Don't watch Venture Brothers? You should start. And you might as well start with the latest episode to appear on the Adult Swim website, "The Incredible Mr. Brisby." Dr. Venture, his skull-cracking manservant Brock Sampson (voiced by the incomparable Patrick Warburton and boasting a more impressive Wikipedia entry than some alt-weeklies I know) and the Venture Brothers themselves (Dean and Hank) go on a wacky, zany, sexy and blood-soaked romp through Brisbyland, complete with Busy Bee mascot and trademark imperfect circle above the 'i'; if that wasn't enough, the boys are eventually kidnapped by the Orange County Liberation Front. It seems Brisbyland is gobbling up Orange County piece by piece. While the OCLF, operating out of the gymnasium of the Orange County Community College, uses Brisby caps to brainwash the boys into helping them ("Geez, Ted, those hats really work. Didja turn 'em all the way up to Patty Hearst?"), Roy Brisbee dopes Dr. Venture up with truth serum in the hopes of learning the secret of cloning. Unfortunately for him, the drugs react with "something" in the good Doctor's system, creating a less-than-desired reaction. Meanwhile, Brock and ex-girlfriend Molotov Cocktease re-unite for some chastity-belt action and a joint strike on the BrisbyDome - like Epcot Center but with a bee motif. Drugs, sex, Disney parodies and OC citizens resorting to militancy. Would that life would do a better job of imitating art.
"He's devoured Orange County bit by bit to make way for the ever-expanding Brisbyland. The site where his BrisbyDome now stands was once a beautiful residential neighborhood, with a very convenient shopping center!"
"Don't forget the skate park!"
"A skate park! Right! Chad here used to be a professional skater!"
Gothic belly dancers from all around the nation -- and Mexico! -- converged in Fullerton over the weekend to give locals the opportunity for some REAL navel gazing.
I could elaborate, but would you rather hear me talk about beautiful girls, or actually show them to you? No need to answer that. Just watch our li'l movie:
On Saturday, OC Weekly staff writer Luke Y. Thompson and myself took to the streets to see what was going on in Anaheim as a left-wing group known as the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition and put together a fairly huge "Anti-Zionism" protest with only a few days notice. Fairly predictably, a smaller scale "Pro-Zionism" anti-protest protest set up shop across the street. The spectacle amounted to two groups of people, separated by six lanes of Saturday traffic, shouting at each other from opposite sides of the street.
For those not familiar with the term Zionism, and why there would be and protest against it, and a protest of those protesting against it, here's a very condensed breakdown. The area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan river, known by some as Israel and some as Palestine, was one of the cradles of civilization with a history that goes back to the dawn of time. It was part of the Roman Empire, it's where the Crusades were fought, and it's where little baby Jesus was born. For the three major monotheistic religions, it's one of the holiest places on Earth. Therefore we kill each other over it.
Right now, according to the pro-Palestine groups, Israel is starving the Palestinians by blocking their supply shipments, energy and water, causing a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. According to pro-Israel groups, Palestinians militants have fired rockets into Israel and therefore are bringing the starvation on themselves.
This stuff might seem like a world away to many of us, but for some participating in the protest, and the anti-protest protest across the street, it's very personal. So personal, in fact, that for the most part, all the "facts" they give are unreliable and all their opinions laden with mistrust and disdain for the other side. Wow, so American!
