by Nicole Powers

“That feeling, that tingly feeling when somebody touches you and kisses you is the most incredible feeling you can ever get.”
– Chantal Claret

Chantal Claret is a very satisfied pleasure seeker. The Morningwood front lady, who admits she was once “a very naughty girl,” has just released the album she’s always wanted to make – The One, The Only… her solo debut – and is currently being gratified by a residency at the Hard Rock’s swanky Vinyl club in Las Vegas and by a husband (Jimmy Urine of Mndless Self Indulgence) whom she tells us is “one of the good ones.”

Her freshly minted music – which might come as quite a surprise to those used to the pop-infused rock of Morningwood – is perfect for Sin City, being a glamorous and gutsy mix of ‘60s inspired retro rock & soul.

A longtime friend of SuicideGirls, we thought is was about time we caught up with the sexy chanteuse and kick-ass woman’s woman. During the course of our conversation she shared her recipe for finding love, and spoke about the wonders of real women (with real asses) and the joy of making out.

Read our exclusive interview with Chantal Claret on SuicideGirls.com.

by ChrisSick

Hey there, lil’ tyke, wassa matter? Did the President let you down? Break your heart when he blew away his five-point lead in ninety minutes of sad-ass debate performance last week? Well, guess what, your uncle Joe is here to cheer you all up, he’s got a treat for you and its called FACTS.

For the last week I’ve endured nothing but endless triumphalism from the Right and sky-is-falling inanity from the Left. Following President Obama’s lifeless (and bloodless, by comparison) debate performance against Gov. Romney, the polls favored the challenger for the first time since he captured the nomination in June of this year. This resulted in a brutal media cycle that asked such important political questions as “Does the President even give a shit?” and “How bad will a Romney presidency be?”

Joe Biden emailed me, personally — along with every one else on the Obama 2012 mailing list — to ask for money and promise me that he had one job tonight:

“I told Barack I have one mission tonight: tell the truth and stand up for what we believe in.”

Well, according to a quick scan of Politfact’s instant debate factcheck, he pretty handily accomplished that. In fact, if all you’re looking for is a quick summary of the debate, here it is:

“BIDEN: Those are the facts, right?

RYAN: This is what politicians do when they don’t have a record to run on…”

Ryan read prepared (and well-worn) attack lines straight from his stump speeches, while Biden laughed himself sick every time Ryan opened his mouth and once actually rubbed his hands together in anticipation of responding while Ryan was speaking. Biden seized FACTS as punctuation for all his points early in the debate, and after looking a little shaky on the Benghazi Embassy debacle, pretty much bludgeoned Ryan to death with them from there on out.

I knew the debate was won by Biden forty-five minutes in as I watched all the conservative Twitter accounts I follow harp on #Bidengrin, which quickly got seized upon by liberals (and myself) as a triumphant tag, so they quickly switched to #Bidenunhinged. Harping on the oppositions facial expressions during the debate is usually a sign that you’ve ceded the salient point ground.

But for a second, let’s talk about this and — hopefully, in the process — put both the debates into perspective. You judge the winner of a debate in one easy way. You turn off the sound and watch the body language and facial expressions. Fucking tragic, I know, that such an analysis matters more than any actual points that get stated or rebuttals delivered, but there it is. As a smarter man than me once opined — the game is the game.

And by such a metric President Obama lost the first Presidential debate about as badly as Congressman Ryan did tonight. Joe Biden was relaxed, comfortable, confident, and seemed to be enjoying himself, while Ryan looked overly-serious, humorless, stiff, more than a little disturbingly dead-eyed.

I spent most of the week following the Presidential debate patiently — okay, not so patiently more than once — explaining to dissatisfied liberals why their firm conviction that Mitt Romney did nothing but lie through his perfect teeth didn’t matter even a little bit. Because the correct response to such a tactic isn’t to stare at your note cards on the podium, it is to do precisely what Joe Biden did tonight, hammer on the facts, corner your opponent in their own words, and never let up.

You don’t win debates because Politifact says you told less lies after the fact.

And despite Biden’s emailed promise to tell the truth, he really only had one job tonight, and that was to create a new media narrative. If early indications that I’m seeing are any sign, he’s successfully accomplished that. Conservatives will tell you — and anyone who will listen, much less believe them — that the moderator was biased (because the President attended her wedding twenty years ago as a guest of her now-divorced husband), that the Veep debate was a draw (already seeing this on TwitteR), or that it doesn’t matter nearly as much as Obama’s performance.

But, an interesting fact is that the initial polling that included post-debate reaction didn’t show a substantial bounce for Romney. The media and most viewers were in agreement that the President lost, and badly. In fact, by the largest margin in history. But it didn’t shift the polls very quickly. The massive shift didn’t take place until after the media narrative coalesced. And you can forget all that “liberal media bias” horseshit. The media doesn’t love a liberal half as much as they love a dogfight race.

Expecting the Veep Debate to change the stakes and dramatically shift the needle in the polls is wishful thinking, at best and outright liberal delusion, at worst. But what Biden may have accomplished tonight is to staunch the bleeding, and — more importantly — change the narrative. The next few days will be highly instructive but thus far, anything is possible as the debates have broken most of the historical precedents for affecting a race.

Related Posts
Tactical Animal: Round One
Tactical Animal: Let The Presidential Debates Begin
Tactical Animal: On Politicking Cont…
Tactical Animal: On Politicking
Tactical Animal: Regarding The Pain Of Being Right…Or More Reasons Mitt Romney Will Never Be Your President
Tactical Animal: Have You Got Yourself The Belly For It?
Tactical Animal: Sorry Folks, Election’s Over, Donkey Out Front Shoulda Told Ya
Tactical Animal: Politics In The Post-Truth Era
Tactical Animal: Now We’ve Got Ourselves A Race

by Nahp

A column which highlights Suicide Girls and their fave groups.

This week Ryker tells us why she loves what’s cookin’ in The Kitchen.

Members: 4,135 / Comments: 37,03

WHY DO YOU LOVE IT?: Honestly it is one of the first places I go when I’m needing some creative ideas for new dishes. Some of the stuff people whip up in that group is incredible! Plus, the food porn is bonerific.

DISCUSSION TIP: Don’t come into the thread hungry unless you have time to cook 😉 You will literally need to eat immediately after reading some of the threads!

MOST HEATED DISCUSSION THREAD: I don’t think there is really any heated discussions, foodies are generally pretty happy people 😀

BEST RANDOM QUOTE: “Warning: the food stuffs behind the link may cause sudden hunger and no responsibility will be taken for those who attempt to recreate any of the food stuffs there in…..especially the tequila and chicken pie.”

WHO’S WELCOME TO JOIN?: Anyone! Everyone! Whether you love to cook or eat, this is a great group to be in.

[..]

GoGo Suicide in The Bridge

• INTO: Direwolves, beards, mermaid hair.
• MAKES ME HAPPY: Jezzy Blackwater.
• HOBBIES: Bookworming, movie and music geeking.
• VICES: Milk and cookies

Get to know GoGo better over at SuicideGirls.com!

A.J. Focht

Avengers 2 has started casting and Emily Blunt and Ruth Wilson are both up for the new female role. The current rumor is the part will be Ms. Marvel, the Marvel movie universe’s first ‘super powered female’ (as Black Widow was just a master assassin). While the Marvel movie properties are currently divided between several companies, the X-Men producer would love to see a compromise made between Disney and Fox so the X-Men and the Avengers movies can crossover.

Iron Man 3 has resumed production in Miami, Florida. With only about seven months left until its release, the first trailer will premiere on the internet on October 23. Iron Man 3 will be the first of the movies in Marvel’s phase two, premiering on May 3, 2013.

Guardians of the Galaxy will be the next franchise Marvel launches into its cinematic universe. One of the most recognizable characters from the series is a fury little fellow with an affinity for explosions, Rocket Raccoon. Michael Rooker, who plays Merle in The Walking Dead, has tossed his name in the hat for the role. He pitched his case in a recent interview, having experience both doing motion capture and working with director, James Gunn.

Amazing Spider-Man 2, has already begun casting, and it looks like the part of Mary Jane Watson is up for grabs. Shailene Woodley is currently in talks to play Spidey’s girl next door. The movie is set to hit theaters on May 2, 2014.

Mary Jane isn’t the only important comic movie roll rumored to be filled. The Justice League may be set to feature Armie Hammer as the next Batman. The movie will supposedly start off a few years into Batman’s crime fighting career and is looking to be in theaters sometime in 2015.

The first look at Deadshot from the new TV series Arrow based on the Green Arrow has hit the internet. Unlike the loose take used in Smallville, it looks like Arrow’s Deadshot is going to be sticking with a more comic look. Arrow premiered this week on the WB.

Dr. Horrible 2 is moving forward. Maurissa Tancharoen Whedon gave an update saying they intended to finish the script and everything else this year so they can start shooting next year. There is no current release date set for the second movie, although the TV debut of Dr. Horribles Sing-Along was on the CW this week.

This Sunday October 14, The Walking Dead premiers its third season on AMC. The newest trailer has turned up the action, and sets a promising tone for the new season. The Walking Dead magazine will debut later this month. Check back in a few weeks for more coverage and review of the first issue.

Last week, I reported the NBC Munster’s remake, Mockingbird Lane has been put on ice. That might not be entirely the case. NBC is now trying to salvage the $10 million put into the project and they are looking at a made for TV movie.

Some legal issues in the comic world, Stan Lee’s former company, Stan Lee Media, Inc. has filed a claim against Disney for rights to some of the Marvel characters. It’s not clear yet what properties are tied up in the mix, the statement given mentions hundreds of characters created by Stan Lee:

“Defendant The Walt Disney Company has represented to the public that it, in fact, owns the copyright to these characters as well as to hundreds of other characters created by Stan Lee. Those representations made to the public by The Walt Disney Company are false.”

Source: CBM

A new web series, Batgirl: Spoiled premiered its first webisode this week. The series is a fan web-series not affiliated with DC or Warner Bros. at all. It follows the adventures of Stephanie Brown Batgirl, and her life in Gotham after a close call and a falling out with Oracle and Batman. The first episode is a great watch that I’d highly recommend you view.

by Brad Warner

Recently someone sent me the following email:

I have a question – what’s your impression of The New Kadampa Tradition and the practice of “worshiping” or “venerating” Dorje Shugden? Is this all hogwash, or is there something of value in Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s teaching or is he just another charlatan?

I replied:

I’ve heard the name New Kadampa but know absolutely nothing about it. It’s something Tibetan, I guess. I have no idea who or what Dorje Shugden is or was. “Worshiping” and “venerating” are words that make me a little nervous.

He sent the following back to me:

Thanks for replying, it’s appreciated. I’ve done some digging and it seems that Geshe Kelsang Gyatso is regarded by the NKT followers as the “one true Buddha alive today” and his teachings (and only HIS teachings) are not to be questioned, lest ye be banished (seriously). Other teachings are “deceptive and evil” including the teachings of the Dalai Lama, it seems, who Gyatso openly opposes. Opinions of the Dorje Shugden thing seems to vary from him/it being incarnated in the 17th Century and is a “Dharma Protector” or even a “demon” – there is even an NKT Survivors forum on Yahoo, so I think I’ll steer clear of the whole shebang, as consensus seems to indicate that the NKT should be regarded alongside the likes of the “Dark Zen” crowd. Ugh.

To which I said:

OH RIGHT! THAT STUFF! I’d forgotten about it. Stephen Batchelor mentions it in his latest book. Yeah. That’s all superstitious nonsense. I don’t know why anybody believes that garbage. It’s like thinking the Earth was created 6000 years ago and that dinosaurs died out in the Great Flood. There is no difference at all in those kinds of beliefs. They’re all 100% arbitrary products of human imagination.

I am so not interested in this stuff that I had totally blanked out on what the names Dorje Shugden and New Kadampa Tradition meant even though I read the story just a few months earlier. In my mind it was all lumped in under the category of “Superstitious Nonsense That I Don’t Need to Bother With.” If you want to read something truly moronic about this subject, go to dorjeshugden.org/. Anyhow, there’s Dorje’s picture up on top of this post. He’s wearing a fireman helmet.

There are some fictional stories I know very well, that I find interesting and that I continue to follow from time to time. I know the difference between Captain Kirk (cool) and Captain Picard (often cool in his own way, but not as cool as Kirk). I know why Hayata can use the Beta Capsule to transform into Ultraman. I know what Tatooine is and what the Death Star is.

I know some of the religious fictions that are part of my culture. I know that Noah built the Ark, that Moses brought the tablets down from Mt. Sinai, that Jesus died and rose again on the Third Day. I don’t actually believe any of this stuff. But it’s useful to know the stories. I know the major fictions of a few other religions. I know that Krishna could fuck a million girls all at once and I know why one of Ganesh’s tusks is broken (he broke it off and used it as a pen to write the Vedas). I know the basic story of Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him, not that any of that is fiction, of course, please don’t kill me).

I know most of the fictions that Zen people find comforting. I know that Bodhidharma stared at a wall until his arms and legs fell off. But I don’t believe that actually occurred. I know that Buddha supposedly confirmed Mahakashapa’s enlightenment and that this has been passed on in an unbroken succession for 2500 years. I don’t think that really happened either. But I led the congregation in chanting the list of names of the men and women who got it a few times last month in Tassajara.

But if I tried to memorize everybody’s superstitions, I’d never get to the end of it. In the final analysis, superstition is superstition, whether it’s Buddhist superstition or anyone else’s superstition. I can find no more compelling reason to believe in some spiritual entity named Dorje Shugden than to believe in Zeus or Apollo. It’s silly and useless. In fact it’s more useless to study Dorje Shugden than to study Zeus and Apollo because so few people give a shit about Dorje Shugden. At least if you know about Zeus and Apollo there is always a chance that knowing a bit about classical literature might get you laid by some cute librarian in a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and a turtleneck sweater. Will knowing about Dorje Shugden get me laid? Not likely. Or if it did, I would really have to go out of my way to find a girl who cared. So that’s the end of my study.

For reasons that are difficult for me to fathom, though, a lot of people who ought to know better seem to think that exotic superstitions might be more true than the plain old superstitions we’re familiar with. But why bother? If you’re thinking about putting your faith in Dorje Shugden, why not just make life simpler and put your faith in the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny? At least you know those superstitions already. There’s not so much need to study up on them. Santa Claus is a good one to believe in because he might bring you stuff. Personally I have way more faith in Santa Claus than in any supposed Buddhist “guardian spirit.”

[..]