GREAT show from Showtime. Catch some episodes on Google Video.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=penn+and+teller+bullshit
Episodes to catch:
PETA
Fitness Frenzy
Feng Shui
Conpsiracy Theories
Many More!
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
GREAT show from Showtime. Catch some episodes on Google Video.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=penn+and+teller+bullshit
Episodes to catch:
PETA
Fitness Frenzy
Feng Shui
Conpsiracy Theories
Many More![/quote]
I agree, it is a good show for entertainment value, using humuour wit and even a bit of magic to make a point. But it does frustrate me a bit that they often use very weak strawman or other poor arguements, in exactly the same way as the liberal flakes they are trying to debunk.
Still, a good show overall though.
You can find links to most of their episodes form here:
[edit: sorry, links are now dead apart from those you posted anyway]
True. Some of the episodes leave me asking a few questions. The Prostitution episode, while I agree with a large majority of their points, failed to recognize the women that get sucked into the whole pimp/hoe and literally cannot escape the situation. They didnt address that at all.
I havent gotten into too many episodes, only about 6 or 7 so far, but I do like the show 95% of the time.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
True. Some of the episodes leave me asking a few questions. The Prostitution episode, while I agree with a large majority of their points, failed to recognize the women that get sucked into the whole pimp/hoe and literally cannot escape the situation. They didnt address that at all.
I havent gotten into too many episodes, only about 6 or 7 so far, but I do like the show 95% of the time.[/quote]
I imagine that if prostitution was legalised, the power of the pimp to lord over the prostitute would be not anywhere near the same. They can only get away with illegal activity, BECAUSE it’s illegal. It is certainly not seen here in Canberra. I guess they should have addressed it though although I haven’t seen the episode.
One trouble with Bullshit is that they only pick the side that’s easy to debunk. For example, there are two schools to Feng Shui. One is rather mystical, and they only talked about that one. If you have the bathroom in the wrong part of your house it will ruin your career? Well, that’s pretty easy to call bullshit.
The other school of Feng Shui is very practical. It says stuff like “don’t have pointy things in your house that you can fall against and crack your skull open” or, one of my favorites, “don’t have a long straight road pointed right at your living room, because inevitably some drunk will drive through your house at 3am.” The trouble is, all that info is couched in bizarre terms.
How can you debunk practical advice like that?
BTW, the long straight road is a form of “poison arrow” that directs “negative energy” into your house. The solution is to place an earthy element, like a rock or tree, to absorb the “negative energy.” So basically the drunk hits the big rock instead of driving through your living room. Well, duh! What’s wrong with that?
“And then there’s this asshole!”
That line is always hysterical when they use it. I dont get Showtime anymore so I dont watch the show anymore. Youtube.com has a bunch of clips.
Thanks Lonnie.
My favorite image/moment from the show:
The guy legally smoking weed all around the capital.
That “Fitness Frenzy” episode really irritated me. All they did was gather up all of the worlds worst fitness ideas and then acted as though it was news that this was bullshit. In the process they make it seem physically impossible for people to obtain a good phsysique(sp).
Their take on supplements was a joke. It is a supplement jackasses, not a cure for laziness. Of course taking that won’t make or break you in most cases, it just fucking helps.
Supplement
- something added to complete a thing, supply a deficiency, or reinforce or extend a whole.
BULLSHIT
[quote]Shaved wrote:
That “Fitness Frenzy” episode really irritated me. All they did was gather up all of the worlds worst fitness ideas and then acted as though it was news that this was bullshit. In the process they make it seem physically impossible for people to obtain a good phsysique(sp).
Their take on supplements was a joke. It is a supplement jackasses, not a cure for laziness. Of course taking that won’t make or break you in most cases, it just fucking helps.
Supplement
- something added to complete a thing, supply a deficiency, or reinforce or extend a whole.
BULLSHIT[/quote]
Yeah, they did admit for like 3 seconds at the end that its possible to change yourself. I would have preferred them talk to someone who lost 200+ pounds or gained severe weight. They really only covered the “Buns of steel” type of Get-The-Body-Right-NOW type of fitness.
The fitness ones and the prostitute ones left much to be desired. The PETA one was very good I thought.
I’ve just downloaded 3 seasons of it on bit torrent, and watched the fitness and hypnosis episodes at this point, and have to say that the show is BULLSHIT to me at this point. Anyone can take a ton of footage and edit it down to the 3 questions that support what they’re saying, and then leave the rest of the interview on the cutting room floor.
[quote]hockechamp14 wrote:
I’ve just downloaded 3 seasons of it on bit torrent, and watched the fitness and hypnosis episodes at this point, and have to say that the show is BULLSHIT to me at this point. Anyone can take a ton of footage and edit it down to the 3 questions that support what they’re saying, and then leave the rest of the interview on the cutting room floor.[/quote]
Mindfreak. They actually aired one of his “mind-reading” bouts where he completely fucked up. Imagine how many they dont show.
[quote]yorik wrote:
The other school of Feng Shui is very practical. It says stuff like “don’t have pointy things in your house that you can fall against and crack your skull open” or, one of my favorites, “don’t have a long straight road pointed right at your living room, because inevitably some drunk will drive through your house at 3am.” The trouble is, all that info is couched in bizarre terms.[/quote]
So restating common sense using weird terms makes it mystical?
“Don’t put your desk against your door, because you won’t be able to open it. The desk will prevent the Ro (rotation energy) of the hinges from propagating.”
“Do not paint or wallpaper over your windows; it will prevent Li (vision giving energy) from entering the room.”
“Do not put a high-RPM metal fan in a room with a low ceiling. Too much metal energy could enter your forehead and prevent the flow of Mo (purchasing energy) from freely flowing from your checkbook to my pockets.”
See? I’m a Feng Shui Master.
[quote]pookie wrote:
yorik wrote:
The other school of Feng Shui is very practical. It says stuff like “don’t have pointy things in your house that you can fall against and crack your skull open” or, one of my favorites, “don’t have a long straight road pointed right at your living room, because inevitably some drunk will drive through your house at 3am.” The trouble is, all that info is couched in bizarre terms.
So restating common sense using weird terms makes it mystical?
“Don’t put your desk against your door, because you won’t be able to open it. The desk will prevent the Ro (rotation energy) of the hinges from propagating.”
“Do not paint or wallpaper over your windows; it will prevent Li (vision giving energy) from entering the room.”
“Do not put a high-RPM metal fan in a room with a low ceiling. Too much metal energy could enter your forehead and prevent the flow of Mo (purchasing energy) from freely flowing from your checkbook to my pockets.”
See? I’m a Feng Shui Master.[/quote]
Imagine the green you could make by writing a book.
[quote]PGA wrote:
“And then there’s this asshole!”
That line is always hysterical when they use it. I dont get Showtime anymore so I dont watch the show anymore. Youtube.com has a bunch of clips.[/quote]
[quote]brucevangeorge wrote:
Imagine the green you could make by writing a book.[/quote]
Honesty is such a drag.
Sometimes I look at “healing crystals” websites, selling plastic trinkets for 50$ apiece; or that idiot Kevin Trudeau peddling his ignorance and Big Pharma conspiracies, and I wonder why I work those 30 easy hours a week.
Ok, it doesn’t sound that bad like that, but still. I could be a millionaire if I was willing to tap stupidity as the infinitely renewable resource it appears to be.
Audiophiles and oenophiles are damn tempting, let me tell you.
[quote]pookie wrote:
I could be a millionaire if I was willing to tap stupidity as the infinitely renewable resource it appears to be.
[/quote]
I have been contemplating this very thing lately. I’m thinking of making a website ( a la Maddox) and just writing junk and selling junk. (And advertising revenue).
Idiots are a dime a dozen and so many of them just need to be told what to think and do (just look at the religious nuts). My opinions could make me millions!
[quote]hockechamp14 wrote:
Anyone can take a ton of footage and edit it down to the 3 questions that support what they’re saying, and then leave the rest of the interview on the cutting room floor.[/quote]
Michael Moore?
[quote]brucevangeorge wrote:
pookie wrote:
I could be a millionaire if I was willing to tap stupidity as the infinitely renewable resource it appears to be.
I have been contemplating this very thing lately. I’m thinking of making a website ( a la Maddox) and just writing junk and selling junk. (And advertising revenue).
Idiots are a dime a dozen and so many of them just need to be told what to think and do (just look at the religious nuts). My opinions could make me millions![/quote]
If you want to be a jerk, just wear a sign that says “I’m a jerk”. You don’t need a website.
How about making a website with something more helpful on it than junk. Dare to be different!
[quote]derek wrote:
How about making a website with something more helpful on it than junk. Dare to be different! [/quote]
On a continent obsessed with the death of Anna Nicole Smith and what she had in her fridge before she died… why bother?
A website like that (useful) would simply be a hobby, but it would not bring green into my pocket.