Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 332

German plagiarism scandal ousts a would-be chancellor

I burst my pimples at you and show you the soles of my shoes! Photo from Der Spiegel. In Germany, Uproar Over a Doctoral Thesis by Michael Kimmelman . . .The trouble started last month when this country's most popular cabinet minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a handsome, media-savvy, conspicuously pomaded 39-year-old baron widely presumed to [...]

Tayo na sa Antipolo

If you need to get away we recommend Antipolo. Specifically, Dr. Cuanang's Pinto Art Museum in Grand Heights, Antipolo. Get some air. Inhale some art. This painting is fairly ordinary until you see the expression on the doggie's face. We'd adopt him.

Literary Real Estate: Say goodbye to Gatsby's green light

Moseley Bog, the inspiration for the Old Forest in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, is still there. The community protected it from developers. Photo by Megan Cytron This is Lands End, the mansion on Long Island that may have been one of the models for Daisy Buchanan's house in The Great Gatsby [...]

Flightless but beautiful

Junix Jong-Il

Budjette just sent this: Junix Inocian is now the leader of a communist country! Advertising Agency: Geller-Nessis Publicis, Tel Aviv, Israel. Chief Creative Director: Rony Schneider. Aired: March 2011

Don't say "Don't panic" because People Will Panic

BOILING WATER REACTOR SYSTEM: The system's inverted lightbulb primary containment vents below through pipes to a pressure suppression torus. Once that torus breaches due to overpressure, the secondary containment is all that separates the released radioactive steam from the outside environment. Image: http://www.nucleartourist.com/ Nuclear Experts Explain Worst-Case Scenario at Fukushima Power Plant The type of [...]

LitWit Challenge 5.2: Airing out Jane Eyre

The new film adaptation of Jane Eyre is getting excellent reviews, Mia Wasikowska continues to shine, our boyfriend Michael Fassbender (he just doesn't know it yet) is well on his way to stardom (This year he gets to be Rochester, Carl Jung and Magneto), and damn you Cary Fukunaga, why are you so hot. new [...]

The winner of LitWit Challenge 5.1: Brrrrring! will be announced after a short message from the Yucch-meter.

The Yucch-meter would like to make a statement. Do not try to be cool. If you try to be cool, that is uncool. Much of what is great in the world was thought up by people who were not considered cool in their time. We are not cool. So accept your uncoolness and embrace it. [...]

Notes on Sexual Politics in the 21st Century: Re-calibrating the Gaydar

BAKLAVA? Photo from Time Out Sydney. We were doing annual maintenance checks on our Gaydars, the built-in sensors that tell us whether a guy is straight or gay. These are sophisticated apps that automatically react to the presence of males: dead silence for heterosexuals (which occasionally triggers the Hot Guy in the Building alarm), blips [...]

Inside my head at a screening of The Eagle

Channing Tatum: cut-price steak in armor. He could go for the Russell Crowe roles but the pouty lips are distracting. Then there is the small matter of talent. Not that he's a bad actor, but. Aiiieeeeee is the leader of the Picts Alain Delon? Is it is it is it? Naah I would've heard about [...]