sundries

[rm]

We had a very nice weekend that mostly involved hiding in places with airconditioning and Patty singing the Batman theme to the cats a lot ("CAAAAAAAAATCAT!" instead of "BAAAAAAAAAAAATMAN!"). It was awesome.

This is the final week to bid on things at graduate_maria. I'll be putting up some new items tonight. For those that missed it Maria (theotoky is a long-time friend that I helped get out of an abusive relationship many, many, many moons ago and is now trying to finish her last semester of college but has run out of funds, (this after supporting her abuser through school when they were together). Maria has just, on top of everything else, lost her job and so needs our help more than ever. Projected fundraising total is currently at about $1,200, which means we've $3,800 to go to get her tuition bill paid. Can we do it Internet?

lucylooo died over the weekend. Her work was familiar to many in fandom, and while I knew her stuff but not her, I get the impression she was pretty awesome. Fuck cancer. Do what you can to fight it. This snuck up on her fast and took her quick. My condolences to those who knew her. I saw this multiple times on my friendslist yesterday, so my impression is that there are a lot of you out there hurting.

While there aren't plane tickets or anything involved yet, yeah, it looks like I am heading back to Switzerland in October, which I pretty much already knew but it just got more official.

At least a partial Dragon*Con schedule this week, I'm guessing, since one of the tracks that has the biggest impact on my schedule has promised me "before the end of the month." And hey, tsarina will be attending too!

30x30: dance in the streets of New York.

Scuzzi the cat.

I got this from eumelia who is in Israel about something going on in the UK: but "Brokeback Coalition" what? I assume this is the further, and increasingly less amusing, outgrowth of the whole "let's write slashy RPF about our incredibly disatisying coalition government"? Anyone who can fill me in here?

Peripherally on point, I suppose: xtricks's hilarious guide to teh buttsex! which was linked yesterday is now, among other things, serving as a listing of the worst things we've ever read used as lube in fanfiction and pro erotica. Current entrants (ha!) include chocolate, peanut butter, alcohols and guacamole. Can you add to the horror? I bet you can.

Where are all the lesbians in UK TV?¹ The article asks (I'm over-simplifying their oversimplifying) if we are invisible because we're not about men the way UK TV is. I ask how slash does or does not factor into an attempt at visibiity by queer women in fandom by making it about the dudes, since femmeslash remains fandom's arguably least visibile component. via andrewducker.

A letter to patients with chronic disease has been making the rounds, largely to very positive reviews. I've had a profound problem with it, however, as, despite containing useful, pragmatic and even illuminating information, read as one long, condescending tone argument to me (and I may be the most allergic to the tone argument of everything, because I'm loud, and I don't strive to take up as little room as possible, so I get it a lot).

firecat has a good, brief critique that hits at that sideways by talking about the inherent doctor/patient imbalance in the system and the implications of what that means when a patient has to expend lots of energy reassuring the doctor that he's still the most powerful guy in the room just to get their condition dealt with.

Have not seen Sherlock yet. Will get on that ASAP, which probably means like next week, schedule being what it is.

For those of you who don't read the Internet on the weekends, I wrote a looooong thing about marketing online. Stil owe you a post about Inception, though, that's other than "Suits, pretty."

Okay, I'm only like 20% through the Jack/Auggie story, but it's finally working.

---

¹ Maybe Buffy stole them?

Comments

[verasteine.livejournal.com]

The Brokeback Coalition thing... It's made the headlines this time, but actually, I'm in that fandom (yes, really) and I can tell you that this is nothing new. In varying degrees of seriousness and randomness, journalists (although this was a politician) make comments about how in love they are, how much it's like a gay marriage, etc.

The fandom, not to be confused with the press, is as fandoms go a pretty cool one. The press, on the other hand, not so much. But this, in and of itself, is nothing new except for the comments being made by a politician.

Sherlock, which I've just seen, is high recommendable.

[austengirl.livejournal.com]

Pretty much everything verasteine's just said. I sort of skirt the edges of the lolitics fandom, but it's been pretty good so far and is getting at least a few people interested in politics beyond the slash, which is probably a good thing.

I look forward to reading your thoughts on Sherlock; I found it enjoyable overall, f-list opinion diverged wildly.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

To be fair, despite my bitching about it, it's not like they're above wielding the analogy to trivialise stuff on their own terms sometimes - some Tory lackey was talking about Clegg's Iraq comments at PMQs and was saying like all strong marriages, they will have their spats.

I feel like I come across very humourless about this, which, I'm really not; unpacking something or exposing where it's problematic isn't necessarily an exercise in why it's unfunny for me - on that contrary, I think part of the reason the image has been so enduring is that it's effective both as a satire and as an analogy on a lot of levels. That, and translating discomfort into humour is very much a national pastime of ours and not necessarily negative - I think I said this to you before, but uneasiness manifesting in the giggles is better than some other kinds. But, at the same time, because it has a multilayered usage, I think intent matters a lot, and the more it gets used, the harder it is to seperate usages and the intent behind them. Which... that makes me slightly uncomfortable, because it feels like the point where queer people can say, okay, actually that's enough gets lost, because it's become normal discourse, and people have that well, this guy said it too and nobody minded defence from all angles.

Also, your icon is hilarious.

[verasteine.livejournal.com]

Don't, seriously don't, get me started on Clegg and the Iraq thing. I do think there's a difference between coalition = marriage, and coalition = gay marriage. Because the latter comes with all the nudge nudge, wink wink moments, that we're supposed to find so very funny. I dunno. I might be overreaching here, because this has bothered me for a while and it's something that I might not see clearly any more.

Actually, I'm reading a book about British culture that says what you just said, 'humour is everywhere'. It's a coping thing for discomfort. So I hear you. Also, rather than your

it feels like the point where queer people can say, okay, actually that's enough gets lost

I would say that maybe we haven't reached the point yet where the queer community can say that, because their public voice, their representation, just isn't at that level yet. I mean, if you haven't (yet) got equal rights, how does that give the majority free reign to make jokes? Doesn't that imply that the jokes, too, might get out of hand and there's no one to say enough because that's not possible (yet)? Maybe that's the same point you're trying to make.

I get nervous about all of this stuff because while Cameron & Clegg as a ship might be funny because they're from opposite parties, because they're the last guys you'd think would sleep together, I dunno, it isn't funny merely because they're two guys. Who are married. So it's safe. I get the feeling I'm going around in circles here, but yeah. Still don't like this.

The icon is one of my favourites. Here, have its companion. (Yours makes me think of tribbles...)

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

Yes, definitely to the first; I mean, comparing a political alliance to a marriage is perfectly common and barely worth a batted eyelid, I just thought it was interesting that it was being used as a way to trivialise what is, presumably, a pretty profound ideological disagreement (and good for Nick, if that doesn't count as getting you started).

I would say that maybe we haven't reached the point yet where the queer community can say that, because their public voice, their representation, just isn't at that level yet.

Absolutely. And I think this relates back to what we touched on earlier about acceptability vs taboo - I don't think our society moves at the same rate as itself on this issue, because you've still got this tension there between perceived equality (wherein everyone can equally be the butt of a joke, and it shouldn't matter) and the actual reality (which is that if we had real equality, gay marriage wouldn't be any funnier than straight marriage, and yet it is). It's... because of this thing we have with humour, because irreverence is so important to us, and humour is how we normalise things, there's a layer at which including minority groups in jokes is inclusive; it's simply incorporating them into normal discourse - but that also makes it easier to sneak nasty intent in via the backdoor, and then plead innocence, and say that anyone who objects obviously just can't take a joke against themselves (which is a cardinal sin in our culture). The playing field is held to be level when it isn't.

I get nervous about all of this stuff because while Cameron & Clegg as a ship might be funny because they're from opposite parties, because they're the last guys you'd think would sleep together, I dunno, it isn't funny merely because they're two guys. Who are married. So it's safe. I get the feeling I'm going around in circles here, but yeah. Still don't like this.

I don't include fandom at all when I talk about this stuff; I think you guys have your own thing and your own motivations which are quite apart from the mainstream commenters and satirists, which I don't necessarily get, but I do get is valid. That said, I think it's important stuff to be aware of, if only as context. And also, because all our crazy weird shit we have with each other is fascinating, obviously ;)

[verasteine.livejournal.com]

I'll pretend it doesn't count, just for you ;). Jokes aside, yeah, it's an ideological agreement -- it doesn't strike me as unusual because I come from a country full of coalitions. Although, still haven't got a government yet :(.

The playing field is held to be level when it isn't.

This, yes. Exactly. A lot more succinct than I said it. I've said before that I think part of the joke is that they clearly are straight; if there was ambivalence, it wouldn't be funny any more. Which shows a very fine line, and a dangerous one.

I'm not going to pretend fandom is clean cut and rainbows and sunshine, because it's shipping real people in decidedly skeevy ways. And the two, media and fandom, are feeding each other, so fandom cannot be wholly innocent in that way either. I dunno. I'd like to have a much longer discussion about this all, but there's not enough people who care to have it, really.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

it doesn't strike me as unusual because I come from a country full of coalitions. Although, still haven't got a government yet :(.

Ha, we didn't have a government for a weekend, we thought the world would end. The ravens were leaving the Tower and the islands were going to sink back into the sea. I wish we would work out how to be a bit more grown up and European about the thing, instead of needing to be continually reassured that mummy and daddy aren't *really* fighting.



...basically. ;)

[verasteine.livejournal.com]

Well, we're leaving it rather long this time...

This is hilarious. How come they're not on any more right now?