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.
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.
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.
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.
Up the Tao Staircase: self-deprecating wit and wisdom from a Taoist perspective.
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.
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”—more plausible than the interpretation in Reservoir Dogs—has
influenced my impression of Playboy. (In case anyone wonders, my religious heritage is German-Hungarian Lutheran on my father’s side and Anglo-Scots-Irish secularist on my mother’s.)
Go ahead and spoil the ending of The Incredible Shrinking Woman by watching this eleven-minute summary it here. It’s too politically stupid to watch in its entirety. The script symbolically portrays women as victims of consumer culture. This view has been trendy for decades, but it shows ingratitude and ignorance of history. The industrial revolution may have glutted the “mental environment” with advertising, but it also liberated people from the hardship of preindustrial life. But the worst thing about this movie is that the story ends just when it’s getting interesting.
I’ve never considered Lily Tomlin a sex symbol. But when I was about twelve and I saw this movie on cable TV, I was tormented by obsessive sexual thoughts about the ending. How big and how naked is she going to get? As the question brewed in my mind, it became nightmarishly erotic. I was never the same again.
Tomlin knows how to smile wickedly just before the credits roll, but she isn’t good giantess material. If James Bond can be played by different people, so can Pat Kramer. In the sequel, when she grows to mountainous proportions, helpless to keep everyone from seeing what nature gave her, her body should be geographically splendid in its own right. I nominate December 2007 Playboy celebrity model Kim Kardashian. Yowza!