RIP, Zalman King

Zalman King directed erotic film 9½ Weeks:

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Director Zalman King, best known for erotic film 9½ Weeks and television series Red Shoe Diaries, died on Friday in Santa Monica, Calif., after a long battle with cancer. He was 69.

“Zalman was an extraordinary man and artist, more complex and humane than those who knew him only from afar could possibly imagine,” said Allison Burnett, King’s son-in-law.

Actor Charlie Sheen paid a tribute to the late director on his Facebook page, saying “the world lost a brilliant and noble soul today.”

King started his career on screen in the 1960s, star-ring alongside James Caan and Walter Koenig in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, before going on to play a lawyer in television drama The Young Lawyers in the 70s.

He transitioned to working behind the cameras in the 1980s, using erotica as a central theme in his films. King wrote and produced 9½ Weeks, star-ring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke as two lovers embroiled in a sexually charged relationship.

Burnett recalled that director Stanley Kubrick consulted King every night when filming Eyes Wide Shut because “he wanted to learn how to shoot eroticism.”

King is survived by wife Patricia Louisianna Knop, a screenwriter, and daughters Chloe King and Gillian Lefkowitz.

[vancouversun/Piya Sinha-roy/4 Feb 2012]

Zalman King, Director and Producer, Dies at 69:

The man behind “9 1/2 Weeks” and “Red Shoe Diaries” passed away in Los Angeles.

Zalman King, who directed 1990’s Wild Orchid and produced 1986’s 9 ½ Weeks, died Feb. 3, a rep from Zalman King Productions confirms to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 69 years old.

King, who was born Zalman Lefkovitz in Trenton, New Jersey, had bit parts in 1960s TV shows before segueing into directing and producing. His trademark was work with a strong, somewhat artistic, erotic content. His most successful films as a director were 1988’s Two Moon Junction and 1992’s Red Shoe Diaries, which went on to be a series on Showtime. His most recent credit was as the exec producer on Showtime’s Body Language.

[hollywoodreporter/Bill Higgins/3 Feb 2012]

New Riddick pic!

New Image of Vin Diesel in RIDDICK:

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Vin Diesel has been extremely generous when it comes to fans of Riddick. He lobbied incredibly hard to get the Chronicles of Riddick sequel made in the first place, and now that production is underway he’s been sharing production photos from the set. Diesel sent out a new image from the set today, giving us another look at the actor in character.

[collider.com/via Diesel’s Facebook page./2 Feb 2012]

6 Things You Need To Know About the Komen Foundation/Planned Parenthood Controversy

“In the harshest judgment, the breast-cancer cult serves as an accomplice in global poisoning — normalizing cancer, prettying it up, even presenting it, perversely, as a positive and enviable experience.”

AlterNet/Sarah Seltzer/2 Feb 2012

By now, unless you’re living on Mars, your newspaper reports, radio waves, Facebook and Twitter streams are being swamped with stories, images and chattering about the shocking decision of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the nation’s most ubiquitous breast cancer awareness foundation, to essentially sever financial ties with Planned Parenthood.
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Komen Foundation ousted their Democratic lobbyist just before hiring Karen Handel

Aside

Komen Foundation ousted their Democratic lobbyist just before hiring Karen Handel:

It wasn’t until 2008 that the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, a 501(c)3, founded the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Advocacy Alliance, a 501(c)4 non-profit that, under IRS rules, can spend unlimited donor funds on lobbying. It’s that arm of the Komen Foundation that former Secretary of State and failed gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel (R-GA) was hired to run in April 2011, despite being once investigated for issuing voter ID regulations that the Department of Justice determined to be discriminatory against non-white voters. She’d been serving “as a consultant” to the organization since January 2011.

[rawstory/Megan Carpentier/2 feb 2012]

Anti-choicers are modern day witch hunters

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Anti-choicers are modern day witch hunters:

As I noted last night, I have a blog post up at Slate about Susan G. Komen—who purports to be a women’s health charity—abandoning their alliance with Planned Parenthood, even though 17% of Planned Parenthood’s services are cancer screening and prevention. They claim that it’s because Planned Parenthood is under investigation, but it seems that excuse was ginned up because it was easy cover for caving into anti-choice nuts. The investigation has been launched as a nuisance investigation by an anti-choice congressman, and is not compelled by any sincere concern that Planned Parenthood is violating the law with its funds. It’s completely obvious that they’re caving into anti-choice activists, and specifically, as I noted at Slate, into the ridiculous idea that you can separate “good girl” health care from “bad girl” health care, the latter being everything from cervical cancer prevention and treatment to abortion. And yes, before we forget, it’s all lumped together with the anti-choice movement now. That’s how they made the HPV vaccine an issue in the Republican primary, because it’s widely believed that preventing cervical cancer gives girls “license” to be sluts.

In other words, a supposedly anti-cancer charity just threw their lot in with people who believe that cancer shouldn’t be prevented if it’s linked to sexually transmitted diseases. Objectively pro-cancer, at least for women they deem slutty, i.e. about 95% of us.

[T]he war on reproductive health care is basically a witchhunt, and the religious fundamentalists behind it are the modern day version of medieval paranoids of old who believed that women who didn’t conform to their exacting standards were consorting with Satan.

Anyone who thinks breast cancer can be neatly cordoned off from this growing circle of hate for all things women’s health care is fooling themselves. That’s not how witch hunts work. The fear here is not about fetuses or babies per se, but a deep-set fear of female sexuality. Already anti-choicers have scooped breast cancer under the umbrella “abortion”, claiming that abortion causes breast cancer. (It doesn’t.) Komen would rather side with people who see breast cancer as god’s judgment on you for having an abortion rather than side with people support comprehensive health care for women. That tells you all you need to know about their organization. I’m all for picking up your sneakers and taking up running as a hobby, but recommend now you do it for you, and not for the ever-elusive cure for cancer.

[pandagon/Amanda Marcotte/2 feb 2012]

Breasts Yes, Vaginas No? Race for the Cure Group’s Bizarre Capitulation to Right-Wingers (And How to Hit Them Where it Hurts)

How the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation put their corporation-friendly image before women’s actual health concerns.

AlterNet/Amanda Marcotte/1 Feb 2012

It’s probably the fastest-spreading story in Internet history about the relationship between two non-profits. Late Tuesday afternoon, Planned Parenthood and Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure announced that Komen would be withdrawing grants given to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings. Despite Komen’s lame attempts to claim otherwise, it was widely understood that this was about Komen aligning itself with the anti-choice movement, despite the anti-choice movement’s long history of opposing not just safe and legal abortion, but also access to contraception and even the prevention of cervical cancer through the use of the HPV vaccine.
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Riddick, Fast Six, Dodge, Rectal Exams, and Stupid Canadian Law [I read stuff]

Wherein I read things, laugh [or not], and pass them on to you…

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Second Photo of Vin Diesel on the Riddick Set:

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Following the first photo of Vin Diesel on the set of Riddick comes this new shot posted by the actor on Sunday.

[comingsoon.net//29 jan 2012]

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A Day in the Bark Park, The Grey, 5 Lights, People doing good things, Compliance, People doing bad things [I read stuff]

Wherein I read things, laugh [or not], and pass them on to you…

What Playing in a Dog Park Looks Like from a Dog’s Point of View (Hint: Awesome)
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Right to choose, but only what we say you can choose

Shorter version: Right wingers don’t believe a woman – especially a young woman – should have the right to make choices about her own body, but will take the opportunity (stress that – opportunity! because this certainly is opportunistic) to hop up on a soapbox to insist that the very same woman has a right to decide whether or not to stay in school. Gotcha. Also, I’m thinking that, after this woman has had a child (ie – satisfied the weird sperm-magic thing the right wing has going on) and, due to her lack of an education, requires welfare or any other help, then she’s shit out of luck.
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Conservatives Defend Rights of Teenagers to Drop Out of School, Stay Pregnant

Jezebel/Erin Gloria Ryan/26 Jan 2012

During Monday night’s State of the Union address, President Obama proposed that every American be required to stay in school until they turn 18 or graduate. Now, Republicans, like a bunch of wingtip-wearing circa 1985 Beastie Boys, have leapt to fight for the right of teenagers to drop out of school. This is surprising coming from the party that advocates requiring teens who seek abortion to notify their parents and applauded a move to restrict the sale of Plan B to girls under 17. Should teenagers have rights of self-determination, or shouldn’t they? Make up your mind, guys!
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