This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. I told you I was going to steal that image.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Now that’s what I call portcullised.
For mythbri in previous thread:
So many *hugs* for your cousin, and for you, and for the baby, and most of all for your cousin – I hope she recovers. I also hope the best for the baby (xe deserves a chance and I’m glad xe seems to be ok health-wise and I also hope xe won’t get the passing-around treatment). But most *hugs* to your cousin.
mythbri:
Best wishes for your cousin, I hope that this marks the lowest point for her, and things just get better from here.
Oh, portcullised! How exciting! (Yes, I have no life.)
Dalillama:
Ouch. My condolences. My son has Comcast for his cable and internet and they make it rather clear that they can (and will) charge whatever they want for service that works less than 25 days a month because there’s nowhere else to go.
@ Joe – I’m so glad your 2013 is also going well.
@ Esteleth – what an honor for you! I’m jealous. All I got from Thunderfoot was studied indifference about the rape threat issued against me on his website.
PZ, I was talking to someone about unintelligent design the other day and had an idea. I’d flesh it out myself, but I don’t have the background in embryology/evo devo to do it properly.
I was recently on a pediatric cardiology rotation as a medical student, and I saw several newborns with crippling congenital heart defects like tetralogy of fallot, transposition of the great arteries, and persistent truncus arteriosis that all result from a failure of the embryo’s truncus arteriosus to be divided properly by the developing aorticopulmonary septum.
Isn’t the fact that this division has to happen (rather than the aorta and pulmonary arteries each forming separately) a result of our fish ancestors originally having an undivided circulatory system?
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cphy.c090001/abstract
This is the part I don’t get, because I don’t know how to describe this without it sounding like recapitulation theory.
If we were intelligently designed, why wouldn’t the designer have designed an embryology specifically for each unique creature? How many children die every year because of lazy “design” like this?
Does this argument have any merit?
Is that like wonder twins power activate?
Socio-gen
I’ve been portcullised twice… Excited both times! ;)
rq:
Oh good, I’m not the only one!
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Is it breaking the Lounge rules to say I wish I believed in voodoo so I could make a little Edward Gemmer doll and sew its little fingers together so it could never ever type another word?
I don’t think so. That is ever so much more polite than my wishes.
There actually is a place to talk shit about other commenters on Pharyngula: http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/12/24/thunderdome-13/
First, let me get this out of the way.
HA! HA!
It seems that Sean Hannity has lost half of his audience since Barack Obama won his second term.
I want a conservative doll that says “Math is hard.” when you pull the string.
Should that figure be Sean Hannity, Karl Rove or someone else?
So… This has been pestering me for a while now. Why in the name of Odin’s ravens is there a Liberty University ad on FTB?!
Maybe you should look up how the ad server works.
(hint: it generates ads based on your internet surfing habits)
I’m now remembering that X-Files episode where someone made a voodoo doll of Scully and she went blind.
I miss X-Files. Loved the series when I was a kid.
Because the advert company that FtB contracts with does not filter adverts per site. Instead, they are filtered via relevant words. This is why, during the discussions about gun culture in the USA, there were shitloads of gun and concealed carry adverts.
Ah, it’s Theef. From 2000? Strange, I thought it was one of the older ones, not season 7.
The Divine Phallusy, AdBlock is your friend.
Ogvorbis:
I’m thinking worse…
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sgbm:
Thanks. Really, I just needed to get that one bit out as I was writing a response to him. The rest was mostly incoherent cursing.
—
Beatrice:
That was one of my favorite series. Well, until it got all strange with Scully being kidnapped and the baby… I lost the threads of the plot and never cared enough to figure it out.
source
chigau:
Oops. I’ll be more careful in the future to avoid that.
Sorry, SGBM & chigau. My bad.
Socio-gen,
I started skipping a lot of episodes later in the series.
I would love to watch at least the first two or three seasons again. There were some reruns a couple of years ago, but it soon became a bit too much to watch it every single night for weeks.
To “redpanda” at number 5
What those people will likely do, is blame those defect on “The Fall” (ie. it’s man’s fault, because of “original sin”).
Never mind of course that “god” didn’t have to allow defects to innocent babies to punish Adam and Eve…that’s just hurting someone who had no say in that matter, never mind that most people, even with this “original sin” malarky are born without birth defects, never mind that some people are actually born with actual talents, etc.
Good night, all. Have fun in the Neither bullied nor cajoled thread with Edward
Much as I hate to do this, I am casting myself upon the mercy of the Horde. In a lovely holiday surprise, it turns out that I can’t pay the electric this month. This is due to a combination of rising rates, a really poorly insulated apartment, and a husband with arthritis aggravated by the cold. If folks could assist at all, it would be hugely appreciated. Sorry everyone.
Thanks on behalf of my cousin for all of the well-wishing, from everyone on this thread and the previous one.
My cousin will be in the hospital for four days and have at least a three-month recovery from the emergency c-section, but the doctors don’t think that she’s suffered any permanent neurological damage.
The baby is fine. Small, and will be in the NICU for a little bit, but he should be good. His adoptive parents are there waiting to take him home with them.
I hope his life as an adopted child is much different than his birth-mother’s.
mythbri:
Safehugs for you and yours.
Just have to point it out, I really hate false graciousness.
mythbri
*more hugs* and thanks for the update!
Dalillama
I’ll be up in the morning; how can I help?
Dalilama: how long do you have?
Let’s start the New Year right, with a huge pile of self-serve *hugs&chocolate&booze&bacon&books*.
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The Husband is much, much better; so much so that it can’t have been flu, and we are instead blaming the late night, post-Game Taco Bell.
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*pouncehug* for Hekuni Cat, and *hugs* for Tony.
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Extra-large serving of *hugs* for mythbri. I’m so sorry about your cousin; I hope she and the baby make it okay.
And this part:
hit me with an extra pang. My youngest sister’s ex did that, to their son, who is also ADHD; and no one relative was willing to keep him for more than a couple of months. What a mess!
–
–
That is one awesomely cute octopus! It belongs on a tee shirt. And posters.
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I miss it, too, and I was far from a kid when it aired. I loved it that the woman was the one approaching things rationally, and the man was the one who did the intuitive thing. Plus, DD was very easy to look at.
:)
I do feel that it hung on just a season or two past its Sell By date, though.
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Dalillama, all I can offer is *hugs* and sympathy. Sorry.
:(
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Last night, when I was in the middle of my drunken music linking, I made the mistake of reading the comments on the Tegan And Sara video. One would think that perhaps I would be used to that kind of bullshit by now but it seems that all any of the assclams comment there could go on about is that they are lesbians.
Just an other reminder to avoid the comment there.
Speaking of The X-Files, I’m reading this crossover fic (XF/”The Stand”) that is just… wow. Amazing. Well-written, very King-ish in voice and style, and the characterization is dead on.
If anyone is interested, here’s the link: Last One Standing
Count me in the “missing The X-Files” crowd.
Oh. It is available on Netflix instant watch.
mythbri
Thanks for the update.
*hugs* as needed
Rye bourbon-maple-pomegranate-mustard glazed ham, cornbread, black eyed peas with snaps, and mustard greens.
Happy new year, y’all.
If last year was shitty or awesome, may this one be better in every way.
MikeG:
Sounds, er, interesting. Pomegranate?
For dinner this evening, ragù bolognese con salsiccia sopra la pasta gemelli. (Tomato sauce with sausage over squiddly diddlies.)
mythbri – It is very good to hear your cousin is recovering and the baby is fine. Many many hugs for you and your cousin.
My New Year Soup: (Can easily be turned into a vegetarian variation.)
Four large smoked ham hocks simmered for about a day in about 3 quarts no-or-low sodium veggie broth. When everything falls off the hock bones remove all from the broth, separate meat, discard fat and bones, return meat to broth. Add one large can Juanita’s Hominy, a couple hands full of chopped carrots, two large chopped celery stalks, some chopped flat leaf parsley, 4 large bok choy leaves chopped, juice of one lemon, several chopped garlic cloves, several sprigs of fresh thyme, a tablespoon of dried Summer Savory, a heaping tablespoon of Gebhardt’s Chili Powder, two chopped leeks OR one chopped yellow onion. I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything. If I have I’ll post it later. This is the first time I’ve written down this recipe. Anyway, let this joyous stuff simmer for 1-2 hours and adjust seasonings as desired. You will probably increase the amount of liquid along the way.
Seasoning hint – you probably will not need salt, but if you do, use kosher. If pepper, fresh ground. If you like things a bit sweet sneak in a tad of maple syrup.
Serve garnished with either a good dollop of sour cream or a sprinkling of good parmesan cheese.
Enjoy!
This is the “I’ve got blood sugar issues” version. The “carbs don’t hurt me” version involves omitting the hominy and adding a one pound bag of “15 varities of beans.”
I have a question for scientist types and this is the only thread I feel comfortable doing it. I am the furthest thing possible from a scientist but a regular lurker on Pharyngula.
OK, can someone please explain this weather type question to me. I get it about solstices and equinoxes and axial tilt and all that but what I don’t get is : Say Dec 21 is the summer solstice (OK) and therefore midsummer, why isn’t it really in the middle of summer. I mean, why are the hottest months Dec, Jan, Feb instead of Nov, Dec, Jan. And like that for winter too? Coldest months should be May, June, July but are Jun, July, Aug. What gives?
I hope you catch my drift. (teehee).
mythbri:
Glad your cousin and the baby are doing okay. *hugs* to both of them.
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cicely:
That was something I liked from the beginning. Scully was all “Science!” while Mulder was the guy reading Weekly Weird News.
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WMDKitty:
Bookmarked!
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Mike G:
*looks sadly at her ham sammich*
I’ll have what you’re having.
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Ogvorbis:
Or this.
sueboland #39
because the calender (those paper ones on your wall) are stupid and archaic.
The Earth is fine.
sueboland:
If I remember right from 8th grade science class, there’s a lag between cooling and heating after the equinoxes. (Similar to how a room doesn’t cool immediately after you turn the thermostat down or warm up immediately after you turn it up.)
sueboland, here is your answer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer#Timing
Gah, I meant “solstices,” not equinoxes.
Sueboland, as Socio-gen remarked there is considerable lag.
Thermal inertia. Huge bodies of water to warm/cool. Snow insulates, so it must melt before the ground thaws up, et cetera. And air masses move around bringing warm or cold air with them so it gets all interconnected.
.
It is easier if you are an animal adapted to living in a cave, you have the same temperature all year round because of the thermal inertia of the rocks above you.
Janine,
Nelson vs Sean Hannity :)
Socio-gen @8:
Tee hee! A voodoo doll. You made me LOL.
****
Anyone:
What does ‘portcullised’ mean? I have seen this used over the years but never thought to ask.
Happy New Year, everyone!
I could damn sure use a better year than the last one, I hope that for y’all too.
Thank you very much, guys.
I have now read up on seasonal lag and it makes sense to me. Yay!
Tony the Queer Shoop@47
portcullised = trying to post in the time when the thread transitions to its next iteration, I think
Ogvorbis,
I missed a bit. We used pomegranate molasses and the other stuff in the glaze. I got hyphen happy, and left out the molases part. It’s mostly Arabic on the lable, and we found it in some import store. Very interesting flavor.
Tony,
The portcullis is the heavy open latticed gate that either shuts off a castle, or a Lounge thread.
Tony
‘portcullised’ is when your have composed a stunningly brilliant comment and you post it just as the Overlord stops an old EndlessThread and starts a new one.
Your brilliance can often be lost.
I demand top hats and bow ties for all the little animals O.O!
Just as there is thermal lag, there is also comment lag. If I make a comment at, say, 580, by the time I actually his submit, we may be on a new thread. The portcullis comes down, cutting off the comments of the olde threade but the commenter does not realize until their comment is rejected.
Tony:
Yeah, apparently I shouldn’t have done that…
Portcullised is when you hit “submit comment” only to discover the thread has closed. Hopefully, you’ve remembered to copy it, or else have composed it in Word or similar and can retrieve it.
Huckabee Blames Gays, ‘Shrimp Eaters’ For Violence http://dailycurrant.com/2012/12/18/huckabee-blames-gay-shrimp-eaters-violence/
@birgerjohansson
Not sure if you intended it for the lulz but for those who may miss the Currant is a satire site
That same site also claims that Noam Chomsky is going to be hosting a show on Fox News. It is satire.
mythbri
Best wishes for your cousin.
rq
I suppose that im soliciting for financial donations. I feel like a mooch, really, but there it is.
cicely
That is also appreciated.
MikeG, ogvorbis and Morgan
Those all sound delicious. I’m having ham and beans made with the leftover christmas ham, black and pinto beans, with onion, molasses, and black pepper.
Azkyroth
Until the 9th, although I may be able to negotiate an extension or payment plan; their offices are closed today, so I can’t talk to them now.
Huckabee is, of course, dead wrong. Shellfish consumption causes homaseckshuality; the shootings thing is just coincidental. It has no “cause”.
There is no difference between pro-homosexual and pro-crustacean.
Ban cocktail sauce, and the whole problem will go away.
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Hi Ray!
Happy New Year!
Has everyone read Dalillama #25?
Dalillama – will need contact information, but can help a little. If L has my contact information from the 2 hats I bought from the etsy shop, you could e-mail me.
Got a start on my Resolution. Made Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles today. It’s a vegan recipe! I liked it, the kids did not (cocoa and cayenne is new to them). I’m taking the cookies to work tomorrow for a second opinion before I decide if the recipe is a keeper.
Warning: Insufferable self-congratulations:
O holy Maude! I just tasted the final iteration of my New Year Soup. It is so good I can’t stand it! Hubby decided it needed an additional pinch of tarragon, and we did, and it did. Sigh. I hope the rest of the year turns out as well as the soup.
Dallillama – How do we help? Instructions please.
Dalillama:
I’m sorry that all I can offer is hugs and commiserations. I’m broke until the 24th.
chigau@25 Hi, yourself! wassup?
Ray, pro-cephelopod
Ray, r-ay
sameold
I may live another year.
People like to blame the atheists but who is it that breaks into your snake tower, kills your demigod giant snake and plunders the jewels? It`s other theists that’s who!
(tongue in cheek)
Dalillama
I should be able to help a bit in a couple of days, I just need to make sure that the rent check clears first.
chigau@68, Me too, just another day in paradise (at least I think it’s another day, they sometimes blur together)
cicely@60, Ray, pro-cephelopod
chigau@62, Read it, but How do we help? Need a point person or contact info to go to.
Bed time for me, but I’ll check back tomorrow. G’night
To those offering help and sympathies, thank you so much. I’m having trouble keeping my composure while I writing, I’m overwhelmed by your kindness, all of you.
As far as how to do it goes, I’m actually not sure exactly how things like this have been organized in the past. For me, it would feel less like begging if there was anything that people might want from L, he’s got a lot of both old books and art pieces that he just posted (link in my ‘nym). Other than that, I’m pretty sure I still have a paypal account; I can try to dig it up. I think L’s paypal is on his site, but I’ll have to ask when he gets out of the shower.
And thank you all again, so much.
In the past, Josh, our resident Spokesgay has been instrumental in collecting the donations and getting them to the appropriate parties. I don’t know how to reach him, but one of the other regulars (Caine? Janine?) probably do.
I can hit Josh up on Twitter if you like.
Dalilama, how much are you short?
I can call Josh Official Spokesgay if need be.
In other news: I hereby designate “Loungin'” by Guru and Donald Byrd as the Official Theme Song of the Lounge.
Dalilama, send me an email at my nym at the gmail thingy, okay?
Everyone, I’ll start corralling funds for Dalilama. My paypal is also through my nym at gmail.
Yay Esteleth!
The NYTimes is reporting that the House has passed the “deal.”
A “deal” that makes permanent 9/10 of the Bush tax cuts and punts drastic cuts down the road.
*sigh*
Esteleth
Yay progress! v.v
@Esteleth
Lets hope those cuts aren’t a guarantee. And if they are a few more months without those cuts are better than none.
So They™ are plowing the street in front of my house.
(snow-plowing, for those of you in more tropical climes)
There are three big yellow machines blading the snow from one side, to the middle, to the other side.
The metre-high pile is now on my side-walk.
I do hope They™ will take it away.
Anyone else miss the frequent updates on Mitt’s Mendacity from Lynna? I knew it wouldn’t last forever, but they were enjoyable reads.
I hope all is with Lynna in this brand spanking new year.
Just in case there are any other machine embroiderers around right now, Designs by Sick has all of their design packs on sale for $1 today! (Their stuff is usually pretty good and you can pay by PayPal for security, if you want.) Enjoy!
/grumble grumble, html fail. 2nd try:
Designs By Sick
The trucks are here!
They’re taking it away!
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/house-pulls-plug-on-sandy-aid-bill-85661.html
Republicans decide to fuck over disaster victims
chigau:
I heard they are going to deposit all of it in your back yard :)
Tony
:)
No.
They™ have a Place™ that the snow is piled.
3 winters ago, the Nightly News had a daily helicopter fly-over shot of the City Snowpile.
The big yellow bulldozers were thumbnails against the Snowpile.
Last year they™ didn’t plow.
Welcome to Global ‘Warming’.
I…HATE…philosophers. >.>
Azkyroth
dam’
When I Win The Lottery, I’m going to the University to a Philosophy Degree
ImaginesABeach, the Grattitude Day Cookie post is up. ♥
Chigau:
The weather is getting increasingly wonky, no?
Here it is 1/1/13 and the high down here was 70 F. Normally, it should be half that.
Checking to see if my login works yet. Haven’t been able to comment in a long while
You seem smart enough that the concept of “A Distinction Without A Difference” could be impressed on you without using a hydraulic ram, though.
My band once did a photo shoot at that Place. We used it as a stand in for Baffin Island. There was much whinging and cursing to be heard that day as a bunch of pasty, vitamin D deficient, improperly clothed musicians froze their genitals off for the sake of a good cover shot.
Well everyone goes to The Place
Esteleth, you are a hero.
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Tony / Chigau: The weather has been weird here too. I’m in Fairbanks, and it was up to about 30 degrees Fahrenheit today. That’s a positive 30 degrees, not negative. I don’t know if we’ve broken any temperature records, but it is unseasonably warm. I don’t know whether to be grateful for the reprieve or disappointed at how boring it is. It just doesn’t seem right.
—
In other news, I just got an email back from the professor with whom I will be doing my independent study in Marxist literary theory. We’re currently finalizing our reading list, so we’ve been emailing back and forth about it. In his most recent email he said that he wanted to add some feminist works to our reading schedule, “as I am very conscious this is, thus far, an all male list.” I hadn’t even mentioned that to him yet. I think this is going to be a great semester.
Indeed Ing. After all, it’s where the reeducation camp is located.
You know when they need to GO
Blogofmyself:
Good on your professor!
I’ve spent a perfectly wonderful, nostalgic and entertaining day tuned into ScFy’s Twilight Zone marathon. Most of the episodes I watched when they were first broadcast.
Among my favorites are the ones that feature Burgess Meredith. Remember the one where he survives a nuke blast by taking his lunch in the bank vault? He then walks out into a ruined city and begins to despair until he finds a shattered library. He gathers hundreds of books to provide himself years of uninterrupted reading, for such was his passion, on the steps of the broken building. Then, settling in to begin, his glassed fall and shatter. His final line, his final cry is “It’s not fair. It’s just not fair”. Classic.
Another episode that stands out is Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters as the sole players in a life or death game that plays out in a pool hall. As a former habituate of such places, this one really captures my attention.
Well then, that said, I want to wish the Whole Horde a Happy New Year. May we count 2013 as a year of accomplishment both individually as well as a Squiddly School. May the Noodly Appendage reach down and touch you all and may we all be present at the next ending of the calendar.
Oh! Here’s another episode with Burgess.
Good morning
So, the neckpain is better but not good, but progress.
Dalillama
Urgh, I’m sorry to hear. Unfortunately I’m out of donatable money at the moment with January being the big bills month over here. :(
mythbri
I’m glad your cousin is better
((hugs))
Tony: Not only that, but he’s from England, so every now and then he uses a word or a turn of phrase that I’ve never heard before, which is always fun.
Crudely Wrott: I’m glad you enjoyed the Twlight Zone marathon. I sadly didn’t catch it, but I did watch a bit of the Dr. Who marathon, which was fun. I swear my little brother is going to have me addicted to that show by the time I leave.
I wish you (and the rest of the Horde) a happy New Year filled with good food/drink, fun times, and general contentment.
Giliell: I hope your neck continues to get better.
blogofmyself, TZ marathon still in progress. Currently is a criminal serving solitary on an asteroid which is curiously similar to Death Valley.
A fine New Year to you and may you profit from it.
chigau (違う) –
Can we celebrate with rum?
Happy New Year One and All!
Mornings.
ednaz
Happy New Year, day 2. :)
blogofmyself
I like your perfesser.
Dalillama
Sadly, I am unable to do PayPal from where I am. I have to see if I can get to my translating cash this month (it is increasing by leaps and bounds but I still can’t get to it, legally), and then I can do donation-by-mail, via Esteleth, as with JAL, if needed.
PS X-files fan here, too. It lost a lot of its charm when Mulder became near-to invisible and Agent Monica turned out not to be a major enemy but on the side of Good. I think she would have been a cool anti-X-files agent. And the story between her and Agent What’s-His-Face who wasn’t Mulder was a bit too contrived. Didn’t feel the chemistry.
Have all seasons somewhere on computer, if anyone wants me to put them up for sharing. (9 seasons, so if the answer is yes, be warned – make space on hard drive!)
Happy Perihelion everybody!
So, at 11am this morning my mum will be admitted at the hospital.
Her lungs are full of water, her organs are starting to fail.
At first she refused to go to the hospital, to have any examination like blood tests at all, and signed the form that she refuses treatment despite 2 doctors, a nurse and my sister begging her.
Fuck, she might be dying.
Happy Perihelion to You, slowdjinn.
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Happy Day 2 to You, rq.
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I have a question. Maybe The Horde can help?
Has anyone had any luck encouraging their parents to buy high speed internet? I think my folks would love it if they could, oh I don’t know, use their computer. I’ve tried to entice them with some of the fascinating things I’ve learned online, but they just shrug and say they don’t use it much.
Of course you don’t use it much! You can’t even watch a video for crying out loud! I can’t even send an e-mail with a funny picture! (Of course I keep the shouting to myself.)
Any ideas? words of wisdom?
Oh Giliell, I am so sorry.
Giliell, that’s awful news.
I know you’ll do what you can for her, and I hope it turns out better than you fear.
I’m so sorry to hear that Giliell.
Crudely Wrott:
That episode with Meredith’s character breaking his glasses is a memorable one as well.
****
One of the things I wish I were better at (and related to a discussion in another thread about the book Caine is currently reading) is being able to break stories down into their thematic elements and figure out what makes them tick. One of the things M and I used to do was critique movies that we watched, but it was more from an acting or dialogue standpoint. I was never good at analyzing the story to try and find out any deeper meaning, or allegories, or mesages the director was trying to convey.
I am having a hard time explaining what I mean here.
Um, ok since I just watched the American version a few days back, lok at Gojira. I first watched the original Godzilla when I was younger. I watched Gojira just a few years ago. Until I read up on the movie, I was unable to determine that Godzilla was a metaphor for the potential dangers that could be unleashed when humans harness forces beyond their control. Once I understood that, I could see how that played out in the movie. It increased my enjoyment of the film and made me wish I could do that on my own.
Compounding my difficulty in deconstructing stories is the fact that I am a visual person, so reading stories and dissecting them is more difficult than watching and doing the same.
Giliell:
Damn.
I’m sorry to hear about your mother. I hope she will be ok.
Bandwidth warning. These photos are stupidly large.
Today we have sheddage! Okay, only a third of a shed so far, but it’s progress after a week or so of nothing.
In the shed we made our marks.
And finally BEER!
Many *hugs* to people who gave me kind words in the prior incarnation of the Lounge.
That is all I’ll say, not gonna make this another thread all about me.
I’m so sorry, Giliell. I know that must be terrifying. I hope that things turn out better than they seem right now. Hugs to you if you want them.
—
Tony: I’m not really sure how to get better at analyzing things other than to practice, as cheesy as that sounds. Maybe read up on things after you’ve finished them to see what other people have found, like you did with Godzilla. Once you’ve done that enough times you’ll start to get the feel for how to do it yourself, or you’ll find yourself arguing with them and coming up with alternatives to their ideas. Talking to friends about books and movies is another great way to go about it, because everybody brings something different to the table and will pick up different elements. I’m an English major, so analysis is basically what I do with my life, but I only do it because I enjoy it, and I’m only getting good at it because I’ve taken classes and learned from my professors and peers.
—
FossilFishy: Congrats on the 1/3 of a shed. Also, that beer picture looks really cool.
Giliell
*hugs* :/ So very sorry!
FossilFishy
*thumbs up*
And yes, lovely beer photo!! :)
+++
So it’s January the 2nd, and went outside with the kids today – they open the door, and say – Surprise! It’s spring! Yah. Because, you know, almost all the snow is gone and we always have fun in puddles in January. :P
+++
Katherine
By the way. I loved your male character descriptions. I wouldn’t mind a few more.
Also, don’t worry about making the thread about yourself (because sometimes we’re all allowed a bit of attention to ourselves, even if we don’t believe we deserve it, even when we do, and even if it’s just for the hell of it). Saves me having to talk about myself (which will happen again soon, don’t worry). ;) *hugs*, if want!!
rq, my forecast.
@rq:
Well, how about the highly decorated Admiral – with thousands of hours of battle under his belt – who is also an avid knitter?
Giliell –
I’m so sorry about your mom.
ednaz – I can’t help at all. My dad is a retired physicist. There has been a computer in their house since 1982 (a TRS-80). My parents’s computers are better than mine, and their internet is faster. My kids actually find it a letdown when we come home from visiting them.
Esteleth – I will send something later today after I balance my checkbook. If you end up with more than Dalillama needs, you can send any excess to JAL. By the way, this is a good way to ensure you get cookies next year.
Caine – Thanks for the pics. If there was a particular kind of cookie loved by the ratties, let me know and I will make sure they get more next year.
Hundreds of hours of battle. Thousands of hours of floating.
rq:
It’s 9°F here. Which means that it’s colder in Albany, NY than Anchorage, AK right now.
*waves!* Hello, everybody! Very ‘rupt, but what else is new. How are you all doin’?
ednaz
Yah, my parents are like ImaginesABeach. It never helps that my dad was R&D of optical fibre development at one point, so he’s got a whole range of machines at home, and always too many to please my mum (but they can’t be thrown out, oh no, for the historical value…).
That being said, I have an old great-aunt who refused for a long time, but at the ripe old age of 80, she started using email and, a few years later, a social networking site, and now complains that she has too many aches and pains to explore all her friends’ galleries fully. So there’s hope (in her case, it was a lot of persistent work on my dad’s part, and the best argument was ‘Well, when I come to stay with/visit you, I’ll need the computer/internet, so you might as well learn, too’).
Katherine
Dammit, write the damn book! :) Although I think the Admiral should be into tapestry weaving, that way he can commemorate all his battles with giant, colourful wall hangings! ;)
@rq:
Haha, that’d be awesome.
I just find it hilarious to think of this guy who’s been in wars before, who’s stopped pirate incursions upon his shores, who’s braved harsh weather (more on that in a sec) and who’s fought back monsters of the deep, shouting and calling and keeping his men fighting to the last – and then counter that with a nice peaceful setting of him by a fire with a couple knitting needles, clacka-clacka, and a slowly forming scarf made of pretty blue wool.
That is the best thing ever XD
—
On weather, by the way. I need a meteorologist or at least someone really well-versed in weather patterns, cause I need to ask a few questions re: the weather of my world.
Also, John Morales, you’re supposed to have weather like that.
I – am not. ;)
+++
Katherine
Imagine his frustration when he’s trying to finish a large tapestry project, and yet another worthy battle comes up. *sigh* A man just doesn’t have enough hours in the day! ;) (So yes, knitting makes a lot more sense, time-management-wise!)
FossilFishy – It’s fun to watch your progress. It’s nice of you to share with us.
–
John Morales – Your forecast – how nice. *thumbsup*
–
ImaginesABeach – I appreciate your story.
–
Audley Z. – May I call you Audley Z? I never did ask.
It’s 9 degrees F here, too. (Northern Illinois)
–
rq – Thanks for the idea. : ) And Yay for puddles!
Evening all,
1) Multiple ‘ruptosity, I have lurked in all the right places though.
2) Hugs for those that want them.
3) Hi! Happy New Thing!
4) I have a hangover.
5) If 4) shocked you, you have not been paying attention.
6) Attempting to drink an ear infection into submission does not work. I have performed extensive trials.
Louis
See Audley I should be in the -5 – -15 (Celsius) range. But. I’m not.
And kids in snow is so much better than kids in dirty puddles full of dog poo because nobody bothers to pick up after their pets along sidewalks where all the children go walking… ;)
Louis
Only vodka (straight, with a teaspoon of black pepper) will cure ear aches, that and magical black balsam from special herbs. If you’ve been drinking anything else, it’s no wonder it hasn’t yet submitted.
Katherine Lorraine – If I may…
–
thunk! You are needed!
: )
ednaz
re: the parents
It’s only a matter of getting them hooked. Once they know enough to try and figure a few things out themselves, they will never look back. Open the door, as it were… That great-aunt was terrified initially, but she can even handle simple google searches now. And can trouble-shoot the simplest sorts of problems, too (you know, check if all is plugged in, restart if needed, close the program and try again, update anti-virus etc.). :) There’s hope!
@ednaz:
Okay, well the planet is about the same distance from their sun as the Earth. It’s approximately the same size. There are two moons – one about the size of the Moon, the other smaller and further out. The closer moon is tidally locked. Overall it’s the same general ratio of water to land as the Earth.
Given that, is it possible to determine what the climate and weather patterns would be like for the continent circled in red in this extraordinarily crude map? Or do I need to provide more info?
Katherine
I’m more interested on the effect of the second moon on planetary rotation and, yes, tides, because it’ll have some influence.
Even if it is only religious. ;)
@rq:
The second moon is much smaller, much darker, and only appears when the planet is closest to the sun, since it’s got a really low surface albedo.
Oh, Giliell, my heart goes out to you and your mom.
I hope that once treatment begins she responds and recovers.
I’ll be thinking of her and you. For now, I send you a {hug} and a hand-squeeze and a hopeful smile.
Katherine
The Moon of the Intermittent God? :)
Your world sounds amazing, the more you tell me about it. Frankly, at this point, I think your story could be shit** (I’m not implying that it is), and I would still read it for the characters.
Which, actually, is how I prefer to read my books (for the characters).
**And I state, for the record, that I in no way believe that your story will be shit (to the contrary, actually). But you’ve done a fine enough job in marketing your characters to me, that I will read your books anyway (and yes, I’ll buy them, too!). :)
Things I learned reading comments from thunderf00t’s video:
– Women dominate civilization.
– Patriarchal society doesn’t exist and, at the same time, it harms men far more than women.
– Women just don’t want to study science or attain positions of power in business and government (but they run the world nonetheless).
– Alimony is a hate crime against men.
Wonderful how educational youtube can be.
@rq:
The closer moon is called “The Protector.” It’s a pretty, white-colored moon (high albedo, and I’m not sure what mineral it would be made out of… is calcium a non-biological mineral??) It’s a symbol of life and protection.
The further moon is called “The Harvester.” It’s very dark red (low albedo as mention, carbon or iron oxide maybe?) and comes in time with the harvest months. It’s a symbol of death and destruction.
@jose:
Can we leave T-Foot out of the Lounge? I don’t want to hear a blasted thing about that guy unless it’s related to his realizing he’s acting like a douche.
Thanx everybody.
I take all the hugs I get. Now I’ll go as see what’s up.
Katherine Lorraine,
lol, sure ^__^
Fuck, Giliell, I am so sorry. I hope it’s better than it looks. Thinking of you, hoping you’re OK too.
Mythbri: Sorry about your cousin! I hope she makes a complete recovery both from the eclampsia and the emotional trauma of the adoption! It isn’t unknown for eclampsia to occur without known pre-eclampsia, if the woman in question has hypertension or maybe hasn’t gotten a blood pressure measurement recently. It’s a nasty disease that can sneak up on people rapidly but silently-until things get bad. Whether her doctors were taking enough care or not, I can’t really say without knowing more details that aren’t really my business, but it’s at least not out of the question that it could occur apparently out of nowhere.
Gilell: I hope your mother improves and gets out of the hospital, breathing well, soon! From what you’ve said this sounds like it could be anything from heart failure to a viral illness turned extremely nasty. Some of them are at least partially recoverable so hoping that it turns out to be one of those!
jose
You’re braver than I am, challenging the status quo like that, and standing up against all those over
lordsladies! /snarkKatherine
Sorry for my @148, didn’t re-fresh. :/
re: The Protector
What does non-biological mineral mean? :P I mean, it’s in biological systems and stuff (bones), but it’s also a geological thing (see limestone, tuff, for the most obvious), but on its own, as a metal, it’s quite shiny and soft. Also reacts poorly with water, if I recall correctly…
The red moon sounds freaky, but awesome.
Giliell,
Very sorry to hear about your mother. All the best.
@rq:
I wasn’t sure whether limestone came from biological material or not – as in, limestone is the petrified remains of bone and shells.
I doubt the moon will have to worry much about water… cause it’s a moon. In space. No space pools. Maybe a space jacuzzi.
Also, Katherine, I love the juxtaposition of war with the harvest, makes me think of the religious idea of war (a combination of death and destruction) as a harvest for the gods or some such… Also, the association that a harvest equals not always a happy and loverly time of year.
@rq:
It’s mostly a thought that once you can see the red moon in the sky, winter is coming. Not for several months of course, but you’re pretty much halfway between winter and spring at that point. The planet is no longer escaping winter as it is approaching it again.
I kinda like this picture as an idea of what the Harvester would look like.
Katherine
Limestone is often the petrified remains of bone and shells, but not always – see this specific section, third paragraph. Travertine (a type of limestone) is a very white, but also a very easily erodible (erosible?) stone, which gets dirty rather quickly. Here’s a great post by FtB’s very own Dana Hunter, which speaks about travertine quite a bit, incl. photos of travertine in architecture. If I recall correctly, it has a few links in it for even more information on limestone and its various geological relations.
Also, you can always invent your own plausible reason for a limestone moon. ;) With a space jacuzzi. ;) (Because I think, even if non-organic, limestone requires water to form – precipitation, and all that jazz.)
Hmm. I wonder what other stuff out there would work for a bright white moon? Quartz? :)
Katherine
Oh wow, that is (I say again) awesome! (I know, I need to improve my vocabulary.)
But wait, did you say half-way between winter and spring? As in, it’s spring, and the Harvester appears, and winter is coming? Are the seasons reversed, or am I reading that wrong? (As in, spring is over for a few months, but winter will be in another few months?)
I woke up too early today. Yesterday I was watching a TV program called “Closer to Truth” a philosophy show the “presenter” goes around and asks questions of religious and none religious “experts” scientists priests monks philosophers. This time they were talking about time and god . I admit I did yell at the TV a couple times then a thought occurred to me. What the religious including W.L. Craig were doing was the same things little kids do when they project agency to inanimate or less animate things and they can not let go of the child’s perception. So they have to make progressively more abstract rationalizations and adopt and rework the rationalizations of others from the past in order to keep the illusion working .
Amazing
uncle frogy
I reiterate – I love the commentariat here. THIS MUCH. (Yeah, I’m reading the threads with a certain commenter associated with voodoo dolls a few comments up. I love you guys. You set the bar so high, so high… I love it.)
I doubt I can say this often enough or with enough emphasis.
Giliell
Hoping for the best.
Giliell, sorry to hear about your mom, and I hope she gets better soon!
@rq:
As for the “midway between spring and winter thing” if you looked at my map you’ll notice that the continent on which the stories take place is in the southern hemisphere. When the planet is closest to the sun, it’s summer in the southern hemisphere. The Harvester only appears (because of its particularly low albedo) when the sun is closest to the planet on the summer solstice. The continent is sort-of-Australia in that way. (Although really the Harvester is there all year round, it’s just so small it’s very hard to see properly in the sky. They’ve charted its progress and know precisely when and where it is, and telescopes have seen it in the dead of winter – it just looks almost black so it’s very hard to see.)
It might take me a week to catch up, but hello and merry new year to all. *hugs* and condolences where needed and champagne and celebrations where appropriate.
@rq:
Whups, typed the second paragraph of the comment first and forgot to type the first.
Quartz might work. It’d be interesting cause then the moons would be huge crystals technically (since the Harvester I’m thinking is made of carbon – therefore, diamond)
Giliell, My thoughts are with you. Here’s hoping for the best possible outcome–whatever that may be. Please keep us posted.
Katherine–For your moons, you probably want something igneous–perhaps a feldspar, say microcline/albite. Also, given that astronomical bodies without an atmosphere get pummeled pretty hard over time, it has to be a young body (perhaps a few million years or less). You could imagine an event like that which gave rise to our moon, with a near collision ripping up a mountain range.
For the darker moon, it could be an iron-nickel asteroid (pretty dark and grey) or a carbonaceous Chondrite captured into an eccentric orbit about the planet. Over time the orbit could become more circular through interaction with the white moon.
Hello and a happy arbitrary numerical increment to all who wish for such! As when my car turns over to a dramatic new number (as it just did – to 130,000 miles (making it about 7,500 miles a year I drive; quite below average for a USAian (although W.U. was driving it since her car was issueful and I didn’t actually see the event)))*, I thought I would use the situation to dedicate myself to net-slight-improvements of habit**. First: to participate more in online conversations. Second: to waste less time playing addictive computer games. As of day two, I’m doing quite well. No games played, one post made.
Some of you will no doubt remember my ‘nym. To those who don’t, and who might be interested, might I suggest perusing the intro thread***. My entry is among the first 500, so you’ll have to link backwards.
*sprinkling of nested ‘thes dedicated to how Ogvorbis used to comment, now that I noticed that and remembered that.
**for the car, it’s thoughts of oil changes****, tire rotations, and “will this be the year that I clean out my car? (the answer being “yes” in 2004 and 2010).
***Whoah! I tried an embedded link, and it was ugly!
****Oil change thoughts actually occur much more often, but they also occur for dramatic numeral arrangements.
Lots of extra hugs for Giliell.
: (
@arids:
The galaxy was created by gods. It’s only about three thousand years old. I do try to limit the “a god did it” as far as natural events and how the world looks though, they made the world and all of its laws (magic exists as an actual energy source that one is capable of tapping into, for one example) and got sent into an eternal cycle of death and rebirth so they don’t control anything about the planet. Hence why gravity and natural rhythms and cycles move everything.
:(
I hope things get better Giliell.
I remember you, Cannibinacae!
@Giliell:
*also hugs*
Hello, Katherine Lorraine, I remember you too!
You have my respect for putting in so much work on your novel. I myself engage in desultory scrivenings, but haven’t managed to either complete anything or even bring them close to completion, even though it’s only two linked horror short stories (ha ha: involving squidlike beings) and one science fiction epic (mundane space opera but rather involved; essentially a sort of exigesis of The Silmarillion/LOTR. I envision in the intro saying something like “…the tale grew in the re-telling until it became a chronicle of the war to preserve the universe…”)
Katherine, ah, well, if deities are involved, then you can have pretty much whatever you want. Chances of cratering in 3000 years are pretty low. You could do moonstone (sniny as well as high albedo), limestone, even marble (metamorphosed limestone). As a physicist, I tend to spend too much time in the real world…or so I’m told. ;-)
@arids:
Well most of the planetary system operates under normal, physics-based stuff. I try, like I said, to limit the “a god did it” sort of stuff because when you invoke such things you lose track of internal consistency, and losing track of the internal consistency of the story will let me basically handwave any idea. The creation of the system and its peoples and the creation of the sem are about the only two major “a god/wizard did it” things I’ve invoked, and that’s as far as I’m going.
@Cannibinacae:
Almost 16 years in the making, this story has been, so yea. I think I have a lot of work behind it. It’s a much more robust, living world than it was in the past, and I’m proud to say it has even been improved in the past few months.
I’m trying to get everything done and put everything in the book I can. If some person walks up and asks “what are the weather patterns in Kathemega?” I want to have an answer.
Katherine
Ah, that makes more sense now (re: moons and winter).
A quartz moon would be awesome, because quartz. I’m sure the fact that it’s piezoelectric could have some implications… no?
Although, if you made it a (semi-)precious stone, like amethyst, it would fit well with the carbon/diamond dark moon (curious: carbon on top, diamond core?).
Welcome back, Cannabinaceae.
@rq:
I can almost see the Protector being made of granite – or a granite-like combination of quartz, mica, and feldspar, with more pure quartz closer to the core of the moon (with an iron core.) Explorers to the moon (in the far future) would likely have to contend with curious crystalline structures, a near constant electric field, and such. Also, since it would be made of quartz, there’s also likely different quartzes of different colors, so they could maybe see the purples and yellows and pinks and reds and such throughout.
As for the Harvester, that’s pretty much it, it’s a carbon-based body, and higher pressures lead to creation of diamonds underneath the surface.
Happy New Orbit!
I hope everyone’s Mayan Long Count Calendar Collapse was fun. Did anyone get a picture of the Universe going Phuuuuttzz?
The mildly deranged penguin was almost boring this orbit’s end, unless you count the incident with the pea soup or the minced penguin stuffing.
Katherine
I wonder how that mining would work out, and would it be a worthwhile industry for those on the world? Sure, the diamonds might, but would extracting quartz en masse and at great cost would actually be profitable? This is, of course, from the point of this world. How do economic dynamics/precious metals/materials work on yours? (Is it Kathemega?)
So, it appears that the shooting in Old Sacramento I missed was essentially a bar argument that got out of hand when one or the other of the participants pulled a gun and started shooting (there are claims from witnesses that the person among the two dead who was not the employee who attempted to intervene pulled a gun first). The rest of the wounded include the dead man’s wife, the shooter, and a trained, armed security guard who exchanged gunfire with him.
Exactly the sort of thing the motherfucking gun fetishists assure us NEVER HAPPENS BECAUSE GUN OWNERS R TEH RESPONSIBLES.
[Crossposted from the supervillain thread because apparently I can’t read URLs]
Katherine:
Does the magical energy interfere with the laws of physics? Or somehow work alongside them?
blf
… minced penguin stuffing? Are you now eating my new-found deity?
Azkyroth:
You dwell in one of those places where one can carry a concealed weapon in a bar I take it? That law is so damn dangerous. Alcohol and firearms
Just.
Don’t.
Mix.
Dalillama,
I’m sorry that I can’t help.
—-
cicely,
With the haircut I had in those years, people in school said I resembled Gillian Anderson (or rather, Scully) a bit. So not only I loved the series, I could take identifying with the character that tiny little step further.
And yes, Mulder was easy to look at. ;)
—–
Giliell,
*hugs*
Best wishes for your mother as well as yourself and your whole family in dealing with her hospitalization. I’m hoping for the best possible outcome.
Tony
Magical energy IS the laws of physics!! Duh. That’s why orbits!
Ok, fine, Katherine herself probably knows better.
Not to depress the thread even more, but does anyone else want to curl up and die about this deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff”? Between that and the various news about shootings and guns, I just want to get out, but there’s nowhere that can reasonably be defined as “out”.
Hi everybody and thanks
*covers herself in a pile of hugs*
So, I went to see mum. Imagine a good yeast dough. Imagine adding a generous amount of safron. Make two balls, put together and leave in a warm place for an hour and you get thet look.
She’s semi-detached from reality and still trying to hide everything. She says she doesn’t have any results yet but complains about how the doctor talked to her as if she has no medical knowledge (she’s a medical lab assistant), so clearly she has some information.
I guess I’ll know more tomorrow.
As a bonus I forgot that I was supposed to work tonight, but fortunately that’s two women I’ve been teaching privately for a long time so I’d say they’re friends and they understood.
Yay, Esteleth!
–
I, too, miss Lynna’s Moments of Mittly Madness.
–
I find myself completely unsurprised.
–
Sounds promising.
:)
–
Giliell, I have acquired a neckpain. Is it yours?
:)
later: Sorry about your mom.
*hug*
–
ednaz: My mother is barely able to figure out how to plug her computer in, and has to have my nephew turn it on. I shit you not!
–
*waving at Audley*
Still respiring, but dripping.
*sniffle*
–
Louis!
*pouncehug*
–
And a *pouncehug* for Portia, too.
–
*waves at Cannibinacae*
–
blf!
*yet another pouncehug*
Minced…penguin…stuffing…. I cannot imagine the mdp approving of this product; at least, unless you’re speaking of stuffing the penguin with minced cheeses.
–
“This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.”
Tradition!
–
cicely
I thought we were all about abolishing tradition? No?
All Hail the Horse, then!
chigau, cicely: yo!
Now I will log out, pay bills, NOT play any Bubbleshooter or Mah Jongg Solitaire, and finish up a major part of some code that I’ve been working on.
Oh, yeah, and work on some CV cover letters and whatnot.
Parents not understanding computers:
When I was leaving town for ten days this summer, my father was worried about my getting emails about prospective jobs. See, he thought I wouldn’t get emails that are sent while my computer is turned off.
That is a man who uses a computer at work.
Beatrice
I just had a nice giggle at your father’s expense.
Should I aspologize?
@rq:
Well the moons may be made of precious metals, but the planet is made of the same kinds of metals and minerals as our own. So mining is much the same.
The world is Dramoth Gilead (the world of humans) and the continent is Kathemega.
@Tony:
Magic runs counter to laws of physics – enabling things like creating fire with no source and levitating heavy objects from a distance. However, most of this is due to the way that the magic itself runs through the planet – in the ley line channels. One could, feasibly, navigate those channels, but they’d get torn apart by the energies. The channels all extend from the island of Dolles in the compass directions, and from those major channels they spiderweb to cover a significant portion of the land’s surface.
A magician needs to actually be in contact with the ley line somehow (evocations tend to be the simplest way) and briefly the flow of energy diverts to that magician until they’re done using the magic. The flow is temporarily used, and then returns back to the ley line when the evocation is canceled (say, levitating a rock, the flow would go into the rock, lift it, and when the rock is set back down and the magician is done with the spell, it would go back into the ley line.)
rq,
Nah, giggle away
Only if you’re talking about really big hailstones.
On the other hand, if you want to eat the Horses, then dig in! Better digested than resurrected!
–
cicely
The bones will come back to rattle at your door, impervious to the giant stones of hail falling upon it.
Trying to catch up with what’s happened overnight.
Giliell
*hugs* I’m sorry to hear about your mother. Best wishes.
FossilFishy
The shed parts look cool, and I am jealous. :)
Tony
I’m generally pretty poor at that sort of deconstruction, I’m more likely to nitpick how it hangs together/how easy my suspesnsion of disbelief is.
Katherine
Now I’m picturing him standin on the poop deck, his hard eyes roaming the sailors under his command, his mouth opening to bellow some new command, his callused hands nimbly manipulating a pair of needles as his wife’s anniversay scarf trails in the breeze below them.
It is, although silicates should also work; our moon has a pretty whitish color and high albedo and that’s what it’s covered in, IIRC.
rq
Makes me think of the old pictures of Death, using his scythe to reap a great harvest of humanity, usually repersetning war or plague.
Cannabinaceae
Inline links look funky in preveiw, but they come out right.
all who have offered help and sympathies
Thank you all so much. You have all touched me beyond words.
rq
Bone meal.
–
Louis
Try pouring the vodka into your ear.
With pepper.
Happy New Year.
cicely
… For a meal of bones?
Dalillama
Yes, like that!
Sort of on topic: There’s a great Latvian story about how Death gets tricked out of her (Death is female in Latvian) just reapings and harvests by an old soldier, but he ends up paying for his trickery in the end (and Death gets free rein).
Katherine:
(Beatrice, skip this)
Interesting. So is there a finite amount of energy in the ley lines? Can it be ‘used up’ so to speak?
I hope I’m not asking anything too spoilery. I know many writers like to worldbuild with tremendous depth and much of it doesn’t make it into their books.
@dalillama:
Actually, he’s never been married. He’s far too thoughtful to put upon any wife the stress of having to worry about whether her husband will return from his latest voyage or not. He’s had many lovers (a lady in every port) though. He’ll get married when he retires.
Dianne
But dianne, what about bipartisanship? What about compromise? We have to let the Republicans have some input even though their plans are catastrophic, their ignorance total and their behaviour whould shame a glue-sniffing howler monkey. *spits*
cicely
Eating horses?
Katherine
Well, it could be for the lady in his next port of call, or his future wife…
I remember some stories that indicated that knitting was actually a fairly popular hobby in the Navy at one point. Certainly a useful one, with all the cold and damp…
rq
For any purpose for which bone meal is a sensible choice. After it’s been properly rendered inanimate…with napalm! of course.
–
Dalillama:
Heh heh…
So how well did your suspension of disbelief hold together for the last Indiana Jones movie?
“Why hello, yes I did hide in a refrigerator to escape a ground zero nuclear blast which also hurled the fridge (with me in it) miles away. And the fridge survived. So did I.”
Aaaargh. I was ready to walk out of the movie.
@Tony:
It could be used up, but it would have to require many many MANY people casting or tapping into the ley lines. Entire nations using magical abilities at the same time. If there are wars, they in fact, tend to use circle-magic (a group of wizards channeling power together to cast larger magics) because if a lot of wizards were to use magic at the same time in the same place, it’d be really weak.
Magic circulates right back to its source, though, as soon as they’re done tapping into it.
Dailillama
I’m totally down with pitching the Horses into Davy Jones’ (meat) locker. It’s rq who wants to worship Them, and (traditionally) eat of Their rancid flesh.
–
Argh, this one bothered me sooo much. Watched it relatively recently on tv and kept grumbling about it. Family grumbled back with “it’s just a movie, let it go already”.
@Azkryoth:
Oh no doubt, which is why he does it.
@Dalillama:
Yep, that’s what he does. For women he’s interested in mostly, also gifts to various people of importance in his life: “My King! I knitted you this hat because it’s getting kind of chilly and I don’t want you to catch cold.”
Esteleth – paypal sent.
@Tony/Beatrice:
I personally subscribe to the idea that he never survived the nuclear explosion and everything after that in the movie was the last dreams of his dying mind.
It seems like “a similar composition to the earth’s moon” might more or less fulfill the requirements.
If you want REALLY shiny maybe posit that the surface was largely glassified by meteorite impacts or something.
Katherine
So they wouldn’t ever really have a magic crisis a la energy crisis, would they?
re: Indiana Jones
Had issues with that opening scene, too. Even Husband, who is usually quick to suspend all kinds of disbelief, was apalled. Terrible. Personally the last IJ movie was a travesty.
Everyone,
So, Dalilama owes $514 on bills. I happen to have that much right now, so I’m going to send that off. Anyone who would like to contribute to the, uh, “Refill Esteleth’s bank account after she helped Dalilama fund” is welcome to do so. Because while I had that money lying around, I can’t really spare that much in the long term.
I would like to note that I have – as of right now – already gotten a few donations. :D Because the Horde is awesome.
I saw a theory, and I find it attractive:
The Indiana Jones films are Han Solo’s fever-frozen-dreams while he’s encased in carbonite.
Tony
It didn’t. I don’t believe that such a movie exists, and I refuse to suspend that disbelief.
Morning all.
Thirteen sneezes in a row this morning. It’s a sign from above!! (Of an impending head cold.)
—
Crudely Wrott:
This is my favorite episode. I saw it as kid, re-run after 1am on the local station and completely understood his despair, as someone who can’t see anything clearly without glasses (contacts today) unless it’s a few inches from her nose.
—
Giliell:
I’m so sorry about your mom. Many *hugs* to you and to your family as you deal with this.
—
ednaz:
Maybe try a demo — show them what they can do with the faster speed? If one of them is a sports fan, you could show them how they can watch videos, keep up with their team(s), etc.
On the other hand, they may just not be interested in more than cursory online activities and have matched their internet to their interest level. I don’t understand people like that, but I know they exist. My aunt has very little interest in anything online and, as far as I know, uses her computer solely to check the weather forecast. So she has the cheapest, slowest dial-up on earth.
—
FossilFishy:
Yay for partial sheddage!
—
Audley:
It’s currently +25 in Moorhead. Heat wave! It’s a nice change from all the wind chill warnings and advisories.
—
Louis!!
Have you tried putting some alcohol directly into the ear? I had a grandfather who swore by 6 drops of his favorite whisky as a cure. Followed by three to six shots of same. Repeat as often as needed. I don’t know that it actually cured anything, but it might have just numbed him to the pain.
—
Katherine:
I have to second ednaz. Your characters sound SO interesting (I have a thousand and one questions because I want to know more about them!), but the world-building is amazing. I cannot wait to buy this and see how you put all these elements together.
—
Portia:
Welcome back! Hope you had an enjoyable turning of the calendar.
—
Azkyroth:
Glad you missed it! I’m sure they’ll spin it as “See! Guns work otherwise the death count would have been higher!” because they’re idiots who really don’t care about the death toll as long as they get to keep their precious, precious guns.
—
Beatrice:
I laughed.
My mom is very computer-savvy now, but when she got her first computer in 2001, she couldn’t figure out how to turn it on and called me. I tell her what the power button looks like and to press it. She does but it doesn’t work. I have her check that everything’s plugged in and it is. Try the power button again. Nothing. After a good 10-15 minutes of this, I drive over and… my mother had been pushing the power button on the monitor.
@Azkyroth:
But cheese is a really silly thing for a moon to be made out of.
Not merely attractive, but compelling.
*hand-waving*
It is, was, and ever will be so.
–
When I learned of the “moon-made-of-cheese” thing, my response was, space cows?
@rq:
Highly unlikely, it’d require tremendous amounts of energy usage. Although the city of Sedurka (the tallis city) is actually tapped into the ley lines of fire and water – using those ley lines to produce steam for their mechanics. The steam circulates pretty quickly – but there are next to no tallis mages. Maybe two or three for every one hundred of their kind. Tallis just do not use magic.
@Socio-Gen:
16 years of work makes everything much more well-designed I think.
@Esteleth:
Now that’s just silly. Everyone knows there are no space cows.
Space goats, on the other hand.
So, the moon is made of feta?
I am intrigued by this theory.
Just the title of the last post…. Ugh.
This reminds me: my car recently rolled over to 80085 miles.
…I giggled. >.>
Mmmm… feta
But Azkyroth quartz moon is just so much more awesome than ordinary our moon.
Feta…makes salads betta
@Esteleth:
Exactly. That’s why it’s kinda whitish.
(Also, any World of Warcraft players would know exactly what I mean by space goats.)
I like ‘Indy as fever dreams’.
****
Oh, Dalillama, the movie is as real as Prometheus (yeah, I am a stinker).
I know of Spaaaaaaaaace Ghoooooooost.
But not space goats.
I forgot to that WMDKitty for that X-Files fanfic linky. Thanks!
@Tony:
Google “draenei” (and be prepared for the stupid sexy fantasy females trope – stripperific costumes galore.)
But dianne, what about bipartisanship? What about compromise?
What about them?
We have to let the Republicans have some input even though their plans are catastrophic, their ignorance total and their behaviour whould shame a glue-sniffing howler monkey. *spits*
Stop dissing howler monkeys. They’re perfectly good primates who don’t deserve to be compared to Republicans. Especially not Tea Party Republicans.
Katherine:
Urban dictionary actually has an entry on these smurfy blue space goats…hod strange.
The Indiana Jones films are Han Solo’s fever-frozen-dreams while he’s encased in carbonite.
I like it, but Star Wars is said to be set “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”. How could Han know anything about 1940s Earth?
Moving time which means cleaning time which means selling time which means I may need some Horde help.
Any of you collectors or know of any resources for that. I’m finding a few things that I think are sellable but I’m having trouble pricing and don’t know if it’d be better to do Ebay or find an antique shop or what
1) 1972 pair of Ronald McDonald and Hamburglar with original Cape good condition cloth dolls
2) 1 Vintage decent condition My Little Pony
3) Set of Assorted Troll Dolls
4) Complete set of Knowles Snow White Collector’s Plates
I’m seeing #4 sold in pieces for about 20-30 per plate on Ebay but don’t know if it’s selling or if that’s a good price. An online auctioneer site gave a recommended starting bid of 100. Anyone know anymore about this than me?
You’re right. They’re far more eloquent and coherent, and display better cognitive capacities and problem-solving skills.
Random question:
If you were to come to Latvia from the US on a scientific/business trip (for instance, to present a week-long seminar to some Latvian DNA analysts about some new database programming), would you rather eat your first lunch at:
a) a Czech restaurant;
b) an Uzbeki restaurant;
c) somewhere else?
(This is assuming that you can get decent regular Latvian food at your hotel.)
rq,
Can I answer?
He doesn’t. That explains the WTFery of them.
OK, I will answer even if you don’t let me
I’m suspicious about hotel food being decent regular Latvian food. But if you are absolutely sure about that, I would choose Czech. Admittedly, I have no idea what I would get at an Uzbeki restaurant.
Oh my, I have been of no help whatsoever. :)
Beatrice
Sure!
But Beatrice! New horizons! Unexpected flavours! And (specially for cicely) horse-meat! (That’s Uzbeki.)
Yeah, I was leaning for the Czech, as well. Anyone else with a vote? Or can I blame it all on Beatrice? ;)
If I was a Canadian in Latvia for business, I’d eat Latvian food first.
Then I’d like to go for sushi ;)
Ing,
If you log in to Ebay, you can modify your search with one of the checkboxes in the sidebar to show completed listings, auctions that have finished. That’ll give you an idea of how often they’re selling.
I forgot to make it clear in between my snipes at hotel food, but I would generally go out for local food first, like chigau.
See, that’s the dilemma – they’re here for a week, staying at a rather decent new hotel right downtown, but I have to take them to lunch on their first day (well, second – they fly in on the Saturday, lunch is on the Sunday). And I don’t know whether to throw them straight to the Latvian fare, or to present them with something else (more or less European) and hope they’ll hit the Latvian food themselves later in the week…
rq:
I think I’d want authentic Latvian food, but if those are my only choices, I’d go with Czech first, then Uzbeki.
Unless you’re not joking about the horse meat, because then it’s Czech for every meal.
Field trip to Prague:
Horrible hotel food.
But! A great restaurant one afternoon. Idiots from the class turned their noses at the food and went to McDonald’s later. I would confiscate passports from people like that.
Hi all,
I just learned that the Horde Signal had gone up—I’m sorry to have missed it! I would offer to play treasurer again but it looks like Esteleth has taken up the good cause. Is that so? Can I help E? You know where to find me.
Dalillama—I’m sorry your finances are so busted right now! Don’t worry; the Horde will help.
Gileill, I’m sorry to hear of your mum’s health turn. Please keep us informed to the degree that you want to.
Not to mention you’d still have the 3 Star Wars prequels to handwave away too. Maybe *those* are the carbonite dreams.
Beatrice
Agreed. Way to enjoy travel. :P
Socio-gen
Well, the Uzbeki place has horse-meat on the menu – not every dish, mind, but it’s there. Mostly goat and mutton, though.
+++
I think I’m going to go with the Czech on the first day, and compile a list of places with good Latvian food to give them on arrival. I’ve been to the Czech place, at least, and can guarantee atmosphere + food + really good beer + service. Work is footing the bill, so that’s a bit less of a worry (but no, the budget is not astronomical – I’m still a government employee).
I approve of this theory.
Josh:
I have a PayPal, and I also have a snail mail that I think you know. If you’d like to contribute, I certainly won’t say no. :)
Not to mention you’d still have the 3 Star Wars prequels to handwave away too. Maybe *those* are the carbonite dreams.
No, those are Luke Skywalker’s dreams while under anesthesia for the hand replacement he needs after his hand was destroyed during the fight with Vader. RofJ was too. As was the whole thing about Vader being his father. The propofol was to blame for all of it. Along with the illusion that Leia was his sister. That was just Luke making himself feel better about losing out to Hans in the romance department.
How would you prepare chigau? O.o
rq,
Czech beer. I didn’t care much for beer at the time I traveled to Prague, but I immediately loved Pilsner Urquell. Staropramen is my beer of choice in bars here (much better than most of our brands).
O.O
You’ll hafta catch me first!!!
rq
As a hypothetical “American in Latvia” I’d want to sample the local fare, but if possible also try other stuff that isn’t available in the USA. So if there’s a good Czech joint nearby, or Uzbeki or whatever else, I want to try that too. Of course, I’m generally an adventurous eater… and I have a pretty good instinct for “food the locals only serve to dumb Americans in order to laugh at them for eating the bits they normally throw away.”
Azkyroth,
Um.
I have to work on my sentence structure.
—-
chigau, I won’t try to cook you. Honest!
dianne:
Anything else you want to handwave away?
Battlefield Earth?
Waterworld?
rq
I think that Czech is probably safe AND tasty.
I would go for Uzbeki, but I already know Czech and am fond of experimenting.
+++
The sad hilarity of life:
Your mum’s cousin who left her alcoholic husband because she couldn’t take it anymore being shocked at your dad thinking about leaving your alcoholic mum* because he can’t take it anymore.
*Not now. But he made a remark some weeks ago if it weren’t for sister carig for gran and him not wanting to leave them alone he’d be gone (and no, I couldn’t blame him)
rq:
Ah, okay. As long as it’s something I could avoid (same with seafood), I’d be fine.
I don’t know if it would be worth the time and effort, but maybe with your list of places, you could include a one or two menu items you’d recommend they try? I’m forever asking people what they like at whatever restaurant they suggest and have found it a great way to discover new-to-me dishes.
Beatrice
I like Czech beer, almost as much as I like Latvian beer. And yes, Staropramen is a great one, when available (too many local Latvian beers, so they tend not to carry other European beers except in specialized bars, like the Belgian Beer Bar…).
dianne
I should think so, that Luke feels bad for losing out to Han-some not-so-Solo in the romance department. Because everybody loves a scoundrel, while Luke’s country-bumpkin naivete gets pretty old after a while. :)
Anything else you want to handwave away?
Yes. The NRA and the Tea Party. Unfortunately, they’re being more persistent.
Tony:
Yes, please.
But back to movies, I’m also of the opinion that the Matrix works better if you assume that the entire thing happens inside the Matrix and the “real world” is just a fantasy RPG that the computers thought up to keep the people who didn’t like living in the bit simulating the 1990s happy. Then all of the illogical bits including the lack of thermodynamic sense can be waved away as bad programming.
Improbable Joe
I don’t know how adventurous these people are, and I have to submit my recommendation tomorrow and they arrive in about 10 days, so I think I’ll give them a list of more exotic places around. The walk on the way to the Czech place should give me a chance to point a few places out, and since they’ll be hanging out at my work for the whole week, it’ll all be within walking distance.
Yeah, if you come visit, I’ll try to think of something especially interesting.
Giliell
I actually want to try the Uzbeki place myself, because I’ve never had Uzbeki food (skipping on the horse-meat). But the Czech is really, really good.
Azkyroth
Sadly, chigau is local neither to me nor to Beatrice. :(
chigau
You’re safe. (But I’m sure you run fast.)
Socio-gen
That’s the plan! Hopefully they’re the kind of poeple who enjoy suggestions. I just hope I pick good ones, it’s been a while since I’ve been out-out, and I have no idea what these people will be like!
Also, how’s your Plan working out?
The Matrix makes much more sense in the Lebowski’s original script than in what they were forced to change it to. Because WB thinks that people are idiots.
(The original script: the Matrix is created by the sum of all the embedded humans’ neural networks. So the Matrix is *of* the humans. The nonsense about humans being used to create energy is completely missing.)
I don’t know how I missed this earlier, but:
The 112th Congress is poised to adjourn without voting on the Violence Against Women Act.
VAWA is dead.
Fuck the GOP. Seriously.
rq:
Nice! I wasn’t sure if it would come across as asking you to do even more work, but I always appreciate suggestions and figure other people do as well.
The Plan proceeds. We’re in radio-silence mode now, though there has been a posting of an “I don’t know what the world is coming to when people are just ignoring traditional values” that I assume is directed at me. Along with a comment from the SIL who can’t keep secrets telling her that
“it’s difficult when someone don’t [sic] have a moral foundation but all we can do is pray and hope God heals their troubled heart.”
*snicker*
In short, we’re on schedule and after one or two more such postings, the trip should be canceled — probably within the next week.
dianne,
I assumed the same thing as you about The Matrix, that the “real world” is actually just another level of programmed virtual reality. I also decided that the real ending is that Neo and Smith become integrated as one being to have a human element helping run things. In that scene at the end with the Architect and the Oracle on a park bench or whatever, they should be joined by “Agent Anderson” … or something like that.
Is it weird that I’ve made it sort of a hobby to rewrite crappy movies & TV shows into halfway good ones. at least in my head?
Esteleth:
Seconded.
But cicely won’t be presenting a week-long seminar to some Latvian DNA analysts, so cicely is safe from the threat of Horse-meat. With or without napalm!
–
Yes and yes.
Also, the alleged second and third Matrix movies.
–
Sadly, tragically, these are not fictions…at least, not in the same sense as stinky-bad movies.
–
Ah; the ultimate MMRPG!
–
Fuck them sideways, and running.
–
rq
If Czech food is anything like Serbian, I would favor going there, but that’s because I love Serbian food.
esteleth
Thirded
Joe
Nope, not weird. I do it too. (ok, maybe that doesn’t mean it’s not weird, whatever.)
rq – as an extremely UN-adventurous person, I would consider eating the local food exciting enough.
Hm, I should be more familiar with traditional Serbian food. Serbian cuisine has a lot of Turkish and Greek influence, but other than that I think it should have a lot of similarities with Czech cuisine (note that I don’t know much about traditional Czech foods).
ImaginesABeach:
Any cookie with icing was the most popular, after that, sugar cookies! I’ve stashed the rest for us, with some reserved for careful parceling out to the rats when fight night breaks out. (When they get in the mood to fight, the only thing that breaks it all up is the giving out of cookies.)
FossilFishy, (from last thread)
Thank you for your wonderful post.
As for the money, I know you guys don’t check or act like DES. However, it still felt wrong to take all the money and not use it for moving. That’s what the money was for and I knew if I took it, even to just hold on to it, household thinks would pop up like medicine and lightbulbs. So the money would have slowly drained away at least a little bit during the last month.
Since I knew that would happen and wanted to make sure we had our get out of doge fund intact, Esteleth held on to the money for me. I took about 150 to get a cellphone. boxes and do laundry and such but that’s it.
While I know the Horde is donating to help pay back Esteleth for helping out Dalillama, if Esteleth needs any extra I have no problem with her taking some of funds she’s holding for me.
—
—
Okay, so I started talking to FossilFishy but then switched to talking to the whole Horde and specifically Esteleth but I had no idea how to switch my tone so it like I’m talking about Esteleth in front of her but not acknowledging her and it’s weird. In my defense I’m high on because the pain from my teeth was too much to handle. I lost another chunk in the back which is tearing apart my gums, since my gums cover some of my back teeth.
Now I’m rambling incoherently but I’m still going to post it because I want to talk to you guys.
——
——
Yay more book talk! Kathrine, I love hearing about your books and last time you posted your websites for them, I started following those. I hope to read them once you get them published. =)
Okay this might sound weird but I have this little dream when it comes to your books. I’ve been trying to write reviews and start a book blog, right? Because I love books so much that even in depressive states I read and become *my pen name* as book reviewer and pretend everything is fine.
So, I have a hope that when you get published, either self or with a big place, I’ll be this awesome known reviewer. Then I can review your book and my, (currently imaginary), horde of followers will buy and love your book. So you’d be a great well known author that I got to help you up the ladder and be your friend at the same time.
Wait, Katherine has a website for her books? Link me up!
+++
And I’ll look at it tomorrow. Good night all, thanks for the food suggestions!
*hugs*, hot drinks and shots as/where needed!
JAL
While I appreciate the offer, I can’t tell you how much, please please don’t give up your funds for me. Seriously, I would rather give the money back to Esteleth directly and try to find some other way than think I was depriving you and the Little One. I’m employed, I’ll have more money in the future, I’ll even have insurance soon; if I had to, there’s payday loans ore something, but I can’t take money from you. If there’s an emergency dental clinic in your area that offers discounted rates, a dental school, something like that, take the money to them to see what they can do for you before you give it to me.
Here’s the site I have for Kat’s http://cathemega.wordpress.com
Continued…
I also have family who technically could help me, but I know that their finances aren’t great and they’ve already been supporting me more than they can really afford, especially since they’re helping my brother out too, I’m pretty sure.
Beatrice
There’s a wonderful Serbian restaurant not a mile from me. I haven’t been able to go in years, but I remember it fondly.
Alright, food and beer gossip!
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As far as food goes: I’m a pretty finicky eater, but I’d try horse and probably most other vertebrate muscle meats. Dog or cat probably not, though. Maybe dog. In addition to the USA-usual meats, I’ve had: venison, bear, turtle, elk, wild boar, kangaroo, alligator, wildebeest. I wasn’t all that happy with the venison or kangaroo.
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As far as beer goes: My reflex is to drink IPAs (but not “black IPAs”*), but I’ll happily drink any _Reinheitsgebot_ beer, and much that is closely related. However, if I find myself in odd-to-me beer territory (say, as in visiting Great Britain) I quickly adapt (as in not noticing any temperature and carbonation differences).
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*Scare quotes ’cause I don’t think the term is wholly adopted by beer snobs such as me; the ones I’ve tried so far have seemed oddly watery. I wish it were different, as in my past my reflex has been to go for the dark beers, and it would be great to make my future even better by potentiating my past with my present, AFABG.
Something to listen to while you sample beer.
.
The singers of ABBA:
Anni-Frid Lyngstad: En ledig dag (1967) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECn0lgS3aEg
En kväll om sommarn (1971) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFkgKIiW7QE
— — — — — — —
Agnetha Fältskog Jag var så kär (1967) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDAfSvLnA2s
“Om tårar vore guld” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKPdkwIpPVI A Swedish No. 1 hit at the age of 17!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQjYa0BICAA Humerous and charming video of Agnetha forced to sing her song “Om Tårar Vore Guld” on a chat show, while at the same time chopping an onion!
To whoever recommended the “Mistborn trilogy” books a while ago, thank you very much, I enjoyed reading them a lot.
The other half of ABBA. All four had distinguished careers before they teamed up. Here is some early stuff.
Björn Ulvaeus, Early band Hootenanny Singers,
Baby, those are the rules,
No time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0BQTGjWDIc ,
First collaboration with Andersson: Isn’t It Easy To Say http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbEqcMOhU6k
— — — — — — —
Benny Andersson
Early band Hep Stars
“Sunny Girl” (1966) (too corny text, -remember it is not his first language so he had crappy grasp of English – but good melody)
“She’s domestic, she is property, she’s slim like reed” How embarrassing , It is like when the CEO of BP talked of “Small People” when he meant little people/ vulnerable people.
.
-But in case you think he is an MRA, he actually donated a million SKR to the party Feministiskt initiativ (feministic initiative) for the Europarliament election in 2009. **
— — — —
First song with *all four* (not yet using the name ABBA): Hej gamle man (shows the roots in folk music of Andersson and ULvaeus) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVQWo6g-dRQ
— — — — — — — — — — —
Politics:
.
“Björn Ulvaeus är sedan 2005 en aktiv medlem i den ateistiska organisationen Humanisterna. Den 10 oktober 2006 mottog han organisationens Ingemar Hedenius-pris “för att han på ett modigt och skarpsinnigt sätt, i flertalet artiklar och ‘amerikabrev’ i svensk rikspress under 2006, har formulerat en tydlig religionskritik och behovet av en sekulär humanistisk grund för samhällsutvecklingen”.
.
Brief translation: “Björn Ulvaeus is since 2005 an active member of the atheist organization Humanisterna. 2006 he received the Ingemar Hedenius prize for formulating a concise criticism of religion and the need for a secular humanistic foundation for the development of society.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
** Benny Andersson:
“Inför Europaparlamentsvalet 2009 skänkte Andersson en miljon kronor till Feministiskt initiativ”
But licking grapefruit peel off pine lumber would be so much cheaper O.o
Esteleth, I just responded to your email. I disconnected so much with my “real” self, I hadn’t checked that email account in a month at least.
—
—
Dalillama, thank you for that. I figured if everyone was wiped out from the holidays and such, my stash could be used and restored if and when I actually get to moving.
Mistborn trilogy? I will bookmark it.
BTW I was not previously aware Ulvaeus was an active member of an atheist organisation. It is embarassing to be ignorant of something right under my nose.
I forgot to mention, the manager Stickan Andersson was practically the fifth member of the group in terms of importance, just like wossname the manager for the Beatles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stig_Anderson
Oohhh! I don’t know if it was me, but I def. recommend them so I’m glad you liked them!
Did you read the stand alone novel, Alloy of Law? Brandon Sanderson doesn’t like how fantasy worlds just get stuck technology wise because well, that’s now it works in our world. There’s always movement forward so he’s doing that with his Mistborn series. Alloy of Law is set in like the Wild West and he’s working on another trilogy in an Urban setting in the Mistborn world. I love that idea of moving technology forward.
If 1940s Earth is at the edge of the light cone for Han Solo, and he has the ability to sense events here (due to The Schwartz) they would be simultaneous for him (violating a few laws of physics, but that is what The Schwartz permits) while Han Solo would be in our past.
Watching ParaNorman, fabulous!
Han Solo is not Schwartz-sensitive.
I have heard there are people that do not enjoy:
Are you one of them? How about juniper berries* mixed with reindeer lichen**? It seems all three would be somewhat similar. I’ll note that when a child, I enjoyed the smell when we got the car filled up with gas or when the high school was re-tarring is extensive acreage of flat roofs.
|
*Juniperus communis
**Cladonia rangiferina
Yes we must remember that Star Wars is a setting where fascism is woven into the very fabric of the universe and the chosen ones are the major movers and shakers for good or ill by birthright.
Which incidentally I remember reading background material supposedly sanctioned by WOG in SW (pre prequel obviously) that while the degree of “sensitivity” is variable originally the idea was that anyone can train to be a Jedi (Fitting in with the Buddhist themes I suppose) but this was quickly contradicted by EU writings that introduced the “force sensitivity” idea. So maybe the Mitichlorians weren’t entirely Lucas’s fault as he was just naming a stupid idea that others came up with.
And yet (as per the EU), he fathered 3 sensitive children. So – if we predicate that to be sensitive, one must be sensitive+/sensitive+ (i.e. it is a recessive allele), then – given that Leia is asserted to be sensitive herself – for their children to also be sensitive, Solo must be sensitive+/sensitive-, i.e. an asymptomatic carrier.
@Esteleth
Sensitivity being recessive is nuked by the fact that Shimi Skywalker gave birth to Anikan. not only is she negative for the trait by all indication, there’s no other parent.
Also given new movies are coming out and the shitting upon the prequels gave them; the EU is basically worthless.
Midichlorians are analogous to mitochondria, yes? Then they are inherited only from the mother.
Is it weird that I’ve made it sort of a hobby to rewrite crappy movies & TV shows into halfway good ones. at least in my head?
I hope not, since I do the same thing. The Matrix is a frustrating one because there’s part of a good movie in there, with a bunch of BS around it making suspension of disbelief difficult. In my version of The Matrix:
1. Movies 2 and 3 didn’t happen. In fact, couldn’t because 1 takes a radically different turn.
2. Neo doesn’t ask for a bunch of guns to go rescue Morpheus, he uses a bunch of ID cards and bluffs his way through. Because one must provide SOME fan service, he ends up getting revealed on his way out and has to go to the roof, do a little hand to hand combat, and take the helicopter, much like in the actual movie.
3. The Oracle tries to convince Neo that Morpheus is not a hero, but rather a villain protagonist by pointing out the inordinate number of bystanders they’ve been killing with their various activities throughout the movie, under Morpheus’ leadership. It doesn’t quite take, but sets the scene for…
4. Snark to snark battle between Neo and Agent Smith which ends with them realizing that they’ve both been duped by their respective leaders and join forces.
5. They figure out a way to let people know the “truth” and decide whether to stay in the Matrix or leave it for the “real world”.
6. It is revealed to the audience that the “real world” is just the next layer of illusion, thus accounting for any residual nonsense. The characters don’t realize yet. Maybe there is a sequel to be had somewhere.
7. The purpose of the Matrix is not to provide energy, though they do use the energy generated by human bodies because it’s there. The purpose is to provide the maximum number of programmers to solve some impending problem that the AIs have. Not sure what exactly. But that’s why it’s always the 1990s in the matrix: that’s the peak of the dotcom boom so the time when the most people would be working in programming.
In short, I’m looking for fewer guns, more snark, and a deeper conspiracy. Think it’d sell as a remake?
@SG
The analogousness of them is not verified AFAIK. Also since midichlorians are in all life (If I’m remembering the guy from Taken correctly) they would probably not be due to all those asexual creatures. Though that also raises the question of what threshold of midicount == sensitivity.
Rarg.
Socio-gen
*drums fingers together Mr. Burns’ style* Excellent.
Azkyroth
1.
Ha! Well played. I see we have at least one beer-preference (lack of preference?) in common.
JAL
I am much delayed in the chorus, but it is so good to see you back. In my skimming I’ve caught your dental and other troubles and I’m so so sorry. I really hope things look up soon and you are relieved of the tooth pain. I feel for you. I’m glad you’re checking in. *pile of hugs* to be collected at your leisure.
We share a lack of lack of taste.
Esteleth, some money sent. Will see what I can do about putting more in the account so it’s transferable.
Obviously, midichlorial DNA expression is regulated by epigenetic markers, which are subject to environmental stressors.
So, no problem:
Shmi’s midichlorians can reproduce at too low a density in her own body, while passing on to Anakin a variant which reproduces much more often.
Couldn’t she have been infected by them, and the infection became/made the fetus? I mean, if they’re in every organism, a particularly virulent strain could come along from presumably any organism (could be from basically anywhere, because wookieepedia says she wasn’t born on Tatooine). Maybe she came into contact with a force-sensitive womp rat that couldn’t do much with its powers. Or who knows? Maybe it could.
…alternatively she could have been force-sensitive and never trained?
If midichlorians are typically inherited from parent to child, as they evidently are, they have probably diverged enough that one species’ midichlorians won’t work in another’s cells.
Midichlorians aren’t going to substitute for a Y chromosome, so she must already have one of her own.
I’m just saying, epigenetic switching is more common than horizontal gene transfer in animals.
Guh! You’re making this too complicated!
Alternatively there is a father and Shimi is a horrible liar
Well, if you’re going to get all practical and sensible, Ing…
Also possible.
I looked at Wookiepedia’s explanation already. It’s far stupider than anything we’ve come up with here.
Or (and this is going out on a limb), the scriptwriters were pressed for time and figured that, with all the other holes in the plots, no one would notice the massive holes surrounding the midichlorians?
@SGBM
Taking a guess that it’s that a Sith Lord used his mojo to impregnate Shimi via Midichlorians across the galaxy?
Also three comments ago we surpassed the amount of thought the actual writers gave the subject
Ing is prescient:
Almost exactly right.
Serious question arises on whether you can transfer force abilities via blood transfusion or some other way to induce a probiotic colonization.
Logically I can’t see why you couldn’t…which raises the question of why the Sith mad scientists tried to use vodoo to make their ubbermesh rather than conventional cloning and GM (that is mastered in this setting).
You know one that can even be programed to be obedient.
There’s a much more straightforward explanation for Anakin’s conception:
*waving hand*
“We never had sex. I am not the sperm donor you’re looking for.”
–
OOOO Not at all Dianne I’ve been thinking over Star trek V :P
1. Kirk as a trained diplomat, Bones for support and Sulu as captain of the excelsior travel to nimbus IV only to have the crew mutiny when faced with Sybok. First officer a Vulcan sympathetic to Sybok’s views that could play off him.
2. Scotty, Spock, Uhurah and Chekov have to try to mount a rescue in the still damaged enterprise. Scotty trying to push the ship farther and get to Kirk before Syboks plans lead to disaster.
3. The story is then Kirk on the excelsior trying to sabotage and slow the ship while Spock tries to catch up in time to save Kirk.
I haven’t worked out much beyond that but it already sounds better then what made it on the screen.
Hey, gang…is there any reason for JAL not to use accumulated funds to get her teeth afore they get her, and worry about moving her later? Call me a Nervous Nelly, but I had an abscess nearly kill me, once—and that was only one tooth gone over to the Dark Side. It sounds as if her whole mouth is in open revolt.
–
Sure, but this is a very rare event, so what’s more probable in most cases doesn’t help much. I’m sticking with my new theory that I have about the womp rat. It is my theory that belongs to me, which is to say that it is mine.
You are attempting to reconcile the prequels with the original trilogy and the EU?
Why?
Ain’t no thing.
*handwave*
I have no money at stake, but my feeling is that saving real teeth via crown or root canals and riding abscesses is preventative medicine, and should be done forthwith. My 20 mils.
Seconded, thus far.
Should we be facilitating Horde migration out of certain U.S. states? Abortion in the
crosshairsSURVEYOR’S MARKScrosshairs: “in some states, like Ohio, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Arizona, women’s health and their right to choose are being seriously threatened.”I agree. Tooth care is not optional. Money can be raised again, but teeth once gone are gone. JAL, please find a dentist you can work with and ask for money if you need it.
Yes, JAL should have something done about her teeth, if possible.
I think that my cold and I are going to call it an early night. ‘Night, all.
–
It’s far stupider than anything we’ve come up with here.
At first I took this statement as a challenge. Then I read SGBM’s link to the actual canonical explanation and realized it was a challenge I was destined to fail. I won’t say I’ve never come up with a stupid plot device, but that level of epic stupidity…it is beyond me.
Sleep well, cicely.
JAL: Please take the money and fix your teeth. Constant pain makes everything hard and untreated dental abscesses can be fatal. If you later need get out of town money I will be glad to donate more.
I support the plan to take care of the teeth. It’s hard to take care of other people when you are in pain.
I am wholeheartedly in favor of relabeling (at least part of) the Get JAL Outta Dodge Fund the Fix JAL’s Mouth Fund.
I mean, shit. It is hard to take care of others, or yourself, or get crap done in general, if you’re in pain. And if your teeth are falling out, then you’ll struggle to stay properly nourished as well.
JAL:
I had a low-level abscess for 5 to 15 years. I ended up losing the tooth but also lost the 3 or 4 sinus infections every year. If there is a way to get the teeth done, do it.
JAL, messing around with the failing teeth is not an option. Rotting dentition can kill you. This is not an exaggeration. And it has fuck all to do with if you brushed and flossed. Some folks have poor tooth resources (genetics) and I am one of them. I speak from long, long painful experience.
Allowing all that infection to course about in your body (we swallow it, ya know) literally poisons your body, especially your heart. If someone else here wants to get into the medical specifics here, please do.
In the meantime PLEASE use the Get JAL Outta Dodge Fund to fix your teeth. Please. For the little one. Moms are handy to have around, and keep around.
N^th-ing the support for re-allocating the moving fund to the teeth fund. I don’t remember if I was involved in this round or not, but I’ll do what I can to replenish when the time comes.
(possible trigger warning)
Not only is it tough on physical nourishment to not have some chompers, but it’s brutal on the psyche. I broke a molar to below the gumline, but not quite the root, on some freaking pizza (f u digiorno) and couldn’t get it fixed right away. Yeah, I was mildly in pain and couldn’t chew on that side, but I had nightmares about all the rest of the teeth following that molar and saying “fuck it! We’re out.” the helplessness compounded with the pain and fear in a really nasty way.
When I was able to get it done, (tooth out b/c of the infection from waiting, and a bridge over the chasm) there was still some pain, but it was different. And it seemed like had moved just a bit to the side of damocles’ sword. And they gave me lorcet.
In the morning, I’m making an appointment with my dentist.
Via ninemsn & apologies if someone has already beaten me to posting this here :
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/01/03/11/23/father-of-indian-rape-victim-speaks-out
What can you say? Tragic needlessly lost life. No justice. Yet. My condolences, for whatever little they are worth, to her friends and family. She was clearly a wonderful person and who knows how many lives are now going to be the poorer without her?
Correction to my #338: last ‘graph: there was still some pain for a few days.
Lorcet took care of that nicely. I didn’t finish even half of the ‘script.
@ JAL :
Virtual hugs and support from me if you want them.
You are a good person , perhaps better than I’ll ever be and deserve better.
Another vote for JAL to please see the dentist. : )
Not sure if folks have already seen but good Aussie website here :
http://theantibogan.wordpress.com/
If anyone’s interested.
I am getting caught up on the Lounge and may I just say you all are geeking out.
and I LOVE it. Carry on!
So, I just read all of the “Why do you hate feminism?” thread.
And based on my observations, the reasons seem to be:
1. Bitches, man.
2. My ex-wife is a bad person.
3. Men are made to join the army/get sent to prison.
and
4. There have been some women, at some point in history, who have had at least some power over at least some men.
Am I missing anything important?
I fail to find any of those “arguments” particularly insightful.
@Kat:
Hm.
Was that a deliberate borrowing from Ramoth-Gilead, or is it a case of memory being like a whatchacallit?
dianne:
I love your change to the Matrix.
I will say I am a fan of well choreographed fight scenes, so I enjoyed the Neo vs Agent Smith army in Reloaded, as well as the climactic battle in Revolutions(which I may watch now…)
****
I could listen to you all talk Star Wars for hours.
****
G’night, all.
I actually have work tomorrow.
@Tony
Well then settle in. Damn were the prequels ever wasted potential. I think there was a way to make Vader both sympathetic and frightening with his story being one like McBeth of someone who otherwise would be monstrous being sympathetic because of protagonist status and fate conspiring against them. My take on it would be that Palpatine arranges through a manipulated servant, a Jedi that left the order dissatisfied that the Jedi are enforcers of status quo rather than actors for justice a civil war. He uses this as the backdrop for his plants sowing seeds of discord and paranoia with infiltrators and traitors around every corner. Once the Republic is in a nice panic he does his master stroke and arranges an orbital strike against the Jedi temple, framing the death of the loyal Jedi on the separatist sympathizing Jedi. He then manipulates Anikan, irate and wanting to avenger his order to hunt down the traitors (ie the surviving Jedi). This way he leads Anikan down the Dark Side, getting him to cross the moral event horizon willingly and for noble intentions. That way once everything is done Anikan realizes the monster he’s become has destroyed anyone who could have helped him utterly breaking his will.
I’m feeling so awfully weary tonight. There is so much deliberate horror in the world and the good people are helpless in the face of it simply because they are good.
I try not to cry too often simply because it harms me. The world hurts me.
Good night.
Okay, so, HuffPo has this article featured twice on the front page:
Before you click on the link, I propose a game: what do you predict one or some or all of the five ways women sabotage their marriages likely to be?
1. Not letting their man think that you really, really need him, regardless of whether you really are codependent
2.
3.
4.
5.
Ah shucks morgan, I’m sorry if my post bothers you. It seems inappropriate now given your sentiment. Hope you feel less weary after some rest.
So it’s been months since I’ve been around these parts. Threadrupt doesn’t seem sufficient to describe where I am.
Either way, I apparently cannot stick a flounce from this joint. *pulls up chair*
Thanks Sally. There is nothing that is not complex. Just sometimes my sardonic humor can’t overcome the horror. Again. Good night.
@Sally
Not enough sex
Yeah, I also don’t see why not.
Wait, what’s the rare event? Virgin birth? But I didn’t invoke epigenetics to explain that. (I’m assuming it can be explained by the, uh, usual mechanisms of virgin birth.)
Is the birth of a Force-sensitive child to parents who aren’t Force-sensitive very rare? That’s all I’m trying to explain.
I’ll grant that it’s better than the canon.
Ing:
Nice take on the potential prequels that could have been. One of my main beefs with the prequels is that they were overly complex for absolutely no good reason. I didn’t need trade federations or secret clone factories or pod races or any of that bullshit, because thinking about any of it for more than 30 seconds makes it fall apart in a jumble of illogic. What it should have or could have been is Anakin Skywalker sacrificing everything for the Jedi order, and then failing a test like the one that Luke took in that creepy tree-cave on Dagobah. Then he gets adopted by other failed Jedi who seem OK but who are really being led/ manipulated by Palpatine. Maybe they do some good where the overly strict and bureaucratic Jedi Order can’t or won’t intervene, but it is all leading to a confrontation between the two groups. Then your bit about breaking his will and turning him to the Dark Side.
Esteleth @346:
Yikes! You read the whole thing??
Did you have a strong drink or two handy?
But MY ex-wife is a bad person and I don’t hate feminism, though certain generalizations really rub me the wrong way… >.>
happiestsadist:
Good to have you back. I had wondered where you went.
Morgan:
Sleep well. Hopefully when you wake, you will feel better.
****
SallyStrange@352:
Nagging?
Ah, I misunderstood. I figured magic-epigenetics in a magical universe could do that sort of thing, if it wanted to. Even making normal Y chromosomes from scratch, if that would make a convenient plot device.
Like womp rats, for example? They already play a key role in the plot, because getting all that target practice with them was clearly how Luke was able to destroy the Death Star. It’s hard to compare one miracle with another, but I don’t think it’s a big stretch.
I have no idea. I doubt George Lucas really thought about it. There aren’t many Jedi (or Sith) compared to size of the population in the whole galaxy, so it looks like it’s pretty rare to me. But maybe the vast majority of Force-sensitives aren’t accepted and trained as “official” Jedi for some reason I’d also have to make up…. having to do with womp rats, probably.
How often do Sith Lords will a being into existence, which backfires when it becomes a good person, which then double-backfires when he becomes bad, which then triple-backfires when he suddenly decides at the last moment to help his unambiguously-good son by doing a finishing move on a Sith Lord, which somehow “balances” everything?
Mostly to PET, tumblr and bed.
But I shall wedge FTB back into the list of things that eat all my time.
One thing I didn’t like about the prequels was the wasted opportunity to develop new civilizations and cultures. There were so many clones and robots, I often can’t remember many living beings aside from those already established. The Republic, and later the Empire, covered a large territory. But who were the beings living in that territory? Take away clones, robots, Sith lords, and Jedi and who is left?
*googles womprats*
*finds wookieepedia*
***waitaminnit***
womp rats are ROUS?
Oh yeah…what about the difference in technology between pt 3 and New Hope? I know real life tech enabled Lucas to have greater technology in the prequels, but is there any reconciling the pitiful ships in a New Hope with the much more advanced ones in Episode 3?
@Tony
I shit you not the WOG is post war time recession
WOG?
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WordOfGod
*Goes scampering after the ROUS*
*stops*
…what?
Thanks SGBM.
I am checking out some other examples of WOG, but they are blocked out. Why is that? To avoid spoilers?
Yep, spoilers are whited out. You can view them by highlighting the whited out portions, or you can “become known” to the wiki, and there’s a fiddly bit in your settings that you can change to “show spoilers”.
!!! No, sir. We are discussing the perfectly natural ordinary non-magical epigenetics of a magical microorganism.
Honestly, I’d be more comfortable with brontosauruses here.
Pish. To ascertain whether it’s relatively rare for Force-sensitive people to be born to non-sensitive parents, the relevant population to sample is all Force-sensitive people, not everyone in the galaxy.
Well, that’s fine. Probably true even. No reason to suspect it’ll skew the sample, anyway.
Your womp rat mind tricks won’t work on me, because I’m too simple to even guess where you’re going with this.
+++++
ROUS in space!
Though if we’re going to pick on the movies…why the hell do we never see anyone use that handy stun setting after they shoot Leia? I’d think that a shock wave that knocks out any humanoid it hits and you don’t have to rely on Storm Trooper aiming for would be useful.
Esteleth @346, you forgot: You feminists are all so mean to me. Though to be fair t hat might be included in your #1.
Hey all!
Please welcome our little brand new baby boy. He came out at 8 pounds via emergency c-section a few days ago. He is perfectly healthy and his mother is well, too. Mommy, me and his three older sisters love him to infinity.
I hope he quits messing with loose cords around him and stays as healthy as he is.
SGBM:
I blame you for getting me sucked into tvtrotropes…
Like I said, I misunderstood. My mistake.
Such blatant wishful thinking. Fictional realities are not whatever you want them to be. They are what they fictionally are. Brontosauruses are not likely to pop out of thin air, into a fictional existence where they don’t belong. How do you call yourself a skeptic?
Yeah, that makes sense. But don’t forget to check the Force-sensitive womp rats, etc. I mean, I didn’t think it was just about “people” and other sentient species, unless there’s some reason to think being sentient would have an effect on that. Then again, we are talking about psychic powers here, so I could easily be persuaded there is such a reason.
I was going back to where I already was: I doubt George Lucas really thought about it. That’s why MagicWompRatsDoneIt.
Yeah, some people give warnings along with the link, but I don’t think those warnings do any good. It’s not like they really keep you from clicking deeper and deeper.
For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.
Yubal:
Congratulations on the new addition to your family!
No need for sorry.
I am having a blast.
Please, don’t die before I do.
http://youtu.be/eZ87xW093bo
How much does it cost to build a Death Star?
****
Or a Warworld?
Tony
Sucked into a Wiki-Walk, huh?
yubal
Congratulations on the new cub!
gilliel
Running behind on things, but here’s a belated “I’m sorry” and “Best of luck to your mum” along with your choice of *headbonks* or *hugs*. IANAD, but yellow skin makes me think “liver troubles”. For whatever it’s worth, I’m hoping it’s something fixable.
I’ve been doing that with the Star Wars movies ever since I got over my childhood awe with them and realized what utter drivel they were.
1. The First and foremost thing that I changed in my version was the paternity of our hero. For me the line “No Luke, I am your father” was when the franchise officially took an Evel-Knivel-on-a-rocket-sled leap over the proverbial Carcharodon. (See 2 for the close second.) Therefore Luke’s father and Lord Vader go back to being two completely different people, as was originally intended.
2) Ditto the whole “Luke and Leia are long lost twins” plot point. Lucas a perfectly good love triangle going with Han/Leia/Luke, until he started to get ideas. Allowing George Lucas to get ideas is never a good idea. He needs handlers.
3) On that note, there was no “another.” Hear that, Ben? Buffy… I mean, Yoda? That boy WAS your only hope.
4) Han shot first. He will forever had shot first.
5) No fricken’ Ewoks.
6) Stormtroopers would be far more competent marksmen. (Otherwise, why the hell would anyone be afraid of them?)
7) Since Vader is no longer Luke’s daddy, his importance is downgraded. He’s the Emperor’s hachetman, not Space Jesus.
8) No second Death Star. Come up with something original!
9) The whole series ends with Luke, after finally defeating Vader in a lightsaber duel, sacrifices himself to keep Palpatine from fleeing the final rebel attack, thus destroying the three last Force-users and making sentients fend themselves rather than be protected or dominated by an elite breed of psionic supermen.
10) The prequels never fucking happened.
Ridiculous. All of that is ridiculous.
For example:
But:
That would only make sense if you’re a wookiee and a solipsist, but I would accept that as an explanation.
Giliell – I’m so sorry. *hugs*
Louis – *hugs* I hope your ear feels better very soon.
Esteleth – I would like to contribute to the JAL and/or Dalillama fund, but I need to do it by mail. I sent you an email at the email address you suggested above. Thank you.
Well sure that’s ridiculous, because you took it from the Behind The Scenes section, which discusses the contents of Lucas’s stupid head.
I think this bit is supposed to be in-the-fictional-universe, though:
Therefore a Boltzmann brontosaurus popping out of thin air would be totally canon. Dinosaurs existed in the past of this galaxy far away!
It’s as plausible as sapient womp rats, alright.
Ha!
Took me a while.
But that’s extremely improbable. It would be more likely if it were a very small, disorderly brontosaurus without the rest of the fictional universe it would’ve popped into.
Not even close. But you see? My theory* can even be quantified:
*The person who wrote that is obviously a time traveler who stole my theory, to make an easy buck like Marty from Back to the Future II but with much more Earth-shattering results.
Akira:
But with all your changes, how will there be enough to pad out a trilogy with? /s
Good morning all!
yubal
Congratulations! *confetti and champagne*
Portia
OOOoooh, me too, me too, I have a lack of a lack of taste!! :)
re: re-writing movies
Lately I’ve been tweaking things in (mostly) children’s movies to make them awesome movies for women, not just boy/man-saves-family/world, and so far, this is what I’ve come up with:
1) in Megamind, at the point where he refuses to go back to save the city and the girl comes to convince him and he still says no, instead of having her just walk away, she thinks to herself, I can do this! and then she does;
2) in Ice Age 4 (I KNOW it’s a terrible movie but we were pre-viewing it for kid-watchable-ness, and it’s going into the garbage pile), instead of having all this talk about Manny going gto rescue his girls by somehow meeting them on the land-bridge, the girls end up saving him through their own powers and confidence (also, lots of text wrong with that movie with father-daughter possession issues);
3) in Cars 2, making the Finn McRocket (or whatever his name is in English) a female character, otherwise changing nothing.
That’s just for starters. I had another great one, a turning point to take the story in a whole new direction, but I’m forgetting what it is at the moment.
As for the Star Wars re-think, carry on! So far, it’s awesome.
+++
Katherine
Also, I’m not sure if I stepped on any toes or lines, but I apologize for my last comment of last night; I went ahead and gendered you by accident, and I’m not sure if you approve, so if you don’t, I’m terribly, terribly sorry! I only thought about it once I was turning the computer off (after Husband’s 16th walk-by It’s really late, you should go to bed… and I went Yes, yes, see, I’m already switching off and hit submit without any deep thought. Sorry for that. :/ French toast?
Happiestsadist,
Good to read you again!
—-
yubal,
Congrats on the new family member!
What is the general opinion of Babylon 5 round these here parts?
I feel so limited in my science fiction universe knowledge. I only know Star Wars reasonably well, and that’s from years ago (read a lot of the EU stuff, too), Star Trek – meh, some but not so much, Babylon 5 – not at all, Stargate (of any stripe) pissed me off because the movie was so much better on its own (although yes, it does open great opportunities for all kinds of things, but the original Colonel Jack was just… too angry to be transferred long-term into a TV series, so I haven’t watched it), annnnnd… oh yes, Battlestar Galactica started well and became predictable by virtue of trying to be unpredictable and all weirdy and woo-y by the end. Oh well. Fun to watch, though.
I wish Babylon 5 was available on Netflix. :(
Good morning
So, nothing new on the mum-front, I guess I’ll get some news during the day.
As for the yellow and the liver: Well, she had an untreated Hep B, a damaged pancreas and has marinated both over the last years in strong alcohol. Any questions?
My neck still hurts, if it’s not much better I’ll se a doc tomorrow.
And since I need to take my mind off, I read Sally’s link.
So, let’s see
We start with a classic:
Yeah, men, women, totally different. Mars, Venus. We only coinhabit this planet accidentially and against all odds manage to reproduce with each other.
And as often in such pieces, women seemingly get the better deal by getting ascribed some superior skill. “Misandry”, our MRA f(r)iends would call it. Female supremacy! Let’s see how well it serves us.
So, what have we got to do to make our marriages work?
Stop being unhappy, woman! Who are you to demand that your needs are met when he clearly knows better what you want?
Poor guy. Really, and there was me thinking that my husband was capable of learning how to load a washing machine without turning everything into shades of pink and grey and remembering that indeed I’m allergic to nuts. And while I though that this actually happened, I must have somehow broken him. So, ladies, next time your guy gets you a vaccum cleaner for christmas so you don’t have to use the noisy old one while he watches football, say thank you.
Oh, and that depression you got from permanently appearing happy while never actually being cared for? Get the fuck over it!
Yeah, you’re a respected and valued professional. Why did you think that that was something you should get out of a relationship as well?
So, we want more “help” around the house. I get it. Women still do the housework, men help. No no no, we don’t actually share. And if he lowers himself to actually picking up a broom you now have to be really happy. He’s not doing this because he damn well lives here, too. No, he does it just to please you. Remember, he isn’t your employee, he doesn’t have to do this!
Who would have guessed?
Poor guys. Only able to think and feel with their dicks.
Feeling exhausted? How dare you, little fucktoy? Punish him? Well, it totally doesn’t matter that he just treated you like shit, spread your legs, bitch! And you’re missing out! And there’s silly me again who thought that sex was really good and intimate when we both wanted it. Dear Laura, I actually did what you suggested. Been there, done that. Had sex with him cause I thought that he reaaaally needed it and just faked it. The result wasn’t intimacy, the result was feeling empty, dirty and really, a fake.
Women, flimsy creatures, getting divorced without ever thinking twice.
Well, maybe it’s because his needs were much more met than hers? Just an idea. And I have a feeling that following dear Laura’s advice might actually add to that…
Uppity women, demanding more out of a marriage than being uncheated on and unbeaten. Demanding that their men share their lives and duties and are actually involved! In short, thinking that marriage should make them happy! It’s all your fault, bitches. He takes out the trash, brings you flowers once a year against which you’re allergic and kindly wakes you up when the baby cries at night and you have the audacity NOT to be happy!
Remember, guys are poor ducks who really can’t be asked to do anything.
No, actually I don’t. You have already explained what your bar for him being a perfect husband is: Not cheating and not beating. That’s awefully low, I think, so you added him “helping” occasionally and bringing some presents.
Actually that’s true. But I could expect that somebody who cares about our relationship as much as I do would actually at least make the effort.
Yes, that’s probably true, to. Being a wonderful housewife, fucktoy, cup-cake making mum gets you recognition and praise. Sure he will say thank you and bring you even more flowers you’re not allowed to tell him are killing you. And everything will seem so fine. He is so happy and you yourself achieved that! That makes you happy, too. At least for a while. At least until that sense of emptyness, of having to be even better, having to do more, making it work, not being good enough, being totally responsible for all that shit and above all that guilt for not being as happy as dear Laura tells us we have to be gets you and you break. And then it’s still all your fault
Isn’t it funny to see what our superior skill gets us and how the poor guys suffer from it?
Giliell
It was the last two items that really got me. Not that the others aren’t bad enough (yes, here, have sex, because that’s what will make him happy!), but with the last two, she kind of put the dot on the i for me – because really, women shouldn’t expect men to do more around the house, or to change diapers, or to learn anything new other than the lastest sports stats. But, if you change yourself, and expect less from your man, all your problems will vanish!
Divorce that therapist already. I have a feeling that a lot of her suggestions do not include increased communication (notice, she says nothing about communicating to your husband, but a hell of a lot about how he won’t pick up on any hints or won’t accept any communications directed towards him?), rather a withholding of information, which, as we all know, is exactly what you should be doing in a long-term, loving relationship – shutting the fuck up, putting the fuck up (and out), and smiling all the way through. Because you’re happy, dammit, and don’t try to show otherwise!
Yeah, I read it this morning, too, before breakfast. I have since had breakfast and lunch, but my view of that article has not improved.
I have a good stone going on, and I’m ready to drift into sweet, strange slumber.
Good night everyone! (Good morning and catch you later for those just coming in!)
Wow, I was reading up from the bottom and assumed that article was something in Christianity Today or the like, but it was from HuffPo? Sheesh.
Threadrupt for the last couple of days. I can’t seem to manage to follow both this one and Thunderdome at the same time. The long winter break is over, but I haven’t yet had much solitude, and I’m craving it. I know it’s extremely spoiled of me to say, but trading all the people at work for all the people at home is nice, but not rejuvenating in quite all the ways. I feel like I want to go lie in one of those sensory deprivation tanks for a whole day or so. And it’s not a big deal – the kids are long past the “all over me all the time” phase, it’s just…bah. I don’t know.
So, the word liver cirrhosis is out. And because mum didn’t tell them they assumed it was from the Hep B. Called them and told them that they’re dealing with an alcoholic. Well, they thought so but they had assumed that she was dry. No, she ain’t, good to know. Yes, she’s still trying to keep her face and probably shortening her life by not telling the doctors what they need to know.
And I just stared at the survival-prognosis and a big fat 0 stared right back at me for the 10 years prognosis. And if I could believe that she was at an early stage which she isn’t I could believe that she had a decent chance to make it to next christmas.
Oh Giliell, I’m so sorry.
pile of *hugs*
@Owlmirror:
Unlikely, although I did originally use Gilead for the biblical attachment. My first novel I wrote was going to be one of those fantasy analogies for Jesus and sin sort of stories. Dramoth was just a word I made up that sounded good connected to Gilead (no wonder.)
After 16 years and many aborted re-tellings of the story, the name Dramoth Gilead is kind of a background thing anyway. It’d be like calling the Earth “Gaia” or something like that. They tend to just call it “our planet” or “our world” or even just call it Kathemega cause barely anyone lives outside of that continent.
@rq:
No harm done. I didn’t even notice. Thank you for the apology.
Aaw hell, Giliell. I’m sorry. *hugses*
I see from another thread you have all been duly schooled that I am to be protected, fragile li’l animal that I am. Better get me a carrot and pet me a lot.
:eyeroll:
Ouch, Giliell *hugs*
Giliell
*HUGS* :(
It’s hilarious watching a seven-month-old someone learning the ways of the nerve endings in their appendages. Youngest has discovered that, if you hit a plastic bucket with a spoon, you get a noise (well, when mum does it, at least). He’s trying to imitate – and he keeps looking down at the hand holding the spoon with an expression clearly saying, You’re holding it wrong, dammit!
Also, Caine, have a pillow. And I’ll cut your [food of choice] for you, you might hurt yourself with the sharp edge of the knife. :P And stay indoors, dear, you never know what’s waiting for you outside.
rq:
Why thank you. I’ll just lay my fuzzy brained little self down and vegetate.
That’s right, dear. You just rest your little head.
We’ll protect you from the troll baddies. [*snort*]
*pats Caine on the head*
:bumps Beatrice’s hand:
I guess I can only dream about having fangs. Poor, poor me. :D
*pinches Caine’s cheek*
There’s a good little girl.
+++
Can I stop now? I think I’m going to puke, if I keep this up. ;)
(But you know, Caine, next time, hand over the weaponry before engaging in meek, polite discourse, ok? :) I may be a woman, but I certainly know my place in an argument – serving the drinks with lowered eyes!)
Just make sure you puke rainbows. Wouldn’t want to scare any fragile flowers.
Ok, ok, I’m stopping now. But it is making me giggle.
rq:
Oh, alright.
:puts sword away:
Beatrice
If it comes out just orange, does that mean I’m a member of the local social democrats, or had too many carrots? /not-too-sorry
I didn’t know I could upset your flowers. Do you talk to them in wee wittew baby sywabews and cooey voices? Oh, you meant the shrinking violets.
Here, I seem to have a tray full of drinks and no manly men around to drink them. Please share them with me!
*hands Cain a carrot*
*pets her*
Whatever you wish for.
Now we’ll all hush up and be good girls.
Give Gytha a carrot, please.
rq
That’s sweet.
We all fondly remember how the little one learned to talk and one of the first words was “bear”. All animals were bear. And then she wanted to say elephant which proved difficult to pronounce so she went “ele-, ele-, ele-, eleBEAR!” But I remember the triumph when like two weeks later she managed elephant.
So. Well. Fuck.
Obviously we’ll have to wait for a prognosis but how on earth do I tell the kids?
Caine – all your weapons. *tsk tsk*
rq,
You sure we’re allowed? What if a man comes and wants a drink but there is no drink because we already finished all? *hyperventilating*
Congrats, Yubal!
Giliell, that sucks. Hugs to you.
I am back at work. Luckily, my lieu days are Friday – Saturday, so today is my Monday/Wednesday/Friday all rolled into one. Starting slowly.
Giliell:
She doesn’t like carrots. I’ll give her a cookie.
rq:
No. *lays firmly upon her pillow*
If you give a rat a cookie . . . .
Oh phoooey. Booked a couple of appointments tomorrow. So now they’ve changed the weather forecast, it won’t be 41 after all, it’s headed for 44C (111 degrees in old money). I was thinking it’ll be OK, the car has a/c, but at those temperatures all you have to do is turn off the motor, get out of the car and its temperature is instantly goes to a level where you need to run the a/c for a while to even get comfortable.
And one of those appointments is near the beach, so every undercover parking space will be gone. No makeup for me tomorrow. That streaky look of half melted off makeup is not super professional. Oh well, at least we get a couple of days off before it gets back over 40 again on Monday.
Giliell
When the paternal grandma died last year, we went with the ‘she was really, really sick and sometimes people die when they’re really, really sick’ version. They haven’t asked too many questions about it (although Eldest did play Graveyards in his daycare for a while afterward, with another firend who had also lost a grandma – apparently, one of them plays dead while the other ‘buries’ him in pillows and other random toys…). Every now and then eldest remembers and asks about his Omīte and why she was so sick. But they accepted that (a) people can get really, really sick and (b) sometimes doctors and medicine can’t heal them completely because the disease is very, very strong. Eldest also rationalized it by noticing that, about a week before she went, Omīte stopped eating, and explained that she got too weak to fight the disease (cancer) because she stopped eating. We did explain that sometimes the disease takes too much strength, and that she didn’t even have the strength to eat, because the disease was too strong, and that it happens sometimes.
It all got a bit circular, but he doesn’t seem to have any bad effects from it. Middle child was about a year and a half, so didn’t ask too many questions, and doesn’t seem to remember his Omīte much at all.
We avoided all talk of prayer-as-saving-grace, although they got the spiel about how Omīte is in Heaven. To which eldest replied, We took her by car to the cemetery… You can’t take a car up to heaven. What will she do in the cemetery all alone? Followed by explanations about her body and decomposition and all that, which he actually enjoyed – now every time he sees a dead animal in the forest or something, he explains that it will all erode away and will leave just the bones, and eventually the bones will be gone, too.
(Also he still remembers how daddy was extremely sad when Omīte died and that Baba (his great-grandmother, Omīte’s mother) cried a lot and loudly, but he didn’t, because when someone dies isn’t a reason to cry, because people die all the time (his words).)
I had a few words about the heaven explanation, and how only some people believe in it, and that I don’t, and he seems to be ok with the difference of opinion. But he (eldest – remember, he is now 5 and a half) told me that he believes in god, because he (eldest) has a smart brain, and obviously smart brains believe in god.
Or something.
I don’t know if any of that helps, Giliell, but I read it somewhere on a Useful Blog that there’s no need to worry too much, because kids figure out a lot for themselves, as long as you keep it simple and stick to as much of the truth as they can handle.
If none of that helps, have more *hugs* and a good dose of *courage*.
Ogvorbis:
You must have missed the latest Rattitude post. :D
Here you go.
Giliell, I’m so sorry about your mom.
I would not be surprised if there are Pharyngulites who know, or know of, Jon Singer. If so, and if you haven’t heard, Jon Singer’s problems are not like your problems.
Prolepsis: I have been informed that the gebrokenheit of embedded links in preview is an artifact, so I hope the above came out not looking kraplich.
Beatrice
I see Ogvorbis has arrived. For the sake of show, I will give him one *presents Ogvorbis with drink of choice, keeping eyes lowered and mouth primly shut* and we can have the rest.
Too bad, other manly men, I’m putting shoes on!
Oh wait.
I don’t think Ogvorbis is enough of a manly man. After all, he has said that he is a feminist. *gasp*
Oh no, Beatrice, what do we do?????
Caine
Don’t make me fetch a strong man to get you off of that pillow, young lady. Surrender the weapons!
I miss so much around here that it is a wonder I come across as semi-coherent.
rq:
:bares non-existent dream fangs: No.
carlie
Thanks for that link. :P I see there’s no orange in that rainbow.
Giliell, about the kids – can you not go with “Grandma is very, very sick and may not get better” for now? It will at least prepare them a little bit.
Crap, Caine, you have forced me to summon this man (starting at 0:34). Look, he talks to squirrels (that’s close to rats, right?)!
Now surrender the weapons.
rq:
Don’t care. :clamps mouth shut:
No.
Caine
I read some more of the context of you needing protection, and I retract all of my previous statements – here, have your sword back, and several more, too!!! Dammit. I applaud your courage and your ability to speak so well and directly about your personal experience, and may nobody ever shut you up about it. Not even a Nice Guy who is on Your Side, who is offering his Protection for your Wee Little Lady-Brain Feelings. *spit*
I’ll stop, else I’ll have to repair to the Thunderdome, and yeah. It’s hard being two places at once.
-3°! Ack!
*wraps another blanket around self and the Darkling!*
(You can keep the squirrel-whisperer, though, for all he’s worth… ;) )
rq/Caine
Well, we already told them long ago that grandma is ill. And that we don’t know when/if she’ll get better again. Which was hard to understand because sometimes grandma seemed totally healthy and happy!
And I told them that grandma is in hospital and that we don’t know when she’ll be back.
I value honesty, even if it’s painfull. But still it will break their hearts and it pains me so much. Such an utterly needless waste of a human life.
rq:
No kidding. I had to pick up the remains of my jaw after reading that one. Gad, did this Nice Guy™ time travel from the 17th century or something?
[fake Nice Guy voice] Ew, don’t talk about your rape, you’re too fragile to talk about your own rape! It makes me feel all protector-ish and I just can’t resist those feelings! I’m nice, I don’t talk about rape with women who have experienced it, because it’s too hard on them and they will be hurt! MUST SAVE WOMEN FROM HURT! [/fake Nice Guy voice] (Because fragility, and all that…)
Or something. *shudder*
Because a True Gentleman never discusses heavy subjects with the Ladeez, because that would be unGentlemanly.
I see now my outrage is expressing itself in rather repetitive phraseology.
Carry on, rq, carry on.
rq:
Indeed. It’s been quite a long while since we had a Nice Guy™ around here. I do believe this one ran screaming from the shark tank. In the meantime, we have the ever erudite Owlglass to fill in the time:
That one is running on pure stupid. I say this in all kindness, of course.
He didn’t eat his carrots.
Oh giliell. So sorry for you – and the rest of the family.
I’m having a hard time remembering what it was like for the kids when their father’s parents and grandmother and my grandfather died. They just seemed to deal with it pretty well. The littler one had the same kind of practical knowledge type approach that rq talks about.
If you just stick to the she’s very sick and she may not get better line for the time being, they’ll either prompt you for more details/expectations or they won’t.
Caine:
Agreed.
I don’t think I have actually seen Nice Guy in action (other than a quoted example) since I started to become aware of this shit.
Caine
The kindness oozes from your pores.
I read through that thread, not believing my eyes. Apparently, the best of humanity is once again showing up to show us the wrongness of our ways.
Also, seriously, Nice Guys used to be more common? I hadn’t yet seen one in the wild. I thought they were all extinct and replaced with MRAs and the like…
Caine, Ogvorbis
I bet he left the thread because everyone was so bent on hurting Caine by letting her talk about her rape, and he didn’t want to be a party to that. :P
{threadcrupt}
Why is it that whisky tastes better out of teacups?
Link.
Happy perihelion, everybody. Thought I’d leave this here – via Markita Lynda over at Ophelia’s a bit ago, the full story of trombonist Abbie Conant vs the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, forerunner of screened auditions:
http://www.osborne-conant.org/ladies.htm
This excerpt reminded me of the women-can’t-do-military spat we had a few weeks back:
I’m so sorry Giliell. That really fucking sucks. =(
—-
—
Seriously, I’d love to get my teeth fixed. There’s free places, or lower rate places I’m on the waiting list for. I’ve been on those lists for months and the closest possible opening is in March. Of course, having an actual bit of funds would widen the list of places to call.
I just woke up
Congratulations, yubal.
Giliell, so sorry.
Caine, pillow? weapons?
(I’m off to find meaning)
I’m sorry, Giliell! Is there any hope of your mother stopping her use of alcohol and getting a transplant? Also, is she at risk for withdrawal? If so, someone needs to tell her doctors how much she’s drinking so she can be put on prophylaxis. Withdrawal from alcohol can be bad.
Hugs to you and your little ones.
Random idea for improving Star Wars: Since it’s specifically stated to occur outside the Milky Way before humans evolved, let’s say Lucas got it wrong and the people populating the SW universe are completely non-humanoid. I’d find it more interesting if the heroes looked more like, say, Jabba. But without the quasi-human face. Make them look really different…
rq:
Oh gods, yes. We had marathon threads back at Pharyngula Sciborg where they’d show up on a regular basis (any thread to do with women, natch.)
Ogvorbis, the last ones I remember were in the third e-gate spinoff thread and I think by that time, you’d fled to save your sanity. I don’t remember the Nice Guy™ all that well, it was ‘chassoto’ who was driving us crazy, especially Audley, with his “hey, you don’t get raped every day, you should be cheerful!” shit.
Chigau:
The Matt Dillahunty thread. You’re looking for ‘jacksul’.
Didn’t work.
Yeah, I think I had fled by then because I was starting to remember things.
OMG BUT AL GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE
Al Jazeera buys Al Gore’s Current TV
HE HATES AMERICA AND BUSINESS AND LITTLE BUNNIES
You might think that’s because men do things to make marriage untenable — like cheat or hit them — but I hear about women divorcing because he didn’t help with the baby, he was emotionally unavailable, or because they grew apart. Countless women tell me they divorced because their husbands weren’t capable of meeting their needs.
Um…why is this a bad thing?
Ogvorbis:
Yes. Those threads were really tough for you, more than for the rest of us.
I doubt it was more tougherest for me. It was, however, a fantastic clue-by-four that woke me up to the existence of misogyny and the need for a strong feminist movement. As well as things like gendered insults and silencing tactics. It was, seriously, an education.
Caine
I have seen jacksul.
90 more comments to end-of-thread.
I’ll be back.
Holy moley y’all have been busy over the year-turn… um, I’m trying to learn a new skill *cough* namely restraining myself from reflexively reading and catching up on ALLL THE THINGS. Most of this break I just took was spent in me-time and we-time practice. (And it does take dedicated practice, like piano.)
Caine, Oggie, thanks for jumping on me so warmly in the other thread. Guess even quietly vanishing doesn’t stop folks being friends. ♥
Giliell: I’m so sorry for your sake and the little ones. *pile o’ sympathies* As I recall, the alcoholism denial’s been a long hard fight for y’all… maybe the medical staff can intervene now that it’s immediate, and maybe provide y’all with some support. Sounds like explaining to the kids is bad enough without that.
JAL, is there a Save JAL’s Teeth effort going on now? (Teeth are freakin’ important!)
Dianne
She has been on one of her self-administered cures, so she was mostly beyond the worst withdrawl, I think. Ahh, and the hospital wonderfully didn’t have any cough-remedy without alcohol…
As for the rest: no idea. The whole thing is so in the beginning that we don’t know much yet. Not what her actual state is, not what the possibilities are, not what the prognosis is. I have no idea if we’re talking about weeks or months or years.
I finally read the comments in Matt Dillahunty thread.
*headdesk*
Caine, I hope you weren’t bothered by our joking about your fragility. It was mocking the stupid notion that we should treat you with kid gloves.
@ Giliell
Sorry to hear about your mother.
(My previous post may seem a bit out of place here right now. I should not just drop things into the lounge without checking. :(
Beatrice:
Hell no! I’m not fragile when it comes to talking about rape, mine or anyone else’s. I’m many other things – angry, empathetic, supportive. Not fragile. I (and a lot of others) have worked damn hard to make this a space where people could talk about things which have happened to them and they can talk any way they need and want to, without fear of censure. I’ll be damned if I’ll ever shut my mouth over something like rape.
Anyway, all the joking was fine. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Pteryxx:
It does not. It would be nice to see more of you, though.
So sorry you’ve gotten more bad news, Giliell. Keeping you and your family in my thoughts. : ( and more hugs for you.
And I thank you and a lot of others. Coming to terms with my past has been painful but now I am actually figuring out who I am (not all of which I like) rather than what I pretended to be.
A little good news for your Thursday. Illinois Senate makes moves to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. (Cue the screeching about FREEEEDUUUMMMM).
I’ve caught-up on the Matt thread.
golly
Ogvorbis:
Yes, it’s painful. And difficult. And often depressing. It gets better, though, it gets better. You reach a point where you lose a lot of pain you’ve carried for years on end and that’s a damn good feeling.
I am trying to determine if I want to read the Matt Dillahunty thread.
JAL:
Thanks for the link to Katherine’s site!
—
yubal:
Congratulations!
—
rq:
I’m not much into sci-fi. I thought the Stargate SG-1 series was better than the movie. O’Neill is more sarcastic/snarky than bitter, plus it has the kickass Amanda Tapping. (I liked her in Sanctuary as well.)
—
Giliell:
I’m so terribly sorry about your mom. *hugs*
—
Caine:
And I for one appreciate what all of you have done. I may never be able to share my own experiences with anyone other than a therapist, but I know now that the choice to do so is mine. I don’t have to share, but I don’t have to be quiet to spare other people’s uncomfortable feelings, either.
What really means the most is being able to look back at what I went through with a different perspective, to hear your voices telling me I didn’t cause them to happen, I didn’t do anything wrong, and the fault lies solely with those who committed them.
—
Portia:
Good for Illinois!
—
Esteleth:
My reaction was something like Mrs. White in Clue: “it-it- the f – it -flam – flames. Flames, on the side of my face…”
Thank you! That is what I have been searching for! The pain (which I had no idea where it was coming from) is not gone, but it feels more manageable, more grounded in reality. And it is (slowly) starting to dissipate. Your phrasing just helped it gel. Thank you!
Ogvorbis,
I remembered your comment from the previous incarnation when I was reading Hogfather on my way to work this morning:
:D
Which (if I may pile on here) is really, really good. Without support here, that damn voice telling me that it really was my fault would be easier to believe, easier to accept.
Ogvorbis:
Absolutely! Those thoughts still sneak in, but they’re always chased away by Caine and others yelling, “Bullshit!! FUCK THAT!” (I don’t know why, but Caine always sounds like Lauren Bacall in my head.)
“At no other moment is Australia so glaringly exposed as a nation of hypocrites as when the final school examination results are released. Our entire cultural ethos is built upon ideas of a fair go for all. But we sing this at precisely the same moment as we fund the most basic form of institutionalised class discrimination: a two-tiered system of public and private schooling”
Get rid of private schools to level the field for all children? Perish the thought.
Stop using public funds to subsidize private schools, thus benefitting the wealthy? Nope. Don’t wanna do that either.
(My guesses as possible responses to the article)
Gillilel
Big hugs.* I”m so sorry about your mother
happiestsadist, Pteryxx
big hugs, Welcome back
Everyon eles:
Pretty ‘rupt right now, and I need to go forth into the freezing cold for groceries since we have food stamps again. I shall return anon.
The atmosphere here has encouraged me not only to know that I could talk about my experiences if I wanted to, but to stand up for myself in regular conversation. Recognizing the silencing tactics and manipulation and microaggressions as they happen has made me feel so much better equipped to unapologetically call them out. I don’t have to be sorry that that sexist joke hurt me, and I don’t have to be sorry their feelings are hurt when I tell them I can’t tell the difference between someone who is really a misogynist and someone who is “joking.” I don’t have to be sorry the whole fire department had to go through sexual harassment training because I just wouldn’t take the bullshit anymore. I don’t have to be sorry that I want to be treated with some damn respect. I don’t have to be sorry that their efforts to make me angry about sexism have succeeded.
So thank you all. Thank you for helping me leave the apologies for the things that I need to actually apologize for. There’s plenty of those as it is.
Portia:
Hell, this place has helped me to actually recognize sexist jokes for what they are.
Just a heads up: Son of Hovind just showed up.
This is an act of pure barbarism:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/03/activists-express-outrage-over-hong-kongs-shark-fin-rooftop/
Being here has helped me realize my privilege.
Being here has helped me learn to shut up and listen.
Being here has helped me understand rape culture.
Being here has helped me gain a deeper understanding of sexism.
Being here has awakened my sense of justice and desire for equality.
Being here has exposed me to the pain that other people are going through and helped strengthen my resolve to not let social injustices remain hidden.
Being here has helped me learn that not only is it ok, it is a moral imperative to speak up about social injustice.
Being here has opened my eyes to the world.
Being here has helped me understand that the problems here are connected to the problems faced by people across the world.
Being here has shown me there is nothing wrong with a man displaying traditionally feminine characteristics and vice versa.
Being here has allowed me to better understand the world through the eyes of others.
Being here has been instrumental in my development as a human being.
Tony:
Good list. I agree with it all and could sign my name to that.
Though I would add one more:
Being here has taught me how to divide by zero.
@Ogvorbis
The trick is in the whisking of the lemon sauce
The url says it all! Breakfast will never be the same again!!
http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/the-7-most-shameful-abuses-bacon/
I have to third most of what Tony said, although I was quite strong on the ‘nothing wrong with showing feminine characteristics’ bit before I came here.
Pteryxx
Gee, who would ever have thought that a professional fucking brass player would have far above average lung capacity and very well developed chest muscles? These fucking idiots called themselves medical professionals?
Anecdotes aren’t data and all that, I used to be in band class, and I’m here to tell you that even that amateur level of wind playing can seriously boost your lung capacity. I’m a skinny little dude, to the point where I actually tend to sink in water because I’m a little too dense. Playing the tuba in high school band, however, cured me of that problem in the course of a school year, and I retained the added buoyancy until I stopped playing. So, an actual professional good enough to audition for a real orchestra? I’d expect lungs like free-diver on someone like that.
…what is this I missed about women needing protection from arguments? O.o
Portia
You made the entire fire department go through sexual harassment training, just for you? You are like… My stepping stone on the way to becoming Beatrice and then Caine, or another of the uber-angry regular commenters.
I’m only at the point where I’m ok trying to point sexist things out to the Husband, and on Facebook, but not in large crowds in real life, yet. Not yet. But I feel myself getting there. I still feel the need to apologize for my reactions, because oh-wow the looks people give, but it’s getting better. Because of this place.
Socio-gen
Well, I liked him (re: Colonel Jack) as the silent-ish, non-snarky, non-talkative type, but if you say he gets good snark on Stargate the series, I might give it a try, as soon as I free up some hard drive and convince the Husband it’s something we both want to watch (kind of how things work, these days…). How was the Stargate: Atlantis bit? Any good at all?
Caine
(Can I tease you again? I feel like I’ve said enough good things… ;) /snark)
Just remember, next time you want to step outside, make sure you bring a male relative with you. You know, so you don’t get lost, because women can’t handle 3-d spaces (exception: the kitchen) larger than a bed.
Azkyroth
Read the Dillahunty thread. Apparently Caine needs to be more sheltered from her own experiences. We’ve been trying to convince her to give up all weapons and resort to spoonfeeding her, but she won’t co-operate.
I’m so glad you all have stuck around and soaked up knowledge. I’m still learning about my own privilege, thanks to this site and others. I know I’ve learned something new about my white privilege in particular when I sit back and think “Oh. Crap.” It’s a good feeling and a bad feeling to realize a new aspect you hadnt thought of before.
Azkyroth
It mostly starts here with jacksul telling Caine that if she’s upset she shouldn’t talk about being a rape victim. Because it’s upsetting, so it should not be discussed. I haven’t read too much further, because I’ve had a lot of stupid misogynist crap tossed at me IRL lately and I can’t take too much right now.
Yeah, I found the link earlier and glanced at it. Thinking I probably won’t read through it. :/
Everyone should read the Matt thread.
It is very educational.
!! Everyone !!
The Thundering-fool’s fans have found my nymmy twitter account. :D :D :D
And I have already learned that:
(1) I am an idiot
(2) Being offended by hate speech and being an atheist are somehow equivalently bad. Or something.
(3) I am best referred to using the pronoun “s/he.”
(4) I would be best served never offering an opinion again.
AWESOMESAUCE.
rq:
Definitely try it! I only started watching because MacGyver! and then got hooked. Amanda Tapping’s character (Carter) was my favorite, though. Super-smart scientist and by-the-book military type who could kickass and was treated as an equal on the team? Yay!
Atlantis was okay during the first season, but just didn’t hold my interest after that. I had friends who preferred it to SG-1, so YMMV. Universe, on the other hand, was just plain awful and I quit after two episodes.