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The Art of the Human Response to the Naked Body

What a sicko.

I don’t know how to define “art” beyond a poorly-worded attempt at a dictionary definition.  I don’t think most people really can.  But there have to be limits as to what art is.  The “anything goes” mentality only allows for so much.  It’s now my belief that modern art tries to push those limits.

A couple of weeks ago I spent a weekend in New York City and among my tourist stops, I was able to get to check out the Museum of Modern Art.  After seeing the Warhols, Van Goghs, and Dalis I was about ready to leave 15 minutes in.  But I was told by a friend I had to go to the top floor to see the Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present exhibit.  Since I’m already there, what’s a few more flights of stairs?  But nothing could have really prepared me for what I was about to see.

Upon entering the exhibit the only sound beyond people murmuring in shock was the sound of recorded screaming.

Live Together, Die Together? End of the Road for the Lost Saga

It should go without saying that if you’re reading this and you don’t want Lost spoiled for you, that this should be the last sentence you read.

Those that know me well know that I’m pretty critical of Lost. My whole family and a large group of my friends are religious followers of the show. And while they’re grinning from ear to ear at the end of a new episode discussing what’s going to happen next, I’m more often than not the guy sitting next to them rolling my eyes and groaning, “That was retarded.”

The truth is, I’d probably be sitting right next to them toting my very own Darma Initiative t-shirt if not for the fact that I felt betrayed as a fan beyond the show’s second season.

Universal Healthcare: Why Does it Matter?

Maybe if a certain someone was there to stop it...

At first glance, the sound of universal health care coverage is a seemingly great idea.  What kind of sadistic person has their fingers crossed for suffering people to continue to suffer?

I trip children for fun in my free time and even I, in my kinder moments, have been known to grimace at the thought of a hospital declining to help repair their shattered tibias.

So what’s the deal with all these selfish jerks with their hands clasped around their wads of cash? Why are they so unwilling to sacrifice a little to help others?  Well, maybe some of them are just jerks.  But a good amount of them aren’t, and more realistically, that group of people may see the big picture.

The picture where that small sacrifice isn’t so small after all.

What’s the core of the issue?  Is this about money again?  Because it’s not about donkeys versus elephants (which would be a hilarious satirical fight that I hope someone someday is fortunate enough to capture on tape in the wild).  It’s about rights.  The same rights that others fight so desperately for, for issues like women’s rights or gay marriage, are being thrown away as an afterthought – if even a thought at all.  And I guess people have the right to sit back and watch their rights get taken away.  But you at least owe it to yourself to see what you’re losing.

A Quickie With Iron & Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days

The second studio album from singer songwriter Samuel Beam, former college professor turned indie legend, turns six years old this spring. Iron & Wine’s popularity and influence has become increasingly harder to ignore since Beam stopped teaching and started recording music full time.

Having written songs used in television shows and films as far back as Garden State and as recently as Twilight, (did I lose you right there? Stay with me, I’m sorry) Beam’s songs are no secret to the public eye.

So whether you’re unfamiliar or you’re a fan, I challenge you to give what I’ve decided to call the perfect “rainy day” album, Our Endless Numbered Days, a once-through.

Not Ivy League Material But Still Want to Act and Dress Like a Douchebag?

harvard-yard-3

Harvard has you in mind.

Harvard, the name that once conjured images of pipe-smoking professors, trust-fund preppies, world-renowned chess players, and Asian overachievers, has sold out.

The aptly named “Harvard Yard” clothing line isn’t like your campus bookstore’s Westfield State hoody. And not just because the Harvard Yard line isn’t made in a sweatshop.

The clothing line, intentionally designed to recreate the look of preppy Harvard students in the 50s and 60s, has been a plan in the pipeline for several years.

5 studio albums that could be Greatest Hits albums [by Will]

cdwill

It seems these days buying CDs is becoming as archaic as buying movies on VHS. And why spend money on something you can get for free (unless your morals forbid you to pirate music)? But even then, why buy a disk when you can use the iTunes store since the music is going straight to your iPod anyway?

For whatever reason, I have a hard time thinking this way. Admittedly, few things hurt more than watching my money disappear into a stranger’s cash register, but there’s just something special about owning an album you really enjoy. But that’s the thing. How often does an album come about that you love beginning to end?

Live with your mistakes… or lie [by Will]

stars

These days, more than ever before, I’m hearing people say they want to get tattoos. That’s cool I guess. I’m about as accepting as the next acceptor, but I often wonder how so many people can spontaneously give up a plot of their body they probably can’t get back.

I have a hard enough time choosing between three tempting items on an IHOP breakfast menu, let alone marrying one of the endless possibilities of potential tattoos. And unlike my blueberry pancakes, this decision is relatively permanent.

If I were in Belgium last weekend, this is a pep talk I would have had with 18-year-old Kimberly Vlaeminck

Alcohol drinkers beware – you’re in for a scare [by Will]

beertax

It’s probably cliche for me to say that nothing free is free, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Which is why when Obama spoke of “free” health care, a rational thought would be to ask where the money comes from to pay for it. Well that’s a question even Obama doesn’t have the answer to. But rest assured, there are ideas storming in our government’s proverbial brain storm.

One proposal? A beer tax.

Bored at Work: Racing the Sun

As the school year winds down, many of us at Buntology are preparing for graduation. This means we are very busy, so lay off, OK!?!? (And by busy I mean stressed out.) Here is a piece written by Will, who prefaced the story by telling us: “Not really typical stuff I know, but w/e I was bored (hence title).”

drivingintosunset

Every winter I eagerly anticipate one of my favorite days of the year. When we spring those clocks forward. I couldn’t possibly put a price on that extra hour of daylight. For people like me who enjoy the long days, or people with Seasonal Affective Disorder, spring is a big sigh of relief. Once the world feels right again, and Father Time is back where he belongs, it’s just a countdown until June 21, the longest day of the year. Recently I proposed a hypothetical question to my friends, asking them how far they thought someone could get leaving from Boston at sunrise and driving west, only stopping once the sun went down. And because it’s a nice, sunny, 73 degree day and I’m sitting inside bored at work, I decided to try and answer that question to the best of my ability.