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Entries for September, 2007

September 1st, 2007

*cough*

The first president of independent Indonesia, Sukarno, writes proudly in his memoirs of playing female roles when he was a young man, putting powder on his face and rouge on his lips, and stuffing "two sweet breads" in his blouse.

"With this addition to my shapely figure, everybody said I looked absolutely beautiful," he said. "After the show I pulled the breads out of my blouse and ate them."

rurounibug ; 03:29 AM|2 replies

September 3rd, 2007

ethinicity, race, LJ wank, blah blah blah, and the cable TV

(this entire post is full of OT tangents)

Anyway, that is actually a tangent. It's been a while broiling.

This is the real post:

I unexpectedly have access to cable. This has been the best three day weekend evar. I have spent it watching animal documentaries and America's Next Top Model, a show I cannot fucking stand, and yet I cannot turn away. Or turn it off.

They've run a season a day, which means, yes, I am now closer to vegetable than animal, but it also means that you can sort of see patterns more clearly than when you're watching an episode a week--or when you happen to catch it--with the off-season hiatus between each "cycle".

So far I have noticed everyone (in the three season's they've been running, starting Friday) is either black or white, or somewhere between. Or at least by looks. It's not like they talk about race. (And I do seem to remember they had a Chinese girl on one season, but all they did was use her as the butt of jokes and point out how stupid she was. It was awful, and while she did seem pretty clueless and confused, you cannot convince me that there wasn't one tall, pretty, Asian, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Pacific Islander, or whatever in the preliminaries who had more than two brain cells to rub together. SHE CANNOT HAVE BEEN THE ONLY ONE THEY HAD TO CHOOSE FROM!)

But that also is a tangent. I'm on a rage-roll tonight. Maybe it's all the tee-vee.

The other thing I've noticed--and what this post was supposed to be about--is ethnicity smushing. Since just about everyone on that show is black or white the few foreign cultures that have representation are African (I believe Nigeria (Nnenna) and South Africa (Yaya), what season numbers those were I don't remember). They were both consistently told to go easy on the Africa (Yaya's clothes, jewelry and hair, and Nnenna's accent and frequent talking about Africa, as well as being told "You're a snob, you think you're better because you're African. Oh, look at me, I'm African.").

Both seasons with these girls featured consistent 'corrections' (fashion advice that targeted their ethnic expression) and put downs (eye rolling and snide remarks when the girls talked about their homeland, especially in the case of Nnenna) obviously meant to discourage their cultural and/or ethnic expression.

The impression I got was that it's okay to be something other than American as flavour or to add interest, but not to express another culture as one's core identity, or to actually be concerned, involved, and occupied with the subjects and issues facing that culture/country/region.

And if just can't help yourself, damn it, America doesn't want to hear about it. Just keep it to yourself.

rurounibug ; 10:18 PM|fine, ignore me

September 4th, 2007

Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in my Hand--Primitive Radio Gods

Jan lays down and wrestles in her sleep
moonlight spills on comic books and superstars in magazines
and old friend calls and tells us where to meet
her plane takes off from Baltimore and touches down on Bourbon Street

we sit outside and argue all night long
about a God we've never seen but never fails to side with me
Sunday comes and all the papers say
Ma Teresa's joined the mob and happy with her full time job

am I alive or thoughts that drift away?
does summer come for everyone?
can humans do what prophets say?
and if I die before I learn to speak
can money pay for all the days I lived awake but half asleep?

a life is time, they teach you growing up
the seconds ticking killed us all
a million years before the fall
you ride the waves and don't ask where they go
you swim like lions through the crest
and bathe yourself in zebra flesh

I've been downhearted baby ever since the day we met

rurounibug ; 12:21 AM|fine, ignore me

September 4th, 2007

today I channeled my rage into cupcakes

And then I took pictures. Because I'm a dork like that.

The cupcakes are nothing. It's mix from Trader Joe's. I don't particularly enjoy baking, but knda like arranging things on top of cakes. Because it's so Not Me. I mean, obviously it is me, because I'm doing it, but there are people who know me well who would be all, "WHO ARE YOU, ALIEN IMPOSTOR!?" if they could see me prissily picking through the strawberry slices for the ones with the best white heartshape strawberry inside pattern thing.

And turning all the blueberries the right side up. (Star side, not stem side)

There is shit wrong with me, and it's probably related to the way I have to check the stove twenty times before I can leave the house.

(cupcakes!)

rurounibug ; 11:22 PM|fine, ignore me

September 6th, 2007

I am not a couch potato, I am a researcher

Turns out the Next Top Model marathon is still going. I thought it was a Labor Weekend thing, but I guess they must be gearing up for the next cycle or something. Today's season had an Indian girl, but I only tuned in as they were eliminating her, so I don't know if she was culture shamed or used as a joke butt. She did--like the Chinese girl--seem to be another poor choice for token "other" (non white, non black), but again, I didn't see enough to be able to say.

Anyway.

What struck me this time, was "Miss. J" calling the girls "bitches". I totally get the insult as camaraderie thing (my brother's IM salutation is "Sup, fag"), but TV really isn't the place for it. Especially on a show that young teenagers are watching. And it's bad enough when Tyra calls the girls "bitch", but Miss J does it in a flat tone that sounds like "bitch" is her default address to the girls. It's just really uncomfortable, not only because Miss J is a guy, but also because even if a girl is offended she can't do much but smile and go along with it unless she wants to risk the boot.

It kind of kills the theory of friendly insult. Where I can ask my brother if he's getting any from all those anime girls he's so busy downloading, these people just have to sit there and take it. The friendly insult requires a certain level of equal power.

I liked this show a lot better when I was watching it with teen!cousin at my uncle's barbaques and after two beers. The ability to process passing details makes it a lot less enjoyable.

At least I have Mythbusters!

(And Ghost Hunters. TAPS, how are you so awesome?)

rurounibug ; 02:19 AM|2 replies

September 13th, 2007

back to the grind

School started this week.

I took a lighter load this semester because I have a rigging class and rigging is made of WAUGH and we hates it like burning.


And, just in time, the cable TV has lost its shine.

Even if the Ghost Hunters are still made of awesome.


Really, I have nothing. I don't even know why I'm posting.

rurounibug ; 01:24 AM|fine, ignore me

September 16th, 2007

"We're here to prevent the kablooming of, like, the multiverse."

The art in The Authority is always so eye-gaugingly awful. I do not comprehend why this must be.

On the other hand, the Authoriteens are fucking awesome. Daybreaker is like a fouler, more aggresive Impulse, and Kid Apollo is cute cause he looks exactly like normal Apollo but somehow manages to be a lot more awesomer.

Somewhere Google-fu rustled up a forum where someone says "They have YJ written all over them," which would be great, because I just don't buy all the SRZ BZNZ DC and Marvel keep trying to convince us of. A little bit of crazy is a lot more welcome. I can only hope that they get their own book before--like all charachters I like--they are inevitably killed off in a lame, anti-climactic way.

Also, the Gutters are FTW, and Gail Simone is my new god.

Must have copy. *grabby fingers*

rurounibug ; 01:47 AM|fine, ignore me

September 21st, 2007

be, butterfly and behemoth/ be galaxy and grasshopper

"Because you're not what I would have you be, I blind myself to who, in truth, you are. "

--Madeleine L'Engle

rurounibug ; 09:21 PM|2 replies

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