6 posts from January 2008

(AP) -- In the days after the Britney Spears soap opera rode a police-escorted gurney to its apex, celeb-mag sales spiked, traffic jammed gossip Web sites, tabloid TV ratings rose and paparazzi photo prices surged.

Shaving

For a growing number of people and businesses, Britney's saga is about money: Every time she sinks to new lows, cash flows. And these days, no one is above the fray.

When a custody dispute devolved into a three-hour standoff at Spears' home January 3, police officers and firefighters were pressed into duty. Television stations sent up helicopters, and cable news anchors reported the unfolding drama in real time. The Associated Press had two reporters working the story, with editors on both coasts updating it seven times throughout the night.

Spears is just one of many stars driving the growing multibillion-dollar celebrity news industry. But the Spears story in particular, with a new twist nearly every week, has become a very profitable sub-sector unto itself.

"Britney is the most bankable celebrity out there right now, and she has been for the past year," said Francois Navarre, founder of the paparazzi agency X17.

Spears became a can't-miss tabloid topic after filing for divorce from second husband Kevin Federline in November 2006. Since then, she's been in and out of rehab, shaved her head, revealed a bit too much above the hemline, was arrested after a traffic accident, and lost custody of her kids (and later her visitation rights).

Although it would be best for Britney and the media to separate themselves, it's not going happen -- there's too much money invested in it. Britney will continue to provide her mental decomposition, in return for showers of attention that she feeds off of -- meanwhile, the paparazzi will be close in tow, making money off of her deterioration. It's sad, really.

For those of you unfamiliar, Eliza Skinner is the comedian who created the recently popular internet video Amy at the Club.

Winged-cat

Winged cats is a term for sightings or descriptions of cats with wing-like appendages. There are three different causes of wing-like appendages. The most common is longhaired cats having matted fur. Felted mats of fur can form along the body and flanks if a longhaired cat is not properly groomed. Less commonly, mats can occur in shorthaired cats if molted fur adheres to growing fur over several seasons. When the cat runs, the mats flap up and down giving the impression of wings.

The second explanation of reports of winged cats is a skin condition called feline cutaneous asthenia or FCA, which is related to Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (elastic skin) in humans. In winged cats that are due to FCA, the wings only occur on the shoulders, haunches, or back. Winged cats that are due to FCA can often actively move their wings, suggesting the presence of neuromuscular tissue within the wings, which is not present within clumps of matted fur alone.

The third explanation is a form of conjoining or extra limbs. These non-functional or poorly functional extra limbs would be fur covered and might resemble wings, as in one winged cat case recently documented by Dr Karl Shuker, in which the wings were shown to be vestigial supernumerary limbs.

There are more than 138 reported sightings of animals claimed to be winged cats, though some of these are clearly nothing more than individuals with clumps of matted fur. There are 28 documented cases (with physical evidence) and at least 20 photographs and one video. There is at least one stuffed winged cat, but this may be a nineteenth century fake or "grift". An undated taxidermy specimen in poor condition can be found in a museum in the Niagara Valley. It has bony structures near its shoulder blades covered with flaps of skin. These might be extra limbs.

Because these "wings" or matted fur can be moved, cats can sometimes use their appendages the way a flying squirrel uses theirs and glide from great heights.

Wings1

"A few years before I lived in the woods there was what was called a 'winged cat' in one of the farm-houses in Lincoln nearest the pond, Mr. Gillian Baker's. When I called to see her in June, 1842, she was gone a-hunting in the woods, as was her wont ... but her mistress told me that she came into the neighbourhood a little more than a year before, in April, and was finally taken into their house; that she was of a dark brownish-grey colour, with a white spot on her throat, and white feet, and had a large bushy tail like a fox; that in the winter the fur grew thick and flattened out along her sides, forming strips ten or twelve inches long by two and a half wide, and under her chin like a muff, the upper side loose, the under matted like felt, and in the spring these appendages dropped off. They gave me a pair of her 'wings,' which I keep still. There is no appearance of a membrane about them. Some thought it was part flying squirrel or some other wild animal, which is not impossible, for, according to naturalists, prolific hybrids have been produced by the union of the marten and the domestic cat. This would have been the right kind of cat for me to keep, if I had kept any; for why should not a poet's cat be winged as well as his horse?" - Henry David Thoreau

To make it perfectly clear, I have not yet personally endorsed any candidate yet for the 2008 presidential election. The only candidate that I feel speaks my views is Mike Gravel, but he is the absolute least popular contender for the Democratic nomination. Being a Democrat myself, I've been trying to figure out whom I'd rather have in office -- Barak or Hillary -- but haven't devoted myself to either yet. I find it exciting that the top two contenders for the nom represent minority demographics that many people believe will never hold office in the United States. I find it even more interesting that, although black men constantly portrayed by the media as gang members and uneducated lowlifes, Obama undoubtedly gets the better press over Clinton.

Why do people hate Hillary so much? I've been trying to wrap my brain around it for months now, and, despite her supposed flaws, I have to believe that the bad press is 90% due to the media and society's interpretations of  something, not purely policy.

In a recent speech, Obama mentioned something that I think might contribute a lot to the media's distrust of Hillary: "I know it is tempting — after another presidency by a man named George Bush — to simply turn back the clock, and to build a bridge back to the 20th century,"

But perhaps this is exactly it. It's no debate that G. W. is unpopular, and it's not much of a question of whether or not he would have a career in politics were it not for daddy. And now that Obama mentions it, Hillary is much in the same position. Although she had a career and aspirations separate from her husband's (in fact, that is how they met), I also have little question as to whether or not she would have become senator were she not first First Lady. Much like Bush, her popularity without a doubt hinges on someone else's career.

Would she have accomplished much without her marriage to provide her with such connections? Who knows. But the point is that she definitely, undoubtedly has a career today because of it.

Maybe the idea of the family dynasty is what is subconsciously playing into many Democrats' lack of support for Hillary. After all, seeing as how our current president is in office largely due to his father, it doesn't seem out-of-line to question someone's experience if a former president is legally related to them.

But Bush still got into office with not nearly as much bad press as Hillary. I don't think it's unfair to cite sexism as a contributed to Hillary's poor media image. Women who pursue high positions are often dismissed as bitchy and power-hungry, and you'd have to be kidding if you said the negative media surrounding Hillary wasn't making her out to be just that.

But there is opposition to this: Well, if the media is being blatantly sexist, where's the racism against Obama?

This is where my point comes in -- perhaps Hillary is more succeptible to being labeled as power-hungry because of the similarity between the Bush dynasty and the Clinton dynasty. Both let two terms pass before the family re-entered the presidential scene. It's also easy to call a woman power-hungry when she's running for office as the wife of a former very successful president.

Would I vote for Hillary? I have no idea. I'm merely trying to differentiate bad press from sexist press and still waiting for Obama to say something to make me believe he has the experience necessary for being a president. The fact is, I like neither Clinton nor Obama, and am greatly disheartened to learn that the other, safer looking hopefuls Kucinich and Edwards have both dropped out. My lack of certainty with either of the candidates has led me to even start considering those on the Republican bench -- McCain has some solid ideas, I hear.

Since Michigan fucked itself out of the primaries, I didn't vote, and now I suppose I resign for the rest of the public to make the decision for me. Hopefully I'll have waded through this all by election day.

This is going to now be a dump for things I find interesting, including offering my opinions on pop culture. As I consider myself somewhat of an avid feminist and will consider my commentary to largely be of this influence, this may or may not be appealing to those who have listed me in their neighborhoods.

This blog will offer serve for me posting interesting articles/videos I find online, including things of the "paranormal" or naturally obscure nature. Well, here's my first official entry:

Yesterday, after browsing the /x/ forum on 4chan as I often do before bedtime (typically a bad decision), I stumbled across a video of the Michigan Dogman. Being originally from Michigan, I'd heard of the Dogman before, but dismissed it as local legend. Apparently there is supposed "actual footage" from the 1970's attacking a passerby in a car. The animal at first appears to move similar to a gorilla, but a profile shot (and later an inside shot of the mouth as the creature attacks) show the animal to be more like a dog. The footage is poor quality, similar to the famous footage of Big Foot scurrying through the forest, meaning that absolutely nothing can be concluded for it, no matter what cynics and believers may offer. Ultimately it is up to you to decide whether or not this footage is legitimate.

The Michigan Dogman -- Footage/analysis from Gable Film