Monkey Thoughts

This is all kinds of awesome:

PS- The best Muppet movie was The Great Muppet Caper, hands down.

I've decided that Emily enjoys depressing me with Myspace posts of dogs in need of adoption and fostering, all of which I feel really helpless in saving. But one of her posts today really struck me, and I felt the need to get it out there in case anyone browsing by can help.

Meet Sniffles:

The little dude was born without a nose and has some teeth missing. He's located in a Georgia shelter and the vet says he's happy and healthy. He's in need of a foster home (and I would assume a nice loving forever home).
There's something so freaking adorable about him, though he reminds me of the Predator without his mask (it's the under-bite). That just makes him all the more awesome to me.
I don't have any other info on him, but you can contact Heather via heatherkballance at yahoo dot com if there's any way you can help.

...that the sanity level in the human race gets lower and lower.

You know, I will be the first to admit that I don't "get" a lot of performance art. I suppose my brain functions on a more logic-geared blueprint than is required for such art. I'd like to say it's because I outgrew that stage in my life where I looked for deep meaning and hidden subtext in such things, but honestly I don't think I ever was in that stage. I blame it all on the drugs I didn't take. It's not that I don't think it's good to spark conversations or force people to look beyond the status quo; I'm all about that. Does smearing feces on a painting urge me "to move beyond the superficial material plane to a higher level of spiritual contemplation"? Uh...not really. In fact, it makes me think "Damn. If that's all it takes to get some sort of fame...why didn't I think of that?" It also makes me wonder both where the 'artist' procured said dung, and whether or not he wore gloves while handling it. (I really am no fun for these artists.)
So I'm not really surprised that the latest controversy-inducing artist to pop out on the scene decided to raise the bar in terms of "how can I possibly disgust people even more", as the elephant dung, while getting some people's knickers in a twist, was fleeting. And if you're going to be a fame whore, by all means BE a fame whore. That leads us to our latest story . Add one woman, donor sperm, a turkey baster, and herbal abortifacient into a large bowl. Mix well. Film the alleged abortions, splatter the results on some sheets, and call that mess "art". Garnish with a dose of "this is supposed to evoke a dialog on a woman's body and its roll" for added zest.
I answer this with a "um...do what now?" This doesn't anger me or make me scream about the morality of the project. I am just wondering why is it when someone in an art program or with a school backing them or the right sponsors gets her period all over a bed sheet and hangs it up, it is considered "art" but if a regular ol' person such as myself did that, no one would be pondering on the function of my uterus or engaging in a dialog about women's roles in life? Instead, people would think I was completely out of my mind. If a regular ol' person tied a up a dog and let it starve to death slowly, no one would be examining it for a statement against animal cruelty; instead, the person would be hauled off and charged.
It baffles me. It really baffles me. I'm not sure why there is a degree of allowance with these things when done under the pretense of art, or even if there should be. Like I said, maybe I'm not designed to understand such things. Perhaps I'm not hip enough to believe that every bodily function could pass as an artistic expression. I suppose on one hand, these artists were successful. They've disgusted people into speaking about their actions and managed to gain their 15 mins of fame, whether positive or negative. Let's have a dialog on that.
And then after that, let's discuss how unbelievably nasty it is to put your bodily fluids on display for the world to see. I mean, come on now.

(And is it me, or does 'let me bleed all over the place and film it" chick look an awful lot like Elizabeth Peña? It's eerie.)

Last November, I did not see any of the After Dark Horrorfest movies in the theatre. Partly because I forgot (hey, it was peak season at work) and partly because I had no desire to spend the money on a ticket. Thank god for Netflix though. I've placed all eight movies in my queue, which allows me to indulge without feeling bad for spending money should the movie inevitably suck.
On a related/unrelated note, I will take this moment to state that the prior Horrorfest woman was way more hot than the blonde woman that's on there now. And I am completely comfortable in my sexuality to be able to point that out.

First on the list was Borderland. No real reason why, it just seemed like a good one to start with. To state it simply, I am a little tired of the "people go to [fill in the blank] to indulge in [sex/drugs/drinking]" set up in movies. But hey, I guess it is a formula that works.
We get that same setup in Borderland because apparently there are not enough drunk women in the US that men can sex up, and Mexico seems to be the logical place to get some. We have our three men stereotypes for this sort of set up: the "innocent" guy who you really want to find happiness, the jackass who has no regard for anything but himself, and the anti-hero who just barely passes as likable with his aloof charm. One of them ends up getting jacked by some Satan-worshiping cult members who, oddly enough, are in need of a human sacrifice. (Talk about timing, huh?) This means in the movie world that the remaining two must search out their friend despite the risks.

(Just an fyi to folks I know- should any of you suddenly go missing in a foreign country and there's a definite air of weirdness going on, I just want you to know that I will deal with it from the safety of my own country. Not to be selfish or anything, but I don't want the crazies coming after me as well.)

Gore-wise, the movie did not disappoint (assuming you are into such things). I had to look away several times cause there were some things with eyeballs that I just cannot deal with. Despite how closely to formula this movie followed, it was a good creepy film. It freaked me out on so many levels. Plus, it was a good (albeit small) role for Sean Astin as a creepy cult dude.
3 out of 5 nanas.