BEDA almost!fail - It's totally still Sunday since I haven't gone to sleep yet

My obnoxious grading took longer than I had wanted it to tonight, and although I found some scrumptious articles earlier, I was putting off actually posting the blog because I wanted them to congeal a bit more (as opposed to the frantic what-will-I-write? moment last night).

Anyway, 3 hours later, the grading is done (for the most part. I have one left, which will take me about half an hour because its all kinds of weird... so I need to finish this up super-quick if I want to be in bed before 1 am.)

And now for today's post, which should have been titled: "Pirates, Porn and (more) Pirates." Enjoy.

Pirates part 1:

Once again, while poking around BBC, I found a lovely article about a rather lovely group of modern-day pirates. No lie. Awesome quotes from this article include:

One pirate in the northern port of Bosasso, who asked not to be named, told Reuters he had been part of an aborted attack on another large commercial vessel late on Saturday.

They're even talking to the press, now! Capitano Sin Nombre just wants his 15 minutes of fame (and or lots and lots of booty), just like the rest of us, after all.

An Israeli cargo ship came under fire from pirates en route to Kenya on Saturday but was apparently saved by coils of barbed wire hung around the hull to repel boarders.

I'm going to reassess my list of things no one should ever be without (MacGuyver style!) ... it used to just include useful things like duct tape and a swiss army knife (for your beans and beer opening pleasure...and to create a makeshift tourniquet for your thumb when you nearly slice said appendage off whilst trying to get the damned can opener to work). Apparently barbed wire should also find a place on this list of awesomeness. Use in a similar fashion to the fire hose (you know - in case of fire, break glass?) .... just have a thing of barbed wire laying about somewhere with a label - In Case of Pirate.


Porn:

Once again, BBC pulls through for the win - a lovely and informative article titled, "What porn is really for." Thanks, BBC! I always wanted to know.

The majority of the article centers around a bit of controversy... UK style... involving the Home Secretary's husband, who tried to get public funding to pay for his adult movies as a business expense. (The Home Secretary herself was attempting to pass legislation to keep businessmen from counting a visit to a strip club as part of their 'expenses' - irony? or just really bad planning on her husband's part?)

It's the later part of this story that actually interested me. The author attempts to explain (as the title suggests) what porn is really for. Here is my favorite quote, for your reading pleasure:

From the erotic angle, adult entertainment movies are made for men whose idea of the adult barely gets beyond the babyish. For anyone with a brain, there is not only no question of being aroused, there is a detectable shrivelling effect on the libido. In time, a connoisseur of the form learns to trust it as a sure-fire means of getting the mind off sex.

Interesting. Very interesting. I still have no desire to watch porn, so this is one scientific analysis I shall have to pass on to someone else.


and lastly...

Pirates part 2:

Seriously, who couldn't love these guys? One of my favorite songs from that crazy summer camp I went to as a child:



Oh snap! I'm so impressed with myself that I figured out how to get that in here!

Argh - this took a lot longer than I had wanted to spend on it. Time for some serious speed-grading for me!