by Lee Camp

Once upon a time there were a couple of boys named the Brothers Koch. They had a dream of owning the United States of America. Their dream is coming true. And call me a romantic, but I love watching dreams come true.

[..]

by A.J. Focht

Iron Man 3 is the next major movie premiering on Marvel’s line up. While there is still no full length trailers (though a teaser trailer of the logo was released), one source claims to have seen the first trailer and has posted a recap. The alleged clip features narration from Tony Stark, who talks about how he is not into the superhero game anymore after the Avengers and also includes a voice over by Ben Kingsley who is playing Mandarin. Iron Man 3 is set to release in May 2013.

Thor II: Dark World will begin shooting later this month, and another addition has been announced to the star studded cast. Alice Krige has taken on a small role in the film. Krige says that she may not even be recognizable due to makeup, leading to theories that she will play Alfyse, the queen of the Dark Elves. Thor II is set to release November 8, 2013.

The Wolverine will claw its way into theaters on July 26, 2013. Despite the mess that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Hugh Jackman says that The Wolverine will be a standalone film. The movie will take place in Japan and will have and an all new cast. Jackman will be returning, but don’t expect to see anyone else from Origins.

Superheroes aren’t the only ones getting thrown in the spotlight, NBC is developing a new super villain themed television series called Hench. The series “centers on a regular guy who, in order to support his family, gets jobs temping for super villains.” Hench is based on a comic by Adam Beechen and Manny Bello’s by the same name.

Getting ready to enter their third season, AMC’s The Walking Dead might also be crawling its way into a theater near you. It’s mostly just rumor right now, but one source is saying that AMC is looking at taking the zombie horror show to the silver screen. We will have to wait for more news about the supposed movie, but the third season of The Walking Dead premiers October 14.

Doctor Who fans now know that the Twelfth Doctor won’t be showing up for at least two more years. Matt Smith has confirmed he will be staying on as the Eleventh Doctor until 2014. For everyone who was looking forward to the Time Lord swap during the anniversary special, it looks like you’ll have to wait a few more years.

Joss Whedon is staying on with Marvel until 2015, but the nerd icon is now helping to promote another movie…or not. In a tongue-in-cheek message to his fans, Whedon calls for a boycott of indie movie Sleep Walk With Me, which he claims is threatening the continued success of his own Avengers film. However, he points out, in order to boycott the movie effectively, you will first need to call your local theater and get them to show it, so you can then not go and see it – or go see it just so you can tell your friends exactly how much it sucks (not).

by Brad Warner

Sexism is stupid. But sexism bolstered by religion is double stupid. Which is why it’s hilarious that people who bolster their sexism with religious dogma seem to feel that this makes them intelligent and their sexism justified. I know you believe God wrote that book you’re quoting. But he didn’t. End of argument.

Two things happened in my life over the past 24 hours to inspire this particular rant. The first was another visit to the Hare Krishnas of Los Angeles. Yesterday was Krishna’s birthday. So they closed off the street around the temple and had a big celebration with, of course, delicious Hare Krishna cuisine. Although I’m starting to catch on that their stuff is really high carb, which could account for the sort of high it gives you, a little sugar rush a few minutes after you finish.

My friend Darrah, who writes SG’s Red, White and Femme column, went with me. Or perhaps, I should say I went with her. See, she had arranged to interview a young member of the organization who seemed like he was up for being interviewed on Suicide Girls.

So Darrah went and did the interview while I ate high carb food and looked at the displays. Did you know Popeye is (was?) a vegetarian? According to their list of famous vegetarians he is. I guess you never see him eating anything but spinach. Hey and maybe Wimpy is eating veggie burgers. It’s hard to tell.

Anyway, after an hour or so Darrah called to say the interview was over. She seemed a little out of sorts about it. Turns out her Hare Krishna friend told her that women are naturally submissive and their position on earth is to serve men. When Darrah tried to counter this assertion by citing her own real-life experience, her buddy literally went “Blah-blah-blah” and proceeded to talk over her. When Darrah finally managed to ask how he knew all this, the Hare Krishna pointed to a bookshelf and said, “I have five thousand years of yogic literature that proves it’s true.”

As I said, I understand that you believe those books were written by God. But they weren’t. That is a stupid thing to believe.

The second thing that happened is that I went to see a doctor to try and get something for the terrible headaches I’ve been having lately. I thought I had them beat, but they came back in a big way this week and I’m leaving for Tassajara tomorrow. I just arrived in town so I was kind of stuck with whoever I could get to see me on short notice.

My doctor turned out to be a woman. Not only that, but she was significantly younger than me. And just to add to the mix, she was also quite stunningly attractive. This kind of thing is often a trigger for males to distrust a doctor. She can’t be any good, she’s a girl! I’ve never thought like that. It’s just not part of my way of perceiving the world and it never has been.

It turns out my doctor was very good. Unlike most male doctors I’ve seen for these headaches, she actually listened to what I told her about them and thought about what I said. Male doctors tend to be very cocky (pun intended) and just throw some pills at you after a five minute chat and a few things stuck up your nose and in your ear holes. This doctor paid careful attention and actually discussed her impressions with me. I was extremely pleased with the visit. Who knows if the stuff she prescribed for me will actually work. But at least she didn’t just whip it on me like some doctors do with their stuff.

I wonder what Darrah’s Hare Krishna friend would have thought.

I’m proud that my own spiritual tradition is resolutely anti-sexist. In his essay “Prostrating to That Which Has Attained the Truth” Dogen quotes Shakyamuni Buddha as saying, “When you meet teachers who expound the supreme state of bodhi, have no regard for their race or caste, do not notice their looks, do not dislike their faults, and do not examine their deeds. Only because you revere their wisdom, let them eat hundreds and thousands of pounds of gold every day, serve them by presenting heavenly food, serve them by scattering heavenly flowers, do prostrations and venerate them three times every day, and never let anxiety or annoyance arise in your mind. When we behave like this, there is always a way to the state of bodhi. Since I established the mind, I have been practicing like this, and so today I have been able to attain anuttara samyaksambodhi.”

Dogen further says, “When arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and [bodhisattvas at] the three clever and ten sacred stages come to a bhikshuni (female Buddhist monk) who is retaining the transmission of the right Dharma-eye treasury, to prostrate themselves and to ask her about Dharma, she must receive these prostrations. Why should men be higher? Space is space, the four elements are the four elements, the five aggregates are the five aggregates, and women are also like this. As regards attainment of the truth, both [men and women] attain the truth, and we should just profoundly revere every single person who has attained the Dharma. Do not discuss man and woman. This is one of Buddhism’s finest Dharma standards.”

Later in the essay he says, “Nowadays extremely stupid people look at women without having corrected the prejudice that women are objects of sexual greed. Disciples of the Buddha must not be like this. If whatever may become the object of sexual greed is to be hated, do not all men deserve to be hated too?”

So there.

The entire essay can be found in Volume 1 of the Nishijima/Cross translation of Shobogenzo.

I recently did an interview on Freedomizer Radio out of Houston, Texas. You can listen to it at freedomizerradio.com

Oct. 26-28 Weekend Sesshin Kajo Zendo in Finland

Oct. 30 – Nov. 4 International Lay Buddhists Forum in Malaga, Spain

Nov. 9 Dogen Zendo in Frankfurt , Germany

Nov. 10 Balance Yoga in Frankfurt, Germany

Nov. 11 – 21 Possible dates in The Netherlands and/or Germany (Most likely Nov. 16-18 in Amsterdam or Rotterdam, but nothing is confirmed yet)

Nov. 23-25 Weekend Sesshin at Fawcett Mill Fields in Penrith, Lake District, UK (Sponsored by Yoga Manchester
)
Nov. 25 Manchester, UK (Sponsored by Yoga Manchester)

[..]

by Alex Dueben

“There’s a lot of unique small businesses and DIY movements that make Portland a kind of incubator for new ideas.”
– Jacob Pander

Arnold and Jacob Pander first achieved comic book stardom with their first project, Grendel: Devil’s Legacy, written by Matt Wagner which starred Christine Spar. The Brothers have since gone on to work on a number of projects including Accelerate, written by Richard Kadrey, and Tasty Bullet, which Arnold collaborated on with Jonathan Vankin, but for the most part, the pair have worked together on comics and film projects.

Among their many cinematic projects are Triple-X – not to be confused by the Vin Diesel movie of similar title, Batman: City of Light, Exquisite Corpse, and Ginger Fox. The duo have also directed many music videos, short films and commercials in addition to writing and directing the feature film Selfless.

Their new release is Secret Broadcast Redux, a full color digital version of the comic the pair released through Oni Press in 1998. When the comic was initially released, it was accompanied by a soundtrack and music videos. Redux includes a new coda to explore what happens to the characters after the events of the story and an all new soundtrack.

Read our exclusive interview with Arnold and Jacob Pander on SuicideGirls.com.

AnnaLee in Hidden Films

• INTO: Living a good life.
• NOT INTO: Cars, television, cigarettes, meat, drinking culture, negativity, superficiality and people with no imaginations or desires.
• MAKES ME HAPPY: Reading and collecting books, drinking tea, solitude, ornithology and natural history, listening to the radio, baking cakes, my cat, pockets, mindpower, sleeping, the sea, old-fashioned museums, etymology, entomology, marzipan, walking and cycling, equality, understanding, compassion, passion, good manners, hermit crabs, olives, peace and quiet, the sky and meteorological phenomena, drawing, painting, churches, foxes, nature taking over man-made things, wall paintings, bees, stoicism, cats and dogs, cinema, hot baths, cooking and food (eating is the best!), gardens and wild places, lochs, rivers and anything wet, plants and trees, perfume, cardigans, grey, being a stranger in new cities, unusual encounters with other creatures, marmalade, moths, butterflies, fresh air, bioluminescence, collecting things, adding to the tattooed aviary, being productive, cold climates, wallpaper, mosses, lichens, positivity, sewing, film soundtracks, the changing seasons, red hair, pickles, whiskers and paws and cats purring, cephalopods (especially cuttlefish!). Ah, life is great.
• MAKES ME SAD: When my family are unhappy. How little we care about non-human animals, our planet and each other. People not living life as well as they could do. The fact that work, productivity and consumerism overtake life – I hate the way our society is structured. Wasting time, negativity, physical and mental illness, intolerance, cages, ownership.
• 5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: A book, a quiet place, fresh air, hot tea, and of course music.
• VICES: Book buying, but that’s probably not too unhealthy. I am also addicted to expensive chocolate – that is ever so slightly unhealthy.
• I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: In a book.

Get to know AnnaLee better over at SuicideGirls.com!