sundries

[rm]

In response to getting an F from GLAAD for its inclusion and representation of LGBTQ characters on its shows, SyFy has announced two gay characters for upcoming programs (this was apparently what set off John C. Wright's homophobic diatribe the other day). Both characters are married, and I, like hllangel, who pointed this out, would like to complain.

Now sure, in the future, or whatever, there will be more gay married people, but it's not the realism or lack there of, of marrying off your gay characters in background characterization that bothers me. It's the fact that this might be the 21st-century version of the "sexless gay best friend" (even if I do know lots of married gay folks having scads of hot sex) because our society, in privileging marriage, does so, in part, by removing the "taint" of sexuality from our conception of it. So having some married gay folk on SyFy would be rad, since equal marriage rights are a huge hot-button issue right now, but having the only LGBTQ characters on SyFy be married? It's a bit like saying "don't worry, they won't reach through your television with their predatory sexuality and make you gay."

Yeah, I'm picky. I should be.

Also in the land of SyFy*Fail, much noise has been made about a particularly appalling casting breakdown for some Stargate property or other.

I'm glad people are making noise about this, but what I assume most people don't know is how much Every Single Casting Breakdown Ever is filled with objectionable stuff like this -- while this one is a particular confluence of crazy and hate, I spend day after day combing through stuff that refers to 30-something women as "girls," insists "hotties only" (which is a very particular type of euphemism for a very particular type of beauty), goes on and on about how "despite her gender so-and-so is sassy and tough!" and so forth and so on. Offensively worded requests for people who own ethnic attire that then mismatches the country and the garb are also freakishly common or often phrased "looking for people with saris, kimonos and other costumes." 1. Not costumes. 2. Kimono is a plural noun.

Number one reason to get an agent? My conscience and sanity allows me to submit for so little, because the breakdowns are SO CRAZY. And this is not a business where actors have the power to change things from the inside; we don't. At all. Haven't you heard? I need to lose ten pounds and in France I'd "actually be attractive."

ETA: Apparently the whole thing is much uglier than just the appalling casting call. Thanks to sheafrotherdon for the heads-up and continuing details. See comments below.

Meanwhile, a Marriott in CT blames a woman for her own rape. Good thing I almost always stay at the Sheraton (Marriott needs to solve its shit before Gallifrey One, dammit, because I am not giving these scumbags my money).

Whole Foods is one of the easiest places for me to get Food I Can Eat. Specifically, they make the only gluten-free bread I like. Well, no bread for me, thanks to the fact that its CEO is anti-healthcare reform, anti-union, and not rational or honest on these issues. A more succinct version is at CommonDreams -- thanks to firinel for the link.

Speaking of Gallifrey One, new guests have been announced and they are awesome. Also, now I have to get "Torchwood Lesbian" ribbons made up, so Tony Lee can wear one on his badge. It's a long, fucked-up story.

Patty will be home a week from today!

I get my suit and new shirts a week from Sunday. So, I own a sole, solitary pair of cufflinks. Time to buy cufflinks! Tell me what you love. (Considering where my mother has a life-time discount, I was thinking I should get some classic monogrammed ones, except for the fact that it looks lame without a middle initial and that I have this weird disconnect from my name lately -- it looks, as I've been told my whole life, so totally awesome as a by-line or a screen credit, but it doesn't feel like me an actual person. It's just this long, odd textual signifier of my existence).

Here is the schedule for the Dragon*Con Comics and Popular Arts Conference which is the academic track for Dragon*Con. Not how most people are academics. And I'm just.... there.

As ever, I tend to add into these posts as the day goes on for all the little things I don't want to forget. So, updates may happen!

Comments

[cruentum.livejournal.com]

As long as you don't get any of these,

http://www.johnbarrowman.com/shop/section.php?xSec=2&xPage=1&jssCart=1f8a1957eceb5b7ba2bf350fc1d43316

I think you are fine

[rm.livejournal.com]

UGH! UGH UGH UGH UGH.

THOSE ARE CRIMES AGAINST STYLE.

AND NOW THAT I'VE SEEN THEM I CAN'T UNSEE THEM.

[sheafrotherdon.livejournal.com]

It gets worse than the simple casting call - the audition sides show that the straight, disabled character (Eleanor) swaps into the body of the lesbian character (Camille), and then proceeds to use Camille's body to solicit straight sex from her coworkers, and sleeps with a man Camille canonically cannot stand. [After Ellen] (http://www.afterellen.com/blwe/08-14-09) has a great summary, and I'd be happy to email the sides if you'd like to see them.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Love to see them... racheline@gmail.com

And have updated post.

Thank you!

[wcg.livejournal.com]

For daily wear cuff links (on those few occasions when I actually dressed to that degree for work) I like french knots. They're nicer than buttons and not like what people usually think of as cuff links. Other than that I have a goodly assortment of gold and silver cuff links to choose from, though I hardly ever wear them anymore. Plain gold with a monogram is nice, and would go well with your taste in suits. If you get a matching signet ring that would be an extra touch.

For formal wear the two classic styles are mother of pearl for white tie, and onyx for black tie. I have a set of ruby cuff links and shirt studs that I wear for most formal events unless MoP or onyx is explicitly required.

[marcmagus]

I've been considering knots for a while; I really like the way they look in the box, although I haven't seen them on a shirt. Good idea.

[splix.livejournal.com]

My dad had round onyx cufflinks banded in silver. Loved them.

[firinel.livejournal.com]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/13-0

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Someone have a better link than the DailyKos thing?

Not really. ONTD_Political transcribed the entire article, but the poster in question was in favor (!) of the WF dude's screed (what can I say? the Internet is crazy).

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Monogrammed cufflinks work well just a single initial. My favourite pair, though, are Roman glass set in sterling silver, no monogram. My second favourite pair are just plain stainless steel ovals.

If you want something geeky, I have a pair of gold-plated ones with slices of microchips on them that I never ever wear; I'll be glad to donate them to the cause when I get back from Houston.

[starstealingirl.livejournal.com]

Yes, absolutely, with regard to the gay married characters on the (I cringe to write it) SyFy channel. I am certainly in favor of granting marriage rights to same sex couples (and, hell, even to triads or other non-couples), but I'm worried about the ways in which marriage rights get equated with LGBT rights in general; and about the prospect of the right to marry becoming the imperative to marry. Putting both of these characters in marriages strikes me as a way to not deal with queer sexualities in all their variety and complexity while gaining the favor of one organization and some half-assed liberal street cred.

[hllangel]

You've hit on exactly why I have a problem with Syfy right now.

[dulcinbradbury.livejournal.com]

On SciFi's married gay couples: My first thought was I get why it bugs you, but, at least it's a small nudge in the right directions.

Then again... when put in context of the casting call kerfluffle, I can only shake my head. There's no point in getting annoyed over the "attractive" bits -- that's how everyone from Hollywood to community theater works. Someone can be better for the part & still lose it because the director was looking for a particular look for the character.

On the Marriott? WTF? I can see taking the tack of putting the responsibility squarely on the rapist, but, blaming the victim is all kinds of fail.

[rm.livejournal.com]

The problem isn't seeking people who are attractive, the problem is not specifying if or casting calls that saying things like "IF YOU"RE NOT HOT DON"T WASTE MY TIME" and just crazy stuff like that. The fact is, I've a classical face, am thin and have an hour-glass figure, but I've been yelled at for not grasping particular casting folks' vision of attractiveness to the point that I no longer audition for things that note the attractiveness levels, because if it's noted, they mean one or two very specific things, which I am not due to short hair (UGLY DYKE!) and a small rack (NOT A REAL WOMAN!)

[51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com]

You are attractive here, not just in France, babe.

Re: the Marriott. I think the management is locally controlled in some cases - not like a franchise but one fail doesn't reflect the whole chain's stance. I know a few people who've worked at corp for many years and I am sure they are APPALLED by this.

[tdanaher.livejournal.com]

I get my suit and new shirts a week from Sunday. So, I own a sole, solitary pair of cufflinks. Time to buy cufflinks! Tell me what you love.

I remember you had a liking for steampunk a while ago, so maybe these would be good.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29118999

[newsbean.livejournal.com]

Those are beautiful!

[jadegirl.livejournal.com]

C'est Magnifique at 120 MacDougal is where I get cufflinks for Himself. Since they're consignment it can be hit or miss, but I've sometimes gotten real beauties there.

jesus H

[akaspeedo.livejournal.com]

I don't follow Stargate, but that is so disgusting it makes me nauseated. It also makes me want to poke someone's eyes out.

I have no other words.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Commenting before checking, so boo on me if someone already told you -
LA Times reporting pushback on the Whole Foods stupidity:

http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2009/08/whole-foods-is-in-a-whole-lot-of-trouble.html

Ah, schaudenfreude. You taste SO good.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

There is a place in my heart that will always be France.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

I think that if gay married characters become popular, that would be good for achieving change. But...yeah.

[azurelunatic]

OH JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, SYFY.

In response to the John C. Wright fail, starbrow and I are thinking slash ficathon.

[azurelunatic]

The John C. Wright entry seems to have evaporated.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

He shut off the comments last night, probably because it hit ten pages and it was all just too, too much for his delicate soul! *chomp*

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

I'm really fond of this style of cufflink:
http://www.cufflinks.com/gold-knot-cufflinks.html?zmam=96281337&zmas=1&zmac=2&zmap=OB-KNT-GL

You can find some (I couldn't right now) that actually have the knot on both sides, so it's the equivalent of the silk knots they sell you with the shirt, except in solid silver. Very pretty.

Cuffs

[marcmagus]

Sets of discs with matching studs, one in onyx, one in mother-of-pearl are a good basic thing to have available.

In general, I find myself preferring the look of things without sharp corners, and relatively small if they're not discs. The rectangular bars with the blue rectangle stones from the Barrowman site were ok, and generally that sort of style works, but I really hate big squares and cubes.

Knots (see above) are really the only shape that doesn't lie flat that has any appeal for me, though I don't yet know how they work in practice.

I have a monogrammed set of paired discs with chains that I wear a lot. I love them, but I find them more awkward both to put on and to wear than the style with the stick on the back that folds over. I probably would hesitate to buy new links in that construction (you know, actually linked).

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I've avoided the other two SG series because of their bad badness, and it looks like I won't even have to bother watching an episode or two of this new series to see if it sucks - it clearly does. Wow.

[dsmoen.livejournal.com]

Also, on the gluten-free bread front, one of my comments to others has been: many people in the farming and grocery industry have far worse health care than what's offered at Whole Foods. No, it's not ideal, but compared to some of what I saw in Food, Inc., I'll take Whole Foods over industrial meat packers any day.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

I agree that it's so incredibly problematic to see the only representations of queer people in married situations. You end up with the non-threat sexually as the gay best friend or lone lesbian with cats. Not to mention how it doesn't reflect real life, unless, you know, I'm doing my RL wrong.

It rubs me in the same way a lot of the marriage movement does.

[kita0610.livejournal.com]

Hey, is there a place to email Marriott? I didn't read the article, I can see that trigger coming a mile away, but if you have any info. on anything we can do to express our outrage to those in charge, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks! :)

[timelady.livejournal.com]

SyFy just fails in a lot of things and adding in some gay characters isn't going to help their channel. Granted, it would be very nice to see it gain some diversity in the sexual orientation, but overall, the channel fails in larger areas. As in programming. Most of what they show are re-runs (shows that once aired on other channels). The other large percentage of shows are reality shows (Ghost Hunters, Destination Truth, Cha$e, Mansion, even WWE wrestling). And the last large percentage are their made for TV movies. So, cutting all that out, there are actually only a small handful of drama shows actually made by SyFy productions currently on the schedule. Sanctuary that was supposed to be so revolutionary using nothing but green screen for their settings, is anything but revolutionary. I mean, most of the episodes are nearly entirely set in their main base, so why use a green screen when they could have just built the set. I'm just irked that they haven't actually stretched their imaginations and actually designed fantasy locations or used footage from foreign locations. Wharehouse 13 is really a poor man's Librarian series (that trilogy of tv movies on TNT starring Noah Wylie), which was a poor man's Indiana Jones to begin with (and they desperately need better writers since the leads keep doing incredibly dumb mistakes). Not to mention that sex seems to be nearly a taboo on the channel, even though it's a cable channel. I can find more sex on the regular channels nowadays.

And there's also my ranting on their horrid name change. My mom has taken to pronouncing it the way she pronounces my name (gypsy). (*SiFee -with the i being short)