on deviantART As others saw; I could not bring My passions from a common spring.

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow; I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone; And all I loved, I loved alone.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Book 3 in The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S.Lewis - cover by Roger Hane, a photo by Cadwalader Ringgold on Flickr.

Then- in my childhood, in the dawn Of a most stormy life

- was drawn

From every depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still: From the torrent, or the fountain, From the red cliff of the mountain,

From the sun that round me rolled

In its autumn tint of gold,  From the lightning in the sky As it passed me flying by,

From the thunder and the storm,

And the cloud that took the form

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view.

Distorting the Truth About Distorting the Truth

Wait a minute...

...fuck you, you can't say

Both Republicans and Democrats Are Distorting the Truth About Medicare

then give examples which explain how only the Republicans are doing it.

Not and expect to have any credibility you can't, "Factcheck.org/Yahoo Finance."

In the words of blogger and pundit Ezra Klein:

I would like to give both sides relatively equal praise and blame. .... But so far in this campaign, you can look fair or you can be fair, but you can't be both.

I got another gift from a semi-anonymous admirer.

I say "semi-anonymous," because there's a name on the envelope...it's just not a name I recognize.

"Mack White" apparently thinks well enough of me to spend a few bucks ordering and sending me something off my wish list, and I don't even know I know him.

Must be one of those computer nicknames I know him under. Even more strangely, perhaps, he seems to be one of these guys.

Having friends who know photoshop is kinda disconcerting

Where the Canadlian Things Are

This is neat.  It's from a collection of original art pieces based upon Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are.

Some kind person who, apparently...

...wishes to remain anonymous, has gifted me with the MP3

Disco by Pet Shop Boys.

Addressing me as

Ben, he's my frien'

they identify themselves only as

Impending Birthdaytown

and add the note:

Disco ain't dead

Until and unless I hear otherwise, I have decided to believe that it's really from Heather Graham.

She adores  me, you know.

McKayla Maroney is feeling very Olympic in my favorite color

Kyla Ross, Alexandra Raisman, McKayla Maroney, Jordyn Wieber, and Gabrielle Douglas

The calming shores of Sklarbro Country

The special focus of the Sklarbro Country podcast is on sports with occasional "pull-backs" to cover the larger pop culture.  That this focus doesn't bother me--not known for my "sportiness"--ought to be enough for you to give them at least one listen right there.

One of the slogans of the show is "The calming shores of Sklarbro Country," and that's apt.  There are some podcasts which I very much enjoy but which I don't necessarily find calming (Pop My Culture, for instance)..

The show is hosted by identical twins Jason and Randy Sklar, who are also a comedy team.  Of the handfuls of comedy podcasts to which I listen, one of the two acts who probably make me laugh the most with their stand-up is the Sklar Brothers.

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The Sklar Brothers - Fascinating Twins in the News
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Their relationship makes for what appears to be an unpracticed rhythm between the two of them, which is great fun to watch and to listen to.  (Especially with their voices so alike--close your eyes and it could almost be two sides of the same brain).

This ease also translates when listening to their podcast (which of course, is basically the same as closing your eyes).  More of the show is written than it sounds; one of the reasons I know that is because about two and a half months ago they started putting out a smaller-sized "bonus" episode each week, to tide fans over between full-fledged installments.

Called Sklarbro County to differentiate from the "brother" show (tee-hee), this usually takes the stripped-down form of the Sklars and their writing collaborator Dan Van Kirk going over recent incidents from the news and seeing what they can make of them.

(Sometimes there are guests on this version of the podcast too--I think it has to do with which of their funny friends happen to be around.)

This necessarily leads to more improvised riffs, but the "deeper cut," longer-playing episodes sound almost as if they too are invented from whole cloth, which is indeed a compliment.

Recommended episodes: Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, Jason Mantzoukas, Marc Maron

PS:  No, I don't know what the "Henderson" thing means either.

PPS:  The other comedian whose stand-up act I've been enjoying as much as his podcast is Pete Holmes, whose You Made It Weird I wrote about in the last one of these.

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Pete Holmes - Privacy Is Uncool
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