TresSugar

Fact or Fiction: Genital Herpes

DearSugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:00:00 -0800

I know you'd rather not talk about herpes, but the only way you'll know how to prevent yourself from contracting this STI is by knowing the facts and myths. Take this little quiz and you just may learn a thing or two.

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Fact or Fiction: Debunking Myths About the Muslim Headscarf

TresSugar — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:30:00 -0700

The hijab - the scarf some Muslim women wear over their heads - is a controversial piece of clothing. Muslim women in America must weigh their desire to follow their faith, with the risk of standing out, against a sometimes-judgmental society. Perhaps society would be more understanding if people knew more about the religious garment. Take this quiz to find out if you can spot fact from the fiction.

Source: Flickr User ranoush

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Fact or Fiction: Can You Spot the Sex Myths?

TresSugar — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:00:00 -0700

From the truly absurd (you can't get pregnant your first time) to the more ambiguous (oral sex is less risky), sex myths abound. But y'all are smart, and can surely separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the perils and pleasures of sex. Test your knowledge with my myth-versus-fact quiz.

Photo by Flickr User anomalous4

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The Significant Objects Project, Or, How to Sell Stuff on eBay

TresSugar — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0700

What makes an object significant, and possibly valuable? Some writers wagered that it's the story behind the object, and they set out to test their theory.

The Significant Objects Project pairs writers with an object and asks them to write a fictional story about it, with the belief it will then become significant to someone. Significance, in this case, means that someone would be moved to buy the object on eBay.

If you'd like to read the ~~description~~ story that accompanied the smiley face mug's auction on eBay and to find out its final price (it started at one dollar), read more.

The auction for this smiley face mug significant object started at $2 and ended at $32.08. Perhaps the price went up because of Ben Greenman's story, excerpted below?

"This object is best known from its appearance in the 1939 film No News From The Navy, a comedy starring James Wilton as a hapless midshipman who cannot set aside his seafaring ways, even when he is confined to dry land as a result of an injury. Wilton’s character (who is called, simply, “Sailor”) competes for the affection of a young woman named Evelyn (Mary Hannan) despite the opposition of her father (Gordon Howard) and a larger, determined suitor (Kenneth Lopp). The film is a second-tier comedy, but there is one classic scene. in which Sailor shaves before taking Evelyn out on a date. He is clearly accustomed to shaving aboard his ship, and as a result, he is constantly attempting to regain his balance, despite the fact the floor is level and stable. The critic Leonard Folsom has written that “The unheralded Wilton has a scene that combines the physical complexity of a Chaplin solo with close-ups of inexpressive expression that rival the finest moments of Keaton.” At the beginning of that scene, Wilton uses this smiling mug as his shaving mug, and while he sets it on the shelf above the washbasin midway through, it remains, as Folsom writes, 'an oddly compelling focus of the film so long as it is onscreen, enormous in its diminutive size, menacing in its cheer.' "

To find out how other significant objects fared on eBay, click here.

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5 Reasons Vampires Are the New Bad Boys

TresSugar — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:00:00 -0700

Vampires have long been a staple of romantic literature and movies, but with Twilight and True Blood, we're in the middle of a vampire sexual revolution.

In the latest issue of Nylon, True Blood star Stephen Moyer offers his theory as to why women are so drawn to vampires as sex symbols:

"The thing about vampirism is that it taps into a female point of view - you have an old-fashioned gentleman with manners who is a f*cking killer . . . it’s an interesting duality, because in our present society it would be an odd thing for a woman to say, 'I want my man to be physical with me.' . . . It’s difficult stuff for a bloke, but a vampire gets away with it."

Yikes! Vampires as sexual-domination fantasy? I hope that's not what the teenage Twihards are after. But it's hard to ignore the fact that for many modern young women, vampires are the new bad boys. Here are five good reasons why.

Have Cafe Novelists Replaced Boozin' Writers?

TresSugar — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:30:07 -0700

In the past, the writer's life was often a lush life. Many great American novelists - including Ernest Hemingway and John Cheever - were notorious drunks. In fact, according to an article by Tom Shone in the new issue of More Intelligent Life, five of America's seven Nobel literary laureates were alcoholics:

In America William Faulkner and Scott Fitzgerald were the Paris and Britney of their day, caught in the funhouse mirror of fame, their careers a vivid tabloid mash-up of hospitalizations and electroshock therapies.

Rehab wasn't something people did back in the '30s. Neither was recovery-centric memoir writing. When F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a story for Esquire chronicling his struggles, Hemingway told him to cast his "balls into the sea-if you have any balls left."

Ever since rehab went mainstream in the 1960s, Shone observes, the boozing writer stereotype is less typical. Both Cheever and Raymond Carver came out of rehab and kept writing; Stephen King got sober after an intervention. So where have all the overindulgent writers gone?

Obama's Ads Haven't Been Truthful, Despite Honest Claims

CitizenSugar — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:00:03 -0700

After ruthless finger-pointing at news reports of the verity of McCain's campaign ads, it appears Obama hasn't been as blameless as he might like us to think. The Illinois senator is showing he can play the truth-bending game, especially as the campaign flies toward the finish line. In the past two weeks, the Obama campaign has released five ads featuring less-than-factual statements about McCain.

Despite Obama saying, “I just have a different philosophy, I’m going to respond with the truth,” and, “I’m not going to start making up lies about John McCain," that philosophy crumbled in the following ads recently aired:

One commercial claims that Mr. McCain prevented federal financial support for stem cell research when, in fact, since 2001 he consistently broke with President Bush on this very topic. His running mate, Sarah Palin, however, supports President Bush.
Another ad highlights Mr. McCain’s vote against alternative energy incentives when the truth is he proposed a tax break that would cover both oil companies and those developing new power sources. Perhaps the most misleading has McCain’s immigration policies linked with those of radio personality Rush Limbaugh. In fact, Mr. Limbaugh is a fierce critic of Mr. McCain’s immigration stance and many other of his policies.

To see who's worried about this, read more.

The Democratic Party is concerned that misleading ads mean Obama is risking his carefully cultivated “change” motif. One longtime Democrat sees this as an inevitable reaction to McCain’s attacks. “All’s fair in love, war, and politics. Given the fact that the other side has come after him for quite some time, he has every right to fight back, and I think people understand that.”

The McCain camp is not pleased at all with Obama's ads. Tucker Bounds, spokesman for McCain, said: “It’s bad enough that Barack Obama fictionalizes his own record, but it is a disgrace that he lies about John McCain’s.” PolitiFact has just awarded Obama the “Pants On Fire” award and FactCheck.org has awarded him a "False!" Is Obama scooting through smelling like a rose when the stink is of a whole different variety?

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Spike Lee's War Epic Starts a Battle With Italy

LibertySugar — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:00:00 -0700

When Spike Lee adapted the novel Miracle at St. Anna, he intended to celebrate the memory of African-American soldiers trapped in an Italian village during World War II. He also ended up offending a whole different set of veterans. Italian World War II anti-Fascist partisans have denounced Miracle at St. Anna as full of lies, and insulting to the Italian Resistance.

In August 1944, Nazis killed 560 civilians in the village of Sant' Anna di Stazzema. The tragic episode is featured in the film, which suggests that the anti-Fascist forces indirectly caused the attack by hiding in Sant'Anna, but then fleeing when the Nazis descended. In addition, one character is shown collaborating with the Nazis. The author of the novel answered to the controversy:

I am very sorry if I have offended the partisans. I have enormous respect for them. As a black American, I understand what it's like for someone to tell your history, and they are not you. But unfortunately, the history of World War II here in Italy is ours as well, and this was the best I could do . . . it is after all a work of fiction, not a history book.

Spike Lee seems to think he has fact and fiction on his side, saying to the Italians: "I am not apologizing for anything. [There's] a lot about your history you have yet to come to grips with . . . This film is our interpretation, and I stand behind it.” Since the movie was epically disappointing to BuzzSugar, perhaps the controversy wasn't worth it.

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Headlines: Real or Fake?

GiggleSugar — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0700

It's that time again, time to see if you can sort fact from fiction, real headlines from fake ones! Get on your mark, get set . . . go!

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Czech Men Wage Legal Battle Over Fake Land

LibertySugar — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:00:49 -0700

Actor Bolek Polivka is suing his former business partner Tomas Harabis over the rights to the Wallachian Kingdom. Only the Wallachian Kingdom isn't on a map - it exists in a magical land, far, far away and was founded by Tomas and some friends as a joke.

The Wallachian Kingdom shows up on tourist maps in the south-east corner of Moravia, which is part of the Czech Republic. Since its creation in 1997, hotels, restaurants and bars have popped up, profiting off believers and perpetuating the fake world. There's currency (the Jurovalsar) and even a University of the Wallachian Kingdom (it's like Hogwarts, without the wizards). More than 90,000 people own special Wallachian passports. And of course, there's a lot of mead imported.

To learn about this legendary legal battle, read more.

Before the kingdom became known Bolek Polivka had himself crowned "Wallachian King, Boleslav I the Gracious, Forever" on his TV show. Later Tomas Harabis began casting around for a monarch to head his fictional kingdom and "King Boleslav" was his first choice. Years later, Tomas decided to overthrow Bolek (something about him "acting too much like a real monarch") and a "Queen Mother" was appointed to rule the troubled kingdom in his place.

Bolek's lawyers filed a lawsuit to stop Tomas from using the Wallachian Kingdom trademark he had registered in 1998, claiming he was profiting unlawfully from Bolek's name. In 2007, Polivka lost the case, and appealed. The real Olomouc court must now decide whether Polivka is in fact "Wallachian King, Boleslav I, the Gracious," and whether he also owns the intellectual property rights to the Wallachian Kingdom as a whole.

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