"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.

"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.

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.

"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."

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.

"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?

"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.

"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.

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.

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."

"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.

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.

And I Quote...

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

Happy New Year from Metal Taboo!

"Sexpot of the Week": Natalie Portman

One more stop on the "Black Swan" train. After featuring Mila Kunis as the "Sexpot of the Week" a couple weeks ago, it's only right to give sexiness props to Natalie Portman. She's really on a cloud right now and having her moment. Other than the fact she's been nominated for a shitload of awards for her "Black Swan" performance, she also revealed last week that she is engaged to her New York City Ballet dancer boyfriend who choreographed the film and expecting a baby. And in the end, even is she wasn't having her moment, she is damned near flawless so looking in the mirror may be a thrilling everyday experience.

"Dirty Joke": Number Game

A young boy and his father were in a store when they walked past a rack of condoms. Being a curious young lad, the boy asked his father, 'What are these things daddy?' His dad said, 'Condoms son.' The boy asked, 'Why do they come in packs of 1,3, and 12?' The dad replied, 'The packs with one are for the high school boys, one for Saturday night, the ones with three are for the college boys, one for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and the ones with twelve in them are for the married men, one for January, one for February, one for March....'"

Bad (Not Bad Ass) Tattoo: Bad Anatomy

You know that talk you're supposed to get as a kid about where babies come from? Well, this person's parents obviously couldn't brave that uncomfortable conversation because he/she believes they come from some region below the brain. If this tattoo is supposed to have a special meaning, it certainly flew over my head.

Chillin' Out, Maxin', and Relaxin' All Cool

On vacation for a week or so. Don't be alarmed. Lots more deviance to come for the New Year! Have a great rest of the holiday deviants!

"Sex 101"

This week's OMGFactsSEX stats:

* 47% of men and 42% understate their number of previous partners to convince someone to have sex with them.
* 3 out of every 1000 men can fellate themselves.
* Most male orgasms in one hour: 16.
* Most female orgasms in one hour: 134.
* 15% of adults engage in half of all sexual activity.
Only 3 out of 10 boys in a survey said they wanted to marry a virgin.
* 2% of breast implants are for men.
* In 1990, 290 women were charged with rape in the U.S.
* Guevedoces is a rare condition where you are born as an anatomical female but develop a penis and testes by age 12.
* Taphephilia: getting turned on by the idea of being buried alive.

And I Quote...

“Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.” --Drew Carey

"Sexpot of the Week" : Julia Stiles

Julia Stiles is only 29 years old, but because she has been in the Hollywood limelight for so long, it seems as though she should be 40. She also has a very mature nature to her that lends to one thinking she is older than she really is. This week, she is in the media spotlight for two reasons. First, she has been nominated for a Golden Globe for her supporting role in "Dexter" last season. Second, she is rumored to be pulling an "Angelina." Rumors are swirling that she is a factor in Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter's (her "Dexter" co-stars) marriage. We'll have to see how it all plays out, but no doubt she is having a notable week.

"Dirty Joke" : Appointment

This guy wakes up out of a deep sleep and, feeling real horny, nudges his wife awake and asks, "Why don't we get it on, eh?" She replies, "I have an appointment at the gynecologist tomorrow and you know I don't like to make love the night before." So the husband agrees and rolled back over and started to go back to sleep.

A few minutes later, he nudges his wife again and asks, "You don't by any chance have a dentist's appointment tomorrow, do you?"

"Bad (Not Bad Ass) Tattoo" : Lunch

This tattoo speaks for itself and it seems its main goal is to make people actually lose their lunch.

"The Hard Sell" : Taboo In Advertising

Talk about killer fashion. This ad from brand NMA depicts a stiletto spiking its heel into a poor fellow. "Killer Heels". Get it? Well, United Kingdom officials didn't find it to be so fashionable. It was banned citing that the ad "trivialised and stylised violence." Yeah maybe. I'm more interested in the little things--like the fact Europeans use an "s" for these words and Americans a "z."

"Sex in Art" Weekly Picks...Inked

Body artist Emma Hack


Tattoo artist Joe Capobianco

And I Quote...

“A junkie is someone who uses their body to tell society that something is wrong.” --Stella Adler

"Vice Pioneers" : Heroin

Recognizable Bayer brand


Taboo Bayer brand


Afghan poppy fields forever


Felix Hoffman: notable heroin cooker

Of all topics used for the "Vice Pioneers" series, drugs are usually the most fascinating of the bunch. Due to the fact that drugs are such big business and scientifically based, their histories always include involvement by notable, recognizable companies. In heroin's case, Bayer is the culprit. Heroin's history in general is very fascinating. Below is some basic history on the drug.

From Wikipedia: Heroin (diacetylmorphine (INN)), also known as diamorphine (BAN), is a semi-synthetic opioid drug synthesized from morphine, a derivative of the opium poppy. It is the 3,6-diacetyl ester of morphine (di (two)-acetyl-morphine). The white crystalline form is commonly the hydrochloride salt diacetylmorphine hydrochloride, though often adulterated thus dulling the sheen and consistency from that to a matte white powder, which diacetylmorphine freebase typically is. 90% of diacetylmorphine is said to be produced in Afghanistan.

Etymology
In 1895, the German drug company Bayer marketed diacetylmorphine as an over the counter drug under the trademark name Heroin. The name was derived from the German word "heroisch" (heroic) because of its perceived "heroic" effects upon a user. It was chiefly developed as a morphine substitute for cough suppressants that did not have morphine's addictive side-effects. Morphine at the time was a popular recreational drug, and Bayer wished to find a similar but non-addictive substitute to market. However, contrary to Bayer's advertising as a "non-addictive morphine substitute," Heroin would soon have one of the highest rates of dependence amongst its users.

History
The opium poppy was cultivated in lower Mesopotamia as long ago as 3400 BCE. The chemical analysis of opium in the 19th century revealed that most of its activity could be ascribed to two alkaloids, codeine and morphine.

Diacetylmorphine was first synthesized in 1874 by C. R. Alder Wright, an English chemist working at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London. He had been experimenting with combining morphine with various acids. He boiled anhydrous morphine alkaloid with acetic anhydride for several hours and produced a more potent, acetylated form of morphine, now called diacetylmorphine. The compound was sent to F. M. Pierce of Owens College in Manchester for analysis. Pierce told Wright:

“Doses ... were subcutaneously injected into young dogs and rabbits ... with the following general results ... great prostration, fear, and sleepiness speedily following the administration, the eyes being sensitive, and pupils constrict, considerable salivation being produced in dogs, and slight tendency to vomiting in some cases, but no actual emesis. Respiration was at first quickened, but subsequently reduced, and the heart's action was diminished, and rendered irregular. Marked want of coordinating power over the muscular movements, and loss of power in the pelvis and hind limbs, together with a diminution of temperature in the rectum of about 4°."

Wright's invention did not lead to any further developments, and diacetylmorphine only became popular after it was independently re-synthesized 23 years later by another chemist, Felix Hoffmann. Hoffmann, working at the Aktiengesellschaft Farbenfabriken (today the Bayer pharmaceutical company) in Elberfeld, Germany, was instructed by his supervisor Heinrich Dreser to acetylate morphine with the objective of producing codeine, a constituent of the opium poppy, pharmacologically similar to morphine but less potent and less addictive. Instead the experiment produced an acetylated form of morphine one and a half to two times more potent than morphine itself.

From 1898 through to 1910 diacetylmorphine was marketed under the trademark name Heroin as a non-addictive morphine substitute and cough suppressant. Bayer marketed the drug as a cure for morphine addiction before it was discovered that it rapidly metabolizes into morphine. As such, diacetylmorphine is essentially a quicker acting form of morphine. The company was embarrassed by the new finding, which became a historic blunder for Bayer.

In the U.S.A. the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was passed in 1914 to control the sale and distribution of diacetylmorphine and other opioids, which allowed the drug to be prescribed and sold for medical purposes. In 1924 the United States Congress banned its sale, importation or manufacture. It is now a Schedule I substance, which makes it illegal for non-medical use in signatory nations of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs treaty, including the United States.

The Health Committee of the League of Nations banned diacetylmorphine in 1925 although it took more than three years for this to be implemented. In the meantime, the first designer drugs, viz. 3,6 diesters and 6 monoesters of morphine and acetylated analogues of closely-related drugs like hydromorphone and dihydromorphine were produced in massive quantities to fill the worldwide demand for diacetylmorphine—this continued until 1930 when the Committee banned diacetylmorphine analogues with no therapeutic advantage over drugs already in use, the first major legislation of this type.

Later, as with Aspirin, Bayer lost some of its trademark rights to Heroin under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles following the German defeat in World War I.

Trafficking
Traffic is heavy worldwide, with the biggest producer being Afghanistan. According to U.N. sponsored survey, as of 2004, Afghanistan accounted for production of 87 percent of the world's diacetylmorphine. Afghan opium kills 100,000 people every year worldwide.

The cultivation of opium in Afghanistan reached its peak in 1999, when 350 square miles (910 km2) of poppies were sown. The following year the Taliban banned poppy cultivation, a move which cut production by 94 percent. By 2001 only 30 square miles (78 km2) of land were in use for growing opium poppies. A year later, after American and British troops had removed the Taliban and installed the interim government, the land under cultivation leapt back to 285 square miles (740 km2), with Afghanistan supplanting Burma to become the world's largest opium producer once more. Opium production in that country has increased rapidly since, reaching an all-time high in 2006. War in Afghanistan once again appeared as a facilitator of the trade. Some 3.3 million Afghans are involved in producing opium.

At present, opium poppies are mostly grown in Afghanistan, and in Southeast Asia, especially in the region known as the Golden Triangle straddling Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Yunnan province in the People's Republic of China. There is also cultivation of opium poppies in the Sinaloa region of Mexico and in Colombia. The majority of the diacetylmorphine consumed in the United States comes from Mexico and Colombia. Up until 2004, Pakistan was considered one of the biggest opium-growing countries.

Conviction for trafficking diacetylmorphine carries the death penalty in most Southeast Asian, some East Asian and Middle Eastern countries, among which Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are the most strict. The penalty applies even to citizens of countries where the penalty is not in place, sometimes causing controversy when foreign visitors are arrested for trafficking, for example the arrest of nine Australians in Bali, the death sentence given to Nola Blake in Thailand in 1987, or the hanging of an Australian citizen Van Tuong Nguyen in Singapore.

Trafficking history
The origins of the present international illegal diacetylmorphine trade can be traced back to laws passed in many countries in the early 1900s that closely regulated the production and sale of opium and its derivatives including diacetylmorphine. At first, diacetylmorphine flowed from countries where it was still legal into countries where it was no longer legal. By the mid-1920s, diacetylmorphine production had been made illegal in many parts of the world. An illegal trade developed at that time between diacetylmorphine labs in China (mostly in Shanghai and Tianjin) and other nations. The weakness of government in China and conditions of civil war enabled diacetylmorphine production to take root there. Chinese triad gangs eventually came to play a major role in the illicit diacetylmorphine trade. The French Connection route started in the 1930s.

Diacetylmorphine trafficking was virtually eliminated in the U.S. during World War II because of temporary trade disruptions caused by the war. Japan's war with China had cut the normal distribution routes for diacetylmorphine and the war had generally disrupted the movement of opium.

After World War II, the Mafia took advantage of the weakness of the postwar Italian government and set up diacetylmorphine labs in Sicily. The Mafia took advantage of Sicily's location along the historic route opium took westward into Europe and the United States.

"Sex 101"

This week's OMGFactsSEX stats:

* There are 20 times as many male masochists than female masochists.
* Middle aged men take an average of 5 times as long to get an erection than younger men do.
* On average, unmarried cohabiting couples have sex an extra 40 more times than married couples do every year.
* Over 200 Americans have sex changes every year.
* According to Kinsey, 75% of men ejaculate within 3 minutes of penetration.
* An extramarital affair usually lasts 21 months.
* The average prostitute stays in that job for 5 years.
* A rhinoceros can ejaculate 10 times in a half-hour lovemaking session.
* Since the 1940s the percent of married women who were unfaithful has gone from 26% to around 40%.
* Marilyn Monroe was paid only $50 for her 1949 nude calendar photo.
* 55% of lesbians have heterosexual dreams.
* 30% of U.S. males have had a homosexual encounter.
* Only 48% of men say their wives are skilled lovers.
* 30% of women over 80 still have sex.

"Dirty Joke" : Sandwiches

A woman and her little boy were walking through a park in New York and they pass two squirrels having sex. The little boy asks his mom, "Mommy, mommy, what are they doing?" The lady responded, "They're making a sandwich." Then they pass two dogs having sex and the little boy again asks what they were doing. His mother again replied they were making a sandwich. A couple of days later the little boy walks in on his mother and father and said "Mommy, Daddy, you must be making a sandwich because, Mommy has mayonnaise all over her mouth!"

"Bad (Not Bad Ass) Tattoo" : Eaten Hair

This goat has apparently been getting busy since its owner's hair is almost depleted. This tattoo is the ultimate proof of one of two things: 1. that old people have a great sense of humor or 2. that they really do go senile after a while.

"Sex in Art" Weekly Picks

Painting by Les Rogers


Painting by Sri Whipple

Via Sex In Art

And I Quote...

"A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. You think when Jesus comes back he ever wants to see a fucking cross? It's like going up to Jackie Onassis wearing a rifle pendant.” --Bill Hicks

News Spotlight: LGBT Youth Punished Harsher that Straight Peers

Here is some more disheartening news in the LGBT youth arena. A new study has been released that gay youth are punished harsher than their straight peers in all facets of society. The only only positive about the sudden influx of these studies and statistics is the fact that LGBT youth issues are coming to light. The more we know, the sooner things can change.

From The Washington Post: "Gay and lesbian teens in the United States are about 40 percent more likely than their straight peers to be punished by schools, police and the courts, according to a study published Monday, which finds that girls are especially at risk for unequal treatment.

The research, described as the first national look at sexual orientation and teen punishment, comes as a spate of high-profile bullying and suicide cases across the country have focused attention on the sometimes hidden cruelties of teen life.

The study, from Yale University, adds another layer, finding substantial disparities between gay and straight teens in school expulsions, arrests, convictions and police stops. The harsher approach is not explained by differences in misconduct, the study says.

"The most striking difference was for lesbian and bisexual girls, and they were two to three times as likely as girls with similar behavior to be punished," said Kathryn Himmelstein, lead author of the study, published in the journal Pediatrics.

Why the punishment gap exists is less clear.

It could be that lesbian, gay and bisexual teens who got in trouble didn't get the same breaks as other teens - say, for youthful age or self-defense, Himmelstein said. Or it could be that girls in particular were punished more often because of discomfort with or bias toward some who don't fit stereotypes of femininity.

"It's definitely troubling to see such a disparity," Himmelstein said.

"It may very well be not intentional," she said. "I think most people who work with youth want to do the best they can for young people and treat them fairly, but our findings show that's not happening.""

"Sex 101"

This week's OMGFactsSEX stats:

* There’s more one million full-time prostitutes currently in the U.S.
* 1 in 4 women can’t name all of their past lovers.
* Nearly a quarter of mental health professionals have had sexual contact with their patients.
* Almost ⅔ of women have faked an orgasm.
* Autophagy: eating your own flesh (often as a sexual fetish).
* 20% of women with live-in boyfriends have another sex partner.
* Rasputin was famous for having a 13 inch penis.
* 70% of people have fantasized about someone else while having sex.

And I Quote...

“From the moment I was six I felt sexy. And let me tell you it was hell, sheer hell, waiting to do something about it.” --Bette Davis

"Sexpot of the Week" : Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis has been on the Hollywood scene for a while, but just recently has she been considered one of the sexiest women in Hollywood. Now 27, she first made a name for herself in television with her role on "That 70's Show" as a teenager and has since been a staple on both tv and movies--she even does voiceover work as Meg Griffin on "The Family Guy." Her latest film with Natalie Portman, "Black Swan," was released today so be prepared to see her in the spotlight for a couple days.

"Dirty Joke" : Ding Dong

A woman posts an ad in the news paper that looks like this...

'Looking for man with these qualifications; won't beat me up; or run away from me and is great in bed.'

She got lots of phone calls replying to her ad but met someone perfect at her door one day. The man she met said, "Hi, I'm Bob. I have no arms so I won't beat you up and no legs so I won't run away."

So the lady says, "What makes you think you are great in bed?" Bob replies, "I rang the door bell didn't I?"

"Bad (Not Bad Ass) Tattoo" : Unicorn Fun

If you have ever wondered what unicorns do to past time in their magical land far away, now you know. According to this person and his/her tattoo artist, unicorns are no more advanced than us lusty humans. And not only do they spend their time fucking, they indulge in manmade cliches like having a cigarette while participating in the act.

"The Hard Sell" : Taboo In Advertising

Here's another case of the British government having their panties in a wad and taking life a little too seriously. This ad from bookmaker Paddy Power showing a man breastfeeding was banned before it ever saw the light of day in fear it would offend the masses. The ad was created to promote their new online bingo business. I'm sure this image is frightening to the average man and that there are a few men on the board who banned it so it's not a huge shock it would be nixed.

"Sex in Art" Weekly Picks

X-Ray Pin-up Calendar at Lost At E Minor


Watercolor art by Reuben Negron