Memories.... like the corners of my mind...

Just like every other Jewish kid in America, I spent most of my summers attending overnight camp. (Camp Saginaw... near Longwood Gardens.) It was just as pot-induced and hippie circled as every movie portrays. I think most of our parents sent us there to get the sexual education they were too embarrassed to give us. And of course there was the occasional sneak out to boys' camp, but it was all innocent fun. Sometimes we would force our parents to drive us out to camp during the school year because we missed it so much. Getting my drivers license was a huge deal because it meant that we could drive there ourselves and hang out without our parents.

I had turned sixteen and of course, my first road trip was to camp. After driving for an hour or so, we reached the gates only to find them locked and chained and covered by a banner reading "Camp Crucible." I knew that the owner rented out the camp to other groups in the off season. Defeated, we turned around and went home. After some significant Googling, we found out that Camp Crucible is an S&M camp for adults. We found pictures on the website, and our response was something along the lines of "Ew! I eat off those tables" and "No way I'm ever swimming in that pool again." Needless to say, I did get a sexual education at camp. It was horrifying and hilarious, but mainly, it was grotesque.

-Ali

The Aristocrats

Okay, guys. I’ve refrained from linking to schlock thus far in the semester. I have posted to the grotesque, but only those things which I find visually unappealing due to some deformity. I don’t know if it was today’s discussion or what, but something makes me want to post this. So here it is.

WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC—SEXUAL AND GROSS NATURE

So here it is. Billed as “The Dirtiest Joke Ever Told,” the Aristocrats joke lives quietly as an inside joke amongst comedians for years. Everyone in the business knew it and many surprising people told it. Each time it is told, it is meant to be improvised. It is rumored that Chevy Chase would have parties where people would have to tell the joke for a half an hour and not repeat any of the acts described in the setup.

There is a documentary about the joke, which some of these clips are taken from, that contains many comedians talking about/telling the joke. The documentary was made by Penn from Penn and Teller along with some other guy, and it was dedicated to Johnny Carson as it is said to have been his favourite joke. I haven’t seen the whole movie but I can imagine what it is like.

So, here it is, told by many comedians in many different ways. The punch line might not have as much oomph as when it was first penned (Aristocrats doesn’t hold a very strong connotation anymore) but I think the delivery still holds up pretty well. I don’t know if you’ll find it hilarious, disgusting, or just plain sick (maybe a combination of the above), but it was only a matter of time before it somehow came up. I just kind of wish it weren’t me bringing it up. Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw10xa_xtNg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HW4mPZmKPM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyKGHVA6rb0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyTPWsBEPlw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Z9cx1MG8w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_L3dhFgark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKGuh44_LBc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzYRIVjAxiE

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3490041490282521798#docid=-8414388242696145873

-Colby

M for Murder

Some of histories more famous murders. Its scary how many of these cases have become movies. It kinda demonstrates how much as we are oppsessesd

-Christian

Schizophrenic Artist / Schizophrenic

These videos are about mental illness. One depicts the work of a schizophrenic artist, the other, a schizophrenic. We as a society have benefitted greatly from those whose work has been fueled or inspired by their mental illness - artists are the first to come to mind, just to name a few- Gogol, Sylvia Plath, Kurt Cobain - people we look up to and are inspired by. It can be easy sometimes to think of mental illness as a wonderful window onto another world where taxes, time and boredom don't exist. But reality can be a fragile thing, no mental disease I think illustrates this fact more than schizophrenia. It would be nice to romanticize mental illness and think of it as a vacation one can take and return from at will, but it isn't. The first video is pretty breath taking in my opinion, but the second is a sobering scene.

~Al

The Divine John Waters

I just saw John Waters speak at Bryn Mawr College over the weekend, an experience that kicked off a John Water's research spree by me. He talked about a variety of gross things that gave me enough material to start a grotesque forms website. His tip for terrorizing your neighbors was priceless. He said that you should give yourself a tapeworm, cultivate it for a while so it gets nice and long, then coax it out of your mouth with a glass of rotten milk on your neighbor's front porch right when they come out. Good lord. Seeing him at least reminded me of when I saw Pink Flamingos and THIS SCENE where Divine eats dog shit. 

Heres ANOTHER SCENE which is just funny. 

~Al

Moments in America: In Screenshot pixelation

More of his stuff can be found here. They are by John Haddock

http://whitelead.com/jrh/screenshots/

Sandow Berk

This is the Life and Fall of Los Angeles
A series of five landscape paintings based on Thomas Cole's series "The Course of Empire".
The series follows the course of Western Civilization as epitomized by the City of Los Angeles, from prehistoric times to the present day, to an imagined future. The setting for each scene is the same view of the L.A. basin and the Hollywood Hills

He also has a piece called Death in a America which is 10 paintings of the leading causes of death in America

http://www.sandowbirk.com/paintings/death-in-america/

Anono-Chat

As you might of as seen from the cable news stations trying to remain relevant with pop culture, Chatroulette has become popular. It's amazing what we'll do for human connections as its the same as walking up to a stranger on the street and trying to strike up a conversation for them, but we rely on a computer to do it for us now, and when it does set us up, we do the weirdest things to hurt people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qBFNaA7u1E&feature=player_embedded

or entertain them.

No words, just pictures

I don't know where these are from but I found them on the internet and thought they fit the 4am mood.


edit: I found the reference. It's from the Project Gutenberg Ebook of the North American Indian

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19449/19449-h/19449-h.html

There are more pictures inside.

World Water Day

Last Monday was World Water Day. Many Third World Countries live in conditions like this:


Its a boy swimming in Manila Bay, in the Philippines.

Even though its a bit late, be conscious of your water use because here are some facts:

1. Water problems affect half of humanity:

   • Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
   • Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day.
   • More than 660 million people without sanitation live on less than $2 a day, and more than 385 million on less than $1 a day.
   • Access to piped water into the household averages about 85% for the wealthiest 20% of the population, compared with 25% for the poorest 20%.
   • 1.8 billion people who have access to a water source within 1 kilometre, but not in their house or yard, consume around 20 litres per day. In the United Kingdom the average person uses more than 50 litres of water a day flushing toilets (where average daily water usage is about 150 liters a day. The highest average water use in the world is in the US, at 600 liters day.)
   • Some 1.8 million child deaths each year as a result of diarrhea
     
   • The loss of 443 million school days each year from water-related illness.
   • Close to half of all people in developing countries suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits.
   • Millions of women spending several hours a day collecting water.
   • To these human costs can be added the massive economic waste associated with the water and sanitation deficit.… The costs associated with health spending, productivity losses and labour diversions … are greatest in some of the poorest countries. Sub-Saharan Africa loses about 5% of GDP, or some $28.4 billion annually, a figure that exceeds total aid flows and debt relief to the region in 2003

So next time when you're in the bathroom, just be aware.

Bacon? Bacon.

I like bacon as much as the next person but America has a really grotesque obsession with the food and its pretty disgusting to see what they'll do with it and how they consume it. Just looking at it makes me feel a bit weird. It's odd how such a common normal looking food item could be made into something so terrible.

Poor piggy.

Against your own interests

Since Health care reform passed last week there have been a lot of crazy people getting a lot more angrier than usual in the form of protest... for getting health care.

They've been threatening President Barack Obama's life over this. The worst part is that a recent New York Times article reports that they also some of the most impoverished people in the country as well. The people who are most likely going to benefit from this. The article discusses how they're unemployed and how that misdirected frustration is leading to their anger at Obama. There are many things to be upset about over this presidency, but it's ugly how violent these people may become soon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/us/politics/28teaparty.html?pagewanted=1

HeLa Cells

Ok so I just learned about the coolest thing the other day. It’s been in the news a lot lately so maybe some of you have heard about it. They are HeLa cells. Ok, so there was this African-American woman named Henrietta Lacks who went to John Hopkins in 1951 because she had cervical cancer. She died soon after, but while she was there, the doctor took some cells from her tumor, without her knowledge or permission, cause that is what people did those days. Anyways these cells, for some reason, don’t die, so they’ve been replicated and used in so many scientific tests and discoveries it’s ridiculous. Cells from this woman helped develop the polio vaccine. They went into space. They’ve been used for research in gene mapping, cloning, and in vitro fertilization. These cells are still around. You can buy them online. Anyways there’s this great video about it you should be able to watch here
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6320043n&tag=morephotovideo

It was on CBS Sunday morning, one of my favorite shows. Anyways, they talk to Henrietta’s family, who have never been compensated or anything. In fact, one of her sons had bypass surgery, and doesn’t have health care, and now is in tons of debt.
There is also a new book out about it. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. There’s an interview with the author of the book at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Henrietta-Lacks-Immortal-Cells.html

Anyways I just think it’s a really fascinating story.

Body Parts as Art

I believe we saw some of these images in the Mutter museum, but I just wanted to look at them a little closer. The “Artist” is Frederik Ruysch who was a Dutch anatomist and botanist in the 17oos. Yes, these are drawings of actual dioramas made from real fetal skeletons and an assortment of other body parts. Pretty crazy if you ask me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki:Bad_image_list

A list of some of the worst pics on wikipedia

-Christian

Placenta, the other white meat...

I read this article in TIME magazine a while back about how mothers are utilizing the medicinal benefits of placenta to fight postpartum depression. Apparently, there is a woman who comes to your house, cooks it and dehydrates it into pill form. I found the article here. Other recipes I found included placenta lasagna, placenta power shakes and placenta polenta (I made that last one up for comedic effect). You can also eat it raw or dried. Apparently, it also helps to soothe menopausal symptoms. Here is a video about eating placenta... I how the man rolls his "r"s.

I also found a link to artists who make placenta prints. That is, they take a fresh placenta and stamp it onto a page to form patterns and designs. My favorite link is here.

Ali

Wesley Anderegg

Hey all, another one of my favorite artists. Wesley Anderegg makes some amazing ceramic sculptures that are simultaneously funny and gross. Grotesque to me. I held some of his pieces in my hands, including some sweet salt and pepper shakers that were hammering nails into their heads. You guys should really check it out.

Disclaimer: His old stuff is way cooler than the new. See you in class soon.

http://www.wesleyanderegg.com/

-Colby

Just memento mori

For those of you unfamiliar with Victorian mourning jewelry and photography I thought I would post some examples of both.

These are examples of post-mortem photography popular in the Victorian era when the deceased were often posed with their living counterparts, or propped up as if to appear still alive.




Memorial jewelry is best known to contain locks of the deceased hair, sometimes in sculptural forms to be worn or displayed as constant reminders of those lost.

Memento Mori and Loren Schwerd

Remember we are dying.

Basing her fiber sculptures on the mourning jewelry of the Victorian era and earlier Loren Schwerd uses human and synthetic hair scavenged from a flooded New Orleans beauty shop to recreate the skeletons of the homes in the area.

Sabine Pigalle

Sabine Pigalle often tends to organize her photographs in pairs of comparison, whether it is through placing two photographs side by side in exhibition or by placing two figures or two objects together or in opposition within one photograph. Of particular interest would be her two volumes of recipes: Toxi Food and Festins Libertins.

The blog is being slow.

Not really grotesque, just think that it's a video that everybody must see.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Capybara_Ueno_Zoo_2009.ogv

-Colby

Woody Allen

So I’ve been watching a bunch of Woody Allen movies lately, and every one I see I feel like I could talk about for this class, because they are often disturbing or bizarre at parts. However, I’m going to go with one released in 1972: “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask." If you haven’t seen it, it consists of series of short, unrelated segments each supposedly answering a question about sex, such as “Do aphrodisiacs work?” or “What is sodomy?” It was apparently inspired by a book by the same name written by a physician, David Rueben. The book was one of the first sex manuals, and, published in 1969, became a No. 1 bestseller in 51 countries. Rueben has since revised the book, saying he’s had to change 96% of his original information. There is an interesting article about this at http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9902/11/sex/

Anyways back to the movie, which was ridiculous, taboo, and sometimes struck me as outright offensive. Here are some key moments.

Giant attacking breast, from “Are the Findings of Doctors and Clinics Who Do Sexual Research and Experiments Accurate?”

Man/animal love. This is from the segment “What is Sodomy.” This section makes me wildly uncomfortable.

That’s Woody Allen dressed up as a sperm, from “What happens during ejaculation.”

Anyways if you haven’t seen it I encourage it. Let me know what you think.