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Posts published in “Life”

Brilliantly miserable science fair entries

I was in a few science fairs in my day, and I’m pretty sure I fucked up every entry I made. I blame not giving a shit. Oh well. Can’t change the past. So It warms my heart to know that the spirit of “Why am I doing this stupid crap?” is still alive and well in the youth of today.

41 Hilarious Science Fair Experiments.

This is old, but worth sharing. Here are some of my favorites.

moonbabies

plantsandpop

exercisingeffect

Moon Babies? For serious? Too great. I foresee Moon Babies in the future of The Black Laser.

The Black Laser Icon gallery – posted for your enjoyment!

Matt Toder commented to me this morning that it would be fantastic is there was a place where you could view a collection of all the icons I’ve made for the rotator script on the right side of this page. Never one to deny a great idea, I’ve done just that. Now you can see large versions of all The Black Laser icons by either clicking on the icon to the right OR on the link down below.

The Black Laser Icon Gallery

Awesome! Thanks, Matt!

Gardner vs CA Prop 8

Gardner has some very strong feelings on the passing of Prop 8 in California, the roots of which will become quite clear when you watch his video. And rightly he should. It’s an important issue back in my home state, one which has ramifications across the entire country. It’s a battle between rationality and fear, between fairness and cruelty, between allowing people dignity as human beings and taking away their rights based on the misinterpreted words of someone who I am pretty sure would have been in support of gay marriage.

I think my feelings on the whole thing are clear. It is not right for people’s rights to be taken away. Whatever you feel about gay marriage, the issue has deeper implications on our society and the casual erosion of our civil liberties over the last decade. Laws should definite people’s rights, keep people safe, and act as a guide for society to run smoothly; they should not REMOVE A RIGHT THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN GRANTED. Imagine if a group of people put an item on a ballot to take away women’s right to vote, or turned black people back into property. Totally absurd, right? Proposition 8 was the same thing, all in the misguided name of “religion” and “morality” and “family values”. What a crock of shit.

westboro

When I see fundamentalist Christians up in arms about issues like this, I have to wonder, “Have you ever read the Bible? Did you hear the message of Christ? You know, love everyone and all that jazz? Do you remember the part where Jesus was all, ‘Hey guys, don’t pay attention to that OLD Testament. I’m the hot NEW TESTAMENT’ and yet all of your fear-mongering, hate-spreading nonsense is based on like four passages buried deep in the Old Testament?”

GUESS WHAT GUYS, GOD DOESN’T HATE FAGS. I grew up Catholic, attended Catholic school between Preschool and 12th Grade, have a great-uncle who was a priest, a great-aunt who is a nun, and I’m pretty sure that the Christian God is a God of peace and love. He doesn’t hate anyone. At all. Anywhere. That’s the whole thing: GOD LOVES EVERYONE. Even if you don’t believe in God (I don’t), you have to admit that Christians believe that God loves everyone. No questions asked. Anyone who calls themselves a Christian and acts in a contrary way is wrong.

Also, God doesn’t hate science, so you guys can drop that idiocy too. Evolution is real. The Earth is older than 6000 years old. I mean, really, saying, “Well Gee, the world is very complex, so there’s no way that it wasn’t designed,” is not only stupid but it’s just plain bad logic. It’s all metaphor, people.

/rant.

Anyway, check out Gardner and help our brothers and sister get their rights back in the state of California.

Them Presidents, they so SEXY.

Are you serious? This is the greatest shit I have ever seen.

picture-43In Join Or Die, I paint myself having sex with the Presidents of the United States in chronological order. I am interested in humanizing and demythologizing the Presidents by addressing their public legacies and private lives. The presidency itself is a seemingly immortal and impenetrable institution; by inserting myself in its timeline, I attempt to locate something intimate and mortal. I use this intimacy to subvert authority, but it demands that I make myself vulnerable along with the Presidents. A power lies in rendering these patriarchal figures the possible object of shame, ridicule and desire, but it is a power that is constantly negotiated.

I approach the spectacle of sex and politics with a certain playfulness. It would be easy to let the images slide into territory that’s strictly pornographic—the lurid and hardcore, the predictably “controversial.” One could also imagine a series preoccupied with wearing its “Fuck the Man” symbolism on its sleeve. But I wish to move beyond these things and make something playful and tender and maybe a little ambiguous, but exuberantly so. This, I feel, is the most humanizing act I can do.

Check out all of them here: Justine Lai – Join or Die

Obviously, this is Not Safe For Work.

My friend Gardner is a huge dork.

But he also happens to be perfectly suited to his current line of work: a television host. I just saw this video linked on his Facebook page and I thought it too perfectly represented him not to post it for everyone (read: the 10 people who read this site) to see.

If you live in LA and have never seen his show, “1st Look” on NBC, check it out. I don’t know what it is or what it’s about except that it is an unquestionably perfect vehicle for his brand of lunacy.

And, if you haven’t yet, buy yourself a copy of the film he and I did together as director and editor respectively. Go now!