In a Nutshell » Chapters

Post # 342. In the Process…

Svetlana — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:10:36 +0000

Love may be blind but marriage is a real eye-opener.

It is a Saturday, a sunny and cold day in Toronto. In 1993, February 6^th was a Saturday, it was sunny in the morning and cold, the roads were slippery (talk about signs!!!), but then it warmed up enough for a real snow storm in the night.

So, today is my wedding anniversary with my first husband to whom I am no longer married. I am not divorced from him either. The divorce is still in the process…

I often wonder when the break up really happened and who broke what… and honestly I don’t know. The saddest part is that I still care. The best part is… well, the best part remains to be discovered.

Another chapter in my journey. As much as I am unable to do anything these days or write anything, I could not miss this day. I should make a post. And, surprisingly enough it turns out to be the post # 342 (here it comes again, my number 42). Madness? Eccentricity?

“Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence. Remarriage is the triumph of hope over experience…”

“The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret.” – Henny Youngman.

“I never knew what real happiness was until I got married; and then it was too late.”

“I think weddings are sadder than funerals, because they remind you of your own wedding. You can’t be reminded of your own funeral because it hasn’t happened. But weddings always make me cry.” – Brendan Behan (1923-64) Irish playwright.

“Three rings of marriage: The engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffering.”

“I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.” – George Burns.

“Marriage is for women the commonest mode of livelihood, and the total amount of undesired sex endured by women is probably greater in marriage than in prostitution.” – Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), British philosopher, Marriage and Morals.

“Many a man owes his success to his first wife and his second wife to his success.” – Jim Backus.

“By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll be happy. If you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.” – Socrates.

“The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing — and then marry him.” –Cher

February

Svetlana — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:00:39 +0000

Calendar Wisdom.

Well, coming back to my calendar. Now it is February and there is a new Chapter. Apparently, the new theme is LOVE.

Symbols of Love.

Love is perhaps the most difficult of emotions to put into words, but that certainly hasn’t stopped anyone from trying. When it comes to love, we come up with all sorts of ways to communicate it – gifts, surprises, good deeds, and, yes, loving words. Consider your love for someone and look over the poetry magnets. Which ones jump out? Try it with different people in mind – a partner or a friend or a child – and compose a few lines with these symbols of love.

Quote of the month:

“There is no remedy for love but to love more.” Henry David Thoreau

So, if it is the theme of the month, I will be writing about love and marriage.

Many years ago, my ex-husband and I were about to get married and the first date suggested at the Registration Office was February 13^th, Saturday. I am not superstitious, but I refused categorically. The next day was obviously February 14^th, the Valentine’s day (how romantic is that?), but we did not know it then. We lived in Russia, and were totally oblivious to the dates like Valentine’s Day, Halloween (on which I was born), Thanksgiving and the rest of them.

So, not to be married on the February 13^th, we chose February 6^th instead. Was our marriage meant to be? Who knows? We had a car accident on the way to the Registration Office and not all of our guests arrived to participate in the ceremony. It is generally considered to be a bad sign, but again who knows? And now, I can say only that we were married for 16 years and we are not married any longer.

My ex has found another love and I guess he will remarry soon. And I struggle to remember all of those who had the folly and courage to propose marriage to me. The question somehow resurfaced and it did not always had to do with love. Maybe it is time to write a little story about men in my life.

JVS – Having A Bad Day – Personality Dimensions

Svetlana — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:41:02 +0000

There are certain symptoms you can look for when you are having a bad day – chances are you are either out (or running out) of esteem. You can learn to recognize these characteristics, which are generally related to your particular color grouping.

AUTHENTIC BLUE

Ö Attention-getting misbehaviour

o (every time They kicked me out, it was for Disruptive Behaviour!!!)

Ö Withdrawal

Ö Fantasy, day-dreaming, and trancing out

Ö Crying and depression

Ö Passive resistance

Ö Yelling and screaming

INQUIRING GREEN

Ö Indecisiveness

Ö Refusal to comply or cooperate

Ö Extreme aloofness and withdrawal

Ö Snobbish, put-down remarks, and sarcasm

Ö Refusal to communicate; the silent treatment

Ö Perfectionism due to severe performance anxiety

Ö Highly critical attitudes towards yourself or others

RESOURCEFUL ORANGE

Ö Rudeness and defiance

Ö Breaking the rules intentionally

Ö Running away and dropping out

Ö Use of stimulants

Ö Acting out boisterously

Ö Lying and cheating

Ö Physical aggresiveness

ORGANIZED GOLD

Ö Complaining and self-pity

Ö Anxiety and worry

Ö Depression and fatigue

Ö Psychosomatic problems

Ö Malicious judgements about yourself and others

Ö Authoritarianism and phobic reactions

Zip.ca – Adult Movies – Part I

Svetlana — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:18:25 +0000

Zip.ca Forums Home > Community > Forums

Zip.ca Community Forums » Genres

Adults movies

Art versus Porn

Tags:

(48 posts)

Started 1 year ago by kjorn
Latest reply from dobyblue

1 2 Next »

kjorn
Member

Hi!

I’m just curious to know if peoples here would be interrested by renting adult (by adult i mean porn) movies? If they asked question about games renting i’m sure porn would have some renting possibility too.

Posted: 2008-05-20 14:25:21 #
DoubleDownAgain
Member

Zero interest!

That is what the internet is for!

Posted: 2008-05-20 14:43:24 #
LandPhil
Member

I think it would have been a good idea when ZIP first got started but accessing porn online is so easy now it hardly seems worth it in the long run. If I were Zip, I would just start a seperate online rental service dealing strictly in adult rentals and call it something else: Zoinks.ca

Posted: 2008-05-20 15:51:17 #
kap0n3
Member

Could be a great potential here for zip and obviously it would have to be under a different name but I think there are enough big sites out there offering VOD and the possibility to stream or buy DVDs that you have to wonder if Zip could become a choice player in the porn distribution industry. Not to mention all the different sources all over offering free porn.

Posted: 2008-05-20 16:36:15 #
Stick
Member

Yes, I’d be very interested in renting porn thru zip. I don’t trust porn websites and you always wind up with a shitload of email spam.

Posted: 2008-05-21 03:24:06 #
Poet
Member

It could be an interesting idea.

Posted: 2008-05-21 09:53:01 #
fsavoie
Member

I would be interested to rent a porn one in a while… but I would’nt pay extra to have this access

Posted: 2008-05-21 10:04:31 #
Poet
Member

No, I don’t think I would create a second account from a separate site just for that either or pay extra for it. But, if adult films were added to the list of titles available on Zip, I probably would rent a few here and there.

Posted: 2008-05-21 10:38:07 #
marcl
Member

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiuIbFQkgUM

/obligatory
//Can REX be renamed to Happy Scrappy?

Posted: 2008-05-21 10:54:43 #
oilgun
Member

I would be interested as well but I can’t see it happening. There are so many reactionaries in and out of the government that I suspect Zip wouldn’t want to make themselves vulnerable legally. I mean, movies are being confiscated at the border based on their titles:
http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/2008/05/08/5518466.html

I know that Border Services are especially stupid when it comes to sex but I imagine Canada Post is just as bad. All they’d need is one complaint and Zip would be red-flagged and scrutinized to death. Can you imagine if my copy of Shaving Ryan’s Privates was accidently shipped to Kish, for example?

However, the perfect name for the service would be the obvious but still cool UnZip.ca.

Posted: 2008-05-21 13:58:38 #
fsavoie
Member

Unzip… really cool name!!

Posted: 2008-05-21 14:28:33 #
Poet
Member

Yeah, I like Unzip. Nice ring to it.

Posted: 2008-05-21 15:12:49 #
KelVarnsen
Member

I don’t think zip would be in any trouble legally. They would need a different type of business licence to rent adult movies though. Plus I am sure common sense would dictate that they would up their security to make it extremely difficult for kids to rent movies.

Posted: 2008-05-21 15:55:18 #
Wentai
Member

Unzip would be wonderful. Most of the guys who say they wouldn’t rent it would be among the first customers.
Two problems with the idea, despite the easy money in it for Unzip:
1) Lawsuits when kids rent a few
2) Boycotts by church groups that want to control what you watch on TV.

Still it would allow zip to dip into a commodities market that has made millionairs out of more than a few men (and women)

Posted: 2008-05-21 18:17:51 #
marcl
Member

I don’t think either of these would be a problem.

1) Lawsuits: Step 1: Age verification by credit card — good news, zip already has those. Step 2: 2nd password on the account to access adult titles, once per session. That way your kids can still rent regular movies. Or just keep your unsupervised kids off the computer… it’s called “parenting”.

2) The profits made on adult films would eclipse any minor loss from elitist religious fanatics trying to impose their beliefs on others. (Can you guess my views? )

It’s not about those problems, it’s all about politics.

Posted: 2008-05-21 19:24:13 #
slowtalon
Member

Maybe you’d be interested in this? haha

Posted: 2008-05-21 21:05:13 #
marcl
Member

This one’s better

Posted: 2008-05-21 21:39:41 #
oilgun
Member

Sorry marcl, but slowtalon wins, lol! Oh and that massage title, it’s been on order for, like, forever!

Just kidding of course, but it does beg the question, how long does a title have to be “on order” before I should just give up on it? I have a couple of zipped titles that have been showing that little truck icon for literally months. (Not to mention the ones with the perpetual “Soon” icon.) If they can’t get the DVD, shouldn’t they just say “no longer available” and be done with it? Are they keeping the titles open in case of some possible future re-issue? It’s just crazy.

EDIT: I found the thread that answered my question in the Zip Suggestions forum.

Posted: 2008-05-21 22:23:30 #
kap0n3
Member

Yeah I have had a title at the top of my list that has had the truck icon since I joined its been over 2 years, nothing to do with prono but still…

Posted: 2008-05-22 16:00:39 #
Superdave
Member

Okay, let’s assume that Zip decides to change its policy and stocks adult movies. Are there actually any worth bothering to list?

Zip does have some ‘mature audience’ titles. Ages of Lulu, Shortbus, 9 Songs, Thriller, The Image, others. Do any adult titles actually measure up as films to Zip’s usual listings? I don’t watch the stuff so I really have no background to share here, but I did watch an episode of Porno Valley on Showcase one time and it looks like they’re shooting basically nude infomercials. Generic artless garbage. If that’s all there is, what would be the point in stocking it? Filmgal (I think) has been trying to get the Zip staff to stock The Killing Fields. Seems like a more worthwhile priority. [This from the person who incurred the wrath of McGuffin by reviewing Confessions of Lap Dancer.]

Speaking of long waits, I’ve been waiting to see Peking Opera Blues since 2004. I de-listed it for a while, because i got sick of looking at the truck symbol.

Posted: 2008-05-22 19:09:06 #
fsavoie
Member

Superdave, I didnt watch many porn movie neither but I do like one in a while blockbuster hollywood movie inspired… like Pirate and Gladiator… those two had nice picture, cool girls and it didnt look like nude infomercial!

Posted: 2008-05-23 07:37:23 #
kap0n3
Member

If you are going to expect art as you put it when watching porn then you obviously missed the point. Most people don’t really care how cheesy the movies look so long as they ” get the job done” . There are many reasons to watch porn as there are people. That’s part of what makes it a billion dollar industry (and that’s not mentioning all the “free” porn)

Posted: 2008-05-24 00:15:25 #
Eric6420
Member

Well, I have nothing against porn movies, but there are already companies that are doing it, at least for the gay market. That being said, I do not care much for porn because when you have seen one of them, they are repetitive and tend to be always the same thing…The ones from Bel Ami (gay) are really good…

Posted: 2008-05-24 12:30:40 #
oilgun
Member

Eric6420, please let me know which companies offer gay adult DVDs for rent through the mail because I’m not aware of any.

Posted: 2008-05-26 12:27:52 #
Superdave
Member

kapon3:

a) we know this
b) YOU’RE missing the point

You acknowledge a multitude of motivations for watching porn yet dismiss cinematic quality rather than consider it one of them. Nobody here expects art in porn or is likely to confuse the two and nobody ‘put it’ that way either. Let’s start over.

Did anybody watch the documentary Inside Deep Throat? It chronicles not just the furor over that particular movie, but the political and legal backlash that has tracked the adult movie industry throughout its history. It’s actually quite fascinating. Back in the early 70’s the Nixon administration commissioned an independent study by leading social scientists into the effects of watching porn on social behavior. They found that there wasn’t any. This was politically inconvenient and potentially embarrassing for the administration, so the results of the study were not widely circulated. The adult movie industry, meanwhile, was busy going through an interesting transition, organizing up from the underground, illegal (ie. mafia) activity it had been for so long into at least marginal legitimacy and becoming increasingly cinematically ambitious. 70s style indie exploitation films with hardcore sex thrown in were commercially viable enough to make producers a lot of money and encourage them to tackle bigger projects. This was a potentially interesting cinematic development: violence and horror were getting increasingly explicit in genre movie making, why not sex? Then along came the Reagan administration which, not wanting to repeat the error of independent research, appointed the Meese Commission to ‘investigate’ porn in America with the specific purpose of coming to the pre-determined conclusion that it was evil. (There are several good books on this particular travesty, which I read back when I was an anti-censorship advocate. Man, was THAT tough racket. Taking on the religious right and the loony left at the same time. Yeesh.) Anyway, by setting restrictive legal guidelines as to what porn could contain and where and how it could be marketed, the Meese Commission did NOT succeed in stamping it out as it had hoped, but simply set a permanent cap on what an adult movie could be and how much it could cost if it wanted to make back its investment. The result was what Norman Mailer called in the documentary ‘a commodity and a mediocre one at that’.

The most interesting fact in the movie, however, is a notation that Hollywood makes on average about 300 moves annually while about 14,000 adult movies are made. A movie buff like me is going to watch about half to two-thirds of Hollywood’s output per year, about 3-4 movies a week. That would be an AWFUL lot of porn to watch and it would still be only 1% of what’s out there. THAT’S why I brought up the subject. If you don’t know the market (and I don’t) the numbers are stacked against you; and if there isn’t anything that would be of any interest or quality cinematically, why waste the time?

That was my exact thought a few years back after I first saw Boogie Nights. I loved that movie so much that I thought it might be fun to seek out one of the Johnny Wadd movies just to see what they were actually like (the Marky-Mark Walberg character is a thinly disguised version of John C. Holmes, as I understand it). Reviews in imdb.com, however, discouraged me and I never bothered.

Posted: 2008-05-26 13:08:33 #
Eric6420
Member

Well, there is maledvd.net.

Posted: 2008-05-26 18:42:10 #
oilgun
Member

Well, that’s going to change my life Thanks!

Posted: 2008-05-26 20:54:54 #
LivingDedMan
Member

Well, it wouldn’t bother me any if they offered adult movies, but I think they would lose more customers than they would gain if they offered adult movies. Some ppl don’t want to be associated with a company that offers porno.

Posted: 2008-05-28 16:47:01 #
fsavoie
Member

” Some ppl don’t want to be associated with a company that offers porno” … !?!?!?
So those people don’t go in video club??? They almost have all porn section…!?!?

Posted: 2008-05-29 09:25:10 #
fsavoie
Member

and they don’t use Internet??… There is alot of porn there…

Posted: 2008-05-29 09:26:12 #

1 2 Next »

Chapters – Zip.ca – Kallinik to Wentai

Svetlana — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:23:05 +0000

Dear Wentai!!!!!!!!!!! I like you already! You gave the best response to my idea. High five for that! However, you were wrong. My idea flew! I opened my club. I am the Organizer (I can’t come up with a better title, but I am open to suggestions.) So far it is MY club and I make the rules. Fair enough? My club has already one member. His nickname is “Go-Ahead” guy and his number is 1. Hey, he was here first. My number is 42 and there is a reason. We called MY club “The Crazy People”, but it is subject to change. I am open to suggestions. It is free and everybody is invited.

It is located at Chapters (Kennedy Commons). I am writing here today (as of now).

The rules:

1) I accept you as long as you accept me.
2) We can discuss anything. Books, films, sex, life skills, education, cars, life. Everything! If you cannto handle this, then do not.
3) It is a open club concept. When I am here, then you can come. Be my guest.
4) If you cannot handle me, then do not.

I always get what I want. Remember the sex talk? Did I get what I wanted? Oh, yeah!!!!!!!!!!! Would you like to hear the story? Come and I tell you.

I do not hide behind the computer. I sit in front of you (kinda easier to type). But, hey, I am crazy. Read my posts, if you need proof.

See you! Hugs, kisses and LOVE

Kallinik

Zip.ca – Literary Club

Svetlana — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:13:36 +0000

Well, it is self-explanatory. It’s a literary club. I like taking things literally. It is my forte. And it’s tons of fun. Speaking of F-words.

Fun
Friend(s)
Freedom

Take your pick. I have been told to “zip it up”. I did. You see, I am a member of Zip(pers). It is never what you think. Expect the unexpected. Cause it is coming. Or going. My club is always there. Where I go. And I most of the time on the Go. Go, Canada, Go. Go, Toronto, go. Go Green. Whatever. Are we having fun, yet? What is my point? Point Zero. Flashpoint. Like I care. How does it sound? Check out my profile. By the way, Chapters still is my Favourite (another F-word) store.

By the way, I am crazy and I am not (it’s a paradox). I am unique just like everybody else. My number is 42. Why? I picked this number, this number picked me. It is the answer to “Life, the universe and everything”. However. My Police Division number is 42, which is located at 242 Milner Avenue. Both of my parents are born in 1942. I am 37 years of age. My grandfather was 37 in 1942. My favourite book is “Moscow 2042″. And my telephone number ends with … By the way, where is Zaphod? I think I am on the way of developing the mind that he so cleverly suggested, don’t you think?

Chapters

Svetlana — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:03:18 +0000

My inspiration:

“You are what you read.” (From “You’ve got mail”)

I was reading a book. Don’t I always read something? It was”1-2-3 Magic. Effective Discipline for Children 2-12″ by Thomas W. Phelan. Where? In a gymnastics facility (oh, boy, don’t I love this word “facility”, but I cannot come up with a better one for now). So a little boy (age 4 or 5) asked me whether it was a chapter book. I did not quite understand what he meant. Chapters, what Chapters? Children tend to take things literally. So do we, by the way. So I linked the word immediately to the Chapters store. It is a store, a bookstore, at least here in Canada, where I live. It was not what the boy meant. He meant a book with chapters containing mostly text and only a few pictures.

It was a bit funny. Yes, it was a chapter book and, yes, I bought it in Chapters. There must be a reason for calling a bookstore “Chapters”, don’t you think? And, by the way, Chapters is my favourite store because I love books. I always did. To read. Now I am trying to write. And I am trying to have fun by taking things literally. Because it is so much fun. It is simply a game. A word game. A mind game. And our minds need more exercise. “Chapters” is asking us to “get smarter”. So, why don’t we?