Reflections on Playboy: Escape from Thanksgiving—to the world of <i>Star Wars</i> fan films

ANNUIT
COEPTIS

Brian Sorgatz
(rhymes with “cats”)
Arcata, Humboldt County, California, United States

What sort of man blogs about Playboy? I flatter myself to think that Kendra Wilkinson might call this blog intellectual pimping.

View my complete profile.

“Composer Artisan” ISFP. Socially and economically libertarian for reasons having nothing to do with Ayn Rand. Favorite activities: reading, writing, moviegoing, piano, didgeridoo, light hiking, spiritual practice, friendship, sex.

Hollywood, California, is my spiritual hometown. I actually grew up in three other communities in California, but it hardly seems to matter which three. How could my heart take root anywhere under the tyranny of American public schooling?

I don’t have to work for a living. After my father died in December 1997, my family and I won a legal settlement.

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The Playboy Blog (official).
The Playboy Blogger by DigiHef.
Playboy Critic’s Corner.
The Blog About Nothing: Sudheer of Hyderabad, India, is a big fan of Playboy and an even bigger fan of Seinfeld. In this blog, he composes humorous dialogues for the show’s characters.
Confessions of a Female Misogynist: A Feminist Critique of My Personal Hypocrisy.
Eros Philia Agape: TerraPraeta seeks “the true nature of people, society and the world.”
Ethan Lee Vita: Philosopher and Writer. Ethan is a fellow libertarian.
Finding Salihah: the journal of a Muslim woman in Minneapolis.
The Gnooze: The G is silent. Marta Costello does a Jon Stewart–Stephen Colbert type of thing on the news of the day—and she’s prettier than either of those guys to boot. Watch her mention Reflections on Playboy in gratitude for my positive review.
Hit & Run: the official blog of my other favorite magazine, Reason: Free Minds and Free Markets; winner of the 2005 Weblog Award for Best Group Blog; “the best libertarian blog” according to the October 2005 issue of Playboy.
Islam vs. Liberty? On Islam and on Liberty.
Jamie Malanowski: by day, managing editor of Playboy; by night, a talented, intelligent novelist.
Jetting Through Life: “Jet” is loads of fun and she lives in Ohio.
Playboy model Terri Lynn Farrow at MySpace: in my opinion, a worthy candidate for Playmate.
Queen of Spain Blog: “tabloid mommy blogging at its best” according to the author.
Real-World Spirituality by Shantra: along with her husband, this blogger is a real-world friend as well as an Internet friend.
Scoobie Davis Online: a self-described “filmmaker, surfer, and party crasher” in southern California. He’s also a Playboy fan, a left-leaning political gadfly, and a connoisseur of Jack T. Chick religious tracts.
The Search for Health in Decadence: poetry and philosophical writings of Will, who has engaged me in lengthy, good-natured debate through comments on my blog.
South Side Of The 5: Robert Paulson is another Playboy aficionado.

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker. With stylistic flair, a Harvard cognitive scientist refutes myths about human nature underlying a multitude of political beliefs—including many of those that would either favor or oppose the sexual revolution.
Trash Culture: Popular Culture and the Great Tradition by Richard Keller Simon. Professor Simon makes an impressive case for the essential similarity of “high” and “low” culture. The chapter on Playboy is thoughtful and valuable.
The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness by Virginia Postrel. There is nothing inherently shallow or frivolous about spending time and money on beauty in one’s environment, possessions, or body.
God in Popular Culture by Andrew M. Greeley. A liberal Catholic priest sees quasi-Christian messages of grace abounding in the allegedly soulless realm of commercial pop culture. For all I know, Greeley is not necessarily a Playboy fan. But his interpretation of Madonna’s song “Like a Virgin” has influenced my impression of Playboy. (In case anyone wonders, my religious heritage is Lutheran on my father’s side and secularist on my mother’s.)
We’ve Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy—And the World’s Getting Worse by James Hillman and Michael Ventura. I reject the left-wing gloom that inspired the title—I think the world is generally getting better—but this book is a gold mine of exciting new ideas about whatever it is we call mental health.
The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education by Grace Llewellyn. She trusts Jean-Jacques Rousseau more than she should, but she has the right idea about America’s tyrannical public schools.
The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as an Act of Love by Thomas Moore. With his remarkably nuanced and unprejudiced mind, Moore ponders human sexuality as an expression of soul.

November 20, 2007

Escape from Thanksgiving—to the world of Star Wars fan films

Does Thanksgiving force you to endure the company of a bunch of bozo relatives? I can feel your anger. It makes you stronger. Everyone who wastes your time during this extended weekend is now an enemy of the Republic. Do what must be done, Lord/Lady (SINISTER WORD). Ignore your next of kin without mercy. Watch these online videos instead of talking to them.

Ryan Wieber and Michael “Dorkman” Scott show formidable skill in filmmaking as well as the Jedi arts.

Pink Five is not to be underestimated. Like the illegal Mexican immigrants who become a feature film crew in Bowfinger, she appears politically incorrect at first but turns out rather elegantly empowered.

If you like Shakespeare in Love, you’ll appreciate this variant on it.

Que la Fuerza te acompañe.

Update, November 25, 2007, 2:29 p.m.: Until today, I believed that Nick Gillespie’s characteristic black leather jacket indicated priesthood in the Church of the Fonz à la Family Guy. But the dark side was clouding my judgment.

Update, October 2, 2008, 1:13 p.m.: The new video embeds of Pink Five’s host, Atom Films, start automatically when you load the web page. Since visitors to my blog deserve better than the noise pollution of all four of her films playing at once, I replaced the embeds with a poster JPG link.

Labels: Cintv, Femi, Lib, NPH, OnVi, OthBlo

Posted by Brian Sorgatz at 10:05 AM

Brian Sorgatz left this comment at November 23, 2007 10:53 AM
If, at first, YouTube says that a video is “no longer available,” don’t believe it. It’s a false-message bug. Go figure.

Shantra left this comment at December 3, 2007 6:47 AM
I prefer watching "Home for the Holidays." It is the perfect depiction of a f*&%ed-up family, which is pretty much all of them. The father's toast at the big meal rocks: "All of these pain in the ass traditions ... they really mean something to us, although Goddamnit I couldn't tell you what it is."

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