Change your bookmarks!
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Today is a new day! I think I should announce my intention to move hosts! I am moving to Tumblr which is a little more low maintenance. Follow me there friends. You can still comment and link and all that good stuff, its just a little easier for me (hopefully). If it doesn't work out, I'll move back, but I'll announce it on that blog.
Change your bookmarks!
Change your bookmarks!
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My puppy passed away today.
Best dog in the world.
I live a rather hug-less existence because I'm far away from most hug-able friends/family so I could use your thought-hugs.
Best dog in the world.
I live a rather hug-less existence because I'm far away from most hug-able friends/family so I could use your thought-hugs.
My best friend has moved away. I wasn't really ready for how lonely it would feel. I keep thinking "oh! I want to go do that" but then I think: "who with?" Everybody is too busy.
I have other friends, but it is definitely a very lonely feeling to not have a best friend live within hang-out distance. I don't want to seem clingy with my other friends either (now that Meredith is gone). *sigh*
When I watch Friends I'm super jealous. Where's my group? I want to go to hockey games and the movies and to the gym with people. I guess I'll just have to forge ahead by myself.
I have other friends, but it is definitely a very lonely feeling to not have a best friend live within hang-out distance. I don't want to seem clingy with my other friends either (now that Meredith is gone). *sigh*
When I watch Friends I'm super jealous. Where's my group? I want to go to hockey games and the movies and to the gym with people. I guess I'll just have to forge ahead by myself.
In about a week I'm going to travel home to say goodbye to my aged Golden Retriever, Sandy. Since I learned about his lymphoma I keep imagining him and I just sitting in a green field on the island where I'm from, just thinking and sitting with one another. Maybe his head is resting on my knee and he's softly snoring. I pet him one last time and he looks up at me and smiles that indescribable smile that only dogs can manage; the one that conveys absolute love, loyalty and friendship. Then a breeze comes along and he disappears into the blowing grass.
I think that I am projecting my one mortality onto my beloved friend and seeing how I would like to spend my own last moments. Either way, saying good bye to him in a green field of softly swaying grasses in the sun seems just right.
I think that I am projecting my one mortality onto my beloved friend and seeing how I would like to spend my own last moments. Either way, saying good bye to him in a green field of softly swaying grasses in the sun seems just right.
I promise I don't work for Tee Fury. I just love their t-shirts. Great fit, good material, unique designs! I love them!
For good measure, here is my vlog from last night.
And this scary ass video from a few summers ago that has reared its mental and extremely drugged out head.
I hope I have sufficiently entertained you.
For good measure, here is my vlog from last night.
And this scary ass video from a few summers ago that has reared its mental and extremely drugged out head.
I hope I have sufficiently entertained you.
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Oh my god! I love Tee Fury! New t-shirt came in the mail. A little tight in the chest but they stretch out nicely. Its a little ironic because that I got this spoof ultrasound tee because I just had a real ultrasound on the weekend. (No alien babies sad
ly.)
I'll include a pic of what the shirt looks like not stretched across my 36D's of Fury.
Check out today's TeeFury shirt!
They are only around for 24 hours and they actually sell out when they are AWESOME so get em quick!
ly.)I'll include a pic of what the shirt looks like not stretched across my 36D's of Fury.
Check out today's TeeFury shirt!
They are only around for 24 hours and they actually sell out when they are AWESOME so get em quick!
Comments: (4)
Okay, the press has gone a little nuts. I was there, this is what really happened.
Some crazy bitch was invited by the Young Conservatives or something to speak in Ottawa and a UofO building was picked as the venue. This was probably a bad idea as it is a school building with little to no security and multiple entrances and exits. Secondly, it was organized by a STUDENTS group. Last night was not a "threat to security" but a "lack of organization" and "overreaction by media".
My friend Megan and I love crazy people, so when we heard Ann Coulter was going to speak on campus we thought we hit the Crazy Jackpot. There was a website telling us to register via email if we were students. So we did. When we got to campus there was a big snaking line around the building. So we joined the line and playfully made fun of Coulter with everyone around us.
Once we got close to the building we were told by "Coulter in Canada" organizers (of which there were only around three) that there were three lines. One line for non-students who need to pay, one line for students who have registered and received a confirmation and one line for students who haven't received a confirmation. We were in the third line. So yay. Except the "lines" looked like this:
So already, we have the makings of an angry mob. Later, a small group of protesters (they looked like CFS members who the majority of the university abhors) came to chant about getting Ann Coulter off campus and how hate speech isn't welcome, etc etc etc.... The people in the line/mob pretty much just laughed them off (conservatives and liberals) and the occasional angry conservative would start a "free speech" chant, but it was really quite tame. People joked about Coulter's laser eyes, etc. The protester's most violent move was banging on the wall and playing an irritating high pitched siren.
At one point, they all rushed into the main lobby and then the rest of the "lines" started squeezing in too. Megan and I were kind of in the middle of the line so we just kind of were swept up with the line into the auditorium. There was one idiot person in a jean jacket who rushed to the front of the crowd saying: "Medical emergency! Medical emergency!" and then when she got up there they were like: "psyche!" and of course this person was a bucket of laughs the rest of the evening. They would occasionally shout: "RUSH THE DOORS". People just gave her the raised eyebrows. At this point, Jane took a lovely photo of the crowd:
People were still jovial and nobody was really pissed off. The people at the front of the crowd started making ridiculous rumours to send back down the line. Example, Omg! Obama and Coulter are having a debate in there! and Somebody just streaked the stage! Of course, Coulter wasn't even in the auditorium at this point.
Unless there was some kind of violence that nobody saw, I hadn't seen anything except for mild squishing. If anybody who was there saw a brick go through a window, or a fight break out, let me know. But I just saw a big crowd. The majority of whom were actually waiting to see Ann Coulter, not to protest her presence. I would say the group of protesters was around twenty people, maximum. And there is no way in hell that two thousand people were there. MAYBE a thousand, but more like 600. The reason the event was cancelled was because the organizers assumed that only about 400 people would show up. Not because there was a "security threat" as the majority of news casters seem to be reporting.
If the reason that the CoulterCon was cancelled was due to threats of physical violence, I'd like to point out the hypocrisy of it all (as has every other commentator). Free speech for everybody except idiots? Unfortunately that's not how it works. If you believe in free speech, you've got to believe that even people with the opposite opinion to yours can spout their nonsense. Unfortunately, the events of last night worked in Coulter's favour. If she had gone on with her speech, made an ass of herself, and the media reported the evil and hateful things she was saying, people would have just laughed her off and no more would have been said. Now I've heard about her on EVERY news show and The goddamn View this morning. (For the record, Whoopi thinks we were exercising our rights as students to kick her off campus and Hasselbeck think that humanity is dead or something).
I'll leave you with the National Post's report on the American assessment to our reaction to Ann Coulter in Canada.
Some crazy bitch was invited by the Young Conservatives or something to speak in Ottawa and a UofO building was picked as the venue. This was probably a bad idea as it is a school building with little to no security and multiple entrances and exits. Secondly, it was organized by a STUDENTS group. Last night was not a "threat to security" but a "lack of organization" and "overreaction by media".
My friend Megan and I love crazy people, so when we heard Ann Coulter was going to speak on campus we thought we hit the Crazy Jackpot. There was a website telling us to register via email if we were students. So we did. When we got to campus there was a big snaking line around the building. So we joined the line and playfully made fun of Coulter with everyone around us.
Once we got close to the building we were told by "Coulter in Canada" organizers (of which there were only around three) that there were three lines. One line for non-students who need to pay, one line for students who have registered and received a confirmation and one line for students who haven't received a confirmation. We were in the third line. So yay. Except the "lines" looked like this:
So already, we have the makings of an angry mob. Later, a small group of protesters (they looked like CFS members who the majority of the university abhors) came to chant about getting Ann Coulter off campus and how hate speech isn't welcome, etc etc etc.... The people in the line/mob pretty much just laughed them off (conservatives and liberals) and the occasional angry conservative would start a "free speech" chant, but it was really quite tame. People joked about Coulter's laser eyes, etc. The protester's most violent move was banging on the wall and playing an irritating high pitched siren.
At one point, they all rushed into the main lobby and then the rest of the "lines" started squeezing in too. Megan and I were kind of in the middle of the line so we just kind of were swept up with the line into the auditorium. There was one idiot person in a jean jacket who rushed to the front of the crowd saying: "Medical emergency! Medical emergency!" and then when she got up there they were like: "psyche!" and of course this person was a bucket of laughs the rest of the evening. They would occasionally shout: "RUSH THE DOORS". People just gave her the raised eyebrows. At this point, Jane took a lovely photo of the crowd:
People were still jovial and nobody was really pissed off. The people at the front of the crowd started making ridiculous rumours to send back down the line. Example, Omg! Obama and Coulter are having a debate in there! and Somebody just streaked the stage! Of course, Coulter wasn't even in the auditorium at this point.
Unless there was some kind of violence that nobody saw, I hadn't seen anything except for mild squishing. If anybody who was there saw a brick go through a window, or a fight break out, let me know. But I just saw a big crowd. The majority of whom were actually waiting to see Ann Coulter, not to protest her presence. I would say the group of protesters was around twenty people, maximum. And there is no way in hell that two thousand people were there. MAYBE a thousand, but more like 600. The reason the event was cancelled was because the organizers assumed that only about 400 people would show up. Not because there was a "security threat" as the majority of news casters seem to be reporting.
If the reason that the CoulterCon was cancelled was due to threats of physical violence, I'd like to point out the hypocrisy of it all (as has every other commentator). Free speech for everybody except idiots? Unfortunately that's not how it works. If you believe in free speech, you've got to believe that even people with the opposite opinion to yours can spout their nonsense. Unfortunately, the events of last night worked in Coulter's favour. If she had gone on with her speech, made an ass of herself, and the media reported the evil and hateful things she was saying, people would have just laughed her off and no more would have been said. Now I've heard about her on EVERY news show and The goddamn View this morning. (For the record, Whoopi thinks we were exercising our rights as students to kick her off campus and Hasselbeck think that humanity is dead or something).
I'll leave you with the National Post's report on the American assessment to our reaction to Ann Coulter in Canada.
Meredith and I just created a new curse phrase: "Honk Off"!!! As in "to honk off" "I'm so honked off" or "I need to get honked off"... he/she/it honked off... It started when Meredith said that any creepy home voyeurs would be "honked off" by passing vehicles.
ALSO this is my St Pat's garb. Green enough for ya?
ALSO this is my St Pat's garb. Green enough for ya?
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Mental Floss did a Shocking TV Deaths list a while back and shockingly, I didn't care about most of them (just Henry Blake and Maude Flanders). Then I started thinking about the ones that immediately came to mind for me.
********Major spoilers below for The Wire, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Torchwood, Lost, Sesame Street and Scrubs********
********Major spoilers below for The Wire, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Torchwood, Lost, Sesame Street and Scrubs********
What tv deaths shocked/affected you most?
Off the top of my head:
P.S. I don't count characters who die and come back like a million times (here's looking at you cast of Supernatural, Buffy, and XFiles).
********Major spoilers below for The Wire, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Torchwood, Lost, Sesame Street and Scrubs********
********Major spoilers below for The Wire, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Torchwood, Lost, Sesame Street and Scrubs********
What tv deaths shocked/affected you most?
Off the top of my head:
- Stringer Bell & D'Angelo Barksdale (The Wire) (Poor Wallace too, but its sad whenever a kid dies on that show).
- Wash (Firefly) I know he kicked it in the movie, but still...
- Dualla & Cally (Battlestar Galatica)
- Tosh, Owen, & Ianto (Torchwood)
- Charlie (Lost)
- Laverne & Ben (Scrubs)
- That goldfish (Mr Rogers Neighborhood)
- Donna (Doctor Who) she may as well be dead! Russel T Davies DIAF!
- Dr Hooper (Sesame Street) Also, he wasn't a character so much as the heart of a show, but Jim Hensen was so sad. Especially when Big Bird sang at his funeral.
P.S. I don't count characters who die and come back like a million times (here's looking at you cast of Supernatural, Buffy, and XFiles).
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I'm going to be writing a paper about jazz funerals soon. If you are interested I can post it here in parts when I'm finished.
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All victims deserve compassion.
If you want to do any justice to the memory of missing people or victims of violence, please please please look up "missing white girl syndrome" and get angry. Demand media coverage that doesn't select stories based on the gender, race, and class of the victim.
Please read 'The missing white girl syndrome': disappeared women and media activism by Sarah Stillman (Gender & Development, Volume 15, Issue 3 November 2007 , pages 491 - 502).
Check out: http://www.unsolvedcanada.ca
If you want to do any justice to the memory of missing people or victims of violence, please please please look up "missing white girl syndrome" and get angry. Demand media coverage that doesn't select stories based on the gender, race, and class of the victim.
Please read 'The missing white girl syndrome': disappeared women and media activism by Sarah Stillman (Gender & Development, Volume 15, Issue 3 November 2007 , pages 491 - 502).
Check out: http://www.unsolvedcanada.ca
Comments: (1)
The death of a celebrity has always been a popular talking point in popular culture. Despite most people having little or no actual interaction with the deceased, their death has a huge impact. Celebrities who are otherwise irrelevant in popular contemporary culture are brought back into the collective conscience after death and often have a huge cultural and economic impact. Not only do sales of merchandise, records, and DVDs (depending on the celebrity) skyrocket, but their deaths are accompanied by constant news coverage and popular discussion. Sometimes a celebrity does not even have to die, there can be a hoax of their death to the same effect, if only briefly. Facilitating the intensity of the collective mourning of a celebrity’s death is the word-of-mouth engine that is the internet, social networking sites, and gossip blogs.
Of course, that is not to say that collective the mourning of a celebrity is anything new; think of the deaths of John Lennon, Elvis Presley, or JFK. A popular folk legend has even arisen about celebrity deaths dictating that celebrities always die in threes. Common examples are Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper or John Denver, Princess Diana, and Mother Teresa.
A great contemporary example of the phenomena on celebrity death is the recent passing of Michael Jackson. His death in the summer of 2009 had a tremendous impact on culture. Not only was the news overloaded with Michael Jackson stories, including speculation about the manner of his death, the fate of his three children and estate, and the response of other celebrities, but a huge overload of conversation and discussion online. Gossip blogs and social networking sites were overloaded. CNN jokingly stated that Michael Jackson “broke” the internet (Rawlinson & Hunt, 2009). Massive amounts of traffic overloaded several hugely popular sites, including CNN, Wikipedia, Twitter, and the messaging service AOL.
There are two things that are very interesting in terms of more long term impacts of celebrity deaths on popular culture. One is the immense amount of profit in the death of a celebrity. Michael Jackson’s flew to the top of the charts posthumously making millions in only a few days, (Moore, 2009). Every poster and novelty store you go into has the iconic Farrah Fawcett “Red Swimsuit” poster on display again. After John Hughes death, the “Too Cool for School” DVD collection box set became readily available everywhere. To say that the death of a celebrity has an economic impact is probably an understatement, especially in reference to Michael Jackson whose posthumous record sales beat out those of Elvis within days, (Boyle, 2009). He also was 2009’s top selling artist, selling over 8 million units and more than doubling the next top selling artist, (Kreps, 2010). All these numbers mean one thing: a celebrity’s death makes mega-cash.
The second thing that is very interesting about the death of a celebrity and their impact on pop culture is that all their sins seem to be forgiven by mainstream commentaries. The old adage “don’t speak ill of the dead” is very prevalent, even on the usually rough free-for-all of gossip blogs. Prior to his death, Michael Jackson was involved in his second very public and heavily covered battle against child sex abuse allegations. Even though he was found not guilty of the charges, his erratic behaviour had turned him into a joke.
One of the most popular gossip sites, OhNoTheyDidnt, which is a social networking community on Livejournal.com, has approx 50 000 members (Livejournal, 2010) and over 300 000 views per day, (Tenenbaum, 2008). It is famous not only for its huge membership, its fast posting (often posting stories before popular news sites), and especially for its community involvement. People discuss the story in the comment forum. The post of Michael Jackson’s death started off as a report on his illness and emergency medical personnel rushing him to the hospital. The page was slowly updated to reflect newer information. Early on, before his actual death was reported, there was a lot of joking about his lifestyle and the sexual abuse allegations prior to his death with the odd anxious worried fan chiming in. After his death was confirmed, all the comments turned to lament and intense grief. He went from a wacky pedaphile to a treasured icon in a matter of hours.
MAIN ARGUMENT: The popular response to celebrity deaths has a huge cultural and economic impact.
Resources/Further Reading
Boyle, C. (2009, June 30). Jackson posthumous music sales outstrip Elvis. Retrieved from Times Online - Business: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article6607989.ece
Kreps, D. (2010, January 7). Swift Beats Boyle, Plus Michael Jackson, Beatles Rule 2009 Charts. Retrieved from The Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/01/07/swift-beats-boyle-plus-michael-jackson-beatles-rule-2009-charts/
Livejournal. (2010, January 24). OhNoTheyDidnt Community Page. Retrieved from Livejournal: http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/profile
Moore, M. (2009, June 28). Michael Jackson's album reaches No 1. Retrieved from The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/michael-jackson/5675169/Michael-Jacksons-album-reaches-No-1.html
Rawlinson, L., & Hunt, N. (2009, June 26). Jackson dies, almost takes internet with him. Retrieved from CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/06/26/michael.jackson.internet/index.html
Tenenbaum, S. (2008, June 9). Through the Grapevine. Retrieved from PopMatters: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/through-the-grapevine
Of course, that is not to say that collective the mourning of a celebrity is anything new; think of the deaths of John Lennon, Elvis Presley, or JFK. A popular folk legend has even arisen about celebrity deaths dictating that celebrities always die in threes. Common examples are Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper or John Denver, Princess Diana, and Mother Teresa.
A great contemporary example of the phenomena on celebrity death is the recent passing of Michael Jackson. His death in the summer of 2009 had a tremendous impact on culture. Not only was the news overloaded with Michael Jackson stories, including speculation about the manner of his death, the fate of his three children and estate, and the response of other celebrities, but a huge overload of conversation and discussion online. Gossip blogs and social networking sites were overloaded. CNN jokingly stated that Michael Jackson “broke” the internet (Rawlinson & Hunt, 2009). Massive amounts of traffic overloaded several hugely popular sites, including CNN, Wikipedia, Twitter, and the messaging service AOL.
There are two things that are very interesting in terms of more long term impacts of celebrity deaths on popular culture. One is the immense amount of profit in the death of a celebrity. Michael Jackson’s flew to the top of the charts posthumously making millions in only a few days, (Moore, 2009). Every poster and novelty store you go into has the iconic Farrah Fawcett “Red Swimsuit” poster on display again. After John Hughes death, the “Too Cool for School” DVD collection box set became readily available everywhere. To say that the death of a celebrity has an economic impact is probably an understatement, especially in reference to Michael Jackson whose posthumous record sales beat out those of Elvis within days, (Boyle, 2009). He also was 2009’s top selling artist, selling over 8 million units and more than doubling the next top selling artist, (Kreps, 2010). All these numbers mean one thing: a celebrity’s death makes mega-cash.
The second thing that is very interesting about the death of a celebrity and their impact on pop culture is that all their sins seem to be forgiven by mainstream commentaries. The old adage “don’t speak ill of the dead” is very prevalent, even on the usually rough free-for-all of gossip blogs. Prior to his death, Michael Jackson was involved in his second very public and heavily covered battle against child sex abuse allegations. Even though he was found not guilty of the charges, his erratic behaviour had turned him into a joke.
One of the most popular gossip sites, OhNoTheyDidnt, which is a social networking community on Livejournal.com, has approx 50 000 members (Livejournal, 2010) and over 300 000 views per day, (Tenenbaum, 2008). It is famous not only for its huge membership, its fast posting (often posting stories before popular news sites), and especially for its community involvement. People discuss the story in the comment forum. The post of Michael Jackson’s death started off as a report on his illness and emergency medical personnel rushing him to the hospital. The page was slowly updated to reflect newer information. Early on, before his actual death was reported, there was a lot of joking about his lifestyle and the sexual abuse allegations prior to his death with the odd anxious worried fan chiming in. After his death was confirmed, all the comments turned to lament and intense grief. He went from a wacky pedaphile to a treasured icon in a matter of hours.
MAIN ARGUMENT: The popular response to celebrity deaths has a huge cultural and economic impact.
Resources/Further Reading
Boyle, C. (2009, June 30). Jackson posthumous music sales outstrip Elvis. Retrieved from Times Online - Business: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article6607989.ece
Kreps, D. (2010, January 7). Swift Beats Boyle, Plus Michael Jackson, Beatles Rule 2009 Charts. Retrieved from The Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/01/07/swift-beats-boyle-plus-michael-jackson-beatles-rule-2009-charts/
Livejournal. (2010, January 24). OhNoTheyDidnt Community Page. Retrieved from Livejournal: http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/profile
Moore, M. (2009, June 28). Michael Jackson's album reaches No 1. Retrieved from The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/michael-jackson/5675169/Michael-Jacksons-album-reaches-No-1.html
Rawlinson, L., & Hunt, N. (2009, June 26). Jackson dies, almost takes internet with him. Retrieved from CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/06/26/michael.jackson.internet/index.html
Tenenbaum, S. (2008, June 9). Through the Grapevine. Retrieved from PopMatters: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/through-the-grapevine
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Can't get enough of this song right now.
God Help The Girl / God Help The Girl from God Help The Girl on Vimeo.
NSFW but hilarious.
Spork! An Erotic Love Story (Edited Together From The Star Trek Audio Book) from cirrocumulus on Vimeo.
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After the hustle and bustle of the holidays (parties, booze, Doctor Who specials) I'm feeling a bit bored. Thus, I bring you a rare glimpse at my cats....
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Just saw the latest episode of Doctor Who. I don't know... I can't even.... Here's is my calm and rational response to the episode.
