...Now, thanks to the fine folks at Astrobase Go!, we present you with that selfsame trailer...
Either way, rejoice in the look at things to come, and be sure to have those eyes glued to the set when the new season hits the tube.
"...The first question came from a member of the audience who asked that, after The Invisibles (which saw the world ending then), what Morrison thought would happen in the year 2012.
"Beats me, who knows, maybe nothing," Morrison said. "But things are speeding up, information doubles exponentially toward this moment but the world's never ended yet, it may not end then. There's a lot of weird interesting things happening in 2012, planetary alignment. You might wake up one morning thinking you're on an acid trip that never ends. So if something happens I'll be there waiting with open arms!""
...One audience member asked about the effect of psychadelic drugs on Morrison's writing. "They were very involved in The Invisibles." Morrison said that for years, he was completely straight edge but around the time he turned 30, he decided to do all the things he'd never done before, including transvestitism and "a lot of psychedelic drugs." He explained that the principle cast of The Invisibles were essentially five characters each based on elements of his own personality.
A fan then asked about how Morrison's experience in Katmandu--which famously informed a great deal of The Invisibles--has impacted the rest of his writing. "The Katmandu thing was really weird because I had taken a little bit of hash, but it was such a small bit and the experience I had was so profound and nothing like that has ever happened again." He explained that part of the idea of taking so many drugs in the '90s was trying to replicate that experience. "I tried all kinds of things to se if it was possible, and nothing took me to that place. It was something quite unusual and different and I was never able to get back there again."
"Amid the hustle and bustle of downtown Los Angeles, there exists another world, an underground world of illicit trade in—not drugs or sex—but bacon-wrapped hot dogs. Street vendors may sell you an illegal bacon dog, but hardly anyone will talk about it, for fear of being hassled, shut down or worse. Our camera caught it on tape. One minute bacon dogs are sold in plain view, the next minute cops have confiscated carts, and ordered the dogs dumped into the trash.
Elizabeth Palacios is one of the few vendors willing to speak publicly. “Doing bacon is illegal,” she explains. Problem is customers love bacon, and Palacios says she loses business if she doesn’t give them the bacon they demand. “Bacon is a potentially hazardous food,” says Terrence Powell of the LA County Health Department. Continue selling bacon dogs without county-approved equipment and you risk fines and jail time.
Palacios knows all about that. She spent 45 days in the slammer for selling bacon dogs, and with the lost time from work, fines, and attorney’s fees, she fears she might lose the house that bacon dogs helped buy. She must provide for her family, but remains trapped between government regulations and consumer demand. Customers don’t care about safety codes, says Palacios. “They just want the bacon.”
In "Food Fight: Battle of the Bacon Dogs," reason.tv host Drew Carey takes a long look at the human cost of trying to prohibit trade in oh-so-tasty treats."
"Early spring brings a new academic year to Japan and, with all the stresses of graduations and getting used to a new bunch of kids, it can often mean teachers act in ways they wouldn't normally do, frequently with carnal consequences, according to Shukan Taishu..."
"...And during the debate over the idea of introducing a cap on foreign investment in Japan’s major airports, the governor of Chiba Prefecture, where Japan’s main international airport is located, made these remarks:“Restrictions on foreign investment are necessary to ensure Japanese and Chiba citizen’s security. It would be a great problem if foreign investors in airport companies made decisions that would harm the interests of both Japan and Chiba Prefecture, if not as bad as terrorism.”
It’s interesting how terrorism comes up when foreigners are mentioned. Of course, xenophobia is not only a sticking point for those who would like to invest in Japan. The controversial practice of forcing foreigners who come to Japan to submit fingerprints was reintroduced last October with the new policy of taking fingerprints and photographs of all foreigners when they enter Japan, even those who actually live here. The justification for this heavy-handed measure is that it will prevent terrorists from entering the country and reduce the crime rate.
So, here we find ourselves in 21st century Japan, and foreigners are still stereotyped as either being rapacious businessmen, terrorists, or just out and out criminals. It goes without saying that, in the end, Japan is the country that will be hurt by its own discriminatory policies. Even so, I don’t foresee any change in the status quo. I mean, we are talking about a country that has designated the creation of humanoid robots as a main priority in order to stave off the need for immigrant workers..."
"...Letters are going out to unsuspecting bar and club owners at this very moment, informing them that bottle service violates Boston's existing ban on serving more than 2 drinks at a time to a customer.
The hilariously dismissive money quote from Boston Licensing Board Chairman Daniel Pokaski:“We’re not New York and we’re not South Beach,” he said. “The city of Boston has a lot more to offer than just getting people inebriated. If all they can offer their clientele is just swilling down alcohol, then perhaps they shouldn’t be in the business.”
"Rep. Russell Pearce, the excitable Arizona legislator who called McCain's immigration bill "treasonous," has a new idea:Arizona public schools would be barred from any teachings considered counter to democracy or Western civilization under a proposal endorsed Wednesday by a legislative panel.
Additionally, the measure would prohibit students of the state's universities and community colleges from forming groups based in whole or part on the race of their members, such as the Black Business Students Association at Arizona State University or Native Americans United at Northern Arizona University. Those groups would be forbidden from operating on campus.
...Which values count as American, you ask? Let's consult Rep. John Kavanaugh:"This bill basically says, 'You're here. Adopt American values,' " said Kavanagh, a Fountain Hills Republican. "If you want a different culture, then fine, go back to that culture."
Well, that clears things up..."
"...I’m afraid I have some bad news for you: You walk wrong.
Look, it’s not your fault. It’s your shoes. Shoes are bad. I don’t just mean stiletto heels, or cowboy boots, or tottering espadrilles, or any of the other fairly obvious foot-torture devices into which we wincingly jam our feet. I mean all shoes. Shoes hurt your feet. They change how you walk. In fact, your feet—your poor, tender, abused, ignored, maligned, misunderstood feet—are getting trounced in a war that’s been raging for roughly a thousand years: the battle of shoes versus feet.
Last year, researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, published a study titled “Shod Versus Unshod: The Emergence of Forefoot Pathology in Modern Humans?” in the podiatry journal The Foot. The study examined 180 modern humans from three different population groups (Sotho, Zulu, and European), comparing their feet to one another’s, as well as to the feet of 2,000-year-old skeletons. The researchers concluded that, prior to the invention of shoes, people had healthier feet. Among the modern subjects, the Zulu population, which often goes barefoot, had the healthiest feet while the Europeans—i.e., the habitual shoe-wearers—had the unhealthiest.
...Okay, so shoes can be less than comfortable. If you’ve ever suffered through a wedding in four-inch heels or patent-leather dress shoes, you’ve probably figured this out. But does that really mean we don’t walk correctly? (Yes.) I mean, don’t we instinctively know how to walk? (Yes, sort of.) Isn’t walking totally natural? Yes—but shoes aren’t.
“Natural gait is biomechanically impossible for any shoe-wearing person,” wrote Dr. William A. Rossi in a 1999 article in Podiatry Management. “It took 4 million years to develop our unique human foot and our consequent distinctive form of gait, a remarkable feat of bioengineering. Yet, in only a few thousand years, and with one carelessly designed instrument, our shoes, we have warped the pure anatomical form of human gait, obstructing its engineering efficiency, afflicting it with strains and stresses and denying it its natural grace of form and ease of movement head to foot.” In other words: Feet good. Shoes bad..."
"If you are a foreigner in Japan, you may want to take a good look at the officer the next time you are asked to show your ID, especially if at your own home. I just caught this story at a online blog community called Expats Japan... the poster tells of a suspicious cop who came to her home and asked for personal information. She later called the local police and sure enough, they knew of no such information collecting activities being performed by their own officers. They offered the following advice:1) the police department usually sends officers out in pairs, not alone, to someone’s door
2) if the police want to collect personal info, they will tell you explicitly what it’s for (and this would be a very rare case). if language is an issue, they would encourage you to call a japanese speaking friend or would just leave and return later with an (insert your language here) speaker
3) police officers will always show clear IDs, and you can copy down their ID numbers for your records
4) police officers who come to your door will always be wearing large badges, also with ID numbers
5) and of course the usual….always keep your door locked, hide your valuables, don’t answer the door to anyone you don't know..."
Black female coworker: Oooh, honey, I love me some fags. Fags is the best girlfriends.
White queer coworker: That's 'cause we all want to be black women!
White female coworker: Can the rest of us get workplace diversity hours for listening to this shit?
Columbus, Ohio
Overheard by: Giggling in my cube
"On Sunday, Tony Zirkle, a Republican candidate for Indiana’s 2nd District, took time out from saving the economy by shredding vintage Playboys (of course!) so he could attend a 119th birthday celebration for Adolf Hitler.He claims he was only there to talk about his experience as a state’s attorney in Indiana, his wacky theories about pornography, and to preach the gospel, so of course his being there had absolutely nothing to do with his segregation plan that would allow blacks to “have six states, so instead of having one half-black senator, well they would have 12.”"
"Coverage of homosexuality by Japan's notoriously squeaky clean, hyper-conservative public broadcaster NHK has so far been as hard to find as a G-spot, but the taxpayer-funded network is finally coming out of the closet, according to Shukan Shincho (4/24).
NHK's Education Channel program 'Haato wo Tsunago (Let's Connect Hearts)' will screen a program on homosexuality on April 28 and 29, continuing its trend since hitting the air two years ago of taking on controversial topics like child abuse, learning disabilities and hikikomori recluses."
