Friday Ephemeraren’t
Because I’ve been assured that making your own is always more satisfying. I’ll set the ball rolling with, via Damian, some scenes of human cunning; a search tool for film stills; life skills for ladies; a brief history of ketchup; a museum of antiquated electronic games; and, via Elephants Gerald, the thrill of Lego gear ratios.
Oh, and this, it seems, is a thing that exists.
I generally hate comic books, but for this one*, I’ll make an exception.
Thank you, Farnsworth. I have the same attitude, but that looks like it might be fun.
[random obscenities here]
We are not censoring, we are contextualizing.
Another “C” word immediately comes to mind.
It’s been many many years since I read Psycho or watched the movie, both of which I have done, but I don’t recall Norman Bates being trans. He suffered from dissociative identity disorder, not gender dysphoria. While one of his personalities was female, it was a specific woman (his mother). ‘Norma’ was female, but Norman was entirely aware he was male.
Arizona lawmaker opposes stricter punishment for child sex predators, saying it would harm people of color
Do they not know we can hear them?
or a crossdressing character be either something very comedic to laugh at
Guess I’m a hater ..
Cpl Klinger is not amused.
YouTube recommended that after I watch women play the cum-on-my-face game, Nicholas Fairford’s “My Tips For A Special Mother’s Day Breakfast.”
Freud slipped here.
a different modern lens of what does it mean to have a villain who dresses up like his mother
Yes, because Anthony Perkins dressing up as his mother is completely incidental to his psychosis.
Do they not know we can hear them?
No. Just like the “lawmaker” in question doesn’t realize she’s suggesting that people of colour are sex predators.
It’s what you get when you hire for diversity instead of skills
Hmm. My impression of WandaVision and Lower Decks was not diversity-hire problems as much as what might be dubbed “McFarlane’s Disease” – the belief that constant references to TV shows/pop culture from the writer’s childhood constitutes humour. Which is a rejection of meritocracy of a kind, I suppose, but the continued success of Family Guy would imply this is what the market wants.
most American people encounter an image of a trans person through film and television rather than in real lifeBorat than people with severe sexual dysmorphia.
Oh, bollocks.
having a trans character or a crossdressing character be either something very comedic to laugh at or something quite horrific to think of as monstrous
The problem being that, unless they happen to be both young and attractively androgynous, which very few of us are, transgender people will generally risk looking somewhat uncanny or comedic – and not infrequently, grotesque. That’s the territory. That’s how we’re wired. It would be hard for most of us to pass as the opposite sex without risking the unflattering or the farcical.
I scarcely need to share photos of burly trans athletes looming over their much smaller, female teammates, or these delicate maidens.
And this comes to mind.
Dr Cremin is, it has to be said, more than a little League of Gentlemen.
[ Added: ]
That two well-known horror films have featured cross-dressing characters is not the cause of a wider wariness of, or aversion to, transgender people. If anything, the causality runs the other way. Those characters were there, and dramatically effective, because of long-existing connotations. A recognition of something amiss, something broken. To say nothing of the transgender appetite for surgical mutilations and assorted body horror.
Oh, bollocks.
Nice save.
Is anyone following this James Younger case in Texas where mother is trying to transition her young son, I think he’s 9 now, to female? Finding it hard to search out reliable information. Nothing that I have found seems to add up except the father’s version. Which I definitely want to believe. Why in Texas would this be happening?
https://thetexan.news/james-younger-case-effectively-comes-to-a-close-mothers-legal-team-signals-future-appeals/
Let me explain a few things, Frida.
One, many many people of both sexes and from one end of the political spectrum to the other can relate wholeheartedly to the frustration of physiognomy that diverges from prevailing cultural norms of physical attractiveness. It’s not just you, princess.
Two, wanting someone willing to look past those norms and see you is understandable, even laudable.
But three, that willing is not unique to, or even predominantly found on, the left. Indeed, most on the left are incapable of seeing anything but superficial physical characteristics, so this is only going to end for you in tears.
I can remember a time when Google’s motto was ‘Don’t be evil‘:
https://twitter.com/ConceptualJames/status/1367887090634080262
There are probably more Kazakhs in North America deeply offended by Borat than people with severe sexual dysmorphia.
I dunno, the Kazakhs probably have a sense of humor.
My news feed was abuzz with this story.
I can remember a time when Google’s motto was ‘Don’t be evil’:
Apparently helping society reach a more fair an equitable state might take a little bit of evil.
when Google’s motto was ‘Don’t be evil’
You never asked whose definition of ‘evil’.
I think he’s 9 now
Cripes, is that still going on? He was six last time I heard of it. I have to assume there’s more to the case than what we’re hearing because Texas shouldn’t be this insane, especially since puberty blockers are now part of the proposed treatment. Then again, Austin is as batsh*t moonbat as any coastal city so who knows. From The Texan‘s coverage it looks like the mother’s legal team is mostly playing technicalities, which means they know they don’t have a case. I wonder if it’s nothing more than a local family court judge wanting to avoid an attention-attracting precedent.
Let me explain a few things, Frida.
It’s one thing to demand that an absolutely irremediable condition be redefined as attractive, but permanently lasering off all your unwanted facial hair costs less than a medium sized tattoo.
Nice save.
Get that lighter fluid away from my coat.
Cripes, is that still going on? He was six last time I heard of it. I have to assume there’s more to the case than what we’re hearing because Texas shouldn’t be this insane, especially since puberty blockers are now part of the proposed treatment.
Well exactly. Whenever I see stories this far out there with as little coverage, especially in the “conservative” media, I ask myself, WTMFLF? How is this not bigger news oneway or the other? Which is why I ask…
My news feed was abuzz with this story.
How “interesting” that it turns out that the author who claimed the vibrator was invented to pleasure women was, um, ah, well, lying:
[Re: Rachel Maines’ The Technology of the Orgasm (1999)] “According to a 2018 report in the Journal of Positive Sexuality, researchers Hallie Lieberman and Eric Schatzberg share their copious findings, which disprove much of Maines’. They write, having examined every source Maines cites, ‘We found no evidence in these sources that physicians ever used electromechanical vibrators to induce orgasms in female patients as a medical treatment.’ After their report was published, Maines seemingly backtracked and said to The Atlantic that her claims were only ever an ‘hypothesis,’ adding that, ‘It was ripe to be turned into mythology somehow. I didn’t intend it that way, but boy, people sure took it, ran with it.’ For the record, her book never notes any of this as hypotheses, but very clearly fact.
So, does that make Rachel Maines the Michael A. Bellesiles of sexology? Should the title of her book be changed to Vibrating America? Oh well, she made her money and that’s all that matters.
My impression of WandaVision and Lower Decks was not diversity-hire problems as much as what might be dubbed “McFarlane’s Disease” – the belief that constant references to TV shows/pop culture from the writer’s childhood constitutes humour.
I was thinking of the Script Doctor’s dissection of the Star Trek’s below decks show, and his discussion of who they hired. Generally, they were people who had little knowledge of the show’s canon but ticked the right diversity boxes.
My impression of WandaVision and Lower Decks was not diversity-hire problems as much as what might be dubbed “McFarlane’s Disease” – the belief that constant references to TV shows/pop culture from the writer’s childhood constitutes humour.
Daniel, do you remember a sf novel The Flying Sorcerers, by Larry Niven and David Gerrold? I bought and read it because the reviews and buzz said that it was very funny and a good read. It turned out to be an example of what your cite: An excuse for endless jokes based on names of popular writers: Finelein the god of engineers (Heinlein), Elcin the midget god of thunder and lightning (Harlan Ellison), and so on.
How “interesting” that it turns out that the author who claimed the vibrator was invented to pleasure women was, um, ah, well, lying:
Bearing in mind that hysteria and hysterectomy share the common origin in the Greek word hyster for uterus, a quick spin around PubMed and a couple of bounces winds us up at this article, and though I don’t consider Psychology Today an absolute authority, I’d trust it over that other mess.
Still better than tasting urine to see if it has sugar.
Sigh. I have no more energy for attending to the various contemporary sillynesses.
Instead, I am contemplating a version of that Lego geartrain. Serious stuff, you understand.
I’m thinking to build one, and attach tiny mirrors various gears. Then, bounce lasers off them, to try measuring the tiniest movement.
Maybe interferometer techniques. Analog (of course, you heathen) filters to see if there’s any secular movement in amongst the universal vibrations and noise.
Sigh. The old days are gone.
‘We found no evidence in these sources that physicians ever used electromechanical vibrators to induce orgasms in female patients…’
I found it much more interesting that “they would round up a husband, a midwife or ‘the business end of some tireless and impersonal mechanism’ to throw on gloves and take a quick dip.”
I believe the current expression for “take a quick dip” is “rub one out”.
Publican, a wee dram, if you please. Maybe two.
[ waves arm ]
Put Fred’s on my tab, barkeep. We’re all having a rough week.
ping
they were people who had little knowledge of the show’s canon but ticked the right diversity boxes
I’ll check it out. Comics Matter, Red Letter Media and Critical Drinker are entertaining me now that I’ve cancelled all my streaming services, and Script Doctor sounds a propos. I confess I simply don’t understand the Lower Decks marketing at all. The CalArts style and format are designed to appeal to a demographic far too young to have ever seen much of the source material. Long-time Trek fans don’t watch it. I wonder if it’s one of those things like Star Wars or D&D that millenials and zoomers claim to be into for geek cred.
It turned out to be an example of what your cite
This has always been a thing in F/SF, I’m afraid, although good authors do a better job of concealing it. Tanya Huff routinely writes her friends into her books, Silverberg and Zelazny both waste page count writing their personal hobbies and acquaintances into theirs, and the less said about Spider Robinson the better. I think much of it is how the insular, ghettoized nature of the market persisted for so long. There was a good chance that anyone reading the book would know the author’s circle well enough that they’d know exactly who they were referring to.
Amazon owns goodreads.com. I wonder if there’s somewhere else I could set up a circle for people to share genre book reviews.
I think much of it is how the insular, ghettoized nature of the market persisted for so long.
The persistence of socially retarded geek behaviors, subsidized by a loyal geek audience. Even more painful are the ones who treat a favorite author as some sort of demigod who can do no wrong. But, even worse than that, have you ever been subjected to someone’s fan fiction? Face-to-face or in a xeroxed fanzine?
Amazon owns goodreads.com.
That is a good reason to look for another venue: sooner or later almost any politically incorrect facts and opinions could get purged.
Publican, a wee dram, if you please. Maybe two.
A bottle, please, landlord.
Yes, and ?
Yes, and ?
The left demands that we “see color”. I certainly see it in the crime statistics. Sometimes I see it in person.
Yes, and ?
The obvious recruiting pool for fascist death camp guards are black Americans:
White People Aren’t Human
Black woman goes on tirade because neighborhood store owners carry firearms to protect their stores from looters
How is this not bigger news oneway or the other?
Family courts are notorious to making parents shut up about any goings on. IIRC the dad was early on disciplined by the court for even talking to the press.
For your consideration:
I’m going to guess the musicologist is not a musician, but I am not sure what Beethoven has to do with clay pigeons, and I thought the wokerati claimed Beethoven was black anyway.
Meanwhile, some yte supremacists culturally appropriate some music.
the ones who treat a favorite author as some sort of demigod who can do no wrong
Like Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Don’t Google that.
have you ever been subjected to someone’s fan fiction?
Like, say, the Eye of Argon?
I have far too many friends who fancy themselves the next Brandon Sanderson.
Yes, and ?
Oh, that has got to be a 4chan troll job.
dad was early on disciplined by the court for even talking to the press.
Yeah, I get that. More to my point, why isn’t there much other information out there? Why isn’t this story not something of a thing? A little boy’s life is in the balance here. Supposedly…
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/megan-fox/2021/02/28/missouri-judge-sends-14-year-old-girl-to-live-with-allegedly-abusive-dad-while-jailing-her-mom-n1428618
WTP
If you haven’t already seen this series of articles Megan Fox is shedding some light on family court “justice” in Missouri. Similarities to the recent Netflix film “I care a lot” are striking.
ping
Bless you, sir. May your lock-screen to home-screen transition be a thing of beauty.
If anything, the causality runs the other way. Those characters were there, and dramatically effective, because of long-existing connotations. A recognition of something amiss, something broken.
That.
That.
Well, Ms Malone’s argument seems just a little disingenuous. There’s also this:
Given current levels of trans activism and trans visibility in the media, including social media, I very much doubt this is true. Old film images of Jame Gumb from Silence of the Lambs, or Norman Bates dressed as his mother in Psycho – films that are 30 and 60 years old – now have to compete with more recent, real-world offerings, many of which are scarcely less lurid and bizarre. Whether it’s the aforementioned trans athletes whose cheating and selfishness we’re expected to celebrate, or activist drag queens, including a convicted paedophile, reading to small children, all with the ostentatious blessing of the school.
various contemporary sillynesses
To me, the word “silly” implies a sort of innocent, harmless fun (Silly Walk, children being silly). There’s nothing innocent or harmless about most of the activities of the agitated leftist agitators.
For your consideration:
That “Musicologist” has to be a troll account. In fact, I often wonder how much nonsense we see mentioned here is actually trolling and flamebait designed to provoke. How much is non-leftists sarcasming, causing other non-leftist to take it seriously and respond?
Somehow I’m reminded of The Man Who Was Thursday.
I was unaware of The Man Who Was Thursday until the excellent reading of the book by Mark Steyn.
…The Man Who Was Thursday…
At Project Guttenberg, for anyone interested.
Like Marion Zimmer Bradley. Don’t Google that.
I know what you are referring to. Horrifying that there were people who knew and said nothing. But I never read her books, as the excessive enthusiasm of her fans put me off.
The most fanatical seemed to be Heinlein fans who treated him as an infallible oracle of wisdom. The most innocuous were the female Asimov fans who merely squealed girlishly and ran to get his autograph. In between were the John W. Campbell fans who passionately insisted that there was nothing racist in Campbell’s writings. (“Nothing, nothing! Buy my 500 page book and see for yourself.”)
have you ever been subjected to someone’s fan fiction?
Like, say, the Eye of Argon?
Not before breakfast, thank you. 😉
The clumsily written Mary Sue stories were bad enough–and they wouldn’t stop writing them no matter how much they were teased–but the Kirk/Spock/McCoy porn-y stories took fan writing to an appalling level of bizarre that I had not believed possible.
Yes, and ?
Oh, that has got to be a 4chan troll job.
Likely, although I have run into leftists who confidently quoted crime stats that proved the opposite of what they thought.
Here is another that I saw posted at the same time on the same twitter account: