Friday Ephemeraren’t
Yes, another opportunity to throw together your own pile of links and oddities in the comments. Being a generous guy, I’ll set the ball rolling with some suspicious-looking trousers; some people looking at art; a demonstration of how to have fun with blood and magnets; and Mr Tom Baker sharing tales of tingling titties and poisonous bottled farts.
Oh, and a visit to the world of competitive grave-digging.
Jedi Knight broke his ankle after being attacked by Jesus at Halloween party
Oh, I hate it when that happens.
At least that was just one deity—go with the Greeks, Egyptians, Norse, others, and an entire gang shows up, where they’re often always feuding already anyway . . .
Lothian (is it near Lothlorien?) sounds like a lively place!
Our town’s already gone back to sleep (doesn’t take long).
via WeirdDave at AoSHQ
This is amazing. Seriously, watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI3UfxyIdgs
[ Waiting for some spoilsport to ruin my fun by pointing out that it’s been posted before… ]
“Waiting for some spoilsport”
Indeed. Does YouTube count?
No, I meant posted here, by David, most likely.
Not quite ephemeral, perhaps, but bizarre goings on at The Guardian which sees a junior reporter interviewing the venerable Polly Toynbee .
As if to underscore the difference in age and experience, the young interviewer appears to be wearing what for all the world looks like a nightdress – as if to suggest this is some kind of pyjama party for political activists.
Better yet, it makes Toynbee seem like a grandmother telling bedtime stories to a child – a rather apt metaphor though one that brings out connotations I can only assume were not the ones intended i.e. that 90% of what Toynbee is about to say is a fairy tale designed to scare children.
Or in other words, complete horseshit.
And there is plenty of that in this interview, such as this sage piece of advice:
Also though, call out the women traitors
Yes, those are her actual words; no, I am not making that up.
I mean the Sarah Vines, the Alison Pearsons, the Julia Hartley-Brewers, the Ann Robinsons. They do unbelievable damage … You know they are the real enemy.
I’m only vaguely aware of who Sarah Vine is and have no feeling one way or the other about the other two mentioned, but the idea that women disagreeing with Toynbee should be denounced as “traitors” and “the real enemy” is crystal clear in what it says about Toynbee’s character.
Toynbee also comes out with this gem of wisdom for the neophyte journalist:
I think there is confusion between the workplace and life outside … I think a world in which Spearmint Rhino is fine; and all the lads from the office go out together for a night out.
And then they’re supposed to go back into the office and regard the women in the office as some sort of utterly different species. It’s about the whole attitude … I think it’s all on one continuum.
What she says there is so astonishingly dim-witted that it actually took me a few moments adjusting to the depth of her ignorance before I could see just how fucking moronic it is.
Quite apart from the fact that visits to Spearmint Rhino might not be quite so frequent as Toynbee seems to think they are for “all the lads from the office”, if what she says is true – that after having seen a pole-dancing show they are unable to think of women colleagues as anything other than strippers that missed their true vocation – what on Earth does she make of the sales over a 125,000,000 copies of Fifty Shades of Grey? Because it ain’t men buying that book.
Or the fact that the movie version of the book has reaped in over $502,000,000 in global box office receipts? Or that some women just couldn’t contain their excitement when watching it?
And how is it that women on a Hen Night are somehow able to control themselves in the presence of their male co-workers when returning to the office after a visit to Butlers in the Buff?
Or that shows by the Chippendales – seen by over 2,000,000 women annually – always sell out when they come to the UK despite prices starting at £28 a head?
Perhaps Toynbee’s answer might be that those are just more examples of women being “traitors” and showing themselves to be “the real enemy”?
And Toynbee wants people to take her advice seriously?
I’m only vaguely aware of who Sarah Vine is… but the idea that women disagreeing with Toynbee should be denounced as “traitors” and “the real enemy” is crystal clear in what it says about Toynbee’s character.
Sarah Vine is married to Michael Gove, I believe, and currently writes for the Daily Mail. She used to be arts features editor at the Times, where she commissioned several pieces from your host. She always seemed very friendly, even to lowly freelancers.
[ Added: ]
Actually, the lingering impression from my freelancing years is that, for the most part, the supposedly wicked conservative papers treated freelancers, or at least me, noticeably better and more professionally than the leftist publications that I submitted things to. And the more left-leaning a publication was, the greater were the odds of being reminded of one’s lowly status. Likewise, the odds of being paid late, or paid less than had been agreed, or – at least twice – having cheques bounce. After some particularly shabby treatment at the hands of Rosie Millard, then arts editor at the New Statesman, I remember informing her, at length, that she was, among other things, an erratic bitch.
Ah, happy days.
Right, I’m being
draggedtaken to see Murder On The Orient Express. Wish me luck.Is Polly Toynbee Ask Polly, by any chance? There’s a blogger who LIVES to fisk Ask Polly.
David, is this the original Murder or a remake?
“Waiting for some spoilsport”
Here you go.
David, is this the original Murder or a remake?
The Kenneth Branagh remake, just out. It’s handsome, rather melancholy, but not exactly gripping. Still, it was less aggravating than Thor: Ragnarok.
My carpool mates were eager to see Ragnarok yesterday.
I like Branagh, and I like Agatha Christie, but my question is what is reason for another Murder remake? It seems as though Hollywood’s golf bag of ideas is limited to superheroes and remakes/reboots of past hits. It’s become a very sterile landscape.
but my question is what is reason for another Murder remake?
Hard to say. Though, given the small gag at the end, I suspect they were hoping for a franchise. The new version is easy on the eye, with some neat overhead shots, and for the most part it’s nicely played. It’s a departure from the somewhat camp 70s version, enormous moustache aside. But it doesn’t feel particularly compelling.
And now I see, Bezos and Amazon are negotiating to turn Lord of the Rings into a series a la Game of Thrones. Wonderful. < /sarc >
It’s become a very sterile landscape.
Which is why people stay home and binge watch Stranger Things on Netflix.
Which is why people stay home and binge watch Stranger Things on Netflix.
And some of us stay home to tend bar for you heathens.
I’m heroic that way.
It seems as though Hollywood’s golf bag of ideas is limited to superheroes and remakes/reboots of past hits. It’s become a very sterile landscape.
Yes, considerably.
—Casino through Skyfall worked, “Spectre” has four good minutes—the opening—and then goes to utter failure.
Headline of note
Bring back the sub-editors! Or, even better, teach people how the English language works. (Actually, I prefer the “first hand-job experience” reading of that headline.)
Actually, I prefer the “first hand-job experience” reading of that headline.
[ Sprays Lisboeta with cold water. ]
Being twelfth-level woke, Daniela finds it so offensive.
It’s not okay.
It’s not okay.
The Clown Quarter in New Orleans appears to agree.
Did someone mention “offensive” costumes?
It’s not okay.
Epic trolling is epic.
I have to wonder how far this latest 4Chan prank will go before the targets realize they’ve been had and exposed themselves as complete idiots.
Epic trolling is epic.
The wording – or rather, what opposition to it reveals – is quite something.
The odd thing is, most of the raging SJWs claim to know it’s the “alt-right” trying to “provoke” them, yet they react in hysterics just as the pranksters hoped.
yet they react in hysterics just as the pranksters hoped.
I think what’s pleasing is the economy of it. Take a small and unobjectionable statement, one that if applied to any other, comparable group would be utterly innocuous, and watch how even that is denounced, and denounced immediately, as if it were scandalous. Which suggests that there’s no position you could take, short of continual deference and self-abasement, that would keep these people happy.
And which in turns suggests a kind of madness.
“The Clown Quarter in New Orleans appears to agree.”
Good Lord.
Scroll down through the replies to that tweet, and you will see a hunting permit, photoshopped to read “Antifa hunting permit”. I haven’t seen altered hunting permits since the “terrorist hunting permits” that appeared after 9/11. This may be a useful gauge of just how much hatred of the left has increased recently. (Another would be the appearance of Pinochet references.)
After reading the comments I’ve decided I’m not intellectual enough to post here.
Ape,
“After reading the comments I’ve decided I’m not intellectual enough to post here.”
Please do so however, the host will guide accordingly. Trust me.
You might even get a bowl of nuts.
You might even get a bowl of nuts.
Or, a pickled egg…
I haven’t seen altered hunting permits since the “terrorist hunting permits” that appeared after 9/11. This may be a useful gauge of just how much hatred of the left has increased recently.
When you have the left making statements like this, neither the “permits” not the hate come as much of a surprise.
Take a small and unobjectionable statement, one that if applied to any other, comparable group would be utterly innocuous
How dare you, sir. How dare you. I am confident that if your kind were to suggest that “it’s ok to be black” – that to be blessed with the brotherhood and sisterhood of such luminous beings as Ta-Nehesi Coates, Barack Obama, Assata Shakur, and many others – were merely ok, merely adequate, nothing more than unexceptional, that you would see a wave of outrage, strongly worded statements, days off of school, vandalism, and arson that would redefine the term “social justice”.
Or at least preserve the definition of the term “social justice” with especially emphatic examples.
Also the phrase “your kind” was not at all meant homophobically but as a slur against you because you’re white. Apologies if I mistakenly gave offense.
Daniela finds it so offensive.
Whomst the fuck taught Daniela English?
Whomst…heh…I fixated on that as well…may I propose a needs-more-cowbell “whomgst”?
Or, a pickled egg.
If you are offered one of those, safest to pretend you didn’t hear. I’m not convinced it’s meant as a sign of approbation.
I’m not convinced it’s meant as a sign of approbation.
The horror, the horror.
If you are offered one of those, safest to pretend you didn’t hear.
CMOT Dibbler Enterprises, purveyors of fine pub food since the Glorious Twenty Fifth of May.
what on Earth does she make of the sales over a 125,000,000 copies of Fifty Shades of Grey?
“Remember, kids, hitting women is only okay if you have abs and a helicopter.” ~ Stefan Molyneaux
Whomst the fuck taught Daniela English?
Heh. Though that was the lovely Jess.
I’ve seen the next elaboration as “Whomst’ve”, myself. As in: Whomst’ve taught Daniela English?
Whomst’ve taught Daniela English?
I fear we’re teetering on the edge of a meme.
Unbeknownsttowhomst.
Right, I’m being
draggedtaken to see Murder On The Orient Express. Wish me luck.What I find funny is how the commercials in the US say “Everyone’s a suspect”.
R Sherman: Ricardo Cortez was the ultimate Sam Spade. (Hollywood has been remaking stuff since the dawn of time.)
What I find funny is how the commercials in the US say “Everyone’s a suspect”.
It’s the problem of remaking a famous whodunnit when just about everyone in the cinema already knows whomstdiddit. Still, it was a change of pace, a palate cleanser. No nachos in sight. And the lady whose bag was resting on my as-yet-unclaimed seat was terribly apologetic.
I was unaware of this meme before, probably because I’m not as brainified as Daniela.
The date on this seems to be February onest.
You mean February 1th.