sundries

[rm]

Just spoke to Patty on the phone! She has electricity and wild dogs and good food. India likes her and she likes India.

There is severe flooding in Brazil. Here, a dog waits by the grave of his owner. There's an fandom community auction at helpbrazil2011.

Excited for White Collar, but expect to continue to be annoyed at the wink-wink nod-nod to queerness (and I don't even mean gayness -- I mean queer in the literary sense).

This dog knows over 1,000 nouns and recognizes over 200 specific items. Can it do grammar?

This scandal is different to the Italians than it is to us, but it's still a hot mess: Berlusconi and the underage prostitutes.

New federal regulations that prevent hospitals from discriminating against visitors based on sexual orientation and gender identity take effect today. Know your rights; don't assume other people do.

Everyone knows Anderson Cooper is gay. Anderson Cooper doesn't talk about it because he says his personal life doesn't seem relevant. Increasingly, folks are getting pissed off about this. Personally, I'm torn. As a newsman, he's absolutely right. As a newsman, he could make SUCH A HUGE DIFFERENCE by being publicly out because he's a voice people trust. I feel bad for the guy though.

I FORGOT TO TELL YOU THE BEST THING: Forget Sharktopus the next terrible SyFy movie seems to be, based on a casting call I received: PIRANHACONDA!

Comments

[girlofavalon.livejournal.com]

There's a fandom auction for Brazil's floods: helpbrazil2011. In my latest entry I am annoucing my auction (I'm auctioning up Harry Potter and Star Wars fanfic). I'm planning to do a compilation of auctions in the fandoms I am familiar with in my journal.

[girlofavalon.livejournal.com]

Also, thank you so much for mentioning the disaster in my country <3

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

There's an LJ auction in aid of those affected by the flooding/landslides, which will probably have links to places to donate.

I think the dog can understand nouns in association with similar action verbs ("paw toy" as opposed to "fetch toy"), but whether that's grammar, I don't know.

Good to hear about the new regulations; a crying shame that they should be needed.

Did you see the other NYT story about the internet startup ('Warby Parker') selling vintage specs? (They even have a monocle.) I don't think it's *quite* as new under the sun as the NYT's making out, but that said, I'm seriously tempted by the idea of getting my next pair of regular specs from Warby Parker and not from LensCrafters.

[rm.livejournal.com]

There's also a shop in the East Village that sells vintage glasses.

[4hour-ramona.livejournal.com]

i just bought a pair of glasses from them - they ship soon and i'm quite excited to see how they are. i have hopes.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have a lot of issues with the “That experiment demonstrates conclusively that Chaser understood that the verb had a meaning,” Dr. Pilley said. statement, because all he's actually demonstrated is that Chaser can be taught to perform certain behaviours on cue. And we already knew dogs could do that. I think either he or the article writers are making some considerable leaps there, since you can't even prove animals actually understand the semantic and symbolic content of individual words with these kinds of experiments, let alone that they can grasp grammar. Most dogs don't know as many cues as Chaser does, but all dogs basically do what she does, and do it every day; the only real difference here is the level of training she's received and the way the researchers are intepreting her response.

Not to mention I think we need to get over the bias that language is a measure of intelligence, since there's no reason why an animal without verbal language should even be equipped with those tools, and it's no reflection on their own fitness for purpose. It's a bit like trying to argue that people are stupider than fish because they can't breathe under water.

[maudelynn.livejournal.com]

Honestly, it I feel it is 100% his choice to determine whether or not he wants to talk about his private life. I feel cornering people and forcing them into talking about their sexuality, and being angry when they don't, is the other side of making people afraid to talk about their sexuality for fear of reprisal coin. I am not saying YOU are doing this in any way, but there are people that do.
Bottom line; unless a person wants to talk about who they are sleeping with, it is nobody's business and they are under no obligation to do so.

[marchek.livejournal.com]

India likes her and she likes India.

I am very happy to hear this =)

[yarram.livejournal.com]

Re: Anderson Cooper. I had no idea until you posted it here. So there's reasons to be visible and vocal if you are in a position to do so. Because we still live in a society that deeply (and in disturbing, fucked-up ways) still cares who the hell you sleep with, and until the number of people who care are vastly outnumbered by those who say "meh", we will make no traction in the direction of "meh" until people explicitly act to make it a "meh" issue.

Now, it may be that Mr. Cooper's own stance is to make it a "meh" issue by treating it as a non-issue. I disagree with that, but it's still a valid viewpoint.

[blergeatkitty.livejournal.com]

People have been getting pissed off at Anderson not being out since the entire Anderson Cooper fandom consisted of my Tripod website and an email "newsletter" with an audience of about two dozen. (Every three months or so I'd get angry email calling me a homophobe because I wasn't taking it upon myself to out him. Fun times. Incidentally, Anderson himself had asked me to stay away from personal-life speculation even back then, and because he was such a good sport about having a fan site in the first place I was happy to let him dictate as much of the content as he wanted.)

Apart from being a newsman, I think there's another good reason he's not actively out - owing to who his family is, he's more aware than most people what it's like to have every bit of your personal life scrutinized by the media. Even if he wasn't gay, I doubt he'd be too forthcoming about what he does when he's not reporting the news. If he came out it would definitely be an amazing thing, but it is completely understandable on many levels why he doesn't want to be a pioneer.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

Incidentally, Anderson himself had asked me to stay away from personal-life speculation even back then, and because he was such a good sport about having a fan site in the first place I was happy to let him dictate as much of the content as he wanted.

I love this part of the story to itty bitty little pieces.

[blergeatkitty.livejournal.com]

You also know the part where he helped me write a college paper, right?

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

No!

*draws hearts and flowers around him*

[blergeatkitty.livejournal.com]

I will tell you over chat if you like, so as not to take over rm's journal comments. :)

[rm.livejournal.com]

NO YOU CAN TOTALLY TAKE OVER MY JOURNAL COMMENTS TALKING ABOUT ANDERSON COOPER.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Okay, because I was going to be a very sad panda if I couldn't peer into this lovely exchange, myself.

[easter.livejournal.com]

Tell me! Tell me!

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

... now I'm wondering if there's federal regulations that forbid discrimination by hospitals against patients based on their sexual orientation or gender identity...

[rm.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure there aren't.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Regrettably, no; and there should be, considering some of the tales told.

Berlusconi

[j-v-lynch.livejournal.com]

a hot mess it may be, but I think I'm in love with the term "Bunga Bunga" Party.

[airspaniel.livejournal.com]

PIRANHACONDA?!

Oh god, a not insignificant part of me wants to run away and just be in shitty Syfy made-for-TV movies for the rest of my life. I hope this will hearken in a new golden age of such films, for it has been too long since we had a good Mansquito or SS Doomtrooper...

Just gonna leave this right here....

[fightingwords.livejournal.com]

http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/f41y2/my_brothers_girlfriend_got_a_new_tattoo/

[baronalejandro.livejournal.com]

I had no idea he was gay. Not my business, though.

[idunn.livejournal.com]

Considering the harassment and violence queer people still face, I see nothing wrong with Cooper keeping his private business private.

[chaos-by-design.livejournal.com]

The Anderson Cooper thing is interesting in light of Johnny Weir coming out after being coy about for so long, and for similar reasons.

See, it kinda taps into a feeling that I've had for a long time: I don't like it that queer people have to "come out" at all. That it has to be this big announcement, that we can't just live our lives and mention our SOs if its appropriate to the situation to do so and NOT have it be a Thing™.

But I'm in a weird place because I'm single and bi, so if I find a partner I'll be judged by the sex of that partner as to what I am and what privilege I do or don't get. If I wind up with a guy, as far as the world is concerned, I'll be straight. They won't care that I'll still fantasize about women. If I wind up with a woman, I'll be gay, and they won't care that I'll still notice a good-looking man. So for me, "coming out" (except to my closest friends), is completely tied to getting a partner, and only a same-sex one, since obviously in that scenario I'm not going to pretend we're roommates or something like that.

[sanat.livejournal.com]

As a fellow bi, this, so much.

[elemgi.livejournal.com]

I know,really.I've had the experience of being in a poly-bi triad where what I was doing was not ok with everyone around me. I mean, everyone. I was in a committed relationship with a married with children couple for 6 yrs. I got to listen to the hilarious(to the creeps recounting) of fellow ICU nurses in training (male, in Ohio) who were recounting how they would get wasted in college and go fag bash. That, of course, reminded me of my cousins from racist households(in Florida) talking about how they used to go buy booze from a non-dry county and throw watermelons after black people. So, I outed myself to them and did a modicum of lecture on respecting other peoples' rights. Just explaining myself got the jaw drop from them and I think what I said was wasted into the ether because they could not imagine someone like me. Breaking up was also hard, because I was surrounded by people, including my father who helped me move, with the expectation that this relationship should/would have never worked, anyway. I have literally been chased by my (male) partner and wrestled to make me "take back" the bisexual identity I insisted on. You are going to find a lot of our own special teachable moments related to bisexuality, as you go on. Or, if you aren't safe, not. (I always prioritize safety). This is a continuing thing, by no means stopped because I am now celibate and not visible to most anyone as sexual at all. We've got our own shape of the closet to deal with, and it still feels like a queer person's closet.
Sigh, sorry for co-opting the journal, RM.

[chaos-by-design.livejournal.com]

Re: all the crap you've faced

People scare me. I just can't believe what utter fucks people can be.

Re: the rest of it.

I feel like I'm still figuring things out. I've just recently started considering myself bi as opposed to "straight girl who gets feelings that don't fit into the straight mold and confuse her as to what she should label herself."

I guess I feel like the bi closet, at least for me, was different in that it was less about pretending to be something I totally wasn't (like a gay person pretending to be straight) and more like choosing to ignore or downplay certain aspects of my personality and then getting confused when those aspects every so often up and slapped me in the face.

[elemgi.livejournal.com]

OTOH, I admire a lot of younger queer people who are willing to not define by labels. Please be gentle with yourself. Your likes and loves are going to unfold within you as you listen to yourself. I get that people are scary, but whatever you wind up celebrating, it will be wonderful also because it will fit you. We are a most various people, on the rainbow. I did not mean to do a rant, and I'm sorry my comment reflected only the difficulties of being bi. I've had joyous events aplenty. Peace be.

[cozzene.livejournal.com]

A.C. is gay? really? I honestly had no clue. I just liked watching him talk.

[shield-toad111.livejournal.com]

I particularly enjoyed hearing the news of Piranhaconda on the same day I saw on ad on SyFy for Megapython vs. Gatoroid.

[goldenwolfrose.livejournal.com]

OMG! So incredibly funny! I was chatting with one of my friends here at work who is an actress and she has an audition today. She said it was for some chessy sci-fi movie and we both blurted out at the same time... "PIRANHACONDA!". Such a small world!

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

I have a workmate who's really into ridiculous monster films. He was unnaturally excited to hear about PIRHANACONDA.

(He also thinks it would be brilliant to be two degrees from someone IN a film called PIRHANACONDA, but I told him not to get his hopes up.)

ETA: Oh god, that dog photo. That's...a lot of points of tenderness in my being getting hit at once.