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What it says on the tin.

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Isn’t that the plot to Bring It On?

There is a crazy heatwave in Eastern Europe. While it’s really cool over here.

 

 

[Al-x]

Now Billie Eilish says it:

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/22/1009042029/billie-eilish-says-she-is-sorry-after-an-old-video-shows-her-mouthing-a-racist-s

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/billie-eilish-says-she-had-no-idea-c-was-a-racial-slur-when-she-said-it/ar-AALjNo8?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

It reminds me a few years ago of this teen who was saying racist tweets and even trolling a white girl for dating a black student.
Later on, the teen applied to Harvard and was about to be accepted when Harvard discovered the tweets and rescinded the acceptance. Only then when it cost him Harvard, did he grovel for forgiveness.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Al-x.

Al-x wrote:

As for black women straightening their hair, they had to in order to conform to office standards.

Absolutely, I said so in my post. The norms of the day forced black men and women (in America) to conform to western ideals. However they don’t now for the most part.

Now we have a more varied set of ideals, after decades of screaming that African, east and south Asian ideals should be idolised and promoted, does it now make sense to say they can’t be touched? You redefine an ideal of beauty but it’s reserved, and if it is reserved then why can black women straighten their hair still to a western standard?

Where are we embracing and where are we segregating here?

It’s very easy in this kind of argument to sound like ‘white lives matter’ bullshit but that’s really not where I am coming from.

I’m completely confused on the Eminem argument. Bieber was also embraced and produced by Dre. What does cultural appropriation mean in this instance? Dre approved when I like the artist? Your original statement said they were using black producers for kudos, wasn’t Eminem too?

 

I am talking from the US perspective.

It depends on who is setting the boundaries and why.

For centuries, US whites have set boundaries on Native Americans, blacks, Asians, and others. Now that standards and social rules are being reconsidered and revised, whites all of a sudden say that they are the ones being discriminated against. It is only when they get boundaries set on them (shoe is on the other foot) like they can’t use the n-word, can’t use a rap song, can’t use braids, etc. they complain about it and all of a sudden say “You aren’t being inclusive etc.”

That is in a nutshell the big thing on social media these days.

As for Beiber, he was a YouTube sensation at first when he was discovered, then Usher and Timberlake offered to mentor him. Bieber chose Usher.

I have to say there is difference between cultural appropriation and a cultural exchange. There was a sense that Eminem was genuine with rap music. (Rumors had it that he was even thought of to replace Eazy-E of NWA in some reunion album)

Interestingly, some white artists like Pink, Miley Cyrus, and Post Malone either started out with R&B (Pink), used a dance like twerking, or made rap/hip hop music to break out of their previous image (Miley and Malone). Then after a short while, they changed from it saying “Now I am going to be my genuine self!” Everyone saw through it as them using the music and culture.

Gareth… fellow… you are so right in saying it is a complex issue. If you want to start a thread on it, you have my approval.

Sorry again for the derailment/tangent.

Social media is a hell of a drug.

Now it is divided in the comment section over this instance of a guy using his smartphone to video these women at a pool:

https://www.boredpanda.com/man-taking-photos-of-women-pool/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=BPFacebook&fbclid=IwAR2s5t4l7ZuYCzQ0Q-ikNylGZc4IkmSzJPznrpZDMtw7HZy8xe69ovWvpK0

Al-x wrote:

Now that standards and social rules are being reconsidered and revised, whites all of a sudden say that they are the ones being discriminated against.

Yeah and to be clear here Al, I think that claim is a rancid pile of bullshit.

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Al-x

garjones wrote:

Al-x wrote:

Now that standards and social rules are being reconsidered and revised, whites all of a sudden say that they are the ones being discriminated against.

Yeah and to be clear here Al, I think that claim is a rancid pile of bullshit.

Good, because it is.

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garjones, Al-x

[Al-x]

Martin Smith wrote:

Isn’t that the plot to Bring It On?

Yes…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bring_It_On_(film)

and:

https://mashable.com/article/black-tiktok-strike-dance-megan-thee-stallion-thot-shit

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Al-x.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Al-x.

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JRCarter

garjones wrote:

Al-x wrote:

Sometimes when I meet someone from another country, I would say a greeting in their language (if I knew it) to help break the ice. I learned that everyone else does it and the person may get very annoyed thinking ‘Not another American trying to impress me again by speaking my own language!”

I’d be hugely surprised if anyone actually thought that. In my experience it’s pretty universally welcomed if someone makes even a small effort to use the local language, even if it’s just ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’.

Well, maybe when you’re in France, they’ll look down on you for not speaking French well enough.

Christian wrote:

garjones wrote:

Al-x wrote:

Sometimes when I meet someone from another country, I would say a greeting in their language (if I knew it) to help break the ice. I learned that everyone else does it and the person may get very annoyed thinking ‘Not another American trying to impress me again by speaking my own language!”

I’d be hugely surprised if anyone actually thought that. In my experience it’s pretty universally welcomed if someone makes even a small effort to use the local language, even if it’s just ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’.

Well, maybe when you’re in France, they’ll look down on you for not speaking French well enough.

Honestly despite the cliché I’ve never found that to be the case, outside of a bit of involuntary wincing when I pronounce something really badly.

Often what does happen though is that you will try in their language and they will respond in yours. I think some people see that as a snub but I see it as reciprocation. I’ve had entire conversations with French people when I’m talking to them in French and they’re talking to me in English.

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garjones

[Al-x]

Al-x wrote:

https://mashable.com/article/black-tiktok-strike-dance-megan-thee-stallion-thot-shit

Yeah…

So far the “strike” is working as there is no new content because the source (the choreographers) stopped the supply. Nothing to mimic or siphon from.

It is a loss of followers and revenue.

GOOD!!!

I don’t know what their demands are, but most likely a “settlement” will include full credit and “rights” as well as a monetary cut.

I’m no lawyer, but I wonder if this could fall under intellectual property rights.

These Black TikTok creators are protesting the appropriation of their dances on the app by going on strike pic.twitter.com/Zr87YPXmkG

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) June 25, 2021

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Al-x.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Al-x.

Anyone here in the Pacific Northwest or British Columbia? There is going to be a bad heatwave over there. Temperatures n some places of well over 40 degrees. (104 fahrenheit)

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Sean Robinson

[Sean Robinson]

Yeah, they’re calling it a Heat Dome .
As much as I hate those damned teenagers on my lawn, hot temperatures are worse.

Hard to comprehend, but 2020 was easy on us.
Now Wildfire season is officially on, plus a bunch of idiot humans have more freedom to go out into the bush.
Throw in expected record breaking temperatures (it’s only June!) and there might not be anything left.

No matter the outcome, I still blame those damned teenagers.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Sean Robinson.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Sean Robinson.

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Todd

Anonymous wrote:

Temperatures n some places of well over 40 degrees. (104 fahrenheit)

otherwise known as Tuesday in Arizona.

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Sean Robinson, Todd

Salma Hayek Gets Real About Why Her Breasts Have Gotten Bigger Over the Years

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Al-x

Rocket wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Temperatures n some places of well over 40 degrees. (104 fahrenheit)

otherwise known as Tuesday in Arizona.

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Bruce, Todd, Rocket

Dave wrote:

Often what does happen though is that you will try in their language and they will respond in yours.

Agree 100%.

In France they have a lot of pride in their language and a heavy dislike of the creeping dominance of English*. They take umbrage at the idea you go into their country and engage initially in a foreign language (despite the fact that English is taught and better understood there than most imagine).

If you make an attempt to speak in any broken form of French they are happy. If it’s all a bit hopeless but you tried they’ll continue in English without complaint.

* In doing so they are fucking hypocrites by the way as they’ve been hugely aggressive in suppressing their minority languages like Breton in exactly the same way. Ironically too, from when I first travelled there as a 12 year old on a school trip they adore the fact that the Welsh are from Britain but weren’t speaking English. I’ve been as an adult and told ‘no English’ on the way into a bar and we protested ‘Gallois’ at the door, spoke some Welsh, and they let us in but in truth they’ve treated Breton worse than the English have Welsh. A Breton medium school was due to be set up this year and some spiteful legislation came in to prevent it, in Britain, they had that set up in the 1960s.

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DavidM

We get more and more products in the supermarket in English names. I bought a baguette in the supermarket a few days back and it was called a “rustic loaf” on the label, instead of stokbrood which would be the normal Dutch word for a baguette. The check out lady saw the label and was confused by the wording, having no idea what rustic loaf meant.

Yup, this person is all of us.https://t.co/bulCZ97oWB

— Brad Takei (@BradTakei) June 25, 2021

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Bruce, Todd

Anonymous wrote:

The check out lady saw the label and was confused by the wording, having no idea what rustic loaf meant.

I hope you explained to her that it means “stokbrood”

Dave wrote:

Honestly despite the cliché I’ve never found that to be the case, outside of a bit of involuntary wincing when I pronounce something really badly.

It happened once to me, with a taxi driver in Paris. But yeah, generally it’s no different in France than anywhere else – people will appreciate your making the effort.

garjones wrote:

If you make an attempt to speak in any broken form of French they are happy. If it’s all a bit hopeless but you tried they’ll continue in English without complaint.

I never had any problems speaking to french people and the only courtesy I give them (aside from all the totally normal courtesies, like being polite, nice, friendly etc) is that I greet them in french.

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garjones

Christian wrote:

Dave wrote:

Honestly despite the cliché I’ve never found that to be the case, outside of a bit of involuntary wincing when I pronounce something really badly.

It happened once to me, with a taxi driver in Paris. But yeah, generally it’s no different in France than anywhere else – people will appreciate your making the effort.

Do you ever get asked if you’re English when you speak French? I’m often asked if I’m German. I guess the two accents must sound fairly similar when speaking French.

Someone pointed out to me today how wonderfully simple Welsh descriptions of illnesses are and it is quite funny:

Diabetes – Clefyd siwgr (Sugar disease) Hayfever – Clefyd gwair (Grass disease) Scabies – Clefyd crafu (Scratching disease) Hypochondria – Clefyd diglefyd (Diseaseless disease)

*Clefyd is a word that can mean illness or disease so it’s okay if technically some of those aren’t diseases.

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Will_C, Bruce, Todd

Ironically, I’ve always wondered why medical terms are so often based on ancient Latin and Greek to this day. Why not simply translate all the terms to the natural languages of the doctors and medical students who might end up having to treat you someday? I mean, do they use Latin and Greek in hospitals and medical schools in China or Iran or Japan, too? It’s hard enough just learning to be a doctor, nurse or any medical specialist – why do we still want to throw Latin and Greek on top of that? There really isn’t any value to “diabetes” over “sugar disease.”

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garjones

Today I found out that the US/Canadian versions of Austin Powers didn’t include the two “family of a henchman” scenes and also didn’t include Christian Slater and the orange sherbert.

I guess they must have been cut after test screenings, but they’re some of the funniest parts of the movie!

Humour is very subjective I guess.

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Martin Smith, lorcan_nagle

Dave wrote:

Today I found out that the US/Canadian versions of Austin Powers didn’t include the two “family of a henchman” scenes and also didn’t include Christian Slater and the orange sherbert.

You’re making this up, right? There are no scenes involving Christian Slater and/or orange sherbet, right?!

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lorcan_nagle

njerry wrote:

Dave wrote:

Today I found out that the US/Canadian versions of Austin Powers didn’t include the two “family of a henchman” scenes and also didn’t include Christian Slater and the orange sherbert.

You’re making this up, right? There are no scenes involving Christian Slater and/or orange sherbet, right?!

I assume you’re kidding, but just in case:

There’s a follow up bit during the final battle where the guard shows up and goes HeRe Is YoUr OrAnGe ShErBeRrRt

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Dave

Here’s a language thing I’ve always found stupid in fiction:

There’s a French character in the book (or movie) who speaks perfect English. Except when he’s required to answer “Yes” or “no”, when his excellent command of English deserts him and he says, “Oui” or “Non”. Watch for it, it’s incredibly common.

It makes no sense that you can speak perfect English sentences with complex vocabulary, but you forget the words “Yes” and “No”.

Does this happen in real life?

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Christian

DavidM wrote:

Does this happen in real life?

Nej.

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garjones, Todd, DavidM

lorcan_nagle wrote:

I assume you’re kidding, but just in case:

I honestly don’t recall ever viewing that scene before. Interesting…

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lorcan_nagle

Apparently the toilet scene with Tom Arnold is edited down in the US version too.

I feel like the US version of the movie must have been about half an hour long.

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lorcan_nagle

[lorcan_nagle]

Dave wrote:

Apparently the toilet scene with Tom Arnold is edited down in the US version too.

I feel like the US version of the movie must have been about half an hour long.

Cutting the henchmens’ friends and families reacting to their deaths and the Orange Sherbert bits feels so wrong. They were probably my favourite jokes in the entire movie.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by lorcan_nagle.

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Bruce, Dave

lorcan_nagle wrote:

Cutting the henchmens’ friends and families reacting to their deaths and the Orange Sherbert bits feels so wrong. They were probably my favourite jokes in the entire movie.

The henchman death stuff even manages to pull off that Austin Powers trick of doing the same gag twice but it being even funnier the second time (see also the “Johnson” spaceship montages).

Rob Lowe playing the second scene entirely straight is hilarious.

“To Smiddy!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD3w_VdTG30

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lorcan_nagle

I remember being surprised when I saw the henchman scenes for the first time, on a TV viewing, as I didn’t remember them from before, but given I’ve only ever seen the film on TV, I’m not sure why that would have been.

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lorcan_nagle

I guess the TV broadcast might have used a US-sourced copy at one point by mistake?

Apparently later US versions for TV and home video added the henchman family and friends scenes into the credits somewhere.

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lorcan_nagle

Dave wrote:

I guess the TV broadcast might have used a US-sourced copy at one point by mistake?

They do sometimes. I remember a story a while back about a BBC showing of a film that cut stuff out and they apologised and revealed it had been edited for US network TV and they’d acquired it from then.

So I don’t know the machinations of how often that happens but it’s something that does and would explain why Martin my have seen that version on British TV.

[Al-x]

Culture shocks when touring the US:

https://www.boredpanda.com/tourist-culture-shocks-america/?fbclid=IwAR3d8w-nXmBgP-XjaSQTLNHQqY0QgwvoRpIqHO1Qn_mXsYfz3_mkDdS60e4&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic

Things Americans said to non-Americans:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanschocket2/non-americans-share-things-americans-said?origin=web-hf

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Al-x.

Having grown up reading US comics and knowing plenty of American people before I went I didn’t expect too many genuine ‘culture shocks’ when I went. I knew stuff like the tipping and healthcare and jaywalking and all that. So they are all little things, well maybe apart from the first one.

So my genuine surprises were:

As in that article – the homeless –  it is shocking in LA especially. I have been to 35 countries, a lot of them ‘developing nations’ and only India had similar numbers.  Santa Monica is filmed very carefully in the movies because in real life every scrap of grass on the promenade to the beach has someone in a sleeping bag on it.

The armed forces at Dallas airport being allowed on the plane before kids and the disabled. What’s that about? I realise they do a brave and valiant service but they are fittest people around. Let the babies and the ones in wheelchairs on.

The street vendor hot dogs in NY – completely bog standard. That is offset though by the pizza fully living up to the reputation.

How incredibly polite people are in the south. The British tend to have that reputation but they are nowhere as good as the folk in Texas I saw everywhere, not a missed please or thank you or door held open.

No magazines. At a typical airport shop for snacks and books there was always one tiny rack of about 10 magazines, the famous usual suspects like Time and National Geographic and Rolling Stone. Nothing at all for kids. That’s at JFK and LAX, big airports. Even Penang airport which is pretty small you’d have a couple of hundred titles to pick from probably.

US CNN, unlike the international version, bangs on and on about the same story for hours on end. When I was in NY that time we met up the missing Malaysian Airlines plane was the story, a good few weeks after it happened. Even in Malaysia they’d moved on and had other stories.

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DavidM, lorcan_nagle, Todd

Interesting letter to a financial advice column:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/i-won-over-55-million-in-the-california-lottery-but-didn-t-tell-my-friends-or-family-did-i-do-the-right-thing/ar-AALBYCO?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

garjones wrote:

How incredibly polite people are in the south. The British tend to have that reputation but they are nowhere as good as the folk in Texas I saw everywhere, not a missed please or thank you or door held open.

When I was in the US in the year 2000, I visited Washington and New York. In Washington I went subway hopping around the city and I met a guy who seemed elated to talk to a foreigner. It was kinda odd but he was so sweet. He wanted to know all about the Netherlands, and he was apologizing for how he thought Americans acted towards foreigners – namely, rudely. But honestly I never met an American who wasn’t a complete sweetheart.

 

Oddly the reaction of this guy was almost the same as one man I met in the Czech Republic, when I was doing the same thing in Brno, taking the subway to the outskirts of the city. This was in the 90s and I don’t think a lot of tourists visted Brno around that time, and this man was just amazed at seeing a foreigners there. And I spoke Czech, which blew his mind.

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njerry

Anonymous wrote:

He wanted to know all about the Netherlands, and he was apologizing for how he thought Americans acted towards foreigners – namely, rudely. But honestly I never met an American who wasn’t a complete sweetheart.

I think it’s actually quite a complex set of stuff really.

The first is the issue of ‘Americans’ because after I left Texas I went to LA and basically everyone who served me there was at best functional and at worst an arsehole.

This I can recount from a neutral position in the UK. My wife and her boss were sent on a work trip to the UK and they both said how they were taken aback how cold their reception was in London and how warm it was in Sheffield.

I’ve seen Americans in the UK as tourists be very loud and very demanding and spout nonsense but I’ve also found Americans abroad tend to be in two camps, either ignorant or hugely interested and open. Not much inbetween. Most Europeans are inbetween. I’d rather the worldly-wise American to a backpacking Swede. I’d rather the backpacking Swede to the loud shirted American with a camera, which is a massive stereotype but I have seen them.

 

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Todd

I guess I was lucky that I the Americans I got to know were all nice people, I am sure there are some assholes like there are everywhere.

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Todd

As an American, I am generally embarrassed by the behavior of my fellow citizens abroad. My favorite embarrassment is the asshole in a foreign country complaining vehemently because the locals don’t speak English.

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Sean Robinson, Todd

[Sean Robinson]

Anonymous wrote:

Anyone here in the Pacific Northwest or British Columbia? There is going to be a bad heatwave over there. Temperatures in some places of well over 40 degrees.

So the worst is over, but that was an absolute shitshow.
For me (Greater Vancouver area) it got just over 40 degrees, but with the humidity it felt (supposedly) in the high 40’s.
All I know is we’re not climatized for that, and people were unprepared.
Saw it coming, but unprepared at the same time.

Monday night was sirens all night, and you knew it was bad.
Apparently lots of sudden deaths. 719 people died in a 7 day span, over 3 times a normal 7 day span.
Won’t know the true extent for some time, but at a quick glance it’s the elderly and those with breathing issues, and/or mobility issues.

It’s like we broke 911 service. Long waits to get through. Apparently the operator not allowed to take the next call until the ambulance service has taken over the current call, and that fell through. They can’t even staff every ambulance.
An absolute fucking joke. An earthquake would destroy us.

Government need to be held accountable, also for not doing enough at the beginning.
Yes, you said it was coming. But you needed to scream it louder if the worst case scenario was to happen.
No one has been through this before, and have no frame of reference.
Sad we need to tell people, but tell them over and over to check on your parents, your neighbors. Over 60% of the population here do not have access to air conditioning.

And no proof this won’t happen again.
Climate change scientists are saying these events will become increasingly more common.

And then Province wide, Lytton, B.C. (Google Maps link) had 3 days in a row of recording the highest ever temperature in Canada’s history.
46.6 on Sunday, 47.5 on Monday, and 49.5 degrees C on Tuesday (that’s 121.1 F)
Edit: for reference, Lytton is 50.2333° N, London England is 51.5074° N

Then possible sparks from a train started a fire Wednesday, and Lytton is 90% gone, burned to the ground.

Lighting in the province during a heat wave and everything tinder dry has 137 wildfires burning in B.C., getting worse by the hour.

They haven’t declared a Provincial State of Emergency (because why get a head start on it and make it look like you’re trying?), but we’re 3 weeks ahead of an average year, and just over a week ahead of the horrible year 2017.
This has the potential to be the worst ever.

Feels like Mother Earth wants to kick us off the planet, and everyone responds with a confused look; “but what did we do?”

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Sean Robinson.

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Rocket, DavidM, Todd

Rocket wrote:

Temperatures n some places of well over 40 degrees. (104 fahrenheit)

otherwise known as Tuesday in Arizona.

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Rocket, DavidM, Dave, Todd

Sean Robinson wrote:

otherwise known as Tuesday in Arizona.

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Dave, Sean Robinson, Todd

DavidM wrote:

Here’s a language thing I’ve always found stupid in fiction:

There’s a French character in the book (or movie) who speaks perfect English. Except when he’s required to answer “Yes” or “no”, when his excellent command of English deserts him and he says, “Oui” or “Non”. Watch for it, it’s incredibly common.

It makes no sense that you can speak perfect English sentences with complex vocabulary, but you forget the words “Yes” and “No”.

Does this happen in real life?

Sure! Whenever I’m abroad, I make sure to scream “NEIN!!!!” at people whenever I don’t want something.

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DavidM, Bruce, garjones

garjones wrote:

Someone pointed out to me today how wonderfully simple Welsh descriptions of illnesses are and it is quite funny:

Diabetes – Clefyd siwgr (Sugar disease) Hayfever – Clefyd gwair (Grass disease) Scabies – Clefyd crafu (Scratching disease) Hypochondria – Clefyd diglefyd (Diseaseless disease)

*Clefyd is a word that can mean illness or disease so it’s okay if technically some of those aren’t diseases.

Reminds me of this thing:

Quite true, too.

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Todd, garjones

German Fahrzeug – Swedish Fartyg, actually means ship though.

German Werkzeug – Swedish Verktyg.

The pronunciation is very similar although it might not look it to a brain on english.

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Christian

Top 5 Robin Williams movies, revised edition.

1. Dead Poets Society
2. Aladdin
3. Hook
4. Good Morning Vietnam
5. Insomnia

Anonymous wrote:

Top 5 Robin Williams movies, revised edition.

1. Dead Poets Society
2. Aladdin
3. Hook
4. Good Morning Vietnam
5. Insomnia

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DavidM

Yeah, making my first list (in which i completely forgot Hook, a childhood favourite with tremendous nostalgia value for me) I struggled choosing between Jumanji, Mrs Doubtfire, Fisher King and Good Will Hunting for that last spot.

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Dave

And Patch Adams.

Christian wrote:

garjones wrote:

Someone pointed out to me today how wonderfully simple Welsh descriptions of illnesses are and it is quite funny:

Diabetes – Clefyd siwgr (Sugar disease) Hayfever – Clefyd gwair (Grass disease) Scabies – Clefyd crafu (Scratching disease) Hypochondria – Clefyd diglefyd (Diseaseless disease)

*Clefyd is a word that can mean illness or disease so it’s okay if technically some of those aren’t diseases.

Reminds me of this thing:

Quite true, too.

We have vliegtuig, werktuig and vaartuig in Dutch. Also diabetes used to be suikerziekte, but now most people say diabetes.

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Christian

Dave wrote:

And Patch Adams.

I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t seen it. I take it I should?

No I was joking, it was panned at the time.

Too late, it’s on my list now! I’ll let you know what I thought of it and hold you responsible accordingly.

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njerry, Dave

I’ve just realised how few Robin Williams movies I’ve seen.

I’ve also just remembered that Tootsie wasn’t Robin Williams. So there’s one fewer.

Agree or disagree?

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Rocket, Todd

Could anyone seriously disagree?

I think competitive fandom often gets a bit silly. Of course you’re able to consider yourself a fan of something without becoming expert.

That said, that kind of in-depth engagement is how some fans like to interact with their favourite things, so I don’t think it should be sneered at either.

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garjones, DavidM

Happy 4th of July everybody!

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Rocket

Why is rap like scissors?

 

It always loses to rock

 

 

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Todd, Sean Robinson

Dave wrote:

Could anyone seriously disagree? I think competitive fandom often gets a bit silly. Of course you’re able to consider yourself a fan of something without becoming expert. That said, that kind of in-depth engagement is how some fans like to interact with their favourite things, so I don’t think it should be sneered at either.

It goes back pretty much to sports fandom where ad hoc “trivia” competitions were always a big part of the discussions from bars to parties to the workplace especially in discussion of baseball in the classic American periods.

Fandom is inherently silly, but that is its appeal. There is really nothing definite or significant about fandom but it works as a way of socializing people from youth to adulthood. I can see how Silver Age DC comics with their silly and obvious power fantasies affected the development of my young childhood where powerlessness was the most dominant factor in my life. Then how Marvel comics – especially the New X-Mean and Teen Titans affected the development of my adolescence where the metaphor of “mutant” pretty much described becoming a teenager.  Then as a young adult reading books like The Dark Knight Returns, 2001 AD comics, Heavy Metal and Watchmen (and many others) that pretty much deconstructed traditional heroic storylines and encouraged the reader leave your childish ideas about heroes behind.

For me, fandom was and still is a way for people to practice joining and interacting with society with something that really doesn’t matter. It’s mostly theatre and the best definition I’ve heard of that is “a safe place for dangerous things.” Fandom is silly – a fan essentially invests in something that doesn’t really matter in the life or death sense unlike many things in our daily social behavior that do matter far more significantly. So even though it doesn’t matter and can look silly to outsiders, fandom mirrors a lot of the same sort of challenges that do matter when a young person enters society. So even though it is primarily practice, people need it.

I think people should probably leave it far more often than they do, but honestly I think the majority of fans of anything actually do dwindle at a pretty great rate. There are likely a lot of people who were rabid Star Wars fans in their teens who just go to the movies or watch the shows because they have kids. They don’t go to the conventions or read the novels or comics anymore while they would spend months tracking down some rare figurine when they were kids.

Entertainment for the most part is a distraction from life and a release of the tensions and frustrations built up from living. It is something that the audience is meant to let go.

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[Al-x]

I swear…This contest is one of the most disgusting things you will ever see.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Al-x.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Al-x.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Al-x.

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njerry, Todd

Al-x wrote:

I swear…This contest is one of the most disgusting things you will ever see.

Incorrect!

I will never see it.

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Todd

Anonymous wrote:

t goes back pretty much to sports fandom where ad hoc “trivia” competitions were always a big part of the discussions from bars to parties to the workplace especially in discussion of baseball in the classic American periods.

In truth I think it essentially boils down to just different levels of enthusiasm.

In any field there are people that just quite enjoy stuff. England have made the semi finals of the European championships and that game will get enormous ratings on TV. The majority of those watching will not have a season ticket at a club and go on coach trips to away games but I know people who do. I worked with a Watford fan who lived in Swansea and he would travel 7 hours on a Saturday to watch them play, at great expense in petrol and ticket money.

I love comics, I have loved them of all types since a small kid, I’d walk 5 miles or more as a young teen going into every newsagent in town in the off chance of finding comics, and I will never stop reading comics. My brother likes comics, he’ll hear of a good title somewhere and buy a trade paperback or two a year. I know plenty of people like that, you’ll know them for year and then find out they have a full collection of Sandman trades at home but they don’t have a standing order at their LCS or maybe even know it exists.

I’m not going to decry his enjoyment of that anymore that the Watford fan should scorn the person who just watches the big England game or the FA Cup final (or Superbowl or World Series final in the US).

I think fans (less so than the publishers) really underestimate the massive impact of the casual bankrolling the whole thing. It’s exactly why big movies and TV shows rarely have any impact on comic shop sales but a not very good film sold 3 million copies of Watchmen in a year in bookshops. It’s because you can like stuff without it being a huge focus in your life and we all do because it’s impossible to have the time to be obsessive about everything you engage in.

For everything you may enjoy quite a bit there is someone obsessed with it. We have a tendency to try and create oppositional positions when it’s really just different levels of interest but a shared interest all the same.

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However, there is a difference between the trivia experts knowing every detail about the Star Trek alien races or being familiar with all the line-ups in the New York Yankees’ history compared to someone who will create perfect costumes of Star Wars characters for every convention compared to a person who writes a fan fiction short story set in the Twilight or Harry Potter universes and posts one online every week. But I wouldn’t say that there is a difference in enthusiasm between each type of fan.

The fan who has not missed a home game of his favorite team or has collected and read every issue of the X-Men for the past thirty years has probably even more enthusiasm than fans that can tell you every detail of those games or name the creative teams, characters and storylines of every issue of the comic.

I think the desire and ability to be the sort of fan that can keep the lore and information on these things is a fairly specific thing in itself. It may actually be a specific aptitude that some people have that really has nothing to do with the level of enthusiasm, and in popular entertainment it is often presented as a kind of mystical ability in scenes where some character will name some random Red Sox second basemen to show that they are a deep Boston native. Or a committed Trekker or secretly a comics nerd because they have and apparently value this arcane knowledge.

Obviously, though, it is just one way to show one’s commitment to fandom – to demonstrate your bona fides. It’s one way to find your place there, while another might be cosplay or fan art or fan fiction — collections of various merchandise, etc.

In a way, knowing the lore is the introductory step — so developing that to the nth degree could be seen as never getting past the front lobby of fandom meaning the know-it-all is the least truly enthusiastic expression compared to the people who seriously invest in fandom. The knowledge is the cheapest thing you could obtain compared to paying to see every play-off game or buying all the comics, novels, DVDs and merchandise of a franchise.

At the same time, ironically, there obviously are people that are super-fans of things they really know nothing about. I remember a comic book writer once talking about how he was obsessed with the Universal movie monsters Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon as a little kid and he collected toys and posters and other memorabilia related to the movies, but his parents never let him see them because he was too young for horror movies.

However, when he was finally old enough to watch them, he was naturally quite disappointed because in his imagination, they were a lot more terrifying than they actually were in reality. So he wrote a book called Obergeist based on what he thought the movies would have been like. It’s a good book but not terrific.

I agree that the amount of time someone spends on a pasttime or hobby depends on their enthusiasm, but I think the way a person expresses it doesn’t indicate the level of enthusiasm. Also, I think the “trivia” or “lore” expert is a particular type of fan… and often one that people think of as being the uber-fan when I believe it is just as likely they are more superficial in their fandom than many, many fans who know far less but love it a great deal more with their actions.

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Dave wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Top 5 Robin Williams movies, revised edition.

1. Dead Poets Society
2. Aladdin
3. Hook
4. Good Morning Vietnam
5. Insomnia

I really liked Insomnia. Did you rewatch One Hour Photo, too? I thought he was brilliant in that.

Also, like, The Fisher King.

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Christian wrote:

I really liked Insomnia. Did you rewatch One Hour Photo, too? I thought he was brilliant in that. Also, like, The Fisher King.

Insomnia is a really good thriller, with a captivating premise. I watched it yesterday. Obviously, the best thing about it isn’t Williams, but Pacino. He really, really sells being sleep depraved and bombed out of his head because of it. I can identify with it a lot.

The Robin Williams binge is going to continue for a good few days, I have a long list. One Hour Photo is on it. Weirdly, I don’t remember it being all that good… We’ll see. I got a tip from a friendly rando on twitter to watch World’s Greatest Dad and to go in blind, and I’m doing just that right now.

It’ll be interesting to see if I need to update and revise my already revised Top 5 Robin Williams list when this binge is over.

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Todd

Anonymous wrote:

Insomnia is a really good thriller, with a captivating premise. I watched it yesterday. Obviously, the best thing about it isn’t Williams, but Pacino. He really, really sells being sleep depraved and bombed out of his head

They knew they had that as soon as they cast him.

Yeah, duh. It’s Pacino, there’s no phoning it in here.

When he’s on the ferry talking to Walter he leans up against a pole while having the conversation, almost merging with. That is just… sublime. I loved his performance in general but that bit right there specifically.

I remember seeing it at the cinema when it came out and thinking it was one of the all-time great Pacino performances. He looks totally fucked throughout.

Dave wrote:

I remember seeing it at the cinema when it came out and thinking it was one of the all-time great Pacino performances. He looks totally fucked throughout.

Hard agree.

I was not prepared for Worlds Greatest Dad. So glad I went in blind.

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RW was great in an episode of Louie. I know Louis CK is persona non grata, but there is some good stuff in that show

There is a bronze statue of Lt Columbo and his dog on Falk St in Budapest.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/columbo-statue

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Todd, DavidM, lorcan_nagle

You know…

I have posted videos, articles, social media replies and tweets time and time again about how the education system failed a lot of Americans or they failed it whatever. Anyway this article further continues the tirade of how some Americans are not too bright. Have a good laugh or shake your head:

https://www.boredpanda.com/weirdest-things-americans-said-reddit/?fbclid=IwAR0LPGJnXaSAiMUEKKc9p-P4ZVQ-OyIIJEi0uZuQpuVPsafaG-7OGombDNs&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic

Anonymous wrote:

now most people say diabetes.

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Todd, Sean Robinson

Apparently it is socially incorrect to call people with diabetes “diabetics”. You’re supposed to call them…people with diabetes.

Shoot me now.

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Rocket, DavidM, Todd, Sean Robinson

Can we still call someone a heretic? Or heretic diabetic?
What about an anorexic heretic diabetic?

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DavidM

Here is a link about some red flags to pick up on job interviews and job ads:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/meganeliscomb/job-posting-red-flags-flipped?fbclid=IwAR27j4qJSOkOTJ6rkn_EuaSw8rjTNhvBXKWUOzKyibvqD8-O8dCTB-HpWlk

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Todd

Sean Robinson wrote:

Can we still call someone a heretic? Or heretic diabetic?
What about an anorexic heretic diabetic?

I prefer the dyslexic agnostic insomniac who lies awake at night wondering if there really is a dog.

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njerry wrote:

Apparently it is socially incorrect to call people with diabetes “diabetics”. You’re supposed to call them…people with diabetes.

Now, wouldn’t have that problem if we just called it sugar disease. No one would think to call people “sugar diseased.”

“I didn’t know you were a sugar diseased, Janice.”

“I’m not, Tom. I’m a person who has sugar disease.”

“Is it contagious?”

“Yes, you should probably keep your distance.”

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njerry wrote:

Apparently it is socially incorrect to call people with diabetes “diabetics”. You’re supposed to call them…people with diabetes.

Shoot me now.

I have a coworker with diabetes and when her sugar is off and she gets a bit crazy, she says she is “diabetical”.

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Anonymous wrote:

njerry wrote:

Apparently it is socially incorrect to call people with diabetes “diabetics”. You’re supposed to call them…people with diabetes.

Now, wouldn’t have that problem if we just called it sugar disease. No one would think to call people “sugar diseased.”

“I didn’t know you were a sugar diseased, Janice.”

“I’m not, Tom. I’m a person who has sugar disease.”

“Is it contagious?”

“Yes, you should probably keep your distance.”

On a more serious note:

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Sean Robinson wrote:

Can we still call someone a heretic? Or heretic diabetic?
What about an anorexic heretic diabetic?

That just wouldn’t be politic correctic.

 

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Sean Robinson

Sean Robinson wrote:

What about an anorexic heretic diabetic?

This is an interesting situation. People with anorexia sometimes go to Overeaters Anonymous which requires you to believe in higher power which conflicts with the heresy and the diabetes requires you focus on what you eat which conflicts with OA concept of stop obsessing about food haha

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Sean Robinson

[Al-x]

Watching some YouTube interviews/segments:

All these young starlets are pushed by their agents to be on the talk show circuit. They go on the late night talk shows in revealing outfits, act flirty, portray a fun friendly personality so you can like them, want to f*ck them etc. All to promote an upcoming show, movie, to advance their career.

That is show business for you…

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Al-x.

In crazy billionaire news…

Sir Richard Branson is set to be the first to lift off in the billionaire space race, 9 days ahead of Jeff Bezos

They can stay up there if they want for all I care….

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DavidM

Al-x wrote:

That is show business for you…

…and has been that way since the days of Mary Pickford and Mae West.

Anonymous wrote:

Now, wouldn’t have that problem if we just called it sugar disease. No one would think to call people “sugar diseased.”

“I didn’t know you were a sugar diseased, Janice.”

“I’m not, Tom. I’m a person who has sugar disease.”

“Is it contagious?”

“Yes, you should probably keep your distance.”

From a medical article in 2013:

Diabetic should be reserved for descriptions of things and as an adjective. It is correct and acceptable to say diabetic neuropathy or diabetic socks or diabetic medications. It is not proper to say a word ending in “ic” as a noun; “______ is a diabetic.” It labels a person by a disease.

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Todd

[Al-x]

So Richard Branson has won the Billionaire Space Race ahead of Bezos and Musk.

He can stay up there. In fact all three can stay up there…

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/space-billionaires-jeff-bezos-richard-branson/619383/

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Al-x.

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Todd

That giant 3D cat in Japan creeps me out.

Al-x wrote:

That giant 3D cat in Japan creeps me out.

Then it’s functioning properly.

It’s a very impressive use of a simple trick.

I don’t know if it is a phobia, but that which is oversized or giant when ordinarily it is small really creeps me out.
I couldn’t see Antman 2 partly because of some of the effects.

I saw some huge statues of hands on a building supposedly in Venice, also somewhere else there was a huge statue of horses that looked like the knight pieces in chess. I couldn’t walk there.

The Statue of Liberty doesn’t phase me, but it is usually a more lifelike oversized statue or figurine that gets to me.

One of the ancient 7 wonders of the World had a huge statue of a soldier with one foot on a small island and the other on another. Game of Thrones used it as one of its locations. If it looked more lifelike, then… forget it.

I can’t describe it to Google it for a diagnosis. But I guess you get the picture of what I am saying.

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Al-x wrote:

One of the ancient 7 wonders of the World had a huge statue of a soldier with one foot on a small island and the other on another. Game of Thrones used it as one of its locations. If it looked more lifelike, then… forget it.

Colossus of Rhodos. The Statue of Liberty was kind of a cover version of him (and Emma Lazarus’ poem refers to that).

Al-x wrote:

I don’t know if it is a phobia, but that which is oversized or giant when ordinarily it is small really creeps me out.

That is very interesting. And I think it may be a form of megalophobia?

There are a number of different things that can trigger feelings of fear and anxiety for a person who has megalophobia. Some people may experience symptoms in the presence of a wide variety of large objects, while others may only have these feelings when they are around specific triggers.

You may be afraid of very large animals, stationary objects, or massive man-made objects. Some common triggers include:

Airplanes
Blimps
Buildings
Buses
Construction equipment
Elephants
Enormous trees like sequoias or redwoods
Hills and mountains
Large bodies of water
Ships
Sculptures
Statues
Trains
Whales

https://www.verywellmind.com/megalophobia-2671869

Here’s a blog entry that collects images that people with megalophobia may have a reaction to. Don’t know if you’d want to look at it, but it’d be interesting to know which one of those has an effect on you.

https://blog.depositphotos.com/megalophobia-22-pictures-and-videos-of-things-larger-than-life.html

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Al-x

I had a friend at school who was petrified of stuffed animals. Big or small.

Which was unfortunate as he was a big history buff and used to like to come along to the trips of the historical society my mother was chairman of. That meant visiting a lot of stately homes packed with stuffed animals. He’d ask me to go in first to check each room and if it has any taxidermy in it he’d close his eyes and ask me to lead him past them. 😂