Softcorps

(via Guardian) The regional governments in Spain have a great deal of independence and latitude, probably more than in most supposedly federal systems in Europe, but this case is a pretty unique example of local control. Apparently, the government of Catalan has been funding a series of softcore pornos in order to promote exposure to the Catalan language. Here is the account from the Sunday Telegraph:

 It is homage to Catalonia as never seen before. A Spanish pornographer has been given nearly £10,000 of public money to make a series of blue movies, promoting the Catalan language.

Pro-separatist authorities in the Catalan region of north-east Spain approved the grant as part of their agenda to “promote Catalan in every medium”.

They awarded the film-maker, Conrad Son, nearly £7,000 to make one film and then a further £3,000 to show it along with two other examples of his work at a women’s erotic film festival in the regional capital, Barcelona, last year. Details of the funding emerged when records of spending decisions by the regional government, the Generalitat, were made public.

It caused a national outcry, with critics saying the grants were the latest example of public money being wasted by hard-line Catalan nationalists, who hold power in the hung regional government.

…

Contacted by The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Son insisted the funding was for “legitimate” art. He said that unlike normal pornographic movies – which he also makes – the films had proper plots and storylines.

“These are erotic films, not pornographic,” he said. “They have stories. I know the difference as I also make pornographic films.“

He was backed up by the Generalitat’s political linguistic department, where a spokesman said: “There is a difference between erotic and pornographic films. The grant was given for erotic films, which were not explicit.”

The website for one of the movies Laura est a sola has the official movie trailer and a selection of scenes that were censored from the released version. Of all the things that governments waste their money on, this is hardly the worst. It may even be worth watching just for the novelty value.

‘Don’t Bomb Iran’

 

Starting to see this message spray painted all around LA.

Lamest Lamo Ever

Just shot myself in the foot.

Wrote an email to this dreamy girl I’m interested in (because I don’t know/can’t find her number, and there is zero chance of meeting again) but it probably ruined my chances completely. It was short and to the point. Nothing creepy or too forward. I still don’t expect anything to come out of it. If it works, I am g-d.

Porn Bears

I am an obsessive highlighter

(via Unfogged) Go ahead and add my name to the list.

Homeless, but loaded

Saw a couple of homeless dudes on the Metro the other day, leafing through wads of cash as they talked about choice locations to panhandle. One of them said he made about $40 in less than a hour near a church, but ended up getting nothing the rest of the day.

I may have to look into this …

Voice Mail

Is it a creepy habit to never leave messages on an answering machine even if you’re calling the person repeatedly?

I’m guilty of this, unfortunately. To me it doesn’t seem like I’m doing anything wrong in the moment, but when I go to think about how I would feel about it if someone else was doing the same to me, I can kinda see how others might react negatively.

So there is a friend of mine who I heard was getting married (caveat: this was a drunken rumor overheard at a party), and her birthday happened a couple of days beforehand, so I figured I had a decent excuse (or two) to call her, even though we hadn’t spoken in a while. I called her once every other day for about a week and never got through. Her boyfriend ended up calling me and told me to take a hint and stop calling. I don’t know if she’s upset about something else, or if I’m being lame, but trying to explain or clarify may end up seeming even stranger.

Confused about what to do now, if anything.