It took a while for a worthy follow-up to the cultural mash-up genius of the Bert n’ Ernie and M.O.P. combo, but we have finally found it. Take a basement-level evangelical meeting, throw an old-school, warhouse raver track (circa 1992) under it, and watch how they line up. Eat your heart out, Dark Side and Dororthy.
Updated Info: From Idolator’s Michaelangelo Matos:Â “…this brief video places two latter-day drum & bass favorites (Konflict’s “Messiah” segueing into Bad Company’s “The Nine”)”
Maybe McCain DOES get the Internet: The Los Angeles Times blog Webscout is reporting that on the site Digg “in the last 30 days, at least 28 stories critical of GOP Sen. John McCain have been mysteriously “buried”— meaning enough Digg users have voted against a story that the submission may no longer appear on the site’s high-traffic front page.” Digg, like Wikipedia, has an open, user-controlled interface, so it has always been susceptible to certain types of fraud. Like Academia, Technologica (I just made that up…backpat) is left-leaning, so two things jump out: 1) whether McCain’s camp is behind this or not, the mere suggestion is enough to pin it on him in most minds and 2) it probably won’t disseminate much to the people who have no clue what Digg is, which is where this news could really change some minds.
Riding the Partisan Pendulum: With the Obama VP pick still a giant mystery to pretty much everyone, the Washington Post discusses the ramifciation of Sen. Chuck Hagel as the pick du jour. Fellow PnP’er Tricia Romano was quick to point out the plethora of political double negatives right now. Obama entertaining a Republican as his VP choice, McCain talking Lieberman (a 15 to 1 shot according to oddsmakers), and a host of Republicans defecting to a Democrat (Obama) because their current Republican (McCain) used to ask too much like a Democrat. Huh?
The Sino-Facade: The jaw-droppingness of the Beijing games opening ceremony is a horse long dead. As my wife put it, China was basically throwing out a beautifully disguised eff you to the world, all the while saying “you should be very, very afraid of us.” But the first week has shown its fair share of controversy, from the (under)age of its female gymnasts, to CGI being used in the televised firework footprints, to a lip-syncing little girl. What has faded more quickly than a Santa Monica morning fog, however, is the dicussion of pollution as cyclists pedal their way through the city, or even its effect on the US, for that matter. Or, as 200 million Chinese citizens living in poverty might be wondering, “why spend $40 billion on the games and nothing on us?”
Photography as a Weapon: The NY Times blog section has an interesting post by documentary filmmaker Errol Morris on how photography can be used as a weapon without any of the Photoshopping that has pretty much destroyed personal photography as evidence in courtroom’s these days. (thanks to BoingBoing for the tip) The man behind the Oscar-winning “The Fog of War” and “Standard Operating Procedure,” an upcoming doc on Abu Gharib, of course discusses the topic in the context of political propaganda, circa Colin Powell’s trip to the UN with “proof” of WMD in Iraq.
The OTHER Dirty South: MyWay is reporting that Russia halted aggression against Georgia, declaring that “the aggressor has been punished,” tongue firmly planted in vodka-stained cheek, I’m sure. No sooner had they delcared a French-brokered truce before they started sinking ships and rolling more tanks around, though. The cease-cease-fire was ignited by looting on both sides, according to the AFP. Once this whole mess ends, McCain figures out how to pronounce the Georgian president’s name, and Obama figures out how to act presidential, it may be trouble for…Ukraine?
There’s been much hoopla over whether or not the female Chinese gymnasts —who won the gold medal in the team competition last night—are of age.
Writes NBC News: “Yang Yilin, a medal contender in the all-around and uneven bars, was born Aug. 26, 1993, according to the 2004, 2005 and 2006 registration lists previously posted on the Web site of the General Administration of Sport of China. That would make Yang only 15 later this month. Gymnasts have to be 16 during the Olympic year to be eligible for the games.”
Two other gymnasts on the team might be too young to compete: Yang Yili and He Kexin, both medal contenders.
The LA Times quotes the Chinese coach, claiming that at 13 He Kexin was ready to compete in an event in 2007 where the age limit could only be between 13 and 15 years of age.
Though many will cry “uncle” over China’s alleged unfair advantage, the truth is that the Chinese team’s routines are so much harder, they started out two points ahead before executing a single flip.
The rumors have caused outspoken U.S. coach, Bela Karolyi, to unleash a series of humorous invectives against the Chinese team. He called the teeny tiny gymnasts, “half people,” and said, “”These people think we are stupid.” He pointed out that trusting the passport information coming from an authoritarian government is laughable, as they can change whatever they want to fit their needs.
Though Karolyi’s method of objection isn’t exactly elegant, his point is correct. Pitting lean, young, fit 13 and 14 year-olds, who are up to 30 pounds lighter than their 17-year old battle-scarred competitors is not fair, and gives them a distinct advantage—one, that he argues, they don’t even need to use because they have a fair number of of-age competitors who could cream the U.S.. Then, there is the psychological advantage. The younger you are the less self-doubt creeps in; the less you “psych” yourself out. This is a huge factor in gymnastics. Physically, these gymnasts have done these routines and practiced these repetitions so many times they could have done them in their sleep. It’s their minds that get in the way.
