BALANCE of CULTURE

A Vivid Wonder Woman

I was one of those kids who named themselves. Maybe this sounds a little weird since obviously most people are named by their parents, but I got to choose my own name - my English one, at least. Sure my Korean name was picked out for me well before I had any clue, but during our family's brief stint in suburban Ohio my parents felt it was right for me to also adopt an English name. They asked me for my input and, being the huge fan of old Wonder Woman reruns, I chose - or insisted on, depending upon who you ask - "Linda," (after Lynda Carter or maybe even a little Linda Harrison I realized after doing a little digging; there were a lot of "Lindas" going on around the concept of Wonder Woman, I guess).


Yes, I know perhaps my homage to Wonder Woman would have been more fitting had I named myself "Diana" but give a girl some slack - I was just a few years old and was a lot more inclined to admire this character's super powers and eye-catching costume than to care about the distinctions between the beautiful actress and the story.

Fast forward to 2010 and despite Hollywood's inability to produce a Wonder Woman flick amid many attempts and myriad rumors, guess who apparently will: Vivid Entertainment (if you haven't figured out, this link is NSFW). The adult video company has announced the formation of Vivid-Superhero (this link is SFW), a stable of videos based on classic superheroes. Naturally Wonder Woman is a character that most comic nerds would love to see in any format so one would think that the power house that is Vivid would come correct on this important interpretation, right?

According to GFest, the answer is no. The image above is of the future Wonder Woman played by adult actress Tori Black and GFest gets right to the point:

1. Wonder Woman has boobs, pretty big ones in fact. Yet they apparently found the only porn actress in the world who doesn't have boobs to play the role of Princess Diana.

2. She's a Princess of the Amazons, not the Princess of the Trailer Park. Clean that porch up for Hera's sake, and buy yourself some real patio furniture.

3. That may possibly be the least sexy Wonder Woman costume ever made. Who has ever seen a Wonder Woman costume that doesn't expose some cleavage.

I know its just a porn movie, but if you're going to do Wonder Woman, you should do her right. And hard.

I have to admit that even my 5-year-old self may have questioned the weird costume on the mysterious lady standing on the cluttered porch above. But will this upcoming cinematic triumph include the assets of Wonder Woman that I admired most, the qualities that made me name myself after her in the first place: super agility/speed/stamina, an innate rapport with animals, high level tactical warfare skills and grown-up toys like her invisible jet and Lasso of Truth...? At the very least, I hope she utters "Suffering Sappho!"

 

Cold War Style, 2010

While the news of the 10 alleged Russian "agents" seems like exciting and mysterious Cold War type of scenario, the BBC points out how these individuals hardly resemble the likes of James Bond.
















The FBI were on their trail for years, yet the ease of retrieving some of the evidence against them is still deemed unusual. The suspects' emails had already been compromised and the FBI swiftly found a 27-letter password during a clandestine raid in one of the couple's homes. It is believed that the spies had not even integrated deeply into American society, judging from the large bags of cash that they relied upon from the Russian government.

So even if these people are not the smoothest of criminals, what are we to make of this old fashioned, Cold War spy mentality that we see before us today?

From BBC:

They have not even been charged with espionage, only with not registering as agents, or representatives, of a foreign government and with money laundering.

The most worrying aspect, for Western governments, is that the Russian intelligence agency should be engaged in this kind of endeavour, as if the US were still an enemy.

I don't doubt that the United States has similar counterparts in Russia as well as other parts of the world, though I certainly hope that they are able to perform their duties with a little more subtlety and finesse than what we see here. Although so far it seems that Russia is strangely willing to invest in relatively low level agents, they have already rejected any allegations of spying as "baseless."

Related post: Cynophobia Politicking: Psychological Diplomacy

Let's hear it for these "security guards"

The video below had only a couple thousand views when I first saw it yesterday and it has accumulated nearly 17,000 views since. Watch as a local cyclist returns to his locked bicycle at downtown Long Beach's City Place shopping center only to find a stranger hovering over it and cutting the bike's lock. The uniformed security guards do nothing at all and nearby witnesses start to creep around and intimidate the victim. Nobody seems to realize they're being videotaped, and the viewer can clearly see the suspect's full face as well as his Long Beach City College attire. The security guards proceed to blame the victim as soon as the suspect leaves the scene, which is infuriating.



Long Beach, a city just south of the Los Angeles area, seems to be dealing with gentrification issues of its own, joining areas such as the Echo Park/Highland Park communities of LA. These areas have had their share of skirmishes between certain residents and recent cycling enthusiasts.

I can't help but think that this video brings forth an entirely separate issue from the gentrification angle, however. Let's talk about the security guards - this video shows them doing exactly what I expect from most of them, which is nothing. Security guards rarely seem to care about what is happening around them and they seem only willing to take action if it's completely and utterly safe for them...which pretty much makes them useless most of the time since it's clear that they do not even deter crimes from happening in the first place. Thugs know that these 'security guards' won't challenge them and who knows - the suspects and the guards on duty may even have been in cahoots this entire time.

Thanks Blogging LA!

BoC's Online Dérive: 25 June 2010

The backdrop of Kim Yong-chul, the brave whistleblower on South Korea's Samsung and chaebol system.

The ultimate urban swim: Singapore's Marina Bay Sands resort.

Counterinsurgency issues are easily overlooked in the recent Rolling Stone article with Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

Read about Lovetta Conto's jewelry made of bullets fired during Liberia's civil war.

Vuvuzela Fail: This dog doesn't like the sound of his owners' vuvuzela and isn't afraid to express it.

60 years ago

Today is the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.

Read President Lee Myung Bak's piece in today's LA Times.

Keds x Jenny Holzer 2010

It's amazing how so many designers and artists have recently joined the bandwagon of partnering with sneaker companies, particularly since such projects have been endlessly pursued for the last ten years or so. When I first met Nikos he had just produced several highly sought-after, limited edition collaborations between various artists and companies such as Nike. Crossing the line between art and commerce was a big deal to certain circles in the beginning of this trend and the more "serious" artists were often very skittish about getting involved in these types of endeavors.

It looks like the mainstream has finally caught up with this now ubiquitous (and very safe) fad. Yesterday I was reminded of the news from earlier this year that artist Jenny Holzer (along with other artists such as Laura Owens and Sarah Crowner) had teamed up with American shoe company Keds for their sponsorship of the Whitney Museum of American Art's summer season (which runs from July 1 through September 26).

Holzer's Pantheon, Le souvenir d'une superamntie, 2004.

More on the KedsWhitney Collection can be found here. It's an informative press release; I just wish that they had included descriptive sections on each of the artists since they do have extensive information on Keds, the Whitney and even Bloomingdale's. Considering the artists' names are what attracts much of the attention in the headlines for this project I thought I'd be reading a lot more than a line or phrase about each individual. I'm all for concise press releases but this aspect of the collaboration (yes, I know we're all sick of this term) just shows that maybe certain things never really change.

China, the mega ramp

Considering that SMP Skatepark, the world's largest skatepark, is located in China's New Jiangwan City (just outside of bustling Shanghai) it's almost hard to believe that skateboarding quietly entered China only in the late 1980s. Xinhua News has a brief piece on the sport's entrance into China's cultural realm from the perspective of 31-year-old Zeng Bingfeng, who started skateboarding in 1989 after becoming intrigued by the Christian Slater flick Gleaming the Cube.

SMP Skatepark, completed in 2005, has the world's biggest vert ramp, the world's largest concrete skate bowl, and a 5,000-seat stadium.

The last photo stirred controversy in China just last year. Many people didn't appreciate seeing a Buddhist monk skateboarding outside of historic Emei Mountain Temple.

A spokesman for the temple stated that the outside world did not understand the life of a contemporary monk.

"People get their impressions from TV or movies, where monks are praying all day long, without any motivation or desire," he said. "But these days monks also enjoy sports like badminton, table tennis and skateboarding in the spare time, as well as praying. They even use the internet and mobile phones to promote Buddhism. This is not contradictory to Buddhism but actually is part of the Buddhist spirit."

Clearly an activity that transcends borders and languages, skateboarding has really only cracked the surface in most parts of the globe. Although skateboarding still has a lot of growing to do in China relative to its popularity in other Asian markets, the chronology of China's adoption of the sport is fascinating because it includes the fusion of Western culture and Eastern context as well as entrepreneurial risks in the most international sense. An example of the latter is University of Southern California alum Raph Cooper, who created She Hui (Society) Skateboards, the first domestic Chinese skateboarding company. Read more about Cooper as well as other notables such as Danny Way here.

Related posts: Skateboarding, Afghani style

French drama at the World Cup

Considering the gigantic international platform that is the World Cup, one would assume that all of those involved would be on their best diplomatic behavior - especially the team coaches. It's no wonder that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is apparently furious at his nation's head coach, Raymond Domenech, for his inappropriate etiquette. In an unusual turn of events following the South African team's victory over France (2-1), Domenech actually refused to shake hands with the host country's team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. This is definitely not normal behavior!

Get your hands off of me, maintenant!

Many World Cup viewers have been baffled by the drama that has followed the French team. News of arguments during practice and team members storming off the field are enough to question the French team's sportsmanship and state of cohesiveness. Now that their coach has very strangely refused to shake hands with his South African counterpart, however, France can now add an even bigger embarrassment to their roster of public fouls in diplomacy via fútbol. Much of the world's eyeballs are observing this behavior and I have to admit, I find it strange that Coach Domenech is so comfortable with showing the planet his diva-like behavior.

President Sarkozy has allegedly referred to Domenech as an imbecile, with sub-normal intelligence and “incapable, incompetent and a terrible coach.” The president has also reportedly summoned his sports minister to find a solution to the future of French fútbol and assuage the incompetent diplomatic behavior displayed towards South Africa.

What will be extra interesting is to see how FIFA handles his lack of sportsmanship. FIFA has yet to start proceedings against Domenech for his social faux pas. Luckily for the captain of Les Bleus, Patrice Evra - FIFA will probably decline to take action on his decision to not show up for his team's official pre-match press conference before the game against South Africa.

Urban provinciality - already an outdated concept

Yesterday the LA Times featured an opinion piece titled "Returning to a more Los Angeles-centric mind-set," which argues how Los Angeles should be more provincial in its cultural agenda.



From the article:

Today, as the state and city struggle against a sea of red ink, the city's cultural elite has largely gone missing, and too many of the city's intellectuals seem to take their cultural cues from the Northeast. I know way too many well-educated Angelenos who read the New York — rather than the Los Angeles — Times and who have little or no knowledge of what goes on in this city. It is notoriously hard to engage affluent Angelenos in local and state politics, and they are often more interested in discussing what happens on the streets of Manhattan or Washington than what is happening here at home.

Los Angeles is hardly the provinces, but we might do better to think a little more provincially.

It's actually a little embarrassing because I'm not sure if I've ever read something so unfortunately outdated and uninformed in a large city newspaper. The author laments how Los Angeles' influence is waning and also manages to completely avoid any accountability of his employer, the LA Times, in his complaint of how most educated Angelenos opt to read the New York Times instead. His tone towards these "educated" Los Angeles residents is rather condescending, as if readers are incorrectly choosing their reading material simply because we haven't a clue.

In another very strange turn in the piece, the author attacks the general concept of blogs. He must be aware that several blogs have been created by ex-LAT staffers after being laid off, though he insists that

all that hype about the blogosphere democratizing information? Well, it was just that: hype. Now that the reading public is realizing that most blogs are self-serving claptrap, the value of the well-considered written word is rising again, but it is rising at the same time that regional periodicals are suffering.

The piece fails to pinpoint exactly why regional periodicals are suffering - could it possibly be that many of these regional periodicals themselves have turned into snarky, less-than-substantive chunks of non-information that serve the interests of the (all too often) Gen-X writer's social agenda? In the past few months alone I've seen several instances of LAT staffers on various websites' comment sections basically shutting down individual opinions and remarks as if public opinion doesn't matter whatsoever. It's clear that some blogs are a significant threat to many traditional publications, but one would expect these older establishments to react - and adapt to changing times - in an appropriate manner. I'd like to know, then, why the LA Times recently revamped their website to clearly emulate the look of a typical (claptrap?) blog.

What is most glaringly absent from this piece is how Los Angeles is inherently global and, frankly, will only continue to become even more so. Embracing local culture here is actually not adopting provinciality but rather cultivating our international imprint through our myriad cultural influences.

Instead of worrying about our city's social status and searching for solutions that are dated and inward, we should embrace our inherent position as an international city and join the global sensibility that many of our fellow urban communities have already figured out. That and clean up our city government, but I'm pretty sure we'll be waiting a long time for that op-ed in this town.

 

Qatar to host Takashi Murakami exhibition in 2012

While Banksy may be the most obvious artist to come to mind when one thinks of an exhibition as spectacle, it's fair to say that Japanese artist Takashi Murakami isn't too far behind himself. The city of Los Angeles has played host to large and widely anticipated exhibitions by both artists just in the past few years. Now Emmanuel Perrotin, Murakami's rep, has revealed that Murakami will exhibit in Qatar in 2012 - in a "much bigger" scale than the artist's Palace of Versailles exhibit opening this September.


With the artist's imprint on so much of visual and consumer culture the past few years, holding a large scale exhibition in the Middle East may just lift some of the Murakami-fatigue that has inevitably settled in certain circles.







The Palace of Versailles exhibition, which is partially funded by the Qatar Museums Authority, will be open for viewing from September 14 through December 12.