Sex Education

My daughter asked me to watch Sex Education and the Grandad-Napper™ in me was immediately dismissive (defensive?), also more entrenched when I found it was a Netflix production.

I'm looking squarely at you Tavistock & Portman

Anyway, you too might be familiar with negotiating with your progeny, so I accepted the challenge and watched the first series...

Most unexpectedly on the first episode, I had my first belly-laugh since the Luckdown™. 

I laughed my ass off, when a courgette was used as an educational prop, in so much as the ubiquitous meme asks us, 'tell me where on this courgette, the internet hurt you?'.

When my daughter asked me how it was going with Sex Education, I explained the belly laugh reaction, and she responded, I was making her cringe.

Even though we both knew it wasn't my suggestion....

I noticed a film technique, that I'd never previously seen in Sex Education.

The series is set primarily in a faux (?) US late-eighties, early 90s; high school location.

All the actors (most of whom are quite brilliant) have an English accent.

There are time and location-shifts. 

For example, when two friends occupy different decades in terms of their bicycle head-protection or another cheeky contrast was to have both actors SMS texting when the year is self evidently wrong.

Let's leave that there.

In filmic terms Sex Education is quite tastefully done, though not always agreeable.

I love the Time Lord aspect of it. It has been done before, but never on this granular level to my understanding.

There are some very special actors and I'm going to try and download the second series.

What do you think of Sex Education?

Bombshell - The Hedy Lamarr Story

I've been meaning to watch this for some time and it's a belter. Hedy comes from that wealthy Jewish-Austrian milieu that includes Wittgenstein and Popper (and Hitler if we excuse the wealth). She's a stunner and by the age of 19 had filmed the most erotic movie ever and married a wealthy Austrian industrialist. 

Bored with parochial Tyrolean mise-en-scene, she legs it to the USA with a reputation as a kind of teenage pornstar, and a stifling movie contract with Louis B Mayer that required a life of amphetamines and benzos to stay awake or get some sleep during 6-day-weeks of production.

Hedy is clearly no slouch when it comes to innovation and free thinking, but after some consideration of the documentary, and a fairly fierce conversation with my father who has some expertise on the topic, I have to concede that although she had a large hand in developing spectrum-hopping for guided missiles, torpedos and drones, it's likely her Italian collaborator George Antheil had a lot of input. It's also possible with her Austrian Jewish origins that she may have been a conduit for leaked secrets from Germany? 

Just a thought.

That said, Hedy also dated Howard Hughes who gave her free rein with all his designers and engineers for anything she wanted. So she must have been a brilliant mind.

Hedy was also an early adopter of plastic surgery and even provided suggestions for her surgeon on how to do it better. Sadly that story continued too long and by the end of your life her face was a mess (sic).

For me though the early Hedy isn't that attractive (though I wouldn't say no), but in 1969 she appeared on one of those vapid chat shows with creepy hosts. 

Despite the toe-curling dialogue she's a stunner even if there's a nip or a tuck here and there.

11:11

The most curious example, in my opinion above, is the rejection of my card for 5.55 at The Key & Anchor, three times yet I only used cash in the pub that night. The screengrabs were arbitrary, I looked up from time to time for no specific reason, and noted the numbers which came at me like a blizzard. It was quite a wild ride but also not without intense interest.

A post of mine was reported to Facebook and the automatic review process has taken offence to starving and partially clothed people as above. There was a chance to appeal but in the end, I've posted loads on Churchill so I let it go.

That's OK as it's their business platform. Facebook was OK a few years ago, but it's not an activist tool anymore, though it has worked well in the past.

This post, I hope will remain in the public domain to raise public awareness of MKULTRA, Palestine and institutionalised child abuse.

I still have more work to do on this post but this will do for the time being.

Update: It still goes on but less intensive.

Just so all are clear. I don't wait for the numbers to align.

I merely look at anything with the display of a number (clocks, computers etc) and the synchronicity is there. The camera on my phone is broken so I'm unable to take photos and am restricted to screenshots. 

Otherwise, there would be more.

Joe Atwill on Degenerate Alfred Kinsey, Aleister Crowley & The Frankfurt School

Joe Atwill demolishes more 20th century icons with an in depth analysis of the degenerate Alfred Kinsey, Aleister Crowley and the Jewish Frankfurt School.

The Difference Between Porn Sex & Real Sex?

An excellent instructive video that should be shared with as many young people as possible rather than allow them to take pornography art direction when in sexual congress. No mention of Japanese face sitting though.

I'm confident our Foreign Secretary (Dave) remembers these laws being passed. 

I certainly do and the time for sharing is well overdue. I mean, here we are again Dave, Israel and Institutionalised Child Sex Abuse?

A Question Of Sex?

I always prefer to use gender, but you know how the British are for these things, such as calling the restroom the 'toilet', when all that does for me is conjure up images of obstinate turds floating in the bowl. Yes, our American cousins are more refined than us on more occasions than we really care to examine.

Back to the post, as I've been struggling whether to open up a can of worms on planning and international planning that can never be fully resolved. As with most things in life, it's a case of the dynamic so putting it down in black and white often leads to intellectual obsolescence quite quickly. But a start must be made and I think a warm up post on gender equality might be a good way to begin the proceedings. It's probably just as contentious.

A long time ago I realised that all the most well known chefs are male and I couldn't figure out why something so intuitive and creative could be represented mostly by men rather than women. Is this because of men's inherent superiority or some perverse misrepresentation that when it comes to running a kitchen, women are best and then leave the fellas to the superior execution of Crème brûlée and blow torches in a restaurant?

I was just ordering some food here in Beijing and had a thought because a long time ago I had the good fortune to work in one of the best kitchens in Hollywood, Los Angeles while on vacation from the marketing degree I was doing. That place was stuffed with guys too.

 

So I just noticed at Bread Talk (where they do the awesome Crouching Tiger Hidden Bacon) that all the kitchen staff are guys.

 

And all the service staff are women. I've only just figured this out so maybe I'm just late to the game but it has nothing to do with culinary superiority, it doesn't take that much skill to learn a set list of bread products (good as they are)  but it does take something I observed in a kitchen of macho Mexicans. 

Brute strength is required to cook. I know this because lifting out a tray of chickens from a sizzling oven with boiling hot oil and juice takes not only strength but endurance, doing that and a hundred other demading tasks each and every day. Maybe the reason for men's dominance in the Kitchen and as celebrity chefs is more down to a strength advantage which makes me think that perhaps we're missing out on some tasty talent out there. What do you think? Am I off-on-one or does it make sense.

Or are men simply superior?

Which Names Get The Most Sex?

Via Andrea

John Lash - Planetary Tantra Part 1 & 2

One of the themes of Planetary Tantra that I really like is the revival of the beautiful, the sensory, the erotic and the playful fun. These are not qualities of the consumer capitalism classes and I hope it's an early indicator of where it's going.

Elite Sex Rituals

Jay is going out on a limb here and we owe him a debt of gratitude for whistle blowing a subject that could endanger his life. This is an explosive interview. I urge you to listen to this segment at the very least.

Rough Sex Over Time

Latest data release from OK Cupid. Always useful data mining on their blog.

The Surprising History of Sex and Love

Via Top Documentary Films

Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?

Update: Marina Abramovic has inspired Lady Gaga to explore performance art.

It Wasn't Massive

I thought this was going to be a teeth grinding documentary about a small penis but I was wrong. Its done in a manner that explores the gap between....OK...I'm kidding or rather parodying Art Wank as my friend Eaon blogged recently. Seriously though it's a candid journey on the subject, much of which is on the fly and touches on the awkward while avoiding being gratuitously exposed. Whoops there I go again. Tripple whammy if you were paying attention.

There's a point in the documentary where the owner of the big issue's Mum rhetorically asks if sex is in the mind or the body? Probably both, and probably either or at times. I would have made a great Q.C I think. 


Watch it. Watch it with your partner irrespective of whether you're a big cock or not. It's the issues around the topic that are most interesting and the film maker here nails it. Oops. One more sexual metaphor.

Yo Momma Gotta A Wanta?

Maslow's hierarchy of needs isn't it?

I remember a Dutch (and emotionally liberated) friend who traveled the world in business class as a consultant, and who shared with me the female business traveler top-tip of pocket rocket. Perhaps I've been a little slow getting to grips with toy culture but this post has prompted the Polish girl I'm staying with and her just arrived Czech friend on holiday to casually meander into the room and there's a buzzing sound being emitted with what I assume is gossip about features and benefits. (They said I could mention it in the blog post when I asked if it was what I think it was).

Welcome to my life.

I'm also delighted by the clever media buying underneath the ad. Props to HK magazine for running a thoroughly modern ad and of course Wanta for the naked communications strategy. For the male version of this theme check out the DIY fleshlight post.

Brilliant. Go Fuck Yourself.

JC Penney & Saatchi Saatchi

This is a beautiful ad. It feels more wholesome than prurient to me. I understand that Saatchi & Saatchi are saying this ad is nothing to do with them but they are nonetheless trying to take it down.

PS3 vs Wii

Via Alvin

Onslaught Turns Into An Avalanche?

Via Paul Isakson

Update: Russell has chipped into this discussion.

Lord Have Mercy