Looks like the Band of Gypsies ensemble.

I'm home alone and have nothing better to do than respond to this thread, because a lot of the comments in here still bother me. So... here goes nothing.

>> ^MarineGunrock:
>> The video in question (Dita) is an act of grace a beauty, not a vivid depiction of sex. The act is designed to be something that one merely watches, from which they are detached and it is forever that way. It is a solo act meant to please for the sake of a good show.


WRONG! There is absolutely nothing graceful or beautiful about that (or her, really). See my comment on the performance in a minute.


Dirty books, on the other hand, are of a couple's acts in the bedroom, written to suck the reader into the characters words and actions, even letting them place themselves into the character's shoes. The book is more about being a part of the act, making the reader imagine (through ample use of details and adjectives) every part of sex. It's porn you read, and not watch, though I will say it is not disgusting or objectifying as real porn.


You know why women love romance novels? Because we can imagine it's our significant other doing everything the protagonist in the novel is. Generally it's a scene that plays out in our minds with the characters, not us (women). But even if we were picturing ourselves in that mental scene, it would be with our significant other. Because really, the sex scenes in romance novels are a lot more exciting than ones in real life. If we got enough romance, we wouldn't need to read romance novels. There's nothing disgusting or objectifying about getting a little inspiration. It's erotica - not porn.


My question to you is this: How can you tell the internet in one comment that "Even I can appreciate burlesque" but in the next, tell the internet that it's not acceptable for men with significant others to watch it, if only for art of the performance?


Burlesque is an art, but that's not burlesque. That's a terrible, terrible striptease. You haven't seen any of the great old burlesque. It originated as a sort of comedy show. Gypsy Rose Lee (who, by the way, the Warner Brothers movie "Gypsy" is about. I guarantee you Dita is not burlesque if Warner Bros. did a burlesque movie) and Sally Rand (not quite as good, I don't think, but still notable, and the woman who originated the fan dance). Do you see any comedy in Dita's "work?" I didn't think so. It used to be a complete one-act comedy show, not a two-minute, poorly-done dance where you end up in nothing but nipple pasties and a g-string. Look up some of the Bettie Page stuff on here.

P.S. "Even I can appreciate burlesque" means I like some, but not this [Dita]. For someone who admits they've only seen two clips of burlesque, how dare you confront me on something like that? Look up the history of burlesque. Maybe watch someone other than Dita von Teese. It's like someone saying they don't like a particular artist, or a particular period in art history. It doesn't mean I dislike every painting ever made, or that no one should look at art anymore because I decided I don't like it. Burlesque has never been about the ability to strip down from a dress to pasties and a g-string in less than 20 seconds. There's nothing burlesque about her act - it's a striptease, pure and simple.


I hold that burlesque is only that; an art. I personally don't get any arousal from it, not does it raise any carnal desires within myself. Hell, I've only seen two instances of it, both here on the sift. The female body, with all it's curves, is designed to flow like water in almost all directions. Combined with graceful movements and a dynamic act, it is a thing of grace and beauty.


Oh please. You just admitted yourself you've only ever seen two instances of burlesque. How can you possibly go on about how graceful it is, and how it's such a glorious artform, when you've seen two "dances," both by the same woman?

>> ^MarineGunrock:
As I looked around, I saw (obviously) many women in bikinis. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about bikinis, but it got me thinking about the whole "objectification" thing. If women, as a whole, don't want to be objectified, why wear such a reveling swim suit when there are plenty of good looking alternatives? [edit] What I'm saying it that it opens them up to it.
And for that matter, why put make up on?


1) You've heard it before, but it obviously bears repeating - Women don't dress up for men. They dress up for other women. I shouldn't have to think every morning when I get dressed, "If I see someone with a penis today, will he say something lewd if I'm wearing this? Might someone possibly get excited?" I dress for other women. Would they think I'm attractive? Intimidating? Smart? Chic? If I wanted to dress to attract attention from men, I'd walk around in a bikini top and shorts. But I don't.

2) Just because women wear revealing clothing doesn't mean they're inviting you to look. I lost 20 pounds and bought myself a bikini, because I felt good about my body again. I regained so much self-confidence just by owning it, and that I was no longer embarrassed or felt fat walking around in one. That doesn't mean I wear it just to attract attention, or in the hopes that guys compliment me. I wouldn't take a compliment seriously if I was wearing a bikini anyway - I know my boobs are all you were looking at.

Maybe I wear makeup because I want to feel pretty, or I got a pimple this morning, or I have a sunburn and my skin tone is uneven. Why should it matter?

The holocaust happened, it happened to Jewish, Gypsies, homosexuals, and free thinkers, free masons, slavs, ethnic poles, russians POWs, Roma, mentally ill, and Jehovah. Basically anyone they wanted to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust

We repeat history, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, whats next?

Agreed!
and Gypsys resort to *begging when necessary

the song is called Bubamara (Lady Bug). it's author, Šaban Bajramović, died a week ago on June 8th 2008.

Šaban Bajramović (Cyrillic: Шабан Бајрамовић) (born April 16, 1936 in Niš, Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is Serbian Romani musician.
He attended primary school for only the first four years. On quitting school, he picked up his musical education on the street and wherever he could, as others of his people have always done. At 19 he ran away from the army out of love for a girl. As a deserter, he was sentenced to three years prison on the island Goli otok, but as he told the military court they couldn't hold him for so long as he could survive, they raised his punishment to five and a half years. He survived as he was a good goalkeeper in the prison football team. Because of his nimbleness and speed, they called him "Black Panther". Soon he forced his way into the prison orchestra that played, among other things, jazz (mostly Armstrong, Sinatra, and even John Coltrane) with Spanish and Mexican pieces. Today he likes to say that he read 20.000 books in his life, most of them whilst in prison. He also says that the prison on Goli otok was his university of life where he formed his philosophy, adding that a person who has never been in prison is not a person at all. After Goli otok, his intensive music career began. He made his first record in 1964 and since then has made 15-20 LPs and about 50 singles. To date he is believed to have composed 650 compositions including - Bubamara (ladybird), in the soundtrack of Emir Kusturica movie - Black Cat, White Cat, and Mesečina (originally Djeli mara) in the soundtrack of Emir Kusturica movie - Underground.

They wrote about him:

Over the years, his music has been constantly stolen, copied, and imitated by both famous and unknown musicians. Promises and contracts have proven worthless. Actually, he's never been interested in protecting his work. Where others would have earned millions, he's lived as he's always lived: from day to day, making music, going wherever he wants, and not recognising any limits at all. — Dragi Šestić, Mostar Sevdah Reunion

The next 66 minutes were one of the rarest moments in my life. I was crying because of the sheer beauty of this music. Together with Mostar Sevdah Reunion, the great gipsy singer created an exceptional album, probably the best ever produced in this Balkan area. — Miljenko Jergovic, Jutarnji list, 10.11.2001, Croatia

It is difficult to stay objective while listening to this masterpiece. The saying goes that no one should go down on one's knees and bow one's head before a living human being, but in this case an exception should be made. — Mladen Hlubna, Oslobodjenje 6.12.2001 Bosnia

The Serbian singer is clearly a giant talent, comparable in his own way to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan or Mari Bonie Persen, someone capable of bringing their music to life with such vivid spirituality that it vaults with ease over the most impenetrable cultural barriers. His voice combines the anguish of rai with the soulfulness of fado - a sort of Balkan gypsy jazz Andy Gill - The Independent, UK, 15.2.2002

another version of this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6R-NC9LVFc

This movie won the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the Venice film festival.

Here's the rundown, also from wikipedia. The entire video makes sense in context of reading this.
"He has plans to acquire a whole train of smuggled fuel, which he finds at cut-price. To obtain a loan that would subsidize the heist, he visits Grga Pitić, a wheelchair-bound old gangster, who's an old friend of Zarije Destanov, Matko's father and Zare's grandfather. Matko then plots the details of the job with an ally of his named Dadan, a rich, fun-living, drug-snorting gangster type who has a harem, juggles grenades and cheats at cards. However, Dadan double-crosses him and glitches up the deal by giving Matko a drink that is drugged, and carrying out the job while Matko is unconscious, which means that Matko owes Dadan a great deal of cash. Matko cannot afford to pay, so Dadan makes a deal whereby he would forgive the debt, thereby wiping the slate clean, if Zare and Afrodita, Dadan's midget sister whom he desperately wants to marry off, get married. However, Zare is in love with Ida, a barmaid who works in an establishment run by her Roma grandmother Sujka, and Afrodita is waiting for the man of her dreams. Dadan coerces Afrodita into marrying by dunking her in a well, while Zare first learns of the scheme to marry him off from Ida, who has overheard Dadan and Matko plotting it in the restaurant where she works. Meanwhile, Zare retrieves Zarije from the hospital where he is being kept, with the aid of a gypsy band.

The two reluctantly endure the wedding ceremony held at Matko's house, which Dadan refuses to postpone after the sudden apparent death of Zarije. They were not supposed to have a wedding while in mourning, but Dadan decides to delay the death announcement, so Matko and Zare hide Zarije's body in the attic, packed in ice. Zare is dismayed, since he wants to leave the place, and had hoped that the required mourning period for his beloved grandfather would give him the opportunity to get away, and thus avoid being married off against his will. Ida and Sujka provide the catering for the wedding, and Ida is upset at seeing her beloved married off to someone else. By contrast, Dadan is really enjoying himself, whether dancing to gypsy band music, bouncing on the bed with his harem, and juggling grenades. However, the bride runs away mid-ceremony, pursued by Dadan and Matko. She stumbles across a six-foot plus giant named Grga Veliki, who is willing to protect her from her villainous brother, and the couple fall instantly in love. Grga Veliki's grandfather, Grga Pitić, wants him to get married, and is delighted that he has found his mate. The old gangster forces Dadan, who had once worked for him, to accept the match.

The groom meanwhile conspires with Sujka and Ida to bring Dadan down a peg, and rigs the outhouse so that the seat will come apart. While the preparations for the wedding ceremony of Afrodita and Grga Veliki are being conducted, Matko and Dadan pass the time by playing cards, with Dadan cheating. Sujka comes in during the game, and serves the unsuspecting Dadan a drink spiked with something that would give him diarrhea. Furthermore, Grga Pitić apparently dies, and Dadan and Matko hide his body in the attic, where Zarije's body is also hidden. However, the two corpses soon both come back to life; they were not dead after all. They are surprised to find themselves together, as they had not seen each other for 25 years and each had thought the other was dead. During the ceremony, Dadan starts to feel uncomfortable and rushes into the outhouse ... and falls into the manure. His harem deserts him, and as he tries to clean himself off on a goose, only Matko remains loyal, and he provides Dadan with a shower from the garden hose. Zare meanwhile grabs the wedding official at gunpoint and orders him to solemnize his marriage with his sweetheart, Ida, and the two sail off together on a riverboat with a fistful of cash stashed in his grandfather's accordion, and the blessing of their respective grandparents."

How to combat such atrocious behavior???? Ethnically homogeneous communities should be left the fuck alone, Muslims and all their petty points of contention with their brethren need to have enemas forced upin them until they calm the fuck down, and the countries who use and abuse the most black gold, need to slow their long draws off the nipple to a creep, and perhaps become heroic in a new quest, to eradicate sick, dumb motherfuckers from the planet.....
Like Maaaackmoood Handjob, LIKE Kim Dung Ill......Ethnic tension should be punishable by water-boarding (pulling folks behind fast-boats on a sheet of plywood)

Me??? Moving inland, growing my own food, and hoarding ammunition and gold.....
AND, driving paid for shit, as little as possible. Fuck all if some president can do jack nor shit to change anything-we will probably end up embroiled once again in some clash in the Balkans before it's all said and done, hell, WW1 started with some "damn fool thing" there.......and Thank fucking God, Otto Von Bizzy was right when he mused.."
"There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America. "

oh, and what about the serbs?...all the gypsies, etc-they are getting fucked again as well. Not that the serbs are w/o their "atrocities"....but hey, thank Bill Clinton, and the Nato Goonsquads for playing on human weakness......Politics are for people who have their head shoved so far up their ass they can only see from that limited perspective......

up up up!!

btw, it's "gypsy"

For some reason I keep hearing some Gypsy Kings "Cuando ski maria dolores, Cuando ski quei mal d'amore..." in my head...

No, I browsed across that photo online. I have no idea where it's from, but it looks like something from a carnival. I would love to have it though!

Lucky.. yeah it does seem like we just moved. I think this will be the 5th move in the last 7 years

Well, I told MR Swampgirl that he'd better like it there cause I'm getting too old for this gypsy livin!

wasn't the cashier in that movie "gypsie 83?"

oh, and the down-vote.....artists who do more with a positive take on the world, than taking on some bull-shit cause....

in Britain, the pikeys(gypsys) are loved, hated, and tolerated.....cause that's what the homeless there, want.....as well as the flat-owning, proper folks....unless, like America, yer medical system is completely controlled by those who want money instead of care for the masses......

For the second time (you have to repeat everything to Morans)... It is not a crime or criminal offense to exist and breathe air in a foreign land. It is a policy issue. INS is welcome to deport them all. Heck the border patrol is welcome to turn people away. But it is not a matter for police or redneck vigilantes.

What you fail to understand is that only a few state see large influx of "Mexicans" (said in your derogatory tone). And of the total illegal immigrant population, Mexicans only make up barely of half (54%?). Your classification of Mexicans as criminals who want to break into homes is a sad attempt used by western Europeans for ages against Jews and Gypsies. It is sad that your Moran brethren has resorted to drumming up this kind of fear and loathing because the Schiavo thing didn't work, and the gay marriage thing didn't work (well it did give us Bush.. which again backfired). So "illegals" is the last refuge of the desperate.

I care about this country enough to want there to be a First Amendment
(even if that means a few illegal Mexicans can spend a day in a public park).

I'm desire to live in a USofA that doesn't have militarized police shooting women and children
(in spite of perfectly good Mexican women and children that *could* have been shot)

I want to live in a proud nation that doesn't imprison people without the centuries old Writ or torture people (even Mexicans and muslims)

I wish we could live in a free country without Orwellian concepts as NCLB (No Child Left Behind), HAVA (Help America Vote), "fiscally responsible Republicans", compassionate conservatism, intelligent design, etc. (even an internet free of hate filled, small minded people who can't recognize a parody of themselves)

I loved the scene of the gypsies taking the Violin, truly a great cinematic moment.

Samuel L. Jackson wasn't miscast I thought, but I do agree it was hard to see him as a mild professor trying to ascertain the origins of the violin.

Carmen Amaya is considered by many to be one of the greatest flamenco dancers who ever lived. During the peak of her career in the 40's and 50's, she was an international cultural icon who combined fury with tenderness—a wild, exotic woman with the fierce pride of Spain and the uncontrolled vagrancy of the Gypsy spirit. Flamenco today is deeply indebted to Carmen Amaya. Through her artistry and virtuosity, she effectively altered the history of flamenco dance forever. She crossed the traditional boundaries of flamenco by teaching herself the fast and furious footwork usually reserved for the male dancer.