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

[smirnoffmule.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 both in fandom and not.

See also when you slap "slash" into your warning header in between "torture" and "puppy molestation".

Also from the department of why fandom can't have nice things, from a particular clusterfuck I saw yesterday, may I add that straight fans should consider very carefully whether it's their place to tell queer fans what they shouldn't find offensive in conversations about slash. There are ways to say that you don't like slash without being homophobic, but not every way you could say that is that way.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Also from the department of why fandom can't have nice things, from a particular clusterfuck I saw yesterday, may I add that straight fans should consider very carefully whether it's their place to tell queer fans what they shouldn't find offensive in conversations about slash. There are ways to say that you don't like slash without being homophobic, but not every way you could say that is that way.

Seriously. Seriously Wow, I was just bitching at people's internalized sex-negativity getting on me in accidental ways that since I know them in passing, I know isn't intended as it's coming off. But ... oh, why am I surprised about anything anymore?

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

It probably serves me right for reading fanficrants but apparently I'm still naive enough to find this shit surprising (especially since that comm, for all it's drama, is usually okay at calling people out on stuff).

In a nutshell: Queer fic writer gets very questionable review from very questionable reviewer (who apparently enjoys explicit m/m sex in stories but finds m/m kissing "distasteful"). Writer sends polite but firm note saying "Quit that!" back to reviewer, then comes to fanficrants to vent in stronger terms. Cue an avalanche of comments telling her how mean she was, how she overreacted, how it's okay to not like slash (not the point), how some people say het is gross, how obviously this person can't really be homophobic if she gets off on the sexy parts etc etc. I think that's bingo right there.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yiiiiiiiiiiikes. That's like "thank you for not linking me to that as I have to get some shit done today."