Monday, January 31, 2011

News Spotlight: Kim's Naked Rage



If you happened to miss "Kourtney and Kim Take New York" last night, congratulations. You're not a tv whore like the rest of us. If you did, then you witnessed Kim having a shitfit over her W photo shoot in which she posed butt ass naked and believed the magazine folks when they said she would not be exposed in the final product. She also apparently had an epiphany: if she doesn't take all her clothes off in front of a camera, no one can use the footage. You'd think she would have picked that one up a long time ago, but better late than never I guess.

From Business Insider: "Sex tape notwithstanding, Kim Kardashian is serious about nudity.

Kardashian's appearance in W magazine, both on the cover and in a photoshoot by Mark Seliger, caused a big buzz, leading to that issue tying for the second highest seller of 2010 for the artistic fashion magazine.

But the latest episode of Kourtney and Kim Take New York on E! showed what really happened during Kim's silver-body-paint only fashion shoot:

"I was naked but fully covered in silver paint," Kim told Kourtney during the episode. "This artist will put images of architecture and buildings and stuff on top of me so you will see my body shape and the outline but not actually my boobs or anything."

Then the photos arrived....

Kim broke down in tears over how much of her was in display. "I'm more naked here than I was in my Playboy," she cried.

"I'm so f*cking mad right now...She promised I would be covered with artwork....This is serious porn....You can see nipple."

"The whole concept was sold to me that nothing would be seen. I feel so taken advantage of. I've definitely learned my lesson. I'm never taking my clothes off again, even if it's for Vogue."

Later Kim came around. She apparently told Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS-FM radio show that she now "loved" the images."

Sunday, January 30, 2011

"Sex 101"



This week's OMGFactsSEX stats:

* Autassassinophilia: being sexually aroused by the risk of being killed.
* Beavers mate in the missionary position, which is unusual for non-human animals.
* In the 1800s, tampons were also used to stop the bleeding in bullet wounds.
* The name “Tampax” is a combination of the words “tampon” and “vaginal pack”.
* Only 17% of women planned their first sexual encounter.
* 25% of men planned their first sexual encounter.
* 72% of males over the age of 80 masturbate.
* Emetophilia: fetish for throwing up and being thrown up on.
* 10% of women admit that they have told lies in order to have sex.
* 34% of men admitted that they told lies to have sex.
* In 1989, 371,000 people reported injuries in the bedroom.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

And I Quote...

“A promiscuous person is a person who is getting more sex than you are.” --Victor Lownes

Some Random Weekend Video Fuckery



Yes, anyone can be a YouTube star these days. Make a catchy song about man parts and add some cartooning and you too can be a bonafide recording artist. God bless America!

Friday, January 28, 2011

"Sexpot of the Week" : Keri Hilson







Keri Hilson is R&B's most rising star right now. She's unique in that even though she is undoubtedly beautiful and sexy, she has a chill, B-girl quality about her. She rocks boyish outfits, big hoops, lots of gold chains, and similar fare. Not to say she doesn't push the sexy kitten envelope--she certainly shows skin from time to time (ie her new sexually over the top video in which she sells her R&B filled soul), but overall she has done a great job of being a cool sexy. She's been behind the music scene for years writing for other people and when her first album was released in 2009, her fanbase snowballed. Better yet, her new album debuted with higher than projected sales, no doubt prompted by her engaging Twitter marketing and banter. Her talent will be what keeps her around for a while, but being that we'll be seeing so much of her, it's a great thing she's easy on the eye.

News: Tracy Morgan's Sport of Choice



Another day, another comedian pissing off an entertainment company. This time it's Tracy Morgan. TNT is not too thrilled about Morgan's shout out to Sarah Palin as "masturbation material" last night. When are these entertainment people gonna learn? If you give a comedian a chance to say something on a live taping, you're probably gonna get a crass, funny joke.

From USA Today: "Did you hear the one about Sarah Palin vs. Tina Fey? Apparently, it was a joke that fell for flat for TNT, as 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan stopped by Inside the NBA to offer his opinion on the attractiveness of Palin against that of his boss, Fey, who repeatedly spoofed the former vice presidential candidate on Saturday Night Live.

Commentators Kenny Smith and Charles Barkely coaxed Morgan into choosing Palin or Fey, and the comedian made his choice while offering up a very, um, colorful reason for why Palin comes out on top. Check out the video to see the full exchange -- and announcer Ernie Johnson's awkward attempt at a segue.

TNT has since issued an apology for Morgan's comments, which sparked controversy on Twitter. "It's unfortunate Mr. Morgan showed a lack of judgment on our air with his inappropriate comments. We apologize for any embarrassment or offense it may have caused," a network spokesperson said."

Thursday, January 27, 2011

"Dirty Joke" : Lucky Day

A police officer was patrolling the highway when he sees a guy tied up to a tree, crying. The officer stops and approaches the guy. "What's going on here?", he asks. The guy sobs, "I was driving and picked up a hitchhiker. He pulled a gun on me, robbed me, took all my money, my clothes, my car and then tied me up." The cop studied the guy for a moment, and then pulled down his pants and whipped out his dick. "I guess this isn't your lucky day, pal!"

"Bad (Not Bad Ass) Tattoo" : Baby Cannibalism



As a modern woman, I fully understand that not all women are destined to grow up to be mommies. I will take it even further and say it is okay for a woman to not be fond of children at all. I mean, obnoxious baby hollers while you're trying to enjoy brunch is enough to encourage a tube tying. However, baby cannibalism is not the way to go. There are alternatives. And mental wards. Seek them out.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

"Sex in Art" Weekly Picks


Morgaine Faye


Ana Verana

To see more artwork, go to the "Sex in Art" website.

"The Hard Sell" : Taboo In Advertising



This is the second ad featured in "The Hard Sell" banned due to its imagery depicting the Twin Towers. The first one, an environmentally themed ad, was more blatantly shocking, showing the actual act of numerous planes crashing into the towers. This anti-smoking campaign ad (reportedly created by a New Zealand agency) is a little less aggressive, but was too "inappropriate" for the Chinese government to handle. No doubt, 9/11 and anything surrounding it is a sacred cow in our country, but it is interesting that China took such a strong stand on the ad. In terms of creativity and strongly driving a point home, the ad serves its purpose. And with all the attention this ad got online, the message definitely got out.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

"Vice Pioneers" : Tattoo


Cool as ice: Ötzi the Iceman and his 57 tattoos


Janis Joplin: beloved wrist tattoo


Mainstreaming: Miami Ink

Once one of the most unaccepted artforms around, tattooing is so mainstream at this point that it almost feels unfitting to include it as a taboo practice, let alone suitable for "Vice Pioneers." But the truth is, it is still a subculture that has its own notable members and rites of passage. And let's not get carried away with the acceptance plea. Plenty of people still engage in a more than occasional eye rolling when the topic of tattoos is brought up or a person covered in them shows up. Here's a look into its history:

From Wikipedia: "A tattoo is a marking made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons. Tattoos on humans are a type of decorative body modification, while tattoos on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding. The first written reference to the word, "tattoo" (or Samoan "Tatau") appears in the journal of Joseph Banks, the naturalist aboard Cook's ship "The Endeavour", in 1769: "I shall now mention the way they mark themselves indelibly, each of them is so marked by their humor or disposition".

Tattooing has been practiced for centuries worldwide. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, traditionally wore facial tattoos. Today one can find Berbers of Tamazgha (North Africa), Māori of New Zealand, Arabic people in East-Turkey and Atayal of Taiwan with facial tattoos. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesian peoples and among certain tribal groups in the Taiwan, Philippines, Borneo, Mentawai Islands, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, Cambodia, New Zealand and Micronesia. Despite some taboos surrounding tattooing, the art continues to be popular in many parts of the world.

Etymology
The OED gives the etymology of tattoo as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. From Polynesian tatau. In Tahitian, tatu." The word tatau was introduced as a loan word into English, the pronunciation being changed to conform to English phonology as "tattoo". Sailors on later voyages both introduced the word and reintroduced the concept of tattooing to Europe.

Tattoo enthusiasts may refer to tattoos as "Ink", "Tats", "Art", "Shign-Dings", "Pieces", or "Work"; and to the tattooists as "Artists". The latter usage is gaining greater support, with mainstream art galleries holding exhibitions of both conventional and custom tattoo designs. Beyond Skin, at the Museum of Croydon, is an example of this as it challenges the stereotypical view of tatoos and who has them. Copyrighted tattoo designs that are mass-produced and sent to tattoo artists are known as flash, a notable instance of industrial design. Flash sheets are prominently displayed in many tattoo parlors for the purpose of providing both inspiration and ready-made tattoo images to customers.

The Japanese word irezumi means "insertion of ink" and can mean tattoos using tebori, the traditional Japanese hand method, a Western-style machine, or for that matter, any method of tattooing using insertion of ink. The most common word used for traditional Japanese tattoo designs is Horimono. Japanese may use the word "tattoo" to mean non-Japanese styles of tattooing.

In Taiwan, facial tattoos of the Atayal tribe are named "Badasun"; they are used to demonstrate that an adult man can protect his homeland, and that an adult woman is qualified to weave cloth and perform housekeeping.

The anthropologist Ling Roth in 1900 described four methods of skin marking and suggested they be differentiated under the names of tatu, moko, cicatrix, and keloid.

History
Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice at least since around Neolithic times. Ötzi the Iceman, dating from the fourth to fifth millennium BC, was found in the Ötz valley in the Alps and had approximately 57 carbon tattoos consisting of simple dots and lines on his lower spine, behind his left knee, and on his right ankle. These tattoos were thought to be a form of healing because of their placement which resembles acupuncture.Other mummies bearing tattoos and dating from the end of the second millennium BC have been discovered, such as the Mummy of Amunet from Ancient Egypt and the mummies at Pazyryk on the Ukok Plateau.

Pre-Christian Germanic, Celtic and other central and northern European tribes were often heavily tattooed, according to surviving accounts. The Picts were famously tattooed (or scarified) with elaborate dark blue woad (or possibly copper for the blue tone) designs. Julius Caesar described these tattoos in Book V of his Gallic Wars (54 BC).
Tattooing in Japan is thought to go back to the Paleolithic era, some ten thousand years ago. Various other cultures have had their own tattoo traditions, ranging from rubbing cuts and other wounds with ashes, to hand-pricking the skin to insert dyes.

Tattooing in the Western world today has its origins in Polynesia, and in the discovery of tatau by eighteenth century explorers. The Polynesian practice became popular among European sailors, before spreading to Western societies generally.

Prevalence
Tattoos have experienced a resurgence in popularity in many parts of the world, particularly in North and South America, Japan, and Europe. The growth in tattoo culture has seen an influx of new artists into the industry, many of whom have technical and fine arts training. Coupled with advancements in tattoo pigments and the ongoing refinement of the equipment used for tattooing, this has led to an improvement in the quality of tattoos being produced.

Modern materials and techniques allow for a range of previously impossible designs and colors within tattoo art

During the first decade of the 21st century, the presence of tattoos became evident within pop culture, inspiring television shows such as A&E's Inked and TLC's Miami Ink and LA Ink. The decoration of blues singer Janis Joplin with a wristlet and a small heart on her left breast, by the San Francisco tattoo artist Lyle Tuttle, has been called a seminal moment in the popular acceptance of tattoos as art. Formal interest in the art of the tattoo has become prominent in the 1990s through the beginning of the 21st century. Contemporary art exhibitions and visual art institutions have featured tattoos as art through such means as displaying tattoo flash, examining the works of tattoo artists, or otherwise incorporating examples of body art into mainstream exhibits. One such 2009 Chicago exhibition Freaks & Flash featured both examples of historic body art as well as the tattoo artists who produced it.

In many traditional cultures tattooing has also enjoyed a resurgence, partially in deference to cultural heritage. Historically, a decline in traditional tribal tattooing in Europe occurred with the spread of Christianity. However, some Christian groups, such as the Knights of St. John of Malta, sported tattoos to show their allegiance. A decline often occurred in other cultures following European efforts to convert aboriginal and indigenous people to Western religious and cultural practices that held tattooing to be a "pagan" or "heathen" activity. Within some traditional indigenous cultures, tattooing takes place within the context of a rite of passage between adolescence and adulthood.

Many studies have been done of the tattooed population and society's view of tattoos. In June 2006 the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology published the results of a telephone survey which took place in 2004. It found that 36% of Americans ages 18–29, 24% of those 30-40 and 15% of those 41-51 had a tattoo. In September 2006, the Pew Research Center conducted a telephone survey which found that 36% of Americans ages 18–25, 40% of those 26-40 and 10% of those 41-64 had a tattoo. In January 2008, a survey conducted online by Harris Interactive estimated that 14% of all adults in the United States have a tattoo, just slightly down from 2003, when 16% had a tattoo. Among age groups, 9% of those ages 18–24, 32% of those 25-29, 25% of those 30-39 and 12% of those 40-49 have tattoos, as do 8% of those 50-64. Men are just slightly more likely to have a tattoo than women (15% versus 13%)."

Monday, January 24, 2011

And I Quote...

“Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives, but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is.” --Barbara Bush

News Spotlight: Teen Sex Gone Bad



News flash: teenagers are fucking. This fact seems to be very shocking and hard for some people to handle apparently after all the backlask MTV is catching for their new show "Skins." The show, which originated and has been very successful in the UK, has had four advertisers pull out and is now facing child pornography allegations. Of course, the ratings are good so we'll have to see if that fact plus money from the other advertisers who are still on board will keep the show afloat.

From NY Daily News: "Advertisers are slowly stripping away their support for MTV's latest show, much-talked-about "Skins."

The sex and drug-laden teen show received much media attention in the days leading up to its debut this past Monday, not all of it positive, after the Parents Television Council dubbed it "the most dangerous show" on television.

The PTC pitched a full-fledged advocacy campaign to get the show off the air, encouraging companies to pull their ads from the show.

So far, it seems like it's working.

Tax prep company H&R block, one of the show's largest advertisers, is the most recent to pull its support from the controversial British import, following in the steps of Taco Bell, Wrigley and GM, TMZ.com reported.

The company said in a statement: "H&R Block is not an advertiser of the show. One ad ran by mistake as part of a rotation. Once we learned this, we immediately took steps to ensure it didn't happen again. This program is not brand right and H&R Block did not select it to be part of our rotation." Gum-magnate Wrigley similarly yanked its TV spots from the series, stating that it was never the company's intent "to endorse content that could offend our consumers. Any ads that previously aired during the show were part of a broader advertising plan with the network [MTV]."

The PTC also argued that many scenes in the show - which include drug-induced erections, girls flashing their breasts and underage sex - are also grounds for child pornography charges.

"In addition to the sexual content on the show involving cast members as young as 15, the PTC counted 42 depictions and references to drugs and alcohol in the premiere episode," the council stated in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Senate and House Judiciary Committees.

After Taco Bell and GM pulled their adds, MTV said in a statement: "We have an ongoing dialogue with our advertising partners about the best fit for them across our diverse lineup of shows.

"We know that not every show works for every advertiser. That said, we are confident that 'Skins' will continue to connect with the audience it was created for and that advertisers will take advantage of the opportunity to reach them."

The drama, which began as a hit British series in 2007, focuses on a group of high schoolers as they experiment and learn about topics ranging from mental illness to sexual orientation to substance abuse.

Representatives from MTV did not immediately return requests for comment.

While the noise surrounding the latest MTV teen hit may be loud, the network has had businesses pull their ads from controversial shows, including "Jersey Shore," in the past. The series, which was accused of being offensive to Italians, is the network's top-rated show and is currently in its third season."

Sunday, January 23, 2011

"Sex 101"



This week's OMGFactsSEX stats:

* Only 41% of women said that they enjoyed sex their first time.
* 14% of men said they didn’t enjoy sex they first time they tried it.
* Castrated men live an average of 13 years longer than non-castrated men.
* 1 in 6 adults admitted that they have agreed to sex because they were embarrassed to say “no”.
* The average weight of a Playboy playmate has increased by 1 lb since the 1960s, while the average height has increased by 2 inches.
* A baby can experience an orgasm in the first weeks of life.
* Atheists, Jews, and other non-Christians are reportedly more sexually active than practicing Christians.
* According to American women, the average erect penis length is 4 inches.
* According to American men, the average erect penis length is 10 inches.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

And I Quote...

"The caterpillar does all the work, but the butterfly gets all the publicity." --George Carlin

Friday, January 21, 2011

News Spotlight: Kat Von James?



So much for Kat Von D and Jesse James' relationship being a phase. After about a half a year of dating, the two officially announced their engagement yesterday. It's not too much of a surprise as the last couple of weeks they have been gushing and mushing about each other via Twitter. According to one article, they are rushing their alter appearance just as fast as the engagement, planning to marry in a month or so. Here are the details of this taboo union:

From Newsday: "Jesse James and "LA Ink" star Kat Von D are penciling in wedding plans.

"So honored that she said 'yes,' " celebrity motorcycle customizer James confirmed to People magazine Thursday.

"Twenty-ten was actually the best year of my life because I fell in love with my best friend. An amazing woman who stood behind me when the world turned their backs. I have never met anyone so kind and loving and committed to making the world a better place every day. My love for her is beyond description. . . . Growing old with her is going to be a . . . blast!"

"Waking up to what [James] said about our engagement this morning brought tears to my eyes, in the best way possible," Von D, born Katherine Drachenberg, wrote on her Twitter feed.

"Thank you for all the wonderful, loving congratulations . . . Overwhelmed with joy right now!"
Former reality-TV star James, 41, and tattoo artist Von D, 28, were first spotted together in August, after his divorce from Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock was finalized on June 28. Their five-year marriage had crumbled in March, shortly after reports of James' infidelities became public.

This would be his fourth marriage. He was previously wed to Karla James, with whom he has a teenage daughter, Chandler, and a younger son, Jesse Jr.; and to former adult film star and Penthouse centerfold Janine Lindemulder, with whom he has a young daughter, Sunny. Von D is divorced from tattoo artist Oliver Peck, and dated Mötley Crüe rocker Nikki Sixx on and off between 2008 and 2010.

At an LA party Wednesday, Von D told Us magazine, "I think our relationship has matured so much and matures every day and grows. I am not ashamed of anything. I am really excited about it. Every day we grow stronger.""

Thursday, January 20, 2011

"Dirty Joke" : Doctor's Call

A doctor and his wife were having a big argument at breakfast. "You aren't so good in bed either!" he shouted and stormed off to work. By mid morning, he decided he'd better make amends and called home."What took you so long to answer?""I was in bed.""What were you doing in bed this late?""Getting a second opinion."

"Bad (Not Bad Ass) Tattoo" : Octosex



It's amazing what the mind can conjur up. Some people fill their minds with images of blue skies and beach vacations. Other people fill theirs with renderings of an octopus and a Japanese woman engaging in sexual bliss. Not sure if there is a deeper meaning to this tattoo, but from what I see, the only thing going deep is the Octopus.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

"Sex in Art" Weekly Picks


Barnaby Ward


Adara Sánchez Anguiano

"The Hard Sell" : Taboo In Advertising



This "better than beer" campaign cooked up by Bacardi was banned all over because it "objectified and demeaned women." Why yes, it certainly does. But also yes, there are probably women lovers out there who in theory think a third boob is a good idea. One can only hope that after looking at her, no one would agree that this is better than beer because she looks like a mutant. Less is definitely more in this case.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

"Vice Pioneers" : "Fuck"


Cohen v. California freedom of speech case


Ulysses: first movie to drop F-bomb


French Connection: profanity for profit

It's about that time to explore another beloved term for "Vice Pioneers." We've already uncovered "Cunt" so this week we go after the second most profane word in the English language. "Fuck" is a special word though. While "cunt" is shocking and all, it has limited meaning and can only be used in special occasions. Fuck on the other hand is the most versatile word, with the ability to be used as a noun, verb, adjective, etc. The word has a vague origin, but there is still plenty of history surrounding the word.

From Wikipedia: Fuck is an English word that is generally considered profane which, in its most literal meaning, refers to the act of sexual intercourse. However, by extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed.

"Fuck" can be used as a verb, adverb, adjective, command, interjection, noun, and can logically be used as virtually any word in a sentence (e.g., "Fuck the fucking fuckers"). Moreover, it is one of the few words in the English language which could be applied as an infix (e.g., "Am I sexy? Absofuckinglutely!"; "Bullfuckingshit!"). It has various metaphorical meanings. The verb "to be fucked" can mean "to be cheated" (e.g., "I got fucked by a scam artist"), or alternatively, to be sexually penetrated. As a noun "a fuck" or "a fucker" may describe a contemptible person. "A fuck" may mean an act of copulation. The word can be used as an interjection, and its participle is sometimes used as a strong emphatic. The verb to fuck may be used transitively or intransitively, and it appears in compounds, including fuck off, fuck up, "fuck you", and fuck with. In less explicit usages (but still regarded as vulgar), fuck or fuck with can mean to mess around, or to deal with unfairly or harshly. In a phrase such as "don't give a fuck", the word is the equivalent of "damn", in the sense of something having little value. In "what the fuck!", it serves merely as an intensive. If something is very abnormal or annoying "this is fucked up!" may be said.

Etymology
The Oxford English Dictionary states that the ultimate etymology is uncertain, but that the word is "probably cognate" with a number of native Germanic words with meanings involving striking, rubbing, and having sex.

Flen flyys and freris
The usually accepted first known occurrence is in code in a poem in a mixture of Latin and English composed some time before 1500. The poem, which satirizes the Carmelite friars of Cambridge, England, takes its title, "Flen flyys", from the first words of its opening line, Flen, flyys, and freris (= "Fleas, flies, and friars"). The line that contains fuck reads Non sunt in coeli, quia gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk. Removing the substitution cipher (here, replacing each letter by the next letter in alphabetical order, as the English alphabet was then) on the phrase "gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk" yields non sunt in coeli, quia fvccant vvivys of heli, which translated means, "They are not in heaven because they fuck wives of Ely". The phrase was coded likely because it accused some Church personnel of misbehaving; it is uncertain to what extent the word fuck was considered acceptable at the time. (The stem of fvccant is an English word used as Latin: English medieval Latin has many examples of writers using English words when they did not know the Latin word: "workmannus" is an example.) (In the Middle English of this poem, the term wife was still used generically for woman.)

John le Fucker
A man's name, "John le Fucker", is said to be reported from AD 1278, but the report is doubtful: an email discussion on Linguist List says:

"This name has been exhaustively argued over ... The "John le Fucker" reference first appears in Carl Buck's 1949 Indo-European dictionary. Buck does not supply a citation as to where he found the name. No one has subsequently found the manuscript in which it is alleged to have appeared. If the citation is genuine and not an error, it is most likely a spelling variant of "fulcher", meaning soldier."

False etymologies
One reason that the word fuck is so hard to trace etymologically is that it was used far more extensively in common speech than in easily traceable written forms. There are several urban-legend false etymologies postulating an acronymic origin for the word. None of these acronyms were ever heard before the 1960s, according to the authoritative lexicographical work The F-Word, and thus are backronyms. In any event, the word fuck has been in use far too long for some of these supposed origins to be possible. Some of these urban legends are that the word fuck came from Irish law. If a couple were caught committing adultery, they would be punished "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge In the Nude", with "FUCKIN" written on the stocks above them to denote the crime. Another theory is that of a royal permission. During the Black Death in the Middle Ages, towns were trying to control populations and their interactions. Since uncontaminated resources were scarce, many towns required permission to have children. Hence, the legend goes, that couples that were having children were required to first obtain royal permission (usually from a local magistrate or lord) and then place a sign somewhere visible from the road in their home that said "Fornicating Under Consent of King", which was later shortened to "FUCK". This story is hard to document, but has persisted in oral and literary traditions for many years; however, it has been demonstrated to be an urban legend.

The word "fuck" did not come from any of the following:
"File Under Carnal Knowledge"
"Fornication Under the Christian King"
"Fornication Under the Command of the King"
"Fornication Under the Consent of the King"
"Fornication Under Carnal/Cardinal Knowledge"
"False Use of Carnal Knowledge"
"Felonious Use of Carnal Knowledge"
"Felonious Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"
"Full-On Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"
"For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"
"Found Under Carnal Knowledge"
"Found Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"
"Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (referring to the crime of rape)

Usage history
Early usage
Its first known use as a verb meaning to have sexual intercourse is in "Flen flyys", written around 1475.

William Dunbar's 1503 poem "Brash of Wowing" includes the lines: "Yit be his feiris he wald haue fukkit: / Ye brek my hairt, my bony ane" (ll. 13–14).

John Florio's 1598 Italian-English dictionary, A Worlde of Wordes, included the term, along with several now-archaic, but then vulgar synonyms, in this definition:

Fottere: To jape, to sard, to fucke, to swive, to occupy.

Of these, "occupy" and "jape" still survive as verbs, though with less profane meanings, while "sard" was a descendant of the Anglo-Saxon verb seordan (or seorðan, serða), to copulate; and "swive" had derived from earlier swīfan, to revolve i.e. to swivel.

While Shakespeare never used the term explicitly; he hinted at it in comic scenes in a few plays. The Merry Wives of Windsor (IV.i) contains the expression focative case. In Henry V (IV.iv), Pistol threatens to firk (strike) a soldier, a euphemism for fuck.

Rise of modern usage
Though it appeared in John Ash's 1775 A New and Complete Dictionary, listed as "low" and "vulgar," and appearing with several definitions, fuck did not appear in any widely-consulted dictionary of the English language from 1795 to 1965. Its first appearance in the Oxford English Dictionary (along with the word cunt) was in 1972. There is anecdotal evidence of its use during the American Civil War.

Censorship
The films Ulysses and I'll Never Forget What's'isname (both 1967) are contenders for being the first film to use the word 'fuck,' although the word 'fucking' is clearly mouthed silently in the film Sink the Bismarck! (1960), and the title character says it in the cartoon Bosko's Picture Show (1933). Since the U.S. adoption of the MPAA film rating system, use of the word has been accepted in R-rated movies, and under the older rules, use of the word in a sexual way would automatically cause the film to be given an R rating. Later changes could allow for a maximum of three, non-sexual, strictly exclamatory uses of the word in PG-13 movies, extreme example being the movies The American President and Nine Months (this is more of a guideline than a rule, however, since the MPAA states it has no strict rules on how a movie is rated).

In 1970, Beatle John Lennon successfully got the word past the censors on his song "Working Class Hero" with the lines "They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool, till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules" and "You think you're so clever and classless and free, but you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see."

Since the 1970s, the use of the word "fuck" in R-rated movies has become so commonplace in mainstream American movies that it is rarely noticed by most audiences. Nonetheless, a few movies have made exceptional use of the word, to the point where such films as Fuck, Good Will Hunting, Casino, The Last Detail, Menace II Society, The Big Lebowski, The Departed, Scarface (1983), Pulp Fiction, Blue Velvet, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, and Goodfellas as well as the HBO TV series The Sopranos are known for its extensive use. In the movie Meet the Parents, and its sequels Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers, the main character's last name of "Focker" is a running joke. In the popular comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral, it is the chief word, repeatedly uttered, during the opening five minutes. To many, one of the most humorous tirades demonstrating various usages of the word appears in the comedy, Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), where Steve Martin expresses his dissatisfaction in his treatment by a rental car agency. The movie Student Bodies inserted a scene in the middle of the film to explain to audiences that movies with an R rating are more popular than those carrying a PG rating, which the movie could easily have had. He ends his address with, " ... the producers of this motion picture have asked me to take this opportunity to say 'Fuck you'.", at which time the MPAA R-rating banner appeared.

In several PG-rated movies, however, the word is used, mainly because at the time there was no PG-13 rating and the MPAA did not want to give the films R ratings; for instance, All the President's Men (1976), where it is used seven times; The Kids Are Alright (1979), where it is used twice; and The Right Stuff (1983), where it is used five times. Spaceballs (1987) is one of at least four anomalies in that it was rated PG after the 1984 introduction of the PG-13 rating, yet it includes Dark Helmet's line, "'Out of order'?! Fuck! Even in the future nothing works!" The second is Big (1988) which has the character of Billy asking Tom Hanks' character, "Who the fuck do you think you are?" The third is Beetlejuice (1988) which has the character Betelgeuse kick over a fake tree and scream, "nice fucking model!" The fourth is 1988's Caddyshack II where Randy Quaid's character shouts out he is going to break down a door with a "fucking baseball bat."

In the 1999 film "Galaxy Quest," Sigourney Weaver's character Gwen DeMarco is edited from the line "Well, fuck that!" to "Well, screw that!" The change was made to avoid a PG-13 rating, and the original line is obvious when reading her lips.

Films edited for broadcast use matching euphemisms so that lip synching will not be thrown off. One televised version of Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, for instance, had the actors dub in the words frick, Nubian, and melon farmer for fuck, nigger, and motherfucker, respectively. In similarly dubbed versions of Die Hard and Die Hard 2, Bruce Willis' catchphrase "Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker" is replaced by "Yippee-ki-yay, Mister Falcon" or "Yippee-ki-yay, Kemo Sabe." Similarly, the TV broadcast edit of Snakes on a Plane has Samuel L. Jackson saying "I have had it with these monkey-fighting snakes on this Monday-to-Friday plane", emending two occurrences of motherfucking. In the film The Big Lebowski, John Goodman's character repeatedly yells, "This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass" while trashing a car. It was infamously censored on television as "This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps." His character also repeatedly says to Steve Buscemi's character, "Shut the fuck up, Donny," or "Donny, shut the fuck up." In the television version, fuck is censored with hell.

Many stand-up comedians who perform for adult audiences make liberal use of the word fuck. While George Carlin's use of the word was an important part of his stage persona, other comedians (such as Andrew Dice Clay) have been accused of substituting vulgarity and offensiveness for genuine creativity through overuse of the word. Billy Connolly and Lenny Bruce were pioneers of the use of the word in their shows for general audiences.

Recently, the hip-hop group Black-Eyed Peas' hit song "Don't Phunk With My Heart" was censored on many radio stations to "Don't Mess With My Heart", establishing a new trend toward eliminating all euphemisms for "fuck" as well as the word itself. James Blunt's first major song, You're Beautiful, featured the line "she could see from my face that I was fucking high" - this was censored to "flying high" for broadcasting purposes.

Use in marketing
In April 1997, clothing retailer French Connection began branding their clothes "fcuk" (usually written in lowercase). Though they insisted it was an acronym for French Connection United Kingdom, its similarity to the word "fuck" caused controversy. French Connection fully exploited this and produced an extremely popular range of t-shirts with messages such as "fcuk this", "hot as fcuk", "mile high fcuk", "fcuk me", "fcuk her", "too busy to fcuk", "fcuk football", "fcuk fashion", "fcuk fear", "fcuk on the beach", "the joy of fcuk", etc.

In 2009, the European Union's OHIM trade marks agency disallowed a German brewery to market a beer called "Fucking Hell". They sued, and on 26 March 2010 got permission to market the beer. They claim the beer is actually named after the Austrian village Fucking and the German term for light beer, hell.

Freedom of expression
In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the mere public display of fuck is protected under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and cannot be made a criminal offense. In 1968, Paul Robert Cohen had been convicted of "disturbing the peace" for wearing a jacket with "FUCK THE DRAFT" on it (in reference to conscription in the Vietnam War). The conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeals and overturned by the Supreme Court. Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971).

In 1983, pornographer Larry Flynt, representing himself before the U.S. Supreme Court in a libel case, shouted, "Fuck this court!" during the proceedings, and then called the justices "nothing but eight assholes (referring to Justices Warren E. Burger, William J. Brennan, Jr., Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William Rehnquist, and John Paul Stevens) and a token cunt" (referring to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor). Chief Justice Warren E. Burger had him arrested for contempt of court, but the charge was later dismissed on a technicality.

Monday, January 17, 2011

And I Quote...Ricky Gervais Golden Globes 2011

In case you missed it, some of Ricky Gervais' stabs last night at the Golden Globes:

“I’d like to quash the rumors that the only reason The Tourist was nominated was so that the Hollywood Foreign Press can hang out with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. That is rubbish, that is not the only reason. They also accepted bribes.”

"It was a big year for 3D movies. Toy Story, Despicable Me, Tron. It seemed like everything this year was three-dimensional. Except the characters in The Tourist. I already feel bad about that joke...I tell you what, I'm jumping on the bandwagon, because I haven't even seen The Tourist. Who has?"

"There were a lot of big films that didn't get nominated this year, nothing for Sex and the City 2. No, I was sure the Golden Globe for special effects would go to the team that airbrushed that poster. Girls, we know how old you are. I saw one of you in an episode of Bonanza."

“Also not nominated, I Love You Phillip Morris. Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor. Two heterosexual actors pretending to be gay, so the complete opposite of some famous Scientologists then.”

“It’s going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking. Or, as Charlie Sheen calls it, breakfast.”

"Thank you to God for making me an atheist."

Introducing Robert Downey Jr.: "Many of you in this room probably know him best from such facilities as the Betty Ford Clinic and Los Angeles County Jail..."

Introducing Scarlett Johansson: “beautiful, talented and Jewish, apparently. Mel Gibson told me that – he’s obsessed.”

Introducing Bruce Willis: "Ashton Kutcher's dad..."

News Spotlight: Ricky Gervais' Globes Host Roast

The phrase "You'll never work in this town again" could not be more fitting for Ricky Gervais' Hollywood future after his host roast last night at the Golden Globes. Luckily for him, he's British. Gervais took it further than anyone has ever taken it. Remebber a few years ago when Chris Rock hosted the show and got everyone riled up? Well, that was a compliment rant compared to the stabs Gervais took last night. He stabbed everyone--and we're talking about everyone. The obvious choices like Charlie Sheen and Mel Gibson to the more suprising like Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Sandra Bullock, and Scientologists. He even attacked the Foreign Press Association itself and God. He disappeared most of the second half speculating that his act got cut or that he even got fired, but he did show back up. As for the aftermath, Gervais is proud of his performance and has made it clear that even though he is aware he won't be asked to come back, he stands behind every joke. If you missed the telecast, I strongly advise you take a look at some of the digs.

And so lots of articles have been written stating that Gervais was too harsh. To that I say, give me a fucking break. Yes, Gervais was pretty dirty. He got in some low blows. But not only did he warn he was going to take it that far, he did something that needs to be done every once in a while: he didn't participate in ritual celebrity ass kissing. These actors get paid millions of dollars to do an art they love. Of all people, I can appreciate that and think they deserve every penny. But with this money and fame comes an ongoing fascination and ass kissing from the movie industry, fans, and press. Celebrities have become sacred cows who cannot handle someone saying no to them or standing up to them. So you know what? One night of bubble bursting isn't such a bad thing. Most of us get made fun of for free and there are still plenty days left in the year for these people to be worshipped. All hail, Gervais.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

"Sex 101"



This week's OMGFactsSEX stats:

* Women with a Ph.D are twice as likely to be interested in a one-night stand than women with a bachelor’s degree.
* A Chinese man’s testicles weigh an average of 19 grams.
* A Danish man’s testicles weigh an average of 42 grams.
* A woman sued San Francisco’s transportation system claiming that a cable car accident turned her into a nymphomaniac.
* “Gymnasium” comes from the Greek word “gymnazein”: to exercise naked.
* It is believed that the author of the Kama Sutra was celibate.
* Hirsutophilia: arousal from armpit hair.
* Isaac Newton died a virgin.
* Some have suggested that Beethoven’s deafness was a symptom of syphilis.
* Subcategories of incest: sex w/brother=Fratrilagnia, w/sister=Sororilagnia, w/dad=Patrolagnia, w/mom=Matrincest

The Slippery Slope of Etsy



Etsy implemented a new policy a couple days ago regarding what items will be banned from being sold on the site. The change was prompted by a printer selling greeting cards that poked fun at rape, the disabled, AIDS, and Jesus to name a few. The cards caused so much uproar that this guy was even mentioned on CNN.

While these cards are extremely offensive and in bad taste, the new policy is a bit vague and seems to open up an opportunity for Etsy to censor any items it doesn't find in good taste. Being that Metal Taboo pushes the envelope a bit, of course I have to wonder if this will trickle down. Only time will tell, but as of now, I shall keep the deviance coming.

Here is a snippet of the letter posted by the new Chief Operating Officer at Etsy:

"We have posted our new policies in the Prohibited Items section of our DOs & DON'Ts on Etsy.

For those of you who don't want to read the full text of the policies, I'll summarize the big changes. We no longer allow items or listings that promote, support or glorify hatred toward or otherwise demean people based upon race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, disability, or sexual orientation; including items or content that promote organizations with such views.

We also looked at our policies around violence and illegal activity and we have revised those, too. The revised policy now prohibits items or listings that promote or support illegal activity or instruct others to engage in illegal activity and items or listings that promote, support or glorify acts of violence or harm towards self or others."

Saturday, January 15, 2011

And I Quote...

“There is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror.” --William Somerset Maugham

Keri Hilson Gyrates

Keri Hilson is playing the vixen card now for her new "The Way You Love Me" video. She has done a good job up until this point of being naturally sexy and not pushing the oversexed R&B singer card too hard, but she has apparently turned a new leaf. Nothing wrong with sex appeal, but this is very over the top and surprising coming from her. All that being said, her body is siiiiiiick in this video.

Friday, January 14, 2011

"Sexpot of the Week" : Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola







Ok ok. I know picking a "Jersey Shore" chick as "Sexpot of the Week" may in itself be taboo, but you have to admit that Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola is kinda hot. If you didn't know her from the show and saw her in person, you'd at least give her a cutie title. And to be completely honest, she has branded herself as the least abrasive and obnoxious on the show. "Jersey Shore" just returned for its third season and as much as everyone claims to hate these characters, they are laughing all the way to the bank with their outrageous per episode fees (up to $30,000 per episode folks). I won't go so far as to call Sammi a business mogul, but she is beating the system and living the American dream. And she just so happens not to look so bad doing it, so why not give her this week's title?

Thursday, January 13, 2011

"Dirty Joke" : Stupid Is As Stupid Does

A guy comes home from work, walks into his bedroom, and finds a stranger fucking his wife. He says, "What the hell are you two doing?" His wife turns to the stranger and says, "I told you he was stupid."

"Bad (Not Bad Ass) Tattoo" : Sadist Smurf



Some people just don't have the happy childhood others have, lending them the ability to deface and villainize beloved childhood characters. In this case, a smurf has gone way of a killer and decided "Hello Kitty's" days are outnumbered. It doesn't lose marks for creativity, but beware of the psycho walking around with this on his/her arm.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

"Sex in Art" Weekly Picks


Painter Feroze13


Illustrator Conrad Roset

"The Hard Sell" : Taboo In Advertising



This ad by The Breast Cancer Fund plays on a Victoria's Secret ad by depicting a woman with a mastectomy scar posed sexily. The tagline reads "It's No Secret: Society is Obsessed with Breast, But What Are We Doing About Breast Cancer?" Viacom apparently did not appreciate the shock value of the ad, banning it from all its advertising citing the scar might prove "too shocking to the public." Interesting stance from a company responsible for broadcasting "Jersey Shore" and the like.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

1/11 Logic

Take your birth year (last 2 digits) + current age +1 = 111. Bwah ha ha. It's magic.

"Vice Pioneers" : Graffiti


World War II "Kilroy Was Here" Graffiti


Jean-Michel Basquiet: from SAMO to mainstream


Lee Quinones: NYC graffiti pioneer


Ephesus (modern-day Turkey): Prostitution mark is first known modern-style graffiti example

Graffiti is usually associated with hip hop subculture, b-boying, and law breaking, but behind it lies a history as in-depth and complex as any other artform. The artform dates back to ancient times and has produced superstars in the field. On top of that, it has had a huge impact on more mainstream genres of art--most notably music and has even permeated into fine art. Here is some info on the nonconforming artform that is graffiti:

From Wikipedia:
Etymology
Graffiti and graffito are from the Italian word graffiato ("scratched"). "Graffiti" is applied in art history to works of art produced by scratching a design into a surface. A related term is "graffito", which involves scratching through one layer of pigment to reveal another beneath it. This technique was primarily used by potters who would glaze their wares and then scratch a design into it. In ancient times graffiti was carved on walls with a sharp object, although sometimes chalk or coal were used. The word originates from Greek γράφειν — graphein — meaning "to write."

History
The term graffiti referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., found on the walls of ancient sepulchers or ruins, as in the Catacombs of Rome or at Pompeii. Usage of the word has evolved to include any graphics applied to surfaces in a manner that constitutes vandalism.

The earliest forms of graffiti date back to 30,000 BCE in the form of prehistoric cave paintings and pictographs using tools such as animal bones and pigments. These illustrations were often placed in ceremonial and sacred locations inside of the caves. The images drawn on the walls showed scenes of animal wildlife and hunting expeditions in most circumstances. This form of graffiti is subject to disagreement considering it is likely that members of prehistoric society endorsed the creation of these illustrations.

The only known source of the Safaitic language, a form of proto-Arabic, is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. Safaitic dates from the 1st century BCE to the 4th century CE.

The first known example of "modern style" graffiti survives in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (in modern-day Turkey). Local guides say it is an advertisement for prostitution. Located near a mosaic and stone walkway, the graffiti shows a handprint that vaguely resembles a heart, along with a footprint and a number. This is believed to indicate that a brothel was nearby, with the handprint symbolizing payment.

The ancient Romans carved graffiti on walls and monuments, examples of which also survive in Egypt. Graffiti in the classical world had different connotations than it carries in today's society concerning content. Ancient graffiti displayed phrases of love declarations, political rhetoric, and simple words of thought compared to today's popular messages of social and political ideals. The eruption of Vesuvius preserved graffiti in Pompeii, including Latin curses, magic spells, declarations of love, alphabets, political slogans and famous literary quotes, providing insight into ancient Roman street life. One inscription gives the address of a woman named Novellia Primigenia of Nuceria, a prostitute, apparently of great beauty, whose services were much in demand. Another shows a phallus accompanied by the text, 'mansueta tene': "Handle with care".

Historic forms of graffiti have helped gain understanding into the lifestyles and languages of past cultures. Errors in spelling and grammar in this graffiti offer insight into the degree of literacy in Roman times and provide clues on the pronunciation of spoken Latin. Examples are CIL IV, 7838: Vettium Firmum / aed[ilem] quactiliar[ii] [sic] rog[ant]. Here, "qu" is pronounced "co." The 83 pieces of graffiti found at CIL IV, 4706-85 are evidence of the ability to read and write at levels of society where literacy might not be expected. The graffiti appear on a peristyle which was being remodeled at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius by the architect Crescens. The graffiti was left by both the foreman and his workers. The brothel at CIL VII, 12, 18-20 contains over 120 pieces of graffiti, some of which were the work of the prostitutes and their clients. The gladiatorial academy at CIL IV, 4397 was scrawled with graffiti left by the gladiator Celadus Crescens (Suspirium puellarum Celadus thraex: "Celadus the Thracian makes the girls sigh.")

It was not only the Greeks and Romans that produced graffiti: the Mayan site of Tikal in Guatemala also contains ancient examples. Viking graffiti survive in Rome and at Newgrange Mound in Ireland, and a Varangian scratched his name (Halvdan) in runes on a banister in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople.These early forms of graffiti have contributed to the understanding of lifestyles and languages of past cultures.

Graffiti, known as Tacherons, were frequently scratched on Romanesque Scandinavian church walls.

When Renaissance artists such as Pinturicchio, Raphael, Michelangelo, Ghirlandaio or Filippino Lippi descended into the ruins of Nero's Domus Aurea, they carved or painted their names and returned with the grottesche style of decoration. There are also examples of graffiti occurring in American history, such as Signature Rock, a national landmark along the Oregon Trail.

Later, French soldiers carved their names on monuments during the Napoleonic campaign of Egypt in the 1790s. Lord Byron's survives on one of the columns of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in Attica, Greece.

Modern graffiti
Graffiti is often seen as having become intertwined with hip hop culture and the myriad international styles derived from New York City Subway graffiti. However, there are many other instances of notable graffiti this century. Graffiti has long appeared on railroad boxcars and subways. The one with the longest history, dating back to the 1920s and continuing into the present day, is Texino. During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "Kilroy was here" with accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and its filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death of Charlie Parker (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words "Bird Lives". The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchist, and situationist slogans such as L'ennui est contre-révolutionnaire ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary") expressed in painted graffiti, poster art, and stencil art. In the U.S. at the time other political phrases (such as "Free Huey" about Black Panther Huey Newton) became briefly popular as graffiti in limited areas, only to be forgotten. A popular graffito of the 1970s was the legend "Dick Nixon Before He Dicks You", reflecting the hostility of the youth culture to that U.S. president.

Rock and roll graffiti is a significant sub genre. A famous graffito of the 20th century was the inscription in the London subway reading "Clapton is God". The phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington Underground station in the autumn of 1967. The graffiti was captured in a photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall. Graffiti also became associated with the anti-establishment punk rock movement beginning in the 1970s. Bands such as Black Flag and Crass (and their followers) widely stenciled their names and logos, while many punk night clubs, squats and hangouts are famous for their graffiti. In the late 1980s the upside down Martini glass that was the tag for punk band Missing Foundation was the most ubiquitous graffito in lower Manhattan, and copied by hard core punk fans throughout the U.S. and West Germany.

Along similar lines was the legend "Frodo Lives", referring to the protagonist of The Lord of the Rings.

Spread of graffiti culture
In 1979, graffiti artist Lee Quinones and Fab 5 Freddy were given a gallery opening in Rome by art dealer Claudio Bruni. For many outside of New York, it was their first encounter with the art form. Fab 5 Freddy's friendship with Debbie Harry influenced Blondie's single "Rapture" (Chrysalis, 1981), the video of which featured Jean-Michel Basquiat of the SAMO© Graffiti, and offered many their first glimpse of a depiction of elements of graffiti in hip hop culture. More important here was Charlie Ahearn's independently released fiction film Wild Style (Wild Style, 1982), and the early PBS documentary Style Wars (1983). Hit songs such as "The Message" and "Planet Rock" and their accompanying music videos (both 1982) contributed to a growing interest outside New York in all aspects of hip hop. Style Wars depicted not only famous graffiti artists such as Skeme, Dondi, MinOne and Zephyr, but also reinforced graffiti's role within New York's emerging hip hop culture by incorporating famous early break dancing groups such as Rock Steady Crew into the film which also features a solely rap soundtrack. Style Wars is still recognized as the most prolific film representation of what was going on within the young hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Fab 5 Freddy and Futura 2000 took hip hop graffiti to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour in 1983. Hollywood also paid attention, consulting writers like PHASE 2 as it depicted the culture and gave it international exposure in movies like Beat Street (Orion, 1984).

This period also saw the emergence of the new stencil graffiti genre. Some of the first examples were created ca 1981 by graffiti artist Blek le Rat in Paris; by 1985 stencils had appeared in other cities including New York City, Sydney and Melbourne, where they were documented by American photographer Charles Gatewood and Australian photographer Rennie Ellis.

Commercialization and entrance into mainstream pop culture
With the popularity and legitimization of graffiti has come a level of commercialization. In 2001, computer giant IBM launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco which involved people spray painting on sidewalks a peace symbol, a heart, and a penguin (Linux mascot), to represent "Peace, Love, and Linux." However due to illegalities some of the "street artists" were arrested and charged with vandalism, and IBM was fined more than US$120,000 for punitive and clean-up costs.

In 2005, a similar ad campaign was launched by Sony and executed by TATS CRU in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Miami to market its handheld PSP gaming system. In this campaign, taking notice of the legal problems of the IBM campaign, Sony paid building owners for the rights to paint on their buildings "a collection of dizzy-eyed urban kids playing with the PSP as if it were a skateboard, a paddle or a rocking horse."

Along with the commercial growth has come the rise of video games also depicting graffiti, usually in a positive aspect – for example, the Jet Set Radio series (2000–2003) tells the story of a group of teens fighting the oppression of a totalitarian police force that attempts to limit the graffiti artists' freedom of speech. In plotlines mirroring the negative reaction of non-commercial artists to the commercialization of the artform by companies like IBM (and, later, Sony itself) the Rakugaki Ōkoku series (2003–2005) for Sony's PlayStation 2 revolves around an anonymous hero and his magically imbued-with-life graffiti creations as they struggle against an evil king who only allows art to be produced which can benefit him. Following the original roots of modern graffiti as a political force came another game title, Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (2006), featuring a story line involving fighting against a corrupt city and its oppression of free speech, as in the Jet Set Radio series.

Other games which feature graffiti include Bomb the World (2004), an online graffiti simulation created by graffiti artist Klark Kent where users can virtually paint trains at 20 locations worldwide, and Super Mario Sunshine (2002), in which the hero, Mario must clean the city of graffiti left by the villain, Bowser Jr. in a plotline which evokes the successes of the Anti-Graffiti Task Force of New York's Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (a manifestation of "broken window theory") or those of the "Graffiti Blasters" of Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Numerous other non-graffiti-centric video games allow the player to produce graffiti (such as the Half-Life series, the Tony Hawk's series, The Urbz: Sims in the City, Rolling and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas). Counter-Strike which is a Half-Life mod allows user to create their own and tag in game. Many other titles contain in-game depictions of graffiti (such as The Darkness, Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone, NetHack, Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked, The World Ends With You, The Warriors, Just Cause, Portal, various examples of Virtual Graffiti, etc.). There also exist a host of games where the term "graffiti" is used as a synonym for "drawing" (such as Yahoo! Graffiti, Graffiti, etc.).

Marc Ecko, an urban clothing designer, has been an advocate of graffiti as an art form during this period, stating that "Graffiti is without question the most powerful art movement in recent history and has been a driving inspiration throughout my career."

Keith Haring was another well-known graffiti artist who brought Pop Art and graffiti to the commercial mainstream. In the 1980s, Haring opened his first Pop Shop: a store that offered everyone access to his works—which until then could only be found spray-painted on city walls. Pop Shop offered commodities like bags and t-shirts. Haring explained that, "The Pop Shop makes my work accessible. It's about participation on a big level, the point was that we didn't want to produce things that would cheapen the art. In other words, this was still art as statement".

Graffiti has become a common stepping stone for many members of both the art and design community in North America and abroad. Within the United States Graffiti Artists such as Mike Giant, Pursue, Rime, Noah and countless others have made careers in skateboard, apparel and shoe design for companies such as DC Shoes, Adidas, Rebel8 Osiris or Circa. Meanwhile there are many others such as DZINE, Daze, Blade, The Mac that have made the switch to gallery artists often times not even using their initial medium, spray paint.

But perhaps the greatest example of graffiti artists infiltrating mainstream pop culture is by the French crew, 123Klan. 123Klan founded as a graffiti crew in 1989 by Scien and Klor, have gradually turned their hands to illustration and design while still maintaining their graffiti practice and style. In doing so they have designed and produced, logos and illustrations, shoes, and fashion for the likes of Nike, Adidas, Lamborghini, Coca Cola, Stussy, Sony, Nasdaq and more.

Monday, January 10, 2011

And I Quote...

“A woman reading Playboy feels a little like a Jew reading a Nazi manual.” --Gloria Steinem

News Spotlight: Hef Doesn't Like Shares



The biggest news surrounding Hugh Hefner has been his recent engagement to his 24-year old bunny, but today Hefner bought his company back, signifying the recent shift in the business mindset where big is not necessarilyconsidered better. That, of course, applies only to business and not titties in Hef's world, but now, those titties are all his. No sharing. No shares.

From AFP: "Playboy tycoon Hugh Hefner has struck a deal to return Playboy Enterprises to private ownership, according to a statement Monday.

Not usually one to shy away from the public sphere, slumping sales and poor finances appear to have convinced Hefner to end his company's flirtation with the stock market.
The octogenarian publisher agreed to pay $6.15 for each share owned by partners, a more than 18 percent premium over Friday's closing price.

"With the completion of this transaction, Playboy will come full circle, returning to its roots as a private company," Hefner said in a statement.

"The brand resonates today as clearly as at any time in its 57-year history. I believe this agreement will give us the resources and flexibility to return Playboy to its unique position and to further expand our business around the world."

Pummeled by the Internet, Playboy is now expected to focus on its "brand management" business, including licensing products."

Friday, January 7, 2011

"Bad (Not Bad Ass) Tattoo" : Porn Star Chasing



So apparently this chick (or maybe even dick) is not satisfied with the natural pubic hair allotted to a human being and felt it necessary to ink a mustache above his/her hairline. The infatuation with mustaches at the time due to their association with porn stars is warranted and justifiable, but this is taking it just a tad too far. Gonna be hard to live this one down in a couple years.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

And I Quote...

"The trouble with my wife is that she is a whore in the kitchen and a cook in bed.” --Geoffrey Gorer

"Sex 101"



This week's OMGFactsSEX stats:

* The animal with the longest sperm is the Drosophila bifurca, a fruit fly. At 5.8 cm long, the sperm is bigger than the fly.
* In a typical lovemaking session, a man thrusts 60-120 times.
* Oophorectomy, the surgical removal of ovaries, was a Victorian era cure for, among other things, irritability and overeating.
* Unlike claustrophobia, claustrophilia is when you are sexually aroused by being in an enclosed space.
* Oculolinctus: the act of licking a partner’s eyeball for sexual arousal.
* The average woman will have sex 3,000 times in her lifetime.
* Only 1 in 4 transvestites are gay.
* People who work over 60 hours a week have more sex on average than people who work less.
* For married couples, sex lasts an average of 17 minutes. For cohabiting couples, 25 minutes.
* 1 in 4 women cheat on their partners. 1 in 3 men do.
* Men over 35 have a 1/77 chance of having a heart attack when they have sex.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

And I Quote...

“Every time you see a beautiful woman, just remember, somebody got tired of her.” --Unknown