"Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" is the pilot episode of the animated television series South Park. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 13, 1997. The episode introduces child protagonists Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski, Stan Marsh and Kenny McCormick, who attempt to rescue Kyle's younger brother Ike from being abducted by aliens. At the time of the writing of the episode, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone did not yet have a series contract with Comedy Central. Short on money, the creators animated the episode using paper cutout stop motion technique, similarly to the short films that were the precursors to the series. As such, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" remains the only South Park episode animated largely without the use of computer technology. Part of a reaction to the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s in the United States, South Park is deliberately offensive. Much of the show's humor, and of "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", arises from the juxtaposition of the seeming innocence of childhood and the violent, crude behavior exhibited by the main characters. The episode also exemplifies the carnivalesque, which includes humor, bodily excess, linguistic games that challenge official discourse, and the inversion of social structures. Initial reviews of the episode were generally negative; critics singled out the gratuitous obscenity of the show for particular scorn. Regarding the amount of obscenities in the episode, Parker later commented that they felt "pressure" to live up to the earlier shorts which first made the duo popular. (more...)

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1904:

The Great Baltimore Fire in Maryland began, and would destroy over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Baltimore_Fire

1907:

Over 3,000 women trudged through the cold and the rutty streets of London in the Mud March, the first large procession organized by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, to advocate for women's suffrage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_March_%28Suffragists%29

1943:

World War II: Japan successfully withdrew its troops from Guadalcanal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ke

1986:

President of Haiti Jean-Claude Duvalier fled the country after a popular uprising, ending 28 years of one-family rule in the nation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Duvalier

1995:

Ramzi Yousef , one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the bombing of Philippine Airlines Flight 434, was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramzi_Yousef

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

senescence (n): The state or process of ageing, especially in humans; old age http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/senescence

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In no victory do they glory so much as in that which is gained by dexterity and good conduct without bloodshed. In such cases they appoint public triumphs, and erect trophies to the honour of those who have succeeded; for then do they reckon that a man acts suitably to his nature, when he conquers his enemy in such a way as that no other creature but a man could be capable of, and that is by the strength of his understanding. --Thomas More http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_More