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Too long video for 'The Big Fail' post
Dec. 16th, 2023 01:53 pmI didn't include the following video in The authors of 'The Big Fail' interviewed, a pandemic post-mortem and update, but I listened to it while I wrote the post.
Abandoned image for climate change post
May. 17th, 2023 10:50 amI decided I didn't need this image for FiveThirtyEight examines 'How Climate Change Will Reshape Where Americans Live'.
Saved comments during April 2021
May. 1st, 2021 01:52 pmI was twice as chatty last month than during March, but that's still only four comments.
My comment on Reflections on Fantasy Fiction.
The last fantasy novel I read and enjoyed was Neil Gaiman's "American Gods," winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards from 2001. I don't know if a 20-year-old novel qualifies as "recent" and "these days." I haven't gotten around to watching the book's TV adaptation yet, but I plan on it.
Speaking of TV adaptations, there are three others of fantasy book series I enjoy, "His Dark Materials" and "The Book of Dust" by Philip Pullman, "The Witcher" by Andrzej Sapkowski, and "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon. I'll admit to not reading any of the books yet, but I plan on doing that, too.
My comment on THEY DON'T EVEN WANT THE SHOWMANSHIP, JUST THE ABUSE.
"It's like if they're getting heaping abuse, and being given demeaning nicknames means the 'kool kids' like them." I'm reminded of the scene from "Mean Girls" where Rachel McAdams as Regina George tells Lindsey Lohan as Cady George "Get in loser, we're going shopping." Cady didn't care that Regina called her a loser, the popular girls (including current Oscar nominee Amanda Seyfried) invited her to go shopping with them. I can see why you think the DC press corps is like that.
My comment on The DC Society Pages.
Stephen Colbert remarked that the labels used on the Venmo transactions were too on the nose. He missed the one sent to the then-17-year-old labled "Food." Gaetz's associate Joel Greenberg may as well have used "Candy."
https://crazyeddiethemotie.blogspot.com/2021/04/colbert-meyers-and-kimmel-take-more.html
My comment on Meanwhile, In The Laboratories of Democracy.
Using a provision to make Michigan more responsive to the people to restrict voting rights; how ironic!
My comment on Reflections on Fantasy Fiction.
The last fantasy novel I read and enjoyed was Neil Gaiman's "American Gods," winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards from 2001. I don't know if a 20-year-old novel qualifies as "recent" and "these days." I haven't gotten around to watching the book's TV adaptation yet, but I plan on it.
Speaking of TV adaptations, there are three others of fantasy book series I enjoy, "His Dark Materials" and "The Book of Dust" by Philip Pullman, "The Witcher" by Andrzej Sapkowski, and "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon. I'll admit to not reading any of the books yet, but I plan on doing that, too.
My comment on THEY DON'T EVEN WANT THE SHOWMANSHIP, JUST THE ABUSE.
"It's like if they're getting heaping abuse, and being given demeaning nicknames means the 'kool kids' like them." I'm reminded of the scene from "Mean Girls" where Rachel McAdams as Regina George tells Lindsey Lohan as Cady George "Get in loser, we're going shopping." Cady didn't care that Regina called her a loser, the popular girls (including current Oscar nominee Amanda Seyfried) invited her to go shopping with them. I can see why you think the DC press corps is like that.
My comment on The DC Society Pages.
Stephen Colbert remarked that the labels used on the Venmo transactions were too on the nose. He missed the one sent to the then-17-year-old labled "Food." Gaetz's associate Joel Greenberg may as well have used "Candy."
https://crazyeddiethemotie.blogspot.com/2021/04/colbert-meyers-and-kimmel-take-more.html
My comment on Meanwhile, In The Laboratories of Democracy.
Using a provision to make Michigan more responsive to the people to restrict voting rights; how ironic!
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“Maybe you do not care much about the future of the Republican Party. You should. Conservatives will always be with us. If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy” ― David Frum.
My Dragon Con votes
Aug. 27th, 2018 09:15 amI submitted my votes for Dragon Con earlier this month and saved them. My votes are in bold.
( Votes behind the cut. )
The winners will be announced at the con this weekend.
CBS Evening News: Tom Wolfe, prolific journalist and author, dead at 88.
Tom Wolfe, the journalist and author of books like "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" has died. Wolfe pioneered "New Journalism," a style known for longform pieces written in a subjective voice. CBS News correspondent Vladimir Duthiers takes a look back at his life.At JournalFen, I wrote "Click on the link in the headline to watch the video." Here, I can embed it so people can watch it without going to YouTube.
Saved comment from April 2017
Jun. 29th, 2017 04:06 amContinuing from May's saved comments, here is my one saved comment from April. Since there is only one, I'm not putting it behind a cut. It's my reaction to finding out that Steve Bannon is a fan of 'The Fourth Turning' on Booman Tribune.
My response to a comment on "No Pressure Writing" at Booman Tribune.
"Well Bannon is sure that winter is coming, so there may be less difference between game of thrones and the White House than we all thought."
I'm actually a fan of "The Fourth Turning," so it distresses me that Bannon is both misusing the ideas in the book and ignoring the parts of the authors' theory of cyclical history that he finds inconvenient for his purposes, like the importance of the Millennials in determining how the crisis will turn out. This Business Insider article does a good job of outlining both, while the following video from The Huffington Post concentrates more on the ends that Bannon wants more than the means of the book.
Trump’s top adviser thinks we’re in “the great Fourth Turning in American history."
I'm going to have to write a diary about this topic later. Right now, I'll satisfy myself with a first draft of adapting Kung Fu Monkey's joke about "Atlas Shrugged" and "Lord of the Rings."
There are two books that warn that "Winter is coming," "A Game of Thrones" and "The Fourth Turning." One will turn its readers into people who look forward to a crisis that will redeem the country after a decade or more of war, depression, and civil strife. The other one has White Walkers as villains.
(Add this source for any entry: Bannon’s Worldview: Dissecting the Message of ‘The Fourth Turning’. Also put the wish for Trump to "Fire Bannon" in context by including the MSNBC video "The Cult Of Personality Of Steve Bannon.")
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Four links for forty years of D&D
Feb. 15th, 2014 08:33 pmDungeons and Dragons turned 40 years old this past month. Here are three links to articles that mark the anniversary, and a blast from the past.
Buzzfeed: At 40 Years Old, Dungeons & Dragons Still Matters
Intro and more comments on above article at io9: Why Dungeons & Dragons Still Matters
The practical applications of D&D at Quartz: Everything I need to know about management I learned from playing Dungeons and Dragons
That reminds me of this What’s New with Phil and Dixie cartoon from 30+ years ago: Lessons for Life
Originally posted to fandom_lounge on JournalFen.
ETA: I forgot to add this link from Kotaku: Ice-T Accidentally Recorded A Dungeons & Dragons Audiobook.
A new biography of SMeyer by academics
Jul. 2nd, 2012 10:54 pmSomething I found while looking for science stories to post to Daily Kos and Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
Arizona State University: 'Twilight' phenomenon among new faculty books
Posted: June 06, 2012
Above originally posted to sparklefield at JournalFen.
Arizona State University: 'Twilight' phenomenon among new faculty books
Posted: June 06, 2012
In 2005, Stephenie Meyer, a stay-at-home mom from Arizona, published her first novel, which was inspired by a vivid dream. “Twilight” was followed by four more books, and Meyer found herself as the best-selling author in the world.ASU decided to promote this book ahead of academic studies of "Pakistan and New Spain, and look at marriage, language policy and poetry." Also, it's available at Barnes and Noble for $37.50 hardcover and $28.99 on the Nook. I think I'll wait for the paperback edition.
What happens when a mom becomes a star? ASU associate professor of English James Blasingame and two ASU graduates, Kathleen Deakin and Laura A. Walsh, explore that question in their new book about Meyer.
...
“Stephenie Meyer: In the Twilight,” by James Blasingame, ASU associate professor of English, Kathleen Deakin (PhD Curriculum & Instruction, English Education 2010), and Laura A. Walsh (PhD Curriculum & Instruction, English Education 2010).
Synopsis: Inspired by a vivid dream, Stephenie Meyer, a stay-at-home mom, wrote a manuscript that started a worldwide sensation that has yet to abate. In 2005, her debut novel, “Twilight,” crashed onto the shore of teen literature like a literary tsunami. Four books later, she had become the top-selling author in the world. When the final book in the “Twilight” series, “Breaking Dawn,” was released in 2008, more than a million copies were sold on the first day alone. The popular-culture phenomenon of Stephenie Meyer and her writing is much more than the sum total of her weeks on the bestseller list, however.
This book looks at the life and work of this author, beginning with her childhood and covering her teen years and life before stardom. This volume also profiles Meyer’s world since becoming a cultural icon. In addition to discussing Meyer’s writing style, the chapters also explore each of her books, with a final chapter focusing on her presence in social media and public events.
Above originally posted to sparklefield at JournalFen.
I know this doesn't fit the theme of sustainability in Detroit. It does fit the Nablopomo theme of Fiction and the listing of this blog under politics on the Nablopomo blogroll. Besides, I see the Tea Partiers as obstacles to achieving sustainability. so it's not as off-topic as one might first think.
( First, the e-book version of her book says it's a work of fiction, hence the Nablopomo badge. )
Originally posted to Crazy Eddie's Motie News. A shorter version crossposted to political_wank on JournalFen and teabagger_watch on Dreamwidth.
Nablopomo for August: Fiction
Aug. 1st, 2011 05:31 amSeems like only yesterday.
By the way, next month's theme for Nablopomo is Fiction. I'm participating. Here's the badge.Time to share the following from my email.
More on this theme beginning tomorrow, which will be in a few minutes. See you then!
August's theme for daily blogging: FICTION. Certainly, blogging is about truth-telling; recording our lives. But how often does fiction seep into our reconstruction of our day? Is it important to always be honest, or can we skew the facts to present a better story?Beyond that, how can you not enjoy delving into a work of fiction? Finding a new world, new characters, new inventions that didn't exist until the writer placed them on the page. This month, we have to spend some time sharing our favourite books, authors, and characters.I've been waiting for a theme like this to come along for months, as I have a whole bunch of book-related posts that I've been promising to do, going all the way back to April, when I wrote three entries in which I said I'd revisit the topic.
For details, read the rest of the post at Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
This past week maintained the pace set the week before, when I posted 12 entries, readers made five comments, and the blog received 783 page views. Last week, I again wrote 12 entries, readers left four comments, one of which was spam, and the blog had 753 page views, more than 100 a day. This past week also saw the first time the blog exceeded 4,000 page views in a month, which happened late Friday. The month ended with 4,181 hits, a record. The stats are already looking good for this week, as readers left six comments, none of which were spam, and the 114 hits for today are well above last Sunday's 65. If this is the new normal, then I'm happy.
This was the last full week of Swim posts and most of my posts fit this theme one way or another, beginning with the previous Weekly Roundup in which I summarized all the previous week's Swim posts. The real Swim posts began with the second post of last Sunday, when I began covering the story of Raquel Nelson in A petition against the criminalization of walking, the most popular post of the week with 128 views. I followed up with Update on petition to decriminalize walking and wrapped up Raquel's story, for this week at least, in Her day in court, in which I also covered the conclusion of Julie Bass's legal journey.
Swimming against the tide of politics was the theme of many of the rest of the week's postings as well, beginning with I haven't forgotten about Troy's library, in which I revisited the struggle to keep local libraries open. The election for the millage will be the day after tomorrow. Look for a post about it. The swim against ignorance continued in Why do Tea Partiers hate high-speed rail?--a post inspired by a reaction to a story covered in Silly Sustainability Saturday: Carmageddon, Tea Partiers against manatees, and Butterbeer from a few weeks ago. This same story made another cameo in Silly Sustainability Saturday: The Onion, more manatees, heat wave denial, and a poem in which a U.S. Representative from Florida actually took their conspiracy theory seriously. If it weren't for the fact that the Tea Partiers are the epitome of what Kunstler calls "corn-pone fascists" who are standing in the way of sustainable solutions, I'd just type "LOL Teabaggers" and be done with them.
I didn't only document other people's attempts to swim against the political and cultural currents. I got up on my virtual soapbox myself. In What motivates Americans to act, I expressed my cynicism about America's screwed up priorities. For further commentary on this subject, read the LiveJournal version of this entry in which I explained why the NFL lockout had been resolved but the debt ceiling hostage crisis so far hasn't. I became a more idealistic in Allow me this rant on an anti-tax meme. I despaired in We could have had the Moon, instead we get Afghanistan. By this morning I was getting a bit punchy, as you can see in Debt Ceiling Cat, which will be in the next weekly roundup.
Of course, I also had the linkspams. This week, I posted only two of them, Sustainability news from Michigan's research universities for the week ending July 23, 2011 and Sustainability news from midwestern research universities for the week ending July 23, 2011. There were articles left over, which I'll collect into another sustainablity in archeology post, probably along with another CoDominion post and a leftovers post. That's in addition to the two linkspams of material I already have saved in another file. Hey, I'm an environmentalist, I recycle.
If you noticed, the previous weekly roundup didn't include a back-catalog champion. That's not the case this week, as Portland is watching "The End of Suburbia" cracked the weekly top ten with 14 page views. It also ended up as one of the top ten posts for July with 47 hits.
By the way, next month's theme for Nablopomo is Fiction. I'm participating. Here's the badge.
More on this theme beginning tomorrow, which will be in a few minutes. See you then!
Originally posted as Weekly Roundup for July 24th through 30th, 2011 on Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
R.I.P Borders Books
Jul. 19th, 2011 01:16 amWTNH on YouTube: On Thursday, Borders will ask a judge to begin liquidation of the company.Reuters has even more details.
Borders Group Inc, the second-largest U.S. bookstore chain, said it has canceled an upcoming bankruptcy auction and will close its doors for good.As someone who lived in Ann Arbor from 1989 to 1999 and hung out in Ann Arbor regularly until earlier this year, spending much of that time in the Ann Arbor flagship store, I find this very sad for me personally, as you can see by my previous two posts on the subject at my LiveJournal.
The company said in a statement Monday it was unable to find a buyer willing to keep it in operation and will sell itself to a group of liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources.
Borders' roughly 400 remaining stores will close, and nearly 11,000 jobs will be lost, according to the company.
"We are saddened by this development," Borders President Mike Edwards said in the statement. "We were all working hard toward a different outcome, but the headwinds we have been facing for quite some time ... have brought us to where we are now."
More at Crazy Eddie's Motie News: Borders Books 1971-2011.
A couple of days ago, I wrote this conclusion to my post about Kunstler's skepticism about marriage equality.
I already have my plate full with completing the sustainability linkspams and at least two more posts about Kunstler swimming against the tide, including even more gender fail.That's right. Kunstler's skepticism about marriage equality was not the only gender equality fail in Man Down, as he defended his depiction of gender roles in his fiction in the very next next paragraph.
I had an interesting experience with my last two books (World Made By Hand and The Witch of Hebron), which were set in a post-oil, post economic collapse American future and depicted daily life in a way that was quite unlike the way we live right now. I received a heap of criticism from female readers - including peak oil activists - full of consternation that I did not present female characters in the kinds of dominant valorized roles that are favored today: the post-oil equivalent of CEO, news anchor, CIA-Ninja warrior, Presidential candidate. What struck me was their complete failure of imagination. They could not conceive of male / female relations that were different than today's, even in a world that had been turned economically upside down.( I had something to say about that paragraph, too. )
Above originally posted to Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
Another two for one.
Book recommendation: Stuffed and Starved
Stuffed and Starved
Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World’s Food System
In this book, Raj Patel gives a piercing critique of the way global capitalism shapes what humans grow and eat, exposing many of the flaws in the food system that contribute to collapse and what can be done about it. It's also an entertaining and informative read and Raj Patel is a charming and compelling person who knows his gin.
Food News from La La Land
From PoliticusUSA:
ABC’s Food Revolution May Have Prompted Change in LA Schools’ Lunches
This season “Food Revolution” is filming in Los Angeles, even though the Los Angeles Unified School District refused Oliver and his show access.Much more, including a video, at the link.
Time to run. I have an event to go to tonight. Hey, I can't be all doom all the time.
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