The Hackenblog

“What we have here, fellow citizens, is a crassly egocentric, raving twit. The Norman Podhoretz of our gender. That this woman is actually taken seriously as a thinker in New York intellectual circles is a clear sign of decadence, decay, and hopeless pinheadedness. Has no one in the nation’s intellectual capital the background and ability to see through a web of categorical assertions? One fashionable line of response to Paglia is to claim that even though she may be fundamentally off-base, she has ‘flashes of brilliance.’ If so, I missed them in her oceans of swill.”
Impolitic, by Molly Ivins, sometime in 1991 in Mother Jones

If God really cared, we could go back and swap Paglia for Molly. Damn, I miss Molly.

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“It’s a bit of an understatement that [X (Amanda Marcotte)] doesn’t exactly have the best record on race issues. The sort of feminist issues that you’ll see covered at Brownfemipower’s essentially never see the light of day at Pandagon, and she’s been called out more than a few times over the years for dismissing and silencing women of colour when they’ve called her out about offensive comments that she’s made.

“So, Brownfemipower makes a brilliant speech about immigrant abuses being a feminist issue at the WAM conference a few days ago, at which [X] was in attendance. Days later, [X] writes an Alternet article which is pretty clearly cribbed from it - surprise surprise, without due credit. Bravo.”

~snip~

“It’s bad enough that [X] has a long history of ignoring or dismissing women of colour as a feminist ‘big blogger’, but resorting to stealing the stuff of others - the WoC bloggers who tackle this stuff day in and day out, no less, is an all new low. So I’d like to add my voice to that cry: just stop it. Give credit where credit is due.”
Stealing other people’s stuff is not cool, Burning Words, April 9, 2008

By the time this posts to the Hackenblog it will be old news, but I use this blog as a record for myself most of the time. So if you want current events, read Cursor.org.

So why did BrownFemmePower take her entire site down over this? Hmmmmm.

I think I’ll start reading Burning Words on a regular basis.

BrownFemiPower responds to…something.

Skippy, where I left a comment, links to PhysioProf on Amanda.

Twisty.

Jesus, even I’m sick of this subject.

I guess I’m not sick of the subject.

I Guess It’s a Jungle in Here Too, Huh

Breaking up with Pandagon

There’s a saying in Hollywood Amanda might want to know about: Be nice to everyone on your way up because you’ll meet them again on your way down.

I wonder what Jesse and Pam S are thinking about this mess.

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Of course I was mere child when this aired but I kind of remember this.

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“1. Sense of humor. There is not one guy I know of that doesn’t appreciate a who girl laughs at his dumb jokes simply out of a sensitive humorous bone.When a woman laughs, there is always a beam of light that comes across a guy’s face, and if the laughter is, say from a woman across the room, it has the power to make a man jealous, wanting that laughter to be for him. Humor is child-like energy and is like a billboard mounted to a woman’s forehead that says “Open Heart!” Men feel it on a gut level, it’s in the nature of polarity to men and women. I’m not talking about faking a sense of humor, because that kind of inauthenticity will throw red flags. You can always tell a person who is trying to laugh to gain some sort of approval. I’m saying a woman sensitive to humor is a great find for a man.”
12 Things a Woman Does That Men Find Irresistible, Yintegrity, March 29, 2008

I really should get out more.

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(via Cartoon Brew)

And I thought I had a thing for Tron.

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“When we do talk about the production concept (and generally we don’t) the cast talks about it in terms of movies like ‘Escape from New York’ and the ‘Die Hard’ movies. In my production concept statement that I’ve just written and posted, I talk about the production as if it were a futuristic version of ‘The Big Sleep.’ This disparity is fine by me. ‘Escape from New York’ is essentially a futuristic version of ‘The Big Sleep.’ (And if my cast wonders why I never just told them that I think we’re doing ‘The Big Sleep’ it’s because that if I did, you (and I) may have never been motivated to think about the many ways it’s like ‘Escape from New York’ and the ‘Die Hard’ because traditionally the director dictates the interpretation of the script to the cast… And we might never have thought up that cool motorcycle battle at the end.) However, these differing genre models may go far to explain why the cast didn’t really care if we cut Fyodor Chandler or not and I wake up thinking about it at 4 am.

“The scene with Fyodor Chandler provides a moment where Nellie at least momentarily finds her moral compass. It makes what she does afterwards make more sense. In the modern action-adventure film, actions don’t necessarily have to have moral motivation… or even make sense, for that matter.

“I still worry that I’ve just become the studio hack who cut the scene from ‘The Big Sleep’ that explained who committed the murder Phillip Marlowe was supposed to be investigating. I think my cast knows everyone will be too busy listening to Bogart and looking at Bacall to care.”
Darkness at Sunset and Vine Director’s Log, The Ides of March, 2008

Oh, man, dystopian linguists don’t get no respect. But this Director log thingy is way cool. And there’s video, too!

Click here for a better idea of what the hell I’m on about. Some of you might remember the enraged anti-bush novellas from 2003-2005 that are the Darkness at Sunset and Vine trilogy. Many cool bloggers of those years ended up in those stories, or at least plays on their names did. The first novella is being produced as a theater piece in Denton Texas, and performed there, Savannah, Georgia and somewhere in Arkansas in March and April. Hey, if Hillary can win Texas and 9 inches of snow can fall in the Metroplex, then Darkness at Sunset and Vine can be performed in the Southland. Oy.

By the way, Fyodor Chandler came out of a conversation I had with Jane Seaton about how I felt like the story was a cross between Dostoyevsky and The Long Goodbye. So of course the next logical thing was to name a character Fyodor Chandler. Isn’t that what anyone would do?

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“2 Sex—what is it good for? Scientists are not sure, since asexual reproduction is a better evolutionary strategy in some important ways.

“6 Barbary macaques have a distinctive way to get their mates to make a sperm donation: yelling. If the female does not shout, the male almost never climaxes.

“7 How do we know this? German primatologist Dana Pfefferle watched a group of macaques, counting the females’ yells and the males’ pelvic thrusts. She says this work is ‘quite weird, but it’s science.’

“11 The tiny male paper nautilus, an octopus, impregnates the much larger female by shooting his penis (a modified tentacle) into her—and leaving it there.

“12 Homosexual behavior is found in at least 1,500 species of mammal, fish, reptile, bird, and even invertebrate.”
20 Things You Didn’t Know About Sex, Discover, March 19, 2008

Ah, nature, sorry, Nature.

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J’ai soif maintenant.

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Oh, go ahead.

This isn’t why blogging is light, would that it were, that would be so much more amusing.

Still working on this and this.

But then again…

Then of course there’s always this:

So there’s ten or so minutes for ya. Don’t say I never do anything for you. Or to you.

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See, this is what I need:

Said the woman who just ordered three more bookcases. Sigh. So many book, so little space.

More cool staircases.

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Wow, I got rated Excellent, how cool. So, although this does not scratch the surface of the complete list of wonderfully excellent blogs I happily read, I rate these blogs Exxxcelente!

WTF is it Now?

Happening Here

The Crone Speaks

Mad Kane

Dandyism

Skippy

Skimble

Mahablog

Drawn!

Little Hokum Rag

Shatnerian

Logonotron

Mr. Dan Kelly

apophenia

Comics Curmudgeon

I blame the patriarchy

Still busy offline, still light blogging ahead, if anyone noticed. Hm.

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Behind the Caracture, Washington Post, um, February 8? maybe, 2008

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The Evolution of Tech Company Logos.

Oh…Newton’s apple. I get it.

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You’d think people with advanced degrees would have bigger vocabularies, but when that inner fanboy gets loose, we’re lucky they have any language left at all.

I’m glad you had fun guys. Now go write some NSA grants and make us all proud.

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Yeah, I’m shocked, too.

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Dan Savage goes down to South Carolina and lives!

Cognitive dissonance anyone? Are there enough voters like this in the country to get Huckabee elected? This is scarier than anything I can think of right now. Of course, I haven’t had any coffee yet, so I might be back later with something more horrifying.

Thanks, Logan, I needed this.

Oh, man, ya gotta love Dan Savage! And we did at J LHLS in this 2003 interview. Did it all seem so much simpler then? Or was it just not an election year?

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Whatever it is, I’m against it.

Pretty much sums it up.

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Planet Karen

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“The 42-count grand jury indictment alleges Mr Siljander lied about lobbying senators on behalf of the Missouri-based Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA).

“The indictment alleges the charity sent about $130,000 (£66,000) in 2003 and 2004 to accounts in Peshawar, Pakistan, that Gulbuddin Hekmatyar had access to.

“It alleges the charity paid Mr Siljander $50,000 that was stolen from a US development agency.”

“Mr Siljander was a congressman from 1981-1987 and served one year as a US delegate to the United Nations.” Appointed by Ronald Reagan, too.
US politician on al-Qaeda charge, BBC News, January 16, 2008

The jokes practically write themselves on this one.

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“However, as the internet gains traction as a viable gown resource, the possibility of brides price-comparing and ‘buying the same dress somewhere else’ becomes even greater. There are discounters and consigners and Craigslist and you can even buy cheap knockoffs from China. So stores are freaked out - after all, they’re losing their competitive edge. Their response strategy? Limiting the amount of information that a bride can leave with. If she can’t look it up, she can’t find it cheaper. Hence, no photos.

“But surely you could write down its brand and style name, so you could look it up for future reference? Nope. Many stores literally rip the labels out of sample gowns, so that you cannot even tell which dress you are trying on.

“I read about this shocking tactic in a handy book, but found it hard to believe until I experienced it firsthand. I was in a pretty posh store, and I liked a dress by designer Melissa Sweet. But it was pricey, and I wasn’t ready to buy. I asked the owner, “Which dress is this again, so I can remember it?” She said, “It’s the Melissa Sweet.” I said, “I know, but which one? I know they all have style names, or numbers or something.” “Nope,” she said, looking down at her hands. “That’s all you need to know.”

“Wow! Wow. Well, all I need to know is that I won’t be making my purchase here!”
Shopping for The Dress, Curious Shopper, January 10, 2007

Heh, wedding industry, take that!

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The Puppet Bike. (via Semibold)

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“The Gibson Robot Guitar, a new limited edition first-run Les Paul, continues two great Gibson traditions: cutting-edge innovation and a limited edition first run that will surely go on to become a highly sought-after Gibson instrument.

“These limited edition Les Pauls, featuring Gibson’s amazing self-tuning robotic technology, launch globally on December 7, 2007, at select dealers, each of whom will have only 10 of these beautiful guitars. If previous limited run releases are any indication, they won’t have them for very long.

“Each limited edition, first run Gibson Robot Guitar will feature a dramatic Blue Silverburst nitrocellulose finish, created especially for this limited run. It will never be used on any other Gibson guitar. Also featured is a certificate of authenticity, a power adaptor for the system’s rechargeable lithium battery, and a limited edition first run case with silver tolex and a plush silver interior. Each Robot Guitar’s serial number will also be sequentially exact, beginning with “RG0001,” and continuing through the end of the limited run.”
Robot Guitar Joins Gibson’s Historic Lineup of Limited Editions, via an ad from 123music.com.

I’m not completely sure how to react to this. Part of being a musician is being able to stay in tune and tune your instrument. Like keyboard players, um, yeah, well there went that argument. I guess it’s progress and, considering what pianists get out of that instrument, guitarists will be able to do the same thing with a self-tuning guitar. I hope.

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Webcomics, dear God, it’s a whole issue on Webcomics at Sequential Tart. May the good Lord have mercy on us all.

http://www.sequentialtart.com

I even ramble on a bit about webcomics in this issue.

Oh, yes, and in honor of 10 years of Sequential Tart, there are some very cool calendars for sale! (more…)

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I got to wake up with a sore throat, but that just means I’m getting it out of the way for the rest of 2008.

And since it IS 2008, I can post this again!

Journal of Bloglandia, because Blogtopia (y!sctp!) was taken.

and

The Journal of Women on Comics, women read comics and write great things about them.

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Latest issue of Sequential Tart, which includes the Mayerson interview, wherein I explain many mysteries.

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“Again, here’s another instance of what tries to be a string of coarse gags. When you try to tie them all together they contradict each other though and it all becomes rather scurrilous nonsense instead. This song has the dubious honour of being one of Zappa’s biggest hits. Because of its lush melody, this song went on to become a #1 hit in Scandinavia. Teens apparently remained ignorant of its crass sadomasochistic content as they danced and romanced at the disco. Zappa would probably argue that the whole point of the exercise is to exploit the tension between sentimental musical hypocrisy, which promotes one false set of societal stereotypes, and this gross social reportage.”
StreetLaughter 37: Frank Zappa: Bobby Brown Goes Down, December 28, 2007

I bought this album on cassette, that’s how long ago this was. It and ELO were my car tapes for a couple of years. I remember pulling over to listen to the words of “Bobby Brown..” because I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing. I was so young then. And it still shocks me that I paid money for albums on cassettes once. Anyway….

Here’s the best part:

The album versions are better than both of these clips, but what would I do without YouTube?

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I’d forgotten these, but they still make me laugh.

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This isn’t my favorite version of Scrooge, the Alastair Sim version from 1951 is, but it is the one that makes me laugh the hardest.

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The Upshot of Wapshott, an interview with yours truly at Sequential Tart.

More than you knew, more than you probably ever wanted to know. However, I do say some cool stuff about comics, smut, art, and publishing, and not necessarily in that order.

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