Japanese slasher-babe turns to politics

A young Japanese politician made a drastic career change when she was elected into the government of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. Mieko Tanaka, a minster of “diet” became part of the Japanese administration after a recent election according to Foreign Policy.

Tanaka once played nude in a horror film as a victim of a murderous monster in Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf, a gory 2005 film directed by Teruo Ishii.

Previous to holding office, Tanaka was a sex journalist (under a pen name) and was known for authoring articles that stemmed from interviews with sex-trade workers. In her interviews, Tanaka would dress in strange costumes, for no apparent reason.

Style cops police at university

Staff and faculty at Birmingham Metropolitan College in the UK are having their jobs threatened under accusations of poor wardrobe choices. The professors at the college are now being warned against wearing practically anything but pressed dress shirts and suits, according to the BBC.

Held to rules like no tattoos, no fancy earrings and no “scruffy trousers,” staff are encouraged to wear “co-ordinating” business attire.

The style guidelines, outlined by college administrators, will be strictly enforced. Those who commit fashion faux-pas this season might be sent home from teaching their classes.

Amateur porn fest sells out

Seattle’s Hump! amateur pornography festival is in its fifth year, and it’s more popular than ever. Hump! 5 is a juried showcase of the best in homemade naughtiness, and 12 of the 13 screenings are completely sold out, according to the Seattle-based magazine The Stranger.

The one screening that isn’t sold out is the noon-hour show time, perhaps because that’s a little early to turn on to Dumpster Humpster or Citizen Came.

The festival features erotic shorts of all variety, gay, straight, solo and “vanilla” (I don’t know what “vanilla” entails).

Fuck, a five-minute short, is a story of police with poisoned penises; should they lose erections, they will die. Our Ruinous Love stars a traffic cone, and Full Swap is filmed from an advantageously placed surveillance camera.

Pothole porridge

Taking after New York’s Vendys, the British Street Food Awards will begin awarding winners next September, according to the Guardian UK.

New York’s Vendys give awards to the best street vendors in the city – and the British will follow suit, giving kudos to the gastronomical elite of the gutter.

Awards range from food type (best fish-and-chips, for example) to presentation. The “Best Mobiler” award will be given to the nicest looking cart.

The UK boasts a variety of food vendors, due to ethnic diversity and a bottomed-out economy that can’t support the haute-cuisine of upscale restaurants. The UK’s curbside cuisine includes a chocolatier who has taken it to the streets, as well as a movable oatmeal vendor.

Dramatic delinquent assaulted in San Fransisco

A young actor with a starring role in a street-crime film was badly beaten on public transportation in California, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Christopher Borgzinner, a young actor playing a criminal in La Mission , was wearing the wrong colour of sneakers when he was approached by gang members who claimed red was their colour. His wallet was stolen and he suffered broken bones.

Published in Volume 64, Number 7 of The Uniter (October 15, 2009)