33 Poop-Culture Phenomena...

"...today, in the land of the skunks, the man with half a nose is king."

-Chris Farley

Well, that's enough Lucasfilm for me this year. This week's PCP is brimming with free radical positive energy.
Get some.     

China's Skeleton Cities

According to last week's 60 minutes, and overwhelming physical evidence, the real estate explosion in China is not without its casualties. Not only are tons of poor being displaced, but billions in residential housing is sitting unoccupied and thus businesses are afraid to occupy the surrounding, empty commercial spaces. 

In Tianjin, where the most direct evidence of this is visible, ghost malls adorn fake signs to try and hoodwink investors, but, the writing is on the walls. No one wants to live in, nor risk making a business work in a giant ghost town. What you end up with, is basically, an almost full-scale Manhattan, under construction, completely abandoned. 

I believe I have an interesting solution to the problem of China's Skeleton Cities. Although it is probably the equivalent of throwing a grenade at a tank convoy. Why not shoot films in there? Movies have moneys. There are safety issues to be sure. Plus, the location is a bit of a bitch, but, imagine what a good director could do with enough money and an entire abandoned city. China has created a bubble that will burst. Before it does, how about some ender-tainment? (LINK) 

SkiDoo Summit Ad 

I don't give a shit about the T-suspension or cool, bendy treads. I want a snowmobile that stops sogg-ass. The safety and dexterity of the new 2014 Summit means nothing to my painfully numb, pruney, and soggy set o' cheeks. Sogg-ass is indifferent. It will snow your ass all up, regardless of who you are, or how bad-ass your new snowmobile is. Lets walk before we attempt flight. Keep the asses warm.   

YouTube Jewel: Redline AMV by brooklyn560
Unintentionally continuing a theme from post 26, here is another salute to Daytona 500 from Iron Man. This time I would draw your attention to the meticulous editing choreography. Awesomely done, brooklyn560. Respect due. 
Watch it. (LINK)

Space...Fascinating

Damn it, Jim, I'm a Blogger, not a real writer...One thing that's great about Trekkies is that, because of them, there is absolutely nothing about Star Trek you can't find out. Literally every aspect of this show and everything associated with it, has volumes and volumes of information about it. All over the internet. Some think it is TMI. Personally, I'd much rather read about a possibly made-up tantrum Shatner might've had one time, than politics, war or any of the other horrible shit the news monsters constantly try to pump-off into your face all week.

The TV news is designed to keep you in your home, with the TV on, running up that network's ratings. Star Trek was a show about exploration and its ideology celebrated diversity, peace and diplomatic communication. I say that the TV news is TMI. Star Trek gives its Trekkies a place to get away from the real world where people are trained to hate weirdness. Weirdness, threatens the status quo. It gets people thinking. Using their imaginations. TV news is cool with imagination too. Their version is where you use your imagination to terrify yourself about your personal safety and financial state. Bummer. To cheer you up, here's a cool Star Trek episode from the original series you can watch... 

"Captain's Log, Stardate: Unknown." Season 2, Episode 4, "Mirror, Mirror". A transporter malfunction causes regular Enterprise to switch crew members with another Enterprise in a parallel universe. There is no Federation. Only a Barbaric Empire. Barbarian Spock has a goatee, Barbarian Uhura has a sexier outfit, and Barbarian Sulu has a cool scar. The logo for this alternate totalitarianism is Earth with sword through it. Very punk for 1967.

 Star Trek's "Fuck the World" logo.

UCB: Bang! Bang!

Every now and then, TV gets it right. It is especially wonderful when this happens with comedy. This time, it is a show called Comedy Bang! Bang!  It began a few years back as a podcast/UCB live show created by Scott Aukerman. It stars Aukerman and Reggie Watts, who host a killer array of UCB alumni and other comedy-improv badasses, most of whom are now the biggest names in the business of laughter.  

Another reason this show kicks ass is because of Harris Wittels. Wittels wrote on Eastbound and Down, The Sarah Silverman Program and more recently, Parks and Recreation. (3 other times, Comedy has definitely got it right.) Since I am not funny, it is fun for me to watch and write about people who are. Watch Comedy Bang! Bang! on Netflix, IFC or read about the upcoming season @ (LINK)

(CORRECTION: Harris Wittels may or may not have written on this show. The source where I'm sure I read he did, I can no longer locate, and IMDB does not list him on the writing staff. My bad. Fuck.)

"That's Norm McDonald! The richest man in town!!"
-Artie Lang

-2013 Wielgorecki