random Friday is still random

[freckles_and_doubt]

Fridays seem to be my Great Space of Extra Brainlessness, the week having tired me out to the point where I'm singularly lacking in inspiration. Particularly this week. Wayward Puppy alert!

• I'm not entirely sure why it should be so utterly endearing of Joseph Gordon-Levitt to post the "Rainbow Connection" video on his Tumblr site, but it is. Also, everyone's Friday is better for the application of Kermit the Frog. I am now possessed of a desire to spend an hour or so teaching myself to play the song on my sadly-neglected piano, the chord progressions are interesting.
  
  
• I don't participate in the SCA at the moment, and it's looking increasingly likely that I won't actually ever do so again, but most of my much-loved friends still play, and the whole unlikely edifice is still dear to my heart. So the current movement in one of the American kingdoms to change the rules to allow same-sex couples to enter Crown tourneys (and thus, by extension, to reign, although quite as what is unclear - King/Queen and consort? King/Queen and King/Queen?), has piqued my interest. I think it's an excellent idea, whose time has more than come, and they're going about it intelligently, rationally and with a refreshing lack of ideological froth. One bit of their well-argued manifesto completely cracked me up, however. They're responding to the idea that allowing same-sex entry could open a space for dedicated male fighters to game the system: if two straight male fighters pretend a same-sex relationship so both can fight in the tourney, they have a doubled chance at Crown. The manifesto's argument: "if two men are willing to take on the stigma of presenting as a same sex couple, it will likely be a profound learning experience for all involved." Hee. Damn straight. So to speak. I really, really wish some rhino-hide pair of manly fighters would try it, because I'd love to watch the resulting psycho-social repercussions. Fight a mile in someone else's shoes, why don't you.
  
  
• I finished watching Season 5 of STNG last night, and am impressed. There were really some excellent episodes in the season, it's probably the best so far, even with its distressingly lowered levels of Wesley (token disapproving growl). The writers seem to have hit their stride and are doing very, very interesting thematic things - Picard as father and grandfather on a backwater planet, the whole examination of Starfleet and duty in Wesley's screw-up at the academy, the fascinating linguistic games in "Darmok", the mind-rape in "Violations", the implications of an isolated Borg - chewy, thoughtful stuff. There's also a strengthening in narrative shape and innovation - I loved the disaster-movie and time-loop episodes, and the really sneaky alien attack in "Conundrum". Am a happy, happy Trekkie, save for the sad realisation that I have only two seasons left to watch. Sigh.
  
  
• Of course you all know this because you all read boingboing, but the Google instant version of Tom Lehrer's elements is brilliant.
  
  
• Tonight the Salty Cracker Club hits Bizerca. For no adequately defined reason, stv has promised to dress as an Amazon. I can't wait.

Comments

damn straight indeed

[springonmars.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

Linky not working?

Re: damn straight indeed

[first-fallen.livejournal.com]

Should be: http://www.scatoday.net/node/16930

Re: damn straight indeed

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Phooey, I know I copied it across, I must have fumbled the paste. Fixed. Thanks for alert!

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

if two men are willing to take on the stigma of presenting as a same sex couple, it will likely be a profound learning experience for all involved.

There's a movie about that. No, I haven't seen it.

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it either, but it's an interesting comparison. The context, firefighting vs. SCA fighting, is similar in that they're both typically stereotyped as over-masculinised, physical activities. The two scenarios also seem to be constructed similarly: the participants are putting themselves through the stigma for ignoble, self-serving ends, and therefore deserve the resulting comedy. It's a bit of a deflection, though, of the actually serious implications of this kind of decontextualised identity and its ability to highlight real-world issues of stigmatisation; I don't know if the film draws meaningful conclusions from it, but I hope the SCA would.

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

I don't know if the film draws meaningful conclusions from it

It stars Adam Sandler, so I doubt it. It just sounded like a movie trailer to me. E.g, say in the voice of movie-trailer-man: "Two men are willing to take on the stigma of presenting as a same sex couple. It will be a profound learning experience"

[confluence.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)]

Yeah, the petition made me feel warm and fuzzy inside and caused me to emerge from deep hibernation to fill in the census survey, which has a question about this.

(It's a survey for present and past members, since they're interested in hearing why past members have stopped playing, but I'm sure a trillion people have already told you that. :) )

[schedule5.livejournal.com]

I also decided that that question merited the minutes needed to fill in the census survey :).