Friday Ephemera
Alas, her telekinetic powers failed her when she needed them the most. || For all your kerning nightmares. || Our political titans. || More joys of public transport. || Winter in Japan. || Landing in trees, in 360 degrees. || The thrill of yarn. || Are we there yet, dad? || He does this better than you do. || I question this design choice. || Oversharing of note. || You shall go to the ball. || Shopping centre scenes. || He sees you. || Headline of note. || “You’ve walked out of the movie three times?” || Woke AF. || Feminist standards. || “Rhetorical violence.” || Always respect the media and their lofty moral leadership. || In fairness, it is easy to miss. || And finally, what appears to be the aftermath of a traumatic collision.
Well to be perfectly honest, in my humble opinion, of course without offending anyone who thinks differently from my point of view, but also by looking into this matter in a different perspective and without being condemning of one’s view’s and by trying to make it objectified, and by considering each and every one’s valid opinion, I honestly believe that I completely forgot what I was going to say.
Corbyn has an allotment? The filthy kulak will be the first against the wall after the revolution!
As for the tree landing video, Airborne school teaches you what to do when you parachute into a forest.
Feet and knees together (they should be anyways) and cross your arms over your chest and put your hands in your armpits; that minimizes getting a branch shoved into an artery. On the other hand, an Airborne trooper descent is at the maximum rate that probably won’t damage you on landing. You are considered a valid military target whilst floating down and it is perfectly OK to shoot at you while that’s happening; as a result, you don’t want to be floating in the air longer than necessary.
(Pilots are considered to be more-or-less out of the fight without their aircraft, so the rules for shooting at them while they are floating down are slightly different.)
While I was an Armor puke (and a Signal puke), I did go to Airborne school to earn my wings back in the dark ages (1978).
Who’s Catherine West arguing with? “Stop mansplaining!”
I wonder if this will be the quality of debate the left will have this election?
And finally, what appears to be the aftermath of a traumatic collision.
LOL. It’s like the shroud of Turin.
Well to be perfectly honest, in my humble opinion . . .
I wonder if I might crave your momentary indulgence in order to discharge a by no means disagreeable obligation . . .
“Rhetorical violence.”
Literal stupid.
Morning, all.
LOL. It’s like the shroud of Turin.
Poor lamb. Presumably, he didn’t expect daddy’s thighs to be quite so sticky.
Literal stupid.
Mr Chipman is not a happy chap. Some of his film commentary is actually quite interesting, but his politics, which increasingly intrude, are unhinged. I mean, when you’re raging against Christina Hoff Sommers, as if she were some kind of Demon Queen, Bringer Of The Fascist Apocalypse, it’s probably time to retrace your steps.
“Mansplaining” has only ever meant “know your place and don’t speak out of turn”. Feminists may claim to believe women are oppressed by men, but they act like they believe they’re the aristocrats and we’re the lower orders.
“Mansplaining” has only ever meant “know your place and don’t speak out of turn”.
In this case, it seems to mean, “I’ve just said something embarrassingly stupid on live television, and said it in a self-satisfied way, making it even worse, and you must not be allowed to draw attention to it. Because, being a she-person, I should be allowed to mouth any old bollocks with impunity.”
“Mansplaining”. You literally can’t tell some women anything.
he didn’t expect daddy’s thighs to be quite so sticky.
Er…
I thought the first link was an excellent artistic protrayal of Remainers trying to stop Brexit, and then Sherriff Boris comes along and tasers them.
…they act like they believe they’re the aristocrats and we’re the lower orders.
And this is why the proper response is to politely – politely now because civility is important – ask such women to please stop cuntshunting your side of the conversation.
“Mansplaining” has only ever meant “know your place and don’t speak out of turn”.
Originally it was a witty definition offered for a boorish act by a man, who attempted to explain to Rebecca Solnit that she should read this book, and this is what the book was about…. Solnit had written the book herself!
So the use of the word in those instances is quite appropriate. Unfortunately the term quickly changed from ‘man explaining to a woman something she already has demonstrable expertise in’ to ‘man making an annoying argument’ to ‘man being patronising’ – which, in effect, means ‘man existing’.
In the vid here it’s just so bonkers. Sure, it’s irritating being interrupted by someone else. But politicians do it all the time, it’s their job to get their own message out and deny other politicians space for their message. It’s another lefty politician assuming the victim position.
Witchdom ain’t what it used to be.
Decadence permeates.
cuntshunting
[ Muffled sniggering. ]
I prefer wominterrupting, but cuntshunting also has its charms.
More joys of public transport.
In all fairness to London; also St. Louis, Baltimore, NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, DC, Boston, LA. The real crime in the second video is a Domino’s in Ireland.
Virtue signal of note.
The real crime in the second video is a Domino’s in Ireland.
Domino’s pizza is so bland.
The thing that gets me is, it’s not like women don’t flippen monopolize discussions much more often than men. Jeez. Like the lady giving TMI in the Oversharing link. Shut up, take a breath. And yes, I just mansplained mansplaining. Deal with it.
Also…
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Jeffrey Epstein did not commit suicide. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
I am calling out CULTURAL APPROPRIATION.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjHwfVcYKSI
What do the Chiquites and Mexos Indians of Bolivia have to do with European Baroque music?! I DEMAND REPARATIONS.
I also demand tickets.
“You’ve walked out of the movie three times?”
Still haven’t seen ‘The Exorcist’. Is it actually any good?
Is it actually any good?
I saw it back in the heady days of Blockbuster VHS rentals, about 400 million years ago, so I don’t recall much detail. It’s not the kind of thing I’d generally seek out, but my impression is that it was better than much of the schlock that followed, and the escalating unpleasantness did ostensibly serve a purpose beyond revolting the audience. I.e., the demon is trying to break the faith, and humanity, of the priests.
Still haven’t seen ‘The Exorcist’. Is it actually any good?
I saw it 410 million years ago and similar to David, don’t recall much except that I was kinda disappointed. Now note that I was too young to see it when it first came out, but just old enough to hear the hype and the hysteria. The ambulances standing by (or reports of such) outside the theaters. It was a right of passage for the teenagers a little older than me. There was much controversy about it being rated ‘R’ instead of ‘X’. I’m really not into horror flicks*. Texas Chainsaw Massacre* came out the next year and there was less hype about that. Those were pre-Betamax/pre-VHS days (or at least for Depression era parent households like ours) and thus I didn’t see either of those flicks until I was in college and thus after I had seen the ONE horror movie that did, kinda, scare me, Halloween. But even that I think only scared me because a girl I liked had seen it and when I did see it…well, TMI…But anyway, when I did see TE in college, relative to Halloween it was kind of a let down. I think the first Alien movie (yes, horror but not fully in the genre) was the only film that really scared me. Ah, but that time I actually had brought a real live girl with me to the theater so…never mind.
* However I am a huuuuuge fan of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
I saw it a mere 66 million years ago, but only the first 15 minutes due to a SMOD event.
but only the first 15 minutes due to a SMOD event.
Ha. We Gators laugh at you dinosaurs and your SMOD. Landlubbing schmucks.
I think the first Alien movie (yes, horror but not fully in the genre)
It’s fully in genre. As the joke goes, “Alien is a horror film in drag as a science fiction film. Aliens is a Vietnam film in drag as a science fiction film.”
Using the definition “a science fiction story is a story that could not be told[1] without the science/technology that drives the plot”, there’s very, very little actual science fiction in film or television. The Expanse doesn’t count. Offhand, I think The Cold Equations is the only work that does, although feel free to argue the point.
[1] The weakness in this definition is that it isn’t hard to cast most SF as fantasy if you allow A Wizard Did It as a substitute for technology.
I thought The Exorcist 3 was a much better film with cracking performances from George C Scott and Brad Dourif. But nobody watched it after John Boorman’s terrible sequel.
Thanks.
*adds to list*
It’s fully in genre. As the joke goes,
I get the point but “real” horror films have the added factor of “based on a true story” or such that sci-fi can’t meet. After TE and TCM and Halloween, there was Last House on the Left and Amityvillle Horror and other similar “true” story stuff.
Is it actually any good?
Viewed by today’s standards, the supernatural effects come off as campy. Watching the head spinning scene (which supposedly affected so many people back in the day) is like looking for the strings on some of the models in Star Wars.
The movie takes a topic which is largely psychological and tries to bring it into the physical world. By comparison, Rosemary’s Baby leaves most of the horror to the viewers imagination other than a few seconds where we think we’re seeing a demon. For that reason, it stands up better than The Exorcist.
It’s still worth seeing because of it’s place in the genre. It helps if you can suspend belief like it’s 1973 and get past the effects. As David says up thread, the story is quite interesting if you see it as a test of faith and a psychological battle to overcome guilt.
Blinks. Normally you have to pay extra for that.
Feminist standards.
So her paper is about why she goes to nail salons despite being resentful of nail salons?
I’ve heard of navel gazing but this is seeing your own ass, confusing it for your navel, and taking up permanent residence.
Ah yes, Rebecca Solnit and her “mansplaining” story. A guy read her book, thought it was great, and enthused about volubly, but didn’t know she was the author. Her response was to take offence at not being recognised and proceed to scold the world. Assuming it actually happened the way she said it did, or at all, she doesn’t come out of it well in my eyes. Still just a demand that her social interiors treat her with the deference she thinks she’s due.
RE Solnit and the origin of “mansplaining”…
Given the proliferation of “woke 8 year old” stories and the conspiratorial lying required to hold a feminist worldview I now realize she made up that story whole cloth.
EVEN IF TRUE, she showed her bigotry by assuming women are not capable of being obtusely patronizing…while coining a word that is obtusely patronizing.
And what Patrick Brown said.
Well, except this: Still just a demand that her social interiors treat her with deference
I too often wish the voices in my head would just shut up and let me watch tv for a minute.
I did go to Airborne school to earn my wings back in the dark ages (1978).
Even darker ages, my dad Army 11th Airborne 1946.
Thank you for your service, Richard.
I liked Exorcist 3 as well, Scott goes way over the top in it.
Virtue signal of note.
Little Pink Riding Hood?
I saw the original TE back in the day and the hype of “ambulances standing by” was a recognized early version of clickbait. It was William Castle in the 1950’s who started the gimmick of advertising “nurses on hand” etc to get people into the theater.
No one fainted inside the theater – maybe a few lighted headed moments when approaching the ticket booth and realizing the tickets were $5 apiece. (In 1973 this was more than double normal price)
PS — the book was much more disturbing and scary. I know of more than one person reading it who decided the book could not remain their bedroom while they slept.
I didn’t feel that way about, The Exorcist … I did feel that way about Helter Skelter.
Ha. We Gators laugh at you dinosaurs and your SMOD. Landlubbing schmucks.
We tiny mammals laughed at the dinosaurs too. And now we eat alligator sausage po boys with a side of jambalaya.
with a side of jambalaya.
Touche. For now. Though I’ll see your 1958, 2003 and 2007 with our 1996, 2006 and 2008 and raise you back-to-back basketball 2005–06/2006–07.
Oh yeah WTP?? Well I see all that and raise you 1993, 1999, 2013, and…what? Why are you laughing? Please stop laughing. God just kill me.
[ leaves room sobbing and re-watches 2013 highlights for 452nd time ]
though I’ll see your 1958, 2003 and 2007 with our 1996, 2006 and 2008 and raise you back-to-back basketball 2005–06/2006–07.
That’s getting way out of my area of knowledge, but I’ll tip my hat to any team of college or pro athletes, who are so much more skilled than me. True athletic achievement can be a marvel to see. Damn, how did he do that?
Our betters… at large.
Our betters… at large.
That video is scary — they might have well been wearing white hoods and carrying flaming torches.
A shotgun is needed.
No worries, Sam. Winning football in 2006, then basketball for two consecutive years, then ANOTHER national championship in football, the number of national championship t-shirts I had to buy for my nephew and niece, year after year, was not only taxing on the bank account but was also becoming something of a time sink. I really wouldn’t wish such a thing on my worst enemy. No, really.
Though I’ll see your 1958, 2003 and 2007 with our 1996, 2006 and 2008…
Some damn pachyderms say hello from, 1925, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1941, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 + 1945, 1966, 1975, 1977, and back to your swamp, swampy…
…at large.
Well now that you mention it, and at risk of being redundant…Pachyderm fans and firearms don’t seem to be a very productive combination.
https://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/suspect-in-paducah-hotel-robbery-arrested/article_166f2cce-eab3-11e9-8e9a-13a900f4a302.html
Now about those Heisman trophies…
WTP what makes college football so great and terrible simultaneously is that it’s basically the Game Of Thrones of sports. Right now I feel like a Stark after the Red Wedding. Only there’s no hope of hack writers swooping in and creating ever more contrived successes for us.
Can we go back to discussing something fun like the impending societal collapse and civil war?
Daniel: I can think of lots of SF films that require technology we don’t currently have. That is, make no sense with that technology removed.
Bladerunner requires androids that can pass as people.
2001 requires true AI.
Total Recall requires memory changing technology.
Minority Report requires precognition. Plus a surveillance technology that is not yet possible.
Plus an endless number of films requiring time travel or alien visits.
Sure, most of them could be set in the modern world + required technology, like The Truman Show. But they can’t be set in the current world.
Sam quoting me: “Well, except this: Still just a demand that her social interiors treat her with deference
An obvious example of phonesplaining. Even though it’s obvious I know what I want to say, my phone condescendingly insists it knows better and “fixes” it.
I mean, what’s more likely, a machine that doesn’t work perfectly, or an insidious campaign of hatred and oppression against me and everyone just like me? I know what I think.
Oops
Who spilt HTML all over the upholstery?
Welcome back to the 1970s. The only solution is to bring back all the cool 1970s cars.
The only solution is to bring back all the cool 1970s cars.
Only if they bring back pre-1973 gas prices.
“We’re often told to celebrate differences whilst simultaneously being pushed to ignore them. In the world of Minder, though, there are no such ideological acrobatics: what you see is often what you say.”
Using the definition “a science fiction story is a story that could not be told[1] without the science/technology that drives the plot”, there’s very, very little actual science fiction in film or television.
I’d consider Annihilation true (and good) sci-fi, though the alien… entity could have been depicted much the same in a swords-and-sorcery setting. Generally, I find the sci-fi and fantasy I enjoy the most to often be that way; monsters that are alien in nature, technology that would be difficult to discern from magic.
Speaking of which, my only disappointment with Annihilation involved the creature some have dubbed the “alzabo”, but only because Gene Wolfe did it scarier.
Regarding The Exorcist:
https://youtu.be/lb3hIEcRu34
In the Paducah hotel robbery story, when I read this:
“When the woman threw the money on the counter, the robber put his gun down as he moved to put the money in a plastic bag. That’s when the clerk grabbed the gun and pointed it at the robber. Police said the man eventually fled”
I wondered if the robber was going “woob-woob-woob-woob” as he was running out the door.
” Using the definition “a science fiction story is a story that could not be told[1] without the science/technology that drives the plot”, there’s very, very little actual science fiction in film or television.”
Definitions schmefinitions. Though, as a kid, if pressed for a definition I probably would have said ‘does it have lasers and space ships and stuff’?
The Asimov “Robot” stories all pretty much rely on the three laws of robotics. It’s hard to see how these stories could be told with out the premise of robotic technology in which these rules were axiomatic to the robot’s behaviour. Unless it were some elaborate variation on the “one tribe always tells the truth and one tribe always lies” riddle.
More recently, I’m not sure that Gibson’s “Neuromancer” could be told without the technology (of course, that hasn’t been brought to the screen).
BTW, someone mentioned “The Cold Equations” short story. There’s a dramatisation of this story called “Stowaway” on the DUST youtube channel.
That video is scary — they might have well been wearing white hoods and carrying flaming torches.
It does rather reveal the root motives of such people. Unless, of course, the way to address an ostensibly political disagreement with someone is to find out where their parents live and then harass them at night in a fairly sinister way. Having already doxxed and threatened the person’s elderly mother. The point being to intimidate Mr Ngo and his family, and to underline their vulnerability, specifically to violence. To make them feel unsafe. There’s a spiteful ingenuity.
Because, hey, “social justice.” The mark of the pious and compassionate.
[ Added: ]
Hm. I think we’ll give this one a post of its own.
More joys of public transport.
Meanwhile, on the metro in the City of Light…
The Guardian visited my hometown.
Let’s just say I don’t recognize anything that the writer of the piece describes, other than the fact that it seems to tick all the usual Guardian boxes, starting off with her “diversity” meaning a bunch of different-looking hipsters doing hipster-type jobs, to thinking that the people need their sort of “enlightened” leadership and the Glorious Future® jobs that people like her do, instead of real productive work.
Never heard of that festival she’s talking about.
Somewhat related, there’s an undeveloped property on the dead-end road where I live, which borders on about 1,000 acres of state forest. Some hipster type bought the property and has plans to put half a dozen tiny houses on it and market them as vacation cabins. The things would have no privacy, they’re not far enough off the road to be truly out in the woods, and won’t give any sort of authentic experience of being in the middle of nowhere, especially if there are multiple structures. But apparently somebody thinks this thoroughly broken business model will appeal to city folk. Reminds me of the people who built the abandoned ski area 30 years ago.
The real crime in the second video is a Domino’s in Ireland.
[imagines Van Morrison running a pizza place]
Meanwhile, on the metro in the City of Light…
From the same source: in a German park, a sculpture honoring African immigrant drug dealers.
Headline: Hipsters in Kingston New York discover agriculture. Sustainable does not mean what they think it means. These folks should tune into Ag Report on the weekend. It broadcasts early in the morning when actual farmers have time to watch. It is an education in the business of agriculture. Farming on the tiny scale the Kingstoners envision is not sustainable and not even sufficient for the needs of that community.
Headline: Hipsters in Kingston New York discover agriculture. Sustainable does not mean what they think it means.
“Urban agriculture” is a curious concept: how do these hipsters and “progressive reformers” think that there is something “sustainable” about multi-story buildings devoted to gardening? It is unclear how many of them sincerely believe this and how many cynically use it as a method of imposing more “organization” and “redistribution” upon us all.
Ted S,
The article ends with a savvy quote, though.
If the SHTF nobody will come to rescue them, and being ready is a good thing.
But “gallerists” and bike trails from city to farm are not going to be much help.
Bartering for medical care is great, too, but fails to consider where the trained doctors come from, where the sterile instruments come from, where the antibiotics come from, etc etc ad infinitum.
It’s best thought of as parasitism on the past.
Pst314,
I have talked with several startup companies in the urban ag business. It’s amazing but sadly typical that often they have no idea of even the basic physics involved, never mind the complexities of urban infrastructure and logistics.
One guy tried to convince me that he could power grow lights in a three story growhouse from solar panels on the roof. Because, you know, LEDs are super efficient.
God bless you Fred for trying. I’m real curious about these kinds of technologies and I genuinely would like to see them succeed. Some of the people who ramble on about such things seem very bright but only in the stereotypical autistic sense. When I start asking the difficult questions, usually in a genuine hope that these things have been thought out and my sincere curiosity as to what the solution is, I find more often than not I’m dismissed as the old guy who hates anything new. This situation intensifies the closer you get to the subject of globalistic warmering.
This is right up there with the old Onion article about dolphins developing opposable thumbs:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/australian-raptors-start-fires-to-flush-out-prey
From insty.
Some of the urban indoor at folks are targeting “leafy greerns” (no, not dope) on the theory that good fresh produce can be hard to get in cities.
Ok so far, modulo the economics, but then there is usually some story about how this will help make cities resilient food-wise against various major calamities. I’ve yet to see one which was not exquisitely sensitive to the stability of power, water, transport, and usually a host of info-tech issues.
Good luck with that when the hurricane / mass riots happen into town.
Re: Kingston. The funny thing is that private exchange of goods and services, especially with some form of currency, is precisely what “capitalism” is. When the government gets involved and increasingly regulates and restricts things, then it diverges from capitalism into something Marx would be proud of.