Happy Birthday Lulu!

Wonderful City

You Can't Beat This!

This video was the final strike on Rio de Janeiro's victory as the Olympic City - 2016. Produced by O2 under Fernando Meirelle's supervision, it explains why Rio is by far the most beautiful and delicious city in the world. And where I plan to move next.

WORLD CUP Russia 2 X USA 1

beyond frontiers

One month without posts, one month discovering the Andean world.

The photo album Uyuni holds the images I've captured along part of the journey.
I invite you to take a good look.

And here's a taste, just in case:






Taken in Uyuni, Provincia de Potosí, Bolivia.

Birthday Present from the Heavens!

The week's funniest video - a very peculiar interpretation of a cheesy classic. Total Eclipse of the Heart, literally!

30 and what comes along

Shall we dance?

Ask your Doctor What HAVIDOL can do for you!

Feeling a little (insert ANYTHING) lately?
Not to worry: modern pharmaceuticals can certainly solve anything
Warning: HAVIDOL is for the millions not suffering from ED, OCD, ADD, PTSD, PMDD, GAD, SAD, CFS, RLS, or BBT.

For more enlightment, www.havidol.com

This is one of many reasons the japanese are awesome:

Dialogues We Would Like to See- Pt.4

Lost 100th. Episode Tonight.

After a rough two-week draught we get to quench our thirst with a Faraday episode!

Here's the cake they had to celebrate this TV Milestone:

Here's a much fetished Lost Lego set:

And shirt #2 on my geek list:Shirt #1 is here.

Finally, I'd like to suggest another mystery to the 345 unanswered ones:Is Benjamin Linus, in fact, Tom Petty's estranged son?

To download the 100th episode, The Variable Lost.S05E14 , click here. You're welcome!

What were they thinking? - 10 Celebrity WTF Moments.

Sometimes we just want to be futile... Here's some pictures I've found online.

Angelina wears her dress backwards.
About as WTF as she ever gets these days.
WTF scale: 1

Courtney Love does, well, Courtney Love.
Not much of a shocker considering who it is.
WTF scale: 2

George Clooney goofing around.
It's sort of ridiculous, but it's Clooney, so still hot.
WTF scale: 3

P.Diddy meets Joaquin Phoenix 2.0
No surpises, seen as Joaquin is the WTF Celebrity of the decade, but the expression on Diddy's face is priceless.
WTF scale: 4

Marky Mark is Linda Hunt.
It's uncanny.
WTF scale: 5

Keith Harring paints Grace Jones for Timbalada
May be a stretch, after all, when it comes to Grace Jones and the eighties, this was as outrageous as Hannah Montana, still.
WTF scale: 6 because of this.

Kiefer Sutherland settles a bet.
May be photoshopped, but I'd rather think this is right up Kiefer's alley.
WTF scale: 7

Glenn Close breaks the world record for stuffing baby carrots in the mouth.
Don't know the context, don't need to.
WTF scale: 8

Frank Sinatra as a Indian Chief
Now that's some serious branding. Zeligean.
WTF scale: 9

Sean Connery as the King of Zardoz
Do I need to?
WTF scale: 10

5 Crazy Comedies from the 80's that Marked my Childhood.

My brother recently decided to revisit some of the movies we used to watch over and over again after school when we were kids. His selection prompted me to write this post. There was a small video store down the street, and our member card there was number 3 - which meant we spent hours and hours scrutinizing their every VHS tape, though in the rare occasions when Indiana Jones or Superman wasn't picked, we'd go home with one of these movies:

1-AIRPLANE, 1980
Still one of my favorites, this gem by comedy geniuses Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams was actually based on a 1957 film called Zero Hour!. Woody Allen is also a fan - he personally congratulated the directors.

Some things you may not know about it:
- David Letterman auditioned for the role of Ted Striker.
- In the Italian version (they dub everything there), the basketball player's "jive talk" was translated into Neapolitan dialect. In Germany, it was Bavarian. And in Brazil, they did this crazy attempt at 80's slang that makes the movie very funny to watch on TV. The Brazilian title was also awesome: "Fasten your seatbelts, the pilot's gone!"
- The "automatic pilot" blow up dummy was stored in Jerry Zucker's garage until it rot. His name was Otto.

Favorite scene
This movie is so full of hilarious moments it's hard to choose. The scene when all passengers line up to hit the hysterical woman, all of Striker's flashbacks, and the whole kalamazoo regarding fish vs. chicken are unforgettable. But there's this little scene that always made me lose my breath, and I'd have to rewind the tape every time. I think it's so funny because you really don't see it coming:
Is it still funny today?
I have just rolled over laughing when I found this scene on youtube, so yeah, it still rocks.

2- TOP SECRET, 1984
Another Zucker+Abrahams enterprise, this one parodied spy movies of the forties. At the time I used to like it better than Airplane, but maybe that's because of Val Kilmer. It was his first movie, by the way.


Some things you may not know about it:
- The black conductor calling for tickets in ostensible German is actually reciting the old Yiddish saying, "May you grow like an onion, with the head in the ground.
- This film actually came U$1M under budget, which is unseen in Hollywood, but no surprise considering Zucker's production style: fast, cheap and funny (Airplane was shot in 34 days).
- Directors decided to thank Omar Shariff for taking the British Agent role with a very expensive dinner, which he accepted. When the day came, he didn't show up and they found out he was already in England. When he was later asked why he didn't come, he replied, "It's a tradition in my culture not to 'refuse' any offer. Example: someone offers you a drink, you should accept it even though you won't drink it."

Favorite scene
Many scenes in this movie used to make us laugh (the one at the pizza place in particular), and I specially liked the european stereotyped characters. But the Swedish Bookshop scene was always one of our favorites, mostly because of the magnifying lens gag, but also because it is entirely played backwards so that the actors could speak "Swedish".
Is it still funny today?
Not as funny, but definitely still brings out the laughs, specially with the more "mature" jokes we didn't get at the time.

3-SPACEBALLS, 1987
Back in those days I used to really love Mel Brooks, and Springtime for Hitler is a masterpiece, regardless of how it was disheveled in its Broadway and subsequent recent filmic musical adatation The Producers. Spaceballs hit the peak of our natural 80's-child Star Wars obsession, and was one to be seen with our cousins who loved it to death.


Some things you may not know about it:
- The actual Millennium Falcon from Star Wars was a prop parked at the diner. George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic constructed the ring lightsabers for the film. He of course approved of the spoof, being a fan of Mel Brooks.
- President Skroob's name is an anagram of Mel Brooks, who plays him.
- John Candy's "Barf" costume was powered by a 30-pound battery that he wore on his back.

Favorite scene
I'd say this film is funnier for its quotes ("I bet she gives great helmet", "At last we meet again for the first time for the last time" and "May the schwartz be with you" ) than for the actual scenes, but I can't help giggling at Rick Moranis with his giant Vader helmet. This is one of his funniest moments:
Is it still funny today?
Our sense of humor has definitely evolved, but Brooks' dialogues stand the test of time.

4- LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, 1986
Here's Rick Moranis again! Though this film doesn't fit the satyrical-wacky style of the previous ones, it still fascinated us, Maybe it was the music, but I think it had more to do with the hilarious gigantic carnivore plant. Frank Oz directed this gem.


Some things you may not know about it:
- The movie is a musical adaptation of a 1960's Roger Corman B Classic. The role played by Bill Murray (masochistic dentist's patient) was given to Jack Nicholson on the original version - his debut on the screen.
- The instruments used by the sadistic dentist (played by Steve Martin) were re-used as props in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers, in a much creepier way.
- TWO cranes were used (one on top of another) to achieve the zoom pull at the end of "Somewhere that's Green". You can actually notice the jerk when the camera switches cranes.

Favorite scene
Well it is a musical, and both my brother and I still know all lyrics by heart (he happens to know the score as well). But the one scene that got rewound the most was (surprise) the dentist opening act, mostly due to the shot from within the mouth that so amazed our childish eyes:
Is it still funny today?
It is still entertaining, though not as funny. Audrey II still makes us laugh.

5-AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON, 1987
I used to have an 80's Celebrities Almanac, and it surprised me to see that so many "stars" at the time had taken part on this movie with the strangest title of all. To our amazement, our local video store carried a copy of it, which I promptly took home one day. It seemed to amuse my brother, who rented it again a few times. It's actually not a film in itself, but a collection of sketches, directed by many people, amongst them John Landis (The Blues Brothers) and Joe Dante (Gremlins).


Some things you may not know about it:
- The film was John Landis' follow up to "Kentucky Fried Movie", which he directed under production of the Zucker Bros. (Airplane was their follow-up). "Amazon Women" references that.
- Cast includes Arsenio Hall, Michelle Pfeiffer, Phil Hartman, Griffin Dunne, Rosana Arquette, Carrie Fisher and BB King.
- The "release date" for the movie keeps changing: "We now return to our feature film, the 195? classic, Amazon Women on the Moon...”.

Favorite scene
We did have a very specific favorite scene (since most jokes were either too American or too adult for us to get). It involved a guy who goes to buy condoms for his first date ever and happens to be the 1000th costumer at the drugstore, attracting cameras and press, when he wanted as much discretion as possible. It's really funny. Unfortunately, I couldn't find that scene on youtube, so I leave you with the trailer:
Is it still funny today?
As you can see from the trailer, the film is pretty dated. I don't think I'll watch it again.

BONUS: WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S, 1989
What can I say. Bernie dies on the first 30 minutes and goes on for 2 sequels.



My favorite scene wasn't online (it's when Bernie Lomax flies skiing off the boat), but the trailer gives a pretty good idea of the film's awesomeness:
Is it still funny today?
Just thinking of Bernie raising his hand every time someone said "Hi Bernie" still cracks me up.

Click here to see 5 surreal films you've probably never heard of.

Sunday Reading

Very interesting article by Chip Brown today on the New York Times Magazine. Tells the story of a Zen master who ended up in psychoanalysis, juxtaposing two entirely contradicting universes that share but a common goal. Stimulating nutrients for your brain on a sunday afternoon:

"How could he have spent his life cultivating unity of body and mind, oneness with all beings and the ability to apprehend reality directly, unmediated by thoughts or concepts or what Zen considered the arch delusion of “the self” — only to be haunted by the feeling that he lacked the most basic unity of all?"

to read the full article, click here.

The Poster is Out!

Here's the official poster for Brüno, the very most anticipated movie this year (I know I've said that before, but this time it's true, I swear).

If you haven't yet seen the trailer, take a sit and roll over:

I hold that Sacha Baron Cohen is right up there with Chaplin and Keaton. Will be at the premiere.

Notebook

This is for fans of post-modern surrealism. A short animation film by the amazing Evelien Lohbeck, a dutch artist and filmmaker.


Noteboek from Evelien Lohbeck on Vimeo.

To see more of her incredible work, check out Evelien's website.
To see more incredible surreal films, click here.

via Neatorama.

I love 30Rock

We also love 30rock, but what we love even more is the internet that brings us not only fresh episodes, but also true expressions of adoration by lovely fans everywhere:



Via Gawker.

Technorati Profile

DICKS EVERYWHERE! - Part 2

We must confess we were surprised by the number of hits our penis inspired post has received. We'd love to believe that has little to do with teenagers looking for age-verification-free porn and more to do with other ladies who, just like us, are fascinated with this bodily part we do not own. We know that's delusional.

And we must say that since posting that thing, penises continued to show up in different form everywhere we went online. In honor of that, we decided to post the second part of this phallic compilation.

Nature continues to do its part, manifesting its love of the phallus everywhere:
MooncockDickberg
Cock Island
Crock


More trees:

Shroomdongs Phallusiensis Arbolius.

And cocktus:


Mr. Potato Johnson?
I don't even know what these animals are - and I don't want to:


Some of these things must have been conceived with malice:

Something worth praying for
Inspiring work creativity:It may just be a matter of point of viewBut I'd still like to know the point of view of these peopleSex sells, after all

Ok, fine, you can say, it's all in the eye of the beholder... We can always blame advertising.

Not always subtle, but definitely true when it comes to beer. I love japan. and I'd love to eat some cock fish.
It's got such appeal you can use it to sell pomegranate juice.
It's almost ponographic.
Then again, it is.

And it's not just big advertisement, no, no. Check out the logo for a chinese restaurant:
Don't forget to cock your seat.
It's all over television.
So it had to end up in Star Trek.
It's not like William Shatner has ever fooled anyone.

Click for DICKS EVERYWHERE! - Part 1