// Category Archive for: Teh Sex

The Notorious Bettie Page

By Less Lee Moore

Called “the greatest pinup model that ever lived” by pinup photographer Art Amsie, Bettie Page was nothing if not an enigma. The now-iconic images of her alternate between sweet, sassy cheesecake shots and those fetish photos and films that were brought before the Kefauver Hearings of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in the mid-1950s. It is this contrast and conflict that director Mary Harron examines in her 2005 film, The Notorious Bettie Page.

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Letters To An R&B Contrarian, or: Why R. Kelly Matters

By Paul Casey

Dear _____,

How are you? I was pleased to receive your last letter. I am glad that you are proceeding well with your descent into the mire of popular music and that you no longer scoff at the genre of R&B in such an ill conceived and self-satisfied manner. That you can acknowledge you were mistaken to hold that Keane album above “any R&B album of the last twenty years” is something.

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Sister Smile (Suor Sorriso): The Tragic Tale Of The Singing Nun DVD

By Hanna

Suor Sorriso, also known as Sister Smile, is a cult classic in a lot of ways; it has also served to revive interest in the real-life “Singing Nun,” also known as Jeannine Deckers. There has been a demand for Sister Smile on DVD for some time; many viewers will be watching this film for its position in cinema history. Whatever its cinematic merits, though, I found the almost entire lack of factual accuracy or congruency difficult to surmount.
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More Than Shakespeare Slash: Q&A With Author Myrlin Hermes

By Jemiah Jefferson

The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet, the new novel by Portland, Oregon author Myrlin A. Hermes, dismantles some of the best-known works of literature in the English language—the plays and sonnets of good ol’ Willie Shakespeare, most particularly Hamlet—and builds from their parts a unique, steamy, bisexual love triangle between three famous characters.
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Venus In Fur: Femininity, Masculinity, And The Wolfman

By Hanna

When The Wolfman‘s release date was announced, feminist blog Jezebel asked why there aren’t many female werewolves, concluding that because werewolves are disgusting and hairy, people don’t want to equate that with women. They also pointed out that vampires are a lot more popular than werewolves at the moment, and described that position with regards to sex.

Although the answer to the question about women and werewolves lies exactly in those issues, Jezebel drew the wrong conclusions.
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Soundtrack For The Perfect Girl

By Jim R. Clark

Why do you insist on listening to music that you don’t even like? Is it because you’re afraid what the others will think of you? Them, and their damned taste police. No? Well, I know the real reason. Really, I do. Listen, I’m going to tell you what’s going on inside your head. Consider this a free counseling session.
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My One-Night Stand With Kevin Ayers

By Hanna

Ayers, Nico, Cale, Eno

Kevin Ayers, both as a member of Soft Machine and as a solo artist, is one of the most respected musicians alive today. Because of his easy-going good-humor and extensive back catalogue of avant garde music, he has been revered by music lovers for decades. Similarly, his collaborations demand respect and admiration, and confirm his position as a mainstay of what is considered intelligent music. His work with John Cale, Andy Summers, Ollie Halsall, and Mike Oldfield are examples of his eminent good taste in other music as well as his own.
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Peter Godwin’s Porn Purgatory

By Hanna

“I only subscribe to porn mags
for the articles, honest!”

“The Internet is for porn,” as the song goes, and so when I went looking for the allegedly raunchy video for the Peter Godwin song “Images of Heaven,” I imagined it would be easy. The song was popular at the time it was released, and still much-loved judging from blog entries about it. Plus, the artist and director are both still alive.

However, recent clampdowns on footage of a pornographic or otherwise graphic nature on YouTube and other hosting sites actually meant that it would not be easy at all.

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