Now, this is what I call a driver hot line


Springfield, Ill. Callers to a state road-construction information line Thursday might have been surprised to hear, "We love nasty talk as much as you do."

The Illinois Department of Transportation intended newly installed signs along the Dan Ryan Expressway, which will undergo major reconstruction starting later this month, to instruct motorists to call a toll-free number for information on alternate routes.

Instead, the initial number posted directed callers wanting "exciting live talk" to another toll-free number, which begins, "Hey there, sexy guy. Welcome to an exciting new way to go live, one on one, with hot, horny girls waiting right now to talk to you."

Three of six informational signs were planted Thursday along the 11-mile stretch of roadway that will be rebuilt during the next two years, IDOT spokesman Matt Vanover said. An IDOT worker commuting to work Thursday morning recognized the incorrect number and alerted officials, he said.

"We apologize to anyone who may have called that number and did not get the information that they were looking for," Vanover said.

Workers were correcting the number on the signs Thursday afternoon, Vanover said. The Bureau of Operations is responsible for the signs, but Vanover would not comment further. He said the agency would investigate the mistake but he would not speculate on whether anyone would be disciplined.

After two years of rebuilding exit ramps and retaining walls, the $600 million Dan Ryan project proceeds to reconstruction of 43-year-old traffic lanes in about 10 days, spokesman Mike Claffey said. Four express lanes in each direction will be closed this year. Next year, those lanes will reopen while the three remaining lanes going each way are rebuilt.

The signs alert motorists to the coming work on the nation's fourth-busiest expressway and urges them to find a detour with help from the toll-free number.

But the first one posted prompted callers to dial another number, where they were invited to engage in "hot amateur talk and voice personals" for 99 cents a minute, or "live, one-on-one" chat with a "nasty girl" for $2.99 a minute.

This is why I don't read 東方、太陽


梁立人是一名編劇、亦是一名發明家(快碼和九方輸入法)。他近年不時在報章上發表時事評論文章,遭到多方面的強烈反彈,被廣泛視為極親共人物,是階級鬥爭信徒。此外,梁立人涉嫌歧視同性戀者的言論,亦令人嘩然。

斷背山的遺毒 – 梁立人

華人導演李安執導的電影《斷背山》,曾獲得全球多項電影大獎,並獲美國奧斯卡電影金像
獎八項提名,不少人沾沾自喜,認為這是華人之光,但在下卻獨持己見,認為這是華人之
恥。

一部宣揚男同性戀的作品,無論寫得多好,都不過是屬於小圈子的文章,絕不應該大肆宣揚
,以免流毒太泛,想不到製毒者是外國人,販毒者竟是一個中國人,實在令人感到不齒。

據說最近香港掀起了《斷背山》熱,不少喜愛這齣電影的人搶購《斷背山》的短篇小說,顧
客以二十至三十多歲男性為主。多間連鎖書店都出現斷市,書店要即時補貨。

很明顯,這些年輕男性就是中毒者,他們已被書中不健康的感情意境所吸引,不知不覺的走
向同性戀的泥潭,其中有可能加入同性戀的行伍中,成為斷背山的幽魂。

在西方國家某些對傳統社會挑戰的叛逆者的苦心經營下,同性戀者愈來愈多,這樣下去,大
有可能成為一種潮流,甚至和異性戀一樣普遍,實在令人難以想像。若這成為事實,我們的
社會將會變成一個怎麼樣的社會?

對這些現象,我們不能再麻木不仁下去,否則,我們的後代將會活在一個烏煙瘴氣的世界,
政府有責任重視這種不健康的趨勢,不能再任由同性戀者在個人自由的掩護下大舉進攻,將
我們下一代的心靈俘擄。

即使政府縱容同性戀的行為,社會上有良心的人也應組織起來,設法防止這種趨勢的蔓延,
因為,它比吸煙和填海的害處更大,反同性戀擴張,其實正是淨化社會的第二類環保。

反對同性戀是向上天和我們的子孫後代負責,這樣的人必有好報!

– 香港經濟日報,二零零六年三月十八日


You should also check out his other masterpiece, 貞操帶的妙用

President likens Taiwan-Nauru ties to "Brokeback Mountain" couple


Oh, I feel sooooo sorry for the people of Taiwan.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Huang Chih-fang Thursday expressed his support for the president's analogy comparing Taiwan-Nauru relations to those between the two homosexual characters in the Oscar-winning movie "Brokeback Mountain, " in the wake of criticism that the analogy was inappropriate. [...]

While addressing a state banquet held for visiting Nauruan President Ludwig Scotty Wednesday, President Chen Shui-bian said Taiwan and Nauru, like the two leading characters in "Brokeback Mountain," cherish their friendship despite the twists and turns in bilateral ties over the past 30 years.

According to Chen, this proves that enduring care and unselfish trust are the most precious assets between the two countries.

Opposition lawmakers, however, do not agree with the comparison.

Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Liu Sheng-liang said it might have constituted a breach of international etiquette for the president to liken the country's relations with a diplomatic ally to a homosexual relationship.

Expressing a similar opinion, Lee Ching-hua, another KMT legislator, noted that the movie actually comes with a tragic ending.

- Central News Agency, March 9, 2006

Official press release for the state banquet can be found here.

Damn movie


Now I'm quite depressed from watching Brokeback Mountain over the weekend. At first I thought the movie was sweet and nice, but the more I thought about details of the story and the cinematography, the more depressed I have become... It is a movie that touches its audience in so many different levels.

Some excellent discussions here and here, in my favorite art history critique style.

People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves To Unsuspecting Bystanders and What To Do About It


The winner of The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year was announced today: People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves To Unsuspecting Bystanders and What To Do About It, by Gary Leon Hill.
More than 1,000 readers voted for their favorite odd title, which was announced by The Book Standard’s sibling publication The Bookseller today. Hill’s book beat out second-place title Rhino Horn Stockpile Management: Minimum Standards and Best Practices from East and Southern Africa, by Simon Milledge, by only two votes. In third place was Ancient Starch Research, by Robin Torrence and Huw J. Barton.

The Bookseller narrows down the shortlist, which is then voted on by the public. Other runners-up this year were Soil Nailing: Best Practice Guidance, Bullying and Sexual Harassment: A Practical Handbook, and the wild card, Nessus, Snort and Ethereal Powertools.

Diagram Prize Winners 1978–2004

1978 Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice
1979 The Madam as Entrepreneur: Career Management in House Prostitution
1980 The Joy of Chickens
1981 Last chance at Love-Terminal Romances
1982 Population and Other Problems
1983 The Theory of Lengthwise Rolling
1984 The Book of Marmalade: Its Antecedents, Its History and Its Role in the World Today
1985 Natural Bust Enlargement with Total Power: How to Increase the other 90% of Your Mind to Increase the Size of Your Breasts
1986 Oral Sadism and the Vegetarian Personality
1988 Versailles: The View from Sweden
1989 How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art
1990 Lesbian Sadomasochism Safety Manual
1992 How to Avoid Huge Ships
1993 American Bottom Archaeology
1994 Highlights in the History of Concrete
1995 Reusing Old Graves
1996 Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers
1997 The Joy of Sex: Pocket Edition
1998 Development in Dairy Cow Breeding and Management: and New Opportunities to Widen the Uses of Straw
1999 Weeds in a Changing World
2000 High Performance Stiffened Structures
2001 Butterworths Corporate Manslaughter Service
2002 Living with Crazy Buttocks
2003 The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories
2004 Bombproof Your Horse

My idea of a Nick Guest


My idea of a Nick Guest (as in The Line of Beauty):


The Sartorialist:
I remember wearing this look on the first go around ( when I was in high school in '84) and now I'm hearing from a current high school kid it is "vintage", I almost punched him.

Natalie Portman rapping at SNL



Natalie Portman rapping about her daily existence on SNL, with the Lonely Island.

She has just become cooler in my book! A self-deprecating Harvard graduate who also happens to be the supreme intergalactic babe. I can't wait for V for Vendatta!

Life after death in Spain


Compared to that of Spain, the Hong Kong government's level of bureaucracy is negative 10.

A woman in Spain is celebrating the end of an eight-year battle to be taken off the country's death register after officials insisted she died in 1992.

Maria Antonia Calvo, 43, from Malaga said that, despite presenting herself to a judge, the Civil Registry of Barcelona refused to amend its records.

The court's decision to "declare her alive" paves the way for her to marry.

Ms Calvo alleges her brother registered her as dead over an inheritance dispute and said she is planning legal action.

She said her father died without leaving a will. Under Spanish law, any inheritance goes to the next in line but they must have siblings' permission to use it.

Ms Calvo told the BBC she believes her brother registered her as dead 14 years ago so that he could gain free access to the inheritance.

Legal battle

She was made aware of the situation eight years ago when she received a court summons from Barcelona to verify her status, she added.

She immediately presented herself to a judge to prove that she was alive but the civil registry in Barcelona would not change the paperwork.

Lawyers refused to represent her saying there was no precedent.

Ms Calvo said the situation would probably still not have been resolved if the media had not taken an interest in her case.

She said her fiance Antonio Guzman had urged her to speak to the press after he learned of her situation.

"When he asked me to marry him, I said: 'I love you a lot but I can't marry you, I can't because I'm dead'," she said.

"When I showed him my birth certificate with the stamp across it which officially showed I was dead he couldn't believe it, and it was thanks to him that I launched a cry for help to the media."

"Being dead" made life difficult, according to Ms Calvo.

"I still paid tax and rent so in that case there was no problem being dead.

"Other than that I wasn't able to get married, I wouldn't have been able to draw a pension and my younger son, who is four, was an orphan because his mother was dead," she said.

Ms Calvo said the worst part of the situation was living with the fear that the authorities could take her two children from her.

She is now legally "alive" and is planning to marry Mr Guzman in Spring.