(No Subject)

*crickets*

*crickets*

*crickets*

Um... hello?

*crickets*

*crickets*

*crickets*

Leaving this here so I can find it later

Two months without an update, and this is my big comeback?

On John C. Wright's blog, a reader leaves the comment:

When you said “Those of you who are Christian men and soldiers in this culture war” 

Is there a particular reason for the choice of “Christian men” rather than “Christians”? 

(I had shown this post to a lefter-leaning friend, one who does not hold with what NK Jemisin has said, and that friend found that choice of words…off putting, and confusing. My attempts to explain have not proven completely satisfactory – and are likely less accurate than yours would be.)

 Mr. Wright responds:

In grammar, as in life, the male embraces the female. 

Your friend has been deceived. Have your friend look in any dictionary. Depending on the context, the word ‘man’ either means a male human or means any human. Likewise ‘dog’ either means male dog or any dog, or fox means any fox or male fox. (I believe only cats, oxen and horses have separate names for the male sex). 

That has always been its meaning. Unlike women, we males do not get a separate word for ourselves in English as we enjoy in Greek. 

Your friend was told that no one says ‘men’ unless he means to exclude and offend women. In this fashion, perfectly innocent men can be accused without a shred of proof or likelihood. It is a lie and a damned lie; an attempt to stir up enmity where none exists. 

I use the correct grammar because I am deeply, deeply offended that the politically correct liars successfully deceive poor unwary victims like your friend. So I go out of my way to use the correct use, first because I hate lies, and second because if no one uses the correct usage, people like your unwary friend would never encounter it. 

Every document written before 1984 uses the word in this way. Your unwary friend will read the Declaration of Independence, where it says all men are created equal, or read the Bible, where it says all men are created by God, and assume the authors in both cases mean that only males are equal, but that princesses outrank peasant girls; or think that God created males but not females. The liars, in effect make it so that you unwary friend cannot read any documents before 1984 correctly. It is the same as burning the library of Alexandria. 

Your friend is now the third person this week who has been put off by ordinary English used in an ordinary fashion. The offense is absurd and contrived as if a mutual enemy told your friend that saying ‘Gesundheit’ was a German swear word, and then your friend sneezed and heard me say ‘Gesundheit.’

{Phfr}

Babbies edition

{pretty}

{happy}

Four-and-a-half, and already a master of the dual-shock controller.

{funny}

I took Damien to his first movie the other day; he did fine, but I think I enjoyed it more.

Damien's rendition of Potter Puppet Pals' "The Mysterious Ticking Noise"

{real}

Covered in small creatures.

Baroque

Over on John C. Wright's blog, he posts the rules for an alternate version of chess: http://www.scifiwright.com/2014/03/baroque/.

What do you think? Something to add to CPM2DoB? I like the incorporation of different ways to capture an enemy piece, either replacing, jumping, squeezing, withdrawing from, or all of the above. I could easily see incorporating some of these as moves.

Bell and Whistle Cage Match: Movies

Qualifications for entry: movie must have been release last November and either a) star someone with the last name "Hemsworth" or b) be based on a book with the word "Game" or "Games" in the title.

The contenders:

 vs.vs.

That's right, kids, a three-way showdown!

Fight!

Why Is It Always Lesbians?

This has been bugging me for quite some time now. Here's a list of current and recent TV shows I've watched that have, in at least one episode, featured a lesbian, bisexual woman, or lesbian couple in a manner meant to be taken seriously/portrayed in a positive manner.

• Elementary
• Arrow
• The Walking Dead
• Once Upon a Time
• Person of Interest
• Sherlock
• Dollhouse
• Touch
• Last Man Standing
• Stargate Universe
• Heroes
• 24
• Firefly
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Good Luck Charlie (le sigh)

(What's most upsetting about the last one is that the show is targeted specifically to families, on a network for kids. Disney has gone to the Dark Side, and, unfortunately, can't be trusted with my children's entertainment anymore. They have also hastened the cancelling of our cable. I was waiting until the summer (after all our other shows end their seasons), but I think I'll just do it now.)

But back to the topic. Now, of those shows, here are the ones that have portrayed a gay or bisexual man, or same-sex male couple in a similarly serious/positive manner.

• *crickets chirping*

This is something I first noticed a long time ago. The rule I've come up with, which might be called the lesbian rule, concerning homosexuality in TV shows, movies, and other media can be stated as such: if the homosexual or bisexual is meant to be taken seriously, she will be a women. If it will be played for laughs, he will be a man.

Typically, the lesbian(s) will be attractive, upper-middle-class types who don't conform to any of the stereotypes about lesbian women, such as being "butch".

Typically, homosexual men will be portrayed as a metrosexual/overly stylish and generally conform to stereotypes about gay men.

I've wondered about this for a while now, and struggled to explain it. I've pondered over whether or not it might be related to pornography (for surely, "hot girl-on-girl action" is used far more frequently in spam than "hot guy-on-guy action"). I suspect it has something to do with objectification, since when they're included in this way, it's always in an attempt to further an agenda; the character and actress are being, in a way, objectified to fit the agenda. I suppose women are easier to visually objectify than men, which would be the connection to porn.

Either way, when TV writers wish to upset the "hetero-normative assumptions of the culture" and make the unpalatable palatable, they always choose to further their agenda by degrading women.

By the way, "hetero-normative" is one of those words that, if you use it, makes me immediately dismiss you as a loon. Sort of like "Zionist conspiracy" and "the spirit of Vatican II."

I Made This for You

From the Mickey Short "Panda-monium"

Please help me make this a meme. It is to be used in reaction to cute pictures of fluffy animals, or anything utterly delightful.

There's also a still version below: