3-D rip-off, Lithuanians ban Nazi symbols and Ludacris branching out

- Now this is just getting scary. The political conflict in Zimbabwe has been going on for months now, the country’s opposition movement struggling to dislodge dictator Robert Mugabe from office the legal way, by beating him in an election. Mugabe refused to accept the results, drove his opposition from the country and has reigned by terror ever since. He’s beaten, robbed, jailed, killed and done anything else needed to prevent the opposition from winning the runoff election on June 27 between himself and opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai. Those efforts took another disturbing turn this week when four activists from Zimbabwe’s leading opposition group, the Movement for Democratic Change, and the wife of the mayor of Harare, another MDC member, were kidnapped and killed. The MDC has blamed Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party for the killings, which bring to 70 the number of MDC members killed since the initial election three months ago. Abigail Chiroto, wife of Harare’s mayor Emmanuel Chiroto, was found at a mortuary north of Harare, beaten with rocks and iron bars to the point that her face was barely recognizable. Emmanuel Chiroto is a prominent member of the MDC, which appears to be all the reason Bob Mugabe and his crew need to kidnap and kill someone. The four activists who were kidnapped were found in a different location than Abigail Chiroto, in a township 18 miles south of Harare. The method of killing was also different – stabbing with spears and shooting. So some nice versatility shown by Bob Mugabe and Co., killing and disposing of bodies in different locales and by different means. This election can’t come soon enough, if for no other reason than to stop these pre-election killings.

- Interesting show at the Baltimore Museum of Art on May 31. The museum had a very non-traditional show, which is typically a great thing for an art museum as it breaks up the stuffy, stiff, academic vibe those places tend to have. This show was all about tattooing and its place in art and society. The event featured a panel discussion with prominent tattoo artists and a runway show featuring the work of many local artists. There were discussions about the importance of body art among African tribes and Japanese laborers, but the runway show was the highlight of the evening. There was Jan Bishop, posing and showing off the 31 species of cats inked all over her skin. There were dozens of other men and women showing off their tats from head to toe, a very cool display. “There have never been this many tattooed people in one room in a museum that haven’t been asked to leave, said Bob Baxter, editor of Skin and Ink magazine. True enough, but it was a nice chance, at least for one night.

- What to do when you’ve conquered the world of rap and acted in a few mediocre action movies? For Christopher Bridges, a.k.a. Ludacris, the answer is launching a new website for aspiring musician and starring in a TV show on the Planet Green network. The site is WeMix.com and it’s a place where aspiring musicians can upload their material, collaborate with other artists and receive feedback on their work. “This is a site where you can get your music heard,” Ludacris said recently. He also hopes that music industry executives can use the site to scout for new talent and do so with a minimum of effort on their part. In getting the project up and running, he also claims to have found alternative and country artists he may sign to his Disturbing tha Peace label. It sounds a little bit like a different version of MySpace, minus the sexual predators and child molestors, but maybe that’s just me. Luda will also be starring in a new show on the Planet Green network with Tommy Lee, which should be an interesting mix.

- Call me crazy, but I have better ways to spend my money than on a 3-D television system that gets an incredibly limited slate of programming. Hyundai is the company making this great new concept possible, but only in Japan and only on a very limited basis. The only broadcasts available come out on Japanese cable systems four times a day and if you want to see them, you’ll need to by a 46-inch LCD television that costs $3,960 and comes with two pairs of 3-D glasses. That’s 25 percent more than a comparable standard LCD TV, plus you get the added bonus of looking like an ass, wearing 3-D glasses in your own home. On top of that, the only available programs at this time are short videos from Japan’s northern Island of Hokkaido showing shots from a local zoo, a motorcycle race and various other pointless endeavors. The TV uses technology called TriDef from DDD Group Pic of Santa Monica, Calif. In other words, there’s an American company in on this whole train wreck of an idea. Look, if I want to see objects flying off the screen into my face while I wear idiotic 3-D glasses, I’ll go to a freaking 3-D theater, thank you very much. I’ll stick to programs that don’t fly off the screen….

- Props to the Lithuanian government for finally getting around to dropping a ban on public displays of Nazi and Communist symbols in their country. Lawmakers in the country’s national legislature have passed a bill banning any and all public displays of symbols such as the swastika and the hammer and sickle. President Valas Adamus is expected to sign the bill into law later this month, so any Lithuanians with their swastika flags in the rear window of their pickup truck or in the front window of their home have a few days to take them down. Always good to ban people from repping the political party responsible for the biggest genocide in the history of the world, so good thinking there. If only there was a chance the United States could also ban the idiots who insist on flying the Confederate flag and perpetuating all of the hateful history it represents….