sundries

[rm]

Patty in less than 12 hours.

Good luck getting a hotel room in London in late April as everyone flocks into town for the royal wedding. That I can miss. What I really, really want, is to go to the 2012 Olympics. Which is absurd, but I've always wanted to go to an Olympics and what if the Doctor is there?

Chernobyl opening for tourism.

And on a personal tourism note: I'm getting really good at this travel thing: $230RT LAX/NYC direct; $50 direct to Ohio. And then I looked at ticket prices for the windows Patty and I are likely considering for Paris. Over 1K per ticket. Fuck that shit; I do not pay more to go to Paris than I paid to go to Australia; it's against the rules. I think I have a plan. I've enough frequent flier miles on one airline to get us RT tickets to London for about $500 each, so we can hang in London for a couple of days and then hop some budget air or the train over to Paris. More trip, less $$.

Musk oxen!

The end of OTB. My grandfather was a man who liked to bet on the horses at the track in Florida where he lived until he moved to SF. My mom inherited the bug and tried to pass it on to me, placing bets for me at OTB when I wanted, when I was like 8. I couldn't go to the OTB myself, not just 'cause I was underage, but because it was filled with smokers and prostitutes along with random old dudes like my grandfather. Now it's over.

Richard Holbrooke died, and you should know about his career. He was in a profession largely without good guys, but was one, in my opinion, as far as it goes. Some of his choices worked out to the good. Some didn't. Most were probably ruthless and uncomfortable. Such is the world.

FIFA would like you to know if you're going to the Qatar World Cup and you're gay, you shouldn't have sex while you're there. Also, no drinking. Two unrelated issues that I suspect will turn into multiple big messes.

Don't like people who have equal rights to you? Then don't run a public accommodation at which the law requires you to serve them. Not rocket science.

The ongoing mess at the Apthorp offers us some amazing personal stories:

Still, with everything she went through earlier in her life, Ms. Front is hesitant to make a fuss herself; she slept with a heating pad and extra blankets before her heat was restored and tolerates the mice scampering in front of her television while she watches “Larry King Live.”

During the war, her husband and son were killed by the Nazis. She hid in Warsaw and escaped to New York through Shanghai and Cuba, remarried and built a prosperous clothing business with her second husband, Jack, who has since died.

I know at least one other SAG member is reading this: dear lord, the membership cards for this period are ugly, ne?

Apparently Burlesque got a lot of Golden Globe nods? WTF?

Dee Snider on looking into the abyss and not going there.

Hey, rumour has it Mekhi Phifer's been cast as Rex in Torchwood S4. That's pretty huge and totally awesome and not what we were expecting. I can see a couple of roads of fail that casting could go down with script issues, but hopefully it will just be as awesome as it should be. Also, they are currently casting someone to play Brad, a bartender Jack has a one-night stand with.

Dogboy & Justine has met its funding goals and a little bit extra, but if you did want to contribute financially to this journey, there is still a week left to do it. Thank you!

So hey, we need to talk about a thing....

I have opinions. About pop culture, politics, and my own history. Sometimes you will agree with them, sometimes you won't. Sometimes I will express them clearly, sometimes I won't. I like this journal to be a place where we can have open discussions. And I appreciate when you point out things I may not have considered, especially if I'm being hurtful or don't have all the data.

But sometimes -- and this may very well be me and not you -- I think many readers think that my words here are, or should be, subject not just to their opinions, but to their rewriting. I've played into this, not just when it was right (because I, like everyone, do have foot-in-mouth disease and unexamined points of fail) but also when it was wrong, on occasions where I chose to avoid conflict or reflexively acted as if everyone in the world has authority but me.

The simple fact, however, is that, that's not true. I'm not perfect. And I won't always be likable; in fact, I can be pretty fucking abrasive -- did all of us (myself included) forget this when I stopped cosplaying Snape?

I'll have fond memories of terrible things, and talk about the world of privilege I grew up both in and outside of. I'll make typos. I'll prioritize one issue over another; or effort over result, back and forth and back and forth again. I won't always be polite. I won't always explain my reasoning, or, in fact, engage in reasoning at all. And I tend to speak with authority in ways other people can find super aggravating or arrogant because of how I've been trained in speech, and because I'm adamant and sensitive about not having my opinions shunted aside as just that due to my biological sex.

I will act like I matter until I do.

Sometimes, I might forget cut tags I should really put in. And I'll probably be melodramatic, and I'll certainly be boring. I will also accidentally stomp on some of your buttons once in a while. I will lose my temper. I will ask for help when maybe I should just Google the damn thing myself.

And some days it will be the best I can do. Many days it won't be nearly enough.

But there's only so much I can do, and I need to stop trying to do it for everyone. The safest solution would be for me to talk less, but the fact is I can't do it. Not just a social tool and a promotional tool, LJ is a pressure valve for me. Without it, it would be very, very hard for me to manage my anxiety, obsessiveness and tendency towards the intrusive thought.

Look, my words are my life. I need to stop letting other people choose them for me. I've always wanted to be a finer thing, but the reflex where I decide everyone is allowed to be an instrument of that has got to go.

Comments

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

Chernobyl opening for tourism

OMG WTF?!????!!!!? With a particularly *exciting* BBQ!! @.@

[5251962.livejournal.com]

That was my response...kinda "Wait..what? but..NEAT! And still...what?" Lol

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Re: FIFA: OMG! I saw the gaff on television. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I settled for burying my face in the couch pillows!

And hells yes Mekhi Phifer! :D This makes me excited!

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

Mekhi Phifer is a very interesting choice. I remember first seeing him on Homicide.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's my main impression of him too.

[spiderine.livejournal.com]

I'm really sorry to whine at you, but could you please possibly consider putting future Torchwood casting (or other) spoilers under a cut? I'd really appreciate it, and I bet more than a couple of your other readers would as well. Thanks.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you for being nice about this. Really really, sincere gratitude. I've been having a lot of "This is how you should do your journal" lately that has been stressing me out, but this was super cool. It's appreciated.

ANYWAY, I can see how one of those two things is a spoiler, because it does reveal a plot-point, so I'm sorry I missed that. In general, I tend not to cut for the casting of lead characters, because if the information is going to be contained in commercials for the show, so me it's not a spoiler. I know other people disagree with that, and you're totally right about that other piece of data. Anyway, the whole thing is under a cut now.

[firebirdgrrl.livejournal.com]

I am actually really impressed by Dee Snider now (I always liked him in Twisted Sister), but this story I actually found inspiring. Go Dee!

[contrarywise]

Qatar's controversial win for the 2022 FIFA World Cup site has been dogged by accusations of bribery and corruption nearly from the beginning. So to some extent, it's already a mess.

[annissamazing]

I've wanted to visit Pripyat for years, but the article makes it sound as though anyone will be able to just drive into it for a visit. I hope that isn't really the case.

[rm.livejournal.com]

And you can go now, as long as you go on one of the official tours. It's the total opening possibility that's disturbing.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

The Qatar World Cup thing is really fascinating to me.

I don't see anything wrong with what the FIFA head said--he's pretty much saying, "We want you there, and we want you to know there's this law on the books that can kill you."

onebrightroad's comment about how they got to be the World Cup location at all is also worth noting.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I think FIFA being upfront about it is good.

I think FIFA thinking gay people won't be pissed is stupid.

I think FIFA thinking that they can say "well, it's a different religion, so it's okay that they want you dead" is both complex and disingenuous and I don't know the right answer. It's also obnoxious, because no, all of Islam does not feel this way.

I think FIFA thinking people won't smuggle in lots of alcohol and cause all sorts of massive, horrible drama for everyone, is very, very naive.

Holbrooke, Really?

[keith418.livejournal.com]

Did you read the profile on him in The New Yorker? He was an unabashed supporter of the war in Vietnam. How do you think about this piece?

C'mon RM, don't fall for this neo-liberal line.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

Which is absurd, but I've always wanted to go to an Olympics and what if the Doctor is there?

My chances of getting there are slim to nil, but I'll be watching the coverage waiting for a stadium's worth of people to vanish.

Also, thanks FIFA. Now I only care about two sports. I do not have enough middle fingers. (ETA: okay, this is a knee-jerk reaction based on not enough info. But still. It's an angry knee-jerk and I'm going to own it while I research the issue in more depth.)

Dee Snider, on the other hand, gets a high five.

[blergeatkitty.livejournal.com]

Hey, that musk oxen story is based on work done by my company!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yay, musk oxen! They are cool.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Every time I hear about Gally, I cringe again - because I'll be in San Francisco doing AOD. I MISS YOU AGAIN! *CURSES*

[copperwise.livejournal.com]

Discrimination aside, those people look like villagers from a Lovecraft novel. Welcome to the B&B of the Damned...

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

They remind me of an old Bill Hicks routine about people who are pro-life.

You ever look at their faces? "We're pro-life." Don't they look it? Don't they just exude joie de vivre?

Oh, Mr. Hicks. You were gone too soon.

Or perhaps it's better he missed the last sixteen years of American fuckery. :(

[byzantienne.livejournal.com]

If I end up needing to be in Kansas City in February, I am going to beg you to teach me how to get travel deals like that. Because WOW.

[rm.livejournal.com]

NP. I am really, really good at this shit. Patty is too. It's our secret power.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, the Chernobyl thing. I have to admit, the pictures you can find online are absolutely fascinating -- I'm particularly enthralled by how quickly it is returning to nature, and how unexpectedly resilient the animal population has been. But I'm happy with the pictures, kthx. Visiting there? Erm.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

They'll make arrangements for alcohol at the World Cup, one way or the other. I've already heard of some proposals afloat.

Also: Musk oxen! I adore them.

[yoiyami.livejournal.com]

Thank you for a the last section. I have refrained a couple of times from responding to comments that I felt were extremely rude or deliberately malicious because this is not my journal and not my place to be stirring up shit especially if you have chosen not to address it. But it has gotten to the point that I am wary about reading comments.

There has been a lot going on in the last year or two about the blurring of lines between personal and public with people with large readerships. Even if the address is to the world at large, this is still a personal place. The efforts to regulate you or invalidate your personal feelings and experiences has been upsetting to see.

[rm.livejournal.com]

And thanks for this.

It's all very complicated, especially as I make no bones about the fact that this LJ is a tool of self-promotion for me having more opportunities to do what I do professionally (and that's worked out very well). With a large readership I do have certain responsibilities, but there's been an increase lately in things that aren't social justice concerns (which always merit discussion); demands that all the _________ people of which I am one, have the same viewpoint; and demands of etiquette that don't conform to standard Internet, fandom, and LJ practice.

I'm hoping by saying this I'll be more mindful of when to say no or ignore it, and other people will be more mindful too.

Some of my good friends also have large readerships and generally engender far less controversy than me, at least in their own space. But they do it by posting less and less, which I've decided is not an option for me because of why I use the tool.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

Dee Snider was always a cool guy - thanks for the link, glad to see he's still rocking!

And I believe I will avoid travel to Qatar in the future...

Irene Front is one tough lady who really ought to be treated better!

I don't know Mekhi Phifer, but Google shows me he's not bad looking, so yay that! And oh, the fannish hell Jack is getting for his one-night stand...

[teleens-journal.livejournal.com]

Re. Chernobyl. The stupid, it burns. You won't make me believe that that area is safe', not after "Chernobyl Heart".

Re. FIFA - I agree with your thoughts on it completely. Also, if I were a gay footballer, it would take a LOT for me to go to a country where being who I am is illegal, not without some sort of diplomatic pass. A lot of footballers have been coming out and if it's public that they're gay, I can foresee badness whether they have sex there or not.

Re. B & B - They're saying that they were 'set up' by Stonewall and that it's not because they're gay, but because they're not married. They're civil partners because asshats like them won't LET them get married. And if Stonewall set them up - go Stonewall. The wife has already admitted that she didn't actually TELL them about the policy, so it's on them. I'm not going to be sorry for a bigot getting caught in a loophole.

[hoyland54.livejournal.com]

A lot of footballers have been coming out and if it's public that they're gay, I can foresee badness whether they have sex there or not.

Unless I missed something major (and let me know if I did), there are no out gay active (or living) professional footballers. Justin Fashanu is the only one I know of who came out while active. That Heinz Bonn was gay emerged only after his death. Marcus Urban (who came out after retiring) didn't, I don't think, play professionally. He left football and became an engineer.

On the flip side, it is known concretely (rather than by looking at the numbers) that there are gay active professional footballers. I could believe that there are players out in all senses but to the general public.

On the third hand, there are a couple of women who are out, at least in Germany. (I don't know much about women's football, to be honest. I think the women felt the DFB was not happy that they were gay, but I don't really know what came of that.)

Sorry for the information dump. This is a subject where I collect information, but don't have cause to use it often, so then it all comes out.

[lookingaround17.livejournal.com]

Ah, it's mercury retrograde, and *tons* of people now seem to be writing variants of "what I/you said in your/my journal bothered me/you for reasons I can't go into". I think that maybe people get all excited over the journals of anyone who's a little more well-known or sensational (or sometimes even sensationalist, which is utterly different), and so it's like their own speshul friend 'lets them down' somehow by not saying the exact thing they want to hear. Oh well--I figure it's the journal of whoever is writing it, so that person can make the rules, and the readers can like them or not, and everyone benefits by having a little spacious view and not getting too worked up except if there's some explicit mean insult to them right there, and even that can be handled discreetly and courteously and maturely--just my mercury-retrograde view! ahahaha!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh fuck, AGAIN? Patty says it's always Mercury retrograde when i tell her we're in one. I'm starting to see her point.

[hoyland54.livejournal.com]

As a condition of the bid, a country gives FIFA the right to force legislation upon them--FIFA set up a parallel legal system in South Africa for the duration of the World Cup, for instance. I've heard (possibly totally baseless) speculation that this will be used to force Qatar's hand on the alcohol issue.

I'm pretty certain Sepp Blatter isn't interested in gay rights (and notably FIFA's response when they got brought up on Blatter's gaffe didn't mention eliminating homophobia from football--it's flat out not on FIFA's agenda, as far as I know), so I have my doubts they'd attempt to force Qatar's hand there. This round of bidding was such a fiasco that there are rumblings Blatter will be forced out at the next election, which may or may not change things. To be honest, though, I suspect it would require a handful major players or countries threatening to boycott the tournament, but that is a very high stakes gamble.

[rm.livejournal.com]

The thing is, FIFA will force the alcohol issue, but they will come up with some compromise that limits who or where there can be alcohol. And will people obey those rules? No. And there will be all sorts of incredibly stupid/awful collateral damage.

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

Which is absurd, but I've always wanted to go to an Olympics and what if the Doctor is there?

This is such a perfect line, written in such a perfect manner. You're wonderful, Racheline.

~Sor

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Hey, did you get that epic email reply I send a few days back?

More On Holbrook

[keith418.livejournal.com]

... here and here.

[austengirl.livejournal.com]

The comments about Qatar's hosting the WC are the latest in a long line of Sepp Blatter's foot-in-mouth issues. I'm pretty sure money has everything to do with the choice of host nations for the next 2 World Cups.

Your journal, your words, your rules. I've enjoyed the ride so far this year and I plan to continue doing so.

Also a bit of something good: Warhol Foundation Threatens to End Funding of Smithsonian Exhibitions> if Wojnarowicz work is not restored.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

Thank you for remembering Holbrooke. I was feeling a bit as if my caring so much was one of those weird things about me that no "normal American" would understand.