Art Matters

Seems like Van Gogh didn't cut his ear off after all: Gauguin did it for him: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/was-truth-the-biggest-casualty-in-the-case-of-vincent-and-his-severed-ear-1678988.html. I've seen a butt-load of Van Goghs and Gauguins and all of the other mainly Frog impressionists via travelling exhibits from Paris, New York, and Chicago to museums here in Red State flyover country. Interesting stuff to look at. In fact, I saw a self portrait of Van Gogh (I think it was his first) in Fort Worth back in October and the thing is stunning to look at--I was transfixed by the it--Mrs. Taras thought I might have been on dope. When you stand right up to some of these things, the effect is a little bit different than looking at them in a magazine. I don't care for much in terms of modern stuff, though. I've seen a lot of the Jackson Pollock paint splatterings there in Houston and it doesn't make any sense to me. What the hell do I know, though? I went to bidness school.

Phallus Facts

Here's some stuff you may or may not know about your special friend http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=secrets-of-the-phallus including a thrilling discussion of "semen displacement theory." Whatever the case, it seems like the old joke about the "little head doing the thinking for the big head" may not be all that far off the mark.

Special Cinco de Mayo Edition

It's Cinco de Mayo, officially in recognition of the Battle of Puebla http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Puebla but really an excuse to drink and celebrate whatever it is to be of Mexican descent or enjoy Mexican culture. Mrs. Taras happens to fall into that category, so I know a little something about it. Salud!

Selective Memory

Bret Stephens at the WSJ on the amnesia currently gripping Washington in light of the awfulness of the Unites States being mean to Islamofascists and denying them fresh dates and virgins: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124087384453961191.html. Stephens is a guy I like to read at the Journal and he's had some fairly significant experience in the middle east and Washington.

Magic

Nice little piece from Wired on illusionists, particularly Penn and Teller: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-05/ff_neuroscienceofmagic?currentPage=all. I'm a sucker for magic acts. I recall an assembly back at Bane Elementary, a repository for ignorant redneck children, where we had a husband and wife magic act billed as "John and Sheree" that was introduced as having been on the Ed Sullivan Show. I always wondered if that was bullshit or not, but they were nevertheless entertaining as every magic act I've ever seen has been (can you imagine the horror of having seen the lights of Broadway and then to later find yourself performing tricks at a 10AM assembly in some prairie hell hole? I've thought of them often through the years, wondering if they decided to ditch the magic deal and wander back to Toledo or wherever to sell Buicks or something, but I digress mightily). That's the thing that illusionists (and pickpockets) live by: the inability of people to comprehend or process what they just witnessed.

Next time I'm in Vegas, I'm going to see Penn and Teller or some magic act just to sit slack jawed and stupid while enjoying a cocktail. That's an easy trick for me.

Borat Grows Up

This could be good: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/sacha-baron-cohen-the-men-in-his-life-1675107.html. About time: nothing coming out of Hollywood is really cutting it.

Special May Day Edition

Get in touch with your inner socialist today. Listen to some Pete Seger, eat some goddamn tofu, proclaim Paul Krugman as your love interest--you know, put those capitalist running dogs on the run. Meanwhile, here's a girl named, Natacha. Must be a commie, right? Probably doesn't matter. Bet she has a knife under her pillow, though, so watch out.