Uppity-Negro.com

That other site is, of course, ChicagoLesbiansInvadingTaverns.com. Long story.

People tell me things.

Join the women of Babes With Blades
On Wednesday, March 31, 2004
From 6:30 to 10:00 pm
For a fundraiser at

THE FOUR MOON TAVERN
1847 W. Roscoe
(773)929-6666

WHAT YOU DO:
pack the tavern!
party with The Babes!
purchase lots of food and drink from the bar from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm! *

* A portion of the proceeds will help the Babes fund upcoming projects.

WHAT WE DO:

• tempt you with special Babes Drinks!
• tease you with cryptic Babes Trivia!
• tantalize you with the chance to win fabulous prizes in an exciting Babes Raffle! *

* No, we're not raffling off Babes. That's a little TOO exciting, even for us. But prizes do include:

A session at the Actors' Gymnasium
Bowling
Ceramics
Le Creuset cookware
Theatre tickets galore
AND MORE!

Me, I'll be having the hummus and trying to look unobtrusive. . .

Update: And I'll be missing "The Majority Report," with actress Janeane Garofalo on Air America. Oy. Do they have a list/schedule of the weekend repeats yet?

Yes, I have post-dated this, so it stays at the top of the page, so there is less chance of me forgetting, for I am flake. Even when I'm not sleep-deprived I'm a flake.

Posted by Aaron at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Oh. There's a LiveJournal for Max & Lily strips. And either I wasn't aware of this, or managed to forget, because I am a flake.

I like Max & Lily.

Why did the relationship end? It wasn't because she's a RAGING PRE-MENSTRUAL PSYCHOTIC with more baggage than a Samsonite factory. . .

It's funny, because it's true.

As is Lucas and Odessa. So, remember this simple rule: woman cartoonist in Chicago and a strip name with an "and" or ampersand in it, and you're golden.

And yes, I'm streaming The O'Franken Factor, with guest Michael Moore, even as I type.

Oh, and Al Gore just showed up. It's like a bus station, there. . .

Posted by Aaron at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

And again, Zero Wing jokes, the last resort of the sleep-deprived.

Hoping that Air America Radio suddenly becomes live and direct at noon (or would it be 11 here?), since at the moment, 950 AM WNTD in Chicago ain't giving me nada. Or perhaps the problem is that I'm in the south 'burbs at my moms' place, rather than in Chicago proper, and their signal ain't making it all the way out here.

Whateva.

Not much you (probably) didn't already know at the NYTimes piece, Liberal Voices Get New Home on Radio Dial, but there's a photo of Janeane Garofalo, so hit the link anyway.

What?

I'd link Atrios' entry on this, but since he got to meet Janeane, I'm going to be pissy and bitter and not. So there.

Update: As Garrity mentions, there is crunchy streamy goodness, on the Air America Radio site linked above, and mirrors/other streams listed in this thread at Pandagon. I feel silly streaming it when I live in one of the few cities that actually has a broadcast, but that's the 21st century for you, I suppose.

Posted by Aaron at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Clearly, I've been doing this wa-a-a-ay too long. . .

Curiously, I may -- and I'm not certain, and will be calling tomorrow for confirmation -- but I may, a few days after getting mentioned in the Trib, have received a veiled threat from a former employer. Or rather, former place I used to temp at.

Pay close attention, everyone.

We may have a legal precedent in the making.

Funny thing is, I'd put the entire unpleasant experience out of my mind. Until they, apparently, decided to fuck with me just one more time.

I suppose the question is, am I willing to risk endangering my future employment prospects just for the fun of fucking right back with them.

I run a web site called Uppity-Negro.com.

You bet your sweet ass I am.

The numbers are off because of the (fairly small, all things considered) number of deleted or drafted-but-never-posted entries. I suppose I should clear those out at some point.

While waiting in the attorney's office, perhaps.

Posted by Aaron at 6:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There is a school of thought, regrettably common among some Americans, that there are two equally valid positions to every argument, and selecting a third position somewhere in the middle makes you a moderate.

This is, quite obviously, complete and utter horseshit.

If I tell you, "The floor upstairs is on fire, we should evacuate the building," and someone else says, "No, I was upstairs a week ago Thursday, and it wasn't on fire," these are not two equally valid positions. The other person is clearly insane. If you throw up your hands and say, "Well, you're telling me two different things, I'm not sure what to think," then you, too, are clearly insane, and I assure you I'll be going through your desk looking for valuables before taking the stairs out of the building.

Clearly, this analogy doesn't hold for every sitch either. In fact, you should be wary of every sentence that uses the modifier "every," including the one you're reading right this instant.

Heh. Never get tired of that gag.

Seriously, when I was banging on in my OCD fashion about rejecting dualism a few months back, that's part of what I meant. Sometimes, there ain't "two equally valid positions," and the trick is knowing when.

My suggestion is, if one of these positions is coming from a right-winger, that's probably the clearly insane one, but that's me. I'm biased.

Posted by Aaron at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)

Anyway, so. Left work Monday morning at a quarter to 4, got home, couldn't sleep past 7, and went in to turn in my badge and key -- oddly, HR wasn't around when I headed out.

And naturally got dragged into staying from 9 to 6:15 or so, because they still hadn't quite managed to finish the project I'd been working on.

But you know the funny part?

Temp agency I'm working through ends their pay period at midnight on Sunday, so I had to submit the other hours for this week. As this'll add up to fewer than 40, rather than getting time and a half for working from midnight to 3:45 Monday morning, that would be paid at the regular hourly rate.

Yes, that was my reaction, too.

Any road up, was going to try writing something more about the half-formed notion of the misuse of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, and how it got tied into the idea that the local Other wasn't really inferior, it's just that their language (or culture generally) was the problem. Thought that Kenneth Branagh's character expressed similar notions in Rabbit-Proof Fence, and ran across this article looking for more info:

In most [Australian] states the “[chief] protector” was able to designate where an Aboriginal person could or couldn't live; could make local regulations governing their conduct; controlled their assets; had the power to decide who Aborigines could or couldn't marry and who could and couldn't work and where. In addition, the Chief Protector was designated the legal guardian of all Aboriginal children and had the power to decide which children would be removed from their parents, where they were sent, as well as being able to authorise their adoption.

Probably the best known of the chief protectors was A.O. Neville, who retained the position in Western Australia for 25 years. Neville was known to the Aboriginal communities as “Mr Devil”. In the eyes of many, he has come to symbolise the callousness of Australia's forced assimilation policies.

Up until the day he died, Neville remained a firm believer in forced assimilation and that it was his and other whites' duty to “save the natives from themselves”.

And that's quite enough for one day, I think.

Well, and adding that the (hate this term) neo-Whorfians, and other researchers like Deborah Tannen and Steven Pinker and the beat goes on, are all aware of the possible misuses of their work -- or oversimplified popular conceptions of their work -- when it comes to creating social policy, something scientists really shouldn't have to worry about. But given some of those possible misuses, suppose it's better if they do.

Oh, and thanks to Maureen Ryan for the kind words over at the Trib.

And that's it, I'm going to. . . finish doing laundry.

Posted by Aaron at 6:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Think I've quoted this article from the Boston Globe (Debate opens anew on language and its effect on cognition) before, but a quick search brings up nada. Which is odd, since I remember looking up Lera Boroditsky's work, and she's quoted in the piece, and this bit at the end:

"Since September 11, the English-speaking world is waking up to the fact that other cultures not only speak differently, they think differently," said Susan Bassnett, a specialist on translation at the University of Warwick. "One of the problems of global English is that native English speakers are losing their skills in foreign languages and so are increasingly unable to access those alternative realities."

Well, that's one of the cheat codes for this entire site, right there. . .

. . . meaning the right-wingers will either miss the point entirely, or ignore it completely. Used to find that sort of thing amusing, at least -- mentioning the erotica modeling tends to make them lock up completely, reboot, then continue from the point they were at before as if nothing had happened -- but now it just seems really, really sad.

Any road up, the main point of the article is resurgence of the Whorfian Hypothesis, more or less, if you squint a little:

Boroditsky is one of the researchers presenting her work at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference at the Hynes Veterans Convention Center this week. Last year, she published a study in which she asked people to answer simple time sequence questions while watching a video screen. When objects on the screen move vertically, the Mandarin speakers are able to answer faster than English speakers - implying that their brains processed time questions differently, and hinting that there could be other differences.

In some ways, this idea is not a new one. It first arose early in the 20th century in the writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf, an engineer who studied the Hopi Indians. The Hopi language does not have past, present, and future tenses, and Whorf theorized that the Hopi had a profoundly different notion of time than English speakers.

His idea - that language determined thought - became known as the "Whorfian hypothesis." At a time when the image of the noble savage held sway, the theory was both beguiling and influential. It took the romantic notion of a national character - that the French, for example, have a particular way of thinking - and extended it to all the planet's disparate tribes.

Arriving before the tools of modern linguistics and anthropology had been developed, the Whorfian hypothesis was used to support theories that ranged from arrogant to outright racist, such as the idea that "primitive" peoples were incapable of thinking about abstract ideas.

But as science progressed, Whorfian thinking crumbled. Anthropologists documented the cultural and verbal sophistication of supposedly primitive tribes. And linguists also came to realize that thoughts are much richer than language, undercutting the very notion that people would need a word to think a thought.

I'd write up something comparing the misuse of Whorf's work with the misuse of Darwin's -- there are still adherents of Social Darwinism out there, you know, which tends to argue against the theory -- but that would require, like, research, and thinking, and stuff.

And despite the fact that it's now 12:20 Monday morning, I'm still at work. . .

Update: Course Description

I realize that "Modes of Assertion" is a rather cryptic title for the course. What we will explore are ways of modulating the force of an assertion. This will engage us in formal semantics and pragmatics, the theory of speech acts and performative utterances, and quite a bit of empirical work on a not-too-well understood complex of data.

"He obviously made a big mistake." "It is obvious that he made a big mistake."

If you're like me you didn't feel much of a difference. But now see what happens when you embed the two sentences:

"We have to fire him, because he obviously made a big mistake."
"We have to fire him, because it is obvious that he made a big mistake."

One of the two examples is unremarkable, the other suggests that the reason he needs to be fired is not that he made a big mistake but the fact that it is obvious that he did.

We will try to understand what is going on here and look at related constructions not just in English but also German (with its famous discourse particles like ja) and Quechua and Tibetan (with their systems of evidentiality-marking, as recently studied in dissertations from Stanford and UCLA).

All the kids are about Quechua these days. It's trendy.

And if you check the link, I corrected an obvious big mistake in the text. . .

Not one of Professor Boroditsky's courses -- she does have several offered at MIT Open Courseware, including (as a co-instructor) one on Language and Thought -- but I thought it looked interesting.

I have some down time at the moment. This is how I spend my down time. Looking up linguistics courses at MIT.

Doesn't. . . doesn't everyone do that?

Posted by Aaron at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

It's 70-something degrees and gorgeous outside.

I'm not outside.

I'm inside revising a document, and in this case the revision entails removing lots of things I spent the last few days adding.

At one point, I'd turned on the Track Changes feature in Word, and had I been allowed to keep that working, I'd just be right-clicking things and selecting "Reject Changes."

They ain't want to do it that way.

After all, why make less work for the Negro?

So I'm in a very, very, very, very good mood right now.

Listening to Swamp Ophelia on MiniDisc -- an actual, pre-recorded MiniDisc, the only one I own. And got a postcard a few days back from Borders saying they had no idea why the fuck they listed Fiona Apple's second release in that format, and they couldn't get it, and sorry for the inconvenience, ya crackhead.

Ok, maybe not in those words, exactly.

Didn't realize Lisa Germano and Jane Siberry stopped by to play along on Swamp Ophelia. And wish they'd used a larger font for the booklet.

Posted by Aaron at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ok, Calabash Music is making me very, very happy right now. They also have a de-funked blog, but what's doing the happy-making is the music selections, including bands whose names ring bells for reasons I'm totally unclear on. Sieve-like brain, but not everything slips through. Like Garmarna, f'r instance:

Garmarna's Guds Speleman (God's Musicians) shows an innovative band that's growing ever stronger and more confident. This album highlights the beautiful voice of Emma Hardelin; she's now developed beyond a promising young singer to one of the best.

As with their previous disc Vengence, the band have excavated the dark side of the Swedish tradition to bring forth haunting melodies and lyrics filled with blood, guts, and doomed maidens.

In the Swedish lyrics, a fleeing pregnant woman is slashed to death by a werewolf, and a handsome young man barely escapes the clutches of a horny mountain troll. Just in case these stories are too nice for you, caterpillars devastate a river valley, a girl's lover is pulled from her arms and hacked to death by her seven brothers, and a tax collector is beheaded and sent to Hell.

Shame I don't speak Swedish. . . anyway, they also do that official site thing the kids are all into these days, with multiple versions for a couple different languages. Collect 'em all!

And tell me where the hell I would have heard of them, while you're at it. Could just blame Ecto, I guess. . .

For no particular reason, I'll also mention Najma and Sultana as reasons to drop by the site.

I'm fairly confident I wasn't previously aware of them.

Fairly.

Posted by Aaron at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you're just joining us and wondering who the lovely, if racially ambiguous, woman is in the photo in the previous entry, or if you've been here a while, know my taste in music, and hope vainly that maybe this time I've actually found something decent, you can hear samples of, or purchase, music by Sevara Nazarkhan over at Calabash Music. Which seems to be the EMusic/iTunes of the World Music set; 99 cents per song, or 20 songs/downloads for $9.99 with a new membership.

I've suggested in the past that people disgusted with the (lack of) quality of pop music here in the States might, possibly, look elsewhere. Oddly, most of them would rather listen to the same crap and whine about it. Go figure.

Anyone else a member, and have some suggestions on what I should use the rest of my 20 on? Right now, I'm just wandering around (the World [Music]) somewhat aimlessly.

Which actually isn't a bad thing to do.

Update: More on Sevara at Silk Road still a melting pot for Music, an entry at the very much not de-funked world music advocate, Calabash's Typepad hangout. They've been all over the denials of visas for Cuban musicians recently, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Their motto?

imagine a world where everyone sings and dances and celebrates music each day. . .

Which isn't a bad thing either.

Posted by Aaron at 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What could I do?

Still sleep-deprived, even though I left work at the almost-human hour of 10:30 last night. Am awake enough to realize that the temp walking into a room where he's been asked to (more or less) take dictation, looking at a wee small keyboard on a teeny tiny laptop and saying, with a barely-concealed threat, "Could someone get me a USB keyboard?" -- and then actually getting said keyboard -- is not normal in corporate America. Either the request or having someone fulfill said request. Apparently Warren Ellis/Spider Jerusalem was right. Being a bastard works.

Random notes. This should probably be several entries, but since I get to head back in at 10 this morning. . . and should probably go earlier so there's some chance of getting out at a decent hour this evening. . . whateva.

Update:

Click for a larger version of the image, shamelessly stolen from
-:-:-:-:- Sevara Nazarkhan /official site/-:-:-:-:-

First off, thanks to everyone who contributed on Free For All Friday. Not sure what Sir Tim Berners-Lee thinks of the notion, or of blogging generally, but I think it's a closer approximation of what he was looking for than the typical, one-to-many way many sites are run.

And the more I think about the right-wingers (apparently) destroying the comments section at Chomsky's blog, the less I like them. And I wasn't that thrilled with the fuckers to begin with. Nor am I sure how they justify having done so with their shrill, over-the-top complaints about PC Thought Police and how closed-minded the Left is and all that other shit Michele was venting about in regards to the DU message boards a while ago. I mean, at least they kept their shit in their own place, rather than trolling someone else's en masse. And I repeat my request for examples of similar behavior on the part of leftists. I mean, if anyone has an example of left-wingers swooping in on the new site of a conservative intellectual. . . wait, bad example. Conservative intellectual is something of a contradiction in terms.

What else? Saw a (not terribly flattering) mention on Ecto of Katie Melua, and went looking for sound samples. Came up empty on that, but photos of her caused me to wonder how many other brunette female pop singers there are on the charts these days. Most of the pop tarts that spring to mind are wee blonde things. This is possibly deeply meaningful, but again, sleep deprivation. Also, mounting disgust at the possible deep meanings.

There was a brief bit about Sevara Nazarkhan in Utne's indie culture 2004, but I'm really not sure she counts.

The history of a lone woman singing and accompanying herself on a string instrument is ancient. It is a familiar image in manuscripts and miniature paintings from Iran, Turkey, the Middle East, and China, the countries and regions of the legendary Silk Route. In places that evoke the exotic, like Bukhara and Samarkand – the cities of modern day Uzbekistan – music was advanced and courtly. A female singer and instrumentalist epitomised high culture.

Sevara Nazarkhan, a twenty-five-year-old, Uzbek singer, songwriter and musician, is a direct descendent of this past. Her instrument is the doutar - a fifteenth century, two-stringed, Central Asian lute that is plucked not strummed. When music was the preserve of shepherds and lonely wayfarers, the strings were made from animal intestines. As the Silk Route became better established and the dried fruits and animal skins that Marco Polo carried were traded for gems and Chinese porcelain, the strings were woven from silk. The doutar has a warm, dulcet tone. In Sevara’s hands and voice an ancient tradition breathes.

That's from the bio page of the Real World Records site for her cd Yol Bolsin (Where Are You Going). Worth a look even if you have no interest in her music (although, if you've never heard it, how would you know?); Peter Gabriel and his wacky band of misfits do good web design, they do.

Which reminds me, Ezra over at Pandagon criticized the design of Turning the Tide (possibly tongue-in-cheek, it's hard to convey that sort of thing in text, you know), which (to me) is a bit like refusing to buy one of Chomsky's books because it wasn't designed by Chip Kidd. Or something.

Right, music, politics, book publishing, the 'net. . . think that's superficially touching on enough issues for one morning, yes?

Well, there was an amazingly stupid comment made by Dean Esmay over at Andrea's, based on either a deliberate misreading of my "Oh look, I might get drafted into you moron's war" entry, or on his complete lack of reading skills, I'm not sure which.

Oh, and I'm racist. And offensive. Good thing racist, offensive white people keep reminding me of that, otherwise I'd forget. . .

Again, mirror. And again, they don't cast reflections, so that idea is out.

Update: Something for the Chi residents and refugees. At Dean's -- and you'll have to find the Ahhh, Chicago entry yourself, I fear automatic trackback and getting yelled at for "commenting" at his place -- someone asks, regarding WXRT:

Do they still have the lesbian disk jockey in the plaid flannel shirt who hates guns because one was used to kill "her man" John Lennon?

The joke, or course, is that the previous comment was:

Unbelievable--and Terri Hemmert is still there!

Ok, maybe that's not funny on several levels. . .

Posted by Aaron at 7:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)

• His birthday's coming up on April 1st
• He rolls his eyes at things that go on around him. He does this far more often than I can, or even far more than I'd allow myself.
• Since I'm starting to 'lock again, my hair will resemble his fairly soon and stay that way for a while.
• As Lyle Lovett once said, "penguins are so sensitive ... to my needs."
• His Sanrio page's "xo.html." XO? *swoon*

Posted by Aaron at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

More dates for the Perfect World Tour!

6/11 Boston / Fleet Pavilion
6/12 Hyannis / Cape Cod Melody Tent
6/13 Gilford, NH / Meadowbrook
6/14 Northampton, MA / Calvin Theatre
6/16 Portland, ME / Merrill Auditorium
6/17 Asbury Park, NJ / Starland Ballroom
6/18 Philadelphia / Mann Center
6/19 Columbia, MD / Merriweather Post Pavilion
6/21 Grand Rapids, MI / Meijer Gardens
6/22 Sterling Heights, MI / Freedom Hill
6/23 Indianapolis / Lawn White River Park
6/24 Cleveland / Tower City Amphitheatre
6/26 Atlanta / Chastain Park
6/27 Atlanta / Chastain Park

Items of possible interest to Michelle Jones in bold. Just because.

And of course, the latest Indigo Girls news can always be found at:
http://www.indigogirls.com/news.html

Posted by Aaron at 3:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

the sad thing is, i didn't even know about sanrio [except, of course, in the form of their all-too-well-known ambassador] until i was offered to select a character for my yahoo! mainpage skin. the only reason i chose badtz maru is because it was the only skin with a black background. but for some reason that long face has grown on me.

Posted by Aaron at 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

l _       _         
| |     | |        
| |_   _| | ____ _ 
| | | | | |/ / _` |
| | |_| |   < (_| |
|_|\__,_|_|\_\__,_|

Posted by Aaron at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Karin here. Posted one last time this happened, so here's another:

"Waiting For the Great Leap Forwards"

It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline
But on the Che Guevara highway filling up with gasoline
Fidel Castro's brother spies a rich lady who's crying
Over luxury's disappointment
So he walks over and he's trying
To sympathise with her but he thinks that he should warn her
That the Third World is just around the corner

In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded
By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded
That Dr Robert Oppenheimer's optimism fell
At the first hurdle

In the Cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear
Is the sound of someone stacking chairs
And mopping up spilt beer
And someone asking questions and basking in the light
Of the fifteen fame filled minutes of the fanzine writer

Mixing Pop and Politics he asks me what the use is
I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses
While looking down the corridor
Out to where the van is waiting
I'm looking for the Great Leap Forwards

Jumble sales are organised and pamphlets have been posted
Even after closing time there's still parties to be hosted
You can be active with the activists
Or sleep in with the sleepers
While you're waiting for the Great Leap Forwards

One leap forward, two leaps back
Will politics get me the sack?

here comes the future and you can't run from it
If you've got a blacklist I want to be on it

It's a mighty long way down rock 'n roll
From Top of the Pops to drawing the dole

If no one seems to understand
Start your own revolution and cut out the middleman

In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room

So join the struggle while you may
The Revolution is just a T-shirt away
Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards

Posted by Aaron at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Wondering how to go about an unpleasant, if necessary, task, without it turning into a. . . a thing. You know, where a bad situation gets worse despite (or possibly, because of) the best efforts of everyone involved.

Well, that was vague and pointless. . .

Left work at 1 this morning. This, after leaving at midnight the night before, and at 11 on Tuesday. I'm not liking this trend. I'm not liking this trend at all.

That, and as I pointed out, I'd been brought in to do data entry, and my responsibilities have gone waaaay beyond that at this point, but I'm still being paid the same amount. Well, time and half for everything beyond 40 hours, which I'm pretty sure I've already hit, and there is not-so-idle talk of working Saturday and Sunday, but still. . . no, not sure what my point is there either.

Torn between getting much-needed work done on the Focus before returning it -- the lease is up a month from tomorrow -- or doing the road trip thang again, seeing as I'm so far below the miles I paid for on the thing that a cross-country trip wouldn't be a drop in the bucket. Or out of the country, but Vancouver is very, very far away, and Texas is in the opposite direction, and even I have my limits. I think. Don't push 'em too often, so it's hard to tell.

Don't suppose anyone has the comments threads from Turning the Tide archived or in cache? Went to try wading through the mess, and apparently the right-wingers succeeded in getting comments turned off and removed. I'm sure they're very proud of themselves, but refuse to check LGF to confirm this.

Strongly reconsidering my previous position that it's possible to still be friends with people you disagree with politically, if this sort of behavior is seen as acceptable on their part.

Babbling. Sleep-deprived, obviously, and the weather here is hopping like water on a hot griddle.

We now return to your previously scheduled, oddly silent, Free For All Friday, already in progress.

Posted by Aaron at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Since I managed to stumble here via the Free for All Friday page to see if anyone else actually decided to participate... I figured I'd post.

Favorite Sanrio character, eh?

Hello Kitty. I fanatically collect Hello Kitty things. I have 2 polar fleese blankets, 1 set of bed sheets, 4 shirts, 2 pairs of pajama pants, TONS of stationary, a dream pillow, 2 keychains, 2 figurines, 2 tins, 3 puppets, a wallet, a backpack, a purse, and probably a whole lot more. :D

Anyway, I'm Nikkiana, and I'm signing off. Happy Free For All Friday!

Posted by Aaron at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

All day tomorrow, if I forget to set the alarm clock:

Free-For-All Friday (Plus One Day Extended Mix)

http://www.uppity-negro.com/cgi-uppity-negro/mt.cgi

Username: guest
Password: guest

Suggested Topic: Talk about your favorite Sanrio (or otherwise kawaii) character.

Posted by Aaron at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Very few things rank higher on the hilarity scale than white conservatives accusing anyone, particularly those nebulous "leftists," of sexism and racism.

I'd suggest they look in mirrors, but they don't cast reflections, do they?

Posted by Aaron at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)

Left work at 12:15 this morning, got home at about 1:30, got to sleep at a little after 3, and left coming back here at about 6:30.

On the train ride, I came very, very close to assaulting a traveling evangelist, and I'm fairly certain everyone on the car would have testified that they didn't see a god damn thing.

So.

Not.

Today.

George alerts me to the probably common knowledge that Noam Chomsky has a blog now. According to Technorati (now out of beta), the fun-loving little hatemongers at Little Green Footballs have linked it already, which may explain the fairly large comment threads. So not wandering into that mess.

And now I'll see if that document I was working on earlier this morning is actually coherent, as it seemed to be when I stopped working on it, or if it had the sort of coherence that evaporates like dew when the sun comes up.

Update: Actually, scanning that thread at LGF makes for interesting reading, from a sociological perspective. Apparently, telling your winged monkeys to troll someone else's comments is standard behavior for right-wingers.

And so far, not a single one has actually raised anything which could be confused with a rational argument against anything Chomsky has ever said or written.

They're. . . well, I knew they weren't very bright, or original, but I'm moving towards the opinion that they aren't even human.

Oh, and John McWhorter contributes to Language Log, if you're interested in what he has to say about anything.

God knows I'm not; even with my limited m4d PERL 5KILL5, I think I could turn out a Black Conservative 'bot/Generator that would churn out about the same level of rhetoric. . .

Which reminds me, I still haven't added Oliver Willis to the links list.

Deliberately.

Posted by Aaron at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

By way of Elayne (and I'm testing the Haloscan trackback thingee, so I hope she'll forgive me if this shows up twice. . .), the unfortunately, if predictably, titled Pow! Power to Wonder Women:

Lillian Robinson, principal of Women's Studies at Concordia University's Simone de Beauvoir Institute, has been hanging out at the comic book rack - all in the name of academic research.

Over the years, Robinson has studied sex-trade workers and the impact of globalization on women. In her new book, Wonder Women: Feminisms and Superheroes, which hits bookstores tomorrow, she turns to the influence and mythology behind bosomy comic icons like the Invisible Woman, She-Hulk or Canada's little-known Nelvana of the Northern Lights.

[. . .] Robinson is intrigued to see how comic heroes, plots and attitudes have evolved - and how they haven't. In one recent storyline, Wonder Woman's boyfriend was "a beautiful black man with dreads" who worked for the United Nations in sustainable development. "Of course, he had to die, as a sacrifice to Zeus."

I must have missed the big THIS ISSUE: THE BLACK GUY DIES cover in the shops. Was that before or after Rucka took over? Been thinking about picking up #200, just because. . .

Update: And as long as I'm talking comics -- stopped by the shop and picked up the first volume of Osamu Tezuka's BUDDHA, on Karin's recommendation -- if, like me, you know just enough to be confused about Image's Faction Paradox, and were wondering if they were that Faction Paradox:

While this is its first appearance in comics, the idea has been around since writer Lawrence Miles' 1997 novel Alien Bodies.

The editorial describes that as a "BBC sci-fi novel", and goes on to mention that the Faction also turned up in some other BBC books. The two words which the editorial seems keen to avoid are "D*ct*r" and "Wh*." Years after the show went off the air, the BBC continued to licence and produce a ton of Dr Wh* novels, which from what I gather became increasingly nuts over time. Oddly enough, at least from a comics standpoint, the writers who contributed to those novels seem to have retained their rights in the original characters who they contributed. The result has been several books such as this - Dr Wh* supporting characters spiralling off on their own, unable to mention exactly where they came from because the characters aren't available, but moving on to a bizarre sort of afterlife.

Or, in the case of Faction Paradox, perhaps an entirely new life divorced from its roots in BBC Publishing. This book seems consciously intended to appeal to a wider audience than just the hardcore Dr Wh* faithful - and indeed, as they promise, no knowledge of previous stories is required.

The original X-Axis review doesn't do the pissy thing with the asterisks, that's all me.

I don't want them freaks doing a search and stumbling on my site.

The key bit, of course, is, "Oddly enough, at least from a comics standpoint, the writers who contributed to those novels seem to have retained their rights in the original characters who they contributed[.]" This isn't odd at all in countries with some slightly more. . . do I have to use the term "liberal"?. . . approaches to creators' rights. There's be something here about T*rry N*t**n and the D*l*ks, but I'm more than a bit worried that I can do it from memory without having to look any of it up. . .

To put this in terms the Americans can wrap their brains around, I'm fairly certain Paramount has made, as they say, shitloads of money from the Borg characters in St*r Tr*k, what with appearances on multiple television shows, and the film, and the merchandise.

Talking completely out of my ass, whoever created the characters got paid for the script.

The constant revenue stream derived from the characters?

Yeah. It's like that. See also: Siegel, Jerry and Shuster, Joe, but not Moulton, Charles. At least partially because the latter doesn't exist. . .

Posted by Aaron at 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

. . . and, really, how can you not love Michelle?. . . but if you truly loved her, you would pre-order her this:

Which I mention because a quick Google didn't bring up an image of the Harley Quinn DC Classic Animation Maquettes Btas thingee that's arriving in shops today.

Posted by Aaron at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

InstaPundit writes, or rather, as is Glenn's wont, mostly quotes:

READER TOM BROSZ EMAILS:

Anybody notice how many people are, almost simultaneously, berating George Bush for not taking out bin Laden, and berating Sharon for taking out Ahmed Yassin?

Yes, I have.

Good to know, good to know.

Now explain the comparison.

No, really:

In land with little hope, Hamas seen as rare benefactor

From its beginnings in 1987, Hamas has been at the forefront of the campaign of suicide bombings in Israel that has killed hundreds. But among the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, the group is seen as one that nurtures lives with its food and educational and health-care projects.

Hamas' leaders have advocated a holy war against Israel and promised martyrdom for those who die in the struggle against it. Many Palestinians, though, see the group's Islamic foundations as principled and devout.

Dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state, Hamas has refused to cooperate with Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority and denounced its off-and-on negotiations with Israelis. Yet among many Gazans, Hamas is regarded as a disciplined alternative to Arafat's corruption-tainted group and the best hope for achieving statehood.

"From the start, Hamas has devoted itself to the heart of our suffering," Masri said in the family living area furnished with little more than a plastic mat, a wardrobe and seven cheap foam mattresses. "They are not corrupt. They are true to our people."

I'd try to head off anyone thinking of accusing me of supporting Hamas, or being in favor of suicide bombings, but, again, they're insane. They cannot be reasoned with.

And my point, of course, is that I've not heard of al Qaeda doing any sorts of charitable good works on the side. Even if you do consider these to be part of Hamas' evil campaign to do evil and win hearts and minds to the cause of, um, evil (it's so hard to write like the warbloggers, I actually have a vocabulary. . .), the fact remains that they are doing something other than committing acts of terrorism. Does al Qaeda?

Yes, children, I know what Glenn and Tom were getting at. What I'm doing is challenging the presupposition underlying their question. Think you can possibly restrict yourselves to discussing that?

Posted by Aaron at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

. . . that every blog entry is the first one that someone reads at your site. Meaning I tend to leave out context. Er, which is why there's that non-functional (in some versions of IE, anyway) search button on the index page; it's not so much that I forget, as that I refuse to accept that most people are too lazy to make minimal effort.

And then I get an invasion of tourists/trolls, and am reminded. Waste of time here -- they don't seem capable of independent thought, and refrain from posting in any thread where they don't have a set of talking points to repeat, or a selection from Baby's First Book of Tiresome Right-Wing Insults -- but in case any of 'em are curious about Babes With Blades, and couldn't be arsed to look up when I've mentioned them before:

Babes With Blades was originally conceived to give women in Chicago an opportunity to showcase their training and talent in Stage Combat. Although, across the United States, women are in the majority in Stage Combat classes, their opportunities for work in the field once they receive the training are practically non-existent.

The preconception in both the theatre world, and the minds of the public at large, is that women have never truly wielded weapons, and therefore the dearth of representations of female warriors on stage and screen was excusable and justified. But merely scratching the surface of history reveals a very different picture. Women have been bearing arms, either for personal or patriotic aims, in every culture and every time period on record. In dueling societies, on pirate ships, in jousting competitions, in standing armies, and on every revolution's roster, women have an historic martial presence that is repeatedly denied and ignored.

Babes With Blades is our attempt to revive and revitalize the archetype of the Woman Warrior, the Amazon, and to show the theatrical world the wonderful resource of combat-trained women available to fill that archetype, a resource that remains regrettably untapped.

And I mentioned missing them in Xena Live! (both productions) due to my suckage; that entry was about how they were appearing in Frodo-A-Go-Go, which appearance I also missed due to suckage.

A pattern begins to emerge.

Again, the benefit, to help fund their next production, is next Wednesday at Four Moon Tavern from 6:30 to 10:00. Pretty sure Angel is a repeat, so you have no excuse. Other than not knowing how the hell to get to Roscoe Village, and I'm sure Tara would be glad to give you directions, if you ask politely. . .

Update: Apropos of nothing, one of the 1000 Styles of Rumsfeld appears in a full-colour above the fold photo in today's dead-tree Chicago Tribune.

If you consider the fucking Chicago Tribune to be theliberalmedia, as previously noted, you're insane.

And based on that, and that alone? I think you guys have already lost.

Sometimes, people tell me they're amazed at the amount of. . . well, they don't call it "stupid shit," so let's go with "abuse" that I deal with from the warblogger/right-wing contingent.

I'm not very good at taking compliments even when I feel they're deserved, and really feel that one isn't. Most of the abuse, after all, is off-the-shelf insults that have nothing to do with me, and just reinforce the notion that they're just not that bright.

I mean, yes, ok, I feel much safer now that the "no-one ever said it was imminent, no siree Bob" threat of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction related program activities has been curtailed, and clearly, any civilian casualties during the invasion or injury or death suffered in the ensuing chaos pale in comparison to the detestable behavior of those demonstrators last Saturday. They trampled an old woman! And some of had anti-Semitic slogans!

Like I said yesterday, I'll just be deleting the stupid shit from now on. If any of them evolve to a point where they actually present a rational argument, as opposed to the faith-based insanity they currently favor, I may revise this.

Not holding my breath.

"Faith-based insanity" is the only way I can describe, for example, the Statement of Fact that Iraq represented a threat to the U.S., and the marching orders handed down to people who knew better that they'd best deliver evidence supporting this Fact.

Even the warbloggers have abandoned the notion that actual Weapons of Mass Destruction are going to be found in Iraq, right? I mean, I'd look, but:

Blacklisted by Big Media? For wanting us to win the war? An appalling thought.

You know, there's that whole insanity thing to deal with. And the hate speech. And the ignorance. And how they come across as pathetic, frightened little shits intent on destroying the Earth.

Other than that, though, I'm sure they're great people to hang out with, and boy, I'd love to see any of the Chicago-based ones turn out for the benefit.

Posted by Aaron at 8:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Free-For-All Friday (FFAF) is a unique blogging meme - it isn't about what you post, but what others post for you. You particpate by allowing the general blogging public the ability to post on your blog via a guest account. As the blog owner, you get to set the guidelines - but it IS called Free-For-All for reason. FFAF is a tremendous opportunity to get to know your readers while they get to know you.

Free-For-All Friday takes place on the last Friday of every month. The next one is March 26, 2004.

The participant list includes:

Which does nothing for you if you have JavaScript turned off, but I'm not up to pasting the links into a <noscript> thingee. Just got home from work about a half hour ago, after getting in at 8 this yesterday morning, and between that and dealing with unoriginal troll bullshit from the lovely people following the link from. . . the place I can't post at anymore, and if you don't see some tiny bit of contradiction/hypocricy there, you must be a right-winger. . . right, sleep now.

Posted by Aaron at 12:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

A link from George leads to Gen Kanai weblog: Hello Kitty, the interview which leads to Hello Kitty - The Remarkable Story. . . but the URL for the last link is HelloKittyTheBook.com, hence the title.

This website provides an introduction into the wonderful world of Kitty based on our research writing Hello Kitty: The Remarkable Story of Sanrio and the Billion Dollar Feline Phenomenon. We’ve included an interview with Hello Kitty’s chief designer, Yuko Yamaguchi, and will add others in the future. There are also links to some hilarious satirical sites.

Hilarity is in the eye of the beholder, of course.

From the Gen Kanai link up there:

• Sanrio has over 425 characters other than Kitty-chan
• 22,000 Hello Kitty products are on the market at any time.
• Hello Kitty has a twin sister, "Minnie" (sp?) who has the bow in her hair on the other side.

And at some point I'll add something about Minnie being the evil mirror-universe Hello Kitty, and about how she'd have a beard if either of them had mouths, but just can't work up the energy now. Sorry.

Somewhere, there are people who have all 425+ characters' names, birth dates and blood types memorized.

I expect the warbloggers would say those people have no lives, but, y'know, pot, kettle, black. And the Sanrio fans might actually be intelligent, and have interesting things to say.

Why yes, I am still bitter about the fucking tourists. Oh, and naming no names? The sneering/scoffing/smirking shit?

Not on my site. I'd ask you to Grow the Fuck Up, but I'm getting tired of repeating that, so next time around we'll just go for the comment deletion and possible IP banning, ok? Thanks, you're a peach.

Want to know more? Try SANRIO Come On, Join Us!, the English section of the Sanrio.co.jp site. Oh sure, you could just go to Sanrio.com, but where's the fun in that?

Update:

A little advice from...Badtz-Maru

Is there someone you want to be closer to? Your feelings will get across best if you send an e-mail first thing in the morning. Lucky Item : aroma oil

Well, good to know I have a lucky day coming up, at least. . .

Posted by Aaron at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

Ok, there should be (and in an earlier version of this entry, was) a banner ad here for Rich Johnston's Holed Up, a comic coming your way soon from Avatar Press. (Yes, I know. . .) Rich writes the Lying In The Gutters column over at Comic Book Resources, but you shouldn't hold that against him. No more than the fact that it's published by Avatar.

Stuck the ad in the continuation instead, because it made the formatting on the main page do the wacky. Which is my fault entirely; I'm the one who asked Michelle to design the thing to work in 800 x 600, since that's the highest rez Ye Olde Laptop is capable of displaying. She's done a very, very nice redesign of her own place, by the bye; go have a look. I'll wait.

Back? Oh good. Been trying to organize some ground rules for posting comments here after this latest tourist invasion. Since they all boil down to, "Don't be an asshole," and having to tell someone that suggests that they're either incapable of recognizing when they are, or don't care if they are. . . there's no point, really.

So I'll probably just be deleting stupid shit on a going-forward basis. Heh, I like saying that. "On a going-forward basis." Like the standard 'net bad behavior the tourists demonstrated so well, corporate-speak mostly consists of predigested phrases rather than anything original or even interesting. So although it's entirely possible a sentence/post which includes "What color is the sky where you're from?" or that includes some overarching statement about "all" or "every," or that follows the script for one of the less pleasant Satir modes to a T might, possibly, contain a unique idea for discussion. . . odds are, no, it's stupid shit, and it's going away as soon as I work up the enthusiasm to delete it.

This applies to both "conservative" and "liberal" posts, of course. But only the intellectually lazy/bankrupt ones which just repeat whatever talking points are making the rounds lately. There's lots of places where people, um, enjoy that sort of thing in the comments threads. This isn't one of them.

Also been looking at TypeKey, and thinking about a point driven home by the tourists. It's impossible not to notice that in any flame-y discussion, the people without blogs or any other sort of online presence (and often with fake email addresses given) are the worst offenders. Possibly because, since they don't have their own blog/journal/site to tend, they have all the time in the world to troll yours. They're also not very good writers,either, for the same reason.

Which is a way of opening discussion about TypeKey, which I'm pretty sure I'll be running here once the thing is live and direct. Yeah yeah yeah, privacy, anonymity, whatever. My patience with people who whine about that sort of thing, given my name is all over this site, has evaporated completely in the last few weeks.

I might, possibly, be convinced to change my stance on this. But you'd have to be pretty fucking persuasive.

Posted by Aaron at 6:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Albert snaps his briefcase closed.

TRUMAN
Anything we should be working on?

ALBERT
Practice walking without dragging your knuckles on the
floor.

He moves to leave, but Truman blocks his path.

TRUMAN
Albert, you make fun of everyone and everything and
then act like you deserve an award for it. That's just not
right. Get out of here before I do something I won't
regret. Again.

ALBERT
(smiles)
While I will admit to a certain cynicism, the fact of the
matter is I'm merely a naysayer and hatchet man in the
fight against violence. I pride myself in taking a punch
and would gladly take another because I choose to live
my life in the company of Ghandi and King. My
concerns are global. I reject absolutely revenge,
aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a
method . . . is love. I love you, Sheriff Truman.

Albert leaves. Truman turns to Cooper. A beat.

COOPER
Albert's path is a strange and difficult one.

Well, I, for one, think I made a genuine attempt to talk things over with Andrea, but apparently, I'm always nasty.

My role in her not-so-rich inner fantasy life, I expect.

Michele? Michael? Either of you want to try talking to the woman? I'm not permitted to post comments there anymore.

The one was too much, apparently.

Unless you count the trackbacks, though I've never been fond of the whole interspersing those with comments thing my own self. That's why I'm not linking her again in this entry; there's a couple links to choose from here already, and I imagine she'd manage to interpret MT automagically adding a trackback as me violating her boundaries or somesuch hysterical nonsense.

And, um, could someone possibly mention to her the whole "boy" thing? At first, I though she was joking, but since my opinion of her intelligence has been drifting ever downwards, right now I'm honestly not sure if she is or not.

And yes, I could jump all over that "people like this" line.

I choose not to.

Posted by Aaron at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

The suckers still got authority. From Language Log, among other places, It's Usually Nice to be Wanted But...

According to this report, the US Selective Service is drawing up contingency plans for a "targetted draft" of linguists and computer experts. In military usage, "linguist" frequently means someone who knows a foreign language, not someone with expertise on clausal coordination or fear of toes, but in spite of linguists' reputation in some circles for not having a practical knowledge of languages, too many of us would be vulnerable even under this definition.

Wouldn't happen. I'm too old, the only non-Western language I speak is some very rusty Swahili, and there's all sorts of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Do Erotica Shoots Involving Strap-Ons" issues for me to worry my pretty little head for a second about getting a letter from the government.

Again.

And if I'm wrong about this, as I have been about other things. . . well, they can take their commission and shove it up their asses, as I've mentioned to them once or twice before. . . but, unlike the chickenhawk chickenshit warbloggers, I would actually go and serve.

Again.

This is why that use of "we" by Andrea and Lileks and the rest of those fucks has been really, really getting on my nerves lately, by the way. Heard about this a few days ago, and have been. . . not worrying my pretty little head about it.

Discuss.

Posted by Aaron at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It reminds me of a joke. See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum . . .

And one night, one night they decide they don't like living in an asylum any more. They decide they're going to escape! So, like, they get up onto the roof, and there, just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in the moonlight . . . Stretching away to freedom.

Now the first guy, he jumps straight across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daren't make the leap. Y'see . . . Y'see, he's afraid of falling.

So then the first guy has an idea . . . He says, hey! I have my flashlight with me. I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me! B-but the second guy just shakes his head. He suh- says . . . He says, Wh-what do you think I am? Crazy?

You'd turn it off when I was halfway across!

More of The Killing Joke. Thought it was appropriate, given what's going on in the other comment threads right now.

The other option, of course, was:

Alright you primitive screwheads, listen up. See this? This. . . is my BOOM-stick! It's a twelve gauge double barreled Remington, S-Mart's top-of-the-line. You can find this in the sporting goods department. That's right, this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Retails for about $109.95. It's got a walnut stock, cobalt blue steel and a hair trigger. That's right. Shop Smart. Shop S-mart. Ya got that? Now I swear, the next one of you primates, even touches me. . .

Oh, you've heard this one before, too. . .

Posted by Aaron at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So Andrea, she say:

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Filed under: Freaks 'n' Hairies— Andrea Harris @ 11:11 am link

Everyone visit Uppity-Negro. She’s lonely and bored. We can’t have that in Blogland!

"she"?

My sex-change operation got botched
My guardian angel fell asleep on the watch
Now all I got is a Barbie Doll-crotch
I got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch

I’m from the land where you still hear the cries
I had to get out, had to sever all ties
I changed my name and assumed a disguise
I got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
The train is coming and I’m tied to the track
I try to get up but I can’t get no slack
I got a
Angry Inch Angry Inch

My mother made my tits out of clay
My boyfriend told me that he’d take me away
They dragged me to the doctor one day
I've got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch

Long story short
When I woke up from the operation
I was bleeding down there
I was bleeding from the gash between my legs
My first day as a woman
and already it’s that time of the month
But two days later
the hole closed up
The wound healed
and I was left with a one inch mound of flesh
where my penis used to be
where my vagina never was
A one inch mound of flesh with a scar running down it
like a sideways grimace
on an eyeless face
Just a little bulge
It was an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back
The train is coming and I’m tied to the track
I try to get up but I can’t get no slack
I got an
Angry Inch Angry Inch

Six inches forward and five inches back
stay under cover till the night turns to black
I got my inch and I’m set to attack
I got an Angry Inch Angry Inch

Mind you, she got it right last time:

January 29, 2003
All the girlies say

Hey everyone, visit Aaron. He's lonely. Or something.

Exact same gag. Honestly, child, could you at least show some glimmer of originality with the insults? So I don't feel I'm entering a battle of wits with the not only unarmed, but paraplegic? That makes me just feel dirty.

Posted by Aaron at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Me and the Chief get called in to HQ to fix some stupid wiring problem or other.

Ensign: (At the front desk, looking at our boots) Why aren't you men's boots polished?

Chief: (looking the Ensign dead in the eye) Because we're in the middle of the fucking desert, and unlike some people I could mention, we actually work for a living.

[Beat]

Chief: Sir.

Ensign: (incoherent with rage)

A captain walks up, and asks, "Is there a problem?

Ensign: (spluttering)

Captain: (not even looking in the Ensign's direction) I wasn't talking to you. Chief?

Chief: (jerking a thumb at the jerk) Man wants to know why our boots aren't polished, sir.

Captain: (looks at Ensign, shakes head, walks away without a word)

Chief: C'mon, Hawkins. You know, you're a smart guy, you could probably get into OCS.

Me: Damn, Chief, what did I do to deserve an insult like that?

And people ask me why I ain't re-up. . .

Update: Actually, think it was a Lootenant, not an Ensign, but I can't be arsed to look up the proper spelling. And the Chief was actually this crusty old white guy from the South -- Alabama or Mississippi, can't remember which -- who normally I shouldn't have gotten along with at all, but serving together as we did, we united in our hatred of the common enemy.

Fucking Junior Officers.

Oddly, I get the feeling that if any warbloggers did actually, you know, sign up to fight the wars they seem so very enthusiastic about, that. . . no, what am I saying. No way those fuckers would actually sign up.

Posted by Aaron at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Checking the links list at InstaPundit, and following the link from the now de-funked blog he hasn't bothered updating because he's a punk-ass bitch, Andrea Harris issues a stern warning to Cowards:

You know, I am sorry that the people in Spain suffered such a loss as they did recently. We lost nearly 3,000 people, not all of them citizens but “our people” none the less because they lived and worked here. Did we as a nation bend over and drop our drawers for the terrorists and their many fans like so many of our so-called “allies” told us we should?

No ma'am, we did not. And words alone cannot express how grateful I am that you're over there in Iraq or Afghanistan or where-ever, fighting the good fight on my behalf, as I'm sure you're infinitely grateful to me for stopping evilnastybad Saddam Hussein, who gassedhisownpeople, from having his troops pull babies out of incubators in Kuwait.

Wait, they didn't do that?

Wait, you're still in the U.S.?

Oh.

Never mind.

Cunt.

Posted by Aaron at 6:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (30) | TrackBacks (0)

Take the only tree that's left
and stuff it up the hole
in your culture
Give me back the Berlin wall
give me Stalin and St Paul
I've seen the future, brother:
it is murder.

Things are going to slide, slide in all directions
Won't be nothing
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
has crossed the threshold
and it has overturned
the order of the soul
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant

So, over at Right Wing News (or, as I like to call it, The Comedy Goldmine), John Hawkins did tell the world how India Shows Us The Future Of Marriage In The US:

Anyone who thinks that gay marriage can become the law of the land without eventually leading to polygamy and family members being allowed to marry as well is just kidding himself...

Well, that's the concluding paragraph. There's lots of supporting evidence for that statement in the actual entry. Lots and lots. Tons. I couldn't possibly quote it all without crashing the server, there's so much.

Will mention the bit about "activist judges." I'd rather hoped this would be intuitively obvious to the most casual of observers, but I do have a nasty tendency to overestimate winger intelligence.

*cough* I, personally, enjoy a much higher quality of life than my grandparents, or even my parents when they were my age, due to the actions of activist judges. I like activist judges. Because if we'd waited for the majority of white folk to agree that, for example, desegregation, interracial marriage and equal employment opportunities are Good Things. . . we'd probably still be waiting.

As I said, should be obvious, but let's face it, them people ain't none too bright.

np: The Future, Leonard Cohen, from the album of the same name. Except I'm listening to the version from the Natural Born Killers soundtrack, because I'm cool like that.

Posted by Aaron at 5:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

Yes, it's another Frequently Asked Questions post.

How can you let those people post comments at your site?

I'm sorry, love, which people do you mean?

You know who I mean!

No, sorry, as I've mentioned before, I ain't Surak of Vulcan, and me telepathy is a bit wonky. You'll have to tell me who, specifically, you're talking about and what, specifically, they posted in comments that's got your knickers in a twist.

It's not what they posted in comments, it's what they say at their own sites!

What who posted at what site? Again, not really following you.

Those people. Conservatives.

Again,give me a name and a specific citation, child. Can't say as I appreciate when other folks call me one of "those people," so I'm not thrilled at hearing it slung at other people either.

I'm not playing your game.

Nor am I playing yours. It appears we have reached an impasse.

. . . asshole. It's not what they're posting in your comments, it's what they say at their own sites.

Bitch, who the fuck is "they"? And if you're convinced that what "they" say at their sites ain't to your liking, why the fuck do you read it?

I can't talk to you.

Well, that's certainly making my life poorer. Buh-bye. Don't let that screen door hit you on the ass on the way out.

Few days back, my hero Teresa Nielsen Hayden did ask Is it me —

— or has the entire universe been unnaturally irritating lately?

And a bit further in the entry, all of which is very much worth reading, points out, "I have no time for people who appoint me to strange roles in their rich inner fantasy lives. I’m not responsible for what I do in their dreams."

Which lets me know that she's the one I ripped that sentiment/statement off from. Me secondary battle cry, that is.

The first one remains Grow the fuck up, and it looks like I'll not be retiring either of them any time soon. Nubian Goddess knows I'd like to. . .

Posted by Aaron at 4:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Damn shame that link appears to be broke, but the link button is sooooo cute.

Er, yes, I did have another Red Bull, why do you ask?

Some days, I'm Devi. More often, I'm Tenna. Much, much more often, I'm Spooky.

But when you come right down to it, I'm Filler Bunny.

Posted by Aaron at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

The following lines of argument will henceforth be taken by the webmaster as an indication that the person expressing them is, in fact, crazy. Or incredibly fucking stupid. Either way, not worth the time and effort to have a conversation with, or piss on if they were on fire:

1. Two straight men couldn't get married, so allowing two gay men to marry is giving them special rights.



2. Although your views place you firmly in the mainstream in Western Europe, I'm going to accuse you of being a COMMUNIST for tentatively suggesting that, say, universal health coverage or decently funded public schools are a good idea.



3. That Condi Rice and Colin Powell are high-ranking members of the Bush Administration proves that racism no longer exists in the US.



4. Anti-war demonstrators are "on the other side."



5. Update: Ah yes, a quick visit to InstaPundit reminds me of, "I have [blank] friends." Where [blank] may be black, or gay, or Jewish, or basically who are The Other. Gosh, guess I really should mention that I have gay white female friends, huh? Otherwise, no one would know. Although this does run the risk of them saying, "Bitch, I ain't no ways your damn friend."

That list may grow. Haven't been wandering around online recently -- Michele is starting to scare me with the recent outbursts of. . . whatever the hell that is. I do point out, again, that I'm pretty much so far left I'm. . . firmly in the mainstream in Western Europe, and don't especially appreciate being demonized for statements made by random freakshows on sites I don't even visit. Which, possibly, isn't the idea she was trying to get across, but it's kind'a hard for me to read that stuff objectively.

You know, it's weird. I disagree with Michele on some things -- she's planning to vote for Bush, ferchrissakes -- yet we can have a perfectly civil conversation as long as we avoid that topic.

And anyone who's a fan of Roman Dirge and Jhonen Vasquez can't be all bad.

[note to tourists: This is me using a fucking sledgehammer to try to convey a Message.]

Posted by Aaron at 2:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

In the New Regime, any developer incapable of producing a simple fucking sort function so that "100" does not appear in a list before "20" (because the former starts with a one) will be shot.

Sorry, that's cruel.

Hung from the neck until dead, and the rotting corpse left as a warning to his (it's almost always his) peers not to do Stupid Shit.

Which reminds me, the chief complaint I've read about the PS2 is that it's a bitch to develop for.

Mind you, don't remember reading a translated version of this sentiment from Japanese developers. It's just the lazy, Visual Basic using American half-wits who can't stand the idea of actually earning their overinflated salaries by actually working, rather than making calls to the libraries.

Yep, good mood is long gone.

(Is it ironic that for a simple sort, where they should make a call to the library, the idjits will write the thing from scratch and fuck it up, but for a complex task which would require some thought and effort, they demand that the libraries take care of it? Or have I had too much Red Bull this morning?)

Anyone who pays more attention to such things -- sorry, can't take hardcore gamers seriously, partially because they refer to themselves as hardcore gamers -- seen any examples of the folks at Square, or one of the other Japanese houses, complaining about the wicked intricacy of the PS2? Guess that'd include Sega at this point.

You know, it's weird. I disagree with Jason on some things -- the man has a LameCube, ferchrissakes -- yet we can have a perfectly civil conversation as long as we avoid that topic.

[note to tourists: That last bit? That's the Message.]

Update: Yes, I could write the rant about dumb-ass developers and their shitty sort functions so that only dumb-ass (but arcane jargon-speaking) developers could understand it. But you know what though?

I've noticed a reverse correlation between how intelligent someone tries to come across and how intelligent they actually are. Dumb mother fuckers gots something to prove, so they use this inflated, pretentious writing style; I'll refrain from linking any blogs as examples, because I'm nice like that.

I ain't got shit to prove to nobody, so I use an informal style and lots and lots of profanity. I'm sure this turns some people off, and they ignore the content because they're obsessed with the superficial language used.

But you know what though?

Not giving a rat's ass about people who make decisions like that, and actually happier if they go the fuck away complaining about the ignorant Negro who can't even write properly.

Oddly, this applies to RL as well. . .

Posted by Aaron at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Because I really, really shouldn't be dropping the cash on a PlayStation®2 Limited Edition Console, no matter how pretty it is.

There are a few other color choices in the link. Unsurprisingly, the Metallic Silver is unavailable, probably meaning the unimaginative Americans all went for that one. Or they thought the other colors looked "fruity" (God, I fucking hate that expression), and desperately concerned someone would question their tentative hold on unrealistic expectations of masculinity in this pathetic fucking excuse for a society, they. . .

Damn. Good mood ruined looking at videogame systems. Maybe I do think too much. . .

Posted by Aaron at 8:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Actually a few days late; meant to put this up before St. Patsy's Day.

Though why a day dedicated to Patsy Cline has a green theme is beyond me. Did she wear lots of green? Come to think of it, don't think I've ever seen a color photo of the woman. . ,

That's the Chicago River, no color correction even though the photo could use a bit of that, and cropping, and the framing is crap, and shut the hell up I never said I was a photographer, and let's see you do a better job when you just stick the camera on the wall with some webbing and set the timer before attacking. . . never mind.

In a much better mood today. I think I shall restrict my browsing, to maintain it.

Posted by Aaron at 6:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (1)

I just choose to keep with the Japanese theme. Like the Japanese Girls SAMURAI US tour:

March 20th
SXSW:Japan Girls Nite @ Elysium/Austin
*SXSW Japan Girls Nite 2004- *start:8.00
*Address:705 Red River, Austin, TX78701
*TEL:512-478-2979 FAX:512-478-8385
*http://www.elysiumonline.net
*Petty Booka , Noodles , Bleach , Kokeshi Doll , Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re

March 21st @Bottom Lounge Chicago
*Show starts : 8pm *ticket: $8.00 *age:21+
*address: 3206 N. Wilton , Chicago, IL 60657
*phone:773.975.0505 *http://www.bottomlounge.com
*Petty Booka , Noodles , Bleach , Kokeshi Doll

Which I won't be attending. It's supported by Divine Nation, which I'm not going to look into further so I can maintain a positive opinion of them. And I don't feel like paying to be either pleasantly or (more likely) unpleasantly surprised.

Besides, I just signed up for Tristan Risk's place, and that's me adult site budget for the month.

What?

Any road up, that first link up top, for the tour page (and there are other dates/locations, I just didn't feel like copying them all), also features links to sites for the bands. Petty Booka seem nice:

World famous ukulele-playing pop duo from Tokyo Petty Booka do Hawaiian and Bluegrass (including Reggae and ska)-inspired covers of country, punk and classic-rock -- everything from Patsy Cline to Ramones. Since they have released their debut album "Toconuts Hawaii" in 1995 , from BENTEN Label in Tokyo, they have been releasing the variety of albums of Hawaiian, Bluegrass, Country, Christmas and Dance Hall with the greatest Japanese musicians and some special guest players[.]

Want to know more? Drop by The Enchanted World of Petty Booka.

Want to know much more? Try SisterRecords & BENTEN ON-LINE:

Hi, I am Audrey Kimura. In 1994, I founded Benten Label, an independent record label based in Tokyo specializing in female artists of many genres. Benten is the name of one of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune. Benten (or Ben Zai ten), is the goddess of music, art, hapiness and love.

And that's it, I'm going to bed.

Posted by Aaron at 8:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

From Vienna Teng's Waking Hour:

little child, be not afraid
though rain pounds harshly against the glass
like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger
I am here tonight

little child, be not afraid
though thunder explodes and lightning flash
illuminates your tear-stained face
I am here tonight

and someday you'll know
that nature is so
the same rain that draws you near me
falls on rivers and land
on forests and sand
makes the beautiful world that you'll see
in the morning

little child, be not afraid
though storm clouds mask your beloved moon
and its candlelight beams, still keep pleasant dreams
I am here tonight

little child, be not afraid
though wind makes creatures of our trees
and their branches to hands, they're not real, understand
and I am here tonight

for you know, once even I was a
little child, and I was afraid
but a gentle someone always came
to dry all my tears, trade sweet sleep for fears
and to give a kiss goodnight

well now I am grown
and these years have shown
that rain's a part of how life goes
but it's dark and it's late
so I'll hold you and wait
'til your frightened eyes do close

and I hope that you'll know...

everything's fine in the morning
the rain'll be gone in the morning
but I'll still be here in the morning

Available for download from that first link.

And the only thing keeping me going on a killing spree right now, I think.

np: Rasputina, Gingerbread Coffin

Um, the Vienna track ended while I was typing this up. . .

Posted by Aaron at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

. . . it'll veer a bit.

Asteroid Will Make Closest-Known Pass by Earth

A space rock will pass closer to Earth than any other recorded asteroid ever has, but there's no chance it will endanger our planet, astronomers said on Thursday.

[. . .] More information is available online at http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov.

Which address/server is currently being slashdotted into oblivion, apparently.

Oblivion, Armageddon, Deep Impact, I'm flexible.

Posted by Aaron at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

But maybe some of y'all are interested; the Sony Store/Gallery on Michigan Avenue (scroll down) is, as they say, Going Out of Bidness. All (in-stock, on a rack) Playstation 2 games are 50% off.

Remember seeing an Eye Toy or two in the rack as well.

Mind you, I'm confident they don't do mail, phone or web ordering, so unless you live in the Greater Chicagoland Area, this info probably does you no good whatsoever either.

But, there ya go.

Tempted to get Parappa 2, despite not having a PS2 to play it on. So very, very tempted. . .

Update: Not all PS2 games 50% off, all PS2 games $15, which is why your truly is now the slightly bemused owner of Parappa 2, Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly and DDR MAX.

I expect that eventually, I'll buy something to play them on. Eventually.

Oh, and all DVDs are marked down to $15, too. This includes multiple disc sets. I picked up the Super Extra Special edition of the second fucking Hobbit movie.

I picked it up, looked at it, and put that shit back.

Fuck Hobbits.

Posted by Aaron at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

Had to put The Tale of Genji away on the train ride in to work this morning. The out-loud laughing seemed to be making the other riders nervous.

And (noticed at A Small Victory [and I'm ignoring anything vaguely political there, as today, especially, this would be a Very Bad Idea Indeed]), Amazon.com now has a comic and graphic novel store, which actually has The Tale of Genji (Kodansha Bilingual Comics).

Or rather, once I click the link, lists it as out of stock, and notes that some folks are asking $30+ for it. Um. Think it was about half that at Yaohan Mitsuwa. . .

My eternal negativity notwithstanding, it's a cool idea. And will be sucking money from other online comics retailers, I suppose, but I can't even think of any. Despite knowing I saw banner ads at Comic Book Resources, Sequential Tart, Newsarama, etc. for the things.

Clearly, they weren't very good ads.

Posted by Aaron at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From their email list, WOMAD festivals in 2004:

5-8 May
WOMAD Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain
(unconfirmed event)

1-3 July
WOMAD Taormina, Sicily
(confirmed event)

23-25 July
WOMAD Festival, Rivermead, Reading, UK
(confirmed event)

27-29 August
WOMAD Fort Canning Park, Singapore
(unconfirmed event)

27 August
WOMAD - The Eden Session, The Eden Project, UK
(confirmed event)

4-7 November 2004
WOMAD Canarias 2004, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
(unconfirmed event) ..

Event information here was correct as of March 2004.
Dates and locations are subject to change.

And there was a list of performers for the Rivermead show:

Andrea Echeverry de Aterciopelados (Colombia), Ba Cissoko (Guinea), Dhol Foundation (UK), Drum Drum (Australia/Papua New Guinea), Fawzy Al-Aiedy (Iraq/France), Grand Orchestre Taarab de Zanzibar (Tanzania), Imbongi & Albert Nyathi (Zimbabwe), Jim Moray (UK), Jorma Kaukonen (USA), Kila (Ireland), Les Goulus (Fance), Liu Fang (China), Luciano (Jamaica), Michael Messer (UK), N'faly Kouyate & Dunyakan (Guinea), Nigel Kennedy & Kroke (UK/Poland), Rokia Traore (Mali), Señor Coconut (Germany/Denmark/Venezuela), Sharon Shannon (Ireland), Sidestepper (Colombia/UK), The Bays (UK), Tiger Moth (UK), Tinariwen (Mali), Yair Dalal (Israel), Yelemba D'Abidjan (Ivory Coast) - line-up is subject to change

But I'm sure we'll get something just as good here in the States. Only, you know, overpriced to hell, sponsored by some evil empire like Clear Channel, and featuring only radio-friendly, top 10 having bands from the US.

I mentioned the shitty mood, yes?

Well, it bears repeating.

Posted by Aaron at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)

She's back. And either brought Ganesha with her, or that graphic had always been there in the left margin and I'd been too wrapped up in myself to notice.

Got far more annoyed by something at work than I should have done, and realized it's part of a more general, um, "pet peeve" is entirely too weak a term.

Seeing as this sort of thing sends me past effnic, beyond nigga, and right into Wrath of God territory.

Never, ever, ever come to me and act like your personal dumb-ass choices are part of some Unchanging Truths of the Universe. You want to be lazy? Fine. You want to be an asshole? Knock yourself out. But do not justify this shit by telling me that it's "how it's always done," or that "everyone knows that. . ." or any of that other crap that's used to justify mediocrity and stupidity.

You really need to believe that to maintain your positive self-image? Great. Lie to yourself all you want. Lie to your friends. Lie to your God.

But do no fucking lie to me.

In other news, the Butter Pecan coffee from White Hen Pantry is actually pretty good.

Posted by Aaron at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From the Over the Rhine email list:

In case you haven't heard, for a limited time, we're offering Over the Rhine's three special compilation cd's: Besides, Amateur Shortwave Radio and The Cutting Room Floor, for just $25. These cd's take the listener deeper into the world of Over the Rhine and feature unreleased songs, rarities and special concert recordings spanning the entire history of the band. It's been a good ride. Enjoy!

Title a reference to the OtR track Little Blue River, as well as the current colour of the Chicago River. I have photos, which Michelle asked for, and really should get around to downloading them from the camera and uploading them to the site at some point. I felt it would be obnoxious to do so at the Apple Store last night, though. . .

OtR's current MP3 Rarity of the Month, a cover of "Let It Be".

Recorded at Martyr's in Chicago on December 14, 2003, by Mike Sponarski. Karin Bergquist: Vocals and Piano; Linford Detweiler: Hammond B-3; Matt Slocum: Electric Guitar; Rick Plant: Bass; Devon Ashley: Drums. Thanks also to Tawd Bell (truck driver, stage hand) and Dave Nixon (driver, merchandise holy man).

Which is now downloading rather than now playing.

As I kick myself for missing the show at Martyr's, which I'm fairly certain I'd posted about here as a Nice Thing to Go See. . .

Posted by Aaron at 6:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Utah bans firing-squad executions:

The US state of Utah has scrapped the use of firing squads to execute criminals sentenced to death. Supporters of the ban say it will deny convicts the right to opt for a dramatic death in a storm of gunfire.

The state's marksmen have carried out a number of high-profile executions - including that of killer Gary Gilmour in 1977.

Idaho and Oklahoma retain the firing squad on their books but have not used it in modern times.

Well. Aren't we just the little bleeding-heart liberals.

From the Death Penalty Information Center:

In the aftermath of World War II, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This 1948 doctrine proclaimed a "right to life" in an absolute fashion, any limitations being only implicit. Knowing that international abolition of the death penalty was not yet a realistic goal in the years following the Universal Declaration, the United Nations shifted its focus to limiting the scope of the death penalty to protect juveniles, pregnant women, and the elderly.

During the 1950s and 1960s subsequent international human rights treaties were drafted, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the American Convention on Human Rights. These documents also provided for the right to life, but included the death penalty as an exception that must be accompanied by strict procedural safeguards. Despite this exception, many nations throughout Western Europe stopped using capital punishment, even if they did not, technically, abolish it. As a result, this de facto abolition became the norm in Western Europe by the 1980s.

[. . .] Presently, more than half of the countries in the international community have abolished the death penalty completely, de facto, or for ordinary crimes. However, over 90 countries retain the death penalty, including China, Iran, and the United States[.]

Good company to be in, those guys. Better than those foul EUrocrats or icky UN types.

I live in Illinois.

We're more civilized than the rest of you fuckers.

Posted by Aaron at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

CUT TO:

2. INT. GREAT NORTHERN CORRIDOR - NIGHT

Cooper and Albert sit at the table arrayed with breakfast foods. Griddlecakes, orange juice, coffee. Cooper eats, expounds. Albert listens.

COOPER
Buddhist tradition reached the Land of Snow in the fifth
century A.D. The first Tibetan king to be touched by the
Dharma was Ha-tho-tho-ri gnyan-btsan. He, and all
succeeding kings were known collectively as the Happy
Generations. Some histories place the King in the water
snake year of 213 A.D. Others in 173 A.D. A water-ox
year. Amazing, isn't it? The Happy Generations.

Cooper takes a sip of hot coffee, beams. Albert, deadpan, just stares for a very long beat. Then, finally:

ALBERT
Agent Cooper. I'm thrilled to pieces that the Dharma
came to King Ho-Ho and the Land of Schmoes. I really
am. But right now I'm trying hard to focus on the more
immediate problems of our own century. Right here in
Twin Peaks.

COOPER
(without malice)
You'd be surprised by the connections between the two.

ALBERT
Color me amazed.

COOPER
(on to business)
Ronette Pulaski has come out of her coma.

ALBERT
And?

COOPER
I'm thinking Ronette has quite a story to tell, once she
regains her ability to speak.

ALBERT
She's not talking.

COOPER
Wakened, but silent. Probably shock.

Cooper pulls two police sketches out of his briefcase. Leo Johnson. And Bob, the long-haired man.

COOPER
(continued)
I intend to show her these.
(re appropriate sketch)
Leo Johnson. And Bob - the man Sarah Palmer saw in her
vision. The man who came to me in my dream.

ALBERT
(the usual sour sarcasm)
Has anyone seen 'Bob' on Earth in the last few weeks?

COOPER
Not yet.

Cooper takes a big bite of griddlecake. Albert produces a report, speaks while referring to it:

ALBERT
Fine. I performed the autopsy on Jacques Renault.
Contents of the deceased's stomach revealed beer cans, a
Maryland license plate, half a bicycle tire, a goat, and a
small wooden puppet. Goes by the name of Pinocchio.

COOPER
(delighted)
You're making a joke.

ALBERT
(deadpan)
I like to think of myself as one of the Happy Generations.

From Twin Peaks #2.002 (season 2, episode 2, for the rest of us). Albert was, of course, performed by The Hardest Working Man in Genre Film and Television, Miguel Ferrer.

Well, ok, maybe not, but between Twin Peaks, RoboCop, Star Trek III, and a number of other credits I'm not taking the seconds necessary to look up. . . ok, yes, I'm bored again. And trying to convince myself that since I have TP on VHS, there's really no need to add the DVD collection to my Amazon Wish List.

Posted by Aaron at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

So, one of my many, many problems with the right-wingers is that they're profoundly anti-democratic.

No, not anti-Democratic Party -- ain't none too thrilled with them either, they just beat the alternative -- I mean anti-allowing people to make informed decisions.

They admit this, too. Quite openly.

To avoid looking like complete tools on the whole Weapons of Mass Destruction thing (Found anything yet? Found anything yet? Found anything yet? How about now, found anything yet?), they're spinning a tale of how Bush & Co. had a Grand Vision to remake the Middle East into a more open, Western-friendly place.

Lovely goal, that. Shitty execution, and I'd prefer if they were Western-friendly because they weren't convinced we were out to destroy their way of life -- which, apparently, we are -- but, y'know, amity between nations/cultures/civilizations, generally a Good Thing.

Trouble is, I don't remember Bush & Co. running on a Grand Vision to remake the Middle East. We're told that the WMD thing was a cover for their deep desire to liberate the people of Iraq from evilnastybad Saddam Hussein (Did you know he gassedhisownpeople?), which, again, lovely goal, shitty execution, and if you think the voting public wouldn't have cast a ballot for that lovely goal. . . then not informing them of it ain't the way to go.

This applies to the Democratic Party as well, obviously. And maybe my horrible partisanship is blinding me to examples of them doing the same thing, but I can't come up with any. I'd actually appreciate if someone could provide a few.

Won't say I won't rip them to shreds if you're making shit up or talking out of your ass, but genuine examples of one of our Democratic Party presidents getting into office and doing what they felt Needs to Be Done despite not informing the electorate of their intention to do so beforehand, those I'll take.

Got a half-formed notion about Kennedy, but honestly don't know enough about the guy/that period to make the case for or against.

Conservatives are encouraged to contribute to this, but like most discussions here, this is adult swim. You can't keep a civil tongue in your head (or fingers on your hand), don't fucking bother.

Do I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself.

Posted by Aaron at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBacks (0)

Buddhist Art and Architecture: Hand Mudras:

The symbolic gestures of the hands of Buddha images, called mudras, are picture tools of identification of deeper meaning.

And several line drawings of hands demonstrating some of the gestures are included. Oddly enough, I've been doing this one without realizing it:

The Gift bestowing Gesture of Compassion (Varada Mudra) the right hand pendant with the palm turned outwards.

Need to cut that out rightfuckingnow, obviously. It'll just confuse people.

The Buddhist scultures from a wide variety of countries -- and I'll not speculate about how they ended up in a museum in Chicago, because there was probably Unpleasantness involved -- feature figures making one or more (depends on how many hands they have, really) of the gestures. A Google Images search on Mudras brings up better examples than the aforementioned line drawings, but if you're on the 'net, this (somewhat ironically) probably means there's a museum near you with actual examples of the art. Which means leaving the actual computer and going out into the actual world, but I don't think the warbloggers do that very often, and look how utterly, hopelessly fucked up they are.

Ah, this is more like it:

Abhaya Mudra
Abhaya in Sanskrit means fearlessness. Thus this mudra symbolizes protection, peace, and the dispelling of fear. It is made with the right hand raised to shoulder height, the arm crooked, the palm of the hand facing outward, and the fingers upright and joined. The left hand hangs down at the side of the body. In Thailand, and especially in Laos, this mudra is associated with the movement of the walking Buddha (also called 'the Buddha placing his footprint'). It is nearly always used in images showing the Buddha upright, either immobile with the feet joined, or walking.

This mudra, which initially appears to be a natural gesture, was probably used from prehistoric times as a sign of good intentions - the hand raised and unarmed proposes friendship, or at least peace; since antiquity, it was also a gesture asserting power, as with the magna manus of the Roman Emperors who legislated and gave peace at the same time.

Well, except the asserting power bit. I'm an anarchist at heart, really, which causes all sorts of problems with people who do insist there has to be some sort of hierarchy/power relations in every situation. They tend to react to my rejecting their authority as asserting my own, which isn't the case. I'm not saying I have Power, and you don't -- despite your own take very clearly being that You have Power, and I don't -- I'm saying all either of us got is our damn selves.

Might explain the problems I keep running into with tops, that.

Or they just tend to be assholes. Either or.

Posted by Aaron at 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

From The rains in poetry and painting, by B.N. Goswamy:

In Kalidasa’s great classic, Kumarasambhava, occurs one of the most celebrated passages of Sanskrit literature, in which the poet traces the journey of the first drops of rain as they fall upon Parvati. The Goddess, as a young maiden mortifying herself to be able to win the hand of her chosen lord, Shiva, remained seated, the poet says, out in the open, in scorching heat, meditating, as always: eyes closed, legs crossed, nearly bare of body. In the course of this long penance, summer approached its end, and clouds started gathering in the sky above, rumbling and beginning to become dark and dense with each passing moment. And then the rain began to fall. Its first drops, the poet says, "lingered a little as they fell upon her eyelashes, trickled down the ridge of her nose, descended to her lower lip, trembled there for a moment, and then, falling upon her firm breasts, broke into countless pieces that, re-grouping, wended their way slowly through the fine folds on her stomach, and came to rest at last in the pit of her navel".

Sensuous, and intensely poetic, as it is, the passage is as much about the onset of rains as it is about the supple grace of Parvati’s body. For, woven into Kalidasa’s description, with great subtlety, are so many of the lakshanas or signs of classical female beauty: large eyes with long eyelashes, sharply ridged nose, a soft and full lower lip, breasts high and firm, three light folds – the trivali – on the stomach, deep, really deep, navel. There are connections here – between nature and man, or woman – that are hard to miss.

Which was one of the very, very few references to trivali that a quick Google brought up. Saw the term in a description of a statue at the Art Institute last night. Ford Free Tuesday, don't'cha know.

Reminded me again that I know entirely too little about the spread of Buddhism from India to the rest of Asia, or how native/local/Hindu/Shinto gods/deities/things you really don't want to invoke unless you know what you're doing were integrated into the pantheon. Um, assuming Buddhism has a pantheon, which I'm not entirely sure it's meant to. . .

And, of course, there were quite a few statues and other representations of Ganesha:

Lord Ganesh has four arms. The four arms represent the four inner equipments of the subtle body, namely mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), ego (aharnkar) and conditioned consciousness {chitta). Lord Ganesh represents the pure Consciousness, the Atman which enables these four equipments to function in you. In one hand he holds an axe and in another a rope. The axe symbolises the destruction of all desires and attachments and their consequent agitations and sorrows. The rope is meant to pull the seeker out of his worldly entanglements and bind him to the everlasting and enduring bliss of his own Self. In the third hand he holds a rice ball {modaka). Modaka represents the joyous rewards of spiritual seeking. A seeker gains the joy of satisfaction and contentment as he progresses on the path of spiritual evolution. In the fourth hand he holds a lotus (padma). The lotus represents the supreme goal of human evolution. By holding the lotus in his hand he draws the attention of all seekers to that supreme state that each one of them can aspire for and reach through proper spiritual practices.

Being who and what I am (at the moment, anyway), I immediately focused on the axe. . .

. . . and I suppose the same holds true for how I immediately focused on the trivali on the other statue. . .

Update: Ah, me.The axe symbolises the destruction of all desires and attachments and their consequent agitations and sorrows.

I'd rather hoped it was meant to be used against those obstacles -- warbloggers, for example -- but that works too, I suppose.

I combine devotion to Ganesha with the wisdom of Marilyn Manson:

There's no time to discriminate, hate every motherfucker that's in your way.

It's a syncretic belief system, but aren't they all?

Posted by Aaron at 5:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From the Schuba's email list:

e-MusicLive, the world’s premier aggregator of live music—announced that beginning March 2nd, it would bring to Chicago its revolutionary "See A Show, Buy A Show” (SASBAS) technology, changing forever the way live music is enjoyed. Concert-goers visiting renowned Chicago venues Metro, Double Door and Schubas will have the opportunity to walk out with a CD of the night’s show in hand, care of eMusicLive’s (www.emusiclive.com) pioneering, on-demand, live recording technology. Look for SASBAS in the schedule below to find the acts confirmed thus far for the "See A Show, Buy A Show" program.

Killjoy that I am, I mention that a cd/audio-only recording of last night's East Current show would only capture a fraction of the experience. F'r instance, I don't know if everyone plays the koto that way, but Mieko was really using her whole body rather'n just her fingers/hands, and not seeing how she was. . .

Right, killjoy. Um, one hopes whoever's on the sound board knows their stuff for this thing, but yay them.

Also:

Miller Presents:
Schubas' Eighth Annual SXSW Roundup
Thursday, March 18 - 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. - FREE
Yard Dog Folk Art Gallery - 1510 S. Congress - Austin, TX

Featuring ...

The National (New York - Brassland)
The Redwalls (Chicago - Capitol)
Earlimart (L.A. - Palm Pictures)
The M's (Chicago - Brilliante)

The Unicorns (Montreal - Alien8)
The Sleepy Jackson (Perth, Australia - AstralWerks)
Preston School Of Industry (California - Matador)
Jason Collett (Toronto - Arts & Crafts) with
On The Speakers (San Francisco)
and entertaining you throughout the day...
Danny Black &
The Hackensaw Boys

Master of the short notice, I am. Meant to mention this to Dru when I saw the poster at the Vienna Teng show. . .

Posted by Aaron at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Number One in a series:

Crazy White Person: I hope that, one day, you'll get over your anger and move on with your life.

Negro: I hope that one day, you'll see a decent proctologist who can remove whatever's shoved up your ass. Or, if you prefer, I can do exploratory surgery now, with my foot.

Or this falls under the category of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. I'm not sure which.

Posted by Aaron at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

I like to play the drums
I think I'm getting good
But I can
Handle criticism
I'll show you what I know, and you can
Tell me if you think
I'm getting better on the drums
I'll leave the front unlocked
'Cause I can't hear the doorbell

Hey, it was that or Particle Man.

Person man, person man
Hit on the head with a frying pan
Lives his life in a garbage can
Person man

Is he depressed or is he a mess?
Does he feel totally worthless?
Who came up with person man?
Degraded man, person man

Triangle man, triangle man
Triangle man hates person man
They have a fight, triangle wins
Triangle man

And who needs that?

np: Severe Tire Damage, They Might Be Giants. Like you couldn't have guessed. . .

Posted by Aaron at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Re-added the Referrers System (version 2.0) to the main page; anyone having any problems with it? Or rather, since you wouldn't have known that was the source, anyone getting any Weird Errors?

Listening to All That We Let In again, because it really is just that good. Or I like it that much, anyway; it's one of those things I wouldn't recommend to everyone. It's a. . . I don't know, joyous album, but also very. . . hell, can't say "mature" since that's a euphemism for senior citizens, and can't say "adult" because that suggests it's pornographic. Ok, it's not for the emotionally or intellectually immature; that clear and insulting enough?

I'm also starting to feel the same way about this site, actually. . .

From Fiery politics and fans keep Indigo Girls going:>

On the changes in the music industry and radio, [Emily] Saliers said, "It's all changed. We've been watching the landscape change over the years, believe me."

Saliers blamed large radio conglomerations for endangering local radio -- it was small stations that made bands like the Indigo Girls regional hitmakers. "There used to be a lot more localized feel," she said. "You could have a song break out from a region. Music was more eclectic on the radio. That's changed."

[. . .] It's events like that and the Bush administration's new support for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage that fuels the Indigo Girls' activism. Needless to say, they are also bringing a voter registration table on this tour.

The current political environment, churned up by election season debates on "culture wars," can be overwhelming, Saliers said. "In our circles everybody is fired up and wants to do what they can. It's getting people off their butts in a way because they're so horrified at what's happening. In that sense it's a good thing because I think we needed a little bit of fire put under us, and it took the Bush administration to do that."

Which I'd sort-of been thinking, but in my usual half-formed sort of way.

On the political front and the bit about the music industry.

Posted by Aaron at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Only to see this, though:

April 3-4, 2004: The 11th Houston Japan Festival will be held at the Japanese Garden in Hermann Park. For two days in April, Hermann Park will be transformed into a Japanese village surrounding The Japanese Garden. Special highlights will include: a traditional Tea Ceremony, Koto music, dance groups, drummers, martial arts specialists, Japanese games, traditional Japanese arts and crafts, and many other cultural art demonstrations and displays. Food areas will offer authentic Japanese foods. For more information, please call 713-963-0121 (Japan-America Society of Houston) or visit http://www.jashouston.org/main.html?section=festival.

From the Calendar of Events page for the Consulate-General of Japan at Houston. I started feeling bad about mentioning all the stuff going on in Chicago around Ginger and Karin, so I had a look for the nearest embassy or whatevah. . .

Or I could have a look at the Japan America Society of Austin site, but have already mentioned how I'll be flying in to Austin for a visit. Because I am so not driving in -- hell, or to -- Texas.

Except, apparently, for the Festival. . .

Update: Oops.

This site last updated on 4/18/99.

Not much point visiting the JASA page after all.

Well, there's also a list of Cultural and Japan-Related Organizations in Texas and Oklahoma to look over.

Posted by Aaron at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Smithsonian Collections from Commodore Matthew Perry's Japan Expedition (1853–1854):

Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry's Japan Expedition (1853 - 1854) not only began a tradition of “gunboat diplomacy” so often associated with mid-nineteenth century American expansionism, it also initiated a new collection of “artifacts of diplomacy”—historical, scientific, and ethnological materials that would become the first acquisition of Japanese artifacts by the former United States National Museum, now the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

Commodore Perry practiced traditional diplomatic gift exchanges. The ethnological artifacts described in this catalog are, in the main, the reciprocal gifts to the United States government, President Franklin Pierce, the Commodore himself, and other members of the expedition party by Japanese government commissioners and by officials of the Kingdom of Ryukyu. They were received prior to and following the signing of The Treaty of Kanagawa on 31 March 1854. Also included are artifacts purchased at bazaars in Hakodate and Shimoda by some members of the expedition party for the specific purpose of expanding the collections of the United States National Museum. Descriptions of all known materials collected by individual expedition members as well as expedition-related graphics now in the Smithsonian Institution collections also have been included here.

Celebratory greetings from Yosio Okawara, chairman, U.S.-Japan 150 Years Committee:

My dear friends,

Official relations between the United States of America and Japan date from March 31, 1854, when the Treaty of Peace and Amity was signed in Kanagawa, south of what would later be known as Tokyo . It was a mere year after Commodore Matthew Perry and his flotilla of warships, known as the Kurofune (Black Ships), steamed into Uraga at the mouth of Tokyo Bay, waking Japan from a 250-year slumber of isolation. The shock of the Black Ships would usher in adoption of the so-called Meiji Restoration as Japan discarded feudalism on its way to evolving toward a modern society.

One hundred and fifty years hence, despite serious times of discord such as the Pacific War, Japan and the U.S. have gone on to create a sturdy alliance and close partnership which plays a central role in the quest for global peace and stability.

Let us not forget that this important relationship exists not only through the efforts of our governments, but owes as much to the dedication and commitment of private organizations and individuals over many years on both sides of the Pacific.

At this historic juncture, the centennial-and-a-half of bilateral relations, the U.S.-Japan 150 Years Committee was founded by companies and run by volunteers, to recall our shared history as well as enhance bilateral ties, all the more critical at a time of global instability. We seek to promote cultural exchange on the private level and ensure that future generations learn the lessons of our vital partnership. Organizations across Japan have been asked to join in supporting this important commemoration.

The centerpiece of our commemorative year of events will be an official ceremony and symposium, "Toward a Better Future - the U.S. and Japan ," set for April 3, 2004. It will be held in the city of Yokohama , where the Kanagawa Treaty was signed.

Please join us, as we celebrate a remarkable and enduring partnership.

Ok, I admit it, I snickered a bit at the mentions of "one hundred fifty years of amity" prior to the performance last night. One person did mention, as a footnote/parenthetical, that little unpleasantness back in the 40s.

Best not to dwell on it, I suppose.

Then again, motherfuckers here still say, "Remember the Alamo."

Got a flyer for an upcoming -- as in, Sunday, March 21st at 1 -- performance of English-Rakugo at the Japan Information Center:

Rakugo: Japanese Sit-Down Comedy

Rakugo can be best described as Japanese sit-down comedy of comic story telling. Just as there is stand-up comedy in the western countries, there is sit-down comedy in Japan. Most obviously, the difference is that the performer sits on his knees when he performs. It requires some training to sit like that for a long time without letting the legs fall in sleep. The performer wears traditional formal Japanese clothes (Kimono) and sometimes wears a pair of long wide pants (Hakama) and/or a formal jacket (Haori).

The performer is usually equipped with a fan (Sensu) and hand towel (Tenugui). These items help the performer express and act out the story. For example, the fan can be chopsticks, scissors, cigarettes, pipe, or pen. The towel could be a book, bills, or an actual towel. The performer sits on a small mattress, dressed in his Kimono and acts out the whole story by himself.

Mieko Miyazaki started off performing in a kimono last night, but during the intermission transformed into Neo from Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions. Which I hadn't meant to say anything about, but since Dozan said the same thing (albeit in Japanese), there ya go.

Anyone up for some Japanese sit-down comedy stylings this Sunday?

Posted by Aaron at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Jay Garrick? Wally We-- she moved real fast.

Never mind.

From Music 4 Games, an interview with Nobuo Uematsu:

M4G: In the USA the orchestras are having a terrible time because their subscriber base is quite literally dying and they are unable to fill the vacant subscriptions with a younger audience. Do you see a tangible impact on the revitalization of the orchestra as a result of a younger (gaming) audience?

Uemastu-san: I think orchestra music is a wonderful thing, rich in musical expression. Despite that, the younger generation does not choose to support or favor orchestral music compared to other types of music. The situation is the same in Japan. But the responsibility lies with the orchestras - the classical music industry. They should get off their throne of authority and show people of all types and classes the beauty of orchestral music. They should educate others of the joy and wonderful nature of the orchestra in the way they understand. Classical musicians must realize that they are also entertainers before thinking that they are artists. Concerts like this upcoming one in Los Angeles (Dear Friends - music from FINAL FANTASY), I hope, will bring the younger crowd into this environment and in that sense it is a very meaningful event.

The trick of course, and I don't envy anyone trying to pull this one off, is to do something to pull in a new audience that actually succeeds in pulling in a new audience without totally alienating the existing base. Or at least that brings in enough newcomers that the dinos waddling off to thrash and die doesn't impact the bottom line. And no, I don't think it should be about the bottom line, but I live in this society, and don't have a hell of a lot of choice in thinking about things in those terms. Sue me.

What usually happens -- and I'd speculate wildly about Bobby McFerrin's tenure as conductor of the St. Paul Symphony Orchestra, but after talking out of my ass about Marvel's Barbie comic yesterday and getting called on it by Dwayne, will refrain from doing so, or will at least do minimal research before opening my trap -- is that whatever new steps are taken don't manage to impress or interest the people who weren't interested before, but any deviation causes the dinos to become confused and angry.

Thus, the Worst of Both Worlds. Lose the old audience, don't manage to get a new one.

Yep, babbling. Went to the East Current performance last night at the Cultural Center. Wonderful. I could to try to describe it, but I'd fail miserably. They're playing a few more dates in the States -- next one:

East Current
Mar. 20, 2004 8:00 PM
Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall

Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival Committee
& The Japan Foundation Present
East Current: A Fresh Sound of Koto and Shakuhachi

“a musical wind from Japan blows into Seattle”

This duo instrumental concert of Japanese music on the koto and shakuhachi, co-sponsored by the Consulate-General of Japan and the Nippon Kan Heritage Association, will be part of the 2004 Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival. The annual festival began in 1976, when the late Prime Minister Takeo Miki and the Japanese government gave Seattle a gift of one thousand cherry trees to celebrate the U.S. Bicentennial. A reception will follow the recital in the Bill and Melinda Gates Lobby.

Ok, why the fuck does Seattle get a Cherry Blossom Festival? We don't get a Cherry Blossom Festival. Which is just as well, I suppose, because a quick glance out the window shows the blossoms'd be covered with a light layer of snow. Erm.

Any road up, a few days later:

Mar. 23 (Tue), 7:00 p.m. at Phoenix ASU's Kerr Cultural Center, 6110 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale, (off Rose Lane south of the Borgata) http://www.asukerr.com/home.shtml For ticket & Information: Kerr Box Office, Tel. (480) 596-2660 Ticketmaster, Tel. (480) 784-4444

From CulturalNews.com, which hasn't been updated lately. Um, more details or something at ASU's site, including a nice PDF you can print out and distribute, so the performance there is better attended than the one here. Not that the place was empty, I'd say 3/4 full or more, but the space was not that large. . .

All of which is part of Sesquicentennial of Japan-US Relations, which I hopethe US is doing some stuff for over there, because they're going all-out here, to little attention from what I've seen. And can we not piss them off too? Any more than we usually do?

Edits and photos later, I think. Coffee.

Posted by Aaron at 6:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Right, picked this up for an, um, song at the Borders across from Water Tower Place a few weeks back: Final Fantasy N Generation Offical Best Collection. That link takes you to the page of the US distributor, TOKYOPOP. It's got a few mp3 samples of the pieces on the cd, but not the one refered to in the title. Yes, that's where the name of Nobuo Uematsu's upcoming performance comes from, far as I can tell.

TOKYOPOP is better know, if at all, as the US distributor ("publisher" seems like the wrong word somehow) of various manga, including Sailor Moon. They're The Company Formerly Known as MIXX, basically.

Now if you've been to the manga section of a chain recently, you'll note that they have a hell of a lot of the stuff these days. There's probably more recent numbers available, but from a January 26th article at ICV2:

Though Tokyopop has 40 titles in the top 100 to Viz's 25, Viz has the two top-selling manga titles of 2004 so far, Rurouni Kenshin Volume #2 (5600+) and Volume #1 (c. 5000). In interviews conducted by ICv2 for the new Retailers Guide To Anime and Manga, direct market retailers indicated that Rurouni Kenshin has also been a dominant manga title in comic shops. Yu Watase's Alice the Nineteenth Vol. #2 is the best-selling shoujo title at #5---this series is clearly a hit with female readers in the bookstore market. Viz's Yu-Gi-Oh! series is clearly a hit with more than 4,100 copies of Volume #3 sold since the beginning of the year, and there are no fewer than seven Inu Yasha volumes in the top 100.

Tokyopop's top title in this week's snapshot of bookstore sales is the manwha release, Demon Diary Volume 5, which occupies the number six position. The second volume of Tokyopop's .hack//SIGN series remains in the top ten at number nine and is the third best-selling manga title of the year so far. Anime-related manga such as Ai Yori Aoshi (#10) and FLCL (2400 copies of #1 sold so far this year) have fared well as did the shonen-ai title, Fake Vol. #5, which holds the #11 spot for the week and has sold more than 3,300 copies so far in 2004. Tokyopop's big hits of 2003, Love Hina and Chobits continue to sell (with more than 1700 of the former and nearly 2000 of the latter sold in 2004), though not quite with the incredible velocity they had last year.

Left out some italics from the original, if you care.

Now the funny thing about this, for certain definitions of funny, is that girls buy manga. Not sure about the breakdown, but at a guess? Much higher than the percentage of girls/women buying standard US comics (with some notable exceptions, like Sandman and Love and Rockets; mostly I'm babbling about the superhero stuff the Big Two put out).

Obviously, in that quest for profit, DC and Marvel would dearly love to attract some of that phat manga cash and build their audience by getting the slightly-more-than-50% of the population who mostly ignore their stuff to stop ignoring it.

And I certainly hope that's not what motivated Marvel to reprint Japanese versions of some of their titles, or using a manga-influenced style on some of their books, because that's really missing the point.

DC, to their credit, looks to be licensing books from Japanese publishers, plus there's the Elfquest reprints. And if they don't manage to collect Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld, clearly they don't actually want to make money.

Oh, right, the funny part.

The Big Two have tried over the years, mostly unsuccessfully, to attract girls with stuff created by middle-aged men, resulting in the odd Barbie or Strawberry Shortcake book, available (if you were lucky) in grocery stores or in comics shops.

Any of the women here care to trade stories about Bad Experiences as someone with tits in a comics shop?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Clearly, any shop with brains would have been all over manga early on, so that now even if people can get it at chains, they're supporting the local independent instead.

There are, unfortunately, very very few shops with brains.

Or rather, shop owners with enough sense to realize that having guh-guh-girls in their clubhouse forking over cash is, in fact, a Good Thing.

Vaguely remember seeing that someone is going to start mining Korean comics for material to reprint here.

Coolness.

Update: Holy shit.

Manga Jouhou: Manga Translation News & Reviews.

Ok, maybe you have to have been reading the stuff from way back in the day for this to have any impact, but for those of us who have been. . . just, wow.

Update 2: Right, it's not just reprints on Elfquest, which I knew perfectly well.

Twenty-five years after the debut of the blockbuster saga ElfQuest, creators Wendy and Richard Pini return with their first new story in years. ELFQUEST: THE SEARCHER AND SWORD is an original, 96-page hardcover graphic novel scheduled to reach comic-book stores in July.

Hardcover for the comics/EQ fans, then later a wee trade reprint in manga size for the kids, maybe? If so, DC has just graduated in my estimation to Most Brilliant Evil Fuckers There Is. And that's a compliment, really.

Posted by Aaron at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

Hello.

I came to talk.

I’ve been THINKING lately. About you and me.

About what’s going to HAPPEN to us, in the END.

We’re going to KILL each other, aren’t we?

Perhaps you’ll kill me. Perhaps I’ll kill you. Perhaps sooner. Perhaps later.

I just wanted to know that I’d made a genuine attempt to talk things OVER and AVERT that outcome.

Just ONCE.

Are you LISTENING to me? It’s LIFE AND DEATH that I’m discussing here.

Maybe MY death...

...maybe YOURS.

I don’t fully understand why ours should be such a FATAL relationship, but I don’t want your MURDER on my…

(PANEL) 9.
NOW WE ARE LOOKING AT BATMAN VERY CLOSE UP FROM THE FRONT SO THAT WE CAN SEE HIS CHEST AND HIS RAISED HANDS AND THE LOWER HALF OF HIS FACE, BUT WE CANNOT SEE HIS EYES OR THE REST OF THE UPPER PART OF HIS HEAD. HE IS LOOKING DOWN AT HIS GLOVES AND AT THE THICK WHITE PANCAKE MAKE-UP UPON THEM WHERE HE TOUCHED THE JOKER. HIS MOUTH STARTS TO TURN DOWN INTO A SUSPICIOUS SCOWL EVEN AS HIS SENTENCE TRAILS OFF INTO SILENCE.

(SMALL) THE BATMAN: . . .hands. . .

From 4ColorHeroes:Killing Joke Script. If you missed that collaboration of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons -- you know, the guys who did Clockguys or Watchfolk or something like that -- it's worth a look. Explains why Barbara Gordon/Batgirl is still in a wheelchair, for a start. . .

Posted by Aaron at 1:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

Fool that I am, I followed one of the many, many links to Lileks.

So what do I hope I'll tell my child? Simple. It's over. We won.

"We"?

And, other than savagely decimating straw men of your own devising, your contribution to the war effort would have been. . . what, precisely?

As one of the people dragged into the previous Gulf War by the previous President Bush, out there risking life and limb through shot and shell, while folks like you stayed home thinking what a sucker I was, gotta say, that first person plural kind'a gets on my nerves.

Just a wee bit.

I know, I know, you're too old to enlist, you have a bum leg, and who would take care of poor Cosette Gnat while you were away actually, you know, defending her liberty?

Being raised by wolves would be an improvement over you.

SIDS would have been an improvement over you.

Now, a bit ago, Michele wrote:

The left no longer have causes. They have anti-causes.

Being anti-everything makes for bitterness and anger, and it is increasingly evident that all of those negative vibes the left has been surrounding themselves with have gotten in the way of clear thinking and reason.

This was later amended to "far left." Not much an improvement, I'm afraid.

Off the top of my head, little far left me is fighting for reproductive rights. That the right-wingers choose to define this as being anti "the rights of the unborn" is, quite simply, not my fucking problem. I'm fighting for equal rights for gays and lesbians. Again, the right-wingers choose to rephrase this as fighting against the institution of marriage that's served the Thousand Year Reich so very well over the millennia. And again, not my fucking problem.

Tired of playing games with word choice, tired of having beliefs and motivations ascribed to me rather than someone, you know, asking what I believe and why I do what I do. And this from Glenn Reynolds:

I wonder if either of the women dressed as suicide bombers in this photo from Madrid last year was within earshot of yesterday's blasts. [. . .] Those two women, like some of the other protesters, weren't antiwar. They were on the other side. I wonder if they still are?

What, if they're still alive, you mean?

Gosh, why didn't you and James pool your considerable resources, hop on a plane, and fly over to Spain to find out for yourselves? I'm confident the authorities would appreciate assistance from anyone willing to pull charred corpses out of the wreckage. Gotta tell you from experience, though, the smell of large amounts of burning human flesh? Gonna make you nauseous. But after the first day or two of puking your guts out, and then occasionally dry-heaving when it hits you particularly strongly, you get used to it.

No, I tell a lie. You never fucking get used to it.

Here's the short version: what the overwhelming majority of humanity would really appreciate is if you lot and Uncle Osama's merry band of fundamentalists would hurry up and kill each other, preferably without taking the rest of us with you, so we can get back to watching Buffy reruns and waiting for Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men to start. Or reading something else, or listening to music, or dancing, or doing some productive, life-affirming work, or generally not having to listen to all-knowing assholes who Know God's Will dictating it to us at the point of a gun.

Any questions? Comments? Death wishes to express by posting stupid shit?

Director's Cut: And then there's that odd refrain of the right wing, "Now that you've experienced something traumatic, maybe you'll see things from out point of view." I mean, fuck, is that what it takes? Explains why you're such miserable bastards if it is.

Here's a clue for you: Everyone, with the possible exception of the people dwelling comfortably in a bubble of het white male privilege here in the US, has undergone something traumatic. Most of us choose not to let it define our lives. Not sure what the fuck is wrong with you that you do, and to be honest, not thrilled with learning enough about you to find out.

I would have put that in the actual entry, but am trying to be kind.

As usual, not trying very fucking hard.

Posted by Aaron at 8:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (4)

Right, missed Liz, because I suck, but did manage to get Windows 98 and Debian GNU/Linux reinstalled and running. So, um, yay me?

And since Windows cheerfully overwrites the MBR every time I reinstall it -- maybe shouldn't use that tense, only did it twice and I swear this is the last time -- a Quick Guide to Getting Back Your Linux Install From the Clutches of Bill Gates' Bastard Offspring:

1. Boot from the Debian install cd, using the boot command rescue root=/dev/hda2 (or whatever partition your root directory is in)
2. Log in, then back up /etc/lilo.conf (shouldn't be necessary, but do it anyway)
3. Uninstall lilo, using apt-get remove lilo
4. Reinstall lilo, using apt-get install lilo
5. Replace your original lilo.conf, if the one what gets generated ain't to your liking

Or, you know, you could just back up the MBR and restore it afterwards. Or install Windows first, Linux second, and not re-reinstall Windows. Or any one of a number of other things, but that'un's quick and dirty and gets the job done. Sorry, am in a "results count, fuck the method" sort of mindset.

On the plus side, Windows boots a hell of a lot faster, is more responsive once it does, and seems more stable. Plus, you know, the free space created by reformatting and not reinstalling everything yet.

That was the first time I'd actually ever run format c:, oddly enough.

This might fit in with the whole purging thing, but seeing as I'm gonna have to reinstall the stuff as I need it, maybe not so much. . .

Apropos of nothing, but good to know:

• Wednesday, March 17-Sunday, March 21
WOMEN IN THE DIRECTOR'S CHAIR
23rd ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL

This year we'll feature old-favorite programs, such as Homegirls and the ever-popular Dyke Nite, plus:

… Many guest filmmakers present to discuss their work, including Trinh T. Minh-ha!

… Brand new work from Trinh T. Minh-ha, Diane Nerwen, Emily Vey Duke, Dee Mosbacher, Lisa Hayes and many more!

… Screenings/panels on issues dealing with ethnographic media making (Semishe Manwe by Maura Smith and Resort by Anna Abrahams) and with women as national commodities (Parai by Leena Manimekalhi and Something Between Her Hands by Sonia Shah)

… Compelling features includingPrison Lullabies by Linda Matta, Christine Cynn's gripping account of the Haitian Raboteau Trial, Poke Mat Sonje, and Beah: A Black Woman Speaks from Lisagay Hamilton

… New work by women from more than 15 countries!

And there's a benefit/screening with Catherine Hardwicke and her film THIRTEEN, um, last night at 5.

I mentioned the suckage, yes?

Off to do more of that reinstall stuff.

Posted by Aaron at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

No, haven't forgotten the Liz Phair performance at the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue this afternoon. If I'm not done with the reinstalling and suchlike by then, it'll be time for a nice break anyway.

By "nice break," of course, I mean "get away from the computer before taking a Louisville Slugger to it."

Or there's always the distinct possibility I'll be done with the whole shebang by then, and can sample the various free WiFi hot spots downtown before or after the show, using either Windows or Linux.

Stop laughing, damn you.

Posted by Aaron at 6:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Spike: Are we feeling better, then?

Drusilla: I'm naming all the stars.

Spike: You can't see the stars, love. That's the ceiling. Also, it's day.

Drusilla: I can see them. But I've named them all the same name.

Not sure how long the current Lucas and Odessa will be up -- and it would take seconds to find out, I'm sure -- but even without context, I'm sure you'll understand. Not sure you'll laugh, depending on which side of that sitch you've been in, but you'll understand.

And if you don't, you can easily get more background by reading the older strips, by subscribing to Girlamatic. $2.95 a month. I'm sure there's some crap magazine or comic you buy that costs that much, so drop that shit and get with the 21st century.

See, this is why I don't work in the marketing department. . .

Got the laptop back from the shop. Turns out the processor died, but the gent worked on it didn't realize that until after he'd ordered a replacement motherboard. So, I also have a spare Gateway Solo 2150 base thingee, sans keyboard, screen, processor, battery, cdrom drive, hard drive and power cord. But if you manage to assemble those bits from eBay or something, you can have it. Be cheaper to just break down and buy something else, I think, but if you have entirely too much free time and disposable income. . . then you should give me money, subscribe to Girlamatic and kick some cash to Scarleteen. Particularly the latter, seeing as:

Half of all young Americans will get a sexually transmitted disease by the age of 25, perhaps because they are ignorant about protection or embarrassed to ask for it, according to several reports issued on Tuesday.

The reports, publicized by two nonprofit sexual and youth health groups, said there were 9 million new cases of STD among teens and young adults aged 15 to 24 in 2000.

They said the U.S. government's policy of preferring abstinence-only education would only increase those rates.

From the invaluable feministe.us; go read the entry and the article. And make with the donation, or volunteer to spend time with the kids on the boards.

You'll have to do something other than read this, as I'm about to do something Very Silly Indeed; despite not losing any data during the repair process, I've decided I'm tired of Windows taking forever to boot (and running out of space), so I'm backing up everything and reinstalling from scratch.

Doing the same for Debian, which boots up much faster, but also is running into space problems, possibly because the idiot who installed it partitioned the drive badly, or installs things and forgets to remove them when it turns out he doesn't need them.

So there's a very good chance I won't be able to access the 'net with either OS, and you'll have to find other ways to amuse yourself. I suggest

But I always say that.

Other reason for the reinstall is, I don't have space for the kernel source under Debian, and the WiFi drivers really, really want access to same. Tried putting the source on the portable drive, but fool that I am, I made it one big frickin' FAT32 partition, and the source needs to have file permissions and such set, so. . .

Wow. I can actually hear your eyes glazing over.

Posted by Aaron at 6:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Yes, I'm bored. And like most bored people, I'm hand-crafting HTML tables.

Ok, maybe not most. . .

Posted by Aaron at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Wasn't on Rasputina's email list until a few seconds ago, but I am on Ecto, and someone (well, Neile, not that that name will mean anything. . .) already was, thus:

Subject: Recitals, upcoming.
From: Rasputina
Date: Fri, March 12, 2004 9:40 am

Hello.

Our new album, "Frustration Plantation" will be released next Tuesday, March 16th. Please enjoy it.

Below are our upcoming recital dates.
Sincere apologies for age restrictions.
More dates in South and West Coast to come.

4/11 Baltimore, MD- Ottobar
4/13 Atlanta, GA- The Earl
4/14 Asheville, NC- Stella Blue
4/15 Cincinnati, OH- 20th Century Theater
4/17 Grand Rapids, MI- Intersection
4/18 Chicago, IL- House of Blues
4/19 Minneapolis, MN- 400 Bar
4/20 Bloomington, IN- Bluebird
4/21 Ann Arbor, MI- Blind Pig
4/22 Pittsburgh, PA- Mr. Small's
4/23 Cleveland, OH- Grog Shop
4/24 Morgantown, WV- 123 Pleasant St.
4/26 Hartford, CT - Webster Theater
4/27 Northampton, MA- Iron Horse
4/28 Burlington, VT- Club Metronome
4/29 Hoboken, NJ- Maxwell's

Love,
Rasputina

Some of which I mentioned yesterday, but the album release date is new. Be nice if it goes up on EMusic, but I'm still not quite sure how their system works. . .

Posted by Aaron at 1:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From Frage zu Smooth Criminal vom Wu-Tang Clan:

Hallo!

Ich bin eben über ein Lied namens Smooth Criminal von Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep & Michael Jackson gestoßen!

Ich wollte mal wissen, ob das offiziel ist, oder ob das irgendjemand selbst zusammen gebastelt hat!

Ich hab schon bei google gesucht, aber nirgends auskunft bekommen! Vielleicht kann mir ja einer von euch helfen!

auf jeden fall hört es sich richtig gut an und es passt auch gut(die raps zum beat)!

Yes, I could use the Fish, but where's the fun in that?

Anyone out there hablas alemán?

Posted by Aaron at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Non Republic serial villain that I am.

Changed some links around, and added TranceJen, who I think fits the Harmony name better than Tony Pierce did -- although, to be honest, I don't read his site that often. Hardly a reflection on him; I don't read much of anyone's sites that often these days, and besides, there's no accounting for taste.

Removed hanging-fire.net from the Bloglines-generated list of links, since idiot that I am, I'd never got 'round to adding Karin to the. . . no, saying "the real one" probably isn't going to win me any fans. Um, the hand-cranked one. Yes, that will do. . .

And removed wimminandminoritiesdotcom, which I never got round to contributing to even once, because I suck.

There might be some other dead/de-funked links in there; switched Alas, a Blog in Bloglines as well, and figure I'll have to again at some point. And don't remember when I finally got 'round to adding Kris Dresen. Perhaps I should comment my HTML.

Perhaps I need more coffee, because that's crazy talk.

Ultimately, I really just don't want to be like the right-wingers, who seem to be keeing their links to Rachel Lucas' place out of. . . no, no idea why, actually.

Any questions? Comments?

Posted by Aaron at 8:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

From RPGamer:

On Friday, March 5, tickets for Nobuo Uematsu's concert "Dear Friends," the first Final Fantasy symphonic concert to be performed in the US, went on sale. The event, scheduled to be held on May 10th, sold all 2,200 seats of the Walt Disney Concert Hall by Monday, March 8, and not unexpectedly - the concert coincides with E3, so there will be an abundance of gamers in the Los Angeles area at the time.

Er, guess I should have mentioned that a bit earlier. . .

Well, I imagine they'll record it. Possibly. Maybe.

Square has to make the money back from the Final Fantasy film somehow, after all. Can't see their cut for their sequence on The Animatrix being that much. . .

Update: Well, think you can still RSVP for the East Current performance here, though:

East Current, a duo featuring koto player Mieko Miyazaki and shakuhachi player Dozan Fujiwara, performs in the Claudia Cassidy Theater of the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St., on Monday, March 15 at 6pm. East Current brings traditional Asian music into the twenty-first century by fusing classical Japanese instruments with modern and Western musical styles. Together, Miyazaki and Fujiwara create a new interpretation of classical, traditional, folk, and even tango music.

Mieko Miyazaki graduated from Tokyo University of Fine Arts in 1992. She composes pieces for popular TV programs and commercials in Japan and is also an "imaging" artist for various anime productions. Miyazaki tours extensively throughout the world, playing with a variety of diverse musicians. She continues to create new music and is now considered to be one of Japanese music’s most innovative performers.

Dozan Fujiwara studied shakuhachi under Yamamoto Hozan. A graduate of Tokyo University of Fine Arts in 1995, Fujiwara participated in the International Shakuhachi Festival held in Boulder, CO in 1998, and regularly collaborates with Western musicians to record modern pieces.

Link to Mieko Miyazaki's site added; quick Google didn't bring up one for Dozan Fujiwara.

Er, your browser/OS may try to install Japanese fonts when you hit that link.

Oh, go for it. Couldn't hurt, might help.

Posted by Aaron at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With slightly more than a month's advance notice, perhaps I'll manage to not miss this:

RASPUTINA W/ MURDER BY DEATH
House of Blues Chicago
price : $12.00 - $14.00 *
date : Sun, April 18
door : 7:30pm
show : 9:00pm

The link has (Windows Media) samples of "Bad Moon Rising," "Wish You Were Here" (the full version of which I'm listening to now, by some odd coincidence) and "Tourniquet" if you're still not familiar with the group after my babbling enthusiastically about them the last few weeks.

Think I'm going, unless there's something else I mentioned that I was planning to do that day, and have forgotten about. Any other Chi types interested?

And for the non-Chi types, from their Recitals page:

4/19 Minneapolis, MN — 400 Bar
4/20 Bloomington, IN — Bluebird
4/21 Ann Arbor, MI — Blind Pig
4/22 Pittsburgh, PA — Mr.Smalls
4/23 Cleveland, OH — Grog Shop
4/24 Morgantown, WV — 123 Pleasant St
4/26 Hartford, CT — Webster Theater
4/27 Northampton, MA — Iron Horse
4/28 Burlington, VT — Club Metronome
4/29 Hoboken, NJ — Maxwell's

Not sure about that loop from Chi to Minneapolis back to Bloomington, but I guess they know what they're doin'. . . and guess I could do a road trip to Bloomington or Ann Arbor if I miss the one here. Haven't been to either of 'em in ages.

I am not a Goth, by the way.

Posted by Aaron at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Finally getting 'round to cleaning up the categories -- and remind me to email Michelle about adding pages for the archives -- and decided to create one for the Military-Industrial Simplex. Mind you, haven't written about that stuff lately. . .

- - - - -

The Vocabulary Lesson (II)

I should probably explain some of the terms and concepts mentioned elsewhere on the page.

MRE supposedly stands for Meal, Ready to Eat. A number of other possible explanations exist. The best ones had packages of dehydrated peaches, which in theory could be placed in a dish of water and would expand into something almost, but not totally unlike, peaches. Since we were in the middle of the fucking desert, I never had an opportunity to see if this was true.

Seabees occupy a unique position in the military. Part of the Navy, they're a land-based force who do construction work for the Marines. This is because. . . well, have you ever talked to any of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children? There's a reason their equipment is at the level of an instant camera, just aim and shoot.

This often caused problems procuring materials, which leads to our next vocabulary word, cumshaw. This is best illustrated with a brief dialog:

Seabees: We need concrete.

Marines: You're not in our budget. Talk to the Navy.

Seabees: We need concrete.

Navy: If it's for a Corps project, talk to them.

Seabees: Do you guys have any concrete?

Air Force base guard: Yeah. Why?

Seabees: Merely engaging in conversation, fellow soldier! Say, isn't that Saddam Hussein over there?

Air Force base guard: What? Where? (runs off)

Seabees: All too easy. Hey, they got generators!

Mind you, this did sometimes lead to awkward situations.

Marines: Wow, you guys do good work. But how do you always end up with more material at the end of a project than when you started?

Seabees: . . . the little baby Jesus.

Remember, if the material belongs to the military, and you're in the military, how is that theft? Besides, if they really wanted the stuff, they'd use a higher-gauge wire in the fences.

There are some other weird words and concepts that other services use, like "chain of command", "regulation haircut", "regulation sunglasses", and "flagrant disregard for a superior officer", but I never learned what any of those meant.

Typical Monday at base:

Chief: Okay, Hawkins. I need you to do preventative maintenance on all the bunkers. It's a 16-hour job for a two-man crew, but we're short-handed, so you'll have to do it alone. I don't want to see your ass back in here until Friday.

Me: Dude, that'll take like two hours, tops. I'll be back before lunch.

Chief: Perhaps I was unclear. Your ass, back here, until Friday, not see.

Me: . . . I might have to work through the weekend too, chief

Chief: In that case, make it next Wednesday.

Note to visitors from af.mil: Eheh. I'm kidding. I also state for the record that I have no idea where any shipments of copper pipe, rebar, concrete, electrical generators or Christmas turkeys which may have gone missing during Operations Desert Shield or Desert Storm might have ended up. We loved you guys. Really. Especially when you managed to read the maps right, and actually bombed the enemy.

- - - - -

. . . on advice of my attorneys.

Posted by Aaron at 6:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

From the Shakira email list:

El Nuevo CD De Shakira!
Recientemente Shakira se encuentra escribiendo y grabando para su próximo álbum el cual saldrá en Otoño del 2004. Próximamente más detalles!

[Very long URI that would look horrible]

Y ahora...Shakira Live DVD/CD, Live & Off The Record!
HAZ CLICK PARA PRE-ORDENAR TU COPIA & ADEMAS RECIBE UN AFICHE DE SHAKIRA (EDICION LIMITADA)
[Ditto]

Un nuevo DVD & CD de Shakira en vivo, En Vivo y en Privado, llega el 30 de marzo del 2004. Es un DVD de 2.5 horas, el cual incluye 90 minutos del concierto en vivo (incluye algunas de las canciones mas exitosas de Shakira, como "Whenever, Wherever", "Underneath Your Clothes", "Estoy Aquí", "Si Te Vas", "Inevitable", "Ciega, Sordomuda" y otras que no estan disponible en ningun otro album, como "Back in Black") y ademas escenas reveladoras detras de las camaras.

Tambien estara incluido en el paquete un audio CD con diez canciones en vivo nunca antes disponible. Para el contenido completo del DVD/CD, http://www.shakira.com/spanish/music/discog.html

Socialmente consiente, multilingue y muliti-cultural, Shakira fue seguida por un equipo internacional de cineastas durante su aclamada Gira de la Mangosta. Durante las paradas en Paris, Londres, Madrid, Roma, New York, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Ciudad Mexico, Bogota y otras ciudades alrededor del mundo, la camara filmo a Shakira detras del escenario y durante momentos privados.

Más detalles: http://www.shakira.com

PARTICIPE PARA GANAR UN SONY MP3 WALKMAN!
Ademas copias del nuevo DVD, En Vivo y en Privado!
http://www.shakira.com/modamag/

PARTICIPE PARA GANAR UNA FOTO AUTOGRAFIADA DE SHAKIRA!
Ademas copias del nuevo DVD, En Vivo y en Privado!
http://shakira.com/lamusica/

http://www.shakira.com

Well, yes, it's bilingual, and I got an English version, too.

Where's the fun in posting that?

Update: Fixed the long links, which were oh-so-slightly broken. But wasn't that a pretty 404 page?

Posted by Aaron at 8:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

From the Uematsu's Music page at Square:

SQUARE ENIX U.S.A. is proud to present "Dear Friends -music from FINAL FANTASY-" a symphony concert at the prestigious Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles. The concert will take place on Monday, May 10, 2004, kicking off SQUARE ENIX's participation in the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Unprecedented for a video game franchise, only FINAL FANTASY's award-winning scores and series composer Nobuo Uematsu's highly respected, original compositions will be featured by the acclaimed Los Angeles Philharmonic, at L.A.'s newest and most talked about venue. The Concert Hall's curving, silver lines and interactive experience serve as the perfect backdrop for an evening of FINAL FANTASY music. Already world-renowned for exceptional video game soundtracks, SQUARE ENIX further pushes the envelope with this symphony concert event. In the same way that FINAL FANTASY pioneered the next generation of gaming, the music may encourage similar events that celebrate and commemorate video game music.

Video game music continues to grow in popularity, and FINAL FANTASY melodies have long reached the ears not only of gamers, but of music lovers, electronic musicians, and the culturally aware. While FINAL FANTASY soundtracks have not been widely available in North America, fans have always managed to get their hands on the compositions, dedicating entire fan sites to the music. SQUARE ENIX's own veteran composer Nobuo Uematsu was named as one of the "Innovators" in Time Magazine's "Time 100: The Next Wave - Music" feature, for his emotionally powerful and beautiful compositions.

Still have that copyright-violating sample piece up, if you'd like to try before you buy.

More local, and therefore with a larger chance of my actually attending, from Peter Schickele’s Concert Schedule:

April 13, 2004,
Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

P.D.Q. Bach Strikes Back with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Not the same program as the December concerts with the same name, but the program will include P.D.Q. Bach’s Twelve Quite Heavenly Songs (in the Director’s Cut version for three singers and orchestra) and “Howdy” Symphony, as well as Prof. Schickele’s Uptown Hoedown.

Symphony Center
Chicago, IL
312-294-3000
http://www.cso.org/

Don't have nearly enough background in music to really appreciate Peter Schickele/P.D.Q. Bach, except at the most superficial level, but I don't let that stop me from buying manga either.

This is not a music blog, by the way.

np: Tear In Your Hand, Tori Amos, Tales of a Librarian.

Posted by Aaron at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I have gots to stop doing that. Here's Priest, on his I'm-hoping still upcoming book, Captain America and The Falcon:

The foundation of the book is the unshakeable friendship between these two men. The friendship is non-negotiable and the trust between them is implicit, despite the rather damming evidence that, in issue #1, The Falcon has violated National Security, and the government has given Cap just 24 hours to bring Falcon in before they go after Falcon with guns blazing. If you use the trust these two men have as a compass, it makes negotiating the many twists and turns of "Two Americas," CAF's inaugural story arc, much easier.

In four issues taking place in just over 24 hours, Cap tracks the fugitive Falcon through rural Cuba as a hurricane slams the island, trying to stay one step ahead of government agents and Columbian drug warlords-- all out gunning for Falcon, who has apparently and inexplicably turned against his own government. Cap's faith and trust in his old partner is put to the test as Falcon leads Cap through a dangerous steeplechase, ending in a major firefight in Miami. Using all the training he's received from Cap to stay one step ahead of his old partner, Falcon comes into his own as a worthy adversary for Cap as he manages to evade not only Cap but the good guys and bad guys as well. Complicating matters is a powerful rogue agent, a mysterious new threat developed by the US Navy, who is determined to stop Falcon from revealing classified secrets and who will stop at nothing-- not even Cap's death-- to achieve that objective.

It's hard to give out too many plot specifics without ringing bells we don't want prematurely rung, but "Two Americas" is an all-out action story pitting Captain America against his old friend The Falcon, with national security secrets and their very relationship at stake. With the clock running down, these two friends must pass through a crucible of plot twists, political intrigue and lies as both men defend the same principle from opposing perspectives.

As a result of decisions The Falcon makes in the "Two Americas" arc, he becomes a wanted man with Federal arrest warrants outstanding. Cap is pressured to bring Falcon in, but because of events in "Two Americas," Cap realizes the Falcon's criminal status is a retaliatory measure against Cap himself, and he refuses to cooperate.

If you read The Crew, or Black Panther, or Xer0 (which you probably didn't, as all of 'em died due to low sales, if I remember a'right), you know that Priest does politics well. Possibly too well for mainstream superhero comics, which would explain why the other books. . . well, Panther ran way longer than anyone expected, actually. And DC didn't exactly do well by Xer0. The Crew, um, the less said, the better, I think.

This is not a comics blog, by the way.

np: The Breeders, Wicked Little Town (Hedwig Version), Wig In A Box

Posted by Aaron at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Couldn't bloody resist this headline: USATODAY.com: Looking straight at gay parents:

Buried beneath the debate on gay marriage is the question of just what being raised in a gay family means for children. On one side are gay couples such as these two who are staking out a place in mainstream society, seeking all that entails, including children.

"Times have changed," says [Kim] Musheno, whose baby is due in April. Her friendships are based more on parenting than on an identity as a lesbian, she says. "I have more straight friends than I do gay. As you become a parent, you look for other parents."

"We are good people," says Catherine Alston, 44, who has been Musheno's partner for eight years. "We have good values. And we will raise sons with good values."

Go read. It includes quotes from competitor for Karin L. Kross' title of America's Sweetheart Abigail Garner.

Which sentence I should probably re-write, because it looks horrible.

This is what comes of working without a copyeditor, I expect.

np: Sugar Daddy, Frank Black, Wig In A Box: Songs from & inspired by Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Posted by Aaron at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Even I'm getting sick of it at this point. From studpoet.com: Nigger, Dyke, Faggot, Spic...these are a few of my favorite things:

in my life i have met many people. to be honest the people that i learned most from were white supremacists. you may wonder why. well, the ones that i have met (not the meatheads who are the muscle) were well educated and in fact knew more about people of color than most people of color know about each other. one day i asked why. the answer was simple...Machiavellian in its purest form..."know your enemy as you know yourself."

for them it was a matter of survival, although of course we could argue that point of view, but that was what they believed. if you don't know your enemy how can you not counter their actions?

the same should hold true for us as people of color and/or gay. stop being afraid of what they are saying and embrace it, study it, challenge it, redefine it...don't hide from it. there will always be bigots, homophobes, racists etc. so hiding under a bush or trying to stamp out their freedom of speech will not make it better it will only be worse.

Or, to quote Beetlejuice once again instead, "I'm not afraid of sheets. Are you gross under there? Are you 'Night of the Living Dead' under there? All bloody veins and pus?"

Or, keeping with the supposed theme of the day:

Smith: You destroyed me, Mister Anderson. Afterward, I knew the rules, I understood what I was supposed to do but I didn't. I couldn't. I was compelled to stay, compelled to disobey. And now here I stand because of you, Mister Anderson, because of you I'm no longer an agent of the system, because of you I've changed - I'm unplugged - a new man, so to speak, like you, apparently free.

Neo: Congratulations.

Smith: Thank you. But as you well know, appearances can be deceiving, which brings me back to the reason why we're here. We're not here because we're free. . .

. . .we're here because we're not free.

From Reloaded this time. Later, I'll discuss how people favoring the fucking Hobbit movies over the Matrix films convinces me that the apocalypse cannot possibly come fast enough.

np: Strong Hand, Emmylou Harris, The NoneSuch Collection.

Update: minor edits. And is there a way to prevent MT 2.64 from pinging studpoet (to take an example, namely, this entry) every time I update this thing, or do I gotta upgrade?

Posted by Aaron at 9:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

We give them money
But are they grateful?
No they're spiteful
And they're hateful
They don't respect us, so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them

Now Asia's crowded
And Europe's too old
Africa's far too hot
And Canada's too cold
South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They've got surfing, too!

From Randy Newman's Political Science, a performance of which is featured on the Nonesuch Collection cd, free with, um, last month's issue of Uncut Magazine UK. I should'a mentioned this earlier, huh? Well, maybe you can still find a copy. . .

Also appearing, Nonesuch artists David Byrne (an interview with him is featured in the magazine), Sam Phillips, Magnetic Fields, Laurie Anderson, Kronos Quartet, Emmylou Harris and Joni Mitchell.

No one of consequence, really.

And yes, there is concern that Republicans, who think irony comes from elephants and adopted Springsteen's Born in the USA and Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry, Be Happy, will also pick Political Science as a theme song for their convention.

Title a reference to Lex Luthor's favorite piece of beachfront property. And yes, you can see General Zod take on Agent Smith in. . . no, I really shouldn't. . .

Posted by Aaron at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Smith: The great and powerful Oracle. We meet at last. I suppose you've been expecting me. Right? The all-knowing Oracle is never surprised. How can she be? She knows everything. If that's true, why is she here, if she knew I was coming? Why wouldn't she leave? (throws plate of cookies at the wall) Maybe you knew I was going to do that, maybe you didn't. but if you did, that means that you baked those cookies and set that plate right there deliberately, purposefully. Which means that you're sitting there also deliberately, purposefully.

Oracle: What did you do with Sati?

Smith/Sati: Cookies need love, like everything does.

Oracle: You are a bastard.

Smith: You would know, Mom.

Oracle: Do what you're here to do.

Smith: Yes, Ma'am.

Doesn't work at all as text, I'm afraid. From Matrix Revolutions, coming soon to home video. But you should have seen it in IMAX when/if you had the opportunity.

As mentioned in a comment, it's Talk Like Agent Smith Day. Don't think I'll be doing the editing comments thang like on Talk Like the Architect Day. Unless, you know, I get bored.

Posted by Aaron at 6:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

At the North Michigan Avenue Apple Store:

Liz Phair
Since her groundbreaking 1993 debut Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair has been infusing a hook-laden indie-pop sound with her brutally honest lyrics. Liz performs unique acoustic versions of favorites from throughout her career.
Sat, Mar 13, 2:00 p.m

And then the two days following, courtesy of the Japan America Society of Chicago:

Sunday, March 14 – 2:00 pm
at Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Art

Monday, March 15 – 6:00pm
at Claudia Cassidy Theater

EAST CURRENT : A COLABORATION OF KOTO & SHAKUHACHI
Hosted by: The Japan Information Center, The Japan Foundation Supported by: Mid America Japanese Club (MAJC/JAAC), The Japan America Society of Chicago

Commemorating the 150 anniversary of the Japan-U.S. relationship, EAST CURRENT, formed by Shakuhachi player Dozan Fujiwara and Koto player Mieko Miyazaki will perform a wide variety of original arrangements of traditional and modern music.

View complete flyer

More information -- supposedly, haven't gone looking for it -- at the Japan Information Center of the Consulate General of Japan at Chicago.

Might decide not to attend any of this, but figure if I don't mention 'em here, I'll just forget. Like I did for the showing of Akira Kurosawa's Ran mentioned on the Japan Information Center's Events page. I am dumb.

Possibly more about the show at Schuba's when I'm more awake. It was very, very good, even if Vienna was a bit under the weather, and was working with only half her vocal range, if that. So she let us do some sing-along. And performed an instrumental. And basically made do, trooper that she is.

And her cello player (Update: who does have a name, Marika Hughes) is utterly fucking gorgeous.

That is all.

Posted by Aaron at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Kicking out a bad guy
Beating up a monster
Fighting against evil
I'll rescue this town

Over the buildings
Over the mountains
Over the blue sky
Over the rainbow

You know, I'm a super girl
Yes, I'm a punky girl
I never say die
No one can stop me

Flying at a high speed
Having the courage
Getting over crisis
I'll rescue the people

Over the buildings
Over the mountains
Over the blue sky
Over the rainbow

You know, I'm a super girl
Yes, I'm a punky girl
I never say die
No one can stop me
Cuz I like to fight!

Kicking out a bad guy
Beating up a monster
Fighting against evil
I'll rescue this town

Flying at a high speed
Having the courage
Getting over crisis
I'll rescue the people

You know, I'm a super girl
Yes, I'm a punky girl
I never say die
No one can stop me
Cuz I like to fight!

Buttercup (I'm A Super Girl), Shonen Knife.

And you could always watch the video, you know.

Posted by Aaron at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Expanding on something in comments, did a quick Google on Deborah Tannen -- that link goes to her page at Georgetown University, by the bye -- and ran across Online NewsHour: Opposing Views-- December 15, 1998:

A few weeks ago we presented a series of one-on-one conversations on the issues raised by the conduct and the investigation of President Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky matter. This week we're bringing some of the participants back, this time to debate one another. Margaret Warner is joined by Deborah Tannen and Shelby Steele. [. . .] Deborah Tannen [is a] Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University. She's best known as the author of "You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation." Her latest book is "The Argument Culture." And Shelby Steele [is a] senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution. His 1990 book - "The Content of our Character" - won the National Book Critics Circle Award. His latest book is "A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America."

Steele actually interrupts or talks over her several times. Which, all things considered, probably isn't nearly as funny as I seem to think it is at first glance.

More appropriate is an interview at tompeters.com:

DT: My field is sociolinguistics. I've always been trying to figure out how ways of talking affect people's relationships. Before I wrote You Just Don't Understand, I didn't focus on the male/female aspect, although I was aware of it. I focused on cross-cultural differences, differences that result from people being of different ethnic background, coming from different parts of the country, different class backgrounds. And I always included gender as one influence on people's conversational style. But my life work had always been understanding conversational style, and the effect on conversation and on relationships.

My first book, trying to bring this to a wider audience was called That's Not What I Meant! I wanted to take this insight beyond academia into the real world, because I knew how helpful it was to people to think about their relationships in terms of differences in conversational style.

In that book I had one chapter on gender, and that chapter got such disproportionate interest that it really made me think about the need to focus more on that aspect of conversational style.

If you feel a knee-jerk reaction building up about how this doesn't describe you, your conversational style, about how men aren't from Mars any more than women are from Venus. . . have you read the book? Did you even read the linked interview? Do you, in fact, have anything worthwhile to contribute, other than anecdotes?

If not, consider this a pre-emptive "Shut the fuck up."

Bonus Round: GENDER DIFFERENCES IN COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION: BRINGING FAMILIAR BAGGAGE TO THE NEW FRONTIER:

My basic claim has two parts: first, that women and men have recognizably different styles in posting to the Internet, contrary to the claim that CMC neutralizes distinctions of gender; and second, that women and men have different communicative ethics -- that is, they value different kinds of online interactions as appropriate and desirable. I illustrate these differences -- and some of the problems that arise because of them -- with specific reference to the phenomenon of "flaming".

This was written in 1994, by the way.

Plus �a change. . .

Update: Heh.

The conclusion of an experiment at the University of New York/Stony Brook in 1974 stated that people, especially men, are more likely to swear when conversing in single-sex groups than when the conversation participants are of both sexes. Interestingly, men were found to weaken their obscenities when in the company of women, while women tended to strengthen theirs in the company of men.

Have to have a look for that, or see if anyone's done a more recent study. . .

Update 2: Changed the c to �, because I'm pedantic that way.

Posted by Aaron at 1:23 PM | Permalink

It is said that a director bares his soul and reveals his true nature in his films. If that is the case, then Oshii Mamoru, director of such anime classics as EGG OF THE ANGEL, the PATLABOR films, and GHOST IN THE SHELL, is probably one of the more complicated souls on the planet Earth. His most recent project, AVALON, is a mix of live-action and special effects and attempts to portray a world within a world.

Intro paragraph to EX:clusive - Peering Into The Mists Of Avalon - An Interview with Oshii Mamoru, at not-sure-if-they're-dead-or-not EX: The Online World of Anime & Manga.

Picked up the film because of the nice blurb from Neil Gaiman on the box -- figure anyone who thinks a quote from Neil will help move product is clearly. . . in need of all the help they can get -- and from a half-remembered mention of the film in FROM HERE TO SHINJUKU The Animatrix and Anime's Burgeoning Influence.

Curiously absent from The Animatrix is a contribution from Ghost in the Shell director Oshii [Mamoru (and yes, I'm not sure whether the family name should come first or second either at this point - Ed.)], whose cyberpunk leanings and artistic sensibilities would have made for an interesting short film in the Matrix universe. It is unknown if the Wachowskis even approached Oshii regarding The Animatrix, and the Japanese director may have seen too many similarities between his film and The Matrix for his own taste.

[. . .] Although Oshii's next film, Avalon (2001), was a project he said he had been working on for a while, it feels like it may be his response to the ideas the Wachowskis pose in The Matrix. Avalon focuses on the difference between what is real and what is a dream, a common trope running through Oshii's films picked up by the Wachowski brothers for their film. While the real and the dream in The Matrix seems to be well defined if one has the ability to perceive it, in Avalon it is not nearly as clear. Given the interest generated by The Matrix in the United States, it would be interesting to see how Avalon would fare over here.

Not very well, if no one knows the thing is out, I'm figuring. Anyone seen ads for it? I don't think I read any magazines or regularly visit any websites that would have been selected for such advertising even if it did exist. . .

Anyway, being me, I haven't finished watching the film yet. And won't tonight, as I'm going to the show at Schuba's mentioned yesterday. So, um, possible review Wednesday. But don't hold your breath.

Update: Link to Avalon site corrected; remind me to check those things before just pasting 'em from source, huh?

Corrected link found at IMDB's Avalon page, which I should'a gone to in the first place. I am dumb.

And looking around Production IG's site (following a link from Destroy All Monsters) for something more about Ghost In The Shell, found something that cheered me up immensely:

In 1996, "Pa Rappa" made a successful debut on Sony Playstation as a music and dance game. The game became a hit amongst the hip rappers, and the cute character designs by Rodney Greenblats also brought about lots of attentions from the teenagers. Now, it's made itself into an animation series of 29 thirty-minute episodes. The main character "Pa Rappa" is of course present, and he's joined by many other wonderful characters to bring about excitement to his Pa Rappa town. You should also check out the great and fun music that the show uses throughout the series.

Oh yeah.

True, it's probably never going to make it to the US. . .

Posted by Aaron at 8:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

• "I really didn't appreciate what you said."
• "I am really pissed off at your dumb ass right now."

See, I think part of the problem I'm running into with some (white) folk these days is, I think those two sentences are (at a deeper level) identical in terms of meaning. It's just the former attempts to disguise/minimize the speaker's emotional state, while the latter just throws it all out there, sort of the Negro version of the Satir mode Leveling.

Meaning, I see no problem with responding to the first sentence with the second one (or, if I'm in a playful mood, with "And would you like a list of things I don't appreciate?").

Which response(s) generally cause the (white) person I'm talking to to go into wounded puppy/victim mode and ask why I'm being so mean or angry or uppity. As for that last one, duh, it's right in the domain, fool. Angry, um, at least I'm honestly expressing that anger instead of gift-wrapping it in psychobabble. And mean?

I'd argue that one.

I am, however, calm enough right now to discuss this matter. And I think it's necessary, because otherwise I'm gonna keep having to slap mother fuckers down keep running into the same difficulties.

Oh, one last thing, though. This is a restricted request for discussion on the whole language use thing, as separate from social context generally and my particular social context specifically. My response to unsolicited advice these days is, "Why don't you try looking in a mirror? Before I fucking smash you into one face-first?"

Just so we're clear on that.

No, this is calm. Really. You can tell, because I'm swearing. When I'm really pissed off, I start writing like a linguist.

Update: Ok, now that the bits of my brain that refuse to operate properly until they're loaded up with caffeine and nicotine are satisfied. . .

I realize the second example sentence (should'a used <ul> for that list) is overtly hostile, but I'd argue that the first is covertly so, and I have neither the time nor the patience for dealing with that sort of bullshit these days. I know the game, probably better than most of the people playing it, and I don't feel like playing it anymore, capeesh?

Now it's possible the person who is playing isn't aware that that's what they're doing on a conscious level.

Ask me if I care.

Things like that hinder rather than assist honest dialogue, even if those who use 'em honestly believe that they're being mature. I'd argue, again, that they're really not, and figure the proof is how quickly they lose it -- sometimes totally lose it -- when you refuse to play along.

Oh, and I am being mean up in there; you can't really separate language use from a social context. Well, you can, but only at a more abstract/theoretical level than what I'm banging on about here.

The colorless green ideas, they sleep furiously.

Posted by Aaron at 6:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Mentioned in a comment that I'm currently reading a manga version of The Tale of Genji. Published by Kodansha Bilingual Comics, with art by Waki Yamato (whose other work I'm totally ignorant about), it's appropriate because:

Written 1,000 years ago, The Tale of Genji has 54 chapters and over 1,000 pages of text in its English translation. It is generally considered to be the world's first true novel, and was certainly the first psychological novel ever written.

Which factoid I'm fairly certain I picked up at some point in my liberal arts education (instead of, you know, marketable skills), but you'd think the fact that the first novel was written by a woman, a non-Westerner, and in a society generally considered more (grimaces at oversimplistic, emotionally-laden term, plunges ahead) sexist than ours, would. . .

Interesting. When I'm pissed, I can't discuss comics versions of great works of literature without sounding pissy. Odd, that.

Any road up, will probably seek out a text translation after I finish the manga; any suggestions on a good one? There seem to be quite a few, and from experience with the Tao Te Ching, I know that can make quite a difference in how much you enjoy the work.

Want to know more? Check out the Tale of Genji home at UNESCO Global Heritage Pavilion.

Or, if you prefer to be provincial, National Women's History Project.

Posted by Aaron at 2:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Right, I have been given to understand that questioning La Shawn Barber is, and I quote, "like kicking a puppy."

My response, that I fucking hate puppies, did not go over well.

Dog people. Honestly. I swear, you have to be seriously fucked in the head to need something that dependent in your life.

Oh, did I offend someone with that?

Do you honestly think I give a plane-flying fuck about offending people at this point?

Let me try that again: do you honestly think I give a plane-flying fuck about offending people at this point?

Shitty mood right now, children. Anyone wants to take pot-shots at me, I'd really, really appreciate the release of tearing you a new one.

Posted by Aaron at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Right, heading to Schuba's for this tomorrow, I think:

Tuesday, 3/9/2004 - 8:00pm - Web: $10
18 And Over
Vienna Teng with
Kyler England
In the same vain (sic - Ed.) as Norah Jones, and with a Chopin meets Sarah McLachlan feel, Vienna Teng is a real artist. Her latest release "Waking Hour" has been met by enormous critical acclaim. Described in Sports Illustrated as the best "get your girl in the mood" album, you can see many reasons why Vienna has gotten all the applause. This 24-year-old singer/songwriter/pianist is beyond her years in talent and has wowed audiences nationwide on tour and with her performance on The Late Show with David Letterman. She is currently awaiting another album release on Virt Records, "Warm Strangers", which is due out in February.

Have notified Redpac, the Ghettofabulous Jessica and Yano, none of whom have seen fit to reply. Anyone else going, other than some of the good people of Ecto, where I read about the show?

np: The Beautiful People, Marilyn Manson

Update: Duh. Same performers tonight at the Fine Line in beautiful(?) Minneapolis.

I expect a review from one of you lot.

Posted by Aaron at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Or Firebird. Or Firefox. Or whatever Mojira.org is calling it this week. . .

New (to them) Raputina at EMusic. If nothing else, get PJ + Vincent & Matthew + Bjork from Cabin Fever!. Satisfaction guaranteed, or triple your money back. Name one other belief system ready to make that claim.

np -- 32 Flavors, Ani DiFranco, Better Than Chocolate Soundtrack. Yeah, I already have the song, but felt like giving Ani more money. Sue me.

Apropos of absolutely, positively nothing, Godzilla: Final Wars. I am so there.

And yes, I'm going to see the original when and if it makes it to Chi, too.

I mean, come on. Godzilla.

Update: Added link to the lyrics of PJ + etc. (scroll down), at Revolution Freedom. Which I'm linking, as otherwise I'll forget it exists, and that would be a shame, because it's quite good.

Posted by Aaron at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup
Yeah buddy that's his own hair
That little faggot got his own jet airplane
That little faggot he's a millionaire

Don't remember any controversy about the lyrics at the time, but Brothers In Arms was released nearly twenty years ago, and some details may have slipped my mind in the meantime. That, and I was like 15. Teenagers, generally not known for paying attention to the world around them.

Nowadays, of course, I doubt you could get away with "faggot" in a pop song. This is speculation, of course; don't listen to much pop music nowadays. Old people, generally not known for paying attention to contemporary popular culture.

Point being, although I could see some folks attacking Mark Knopfler and ferchrissakes Sting for homophobia. . . well, I'd see them, and then I'd point and laugh. Clearly, that isn't/wasn't the point.

Could do something about how faggot is a word, and what matters isn't the word but the connection the word implies, and how (to take an old example) a gay man starting a letter to Savage Love with the salutation, "Hey, faggot" has nothing (semantically) in common with a frat-rat doing a drive-by screaming of the same thing at someone coming out of a gay bar at 2 in the morning. . . but that's a very ugly sentence, and I'm not sure it conveys the meaning I'm trying to get across.

And that would get into reclaiming slurs, and inclusive/exclusive group membership language use stuff, and I'm pretty sure I've covered all this before, to be honest.

So. I rather liked that song, especially Sting's bit. Suppose it's on the Classic stations now. God, I'm old.

np -- The Devil Went To Georgia, Charlie Daniels Band, The Live Record

Update: Added a link to the Savage Love column where Dan Savage discusses the old, standard greeting:

[N]o one has to address me as "Hey, Faggot" anymore: I'm retiring the salutation. When I started writing this column in 1991, there was a debate raging in hellish homosexual circles about words like faggot. The idea was that if we used these words ourselves--Queer Nation, Dyke March, "Hey, Faggot"--straights couldn't use them as hate words anymore. I chose "Hey, Faggot" as my salutation in joking reference to this lively debate about reclaiming hate words.

Lo many columns later, it feels strange to begin every column with a joke about a debate that ended years ago. So, I'm retiring "Hey, Faggot." Unless someone out there comes up with a better salutation--a salutation for the next millennium--you don't have to address me as anything at all.

Continuing the theme, was going to mutter something in comments at locussolus about Sluts Against Rape, but remembered that I don't do comments elsewhere.

Speaking of which:

I take great pride in knowing that God says that "vengeance is his and he shall repay" becuase God knows how to deal with those that have been entrusted with authority but they abuse and hate the cross!

I cant wait!

From a comment at La Shawn's place, which she hasn't responded to. And by "responded to," I mean, "condemned in the strongest possible terms." Which implies (or I infer from it, take your pick) that. . . you know, my ability to give a shit about the ignant as long as they stay the fuck away from me and mine is rapidly dwindling to nothing. Never mind.

Posted by Aaron at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, I was going to call George, Jason and I the Negro League, but a) Dwayne would probably seek legal action on behalf of AOL Time-Warner (congrats on the Emmy nominations, by the way, and perhaps by August I'll have cable and can actually watch Justice League Unlimited. Mmmm, Barda. . .) and b) that would imply a level of mad beisbol skillz which I, for one, do not enjoy. 'tis one of the reasons I can't abide by softball dykes; they make me feel inadequate. Plus, mullets. Brrrr.

Is there anyone out there I haven't offended?

Right, I'll try harder.

Despite signing up for the blackblogz ring, I have to admit I don't spend much time at, um, black blogz. A defect I intend to rectify immediately. Not by hitting the random button for the ring, no, that would be too simple. I'm going to have a look at some of the conservative/libertarian blogz run by blackz, to see how the other half lives.

And because, you know, comedy gold.

We start our tour with Ramblings' Journal, because I just know that anyone who describes their thoughts as "politically incorrect" is good for a giggle. He does not disappoint. Well, he does, obviously, but in a good way: Conservative Blacks Ignored During Black History Month:

. . .

Well, fuck. It's mostly a quote; the only original bits are

A wise observation from Jan Ireland over at ChronWatch

And

Too bad it has to be said in the first place.

Must be from the InstaPundit school of blogging. There's a reason no one invites you lot to do readings, you know.

Well, this sucks. What else, what else. . . more with the mazel tov to Dwayne, can't make fun of him over that, seeing as he beat me to it, because I suck. . . and yes, all Negroes use Yiddish slang, bubbeleh. . . ah, here we go: Sometimes, you have to draw the line:

I can't condone what happened at the basketball game in question. But the polite term I'd use for someone who foams at the mouth like Acidman did here is "knuckle-dragging mouth-breather."

There is a distinct difference between being conservative, being pissed off, and being a complete race-baiting asshole. That guy obviously falls in the latter category.

Just damn.

Hat tip to Article Online (and thanks for the link!)...

Links to Acidman deleted on general principles; the fuck is wrong with you people?

And who started that "hat tip" shit? English, damn it, I want my son to grow up speaking English. Bad enough his name is Hector. . .

Huh. That quote isn't there. Go figure. And, um, English and Yiddish, I mean. Yes, that will do. . .

And anyone out there wanna explain these "distinct difference[s] (sic) between being conservative, being pissed off, and being a complete race-baiting asshole"? Because I gotta admit, seems more like that Zadeh fuzzy sets stuff, and arbitrarily assigning somethin'-somethin' to one category ain't nearly so straightforward.

Amazing. Only one down, and I'm already bored.

Ok, let's try La Shawn Barber's Corner:

Ann Coulter does it again! She discusses the liberals' reaction to "The Passion..."

Ok, again, link deleted, because, again, the fu--

Right, Christian. Shouldn't use that sort of language. Direct/permalink to her entry here. And since ah hates linking the word "here," this should serve as an indication of how tired I am of this already. Sorry. Thought I'd manage to get more out of this.

Maybe if I had better material to work with. . .

Oh dear.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Scrolled a bit further down La Shawn's page, and came across (and ah hates linking "this" too, by the bye) this:

Kudos to Mike S. Adams for his running commentary on rampant liberalism in public universities. This time he targets UNC-Greensboro, or “UNC-Gomorrah." Warning: You may feel a bit nauseated after reading the column.

An excerpt:

While talking to the officers, I learned that UNCG is presenting its annual Gay Pride Week in March. Among the many highlights of this special week are a "drag queen day" and a "gay prom." The university directly funds some of these events. Others are funded by private sources after employees paid by the university have initiated them using various university resources. None are completely free from taxpayer expense.

In response, the CRs [College Republicans] recently tried to organize a Morals Week to coincide with Gay Pride Week. When they tried to get equal funding and support, the university turned them down saying that they wouldn't fund anything having to do with "morals."

Links deleted again, along with a font colour change. Go see the original, if you're that fucking interested.

And yes, I've changed me mind about watching the language around the Christian.

Not all I've changed me mind about, either, because yes, "a bit nauseated" is an accurate description of my current state.

Particularly after reading Front Lines Of The Culture War, which I'm not even fucking bothering to quote.

Young lady?

You want to explain yourself?

Right fucking now?

Posted by Aaron at 5:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Ah me. No newsletters from anyone, meaning I'd have to do actual surfing to find material to write an entry. Where's the fun in that, I ask you?

Also, nothing from Virginia in response to my request yesterday. Honestly, child, I did The Full Monty, and I assure you, no one was searching Google for that. Really, you should be flattered. And make with the email attachments.

If you insist on being obstinate, I do point out that I have the head shot from your blog, a copy of Photoshop, and a number of options at Suze.net to choose from.

I'm thinking Jenna Jameson, but if you have a preference, please, feel free to let me know.

Moo hoo ha ha.

Posted by Aaron at 4:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Now that we're all familiar to the point of boredom with Verbal Self-Defense, have a look at the following interaction from a washingtonpost.com Live Online chat with Noam Chomsky:

Washington, D.C.: I'm asking you this question sincerely: Why don't you direct your hatred of George Bush toward someone more worthy of such venom, such as Osama bin Laden?

Noam Chomsky: I don't recall having expressed any hatred for George Bush[.]

Trivial example, I know. Thing is, Chomsky deals with that kind of shit all the time. When folks say he seems a mite cranky on occasion, well, I think he's demonstrating an admirable amount of restraint, all things considered.

Link found on the Debates & Discussions page of chomsky.info : The Official Noam Chomsky Website.

Anyone planning on informing me how linking same indicates that I'm objectively pro-terror?

Please. Feel free.

Another trivial example, yes, but I'm using a pedagogical approach which emphasizes repetition.

Dumbass.

Posted by Aaron at 9:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Why do I check my referrers, I ask you?

http://www.google.com/search?s...q=%22virginia+postrel%22+naked

Why oh why oh why. . .

Not really worried that posting that will move me higher in the results, since I'm already the first fucking one. VASpider, I swear I'm gonna kick this mother fucker's ass next time I'm in Minneapolis.

I'll just need to borrow some phone books to stand on.

Anyway, anyone find any humor whatsoever in Republicans/right-wingers, who hijacked the language of the civil rights movement to pass anti-Affirmative Action ballot initiatives and in their ongoing Kaiju Big Battel for the rights of the unborm, condeming The Gay for hijacking the language of the civil rights movement?

Nah, me either. It's that Kissinger winning the Nobel Peace Prize thang all over again; satire is just plain not possible.

Today's Women(andminorities)'s History Lesson: Homosexuals: Victims of the Nazi Era:

On May 6,1933, Nazis ransacked the "Institute for Sexual Science" in Berlin; four days later, as part of large public burnings of books viewed as "un-German," thousands of books plundered from the Institute's library were thrown into a huge bonfire. The institute was founded in 1919 by Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld (1868 -1935). It sponsored research and discussion on marital problems, sexually transmitted diseases, and laws relating to sexual offenses, abortion, and homosexuality. The author of many works, Hirschfeld, himself a homosexual, led efforts for three decades to reform laws criminalizing homosexuality (In 1933 Hirschfeld happened to be in France, where he remained until his death.)

In 1934, a special Gestapo (Secret State Police) division on homosexuals was set up. One of its first acts was to order the police "pink lists" from all over Germany The police had been compiling these lists of suspected homosexual men since 1900. On September 1, 1935, a harsher, amended version of Paragraph 175 of the Criminal Code, originally framed in 1871, went into effect, punishing a broad range of "lewd and lascivious" behavior between men. In 1936 Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler created a Reich Central Office for the Combating of Homosexuality and Abortion: Special Office (II S), a subdepartment of Executive Department II of the Gestapo. The linking of homosexuality and abortion reflected the Nazi regimes population policies to promote a higher birthrate of its "Aryan" population. On this subject Himmler spoke in Bad Tölz on February 18, 1937, before a group of high-ranking SS officers on the dangers both homosexuality and abortion posed to the German birthrate.

Several links in the original, which I left out because they were relative links in the source, and I didn't feel like copy&paste'ing the rest of the URI for 'em.

Which utterly irrelevant geekiness I mention to cushion the horror of what's actually in the original, which is much longer and only worth a look if, like me, pretty much all you know about the Nazis is that they were very evil, very racist, and killed six million Jews.

Because that's not quite the public face they presented to the German people. I'd like to think no one has such a low opinion of human nature generally, or the nature of post-WW I German nature specifically, to think they'd flock to the polls to vote for the folks with the stirring slogan, "We're Very Evil, Very Racist, and Plan to Kill Six Million Jews."

(Well, they planned to kill more, actually, but since writing about this makes me slightly sick to my stomach, let's just go with that, eh?)

Can't think of anything to say about that Central Office, either. The one I tossed an <em> tag around, just to get your attention.

Now, who else do we know who conflates homosexuality and abortion as threats to (Western/Aryan/American) civilization?

Yes, I used that title for this entry for a damn good reason.

I'm being kind.

All prisoners of the camps wore marks of various colors and shapes, which allowed guards and camp functionaries to identify them by category. The uniforms of those sentenced as homosexuals bore, various identifying marks, including a large black dot and a large "175" drawn on the back of the jacket. Later a pink triangular patch (rosa Winkel) appeared. Conditions in the camps were generally harsh for all inmates, many of whom died from hunger, disease, exhaustion, exposure to the cold, and brutal treatment. Many survivors have testified that men with pink triangles were often treated particularly severely by guards and inmates alike because of widespread biases against homosexuals. As was true with other prisoner categories, some homosexuals were also victims of cruel medical experiments, including castration. At Buchenwald concentration camp, SS physician Dr. Carl Vaernet performed operations designed to convert men to heterosexuals: the surgical insertion of a capsule which released the male hormone testosterone. Such procedures reflected the desire by Himmler and others to find a medical solution to homosexuality.

I'm leaving out the even more disgusting bits.

Update: Oh yeah, speaking of disgusting bits, Virginia? I'm gonna need some photos.

Just so people aren't disappointed when they hit that search result, you know?

Update 2: Put the links back in the (block)quoted material, since it's not like it was that difficult.

And was going to add something nasty about the Nazis destroying the Institute and how some folks favor abstinence-only sex ed, but I really am trying to be kinder these days.

Posted by Aaron at 5:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Because, you know, not everyone has that odd photographic/sievelike memory combo thing I seem to be stuck with these days:

GILES: Can you move?

BEN: Need... a minute. She could have killed me.

GILES: No she couldn't. Never. And sooner or later, Glory will re-emerge and make Buffy pay for that mercy, and the world with her. Buffy even knows that, and still she couldn't take a human life. She's a hero, you see. She's not like us.

BEN: Us?

(Giles suffocates Ben)

From Buffy Dialogue Database: The Gift, if that wasn't clear before.

Oh, and although this should be obvious?

I'm not a hero either.

Posted by Aaron at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (1)

. . . is that it saves me all kinds of legwork. Fingerwork. Whatevah.

From the [Venus Zine Announcements] spring venus:

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

"AIN'T NO SHAME"
You met, you loved, you parted ways in record-breaking time. Don't hang your head in shame! Dust off those skeletons in your closet and dish on your one-night stands for the summer issue of Venus. Whether your tryst was sizzling, hilarious, or embarrassing, we want to hear about it. Please submit stories of 250 words or less to jen@venuszine.com by March 15.

And they mention that the Spring issue (No. 19, for those of you keeping track) is available at "indie record stores, Borders, Tower, Barnes & Noble, and select Hastings and Books A Million stores." Along with Women and Children First, I'm guessing, since that's where I got the previous one.

Or, if you have an aversion to that whole dead-tree thing, there's always the web site, linked above. Features a DVD review of Plaster Caster:

A winner at the 2001 Chicago Underground Film Festival, the film Plaster Caster, is now being released for the first time on DVD. The 91-minute documentary is extremely entertaining and informative, even if you have no prior interest in or knowledge of Plaster Caster’s work.

If you have no prior knowledge of her work, you're bloody well not getting it here. Go read.

And not speaking of Borders (which link takes you to Amazon, which I'd forgotten, as I have a degenerative brain disease), stopped by the local one at lunch to pick up Fiona Apple's When the Pawn. . .. Their Title Sleuth system listed it on MiniDisc, mentioning that you'd have to order it at the Info desk.

Which I did.

Costs a few bucks more than the cd, but a) saves me the trouble of copying/recording it, b) confused the hell out of the poor guy working the Info desk and c) should continue to confuse the hell out of people as the request works its way through the corporate chain.

Just the look on the guy's face when he checked the computer to make sure I wasn't just talking crazy asking for it. . . makes it worth the extra bucks.

Posted by Aaron at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

. . .Computer Mode:

Second Technique - Using the Satir Modes

Dr. Virginia Satir was a world-famous family therapist. As she worked with clients, she noticed that the language behavior of people under stress tends to fall into one of the following five categories, which we call the _Satir Modes_.

• Blaming:
  

  "WHY don't you ever think about anybody ELSE's feelings? DON'T you have ANY consideration for other people at ALL?"

• Placating:
  

  "Oh, YOU know how I am! Shoot - whatever YOU want to do is okay with ME!"

• Computing:
  

  "There is undoubtedly a good reason for this delay. No sensible person would be upset."

• Distracting:
  

  "WHAT IS THE MATTER with you, ANYway? Not that_I_ care! YOU know me - I can put up with ANYthing! However, common sense would indicate that the original agreement should be followed. And I am really FED UP with this garbage!!"

• Leveling:
  

  "I like you. But I don't like your methods."

Each of the Satir Modes has a characteristic style of body language. Blamers shake their fists or their index fingers; they scowl and frown and loom over people. Placaters cling and fidget and lean on others. Computers are stiff and rigid, moving as little as possible. Distractors cycle through the other Modes with their bodies just as they do with their words. THe body language of Levelers is distinguished by the absence of these other patterns, and by the fact that it's not in conflict with their words.

The first four Satir Modes are examples of the lack of a _personal_ syntonic state. People use Blamer Mode because they are insecure and afraid that nobody will respect or obey them. People use Placater Mode - saying that they don't care - because they care so very much. They use Computer Mode - saying "I have no emotions" - because they are aware of an emotion they actually feel and are unwilling to let it show. Distracter Mode cycles through all of these states of mismatch and expresses panic. Only with Leveler Mode (or with Computer Mode used deliberately for strategic reasons) do you have a syntonic state. To the extent that they are capable of accurately judging their own feelings, people using Leveler Mode use words and body language that match those feelings.

From The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense: An Overview, because it's one of those little fixations I sometimes get. And oddly, was thinking about the Blaming Mode reading the comments at Dru's entry Lazy. I can't for the life of me imagine why.

I realize I'm the last person who should be demanding a higher/better level of discourse in online discussions, but. . . I'm fucking demanding a higher/better level of discourse in online discussions.

Another reason I rarely post comments elsewhere. I suck at practicing what I preach. Here, at least, I can cover my hypocricy in a level of self-mocking irony or some such.

Your assignment for today, class, is to drop by a flame-y comment thread somewhere, and find one example of each of the five Satir modes.

This should take all of five minutes, less depending on where you go to look for them.

The main problem with knowing the Satir Modes, of course is, to rip off Grant Morrison yet again, that it's like having the Cheat Codes to a video game. And the person you're playing against -- let's face it, most discussions come down to one person/side or the other trying to score rhetorical points, rather than, um, discussing anything -- really, really ain't gonna like it.

There is a simple response to this.

I've stated it several times recently.

"Grow the fuck up."

Not really a motto, now that I think about it. More of a battle cry.

Update: Ah yes. Bonus points on that assignment if you choose a post written by someone you don't agree with on some issue -- Michele, for example -- and select examples of Satir mode comments made by people you (more or less) do agree with. That example's for the progressive/left/liberal types; right-wingers can do the same for a thread here.

Yes, this is my sledge-hammer like subtlety at work.

Update 2: Spent minimal time & effort editing the HTML in the quote, since the <PRE> tag was doing the wacky. Mind you, editing the style sheet would have involved even less time & effort, if I knew the first thing about CSS, which I don't.

Posted by Aaron at 6:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (2)

Yes, I signed up for a LiveJournal.

Shut up.

Thing is, I pretty much use the massive links list on the main page as a portable bookmarks list, and since I'm still not sure how many of the people I know with LJ's are comfortable with having such listed publicly, it seemed better to just sign up and use the Friend's Page deal to remember to read them.

Except, of course, that anyone clicking through that first link will be able to see those pages I didn't want to link here.

Rather defeating the entire purpose.

Bought a cuppa Columbian at White Hen rather than getting beans at Jewel's. I don't think this stuff is working very well. . .

Posted by Aaron at 5:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you're utterly confused about how a male-run site with a disproportionately high female/male ratio in readers -- or at least people who post comments -- can openly discuss pornography/erotica without anyone (publicly) raising a stink. . . yes, well, thank you for visiting us here in the 21st century, and we do hope you enjoy your stay.

Tristan Risk has opened her member's section, and naturally the first thing I noticed is that she's using PayPal for processing payments, rather than Verotel, as she did for the individual galleries, and sent her an e-mail about how Paypal Flip[ed] the Switch:

The word spread quickly among adult webmasters. As of May 12, 2003, PayPal will no longer support transactions for adult content or products.

Afrekete from EroticaCash informed the board at Cozy Campus (Click Here for thread) the day she received her PayPal email notice. Other boards showed similar postings from other webmasters who got the same news from PayPal. The announcement has been the cause of much concern and dismay and with good reason. The loss of PayPal as a transaction/payment service is going to hurt a great many in our industry.

[. . .] PayPal has always been unclear as to where it stands on policies concerning adult content. The public company line was oft stated: "PayPal doesn't deal in porn". But PayPal has hosted a booth at more than one adult trade show. Their old acceptable use policy forbade "obscene" content but left the determination of obscenity up to individual community standards. PayPal has always been in 'don't ask, don't tell' mode with the adult Internet. Adult webmasters were warned all along their footing was shaky if they trusted their finances to PayPal. When Ebay bought PayPal, adult webmasters were warned again. Ebay had an existing policy that relegated adult content to their Mature Audience's section. Even though PayPal has been processing transactions for adult webmasters/providers/paysites for all this time, the end was inevitable.

More details -- or maybe they're the same details, I'm still pre-caffeinated -- at PayPal turns off the red light:

With the new policy, sexually themed materials join a long list of items whose sale by PayPal members is either forbidden or highly restricted. These include bootleg recordings, counterfeit currency and stamps, water pipes and wired cigarette papers, illegal drugs, firearms made after 1898, humans, corpses and human body parts.

PayPal has carved out numerous exceptions to its ban on sexually themed materials, including what it terms "fine art"--singling out Michelangelo's David as an example, should it come up for sale--and issues of the magazines "Playboy," "Playgirl" and "Penthouse" printed before 1980.

This is because Aaron Hawkins is a Weirdo, and Thinks Too Much. Normal human beings will just notice lovely photos of a very attractive young woman. Go give her lots of money. But save around $25 for Abigail's book.

Ran out of the Trader Joe's Double Dark coffee and the enriched chocolate soy milk. This is a Very Bad Thing Indeed, especially since none of the local coffee shops are open at 4 in the morning. Hell, even the closest Jewel's isn't open, meaning I'll have to schlepp about half a mile to get some beans. I may not survive the trip. If not, farewell, farewell.

Posted by Aaron at 3:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Haven't written anything about Vietnamese pop singers or beauty contests in ages, after all. Again from the Indigo Girls mailing list:

Mark your calendars for the week of March 7th. If you watch TV, it will be hard to miss the Indigo Girls performing. Double check scheduled times for your time zone:

• Monday, March 8 - The Today Show at 8:45 am
• Thursday, March 11 - The View at 11:00 am-12:00 pm
• Saturday, March 13 - CBS Saturday Morning 7:00 am - 9:00 am
• March 12 or the next week - Charlie Rose
• March 14 or 21 - A&E Breakfast for the Arts

And there are some bits of reviews of the new cd. All of which are glowing, but why quote bad reviews to people who, um, have probably already bought the thing, seeing as they're on the list?

Never mind.

Off to watch Angel. Remember, some people are on a tape delay, so please avoid spoilers, or at least provide some warning.

Update: Also got the March Families Like Mine E-News, which includes a preliminary list of readings from the book of the same name:

• April 8: New York City
  LGBT Community Center/Out Professionals
  208 West 13th Street, 8pm
• April 9: Washington, DC
  Lambda Rising Bookstore
  1625 Connecticut Avenue NW, 7pm
• April 12: San Francisco
  Commonwealth Club/LGBT Forum
  595 Market Street, 6pm
• April 14: Chicago
  Reading location TBA
• April 15: Madison
  Outreach, Inc.
  600 Williamson Street, 7pm
• April 20: Minneapolis
  Amazon Bookstore
  4432 Chicago Avenue, 7pm

The TBA thing in Chicago thing is my fault.

And there's a new Get Your War On, which should take your mind off that last statement.

Posted by Aaron at 7:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, yes, bit of a bummer about Angel getting cancelled, but at least The WB gave enough notice for Joss Whedon & Co. to come up with an actual series ending. Unless you liked that cliffhanger in the final episode of Twin Peaks, in which case, I may have to shoot you, just on G.P.

The series finale should have Joss Dialogue. This is a Good Thing.

Giles: Buffy couldn't kill you, because she's a hero. She's not like us.
Ben: Us?

Even if it sometimes doesn't make sense out of context.

In context, this is why I don't eff with Giles, even if I don't link his main site or his library nearly as often as their quality should warrant.

Yes, this is the pre-coffee syntax. Shut up.

So, I wrote in Michele's comments a few days back:

Since it seems to be the Word of the Day, best response to all this I've read was a comment at Making Light: You are not responsible for your actions in someone else's dream.

Which in this context means that if someone wants to accuse you of believing X, thinking Y and hating Z because of how you're planning to vote. . . ain't much you can say to 'em.

And while I'm here, about that little de-linking fracas I started about a year back? That was exceptionally childish of me, and I apologize.

Only, you know, badly edited (is there a term for when you rewrite a phrase or sentence, but fail to remove all the original bits?), and without the links. And I may have been wrong about reading that quote at Making Light -- could'a been Electrolite, or a discussion linked from one of them -- and I think I got the quote wrong to boot.

These are just some of the many, many reasons I usually refrain from posting comments elsewhere.

Luckily, no one there seems to have noticed that X, Y and Z can just as easily be replaced with conservative/right-wing charges against liberals/leftists. And that sort of "putting the other person on the defensive by accusing them of holding views that they never expressed" stuff just bores me to tears at this point. Luckily, don't get that sort of thing here much anymore.

Well, it bores me to tears when people do it to me. Seeing people on the left do it to Michele in her comments. . . no, wait, that bores me too.

Did I mention that, "Grow the fuck up" is me motto for the year?

Well, it bears repeating.

Update: And, as usual, I fail to explain why I'm babbling about the material in the entry. Common failing. I have a degerative brain disease.

Michele pubicly announced her de-linking of. . . someone I'm not going to link, as that rather defeats the entire purpose, for his repeated use of "nigger" or variations thereof in an entry. Oliver, demonstrating the keen insight that keeps me from bothering to read him on a regular basis, touches on the issue in an entry titled "Hate."

Mind you, I can almost understand the reactions, given the provocation:

I am sick and tired of listening to the niggers whine. You've had 300 years to make a go of life in this country, and you've fucked up every chance ever handed to you. Got-Dam! Don't call me a racist. ADMIT THE GODDAM FACTS.

I heard a lot of old, racist red-necks say when I was a boy, "You can take the nigger out of the jungle, but you'll never get the jungle out of the nigger."

I hated hearing such talk when I was young. But I believe that they were right, after watching history for the past 40 years of my life. Nobody who ever lived in this world EVER had as much gelt handed to them by the government as "African Americans" have and nobody has EVER pissed away their opportunities so badly. That's a fact.

Besides, how many "African Americans" ever saw Africa in their fucking lives, anyway? You don't like it here? Go back to Africa. Live with no health care, corrupt dictators, rampant AIDS and nothing but a tin roof over your head. Give up your welfare checks, your VCRs and the "racist" society that you live in now. Go back to Africa, thumb your nose at me and tell how much better life is in "the homeland."

And, as I said, I'm not linking the source; Michele and Oliver do, if you're curious.

But I don't think that's hate. Ignance, yes. Not the sort of thing anyone with a dollop of social skills would say publicly, definitely. Then again, I wouldn't expect a Senator to start complaining about how tired Americans are of having homosexuality shoved down their throats, either.

Obviously, I'd rather not deal with ignant folk. But at this point, I'd much rather they be explicit in they ignance than keep it bottled up. No one is that good an actor or actress, though, and the ignance is going to seep out anyway. May as well get it out in the open, so folks with more patience than I can have a go at discussing it, rather than saying one thing and privately believing something else.

Because you're really not fooling anybody.

Posted by Aaron at 5:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (1)

Which is a good thing to know, either so you can defend yourself, or so you can recognize when you're putting someone else in a sitch where they feel compelled to defend themselves. Oddly enough, boys tend to have a problem with this more than women do -- the not realizing that they're attacking people thing. I think the clinical term for this is, "testosterone poisoning."

Any road up, here's How Verbal Self-Defense Works:

It has undoubtedly happened to you. There you are, in the middle of a fierce argument with someone, and suddenly you realize that you not only don't particularly care about the subject of the argument but you can't understand how you got into the altercation in the first place!

This isn't trivial. Hostile language is dangerous to your health and well-being; it's toxic stuff. People who are frequently exposed to hostile language get sick more often, are injured more often, take longer to recover from illness and injury, and suffer more complications during recovery. As an obvious result, they tend to die sooner than those not so exposed. What's more, hostile language is just as dangerous to the person dishing it out (and to innocent bystanders who can't leave the scene) as it is to the person on the receiving end.

Or rather, the introductory paragraphs to the first page (of five) at How Stuff Works on the subject, written by Suzette Haden Elgin herself. Previous link to the "About the Author" section, which lists a number of her books which'll let you Read More About It.

The article is a good start, though.

And if, as you're reading it, you begin to have a better understanding of why so many 'net discussions are, um, really fucking stupid, well. . . that's why Suzette makes the Big Bucks.

Posted by Aaron at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Almost forgot: when I announced that amnesty a few days back, and said anyone who had something useful to contribute to the conversation could post a comment (or entry, on FFAF)?

This excludes Gray, of course.

Because I made the mistake of re-reading his last comment here (which I'm not linking out of what remains of the kindness of my heart), and the arrogant little cunt still fucking pisses me off.

Takes quite a bit to make my permanent shit list, but somehow he managed it. I think this is related to something I read in Teresa Nielsen Hayden's Suzette Haden Elgin's (okay, that joke is now officially dead) The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense, about attempting to create dominance relations/hierarchies through language. At least I'm guessing that's what he was trying to do, comparing me to his children. Doubt he was aware of it on a conscious level; he ain't none too bright, really.

You may be wondering why I'm reading that book.

Emphasis on the word Gentle. I got a nasty tendency to bring a tactical thermonuclear device to a gunfight, even when the Playa-Hata on the other side has a letter opener.

As was the case with his dumb ass.

np: Voltaire, When You're Evil, PROJEKT: Gothic - an etheral / darkwave compilation (thanks, Neo!)

Update: Ok, I have no idea how I managed to initially miss-type the title that badly. WCW flashbacks, maybe?

Posted by Aaron at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Namely, Abigail Garner in the forthcoming-at-the-end-of-this-month Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is:

Based on eight years of activism, combined with interviews with more than fifty sons and daughters, Families Like Mine debunks the anti-gay myth that these children grow up damaged and confused. At the same time, Garner's book refutes the popular pro-gay sentiment that these children turn out "just like everyone else." In addition to the typical stresses of growing up, the unique pressures these children face are not due to their parents' sexuality, but rather to homophobia and prejudice. Using a rich blend of journalism and memoir, Garner offers empathetic yet unapologetic opinions about the gifts and challenges of being raised in families that are often labeled "controversial."

Fairly certain I've mentioned this before, but the street date approacheth, and recent events have made the subject matter more timely than ever.

Which might explain why I haven't received a newsletter from the woman recently. That, or my spam filter is doing the wacky.

Update: Saw this (hate linking the word "this," so I parenthetically link NYTimes.com: Both Sides Court Black Churches in the Debate Over Gay Marriage) at the relocated Alas, A Blog, along with several other links worth a look, and considered giving it a full entry:

The fact that many black Christians are both politically liberal and socially conservative makes them frustratingly difficult to pigeonhole in a political environment in which, many pundits contend, voters are cleanly split along ideological lines. Many blacks opposed to gay marriage, for example, support equal benefits for gays as a matter of economic justice.

And the prize often generically referred to as "the black church" is actually a diverse collection of historically black denominations and congregations that covers a wide range of theological and social beliefs.

Advocates of gay marriage are appealing to those on the left end of that spectrum to show that the issue is really about civil rights. Those opposed are courting more conservative blacks as evidence that they are not bigots for suggesting the issue has nothing to do with civil rights. The resulting alliances are often used publicly to imply backing of "the church" as a whole.

But am a bit tired of, "Black people not monolithic, film at 11" type stuff.

And there's that whole dualism thing involved with tossing around "right," "left," "liberal" and "conservative." Blah.

Posted by Aaron at 5:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Ok, I was a bit surprised at the reaction to this the first time I posted it, back in late November of last year. Maybe I shouldn't have been; not everyone has seen Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, after all, and even those who did, might not remember the scene I ripped this off from. That, and there had been more than the usual amount of genuine bullshit tossed at me around that time, as opposed to the made-up kind.

This was really my way of telling the folks doing it, "Grow the fuck up."

Me motto for the year, that is. Well, one of them. The other is, "Put your money where your fucking mouth is, dickhead." Although that's usually expressed as not allowing anonymous comments or FFAF entries.

Yes, I should get some sleep. . .

- - -Old stuff below this line - - -

"Uppity-Negro.com is the worst web site I ever read. Aaron Hawkins and Anastasia Beaverhousen are stupid characters, a couple of stoners who spout dumb-ass catch-phrases like a third rate 'Cheech and Chong' or 'Bill and Ted'. Fuck Uppity-Negro.com. Fuck them up their stupid asses."

Meh.

"Uppity-Negro.com is a terrible, one-note joke that only stoners laugh at. It's fucking clown shoes. If the person writing it were real, I'd beat the shit out of him or her or whatever the fuck it's claiming to be today for being so stupid. I can't believe Hostway would have anything to do with this shit. I, for one, will be boycotting this website. Who's with me?"

And then there were about fifty more posts from people who agree to join Spartacus here's boycott of the site.

I'm gonna kill all these fucks.

But, you know, they may have a point. I mean, a web site called Uppity-Negro.com? Who in God's name would read something like that?

BrowserSpy -Basic Information

Eheh.

Update: Right, almost forgot.

"Uppity-Negro.com and his stupid alter ego Aaron Hawkins only work in small doses, if at all. He doesn't deserve his own website."

Didn't realize it was a question of deserve, but whatevah.

Have I used that enough that it constitutes a dumb-ass catch-phrase?

Cuz this is my United States of Whatevah.

- - - End of old stuff - - -

Another of my half-formed notions about how I'm possibly setting myself up for more anonymous attacks from random strangers by writing about personal stuff. But, the personal is political, even if it really shouldn't be.

Not terribly interested in debating religion (Update: But Michele is, because she's just that much cooler than I am), figure the sort of body type you're attracted to is hard-wired into you as much as what gender you're attracted to (say, "Ex-gay" to me, I dare you, I double-dog dare you), and The Clitourist is only of interest if you want to bring your female partners to orgasm, so. . .

Yep. Sleep would probably be a good idea right about now.

Posted by Aaron at 4:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

Anyway, so. Saw this at Pandagon, which along with Eschaton and Talking Points Memo is my main source of info about what's going on in the world: Sizing Up America: Signs of Expansion, possibly reg-required at the NYTimes:

Over all, the new measurements shake up what have long been considered the average outlines of the American body. For years, an average woman was thought to be a size 8, although some circles had bumped that up to size 12 in recent years. But even the women who came in on the small side in the SizeUSA survey look more like what the longtime clothing industry standards would consider a size 14 — the size at which "plus size" clothing begins.

Industry standards set a size 8 at a 35-inch bust, a 27-inch waist, and 37.5-inch hip. In the survey, white women ages 18 to 25 came in, on average, 38-32-41, with white women ages 36 to 45 coming in at 41-34-43. (Barbie, long the plastic bane of body image, is said to have measurements that project to about 39-18-33.) In that same age group, black women measure, on average, 43-37-46, Hispanic women 42.5-36-44, and "other" women, which researchers said meant mostly Asian, 41-35-43.

Similarly, most men are larger than the traditional 40 regular, long considered the average. A 40 regular, according to standards, means a 40-inch chest, 34-inch waist, and 40-inch hip, with a 15.5-inch collar. In the survey, white men ages 18 to 25 had, on average, a 41-inch chest, 35-inch waist, 41-inch hips and a 16-inch collar (that is raw neck size — shirts are generally sized at least a half-inch bigger). From the ages of 36 to 45, white men came in at 44-38-42, black men 43-37-42, Hispanic men 44-38-42 and "other" 42-37-41.

"Waists are the first problem, " said Jim Lovejoy, the director of SizeUSA and a director at TC2, the Cary, N.C., technology firm whose machines did the survey. "The numbers show that we're complex, but we're definitely getting heavier, and it's primarily in the waist — and the hips follow the waist."

Was gonna mention vis-a-vis that little Physical Attraction Test at Match.com I babbled about a while back that besides the redhead thing, it informed me that:

You also find "Large and Lovely" women sexy. In addition to their full figures, these women typically have strikingly beautiful faces. Their big eyes and open (rather than crowded) faces convey a sense of warmth and acceptance that puts people at ease. Most have relatively beautiful skin, small noses and very full, luscious lips. They also take pride in their flawless makeup and long, gorgeous hair. Since the media tends to focus on very thin women, you may be surprised to learn that almost half of men (44%) say lovely, large women are among their favorite types.

Again, no surprises here, but this was determined (supposedly; ain't sure about their methodology) by giving the test-taker illustrations of two body types and asking you to click the one you preferred. Wondered at the time how the drawings matched up against actual clothes sizes, because I don't think even the far end was a size 14.

Ah. Of course the article/study is mentioned at Big Fat Blog as well, and a comment mentions a similar study/set of findings for Japan, but specifically dealing with women.

Apparently, I'm the median height for a woman in the US. Yay me.

Also, going back to the Times article:

The real differences were between race and ethnicities, and age groups. White women were most likely to have a protruding stomach, sticking out an inch or more from the waist — what Mr. Lovejoy called "a little bit of a tummy." Eleven percent of white women were labeled thus, compared with 3 percent of Hispanic women, 4 percent of black women, and 7 percent of those classified "other." Twenty percent of Hispanic women had "full waists" compared with 10 percent of white women, and 15 percent of black.

May have something more to say about this when I'm not about to fall asleep at the keyboard.

Or not.

Posted by Aaron at 12:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Because I just know my dumb ass is going to forget. From the Indigo Girls mailing list:

Perfect World Tour 03/04/2004 Knoxville Civic Auditorium - Knoxville, Tennessee 03/05/2004 Thomas Wolfe Auditorium - Asheville, North Carolina 03/06/2004 Norva - Norfolk, Virginia 03/08/2004 Grand Opera House - Wilmington, Delaware 03/09/2004 Palace Theatre - Albany, New York 03/10/2004 Sovereign Performing Arts Center - Reading, Pennsylvania 03/12/2004 Radio City Music Hall - New York, New York 03/13/2004 Radio City Music Hall - New York, New York 03/15/2004 Benedum Center - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 03/16/2004 Massey Hall - Toronto, Canada 03/18/2004 State Theatre - Kalamazoo, Michigan 03/19/2004 Promowest Pavilion - Columbus, Ohio 03/20/2004 The Pageant - St. Louis, Missouri

Indigo Girls and the Atlanta Ballet
03/25/2004 The Fox Theatre Atlanta Georgia Indigo Girls and Atlanta Ballet to perform "Shed Your Skin"
03/26/2004 The Fox Theatre Atlanta Georgia Indigo Girls and Atlanta Ballet to perform "Shed Your Skin"
03/27/2004 The Fox Theatre Atlanta Georgia Indigo Girls and Atlanta Ballet to perform "Shed Your Skin" (two performances)
03/28/2004 The Fox Theatre Atlanta Georgia Indigo Girls and Atlanta Ballet to perform "Shed Your Skin" (two performances)

Perfect World Tour - Second Leg
03/31/2004 Freebird Live - Jacksonville, Florida
04/01/2004 Hard Rock Live - Orlando, Florida
04/02/2004 Carefree Theatre - West Palm Beach, Florida
04/03/2004 Carefree Theatre - West Palm Beach, Florida
04/04/2004 Olivia Cruise Lines - Key West, Florida
04/15/2004 Aerial Theatre - Houston, Texas
04/16/2004 Stubbs Outdoors - Austin, Texas
04/17/2004 Granada Theatre - Dallas, Texas
04/19/2004 The Blue Note - Columbia, Missouri
04/20/2004 Orpheum - Madison, Wiconsin
04/22/2004 Orpheum - Minneapolis, Minnesota
04/24/2004 Auditorium Theatre - Chicago, Illinois
04/26/2004 Charlottesville PAC - Charlottesville, Virginia
04/29/2004 MerleFest - Wilkesboro, North Carolina
04/30/2004 Alabama Theatre - Birmingham, Alabama
05/02/2004 River Stages - Nashville, Tennessee

Please keep checking our tour page for the latest tour information:
http://www.indigogirls.com/tour.html

"All That We Let In" - In stores now!

Or you can be cruel and ask me on the 25th how the show was, knowing that I missed it. It's not like I'll hate you forever or anything.

Update: Oh yeah, and new Fiona Apple cd on the way. Mind you, I still haven't got 'round to getting "When The Pawn Hits The Conflicts He Thinks Like A King What He Knows Throws The Blows When He Goes To The Fight And He'll Win The Whole Thing 'Fore He Enters The Ring There's No Body To Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand And Remember That Depth Is The Greatest Of Heights And If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where To Land And If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right."

You have to admire anyone with the audacity to use that for a title.

Well, that, or figure she's completely mental. But, y'know, musician. "Completely mental" is sort'a redundant as a descriptive of that. . .

Posted by Aaron at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Yes, I steal jokes from the Car Talk Credits. Wanna make something of it?

Actually looking for research assistance -- and if anyone has any suggestions for Neogrammarian, those're also appreciated -- from people with a higher ignance tolerance who can actually read right-wing blogs. Know I saw one of 'em poppin' off at the mouth fingers about how being GLBT isn't at all like being a Negro, and am fairly confident the author was neither GLBT nor a Negro. And, being a right-winger, probably has fairly little experience dealing with anyone who is.

Anyone got a link to such a thing?

Or, if you are a visiting right-winger, if you'd care to explain this position to a reading audience consisting in large part of people who are some combo platter of GLBT/Negro (not sure about the T, actually, and noticed that Windy City Media Group's new mag identity [combining Blacklines, En La Vida. . . and more] includes an I for Intersex, but I digress), please, feel free. I promise not to rip you a new one if you manage to sound even halfway informed.

Not too worried about making this promise because, frankly, not seeing you managing to hold up your half of the bargain.

Want to know more? See Love is Love is Love, the Marriage Equality Resource Page of the lovely and talented Miss Margaret Cho.

Update: And yet again, I fail to state my opinion on the subject at hand.

Yes, it bloody well is.

Yeah, I know, Colin Fucking Powell said:

[In testimony before Congress on gays in the military], I said, “I think it would be prejudicial to good order and discipline to try to integrate gays and lesbians in the current military structure.” Congresswoman Pat Schroeder quoted a 1942 government report and claimed that the same arguments used then against racial integration in the military were being used against gays today.

She had her logic wrong. I responded, “Skin color is a benign, nonbehavioral characteristic. Sexual orientation is perhaps the most profound of human behavioral characteristics. Comparison of the two is a convenient but invalid argument.

The linking of gay rights and the civil rights movement got a mixed reaction in the African-American community. The Congressional Black Caucus favored removing the ban on homosexuals in the armed services. But other leaders were telling me that they resented having the civil rights crusade hijacked by the gay community for its ends.

-- Source: My American Journey, by Colin Powell, p. 533 Jan 1, 1995

(Failure to close the quotes in the second para where I ripped that text off from, so don't go blaming me.)

But see, he ain't here to expand on that. And God knows the right wingers don't listen to a damn thing he says on most issues, so it's hard to be impressed with the sudden re-embrace of him on this one. . .

Update 2: Apropos of nothing, from an article in identity:

Organized religion is the enemy – at least it is a lot of the time! Nothing radical or weird about that statement, not even coming from a clergy person. Challenging the legitimacy of what organized religion had become was a beginning point for the founders and shapers of a number of faith movements in history: the prophets of the Hebrew scriptures, Jesus, Martin Luther all were among that number.

None of those challengers wanted to tear down anything – except the distortion they felt was corrupting the truth. To the extent that organized religion served the God of justice and life, they were willing to support and be part of it. To the extent that organized religion forgot the real character of God, the founders and shapers were more than willing to throw out the "bathwater" in order to claim the "baby."

That’s an important beginning point for talking about faith and religion, maybe especially when we look at Gay Marriage. Organized religions have been main players in building resistance to Gay Marriage. The irony is that the faith those organized religions profess is one of love and inclusion!

First, let’s be clear about what religion doesn’t do. The church, synagogue or mosque has never "married" people. People marry one another. The role of religious institutions has been to celebrate that God’s gift of love and commitment has once more become real. The church is called to offer an affirmation of God’s blessing and presence whenever love is claimed. For organized religion to say that faithful love is EVER wrong is a betrayal of what organized religion is supposed to be about! It is an expression of bigotry, not faithfulness.

What shall we do? Some of us will choose to stay within organized religion. We will refuse to allow the distortion of faith to become the rule. Those who understand the gift of love must never tolerate the denigration of that gift. We’ll fight for the authenticity behind the distortion that has crept into the religion.

That's Rev. Greg Dell, of Broadway United Methodist Church here in Our Fair City of Chi.

Those wacky Methodists. I swear, they're practically Unitarians. . .

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