Thorns

This is a mix of great stuff which is ok about disability, ok stuff which is good about disability, and a smattering of stuff which is awesome in every way. My bookmarks aren't tagged to remind me how well stuff handled disability, so this list is pretty arbitrary.

Mostly the same fandoms as my post of fanworks I've made myself.
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To make sure I don't not get around to posting in time, a very short lazy International blog against Racism Week post.

This morning I inadvertently came across Political Remix Video, a blog of remixes, vids, mashups etc which repurpose footage to send an opposing political message.

They don't have a lot specifically dealing with race, but what they have is definitely worth checking out.

Another site worth checking out is Sociological Images, which posts images from the world around us like ads, book covers etc and then looks at their subtext and context. They have a lot at their race/ethnicity tag.

Warning: Reading/watching too many posts from these blogs makes it hard to take any images at face value :) (also it gets a bit repetitive reading too many at once)

Read pretty much all of Yu+me Dream in one sitting (it starts as the story of a depressed American schoolgirl who everyone picks on but then goes somewhere very..odd)

Realise the reason you did this is because you are feeling sick and depressed and stupid.

Take the next day off work. Feel more sick and depressed and stupid.

Watch Speak, the story of a depressed American schoolgirl (played by Kristin Stewart) who is by turns ignored and picked on as she struggles to express her feelings after being raped by a charming older boy.

Watch the fanvid Because he loves her, which amongst other things takes Twilight, the story of a mopey American schoolgirl (played by Kristin Stewart) who falls in love with a controlling, violent, charming older boy, and highlights the parallels with domestic violence.

Decide you need to read or watch something cheerful. With absolutely no schoolgirls or depressed people.

(nb: all of these things are pretty good. Yu+me is a really engaging lesbian romance which goes to an unexpected and fascinating place, though the overall portrayal of POC characters made me uncomfortable. Speak is understated and subtle. The vid makes a good point though imo needs more fandoms and/or more narrative)

I've been hearing people going on about Scooby Road, a series of Buffy vids to the entire Beatles album "Abby Road" by Luminosity, ever since I got into fanvids. I was always too shy to ask for a copy but eventually decided to buck up the courage, and she sent me the link. She also asked what I thought, and I decided that if I was going to review it I might as well do so here :)

So, it was great. The only problem I have with Luminosity as a vidder is that she's really good, but her taste/POV is somewhat different to mine, so a lot of her very popular vids don't quite work for me (although others totally do, she has several entries on my previous post) even though I can appreciate them on an intellectual level. That was somewhat the case here if you take each vid individually, and to begin with I thought "Oh, this is ok, but it's just like watching a random sequence of Buffy vids to Beatles songs". But about halfway through the second vid it kind of clicked for me and I started thinking of each vid as a facet of a larger picture of the show, and being the total sucker I am for long-form multiple-facet connected storytelling was hooked. It's not that it tells a single narrative (other than that of the show) in any obvious way, and it doesn't even quite follow the chronology, but somehow they all tie together and follow on from each other, and the finale was very satisfying in an "end of a novel not a short story" kind of way.

Also there's a Faith vid. With sing-a-long-lyrics! *is easily pleased*

If you want a copy her email is on her site.

So you know how I spent ages angsting about making a fan comics community, because none existed? And then made one?

Well it turns out there's been another one around since June :)

Mine: fan_comics
Theirs: fancomiccentral

They have quite restrictive posting guidelines though so I don't think I would have been happy if that was the only place to post. They also have a nice backlog of strips to read :)

In the process of thinking about what I might post there I was reminded of the very talented astridv (check out her profile for links to her stuff) and from there came across this cute vid of SGA credits in the style of House.

First, the vid: No Handlebars, a really fantastic Ten-is-a-cheerful-psychopath Dr Who fanvid.

Anyway, the remnants of this darn cold meant I was tired and left work early, and I decided to rest up in Perth library. As a result, I read two superhero comics, a genre I don't usually dip into randomly.

First was a Wonder Woman story, "Love and Murder". I'd heard about the "chick-lit" writer Jodi Picoult writing for the comic and was curious to see what this resulted in. The answer? Crap. I mean it wasn't the worst comic I've ever read and a few bits of the plot were interesting, but it was about as subtle as a brick with the constant monologues about how CHILDREN HAVE TO MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS and KILLING PEOPLE AND WAR IS BAD. The "lovable rogue" love interest was an annoying skeevy prat, and while I'll admit this isn't saying muh given how unlikeable everyone was, I couldn't help but notice that every single non-white character was unsympathetic (with the possible exception of the girl asking what size coffee she wanted)

"Gee", I thought to myself, "if this is good, maybe I just don't like regular superhero comics".

And then I read "Shellshocked", the first in the new run of Blue Beetle. And it was awesome. I mean it's just a fairly straightforward superhero origin story: regular teenage boy has happy enough life, then he encounters a mysterious object and suddenly he has these weird powers and people are after him and he has no idea what's going on. But it's funny and the characters are fleshed out and interesting, and there's no simple good/bad dichotomy. There was a whole bunch of stuff going on (and a chunk of missing plot we don't see but only hear about) which I assume would probably have made more sense to me if I was more into comic books, but it wasn't horribly frustrating and I got the gist.

So, I've just finished all the season 4 Dr Who episodes I had (there's one more on the way, and then I'm back to waiting like an ordinary person. The indignity!) and to fill the gap downloaded every single recced Dr Who vid on the_reel (but not the latest Torchwood one) and thefourthvine

In retrospect, while it was convenient, it was a bad idea to get them in reverse chronological order since it meant the amount of footage the vidders were working from got less and less(*) and by the end I was heartily sick of Nine/Rose.

Anyway, the result of this is some particular recs (though they're all pretty good):

• Don't Stop Me Now(to the end of season 3) The Master to Queen. Made of awesome (and, specifically, made for sonnlich :))
  
• The Remedy Clever and effective Nine/Rose/Doctor vid (up to season 2)
  
• And She Was Infectious Rose character vid (up to season 2)
  
• Back to the Start Doctor/Rose, very nice match of song and content (up to season 2)
  

(*)It would be great if there were some seven->nine or eight->nine ones to create some continuity, but it was not to be

This vid, Origin Stories, is made of awesome. It's a Buffy Angel vid (mostly S7 Buffy) which perfectly captures some of the serious problems I had with the show, especially Spike. (It focuses largely on race while I personally had more noticed the issues with gender, but that's probably an issue with me not the vid :))

Basically, we are expected to sympathise with Spike above all else, because he is pretty and he is sad, and that is much more interesting than all the boring grumpy people who just had their mothers killed in front of them or whatever. To see anything he's done wrong primarily as a source of Pretty Woobie Angst and to despise anyone who goes against him as a Big Meanie. This despite the fact that unlike Angel there is no clear cut distinction between souled Spike and unsouled Spike, in fact (imho) they deliberately kept him a "bad boy" because it was cool, despite the very negative message this sends about him not making any real effort to distance himself from the mass murdering would-be rapist he used to be (the scene in the vid? Where he takes back his coat? Guh!)

(In my mental version of season seven, Spike is dead, and we have the new character William, who is not the same as pre-vamped William, in the same way that Liam =/= Angelus =/= Angel. But I could have lived with a less problematic Spike-as-Spike-but-with-a-conscience.)

On NaNoWriMo (EDIT: it does put things in perspective...).

Also, xkcd=cool. Because didn't we all think that?

Am home sick from work but not feeling so bad any more, just kind of stupid. Had two inspirations for Angel fanvids today, becuase my muse likes making me suffer (I don't even own the show, I could get Buffy ideas but noooo) One to "Baby on Board", which any of you who have seen the show can probably imagine and be glad I'm currently standing firm in my "Fanvids are too much goddamn work" policy.

Did I mention I'm reading the "His Majesties Dragon" series? They're quite enjoyable, if not super deep or anything. Got "The Beauty Myth" out of the library but that's waiting till my brains a bit more awake. Today is definitely a "rereading Lois McMaster Bujold" day. Speaking of which, who has my copy of "Paladin of souls", I want it back.

Also, I love my job. I mean it's fun (if tiring) to do, and the hours are flexible, but also the people are just nice. Got a pretty friendly voicemail from my manager considering that from her point of view I just didn't turn up to work today for no reason (I did leave a message saying I was sick but she didn't get it) And I've been getting quite positive feedback on my performance, which is a nice change from the general impression I got of being the worst postgrad in the dept (admitedly I think this is a common perception amongst postgrads) I mean I think I'm a good tutor, but that counts for very little (except to the students of course, bless 'em).

Ok, I'm a big old nerd. I love conventions, and fannish discussions, and all that. But one thing that has seemed to separate me from many of my fellow big ol' nerdish brethren (especially many of the ones most involved in conventions and discussions) is the fact that, well, I just don't like fanfic. On the one hand this has made me a little sad, and a little out of place since I still find myself interested in the sort of discussions going on at metafandom etc, but on the other hand deep down I get to feel ever-so-slightly-less-patheticly-nerdy.

But no more. I have found my nerdy weakness, and it is fanvids.

nico_wolfwood first introduced me to them (in fact she makes her own(*)) but for some reason the anime stuff just doesn't do it for me. And then I saw a fanvid of all seven seasons of Buffy to "The William Tell overture"(**) and had to see more.

Except I didn't know where to find it, so after some fitfully fruitful googling gave up. And then I read this post on metafandom, and then I discovered...the_reel. And then my fate was sealed.

So, as inspired by said post, here are all the fanvids I have seen that I really, really liked (hmm..turns out I do like some amvs after all).

• Tainted Donuts A very clever melding of Cowboy Bebop and Trigun.
  
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (abridged) The one that started it all...
  
• Failed experiments in video editing
  
• "Spirderman" and "Oh Fortuna", both very amusing Buffy vids from Mr Monkeybottoms
  
• Deja Vu Maybe I just like this becuase I'm big pathetic Veronica Mars fangirl. Hey, at least I didn't link one of the ones I'm fairly sure I just like because they're about Logan :P
  
• Seven Nation Army Lord of the rings, the music is very effectively synced with the action
  

Also, yes, still sick but less grumpy. Have compiled a list of suggested activities for work, not as good as I could have done were I well but hopefully good enough.

(*)Ooh! She's using my design! *ponders turning it into an lj-icon* EDIT: done!
(**)Also, looking for this I found the original unaired Buffy pilot, yay!