Friday Ephemera
Why ducks don’t rule the Earth. || Unloading. || The thrill of archery. || Third time’s a charm. || He does this better than you do. || That’s exactly how I would’ve done it. || Do let her know if you have any questions. || How to make Nordic Gold. || How to make green fire. || And it fits the hand perfectly. || Kind of Bloop, with apologies to Miles Davis. || If the Doctor Who theme were Belgian jazz. || “Get bent,” she said. || She’s sending you blessings. || She does this better than you do. || Squid egg sac detected. || Japanese custom cars. || Adjusting ear orientation. || Just how low can you go? || If you like that kind of thing. || Thrilling scenes. || And finally, please update your files and lifestyles accordingly.
Oh, and a reminder that I now have a Gettr account.
But sarcasm aside, I would be interested to see a careful survey determining just how many American blacks are actually unhappy about the “whiteness” of the Tolkien books and movies. There do seem to be a lot of “racially woke” blacks, but I would be pleased to discover that very few see anything wrong with an all-white cast for a movie set in northern Europe.
As one of the reviewers pointed out, Tolkien mentions that there were other fronts in the War of the Ring, far to the East and South, and that there were dark-skinned people in lands far to the South of Gondor. (And weren’t there supposed to be one or two wizards in those regions?) There is no reason someone couldn’t write stories set in those regions, stories true to the spirit of what Tolkien wrote. (But given the corrupted state of our culture, such a story would probably be a dog’s breakfast of “woke” politics and cliches.)
I am reminded of the following, from wiki no less, concerning the bbc attempted adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s discworld…
Everything I heard–at least from sane and honest people–indicated that it was indeed very bad.
There is no reason someone couldn’t write stories set in those regions, stories true to the spirit of what Tolkien wrote.
They are destroyers, not creators, generally.
However, there is a lot of Afrofuturism speculative fiction, fantasy and (particularly) West African sci-fi being written lately. We will see in a few years whether or not any of it ages well and any of them become successful “IP” (I admittedly have not read any of it).
Mind you, the chasm between actual African culture and American blacks can also be quite wide from what I understand. The former quite dismissive (rightly so) of the latter.
Everything I heard–at least from sane and honest people–indicated that it was indeed very bad.
As was the Foundation series, as was the Wheel of Time series, as was the Shannara series, etc..
They just can’t help themselves. They have to destroy what better people have created.
They are destroyers, not creators, generally…
Sadly true. But it’s always possible that someone who genuinely loves and respects Tolkien might be inspired to write a story.
…However, there is a lot of Afrofuturism speculative fiction, fantasy and (particularly) West African sci-fi being written lately…
I know virtually nothing about that. Will be interesting to see what develops.
…Mind you, the chasm between actual African culture and American blacks can also be quite wide from what I understand. The former quite dismissive (rightly so) of the latter.
Indeed. I read/hear things now and then, albeit only rarely because it is something the news establishment does not want to cover.
Freedom Fries, but with cheese and gravy.
A mighty warrior walks among us.
Someone mentioned a blond cleopatra as trolling, but in historical fact cleopatra was the last ruler of the descendents of the armies of Alexander the Great–ie she was greek. Alexandria in that period was a greek city. So a blond cleopatra is not so crazy.
Someone mentioned a blond Cleopatra as trolling…
[ Modestly raises hand. ] I was thinking of the lunatic “Cleopatra was black” myth.
…but in historical fact Cleopatra was the last ruler of the descendants of the armies of Alexander the Great–i.e. she was Greek…
A Ptolemy, to be more precise.
…So a blond Cleopatra is not so crazy.
Except that I think all the Ptolemies had dark hair and Mediterranean complexions.
An even wilder trolling would be to make a movie about Ramses the Great and have everyone–the Pharaoh, royal family, priestly caste, and common laborers–played by stereotypically Nordic looking blondes.
Blonde, blue eyed Charlton Heston played a Jew in one of his most famous roles.
the chasm between actual African culture and American blacks
Because American blacks are, well, American. They may claim a subculture, but it is still shaped and fed by the dominate American culture which brought its roots from Northern Europe and made it its own. Melanin-enriched Americans can wear Kente cloth all they like, it doesn’t make the wearer Ghanaian.
blue eyed Charlton Heston played a Jew in one of his most famous roles
Ditto Jeffrey Hunter (King of Kings)
blue eyed Charlton Heston played a Jew in one of his most famous roles
And Denzel has now played a Scottish noble.
I’d say that makes it fair and square.
Melanin-enriched Americans can wear Kente cloth all they like, it doesn’t make the wearer Ghanaian.
Nor indeed does it work for melanin-deficient harridans from the California 12th district.
How do you see the downvotes?
There are plugins for your browser available. On Firefox, I use “Return YouTube Dislikes.”
a movie about Ramses the Great
Who was a redhead, incidentally.
Who was a redhead, incidentally.
Don’t henna me no lines, man.
Alternate response: Those damn gingers again! [ Looks in mirror, laments white hair ]
But sarcasm aside, I would be interested to see a careful survey determining just how many American blacks are actually unhappy about the “whiteness” of the Tolkien books and movies.
Try Just Some Guy – it’s clear from many of his videos that he’s black, and he’s furious about the changes Amazon have made to Tolkien’s source material in the cause of ‘diversity’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36lviVvo-jw is perhaps the best, but there are several other videos where he’s having a go at Amazon’s wokeness.
[ Looks in mirror, laments white hair ]
[ Rummages in lost property box, slides ostentatious hat along bar. ]
Interesting documentary here where the snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan tours America and tries out related games like pool and billiards.
alg, thanks for that link. Would have been much more interesting if there was a bit more pool hustling in a documentary style story about a guy hustling pool. Hopefully the next episode in Chicago is worth the time? Will have to check that one out later, assuming it’s also available here on YouTube.
[ Rummages in lost property box, slides ostentatious hat along bar. ]
But is it me?
slides ostentatious hat along bar.
To be worn at a jaunty angle, of course. Provided it’s not too ostentatious. That would be gauche.
Try Just Some Guy…
Thanks, I’ll check him out!
By the way, if you want to start experimenting with embedding your links, take a look at the example shown in this comment from November 15, 2021 at 12:59. If, on the other hand, you prefer to avoid risking David’s wrath we will all understand. 😀
Provided it’s not too ostentatious.
Too ostentatious?
“They just can’t help themselves. They have to destroy what better people have created.”
Say what you like about Sky’s Discworld adaptations (I thought Going Postal was pretty good), but I imagine there’s a good reason why the BBC wasn’t allowed anywhere near it while Pratchett was still alive.
“Except that I think all the Ptolemies had dark hair and Mediterranean complexions.”
This is Cleopatra. I will brook no arguments.
PS: Sounds about right.
Say what you like about Sky’s Discworld adaptations…
I liked Going Postal and Hogfather.
Not content to have FUBARed American history with the 1619 nonsense, Nikole Hanna Jones turns her sights to Europe, because Europe is not a continent, and the only reason people care about Ukraine is because it was invaded by Asians from Russia, or something, and BTW, Africa is bigger than Canada.
Pulitzer Prize winner, don’t you know.
Nikole Hanna Jones turns her sights to Europe
Black leftists do tend to have a particularly Nazi-like racial component to their leftism…
Important safety advice from FEMA.
“‘I’m a professional booster. Y’all are stopping my hustle,’ the serial shoplifter allegedly told officers.”
I would suggest “hustling” her off to a lifetime in a prison work farm, but that would be contrary to Modern Concepts of Social Justice.
Important flood safety advice
Given on an Australia state government website: Avoid drowning
Our home owners’ association has been informed that we need to purchase new signage for our pool because our current signs don’t tell people not to drink the pool water and neither do the signs state the depth of the pool in 2″ high letters. Never mind that the depth is right there on the side of the pool in 4″ high letters. Curiously, as I swim in a few different pools regularly, I checked with other country clubs and fitness centers. None of them have the 2″ high letters but they do advise not to drink the pool water. Today I noticed a sign at my fitness club I had missed seeing before. This one gave detailed instructions on how to save a life. Which I guess is good.
Our home owners’ association has been informed that we need to purchase new signage for our pool…
Blame goes equally to the amoral legal profession and to jurors who are happy to find reasons to penalize the innocent. “Somebody has suffered. Therefore somebody must pay!”