Judging A Museum By Its Cover

Now that you’ve seen what I’ve seen, let’s provide some context. As many of you know, I’ve been spending some time in New York City and I love museums, so I decided to check out the “Museum Of Sex.” You can find more information about it here. Now the name may send crude images through your mind, but I was hoping that the museum featured a mature look at human sexuality. It’s an engrossing subject, one that often isn’t explored with the appropriate maturity and depth it deserves, so this museum seemed like a good choice. Add in some good words about the place from some friends here and I was excited.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past the front door.

Now the museum may be great, but once I saw the sign with the “precautions,” I was turned off immediately. Sure, it may have been in good humor, but then I saw the pamphlet about current exhibits and it was all about…porn. Now I have no problem with pornography and the naked human body, but porn is just part of how we reflect sexuality in pop culture– it’s not the sum of human sexuality and how it impacts society.

So this museum may indeed have greatness behind its doors, and it may just be a place I visit in the future if my assumptions are proved wrong, but I found it interesting that I just couldn’t get past those first impressions. I just felt turned off and ended up deciding to go to the MoMA tomorrow. I’m always talking about not making assumptions without enough information, so I’m not saying that the Museum of Sex is a bad place (I don’t know enough to make any conclusion about its quality), but I just couldn’t get past the front door. There’s an irony in that I’m sure.

One Year Later

One year ago (Christmas Day to be exact), I began work on re-imagining Arune.Com as a forum for me to share my thoughts and interests with an already sizeable readership. One year later, the blog has continued to evolve, garner new readers and transform into the kind of site I’ve always wanted to create. I’m not sure that there’s much to say beyond thanking everyone for their support, feedback and promotion of the site. If everything works out the way I’m hoping, 2007 will be an even greater year for Arune.Com.

I’m also staying busy at CBR and you can check out two new interviews with acclaimed writer– and good friend– Mike Carey. In Part One, we talked about Mike’s stellar year and looked forward to the future, while in Part 2, we talked about his new Werewolf By Night special.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and/or whatever term works best for you. I’ll be continuing the Arune.Com holiday tradition of watching SportsCenter (or SportsDesk in Canada) with a Twix candy bar and eating a nice big dinner. Have Fun!

A New Promo For The Shield

Well, we’ve got a new promo for The Shield, returning in 2007. Still my favorite show on television (easily more consistent than 24 or Battlestar Galactica) and I’m excited to see where the show goes, after the big death in the most recent season finale. Enjoy!

I Am Time Magazine’s Person Of the Year

…and so are you. And you. But maybe not you. You know who you are.

Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I’m not going to watch Lost tonight. I’m going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I’m going to mash up 50 Cent’s vocals with Queen’s instrumentals? I’m going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?

The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME’s Person of the Year for 2006 is you.

You can read the full story right here. Yes folks, that’s right, my love for Jack Bauer, Randy Orton, Battlestar Galactica, Superman and the NHL are saving the world. Boo. Yah.

Arune.Com’s Weekly YouTube Fix

Well, as promised, this is a light month in terms of updates at Arune.Com, but hopefully your’e enjoying what we’ve brought to the table. Today we’re back with some new videos from YouTube that I’ve enjoyed. Let’s get down to business Rocky Balboa and the trailer for the film, which actually interests me quite a bit. There’s a lot of potential for some strong social commentary and some cool fights, so I’m hoping it delivers. It hits theatres on December 20th.

Now we’ve got two music videos featuring country singer Ashley Munroe. The first is “Satisfied” and the second is “I Don’t Want To,” both which are catchy songs with so-so videos. One big problem is the amount of makeup on Munroe, which is way too much and distracting. I’d say to just hit play on the videos and listen to the songs on their own, without the unimpressive videos.

Now we’ll end with the greatest wrestler of all time, Bret Hart, cutting one of the most fun promos in his career when he challenged Goldberg and then quite WCW. Classic stuff. This may not have been the high point in his career, but it was one of his best promos.

Choosing Your Sports Team

On Sunday, I went to Madison Square Garden for the first time in my life (more on that later) and it was quite the experience. My buddy Mike and I went to see the New York Rangers face the Florida Panthers, which was the first time he’d ever seen an NHL game, and my first in some time. I’ve never been a Rangers fans outside of Messier/Gretzky being on the team, but I instantly found myself cheering intensely for the team, which made me wonder: how do you choose your favorite sports teams?

Continue reading Choosing Your Sports Team…

Arune.Com’s Weekly YouTube Fix

Let’s start with 24 and a recent promo for Season 6. It’s almost here folks! You may have seen some of this footage previously, but this just seemed a lot cooler. Heck, it may be the same footage from before, but I don’t think there’s such thing as “too much” Jack Bauer.

When I’m asked why I like soap operas, I point to the excellent material that we’re going to see in a moment. It’s a few years old, featuring footage from All My Children, and proof that soap operas need not be mindless drivel. Truth be told, you may not appreciate this as much without context, but it’s powerful stuff featuring two parents mourning the loss of their daughter.

We’ll end with two hilarious rap videos featuring footage from the G.I Joe television series. These are expertly done and a lot of fun, even if you don’t know a whole lot about the shows or the songs.

I May Have To Watch American Idol

I’ve never been a fan of American Idol. It’s not that I dislike the show, but everytime I’ve seen it, I’ve never been really hooked enough to tune in again. The closest I got to really being interested was buying William Hung’s CD (it’s oddly enjoyable) and DVD. In the last year, I’ve found that there are a few artists from the show thus far that really actually produced some enjoyable albums and while I’m not excited about the new season of the show, I’m now sort of interested in seeing what kind of artists are produced by the show. In particular, there are three artists who’ve impressed me and/or produced some albums I’ve genuinely enjoyed. If you are fan of American Idol, you’ll have to check out my friend Augie’s site, Various & Sundry, where he’ll provide you eith extensive recaps and commentary of each AI episode.

But you can check out his site later. Onward with my thoughts!

Continue reading I May Have To Watch American Idol…

Heroes: It Finally Happened

I won’t include too many– if any– spoilers, but having watched the most recent episode of Heroes, I can say that I’m now very interested in where this show goes. It doesn’t change my views on the previous episode, because those that I’ve seen always disappointed me, but I truly feel like the show is exploiting its potential to the max right now. By bringing together so many characters and putting them in some genuinely interesting situations, I’m actually finding myself able to overlook most of the bad dialogue (which has improved, to be honest)

I’ve always liked the premise– real people with powers coming together to save the world– but in execution, I was never interested. However, much like Bablyon 5 after the introduction of Mr. Morden in the late first season, Heroes has benefitted from certain new cards on the table– Sylar as a real presence, the meeting of various heroes, and Claire’s fathers debatable machinations.

So, for all those who wondered if I’d ever get into this show, I’m happy to join the club of Heroes fans. Is there a cool membership card?