sundries

[rm]

It's weird being able to talk to Patty while she's away. Normally, she's on a dig and it's nearly impossible. This time around, we can email and talk a lot. Yet, in some ways that makes it much harder to deal with the fact that she is away, because I'm reminded of it all the time -- so close and yet so far. Constant longing. But, if the CH visit works out, I'll see her in one month. So yay.

Elsewise, there is little to report since I last wrote, 7 hours ago. Tonight, though, is all about creative meetings.

OMG, I have GOT to submit something to this. I don't have an idea in my head for it, but I must find one. MUST.

This made me laugh myself stupid. Note, while accompanying image is not NSFW, it is the cover of a porn movie DVD, so if someone noticed the big Hustler logo, that might not be okay for the office. It's okay for rollick's office though. Let her tell you why.

Some days the news is too much -- not for all the horror, but for the juxtaposition of headlines. See today's two side-by-side winners at CNN: "Cops: Mom taped toddler to wall" and "Cancer patient: I see Jesus in my MRI".

Things I can't believe I'm linking to (which may be a theme for today): iCarly and the spaghetti tacos. But hey, defictionalization!

In more serious news: A dancer living with AIDS talks about her life.

An inside look at the gay panic in Uganda. via supergee.

Also from supergee: How a placebo currency saved Brazil. It both makes perfect sense and is sort of brain-bending. It also explains why the Brazilian currency is named as it is.

Meanwhile, hazing charges at Sigma Gamma Rho.

Just had my first 2010 encounter with "the reason for the season" crap. Jesus is _a_ reason for the season. Not _the_ reason. Also, it's early October? Give us a month, yeah?

the_xtina thinks there should be a poll about a photo I linked to last night. Clickies below the cut.




[Poll #1628322]

And, just so we're clear, that distraction choice? That's for you browneyedgirl65

Comments

[sageautumn.livejournal.com]

Hrm. I guess I'm a bad person because I read "Mom tapes toddler to a wall" and think... wellll so long as it wasn't skin-to-tape contact, I can totally see that being a good idea.

Really, given the options of losing it and who knows what, and taping your kid to the wall for five-ten-thirty minutes? I'm totally okay with the taping idea. Of course, I'm also reasonably okay with the idea of putting a kid in a closet for a time out, IF the closet is safe, lit, stocked, etc. A time out being a matter of minutes, not hours/days/months.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

The duct tape story... I was more discomforted by the anchorwoman's tone than anything else. FFS, get a grip! But, as for the story itself, as someone who has taken care of babies and has very rumbustious nephews and niece, let me tell you, you can make duct taping (or any kind of tying up) playful for kids without it damaging to their delicate psyches.

I was very happy to play "hostage" in various pretend games... yes, kinks begin early, don't they.

In the poll to that gorgeous photo, I marked "depends on the day". Despite being very comfortably cis, the demeanour of both figures are very appealing and I just couldn't bare to chose who I'd want to be in that situation.
I'm wondering what that says about me.

[liminalia.livejournal.com]

Me too. I kept thinking, "Good Lord woman, can you slant this any harder?" Yellow journalism at its finest.

[azn-jack-fiend.livejournal.com]

It's a great photo but I don't identify in any way with either. They look too static and perfectly put together, presenting like mannequins, at least to my perspective.

[dabhug.livejournal.com]

I agree. I didn't identify with any of it. It's pretty people doing pretty things. *shrugs*

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

I think you need an "and I'm uncomfortable with it!" ticky box in there somewhere. That said, I think it's a little of both, but mostly gender. If their poses were reversed, I'd still be sticking with NK. If their outfits were reversed, I'd still be sticking with NK (also that could be awesome).

Also, thanks to trying to consider same-sex options for those poses in my head, I now have Neil Caffrey replacing NK and Peter replacing BL seared on my brain. You're welcome.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a very, very lovely White Collar image. And very interesting how gender both does and doesn't change the dynamic when I think about it.

[booknerdguru.livejournal.com]

*snorfles* I love NPR. That article about the reais is so very Brasilian. I agree with your perfect sense yet brain-bending. The entire country is like that.

:-D

[liminalia.livejournal.com]

Poll answer: I'm female-identified and lean subbie, but I can't ID with Nicole Kidman. I'm too short, brunette and not-glamorous for that.

[airspaniel.livejournal.com]

Every time I try to articulate what that picture makes me feel, I end up off on a tangent that has very little to do with anything. It makes me feel things; I'll leave it at that. It's a very beautiful photo.

Also, and I feel bad for this, but Luhrmann's junk steals the focus in every full body shot of him I see now. I can't not notice.

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this journal has officially rendered me incapable of seeing a photo of BL without checking out his package.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

Er, what? Hang on, distracted here...

[nysidra.livejournal.com]

I don't have the type of mindset that 'identifies' with people in a picture, movie, or book unless they are actually like me. And by "like" me, I mean, passionate about creative pursuits, intellectual, anti-social, learning-addicted, and hyper silly.

My physical attributes are 'nothing.' Just cuz you have tits, you are nothing like me. Having a penis doesn't mean you can't be my twin.

So, no, I don't get the identification thing, and just see "I've seen those people before. Nice dress. Like that suit. Why's he holding her chin like that? Love the dark background."

[sanat.livejournal.com]

MTE.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

I don't even identify with photos of myself, so...

I can never do this kind of question about identifying with pictures/people/characters, and I can't decide if that's because I have a weird personal definition of identifying which leads me to answer these kinds of questions with a big fat "I don't", or whether I'm just personally weird. It's possible I actually just don't exist, and don't seem to want to try to, either.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Well, I think, in particularly, people very strongly didn't identify with this one, which was interesting to me, because it's so resonant to me, but then, so much of my life is about which side of the image-making thing I'm on, so I have an excuse.

And certainly, my ability to insert myself into any narrative is arguably excessive.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

Awright, more seriously (and now out of the rain, the traffic, and what all else), it's a fascinating picture, once you ignore the, er, distracting elements in it.

I was thinking about how it is constructed -- and it's a very constructed image, down to the elegance of their outfits *and* the shabbiness of the set they are on. The lighting, the clothing, the posing, all of that. For me, it makes it possible for me to identify with either of them. I didn't think that BL seemed to be *not* one to look at, because every element of NK's pose. There's a line from her right toe to her chin, along his arm (especially b/c of the lighter fabric covering it) right up to his face.

The power construction is fascinating, because on the one hand he's leading her with his hand on her chin, but my first distinct impression was that "he's got the tiger by the tail" which upends the "traditional" power reading. On the other hand, that segues back into him being the one powerful enough for someone like her (and not some other schmuck).

Am I the only one who finds vests androgynizing for men? Because to me they deemphasize the shape of the upper torso, making shoulders look much less wide, therefore getting rid of the classic V of a masculine silhouette.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one who finds vests androgynizing for men? Because to me they deemphasize the shape of the upper torso, making shoulders look much less wide, therefore getting rid of the classic V of a masculine silhouette.</I. Not only you. I think it's very true. But I think that's because, to my mind, waistcoats particularly recall the Regency era, where an hourglass figure was a sign of _male_ beauty. Certainly, I wear waistcoats all the time, because it's the easiest way to fool the eye regarding my actually very hourglass silhouette.

[tdanaher.livejournal.com]

If it had been present I would I have clicked on identifying with the photographer, because without the artistry of the observer BL and NK are just a man touching a woman's chin in a room.

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

Yes. This. I also found myself recalling Laura Mulvey and various theories of the gaze at work here.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

Axial tilt is the reason for the season.

It's an old joke, but a fucking accurate one.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

I wish this had been a numbered list, but that's one of my particular quirks.

Re "It's weird being able...": I find it interesting how our increased level of connection has been accompanied by a decrease in our level of tolerance for disconnection. I remember when I was first reading about the English Civil War being shocked by the number of cases of married couples being separated and often incommunicado for years at a stretch.

Re "This made me laugh...": You have been official declared a Bad Influence for showing me this. The part of me that's trying to tell me I should be embarrassed by wanting this has been quite thoroughly shouted down by the part that's screaming about how awesome it is and that I need to by the marketing tie-in as well.

Re "Things I can't believe...": I can't believe I'd never seen this before (admission of guilt: I have watched iCarly even when the kids weren't around). I'm going to try it. I'll let you know how this turns out.

re "Meanwhile, hazing charges at...": Having seen the public part of the sorority hazing at Mississippi University for Women (my high school is on the MUW campus), I'm really not surprised by this.

re "Just had my first...": Shouldn't they be too busy planning "Harvest" festivals so that kids aren't exposed to Halloween to have time for that yet?

re the photo: My first thought upon looking at it was "Pygmalion," which is a fantasy I can enjoy from either side.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

Re "It's weird being able...": I find it interesting how our increased level of connection has been accompanied by a decrease in our level of tolerance for disconnection. I remember when I was first reading about the English Civil War being shocked by the number of cases of married couples being separated and often incommunicado for years at a stretch.

Ha ha, I know! You don't even have to go that far back. I keep diaries when I travel, and was looking at one from 1987. That's the one where I went to Britain for the first time with two other friends. There's one day I describe in which we all went off on different errands and agreed to meet back at this plaza at 5pm or something like that. One thing led to another, and I got back to the plaza late (like 5:15, actually) and waited another 45 minutes for the rest to show up. That would absolutely freak me out now, because now I'd expect to be able to text them and find out what was up! But back then, I just waited because there was nothing else to do. I can't remember at what point of waiting I would have gotten worried at not seeing anyone come back yet...

[bethynyc.livejournal.com]

Yes, to the Red Bull Theater 10 minute play submission! I need to pick the brain of the medievalist in my book group to see if I can mine something!

Whoohoo!

[elusis.livejournal.com]

FWIW I don't identify with either person in the photo because while I'm trained to identify with the objectified woman, and part of me actually longs to do so, my fatness (and to some degree, lack of "beauty") keeps me alienated from seeing myself as her. I'm instantly aware that no one would ever hold my face in a beam of light like some Faberge egg because it's not valuable enough.

[l33tminion]

It seems to me that "identify with" is an ambiguous phrase. Do you mean perceived similarity, emotional understanding, sympathy, desired role...

[chaos-by-design.livejournal.com]

I can honestly say I identify with neither. The whole thing looks so staged and fake that it's impossible for me to relate to it on that level.

[the-silver-mule.livejournal.com]

That is a very limited poll. For the first option, I chose "woman". Finding nothing I want to choose for the second option, I'll say that I identify with the woman in the photo because of her posture; how high she holds her head, without the support of the man's hand, it seems; and the line of her sight, which extends beyond the photo. And I'm a man.

[rufus.livejournal.com]

I'm distracted by the overwhelming urge to push his hand away from her chin/throat, by the way. It's like a visceral snarl lurking in my ribs. If someone was doing that to me I think I might have to work hard to quell the urge to bite their hand. And not in sexy way, either. Touch my throat and feel my teeth.

(I'm kind of startled by this response, and kind of not. Also, the photographic elements - light, shadow, color, etc - are all overpowered by the phantom snarl.)

[canaana.livejournal.com]

My dear gods . . . the lighting in that shot . . .

[sanat.livejournal.com]

So Hustler's the one behind the This Ain't ... XXX line of porn, the Twilight versions of which Dayna from Made of Fail is expected to review. I agree with whoever said it's kinda a boring title method, but now I'm kinda curious to see the Avatar one, especially for the LOL potential.

[alumiere.livejournal.com]

The picture poll sort-of disturbed me as I struggled with how to answer...

I definitely identify with Nicole more than Baz, but trying to sort out why is tough. A lot of things seem to feed into that - her appearance (ageless beauty IMO), her dress, the power she has over the man while still being the center of attention both within the shot and from the viewer's POV. But I wonder if some of what I'm seeing comes from being trained to view art in a way that the general public probably doesn't, or if it's from my own attitudes toward gender and sexuality and power (none of which fit traditional norms).

At any rate, the image reads as very staged, as an interplay between two performers. The clothes and their poses seem to comment on the nature of gender performance and sensual/sexual power, in a way that subverts the norm. For me, Nicole is clearly in control, although she may be "topping from the bottom" - for lack of a better way of putting it - allowing Baz to believe he's got the upper hand without ceding an inch.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

Part of me wants very badly to see that faux Avatar thing. I have distracted that part of myself with these (relevant to other elements of your post) images instead.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Considering the collection of things in this post, I was ever so relieved that the link was about axial tilt.

[gement.livejournal.com]

I identify with the woman's power role but I never present like that. Even when I'm femmed up to that level, I have no mental image of myself that I can superimpose on her. But if I remove her entirely from the picture I am so totally into that guy (as, with, get the number of his tailor, all of the above), but don't fit his power role. Thus, "too distracted."