sundries

[rm]

If you're in the Boston-area, here's a new burlesque troupe to watch. They're having a big debut soon, and I've had the pleasure to see several of their dancers before. Check it out. They know their stuff, and have a better sense of the history of teh art than many, many other groups I've seen.

It's Nutcracker season! The Klezmer Nutcracker, that is. The Klezmer Nutcracker is ellen_kushner's holiday show for young audiences (although there's plenty of cool stuff for grownups so you won't be bored) that combines Jewish mythology, klezmer music and dancing en poite (that's new this year). Not just for kids, and not just for Jewish kids. Also, there's a peacock. Look, just trust me on this, okay? Tickets tend to sell out a few days before each performance, so book now.

A Jew in London.

Walking into work this morning I saw a well-dressed man in a suit talking in a men-explain-it-all way to a well-dressed woman in a suit. The conversation? "They have horns, they drink the blood of babies." I have to assume/hope he was talking about anti-Semitism as opposed to being anti-Semitic.

This was all over Twitter yesterday: Little Green Footballs, apparently a conservative site, has a piece up called Why I Parted Ways With the Right. It's like a voice in the wilderness.

dsmoen has some good thoughts on the grieving process. kyburg also offers comment.

verasteine has written a long meta on heteronormative sexual/relationship dynamics in slash fiction that I haven't had time to read yet (it's been a rough week), but is surely worthy of discussion. I'll catch up soon!

On that note, Torchwood fen may want to take a look at blue_fjords's Torchwoo AU that begins with Dr. Harkness and Nurse Jones: Kenya (it later moves on to both Ghana and India). What's interesting is that it takes romance novel tropes that are so often a part of the "heteronormative sexual/relationship dymamics" mentioned above, and, despite them being central to the story, refuses to bow to them. People get hurt and people get rescued, but there are no damsels in distress here. At all. It's worth reading to see how she does it.

When you keep talking about how sick and wrong you are for writing slash, even when you're doing it playfully, you may be unintentionally sending an unpleasant message to your queer friends both in fandom and not.

You have heard about the proposed law in Uganda that would punish 'aggravated homosexuality' with the death penalty, right? In case you missed it, this isn't just Uganda's outrage. It's ours. Prominent American conservatives are tied to the thing. It's stuff like this that means it's always risky for anyone to be out ever, because these people have power here, want more power here, and you never know when or how you're going to lose your safety. That's the problem with paranoia, that's why it's impossible to excise: sometimes, you think, it will keep you alive.

Apparently the legislative clusterfuck in NY State and the ensuing low-level of coverage on equal marriage rights in the state may just make everything work out. The Assembly passed the bill last night. The Senate is voting today. And things look... possible.

Hey, it turns out that Meredith Baxter is gay.

An interesting piece about the Soldiers’, Sailors’, Marines’, Coast Guard and Airmen’s Club which I was actually once in for a day for a marketing event. It's a pretty amazing space, and it's a pretty amazing thing that they've been doing there for 90 years.

I am participating in the fanfiction love meme.

Take a look at this gorgeous bit of steampunk art. It's a kid's push toy.

Comments

[sunhawk.livejournal.com]

When you keep talking about how sick and wrong you are for writing slash, even when you're doing it playfully, you may be unintentionally sending an unpleasant message to your queer friends in fandom and not.

Nooooo kidding! Also, and I hope this remark comes across as consolidating rather than derailing, the straight authors aren't fond of it either.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

*nods* It does give the air of "incitement to wank" even if it's not meant as such. It seems to crop up with distressing regularity in a regular "plebefic headers" spork-post by one of my circle on Dreamwidth.

[sunhawk.livejournal.com]

I'm willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and say they must not have been around when fans used to say that sort of stuff in earnest about other fans. Half the authors I knew from way back had a penname just to avoid being dogpiled by non-slash fans elsewhere in the fandom. Just makes the "joke" less funny to me.