Friday Ephemeraren’t

I’m still supposedly away – you can see how bad I am at it – and so you’re getting another opportunity to throw together your own pile of links and oddities in the comments. I’ll set the ball rolling with a D-list celebrity’s approach to public relations; Apollo 11 in real-time; this, via Damian; a game called Dissembler, which is trickier than it may seem; and some miniature sculptures made of dandelion seeds. 

Oh, and how to peel garlic.

Comments

[PiperPaul]

Beware of the Trojan Horse: A Critique of Social Justice

[Steve]

Keystone Cops

https://www.reddit.com/r/IdiotsInCars/comments/c2u5da/i_dont_know_whos_the_bigger_idiot_here/

[TimT]

...how to peel garlic....

I usually just bash them with the palm of my hand and chuck them in the pan. The papers smell extremely nice when frying and can be picked out and discarded later. And hey, if a few get in the meal it's no harm, and I'm not running for Masterchef.

[Pogonip]

So, in the car video, did they ever decide whose dick was bigger?

(Not to sound like one of those man-hating American women, but in this case, I mean, really... 😄)

[Nate Whilk]

PiperPaul-

"Social justice" is another name for what the Communist Party of the USA did internally around 1950. I believe "white supremacy" and "white privilege" are derived from "white chauvinism" at that time. The result was that they threw out people for such trivial things as serving watermelon to blacks. Months ago a fireman in the USA was fired for doing exactly that.

See the following:

https://books.google.com/books?id=vO5lJouCyPUC&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128&dq=%22white+chauvinism%22&source=bl&ots=HsDEZviPIe&sig=mZDDFUwVt-G2qOndDYnc-XxsbF0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oa7yUvjfHqiMyQGjx4DYBQ#v=onepage&q=%22white%20chauvinism%22&f=false

Use "search inside" here: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-Over-Hollywood-Colony%C2%92s/dp/1594031460#reader_1594031460

"American Communism in Crisis, 1943-1957" by Joseph Starobin, foreign editor for the US edition of the Daily Worker.

"Odd Man Out" by Edward Dmytryk, one of the original "Hollywood 10", who went to prison but later decided to testify.

[Ten]

Bewilderment of note:

Swarthmore College offers a course on “Queering God,” most recently taught during the spring 2019 semester, that provides a feminist and queer perspective of the Bible, while also exploring God’s gender identity.

Exploring.

https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13349

More on what one breathlessly concludes surely must be simply divine gender identification here: https://www.swarthmore.edu/profile/gwynn-kessler

It's left to you to work out the essential intersectionality of such interrogation.

[Alice]

a D-list celebrity’s approach to public relations;

Good thing she's so empathetic.

[David]

Beware of the Trojan Horse: A Critique of Social Justice

Yes, pretty much all of that.

[David]

Good thing she’s so empathetic.

Heh. Quite.

Given her limited talents and D-list status, rapidly fading, she does seem rather uppity and grand. But then, Ms Sirtis is fond of telling people how terribly progressive she is, and how much she fears Donald Trump, and how Brexit supporters are all racist, and how conservatives can’t be Star Trek fans, which should probably have been a clue.

As someone quips in the thread, “the fan site account is now inactive pending deletion… just like her fan base.”

[David]

Tim Newman on the malign vanities of Sadiq Khan.

[fnord]

It's interesting (to me at least) that each iteration of Deanna Troi's look was better than the last as the show wore on with her looking the best in uniform. Her design in the first season was utterly hideous.

Watching a few interview and panel clips on YouTube it gradually became apparent that she was more than a bit of a b*tch. I would assume that she's aware of the desirability of projecting an aura of likability in public, and that as a actress that she has an ability to do so, but it doesn't take long to detect that there's something rancid underneath. Disappointing.

[David]

it gradually became apparent that she was more than a bit of a b*tch.

She’s a mediocre actress who got lucky, once, in the 80s. You’d think a little humility might be in order. But what I find interesting is how it’s become fashionable to tell half of your customers, publicly, in print, that they aren’t welcome to buy your product, or to like it, because they aren’t sufficiently leftwing.

[pst314]

She’s a mediocre actress who got lucky, once, in the 80s...

Was once more than enough in this case? I wonder how much her residuals amount to.

...But what I find interesting is how it’s become fashionable to tell half of your customers, publicly, in print, that they aren’t welcome to buy your product, or to like it, because they aren’t sufficiently leftwing.

I visited her Twitter feed, and it's absolutely chock full of retweets of "you can save this puppy or you can turn the page" items. So maybe she's getting a bit obsessive in her dotage?

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

"Masculinity is a straitjacket; it is high time more men broke free."

Clothes traditionally worn by women are becoming part of the mainstream of men’s fashion and helping break the straitjacket of prescribed roles.

Yeah, that is not who needs the straightjacket, and I am guessing "mainstream" means "a tiny number of attention seeking D-listers". Do check the links in the article, at your own risk, of course.

In other news, I didn't know the remainers:leavers ratio was so lopsided.

[David]

Clothes traditionally worn by women are becoming part of the mainstream of men’s fashion

And yet men wearing the examples given – ballgowns, basically – are not a common sight, or any sight, on the local high street. Still, we must heed Ms Mahdawi, who tells us confidently, albeit without evidence, that “men’s clothing norms are mired in misogyny.”

[Lancastrian Oik]

For the petrolheads: an interview with Freddie Bulliard of top hipster blog Gas Dandy.

"Go steer and be stylish".

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

...albeit without evidence...

What, a singer nobody ever heard of wearing a "uterus inspired" suit-dress saying so isn't definitive proof ?

[Boatswain's Mate]

In other news, I didn't know the remainers:leavers ratio was so lopsided.

A billion (or, as they would say o'vair, a thousand million) Britons marched to stop Brexit? Truly? I've checked a number of resources, and none of them say that the UK has a population anywhere close to a billion people. And that billion were all Remainers? How did "Leave" ever win in the face of that?

[Rob]

I thought “Dissembler” would be a game about lying

[David]

I thought “Dissembler” would be a game about lying

Well, it looks deceptively simple. It soon gets surprisingly tricky.

[Darleen]

These people sound nice.

[Dodie]

And yet men wearing the examples given – ballgowns, basically – are not a common sight, or any sight, on the local high street.

https://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2017/09/pantomime.html

And yet his, shall we say, appetite isn’t to wear clothes with no obviously gendered connotations, or some mix-and-match. Instead, he likes to play at being a woman by wearing stereotypically female clothing, those “silky fabrics,” and make-up, and female jewellery, and long painted nails, while moving about, even sitting at a desk, as he thinks a woman would. For someone who doesn’t believe in intrinsic gender, it’s very gendered role-play.

[David]

Heh. I’d forgotten about the bewitching Dr Cremin, our needy transvestite sociology lecturer.

[Sam]

I guess feminists, being women, don't understand the utter indifference almost all men have towards clothing fashions.

Take, for example, David's linked tweet making fun of the Trump lass' ridiculous outfit. Sure, us heteros noticed how over-the-top those shoulders look, but, to be blunt, we also noticed how nice her breasts, stomach, hips, and legs looked. Why? Because she has lovely breasts, stomach, hips, and legs. So really anything giving a mere hint of those assets would count as good fashion for most men. Conversely, clothing that obfuscates less-than-lovely curves is appreciated.

Which is to say, "toxic masculinity" isn't responsible for men's fashion choices, but rather almost all of us liking plain old pants, shirts, shorts, etc. It certainly isn't out of some long repressed desire to look like Ivanka Trump.

[Uma Thurmond's Feet]

Twitter came for Obnoxio the clown, whose tweets reported here have always been entertaining. The bastids suspended his account for reasons unknown.

[David]

“With home ownership comes great responsibility.”

[Deb]

the bewitching Dr Cremin, our needy transvestite sociology lecturer.

Where's the 'unsee' button?

[David]

Where’s the ‘unsee’ button?

It’s not the loveliest thing. And all rather compounded by the insufferable look-at-me, look-at-my-stockings neediness.

[David]

I mean, at some point you just want to say, “Look, we get it. You’re broken. Now get the hell over yourself.”

[Pogonip]

I forget who asked about my books 😳 but I just finished writing the novel and will start typing it. After I type it, I’ll let it sit for a month, as I have learned from bitter experience that that’s the only way to catch things like somebody who left the room on page 112 explaining a crucial plot point on page 118. And while it’s sitting I’ll type “What Mom Knew,” which, as non-fiction, will not have that problem and will go much faster, so I expect I’ll have it out there first. And when I do, everybody buy it through David. Pibbly-poo!

[Pogonip]

I am now envisioning a bunch of burly, bearded, fur-clad barbarian warriors fiercely waving their broadswords and shouting their terrifying battle cry:

“PIBBLY-POO!”

😄. Where’s Robert E. Howard when you need him?

[Steve E]

“PIBBLY-POO!”

I've seen Pogo using this for some time now and finally got curious enough to google it.

I'm not crazy about what I found.

Yuck!

[David]

I’m not crazy about what I found.

I believe the term Pogonip is aiming for is bibble-ee-doo.

[Pogonip]

Oops. 😊😳

Although for all I know, Conan and the other barbarians HAVE pibbly-poo. What do barbarians eat, anyway?

[Alex]

“What do barbarians eat, anyway?”

Well, since vegetarians eat vegetables, one would have to assume that barbarians eat barbers. 🙂

[pst314]

Now I'm worried about those humanitarians.

[Steve E]

one would have to assume that barbarians eat barbers.

What's wrong with the car?

The alternator won't alternate;

The carburetor won't carburate;

And the pistons won't...

Old joke ;-)

[Pogonip]

Do cars still have alternators? I remember the alternator would infallibly sense when you were low on money & then break, a function now fulfilled by the Check Engine light.

[WTP]

Now I'm worried about those humanitarians.

Not that I believe what it is that you're suggesting but it sure would explain a few things.

[Hal]

Swarthmore College offers a course on “Queering God,”

"Didja hear about the Christian gay theologian?
He couldn't decide if Jesus was truly divine, or merely simply fabulous."

[Hal]

The perfect gift for that board gamer you've been trying to get something for, Stats for Jesus

. . . herein you will find Open Games License stats for Jesus of Nazareth, a.k.a. Jesus the Christ, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of Heaven, the Son of Man, etc, etc, etc. Includes Unitarian/Jefferson Bible stats, pre-crufixion “Mortal Ministry” stats, epic-level “Day of Judgement” stats and Post-Tribulation Prince of Peace stats.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Now I'm worried about those humanitarians.

[Daniel Ream]

What do barbarians eat, anyway?

Civilization.

[Hal]

You've got to be kitten me . . .

[Pogonip]

It’s a cookbook!

[Pogonip]

OK, I just counted; I should come up w/about 900 pages after cutting. Whee!

It’s fantasy. When I go to the library I find the big thing in the field is dragons ,and girls with swords, so I gave the cast gunpowder (I figure George R. R. Martin holds the patent on dragons these days) and put a fair number of guys in the cast. People will at least get something a little different for their $4.99.

You could probably tell there are a bunch of guys in the cast, as you can hear them back there at the wrap party, telling risque jokes, debating important sportsball questions, blasting Mongolian rock and roll, and having a burping contest. [Shouting offstage]. Hey! Keep it down back there! David runs a classy joint! You guys are worse than the pickled “eggs!

And a lot of them are men of the cloth. Absolutely disgraceful. Sorry, David. The reverends’s probation officers SWORE they’d behave.

[Pogonip]

Going from bibulous to bibble-ee-doo, until he got big enough to knock down anyone who tried it, Son of Pogonip was often addressed as “Piffle-poo.” I hope Steve E. doesn’t find that in the poop dictionary. There WAS no poop dictionary when Son was a toddler.

[Daniel Ream]

It’s fantasy. When I go to the library I find the big thing in the field is dragons ,and girls with swords, so I gave the cast gunpowder

Well, that'll make it stand out from the crowd at least. D&D ate the fantasy literature genre whole around 1984 or so and it's never recovered. There was some good stuff back in the day.

[Pogonip]

I was surprised at how little the genre had changed. The heroes are doing what heroes have always done, it’s just that now all the heroes are Strong Independent Women (TM), strictly a cosmetic change.

[Captain Nemo]

“PIBBLY-POO!”

I've seen Pogo using this for some time now and finally got curious enough to google it.

I'm not crazy about what I found.

Yuck!

I surely can't be the only one to notice that the name "Pogonip" is an anagram of "Pooping"...

[Lady Cutekitten of Lolcat]

*harrumph*. No autographed copy for YOU! And it’s not too late to write in a Strong Independent Woman (TM) and have her pummel you severely about the head and shoulders, even though she’ll only weigh 95 lb dripping wet and have a waiflike fashion-model figure.

Now I gotta change my name. Well, I had been using it for several years so it was probably overdue anyway. I shall use the name bestowed upon me by the distinguished proprietor of another site.

[Lady Cutekitten of Lolcat]

Does anybody remember Nerise, the SIW from Deep Space Nine? I liked the character, she had good morals and strong religious faith, but she was played by a typical waiflike actress and her fight scenes were hysterical, especially since the actress liked to pause dramatically before decking a villain—and to make matters worse the villains were usually played by tall, admirably muscular actors. Nerise should have been played by a big old girl like the ones who were in the Conan movies.

[prm]

@LCoL

Would you be so kind as to get a bit of a shift on with the non-fiction? The good lady wife is due in two and a half weeks.

No pressure.

[Lady Cutekitten of Lolcat]

Congratulations! I shall expedite accordingly!