Here's a thought, or an extended preamble to a question, regarding the 'Janet Jackson boob-flash' thing:

Nietzsche contends (in On the Genealogy of Morals) that early societies envisaged 'punishment' as a sort of debtor-creditor relationship, whereby punishment was sought for crimes in order to 'repay' the 'debt' of the crime. He makes the point that rich creditors seek the repayment of their debts more calmly than poor or unstable creditors (indeed, they even forego some debts) - this also applies to societies when they seek payment from their constituents, for the protection this society has offered, or for the crimes individuals may have committed...

The inexplicable reaction to the Janet Jackson boob thing (Boobgate, has it been christened?) may make sense within this - it reeks of American baying for blood. It would seem to be acceptable to characterise America as an insecure society. The question becomes, then: what makes America so insecure? And, given that this 'American' trend is exhibited in many countries, to greater or lesser extents, what makes these sorts of societies insecure?

"Don't leave me haaanging on the teeeelephooone..."

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saw Matthew Barney's Cremaster cycle at ACMI yesterday - harrowing's the best word, though there's a lot to digest, and i was hungover ... left the cinema not quite knowing what i'd seen.

maybe it was just all the weird orifices and nonspecific, sexual-ish fluids, but it made me think of Deleuze

(gonna do some reading on the website about it - makes me wonder where the artwork 'stops', if the experience continues through to reading the website...

even so, in an artwork, how much metaphor is too much metaphor? should an artwork act like a lock without a key? meaning that one has to go browsing the web to open it up? I don't want a synopsis telling me where the allusions are, what the "secret message" behind it all was. If an artwork needs an explanation, something that tells me what the symbolism represents then, in my opinion, it's somewhat limited and not worth the hype...)

ooh ooh - just noticed that Kylie won a Grammy. My, how regal she's looking.