"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>
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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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Wikiquote quote of the day:
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>
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