September 26, 2006

• Wah wah wee wah!
• Kazakhstan had a reputation?
• Isn't that where vampires come from?
• They should have laughed it off and ran with the free publicity.
• i ♥ Borat! have you seen his (perfect) home page?
• Don't forget the MySpace page.
• 'Nomad' may well turn out to be a masterwork of unintended comedic genius. Assuming there actually IS such a country. I'm still not convinced it isn't part of the put-on.
• The fact that Kazakhstan did this actually has made me laugh out loud, a couple of times. I just did it again.
• I don't like the Borat thing at all. I don't know much about Kazakhstan, but it seems to have been remarkably temperate and patient over this to me. I'm glad it's just a film they're making, and not bombs to shove under the next guffawing Westerner they come across.
• Borat is very funny, but Plegmund has a point. Cohen probably chose Kazakhstan as an origin for the character because it doesn't have a history of violence or extremism against the West, as any other central Asian country might have been a bit more gung-ho about retaliating physically. However, he better avoid that part of the world, as the Kazakhs breed the largest sized hunting Eagles in the world! So large they are capable of killing wolves. (Apparently they have bred them so large that some have a bit of difficulty in getting airborne - but I cannot find a reference for this).
• > Borat is very funny, but Plegmund has a point. thirded. i thought borat was good for a segment in one series of ali g, but as the character continues (grows) it's starting to look like the only representation we get of kazakhstan is borat*. he's a funny character, but a cultural archetype is not too far from a ethnic or racial stereotype. i was glad to see that cohen has introduced another character in his u.s. tv show; maybe he'll retire borat. *unless you work in the oil industry.
• that said, the kazakh president's daughter has defended borat
• Dariga is an extraordinary looking woman.
• it's starting to look like the only representation we get of kazakhstan is borat Much as the only representation of my country is the sainted Steve Irwin.
• Yeah, bring back Norman Gunston.
• Whinging. Always whinging. Errol Flynn. Russel Crowe. Nicole Kidman. Olivia Newton-John. Paul Hogan. Germaine Greer. Banjo Patterson. Ned Kelly. That awful Murdoch guy. That godawful Howard guy. Nevil Shute. Patrick White. Mary Gilmore. Judith Wright. And possibly the greatest, Phar Lap.
• And don't forget the childhood crushes half the American girls of my generation had on General Hospital's Robert Scorpio.
• And possibly the greatest, Phar Lap. You're having a joke, aren't you.
• I've seen Borat. He's funny for about five minutes. I've heard of Khazakstan. It wasn't funny at all. I'll take amusing over boring any day. Turkmenbashi 4eva!
• Kazakstan makes it worse on themselves by misspelling "Bank" on their new currency.
• Grumpy Kazakhs invite Borat to "his" land, at last
• Borat on CNN
• And the lawsuits begin. The frat boys.
• just read the fratboy thread on metafilter. what a bunch of twats!
• The young men "engaged in behavior that they otherwise would not have engaged in," the lawsuit says. Well there you go.
• The frat boys were induced to drink and make sexist comments ... yeah, that'll hold up in court.
• Should've hit "refresh" first ... damn you pete!
• bees, you forgot two cultural icons: Kevin Bloody Wilson and Yahoo Serious. How could you leave them out? Hee hee.
• Mahir sues Borat! But he'll probably lose! So Mahir makes his own film! I did notice that the Borat film seemed to contain a bit of homage to the mighty Mahir; just goes to show you should never mess with a Turk in a thong.
• Gotta get me one of these.
• no, you really don't
• Romanian villagers pissed off.