The last panel is awesome, the skin bit, not Marigold's lines. Via Questionable Content.
As for this, even though it's about my team, it's a good for a laugh:
7.4.10
Some silliness(es)
The last panel is awesome, the skin bit, not Marigold's lines. Via Questionable Content.
As for this, even though it's about my team, it's a good for a laugh:
Shoot to kill
I think most of us have seen this by now (the video of US forces killing 12 people in Baghdad). Watch it alongside Hurt Locker and note intertextuality of how "we" (US troops) refer to and act towards "them" (Iraqis).
One of the things I was talking about in my Asian Civilizations class, especially with respect to the mini series The Pacific and to the proliferation of racial/ethnic stereotypes about the "enemy" that existed at the time was the argument that "we" (the US and its allies in the Pacific) had to demonize the Japanese so soldiers wouldn't start thinking of them as human. If you thought of them as human, it'd obviously be rather difficult to then kill them and even the slightest hesitation might cost you your life if you were fighting hand to hand (often literally so) in the jungles.
As you can see in the video, this has changed today. Instead, the video is almost like watching a game play out. The viewer seems more a part of the process rather than the participants themselves. Us viewers can feel the excitement of the soldiers, the urging on of each other to shoot and the general exuberance allied with the distancing. The US soldiers are in a helicopter which seems almost beyond the actual conflict. You never get the feeling that the folks on the ground are any threat to the helicopter. To me, it was also surprising how precise and accurate the shooting is.
But, it's the distancing that is most problematic. People have made similar (and better) arguments about the drones flitting about in Pakistan and Afghanistan but seeing a group of young lads shoot and kill a (larger) group of people, while seemingly enjoying it, is rather different than reading about such events.
On another note, it is also interesting to see how this has spread via an online site and the role of this site in establishing itself as a legitimate source of news. It wasn't the Beeb doing this or the NYT. Instead, it was an online web site, which has been labelled as a threat to US security.
One of the things I was talking about in my Asian Civilizations class, especially with respect to the mini series The Pacific and to the proliferation of racial/ethnic stereotypes about the "enemy" that existed at the time was the argument that "we" (the US and its allies in the Pacific) had to demonize the Japanese so soldiers wouldn't start thinking of them as human. If you thought of them as human, it'd obviously be rather difficult to then kill them and even the slightest hesitation might cost you your life if you were fighting hand to hand (often literally so) in the jungles.
As you can see in the video, this has changed today. Instead, the video is almost like watching a game play out. The viewer seems more a part of the process rather than the participants themselves. Us viewers can feel the excitement of the soldiers, the urging on of each other to shoot and the general exuberance allied with the distancing. The US soldiers are in a helicopter which seems almost beyond the actual conflict. You never get the feeling that the folks on the ground are any threat to the helicopter. To me, it was also surprising how precise and accurate the shooting is.
But, it's the distancing that is most problematic. People have made similar (and better) arguments about the drones flitting about in Pakistan and Afghanistan but seeing a group of young lads shoot and kill a (larger) group of people, while seemingly enjoying it, is rather different than reading about such events.
On another note, it is also interesting to see how this has spread via an online site and the role of this site in establishing itself as a legitimate source of news. It wasn't the Beeb doing this or the NYT. Instead, it was an online web site, which has been labelled as a threat to US security.
5.4.10
So, how did you Who?
I got it off YouTube, saved it as a flash video and on CD. My technological skills are minimal (to non-existent) so this is as sophisticated as it gets.
Did I mention I thoroughly enjoyed it? Liked Matt Smith's new Doctor? I already have a theory about the new assistant? Well, I did and I do. Oh and for those commenting about how this seems rather too white after the past few seasons? Well, it's a small town (The Doctor mentions this at some point). Small towns still tend to be mostly white, even in Britain. Besides, the lead is an omnisexual alien (and not the "foreign" immigrant kind ). I think that is fairly progressive compared to most other shows.
Apart from the "You're Scots, fry something!" comment, other gems were: "Get a girlfriend!" (though, again, this may be considered heteronormative, if we are being picky about things), "I'm the Doctor. Do everything I tell you and don't wander off" and "Who da man?" (with the addition of "oh I'm never saying that again").
That last line is a good nod to what the Doctor is actually about. It's not really about flash and showing off, it's about silliness and fun. It's also about being alone/left behind while also hoping (and often getting) a damned good adventure. It's about wonder and expectations and the first bit of the episode, with the young girl sitting on her suitcase waiting for the Doctor to return, shows this very well.
It's also scary. Maybe because I watched it at 2am on very little sleep over the past 36 hours, I was actually scared by Patient Zero.
On the whole, much better than I hoped for and I am looking forward to next week. It's rather fun having something to look forward to on TV. I look forward to Lost and Supernatural, too, but they often don't make me happy/hopeful/excited and damned pleased. Doctor Who, because it's really a children's show, does and, sometimes, that's good to have on your TV.
Did I mention I thoroughly enjoyed it? Liked Matt Smith's new Doctor? I already have a theory about the new assistant? Well, I did and I do. Oh and for those commenting about how this seems rather too white after the past few seasons? Well, it's a small town (The Doctor mentions this at some point). Small towns still tend to be mostly white, even in Britain. Besides, the lead is an omnisexual alien (and not the "foreign" immigrant kind ). I think that is fairly progressive compared to most other shows.
Apart from the "You're Scots, fry something!" comment, other gems were: "Get a girlfriend!" (though, again, this may be considered heteronormative, if we are being picky about things), "I'm the Doctor. Do everything I tell you and don't wander off" and "Who da man?" (with the addition of "oh I'm never saying that again").
That last line is a good nod to what the Doctor is actually about. It's not really about flash and showing off, it's about silliness and fun. It's also about being alone/left behind while also hoping (and often getting) a damned good adventure. It's about wonder and expectations and the first bit of the episode, with the young girl sitting on her suitcase waiting for the Doctor to return, shows this very well.
It's also scary. Maybe because I watched it at 2am on very little sleep over the past 36 hours, I was actually scared by Patient Zero.
On the whole, much better than I hoped for and I am looking forward to next week. It's rather fun having something to look forward to on TV. I look forward to Lost and Supernatural, too, but they often don't make me happy/hopeful/excited and damned pleased. Doctor Who, because it's really a children's show, does and, sometimes, that's good to have on your TV.
4.4.10
A European lesson
The past few days, I've been hanging out with various groups of people from Scandinavia. First, one of my friends here had a group of his friends come visit and I met them for dinner/hanging out. Then, a couple of friends of mine (and their blokes) were in New York for the weekend so I went up for a visit. Based on those interactions, here are a few things I'll generalize:
1. It was nice to be introduced as "This is Priya. She lives here". I've said this before but to me New York is one of the friendliest cities I've been to. People usually give you directions (and usually with a quip)*, places give recommendations on where to go/eat (e.g. a posh shop yesterday told us about an excellent coffee shop nearby) and the atmosphere of the city is energizing. I'd never want to live there but I love being there.
So, when my friends and I were wandering around, we got a lot of people asking us where we were visiting from. It was nice that the usual answer they gave, for me, was "she lives in Washington" or "she lives here". Of course, we usually said "She's from X but she lives in Washington" but still...the "she lives here" part is what I don't often get when being introduced around here in Washington DC. I think, after 7 years, that makes me as much of a local as anyone else so it was nice to feel a bit of that.
2. We spent one whole day lying about on top of a rock formation in Central Park and doing nothing. Nothing. We talked a lot--about how things had been, how things were in Australia (we'd met there), holidays, stuff we do now and all that but we didn't talk (about) politics or International Relations (pointless since my friends are a bunch of students and IT programmers). We lazed about like fat contented lizards lounging on rocks. I really need more days like that.
3. "So what about friends? Isn't it hard to have friends when you're not in one place for so long?" One of the blokes asked me this and I thought that was a pretty spot on question. My first Easter here in the USA, for example, I spent with a housemate's family. I have no idea where the housemate is now. PhD-ing is a tough business and you usually lose friends along the way. I'm not just blaming PhD-ing though. I am fairly lazy and socially-awkward and tend to interact more online than in person. That's just the way it is, I guess. I just tend to know a few friends for a long time and it's okay that way.
4. On that note, "you seem to work a lot" was another phrase I was told. I guess I do. Even after the end of the dissertation-writing (and in a "real" job) this year, I am at university most days till around 7-8pm. Weekends don't really exist (the past 24 hours were the first in months I'd not read/graded/worried over writing for that long) and I volunteer as a teacher (talk about busmen's holiday). I made the point that work is fun for me. Hence the volunteer/"real" job being the same. It didn't convince the questioner though.
5. Don't ask too many questions: It was nice that when my anti-crowd, anti-people tendencies came to the fore (when we were trying to find a place to sit inside Central Park), they were pretty cool and efficiently found us the large rock formation mentioned earlier. There were no questions about: oh so you hate crowds? Why do you not like people? How do you do your job if you don't like people? etc etc. There was just, "oh, you're not keen on them? okay, we'll find somewhere else." I vote for more of this attitude in the world. Not everything needs to be explained.
6. Hot Tub Time Machine. Two hours of my life that I'll never get back.
7. Back to regularly-scheduled programming now. Grading, worrying about writing, revising articles, etc etc. But, first (or last):
I loved the new Who. Loved it. . It helped that I was watching it at the end of a good weekend but all my concerns about the Doctor, the Companion, etc are laid to rest (for the mo). I enjoyed the humour ("You're Scots! Fry something!") and the cheesy old-fashioned special effects (it's been reported that the BBC cut the show's budget). You could pick holes in the plot but the plot isn't the point of watching a Doctor Who story. It's the sense of adventure and wonder and silliness and I reckon this had it all. Fantastic start.
* e.g of a typical NY quip: I asked a tour guide how to get from the bus station to Central Park. He said I could go along 5th Avenue. I asked if it was a walkable distance. He looked me up and down and said, "Yes, you look like you can do with a walk and you'll see more of the city that way".
e.g. 2: When asked if we could walk a distance that turned out to be about 3 miles, another chap said: "well, you can walk anywhere. Not to hell but anywhere".
1. It was nice to be introduced as "This is Priya. She lives here". I've said this before but to me New York is one of the friendliest cities I've been to. People usually give you directions (and usually with a quip)*, places give recommendations on where to go/eat (e.g. a posh shop yesterday told us about an excellent coffee shop nearby) and the atmosphere of the city is energizing. I'd never want to live there but I love being there.
So, when my friends and I were wandering around, we got a lot of people asking us where we were visiting from. It was nice that the usual answer they gave, for me, was "she lives in Washington" or "she lives here". Of course, we usually said "She's from X but she lives in Washington" but still...the "she lives here" part is what I don't often get when being introduced around here in Washington DC. I think, after 7 years, that makes me as much of a local as anyone else so it was nice to feel a bit of that.
2. We spent one whole day lying about on top of a rock formation in Central Park and doing nothing. Nothing. We talked a lot--about how things had been, how things were in Australia (we'd met there), holidays, stuff we do now and all that but we didn't talk (about) politics or International Relations (pointless since my friends are a bunch of students and IT programmers). We lazed about like fat contented lizards lounging on rocks. I really need more days like that.
3. "So what about friends? Isn't it hard to have friends when you're not in one place for so long?" One of the blokes asked me this and I thought that was a pretty spot on question. My first Easter here in the USA, for example, I spent with a housemate's family. I have no idea where the housemate is now. PhD-ing is a tough business and you usually lose friends along the way. I'm not just blaming PhD-ing though. I am fairly lazy and socially-awkward and tend to interact more online than in person. That's just the way it is, I guess. I just tend to know a few friends for a long time and it's okay that way.
4. On that note, "you seem to work a lot" was another phrase I was told. I guess I do. Even after the end of the dissertation-writing (and in a "real" job) this year, I am at university most days till around 7-8pm. Weekends don't really exist (the past 24 hours were the first in months I'd not read/graded/worried over writing for that long) and I volunteer as a teacher (talk about busmen's holiday). I made the point that work is fun for me. Hence the volunteer/"real" job being the same. It didn't convince the questioner though.
5. Don't ask too many questions: It was nice that when my anti-crowd, anti-people tendencies came to the fore (when we were trying to find a place to sit inside Central Park), they were pretty cool and efficiently found us the large rock formation mentioned earlier. There were no questions about: oh so you hate crowds? Why do you not like people? How do you do your job if you don't like people? etc etc. There was just, "oh, you're not keen on them? okay, we'll find somewhere else." I vote for more of this attitude in the world. Not everything needs to be explained.
6. Hot Tub Time Machine. Two hours of my life that I'll never get back.
7. Back to regularly-scheduled programming now. Grading, worrying about writing, revising articles, etc etc. But, first (or last):
I loved the new Who. Loved it. . It helped that I was watching it at the end of a good weekend but all my concerns about the Doctor, the Companion, etc are laid to rest (for the mo). I enjoyed the humour ("You're Scots! Fry something!") and the cheesy old-fashioned special effects (it's been reported that the BBC cut the show's budget). You could pick holes in the plot but the plot isn't the point of watching a Doctor Who story. It's the sense of adventure and wonder and silliness and I reckon this had it all. Fantastic start.
* e.g of a typical NY quip: I asked a tour guide how to get from the bus station to Central Park. He said I could go along 5th Avenue. I asked if it was a walkable distance. He looked me up and down and said, "Yes, you look like you can do with a walk and you'll see more of the city that way".
e.g. 2: When asked if we could walk a distance that turned out to be about 3 miles, another chap said: "well, you can walk anywhere. Not to hell but anywhere".
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