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Jul. 3rd, 2010 11:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatBeen scrolling through flist this morning.
1. Came across a couple of posts on VVidcon. Now, I'm admittedly not a fan of vids and I'm not going to bore you with why, because really, why would you care? But, the posts about VVidcon's odd policies regarding the disabled which can be found at this post on the whole thing, by a disabled fan, blew my mind.
The first thought, I had, was - I guess these people wouldn't be interested in Stephen Hawkings attending or the late Christopher Reeves, both favorites in the sci-fantasy community. And there are others.
How hard is it, really, to be considerate of someone else's needs? I wonder this sometimes.. Guessing pretty damn hard - or we wouldn't have so many laws in place forcing people to be considerate. (Reason number 250 for why libertarianism does not work. 85% of people are just too selfish to live in a world without laws governing certain behaviors.)
Not sure what the laws are surrounding disabilities in the UK, but the Americans with Disabilities Act does require handicapped facilities be provided at events and I can see one hell of a class action law suit against the VVidcon folks if it were in the US, the ACLU would have a field day and rightly so, as would the Association of Americans with Disabilities. [ETA - apparently Vividicon is being held in Chicago, USA - and they've acknowledged their mistake and are fixing the language and do provide facilities for handicapped - they'd have to, or the ADA would be all over them. Can we say class-action lawsuit, yes we can! Beware my the internet my son, the jaws that snatch... ](Studied the ADA in Law school. It was proposed and pushed by Bob Dole. And had effected my life - because of it, I got special compensation regarding the Bar Exam - I'm dyslexic and transpose numbers and spaces, which makes multiple choice computer tests impossible - I end up skipping a line, so I've filled in the answer on the line below the one I was supposed to fill it in. I remember discovering this while taking the LSAT and having to erase half my score sheet and re-put in all the answers in the last twenty minutes of the taste - I always ended up with several questions unanswered as a result. This happened every time I took a computerized test. Unfortunately for me, I didn't know that arrangements could be made and should be made to help people like myself until law school - law school taught me that we do have rights, the trick is figuring out how to fight for them in a way that we can get peaceful and just resolution.)
[ETA #2 --- Apparently the real fight is over triggering content or "offensive speech"? - which has been going on along with copyright law since the internet's inception. We just can't agree on what speech is inappropriate and what is not. And no, it's not as obvious as one may think. People have always been weird inconsistent and contradictory about this in my opinion and if you want to start a flame war on the net? Just write a post about it, doesn't have to be inflammatory. Been there done that, too many times to count.]
2. I read that the Buffy Comic Artist George Jeanty will draw Spike with his shirt off for $700.
Hmmm. My first two thoughts on this were as follows: 1) I don't know, even though the Spike/Angel nude scene in Long Way Home Dream Sequence wasn't that bad (as in better than everything else he's done in this respect)...after seeing his artwork in issue 34 of the Buffy comics, I'd be more willing to pay Jeanty to NOT draw Spike or anyone else without their clothes on, for that matter. Although - be cheaper just not to buy the comics, I suppose. 2) We can see Spike without his shirt on, heck without any clothes on whatsoever online at any time, why would anyone in their right mind pay Jeanty to draw him? Does anyone really think his art is worth $700? And does anyone really have $700 lying around to spend it on that - because if that's the case - I know of some really good charities that could use that money. Haiti still needs help, folks.
3. Read a portion of Rahriah's The Indefinite Article - no time to read more, and oh, so far, it is good. The plot itself - Spike seeking a soul to fix himself, unable to get his own, ends up with someone else's - I've seen before, as I told her way back when. BUT - how she is writing it, is gripping. She's making the reason a little mysterious - which is good choice. And
what he's giving up, something that on the surface seems insignificant, yet is not. Sigh, will have to bookmark and hunt down later to read all of it - when have time. That probably, alone, gives you an idea of how good it is, since I've sort of backed off of both Buffy and fanfic at the moment...due to lack of time and interest. My cultural obsessions have moved elsewhere.
Speaking of cultural obsessions...
4. Quite annoyed that BBC America has decided to take a two week hiatus on Doctor Who showings, and not show me the final four or is it five episodes of the series until late July, when I'm in Maine. The Wankers! What in the heck could be the reason for this? I can't think of one. They already showed the entire season on the BBC in Britain. It's not like they are still filming or anything. Is it the holiday weekend? People watch tv on the 4th of July Weekend, plus why would the BBC care - it's our independence day from Britain, the day we won our freedom not to be a British Colony, and unlike Canada and Australia not a part of the Commonwealth. They broke away a bit more peacefully than we did, at least I think they did - I'm admittedly blurry on Canadian and Australian history - used to be clearer on Australian (my parents lived there for a bit and were a mite obsessed - so as a result, I've read a lot of Australian novels (all the Upfield ones), and seen Australian TV (mostly British imports but they do have some really good shows (this was in 1990, so nothing recent), and film.) I remember being in London during the 4th one year - they made fun of us.
Got lots of good ribbing. The next year, was in Wales, the Welsh were more sympathetic and I'm thinking a bit jealous (this was back in the 1980s during the whole huge recession with the coal mines and the dollar skyrocketing, while the pound dropping.) It is easier to revolt against your home country's governing regime - when they are an ocean away during a time period where the only way to get to and from things is by boat, horse, and foot. Now, revolts are bit harder to manage, I'd imagine. Anyhow, dang it, I hear the last episodes are the best of the season.
Off to watch a bit more Farscape, some lunch, before doing other things that I have to do.
1. Came across a couple of posts on VVidcon. Now, I'm admittedly not a fan of vids and I'm not going to bore you with why, because really, why would you care? But, the posts about VVidcon's odd policies regarding the disabled which can be found at this post on the whole thing, by a disabled fan, blew my mind.
The first thought, I had, was - I guess these people wouldn't be interested in Stephen Hawkings attending or the late Christopher Reeves, both favorites in the sci-fantasy community. And there are others.
How hard is it, really, to be considerate of someone else's needs? I wonder this sometimes.. Guessing pretty damn hard - or we wouldn't have so many laws in place forcing people to be considerate. (Reason number 250 for why libertarianism does not work. 85% of people are just too selfish to live in a world without laws governing certain behaviors.)
Not sure what the laws are surrounding disabilities in the UK, but the Americans with Disabilities Act does require handicapped facilities be provided at events and I can see one hell of a class action law suit against the VVidcon folks if it were in the US, the ACLU would have a field day and rightly so, as would the Association of Americans with Disabilities. [ETA - apparently Vividicon is being held in Chicago, USA - and they've acknowledged their mistake and are fixing the language and do provide facilities for handicapped - they'd have to, or the ADA would be all over them. Can we say class-action lawsuit, yes we can! Beware my the internet my son, the jaws that snatch... ](Studied the ADA in Law school. It was proposed and pushed by Bob Dole. And had effected my life - because of it, I got special compensation regarding the Bar Exam - I'm dyslexic and transpose numbers and spaces, which makes multiple choice computer tests impossible - I end up skipping a line, so I've filled in the answer on the line below the one I was supposed to fill it in. I remember discovering this while taking the LSAT and having to erase half my score sheet and re-put in all the answers in the last twenty minutes of the taste - I always ended up with several questions unanswered as a result. This happened every time I took a computerized test. Unfortunately for me, I didn't know that arrangements could be made and should be made to help people like myself until law school - law school taught me that we do have rights, the trick is figuring out how to fight for them in a way that we can get peaceful and just resolution.)
[ETA #2 --- Apparently the real fight is over triggering content or "offensive speech"? - which has been going on along with copyright law since the internet's inception. We just can't agree on what speech is inappropriate and what is not. And no, it's not as obvious as one may think. People have always been weird inconsistent and contradictory about this in my opinion and if you want to start a flame war on the net? Just write a post about it, doesn't have to be inflammatory. Been there done that, too many times to count.]
2. I read that the Buffy Comic Artist George Jeanty will draw Spike with his shirt off for $700.
Hmmm. My first two thoughts on this were as follows: 1) I don't know, even though the Spike/Angel nude scene in Long Way Home Dream Sequence wasn't that bad (as in better than everything else he's done in this respect)...after seeing his artwork in issue 34 of the Buffy comics, I'd be more willing to pay Jeanty to NOT draw Spike or anyone else without their clothes on, for that matter. Although - be cheaper just not to buy the comics, I suppose. 2) We can see Spike without his shirt on, heck without any clothes on whatsoever online at any time, why would anyone in their right mind pay Jeanty to draw him? Does anyone really think his art is worth $700? And does anyone really have $700 lying around to spend it on that - because if that's the case - I know of some really good charities that could use that money. Haiti still needs help, folks.
3. Read a portion of Rahriah's The Indefinite Article - no time to read more, and oh, so far, it is good. The plot itself - Spike seeking a soul to fix himself, unable to get his own, ends up with someone else's - I've seen before, as I told her way back when. BUT - how she is writing it, is gripping. She's making the reason a little mysterious - which is good choice. And
what he's giving up, something that on the surface seems insignificant, yet is not. Sigh, will have to bookmark and hunt down later to read all of it - when have time. That probably, alone, gives you an idea of how good it is, since I've sort of backed off of both Buffy and fanfic at the moment...due to lack of time and interest. My cultural obsessions have moved elsewhere.
Speaking of cultural obsessions...
4. Quite annoyed that BBC America has decided to take a two week hiatus on Doctor Who showings, and not show me the final four or is it five episodes of the series until late July, when I'm in Maine. The Wankers! What in the heck could be the reason for this? I can't think of one. They already showed the entire season on the BBC in Britain. It's not like they are still filming or anything. Is it the holiday weekend? People watch tv on the 4th of July Weekend, plus why would the BBC care - it's our independence day from Britain, the day we won our freedom not to be a British Colony, and unlike Canada and Australia not a part of the Commonwealth. They broke away a bit more peacefully than we did, at least I think they did - I'm admittedly blurry on Canadian and Australian history - used to be clearer on Australian (my parents lived there for a bit and were a mite obsessed - so as a result, I've read a lot of Australian novels (all the Upfield ones), and seen Australian TV (mostly British imports but they do have some really good shows (this was in 1990, so nothing recent), and film.) I remember being in London during the 4th one year - they made fun of us.
Got lots of good ribbing. The next year, was in Wales, the Welsh were more sympathetic and I'm thinking a bit jealous (this was back in the 1980s during the whole huge recession with the coal mines and the dollar skyrocketing, while the pound dropping.) It is easier to revolt against your home country's governing regime - when they are an ocean away during a time period where the only way to get to and from things is by boat, horse, and foot. Now, revolts are bit harder to manage, I'd imagine. Anyhow, dang it, I hear the last episodes are the best of the season.
Off to watch a bit more Farscape, some lunch, before doing other things that I have to do.
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no subject
Date: 2010-07-03 03:31 pm (UTC)Maybe it's revenge? :joke:
Actually, it's just the BBC being typical. That's what they do. They took BtVS off the air for six months after Reptile Boy. Can you imagine that?
no subject
Date: 2010-07-04 01:46 am (UTC)At least BBC America picked Vincent and The Doctor to take a hiatius during and only for two weeks. (If they'd chosen the Hungry Earth two-parter...that would have been just as bad.)
no subject
Date: 2010-07-05 08:08 am (UTC)Apparently, and of course back in those benighted days, people did. They also had a three week break between parts 1&2 of What's My Line.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-05 05:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-03 03:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-03 05:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-04 01:43 am (UTC)Not surprised they had to take that down and change it right quick, the ADA would have been all over them.
The most fraught issue is actually whether there should be warnings for triggery content/effects, and that one's led to a more heated debate (as has often been the case for discussions of warnings on fanfiction) and included some unpleasant threads.
Sigh. The lines between censorship and what is offensive speech seem to get more and more blurred as life goes on. I remember having debates in a Constitutional Law class regarding whether hate speech should be censored and what it consisted of. Only to have the same debate later, oddly no less heated, on a fan forum.
One side screams - "offensive speech"
The other screams - censorship.
And what is offensive speech isn't always as clear cut as one might think - that much I've learned.
It's why the FCC doesn't allow anyone to say Fuck on tv. (Granted there are other words, such as the "n" and "c" word -that I'm really happy they don't say.)
no subject
Date: 2010-07-03 05:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-04 02:15 am (UTC)I read that the Buffy Comic Artist George Jeanty will draw Spike with his shirt off for $700.
Date: 2010-07-04 01:23 am (UTC)Second response, "I might actually consider it, if you were Jo Chen, instead" (ooohhhh, burn).
Re: I read that the Buffy Comic Artist George Jeanty will draw Spike with his shirt off for $700.
Date: 2010-07-04 02:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-05 06:40 pm (UTC)Ah, I found where I got that impression about the phrase: in the paragraph starting "In any case." & in the bullet list toward the end of the post. The writer talks about trauma, migraine, & seizure triggers. So I'm guessing the "content" part is about trauma & the "effects" part is about migraines & seizures. Anyway, asking for "trigger warnings" at the con means asking for notification that a video has content or effects that could trigger such reactions, so people who have them can avoid watching those videos (because it would be so inconsiderate of them to inconvenience "normal" people who just want to enjoy the video by having a seizure or a migraine or a posttraumatic stress reaction in front of them!).
BTW, the name "Americans with Disabilities Act" has always bothered me. It sounds like you have to show proof of citizenship before you can use the ramp or watch the sign-language interpreter.