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Dec. 2nd, 2013 04:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* Protests in Ukraine continue with them now demanding the President resign in the wake of him caving to Russian pressure to back out of a deal with the EU. The main demonstration remains peaceful, though there have been clashes at the margins. The protesters are building barricades.
* Protests are getting uglier in Thailand. They have reached the tear gas and hand made fireworks being lobbed back and forth stage.
* I'm hearing a lot of conflicting reports about what exactly is going on in both the Ukraine and Thailand and various accusations and counter accusations. I'm not in a position to speculate as to who is telling the truth, so I'll leave it there.
* Thanksgiving or National Day of Mourning: The Faery Tale of America Glosses over Genocide and misery:
* "According To The GOP, Racism Is Over:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2013/12/according-to-gop-racism-is-over.html
* "Pro-Choice Versus Pro-Life: The Relationship Between State Abortion Policy and Child Well-Being in the United States:" http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24245932/
* "Rooting for Failure:" http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/29/opinion/egan-rooting-for-failure.html?_r=1&
* "Norfolk police warn of alarming clown epidemic:" http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/28/norfolk-police-warn-alarm-clown-norfolk
* "Giant prehistoric toilet unearthed:" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25126333
* "Mysteriously Intact T. Rex Tissue Finally Explained:" http://news.discovery.com/animals/dinosaurs/mysteriously-intact-t-rex-tissue-finally-explained-131127.htm
* "A Higher Wage Is Possible:" http://www.demos.org/higher-wage-possible
* "Florida Tea Party Leader Bashes Gay GOP Group:" http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/florida-tea-party-leader-bashes-gay-gop-group
* Basically the Catholic Church is upset that people are calling them anti-gay because they are, which they think is somehow unfair, unlike depriving us of our citizen rights, which is totally fair. *side eye* "Catholic cardinal: Church 'caricatured' as anti-gay:" http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/11/29/gay-marriage-catholic-church-cardinal-dolan/3782167/
* "Bonnie N. Davenport DC's First Trans Cop:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2013/11/bonnie-n-davenport-dcs-first-trans-cop.html
* "Hawaiian Trans Teen Missing:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2013/11/hawaiian-trans-teen-missing.html
* RP: The Spirit in the Jewel in the Heart of the Jewel Award:
We were missing two players, so they ended up doing the palace treasury raid instead of oking snakes with sticks. They stealthed in and started looking for secret doors. They ended up getting side tracked into the Seraglio, which they were forced to flee post haste. They ended up going umbral to avoid guards, flew over grabby statues, and found a hidden chamber full of large amphorae. They started opening doors into some pretty disturbing visas, none of which were helping. Owl said the place hurt her head and that the airts were non-continuous there and the room was in too many places at once. Fumiko opened and amphora which was full of light and made some doors glow. She stuck her hand in and got Wyrm infection which Skull healed. They popped across into the physical, creating a panic amoung the scholars there who went to get guards. They found a trap into what they hoped was a vault, but Skull got caught in a mage trap and disappeared. The others made it into the room below. Blake fought the guards then guarded the trap door, while Fumiko searched the treasury. Meanwhile, Skull was in a forest of crystal trees. She found a spirit anchored in statue form. She started trying to dig her way out. Fumiko found the crystal; Blake fought and killed a high Ranking garou; Skull figured out she needed to use her Will Power, Gnosis, and rage as well as brute force to free the spirit and herself. They fought their way out and fled through the Umbra. They put the spirit in an Umbral Fountain in the Medina, and did a purification rite as her waters flowed through the city. Fumiko distributed alms to the human poor, then they all went back to the inn.
* "Twelve Years a Slave" is every bit as hard to watch as you likely are imagining and every bit as important.
It's also technically brilliant. Twelve Years a Slave made some of the best use of silence and ambient sound I’ve seen ever, for example. I think the scene where a certain terrible thing is happening quietly in the foreground (with associated soft sounds), while people one by one emerge and go about their business in the background is one of the most powerful bits of visual story telling I’ve ever seen, if not the most powerful.
I’m still struggling for words.
You can see how much the people who made it wanted it to be RIGHT in every frame and in the caliber of talent brought to bear on every aspect.
* I have been finding the Catching Fire food tie ins extremely disturbing. "Catching Fire and the most unsettling sandwich advertising campaign ever:" http://lettersfromtitan.com/2013/11/30/catching-fire-and-the-most-unsettling-sandwich-advertising-campaign-ever/
* "30 Of The Most Powerful Images Ever:" http://www.boredpanda.com/must-see-powerful-photos/
* "Sugar Plums: They're Not What You Think They Are:" http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2010/12/sugar-plums-theyre-not-what-you-think-they-are/68385/
* "Zombies vs. animals? The living dead wouldn't stand a chance:" http://boingboing.net/2013/10/14/zombiesvsanimals.html
* "6 Modern Playgrounds to Make Your Inner Child Lose Its Mind:" http://www.cracked.com/article_20674_6-modern-playgrounds-to-make-your-inner-child-lose-its-mind.html
* " Minion Mashup:" http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2013/12/1/sunday-sweets-minion-mashup.html
* Protests are getting uglier in Thailand. They have reached the tear gas and hand made fireworks being lobbed back and forth stage.
* I'm hearing a lot of conflicting reports about what exactly is going on in both the Ukraine and Thailand and various accusations and counter accusations. I'm not in a position to speculate as to who is telling the truth, so I'll leave it there.
* Thanksgiving or National Day of Mourning: The Faery Tale of America Glosses over Genocide and misery:
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
* "According To The GOP, Racism Is Over:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2013/12/according-to-gop-racism-is-over.html
* "Pro-Choice Versus Pro-Life: The Relationship Between State Abortion Policy and Child Well-Being in the United States:" http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24245932/
* "Rooting for Failure:" http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/29/opinion/egan-rooting-for-failure.html?_r=1&
* "Norfolk police warn of alarming clown epidemic:" http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/28/norfolk-police-warn-alarm-clown-norfolk
* "Giant prehistoric toilet unearthed:" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25126333
* "Mysteriously Intact T. Rex Tissue Finally Explained:" http://news.discovery.com/animals/dinosaurs/mysteriously-intact-t-rex-tissue-finally-explained-131127.htm
* "A Higher Wage Is Possible:" http://www.demos.org/higher-wage-possible
* "Florida Tea Party Leader Bashes Gay GOP Group:" http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/florida-tea-party-leader-bashes-gay-gop-group
* Basically the Catholic Church is upset that people are calling them anti-gay because they are, which they think is somehow unfair, unlike depriving us of our citizen rights, which is totally fair. *side eye* "Catholic cardinal: Church 'caricatured' as anti-gay:" http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/11/29/gay-marriage-catholic-church-cardinal-dolan/3782167/
* "Bonnie N. Davenport DC's First Trans Cop:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2013/11/bonnie-n-davenport-dcs-first-trans-cop.html
* "Hawaiian Trans Teen Missing:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2013/11/hawaiian-trans-teen-missing.html
* RP: The Spirit in the Jewel in the Heart of the Jewel Award:
We were missing two players, so they ended up doing the palace treasury raid instead of oking snakes with sticks. They stealthed in and started looking for secret doors. They ended up getting side tracked into the Seraglio, which they were forced to flee post haste. They ended up going umbral to avoid guards, flew over grabby statues, and found a hidden chamber full of large amphorae. They started opening doors into some pretty disturbing visas, none of which were helping. Owl said the place hurt her head and that the airts were non-continuous there and the room was in too many places at once. Fumiko opened and amphora which was full of light and made some doors glow. She stuck her hand in and got Wyrm infection which Skull healed. They popped across into the physical, creating a panic amoung the scholars there who went to get guards. They found a trap into what they hoped was a vault, but Skull got caught in a mage trap and disappeared. The others made it into the room below. Blake fought the guards then guarded the trap door, while Fumiko searched the treasury. Meanwhile, Skull was in a forest of crystal trees. She found a spirit anchored in statue form. She started trying to dig her way out. Fumiko found the crystal; Blake fought and killed a high Ranking garou; Skull figured out she needed to use her Will Power, Gnosis, and rage as well as brute force to free the spirit and herself. They fought their way out and fled through the Umbra. They put the spirit in an Umbral Fountain in the Medina, and did a purification rite as her waters flowed through the city. Fumiko distributed alms to the human poor, then they all went back to the inn.
* "Twelve Years a Slave" is every bit as hard to watch as you likely are imagining and every bit as important.
It's also technically brilliant. Twelve Years a Slave made some of the best use of silence and ambient sound I’ve seen ever, for example. I think the scene where a certain terrible thing is happening quietly in the foreground (with associated soft sounds), while people one by one emerge and go about their business in the background is one of the most powerful bits of visual story telling I’ve ever seen, if not the most powerful.
I’m still struggling for words.
You can see how much the people who made it wanted it to be RIGHT in every frame and in the caliber of talent brought to bear on every aspect.
* I have been finding the Catching Fire food tie ins extremely disturbing. "Catching Fire and the most unsettling sandwich advertising campaign ever:" http://lettersfromtitan.com/2013/11/30/catching-fire-and-the-most-unsettling-sandwich-advertising-campaign-ever/
* "30 Of The Most Powerful Images Ever:" http://www.boredpanda.com/must-see-powerful-photos/
* "Sugar Plums: They're Not What You Think They Are:" http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2010/12/sugar-plums-theyre-not-what-you-think-they-are/68385/
* "Zombies vs. animals? The living dead wouldn't stand a chance:" http://boingboing.net/2013/10/14/zombiesvsanimals.html
* "6 Modern Playgrounds to Make Your Inner Child Lose Its Mind:" http://www.cracked.com/article_20674_6-modern-playgrounds-to-make-your-inner-child-lose-its-mind.html
* " Minion Mashup:" http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2013/12/1/sunday-sweets-minion-mashup.html