Sleepless in Scotland

(Note: I know Emma Goldman didn’t actually say that exactly, but that’s not gonna stop me from using it. I like the sentiment anyway.)

I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I think I kinda love 4-chan right now. They’ve demonstrated the organising power of the internet, and hopefully will show a whole generation that protesting and activism can be not only fun, but even damn hilarious. (In some cities, they rickrolled the Co$, people! Awesome!)

Some related links:

• Wikipedia explains 4-chan — scroll down to section 2.1 and beyond for info relevant to this whole thing.
• Wikipedia explains Project Chanology for an explanation of what went on yesterday.
• Wikinews article on yesterday’s protests.
• Photos and reports, in which, unfortunately, the words “fag” and “gay” are liberally strewn around as slurs. This would be the part of this that makes me hideously uncomfortable, yes.
• Cleo has a sampler of the above.

In conclusion: I don’t agree with everything they do or say, and again, the “fag” slurs make me not want to participate, but the effective use of the internet as an organising and focussing tool for activism? Awesome.

In conclusion:

[ETA] Via Cleo: deathboy says:

I can’t remember the source, but there’s some sci-fi story I’ve read where the conclusion reads along the lines of “They could withstand the fiercest of our weapons, they could defeat us intellectually, but in the end, I think they died of sheer culture shock” - the looks on the faces of the scientologists when faced with a crowd in which a lone voice shouts:

“I HEAR TOM CRUISE HATES MUDKIPS!”

(all) “NOOOOOOOOOOO!”

… how do you fight that?

How do you, ideologically speaking, defeat a crowd that is enthusiastically demanding that you “DO A BARREL ROLL! DO A BARREL ROLL!!” ?

Which is sort of what I was trying to get at, really. It needs balancing with actually getting one’s message across, but announcing you’re gonna protest for a specific reason will make it clear to the target/audience what they’re there for, and every protest I’ve been to has had its share of cryptic signs — the message still came through. Sure, the rickrolling and the Fresh Prince rap will confuse people, but they’ll be more likely to come and ask if thge protesters are obviously having fun. (And no, I don’t get the Fresh Prince thing either. Huh?) [/ETA]

Crossposted from Sleepless in Scotland. Comment here or there.

I really wish TiVos would come out over here already, because I would snap that up in a heartbeat. I really think I ought to be able to watch Law & Order: The Munch and Finn Show Stabler Goes Postal Yet Again Special Victim Unit without being told my job is a waste of money and I'm a chicken (some internet-only bank--FirstDirect?), that my girlparts smell and sticking Yeast Infection In A Quiet Wrapper So You Can Pretend You Don't Bleed From The Crotch Like Almost Every Other Woman up there is a splendid idea, oh and by the way, you should eat breakfast not because you're hungry or you want to or because it's fucking healthy for you, but, obviously, because it makes you thinner--but hey, everyone knows thin = healthy, right?

(Yes, I get twitchy about commercials a lot. Help me feel like less of a freak by sharing your own peeves re: commercials/advertising?)

Disturbing link of the day: Purity Balls. I'll just be over here, thanks. Ew!

Scene from the Call Centre Floor:
Disembodied Voice: "Doughnuts are here!"
Everyone: *SWARM*

We've got our priorities straight, yes. :D

So I got sucked into Big Brother, and--What? Shut up, there is boycrushing and cuddling and I COULDN'T HELP IT OKAY? *sobs in shame* Anyway. Moving on, for those of you not in the UK, and those of you in the UK who haven't been sucked in by Big Brother, last weekend we saw the first actual Live Sex In The BB House. Or rather, Live And Unprotected Sex In The Hot Tub.

Now, if I were one of the other housemates, I would be pitching a fit and demanding the hot tub be emptied, sanitised, and neither of the guilty parties allowed in it again, but then I'm a bit paranoid about STIs. But that's not the worst of it. Yesterday, the woman was being a big ol' drama queen and crying because ... wait for it ... she thinks she's pregnant. In fact, she's more than 90% sure she is, despite the fact that, less than three days after the actual sex, even if fertilisation occured, it wouldn't have implanted yet, and ARGH. Oh, and then she was talking about not telling the father, because that's going to work so well when you've just blubbered over it ad nauseum to several million viewers.

*facepalm* *headdesk*

God Hates Stupid Homophobes!
Another rant from your neighborhood angry_biscuit click here

In light of recent blogsphere discussions (and if you don't know what I'm on about, you're probably better off not knowing, and frankly, I don't know that I even want to talk about this myself), I think I need a "Foul-mouthed, angry, man-hating, feminist dyke" (or some variation thereof, suggestions welcome) icon. Also a queer one, I think.

Fannish Link of the Day

Snape fans on my friends list may want to avoid clicking this link, in which alicambs brings up a number of really good points about Snape. I've also spotted a bunch of interesting threads in the comments, but I've not had a chance to actively read through and comment yet, myself.

Political ramblings

I was going to just drop this link and walk off shaking my head, because caribbeanblue's done a great job of pointing out the ridiculousness of the whole thing. Then I remembered an article I read once about this sort of thing. This was a UK-based "camp", and only for guys, so there wasn't any of the "Put on a bra and shave your legs and armpits, you HIPPIE LESBIAN FREAK!" stuff, but on the other hand, I distinctly remember rules about tight trousers (forbidden!), jewelry (ditto) and "certain kinds of music, such as ABBA, Queen, the Pet Shop Boys, and Cher" (VERBOTEN!).

It'd all be so fucking hilarious if only I could forget these people are seriously for real, and people enroll in these brainwashing programs because they've somehow been convinced that being queer will send them to hell, or that it is, at the very least, a mental disease they need to be cured of.

In light of that, there's this:

"We put warning labels on cigarette packs because we know that smoking takes one to two years off the average life span, yet we 'celebrate' a lifestyle that we know spreads every kind of sexually transmitted disease and takes at least 20 years off the average life span according to the 2005 issue of the revered scientific journal Psychological Reports," Rev. Bill Banuchi, executive director of the New York Christian Coalition told the Mid Hudson News.

Now, first of all, sex spreads every type of sexually transmittable disease. Gay sex, straight sex, threesomes, orgies, any unprotected sex can and will spready every type of STD. That's why they're called STDs! Yeah, anal sex increases the risk of infections, but not all m/m couples have anal sex, and anal sex is not only had by queer people. Consider, for random example, the number of girls who have only anal sex so they can be virgins on their wedding night!

I don't know where how trustworthy the 20 years claim is, but even if that's a reputable publication, ditto study, and actually what the study claims/concludes, I still want to know what other factors play a role there. The stress of having to live in a world with bigots like the good Reverend Banuchi, for example, is sure to knock more than a few years off my life expectancy.

And as something of a sidenote, I actually think those warning labels on cigarette packs are ridiculous, too. We know smoking is bad for us, people, we don't call them "cancer sticks" for nothing. Has anyone ever really started smoking because they thought it was good for them? It's not that we don't know, it's that we don't want to kno, because we don't think that kinda stuff happens to us, only to other people, and all the warning labels in the world won't stop that.

Er, yeah, speaking of cancer sticks ...

I'm trying to quit smoking (er, again), so if I act twitchy and nervous and overly productive and talkative this week, that'll be why.

Guess who forgot to call home to wish her brother a happy birthday yesterday? *facepalm*

[ETA] Which means I also missed evadne_'s birthday, argh! Sorry, Ang! Happy belated birthday?[/ETA]

Side note of the day: Fake LJ-cuts in communities suck the big one. Grrr, I say!

Nagging but persistent headaches = BOOO! *painkiller*

Rob Liefeld is the suckiest "artist" ever and I demand to know why that man still has a job. Why? WHY?

Beltane tonight with elance and wibbble. Apparently, also yet another football match, as evidenced by the hordes of noisy annoying people outside my window. Boo.

So this morning I get an e-mail from F2S that my ADSL is activated and ready to go. I think, "Yay, broadband!" and get home and start fiddling about with the computer and stuff trying to configure the router. An hour later I cave in and call the help desk. Another hour, two calls and a new micro filter later, we've determined BT needs to get involved, probably to the extent of sending an engineer over here to check and double-check that my phone line is indeed supposed to be able to handle DSL. There's no telling for sure if that's even going to happen at all, and if so, when. So I'm still stuck on dialup.

*scream of frustration and primal rage*

DAMMIT LJ HAND ME BACK MY CUSTOMISED LAYOUT YOU KNAVE!