left brain

on another note with HIV

I try not to be depressing in my blogging.  I try to maintain the typical sarcastic bitch that I am constantly but also throw in some art, sex, boys, and love.  But, there is something about this article in the BBC of a study done by UCLA on HIV/AIDS that just pisses me off.  (and also proves my blog article a few days ago totally true).  I came across it reading New York, One Gay Date At A Time and have to say that I just want to act out.

This is a combination of anti-retroviral drugs which can keep HIV count to a minimum, and thus extend the life expectancy of most patients. 

The University of California, Los Angeles compared a group studied before the new drugs with one studied after.  The latter group reported having more sexual partners, more unprotected sex and more drug use.  Researchers told the American Journal of Human Behaviour that the increased risk-taking needed further scrutiny.  The treatment of HIV was revolutionised in the mid-90s by the introduction of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART). 

The UCLA team compared one group of 349 teens with HIV, studied between 1994 and 1996, with another group of 175, studied in 1999 and 2000 after the widespread introduction of HAART.  Both groups came from Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Miami, and were similar in terms of gender, ethnicity and socio-economic characteristics.  The post-HAART group was almost twice as likely to have had unprotected sex in the previous three months.

 

Acacademy Awards

I am thankful that the Academy didn't give the Oscar for Best Picture to another movie with Leonardo DiCaprio in it, or even for that matter, one directed by Scorsese.   Million Dollar Baby was by far the most Academy award worthy movie and it got all of the awards it deserves.  Unfortunately, Hotel Rwanda got no very well deserved attention but then again, this is America.  I guess I am happy to see Million Dollar Baby win.  It was a great movie in a year when there was a bunch of shit and the attendance rates for all Oscar movies was the lowest in more than five years.  Ha, so.. off to Cannes!   (where REAL movies win REAL awards).

And thanks to Steph and Alek for this hot picture of the upcoming Fantastic Four movie actor Chris Evans.  (who is from Boston, btw... give it up for this freezing cold financial stuck up city!)

The Real Threat Coming from Iran

Iran is proposing to develop something far more threatening to Bush interests than nuclear capability, WMD’s, or even terrorists. Iran has been planning to set up an international oil exchange denominated in the Euro currency.

The Real Threat Coming from Iran.

Life of Pi

I just finished reading (and I am off to read Less Than Zero, hurray for drugs!) Life of Pi. I have to say that even though I thought it was a great read and an entertaining story, I really don't feel like I understand all of the hype over the book.  And why everyone on the subway at one point was reading this.  It's good and all but hm, not my new favorite.  I thought the ending was dull and needed work.  If you feel that you might want to read it even though it seems like I canned it (and you want to believe everyone else on the subway) then here is a lil review from Publishers Weekly:

A fabulous romp through an imagination by turns ecstatic, cunning, despairing and resilient, this novel is an impressive achievement "a story that will make you believe in God," as one character says. The peripatetic Pi (ne the much-taunted Piscine) Patel spends a beguiling boyhood in Pondicherry, India, as the son of a zookeeper. Growing up beside the wild beasts, Pi gathers an encyclopedic knowledge of the animal world. His curious mind also makes the leap from his native Hinduism to Christianity and Islam, all three of which he practices with joyous abandon. In his 16th year, Pi sets sail with his family and some of their menagerie to start a new life in Canada. Halfway to Midway Island, the ship sinks into the Pacific, leaving Pi stranded on a life raft with a hyena, an orangutan, an injured zebra and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. After the beast dispatches the others, Pi is left to survive for 227 days with his large feline companion on the 26-foot-long raft, using all his knowledge, wits and faith to keep himself alive. The scenes flow together effortlessly, and the sharp observations of the young narrator keep the tale brisk and engaging. Martel's potentially unbelievable plot line soon demolishes the reader's defenses, cleverly set up by events of young Pi's life that almost naturally lead to his biggest ordeal.

Lack of Buzz

First, I saw these Bikkembergs sneakers in Buenos Aires where I debated buying them but they cost as much as American sneakers and I was in a country where Puma's were, you know, $40 bucks.  But after seeing this website I am kicking myself.  So fucking trendy isolated hot. Damnit.

I love how the NYTimes talks about the Oscars.  Read on:

Academy Awards are famously vulgar, dependably boring, grievously misguided and widely deemed by both casual viewers and critics a monumental waste of time. But if you pay close enough attention to the Oscars, which will be broadcast this evening - and, in particular, to the nominations - you can learn a lot about the industry. The show reveals what the industry is thinking in the moment and lets us catch sight of the future. The event may be the ultimate in self-affirmation - we like ourselves, we really, really like ourselves! - but it reflects a larger conversation this otherwise publicity-driven industry does not always share with the rest of us.

left brain

I have had a blogging extravaganza this week.  Scroll down to see if you missed anything.  The New Yorker article is hysterical.  The HIV-AIDS blogging is realistic.  The movie ideas are good for your weekend (esp. if you are snowed in like Boston was Thursday night, AGAIN).  And yah, thats about it. 

Fable

In a world where there is always a need for fantasy.  Other than Brazilian boys, dreaming of a certain relationship again, painting my masterpiece; there is now the Xbox game Fable.  (which I have been lost in for days.  You start off as a boy ripped away from his dead family and then a teenager training to be a hero and then an adult where you can choose your life.  Every decision you make determines how you look, act, do, etc, etc.  Here are some screen caps of what I look like, currently, which is pretty amusing since I kinda look like myself in real life (minus the blue eyes and battle scars).  The other picture of the beefy guy the field is my boyfriend.  haha.

 

Netflix, 9-17 to 9-24

Movies I have watched since last Thursday.

September 11 is a movie remembering 9-11 but made up of 11 short stories from 11 different countries all 11 minutes long.  The best was from Mexico, India, Africa, and the United States.  Overall though the movie left me feeling like I wanted more of a movie or an idea or a rememberance.

Les Egares (Strayed, click there if you want to see the trailer) is a pretty good French movie with all of the typical French themes, love, war, emotions, and love. I don't want to give away the movie but the hot young French boy (from A Very Long Engagement) fucks the mother in the ass because as he says when he was asked why is he doing this, "It's what he knows."

Set in 1940 at the beginning of France's occupation by the Germans, the recently widowed Odile (Emmanuelle Beart) is a young, beautiful mother fleeing Paris with her two children, 13-year-old Philippe (Leprince-Ringuet) and 7-year-old Cathy (Clemence Meyer) in tow. When German planes bomb the road filled with refugees, Odile's car is destroyed, and she flees into the woods with her children. They encounter Yvan (Gaspard Ulliel), a 17 year-old illiterate delinquent whose survival skills and charm soon prove indispensable. After spending a night in the open, the four fugitives stumble upon an abandoned house and Yvan breaks in. Empty of its inhabitants, the house becomes a desert island paradise and the setting for a makeshift family. Odile, at once suspicious of and attracted to the mysterious stranger, soon finds herself at the center of a fascinating set of personal and sexual dynamics.

Pepe Jeans AD

Christiano does it again.  And by that I mean make me feel the need to masturbate.  The Pepe Jean video is that link.  He is shirtless the entire time and it is a video so come on now, get going !  ;)  Thanks Steph-Alek

New Yorker Article:

I am not totally obsessed with MASA in NYC, one of the top 3 restaurants in this country, even though I have blogged about it a handful of times.  But, this piece in the New Yorker last week is absolutely hysterical.  Even if you have no idea what MASA is or care still read it for the humor and the well written fun!

YOUR TABLE IS READY

by JOHN KENNEY in the NEW YORKER

Issue of 2005-02-14 and 21

You do not seize control at Masa. You surrender it. You pay to be putty. And you pay dearly. . . . Lunch or dinner for two can easily exceed $1,000. 

—From the Times’ review of Masa, a sushi restaurant that was given four stars.

Am I very rich? Since you ask, I will tell you. Yes, I am. I happen to be one of the more successful freelance poets in New York. The point being, I eat where I like. And I like sushi. As does my wife, Babette.

Unfortunately, we were running late. This worried me. I had been trying to get a reservation at Masa since 1987, seventeen years before it opened, as I knew that one of the prerequisites of dining there was a knowledge of the future. I also knew of the restaurant’s strict “on-time” policy. Babette and I arrived exactly one minute and twenty-four seconds late. We know this because of the Swiss Atomic clock that diners see upon arrival at Masa.