(Warning: some links lead to to triggery ranting.) By now, everybody who cares knows that the nominations for the 2015 Hugo Awards reflect the preferences of a bloc-voting slate with an agenda—and their culture wars allies. But, interestingly, a new Hugo-related record has been set: for a Finnish publisher few people have ever heard of is responsible for no fewer than nine nominated works.

Castalia House was (per wikipedia) founded by Theodore Beale (aka Vox Day) in early 2014 in Kouvola, Finland. As their website explains:

Castalia House is a Finland-based publisher that has a great appreciation for the golden age of science fiction and fantasy literature. The books that we publish honor the traditions and intellectual authenticity exemplified by writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robert E. Howard, G.K. Chesterton, and Hermann Hesse. We are consciously providing an alternative to readers who increasingly feel alienated from the nihilistic, dogmatic science fiction and fantasy being published today. We seek nothing less than a Campbellian revolution in genre literature.

Total culture wars, very gamergate, much fail, wow. But the screaming question I feel the need to ask, is: why Finland? Could there be a connection between the white supremacist Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party), the overtly racist Sweden Democrats, the Dark Enlightenment/neoreactionary movement, and Vox Day's peculiarly toxic sect of Christian Dominionist theology?

Vox Day writes:

It's time for the church leaders and the heads of Christian families to start learning from #GamerGate, to start learning from Sad Puppies, and start leading. Start banding together and stop accommodating the secular world in any way. Don't hire those who hate you. Don't buy from those who wish to destroy you. Don't work with those who denigrate your faith, your traditions, your morals, and your God. Don't tolerate or respect what passes for their morals and values.

Over a period of years, he's built an international coalition, finding common cause with the European neo-nazi fringe. Now they've attempted to turn the Hugo Awards into a battlefield in their culture wars. But this clearly isn't the end game they have in mind: it's only a beginning. (The Hugos, by their very nature, are an award anyone can vote in for a small fee: it is interesting to speculate on how deep Vox Day's pockets are.) But the real burning question is, "what will he attack next?"

My guess: the Hugo awards are not remotely as diverse and interesting as the SFWAs Nebula Awards—an organization from which Vox Day became only the second person ever to be expelled. He clearly bears SFWA no love, and the qualification for SFWA membership (which confers Nebula voting rights) is to have professionally published three short stories or a novel. Castalia House is a publishing entity with a short story anthology series. Is the real game plan "Hugos today: Nebulas tomorrow?"

Donald X. Vaccarino, 2008 – Rio Grande Games (Devir) Hoy en día los juegos de construcción de mazos nos salen por las orejas, hasta el punto en que lo original es ver un juego que no tenga ese componente. Sin embargo, hace unos años ese mecanismo era un desconocido hasta que Donald X. Vaccarino, después […]

By Gregory Fricker  Published: April 04th, 2015 

By Luis Prada  Published: April 04th, 2015 

Do you know how to sew or would you like to learn? Have you ever fantasized about dressing like a sans-culotte or a dowager countess? Do you enjoy historical research and like hunting for or improvising archaic materials and accessories? Are you entranced by the costumes on Outlander or, alternatively, are you horrified by the anachronistic use of chunky yarn and clan tartans? If so, historical costuming may be the hobby for you! Historical costumers amuse themselves by creating authentic (to varying degrees) outfits from a variety of historical periods. Bloggers share pictures of their creations, as well as information and ideas about patterns, techniques, and materials. Here are ten historical and costume sewing blogs to follow for inspiration!

They include A Lass of Yesteryear by Tara Janelle, who as a teenager enjoyed creating costumes for Ann of Green Gables, Gatsby, and Downton Abbey-themed parties. (She's now in college and updating less frequently.) Lauren of American Duchess is particularly fond of 18th century clothes. Her blog features an extensive resource page, and she also runs a historical footwear company that sells shoes to go with one's costumes. Lily of Mode de Lis, who sometimes collaborates with Tara Janelle, favors 20th-century clothes.

Although not on the list of ten blogs to follow, Démodé is a must-see.

Bonus links: Worried that you lack the money or expertise to be an adequate historical costumer? The Pragmatic Costumer would like to assure you that it is possible to "balance costuming with the challenges an average, occasional costumer encounters like budget, time crunches, material shortages, limited knowledge, and less-than-par sewing skills." Is money no object? Sarah Juniper will make you exquisite bespoke shoes to go with your outfits? (Warning: "Please be aware (ladies in particular) that the fashions of a particular epoch may not always be the most appropriate wear for the human foot.")

Tess Reidy, writing for The Guardian, recently warned "Easter 2015 may be remembered as the end of the cheap chocolate era," due to social and political instability in west Africa, a shift to in crops and problems getting labor, and an international increase of demand. But this dire warning of prices in 2020 are not new, and there are solutions, as told in From Crops to Shops - The Story of Chocolate, a lecture by David Guest, professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Sydney. For a nostalgic look at Hershey's long-form self-promotion, enjoy The Great American Chocolate Factory and a more industrial focus on Hershey's milk chocolates: how it's made.

Never Mind the Generation Gap – The War on Music in 2015

Punk Rock vs The Twitter Generation

You don’t have to look far on social networking or in the pub to find an old punk bemoaning the fact that the kids ‘have nothing to say these days’. He’s well aware that it’s not the summer of 1976 anymore, but what disturbs him more is that his kids are embarrassed by his somewhat pacified antisocial aggression.

The punks are now parents and the hippies often grandparents. And that’s ignoring the majority who were listening to ABBA or The Carpenters as opposed to the somewhat more media-stoked Jimi Hendrix or The Sex Pistols at their respective times. With a dynamic online petition to stop Kanye West playing Glastonbury as the most recent of many, it’s HIS fans who are in fact upping the social ante, unbearable as he is.

Thus, white punk rebellion, somewhat away from its Trotskyite/anarcho roots has filled out, sat down, and had to accept that only about 10% of the movement’s output was listenable in the first place. The rest of it was simply the sound of fury, replaced less by The Arctic Monkeys or Fat White Family and more by Skrillex or Eminem. Punk spirit wears Gucci and Puma, and headbutts you in a Wetherspoons for spilling its pint or looking at its bird.
Johnny Rotten’s main target in 1977 was the older generation, when the music industry was powerful enough to take aim at other demographics or other artists, and thus to become its own media outrage industry. Blur and Oasis’s feud in the mid nineties was the dying ember of this music press flames fanning technique. Now, with digital having decimated the traditional recording industry and deadened neighbours having music venues closed up and down the country, the enemy of music has changed. The enemy is now the lack of imagination of the consumer.

The enemy now is also the corporations who insist on their logos swamping festivals; record company focus groups who insist on legacy artist reissues; a generation of musicians who see it as a career, and think the apex of artistic success is Noel Gallagher; and a public who are so dumbed-down in their listening tastes that a new Muse album is greeted with wild enthusiasm.

The parents and grandparents are more outrageous and rebellious than their progeny, and their ‘cultural revolutions’ didn’t so much fail, as were co-opted into parody. Clever. It’s a relief that Thatcher’s years are gone, sure, we’re just left with the smiling fallout – and that this century’s version of anti-war sentiment is met with Daily Mail choruses of ‘traitor’ for somehow demoralising troops in the middle-east. There is an enemy all right, but it’s not mum and dad – they’re despairing for the passivity, apathy, ignorance and politeness of youth. As long as they’re not chavs. The enemy of music and spirit is big business collaborating with the government, validated by mainstream consumers. Ever get the feeling you’ve been pacified?

Sean Bw Parker

The post Never Mind the Generation Gap – The War on Music in 2015 Punk Rock vs The Twitter Generation or when did the pop revolution die? appeared first on Louder Than War.

Si tenemos en cuenta la cantidad de lesiones que produce, el deporte ya no parece tan saludable. O mejor dicho: practicar deporte en dosis inadecuadas es poco saludable (aunque probablemente sea más poco saludable no practicar ningún deporte).

Solo en Países Bajos tienen lugar 1,5 millones de lesiones deportivas al año, la mitad de las cuales precisa tratamiento médico.

El neurólogo Dick Swaab se muestra agorero y señala en su libro Somos nuestro cerebro que, de abolirse el deporte, las listas de espera en los hospitales desaparecerían:

Desde el primer maratón en Grecia, muchos corredores de larga distancia han caído muertos. Un 15% de las lesiones medulares se producen practicando algún deporte (…) Por otra parte, nadie parece preocuparse por el aumento del riesgo de padecer esclerosis lateral amiotrófica (ELA) a causa del deporte, o por el dato de que en los Países Bajos mueren unas cien personas al año mientras practican algún deporte.

Los deportes de contacto son aún más peligrosos. Y gran parte de nuestra vida longeva y saludable viene determinada por los genes y por muchos más factores, además de practicar deporte. Por ejemplo, ejercitar la mente también parece un factor importante, a juicio de Swaab:

La estimulación del cerebro también parece retardar la aparición de la enfermedad de Alzheimer y, si ésta ya se ha manifestado, puede reducir sus síntomas. Inversamente, en las enfermedades donde el tamaño del cerebro es demasiado reducido, como en la microcefalia o el síndrome de Down, se aprecia una duración de vida más corta.

El ejercicio excesivo también puede causar rabdomiolisis, una severa degradación celular del músculo. La degradación ocurre en el llamado miocito, célula del músculo, la cual por un desequilibrio bioquímico que deriva en una alta concentración de iones de calcio ocasiona la destrucción celular.

En otro estudio se sugería que las personas que no realizaban actividad física regular o se declaraban sedentarias tenían el doble de probabilidades de sufrir un ataque al corazón o un ictus cerebral. Pero el dato más llamativo se obtuvo a continuación: las personas que hacían ejercicio a diario y de forma extenuante tenían más del doble de probabilidades de morir por las mismas razones.

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La noticia El deporte es saludable hasta cierto punto fue publicada originalmente en Xataka Ciencia por Sergio Parra .

The following was originally posted on The Josei Next Door and has been republished with permission.

Real talk, dear readers: This was the best anime season I’ve experienced since I started regularly watching simulcasts a few years ago, positively jam-packed with not only quality adaptations but also tremendous original works (a relative rarity these days). As a result, creating this list was torture, because there were simply too many great or good series, full of tightly woven plots, provocative themes, and captivating characters. So take the numbers with a grain of salt and, if you’re looking for a new show to watch, pay closer attention to the grades and premises.

I like to talk season trends in these retrospectives, and Winter saw a couple fascinating ones: Well-written female characters, and an exploration of binaries (male/female, life/death, Madonna/whore, geeky/sporty, etc.) and seemingly irreconcilable cultures and social groups. The top seven shows all feature diverse, layered lady protagonists; in five of those shows said protagonists are the main character; and two of them (Yurikuma Arashi and Maria the Virgin Witch) are overtly feminist works, portraying and challenging society’s expectations/treatment of women in both reality and fiction.

There’s a mess of complicated, morally gray, thought-provoking stuff here, but more impressive still, these ideas are generally paired with complex characters and compelling stories, leading to a gripping cocktail of the intellectual and the emotional, a winning combo of Dem Thinks and Dem Feels. In short, Winter was a damn good season, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. Hit the jump for some spoiler-free mini-reviews, final grades, and Totally Arbitrary Rankings.

RANKINGS

1. Yona of the Dawn (Akatsuki no Yona)

Streaming on: Crunchyroll (worldwide with the exception of Asia); Funimation (U.S./Canada) (listed as “Yona of the Dawn”)
Episode Count: 24
In a Sentence: Yona, pampered princess of the Kouka Kingdom, is forced to flee the palace after a coup disrupts her sixteenth birthday.
Content Warning: Violence (against adults/teens); some implied sexual content, including an arc that deals (sympathetically) with sex trafficking

I admit that Yona wasn’t the most ambitious or complex of the shows this season, but I’d say it was one of the most consistent and by far the most underrated of this season’s gems, so I’m rewarding it with the top spot. Hopefully I can get it a little more exposure along the way.

Epic in scope but intimate in focus, Yona of the Dawn is a worthy edition to any fantasy-lover’s watchlist. Yona’s personal story is one of gradual self-discovery and self-reliance, as she travels the kingdom she used to rule but had never seen. It’s a gradual, realistic process, but Yona is determined to be more than a perpetual damsel in distress, and she works hard to learn how to protect and take responsibility for both herself and others. She’s a great main character, basically, neither a traditional damsel nor an out-of-the-box “badass,” and her growth is the backbone of the series, a through-line that connects each of the (incredibly likeable and well-developed) supporting cast’s own stories.

If you’re into dynamic characters, sympathetic protagonists, complex antagonists, well-paced historical fantasies, or even just pretty girls and hot boys kicking ass, then this is a no-brainer.Yona of the Dawn is an excellent series, and even if we never get that second season, it’s still well worth the watch.

And if you need even more reasons to pick up this show, you can read my full series review for more.

Series Grade: A

2. SHIROBAKO

Streaming on: Crunchyroll (USA, Canada, South Africa, Latin America, United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, Turkey, and Australia)
Episode Count: 24 (ongoing)
In a Sentence: This workplace sitcom follows Miyamori Aoi as she, her friends, and her coworkers at Musashino Animation navigate the often hectic, sometimes absurd, never-a-dull-moment world of the anime industry.
Content Warning: One episode deals (respectfully) with workplace sexism; occasional fat jokes may upset people (although the penultimate episode kinda makes up for it)

Do you like anime? Shows that provide a behind-the-scenes look at how art is made? Workplace comedies with a wide range of sympathetic, entertaining characters, including a central cast of young women? Imaginary talking stuffed animals? If you checked “yes” to any of the above (and c’mon, which of you didn’t?), then SHIROBAKO may be the show for you!

Despite a somewhat shaky start (there are a lot of characters and it can take a few episodes to get properly settled into the story), SHIROBAKO continued to build on itself from start to finish, gradually becoming an engaging character drama as well as a solid representation of the joy, insecurity, frustration, and tedium that accompany even the dreamiest of jobs. The women at the center of the story are all capable, hardworking young professionals who deal with struggles and insecurities unique to their jobs, and the extensive cast surrounding them prove to be equally engaging. At its core, SHIROBAKO is an optimistic, warmhearted, and frequently funny series that loves both its characters and the anime they’re producing, and that affection is infectious. It takes a little while, but if you stick with it, it’s mighty hard not to fall in love with this series.

You can check out my series review for more.

Series Grade: A

3. Yurikuma Arashi

Streaming On: Funimation (US/Canada), Crunchyroll (here’s a link to the list of regions)
Episode Count: 12
In a Sentence: The long-running battle between humans and bears takes a surprising turn when two bears disguise themselves as humans and infiltrate sixteen-year-old Kureha’s high school, disrupting both her and her girlfriend’s lives—and WOW, this show is really impossible to describe in a sentence.
Content Warning: Violence (teens/adults); sexuality/nudity (female); assault; graphic depictions of bullying

I’ve written enough about YKA at this point that you could compile it into a decent-sized book, so you’ll forgive me if I’m brief here. Despite my early concerns about the show’s bizarre narrative and seemingly weak character development (simply put, there’s a lot of WTF-ery in the first three episodes), YKA built on itself in masterful fashion, progressively fleshing out both its characters and central ideas, and culminating in a finale that was emotionally fulfilling and thematically satisfying. It juggled a mess of difficult topics (society’s treatment of lesbians, groupthink and exclusion, the idealization of female innocence, and religious zealotry, just to name a few) and at the end of the day handled them all with thoughtful, sympathetic nuance. Ikuhara, you magnificent bastard, never stop making anime.

My last Recap begins with a spoiler-free Review, so you can check that out for more.

Series Grade: A

4. Death Parade

Streaming On: Funimation (US/Canada)
Episode Count: 12
In a Sentence: Two people arrive at a strange bar with no memory of how they got there, only to be told by the bartender that they must play a game in order to leave—and that they must play with their lives on the line.
Content Warning: Violence (adults/teens); deals with a lot of difficult topics such as suicide, sexual violence, infidelity, and the afterlife (I think it’s all handled fairly well, but it’s still there)

This is the trickiest review for me to write this season, because it’s so hard to discuss without giving away major plot or character reveals. Suffice to say Death Parade is a fully realized project that understands its world and how to manipulate it, and if you feel like there’s something wrong with the judgment system it presents, rest assured that the creators are aware of that, too. It’s a smart series, one that encourages its audience to think critically, implicating us in the events playing out on-screen. It also succeeds in evoking a wide range of emotions over the course of its run, and of provoking different reactions from different people.

Death Parade is kind of the perfect show to discuss with your friends, as well as a surprisingly moving character study, handling both its recurring cast and “guest stars” with a lot of thought and sympathy. There were a few weak spots, to be sure, but it came together to form a thought-provoking, touching, and cohesive whole, and regardless of whether or not you agree with its final statement, I think you’d be hard-pressed to say it didn’t do exactly what it set out to do.

Series Grade: A

5. Maria the Virgin Witch (Junketsu no Maria)

Streaming On: Funimation (US/Canada)
Episode Count: 12
In a Sentence: In this fantasy reimagining of the Hundred Years’ War, the witch Maria seeks to stop the endless fighting, despite her status as an outcast and heretic.
Content Warning: Violence (adults/teens); nudity/sexuality; deals (very tastefully and respectfully) with rape and sexual abuse

No, wait, don’t scroll down! I know the title and the online summaries make it sound terrible, but they’re liars, I swear! In fact Maria is one of the best-written shows of the season and one of a handful of genuinely feminist anime titles out there. The art is bright and memorable (and, in the case of the owls, freaking adorable); the characters are all nuanced (if not always likeable), with very human motivations and desires; and the story comes together in a way that is simultaneously easy to follow and deceptively complex, full of moral gray areas that all but beg you to consider it’s characters’ differing stances and ideals.

Maria spends time considering Christian theology, humanity’s relationship with godly/supernatural forces, the ethics of war, gender roles, the expectations society places on women, and how it treats (and seeks to subdue or control) those who go against those expectations (i.e., witches). Mostly, though, Maria is a celebration of personal agency, and especially female agency, as portrayed through all the witches but especially our titular heroine, a sometimes naive, often stubborn, frequently passionate and charismatic young woman who rejects the strict binaries placed on the world.

The first few episodes are a little uneven and some of the humor doesn’t always land, but I encourage you to stick with it, because the further you go the more sophisticated the story gets, and the more you’ll come to realize just how smart this series is, and just how much it manages to expertly pack into 12 short episodes.

Series Grade: A-

6. Tokyo Ghoul √A

Streaming On: Funimation (US/Canada)
Season Episode Count: 12 (sequel to “Tokyo Ghoul”)
Series Episode Count: 24
In a Sentence: College student Kaneki Ken finds himself pulled into the world of ghouls: powerful humanoid creatures who feast on human flesh.
Content Warning: Violence (graphic; against adults/teens and children)

Tokyo Ghoul was an uneven, bumpy ride, rife with tonal inconsistency in its first season (it fluctuates between being a fascinating character study and an over-the-top ultraviolent horror show) and some bizarre narrative choices its second, as the focus shifted away from the main character almost entirely and a bunch of characters were introduced only to basically disappear for the finale. The central cast was well-developed enough, the central themes engaging enough, and the direction (and, my goodness, the music) skilled enough to turn these moments into hiccups instead of train wrecks, but there are stretches in TG that are decidedly rough, and all the more frustrating because of the glimmers of brilliance shown at other points.

And all of that matters, but at the same time it kind of doesn’t, because despite some fumbles during the performance, TG nailed the landing. The series was punctuated throughout with strong moments of character development and complex questions with no clear or easy answer, and the finale was one of the most beautiful, devastating works of art in recent anime memory. Despite some loose narrative threads, the series tied up its major character arc and formed a powerful thematic whole. It may have been inconsistent, but when it was good, it could hold its own with (and even surpass) the best shows this season, and those high points make it well worth the watch.

You can read my first season review or my (spoiler-tastic) series essay for more.

Series Grade: B+

7. Yowapeda (Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road)

Streaming on: Crunchyroll (United States, Canada, Caribbean, South Africa, and Central and South America) (listed as “Yowapeda”)
Season Episode Count: 24
Series Episode Count:  62
In a Sentence: High school freshman (and total otaku) Sakamichi Onoda finds himself drawn into the world of road racing when his climbing skills catch the eye of the school’s competitive cycling team.
Content Warning: Mild fanservice (male and female)

You know it’s a strong season when one of my consistently Top 5 Series gets bumped to 7th flippin’ place. In its final, crazy arc, Yowapeda showed once again why it’s a sports series unlike any other, blending competitive cycling with classic anime themes and tropes (the final push of the Interhigh plays just like the Big Climactic Battle of an action series, complete with “noble sacrifices” and “final forms”) in a cocktail of geeky and sporty, gleefully (and only half-seriously) dancing across the line between the two.

This series is near and dear to my heart not just for its earnest MC and cast full of loveable oddballs, but because it shows how two things we think of as disparate can not only happily coexist, but are actually not that different in the first place. Sports are a narrative, as intense and unpredictable as the best works of fiction, full of unique individuals and compelling stories, and Yowapeda understands that and embraces it. The (season? series?) finale was a little too predictable to propel the series out of its happy B-range, but don’t take this final rank as a knock against it: I love this series, and look forward to hearing about a season three announcement somewhere down the road.

Series Grade: B+

8. Kamisama Kiss Season 2 (Kamisama Hajimemashita ◎)

Streaming On: Funimation (US/Canada), Crunchyroll (here’s a link to the list of regions)
Season Episode Count: 12
Series Episode Count: 25 (note that S01 is not on Crunchyroll)
In a Sentence: After homeless high schooler Nanami Momozono accidentally becomes a “land god” at the local rundown shrine, she must work with the shrine’s spirits—including temperamental familiar, Tomoe—to develop her burgeoning powers.
Content Warning: Child abuse/neglect; violence (teens/kami); trans stereotyping (Otohiko’s likable as hell, but still); occasionally aggressive advances are played as romantic

The second season of KamiKiss levels up the series in a lot of small but important ways, forwarding the relationships of the main protagonists, expanding the backstories of many supernatural characters, developing a firmer plot, and—most importantly—allowing Nanami to come into her own as a young kami, no longer just “spunky” but a force to be reckoned with. The series does occasionally slide back into damseling and Big Romantic Gestures of Protection, but given that she’s a teenager surrounded by centuries-old spirits, it at least sorta makes sense in context.

KamiKiss is so effortlessly and consistently charming that it’s easy to overlook it in favor of flashier shows, but I still found myself invested start-to-finish and surprisingly moved by the finale. This second season was a pleasant surprise, and if TMS decided to give us another one at some point, I certainly wouldn’t complain about it.

Series Grade: B+

9. Durarara!! x2

Streaming On: Crunchyroll (North America, Central America, South America, Ireland, and the United Kingdom)
Season Episode Count: 12
Series Episode Count: 36 (ongoing—the next season airs this summer)
In a Sentence: A diverse cast populates this fantastical reimagining of Ikebukuro, where headless riders roam the streets, “color gangs” vie for power, and no one is who they say they are.
Content Warning: Violence (adults/teens); fanservice; mild nudity/sexuality

Durarara may have changed studios but (barring some animation hiccups in the middle act) it’s the same show as ever, guiding us through the wild, seemingly disparate stories of a dozen (at least) individuals and always finding ways to tie them together, creating meaning, connections, and valuable character development out of apparent chaos or aimlessness.

Due to the large, rotating cast, Durarara’s appeal can fluctuate wildly based on who it chooses to follow (for my money, the Celty and/or Shizuo episodes are by far the best, but others may feel differently). It’s also generally better when it’s being frenetic and a little tongue-in-cheek than when it’s going for quiet introspection (although, as with everything, there are exceptions), all of which leads to a slight inconsistency in quality that prevents it from rocketing into that top tier of series. Even so, the season ends on a memorable note, making me excited for the next one. It’s nice to know I have at least one show to look forward to this summer.

Season Grade: B

10. Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! (Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love)

Streaming On: Funimation (US/Canada), Crunchyroll (regions not specified)
Episode Count: 12
In a Sentence: A pink talking wombat drops from the sky and conscripts five high school boys into becoming his pretty guardians who fight for love and justice (yes, really).
Content Warning: Magical violence (teens); nudity/sexuality (male); fanservice (male); some of the characters are kinda homophobic, but the series makes it pretty clear we’re supposed to think they’re being dumb, so I don’t think the series itself is homophobic

Boueibu is tough to discuss in a few sentences, largely because my own feelings about it are conflicted. I was never quite sure if it was a dumb comedy pretending to be smart or a smart comedy pretending to be dumb. I think it’s kind of both, which is why the humor can be a little inconsistent, and why it sometimes seems like it’s making a pointed critique and sometimes like it’s just being silly. It also could have stood to have some more developed characters, as they’re likable but pretty flat, and it makes the middle part of the series drag.

That said, when Boueibu is on, it’s really damn funny, mapping magical girl and “cute girl” genre tropes onto an all-male cast to create a story that looks like an absurd marriage between Sailor Moon and Free, and clearly had a lot of fun doing it. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, but if it sounds like the kind of humor you’d enjoy, then I say give it a try. It may tickle your funny bone even more than it did mine. And, if nothing else, you’ll get to experience that damn talking green hedgehog and the insane, stupid, magical finale. Those two things alone may just make the entire series worthwhile.

I go into a little more detail about my strange relationship with Boueibu in my series review, so you’re welcome to check that out, too.

Series Grade: B

11. Parasyte -the maxim- (Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu)

Streaming on: Crunchyroll (USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America [Central and South America], Europe, Middle East, and North Africa)
Episode Count: 24
In a Sentence: High school senior Izumi Shinichi finds himself host to a sentient but merciless parasite as a number of snake-like creatures appear in Japan and begin infecting the populace.
Content Warning: Graphic violence (against teens/adults); some nudity/sexual content (male and female)

It’s amazing how quickly Parasyte went from being “one of my favorite shows of the season” to “a show I watched this season.” I could talk about its inability to write good female characters, or how it felt the need to beat you over the head with its themes (did we really need an entire finale spelling out what we saw happen in the far superior penultimate ep?), or how the static, uninspired direction had a tendency to kill any possible tension, particularly in the second cour. And those were all problems I had, but really, what it comes down to is, I just didn’t care. I tried, but over the course of 24 episodes, the series failed to get me to give any kind of damn about its characters. There weren’t enough sympathetic qualities on either side of the human-parasite divide to make it a compelling conflict, so while some of the ideas were quite interesting, the individuals espousing them meant nothing to me. It’s not that Parasyte was bad, not really. It was just kind of unremarkable.

Series Grade: C+

12. Aldnoah.Zero Season 2

Streaming On: Crunchyroll (North America, Central and South America, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland, Europe excluding German-speaking territories
Season Episode Count: 12
Series Episode Count: 24
In a Sentence: Fifteen years after a brutal battle between Earth and the Vers Empire that left the moon in ruins, tensions build and finally explode after a Vers Princess arrives on Earth.
Content Warning: Violence (against adults/teens); brief nudity; mild fanservice; is cartoonishly sexist at times

Ohhh, Aldnoah.Zero. You were nothing if not true to yourself: An interstellar soap opera full of end-of-episode plot twists, scheming nobility, bombastic mecha fights, and characters who ran the gamut from unrealistically skilled (one of the MCs is basically a robot) to unrealistically incompetent (I still can’t get over the doctor offering booze to the alcoholic to celebrate his recovery, because, um, what?). I can’t in good conscience say A/Z is a great anime, but I can say I had a lot of fun watching it, once I realized I should in no way take it seriously and just let the ride wash over me in a sequence of snazzily animated fight sequences, dramatic character monologues, and “aww, snap!” reveals and betrayals. A/Z was my guilty pleasure of the season, and even though the finale rang a little hollow, I enjoyed watching it play out.

Series Grade: C+

13. The Rolling ☆ Girls

Streaming On: Funimation (US/Canada)
Episode Count: 12
In a Sentence: In a future Japan broken up into multiple city-states, roaming gangs led by “Bests” (including the masked Maccha Green) fight for territory and power.
Content Warning: Violence (adults/teens, and very cartoonish)

You could tell pretty much from Day One that Rolling Girls wasn’t a well-written story, but for a while there it had enough energy, visual panache, and bouncy music to make up for the clumsy plotting and flat main characters. The middle episodes (5-8) were particularly strong, introducing guest characters with just enough depth to be interesting and creating the closest thing to thematic unity we got throughout the series. At its best, Rolling Girls was a wild celebration and merger of the traditional and the modern (Shachihoko art coexisting with motorcycle racing, geisha entertainment standing side-by-side with rock music), all of which culminated in an exhilarating explosion of color and music that made me just plain happy to be alive.

Unfortunately, that culmination happened in Episode 8, and the final four episodes spiraled into convoluted, half-baked story lines, characters who spun through so quickly we could barely find the time to learn their names (never mind care about them), and—most damning of all—clunky, sometimes laughably stilted animation. A shame, really. But hey, at least we’ll always have that concert scene.

Series Grade: C

14. Yatterman Night (Yoru no Yatterman)

Streaming On: Funimation (US/Canada)
Episode Count: 12
In a Sentence: Exiled for crimes committed generations ago, nine-year-old Leopard decides to take on the mantle of her infamous, thieving ancestor, Doronjo, in order to take revenge on the “Yatter Kingdom” who abandoned her family.
Content Warning: Violence (adults/teens/kids); comic nudity (male and female); fanservice

Maybe it’s unfair of me to rank Yatterman all the way down here (it was probably better than Rolling Girls, at least), but, much like with Parasyte, sometimes failure to meet expectations earns you a lower spot. I was singing this show’s praises around the midway point, which was about when it decided to stop being a wacky lady-led dystopia and started being a (not nearly as charming) blend of classic anime references and “hero’s journey” tale—for a completely different character, no less. The story got back on track at the end, but the final episode was a mess of reused animation, and I found the conclusion unsatisfying. YN could have been a great underdog story and exploration of how society labels its “heroes” and “villains,” but it gave that up for a far more standard and less interesting narrative. I am disappoint.

Series Grade: C-

UNRANKED

Sailor Moon Crystal

I’m only popping in long enough to say that I finally gave up on it. While the new story line showed some potential in its first few episodes (character development! coherent storytelling! some halfway energetic direction, even if the animation was still atrocious!), the last couple fell back into the dull, uninspired pattern of the first season, and I found myself so bored that I couldn’t even finish the most recent one. There are better anime for me to spend my time on, so I’m going to watch those instead. If you’re feeling the same, may I interest you in Rose of Versailles, the classic historical shoujo now streaming on Hulu? I’m 15 episodes in. We can watch it together and put this whole Crystal thing behind us.

Dee (@JoseiNextDoor) is a writer, a translator, a book worm, and a basketball fan. She has bachelor’s degrees in English and East Asian studies and a master’s degree in Creative Writing. To pay the bills, she works as a technical writer. To not pay the bills, she writes young adult novels, watches far too much anime, and cheers very loudly for the Kansas Jayhawks. You can find her at The Josei Next Door, a friendly neighborhood anime blog for long-time fans and newbies alike.

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There are plenty of same-room multiplayer games, where you and a friend link your phones on Bluetooth or WiFi and do battle. Now, Chicago-based developer Sebastian Gosztyla twists the formula with Dual [Free], a simple shooting game that sees you stand face-to-face with your opponent and trade bullets across devices.

Using tilt controls to move your ship around the screen, you have to try and keep an eye on your opponent's screen and blast away at their ship when you're lined up. Of course all the time they're trying to do the same to you, and trying to dodge your attacks too. You can also hold your finger on the screen for a couple of seconds to unleash a more powerful attack for a one-shot kill.

The base competitive game is free, and there's a defence mode where you work together to fend off attacking ships, but you'll have to pay a couple of bucks to unlock that. You can also pay to unlock different ships.

Dual has divided opinion here at Touch Arcade. If you view it as a tech demo then you can't really fault it. As for the gameplay, some of us see it as a neat toy that allows you to indulge in a quick blasting session with a buddy for free, and in a novel way too. Personally I found the gameplay very lacking. The defence mode is a little more interesting, but not by much.

We're bound to see more games using the same technology to pit people against each other face to face, device to device. It's probably fair to say that Dual has cut the ribbon on a new gaming niche, and we're very interested to see what follows...

Do you ever come home to your adorable pet bunny, pick it up, lay it down on its back, and pet it? Does it just lie there, blissfully, for minutes or even hours, letting you cuddle it? Yeah. Your rabbit hates you.

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Note: Some of the images below depict violence and sex in ways that might disturb some readers.

In the 70s, when tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons were first winning the hearts and minds of the nerds everywhere, sex was usually relegated to just a paragraph in most RPG rulebooks, if it was mentioned at all. Player characters could slay dragons, explore caves, and save townships from all manner of villains, but their game worlds weren't really designed to accommodate love or the physical actions that follow it.

That didn't stop some dungeon masters from crafting sex-related scenarios for players—sometimes against the will of the other players. Tabletop gaming, like much of nerd culture, began as a male-dominated space, and it remained so for decades. From the very inception of RPGs, female characters have possessed less strength or speed than their male counterparts. Some games even implemented a "comeliness score," which rated how hot your character was and how much influence she could have over the opposite sex. According to a survey of 105 female players conducted in 2006 by a University of Miami philosophy student for a dissertation on gender in role-playing games, more than 55 percent of respondents had been "made to feel uncomfortable, judged, or harassed because of their gender" while playing a game or interacting with the RPG community.

It wasn't until the late 80s and early 90s that companies like White Wolf started to release sex-tinged games like 1991's Vampire: The Masquerade, which centered around lovelorn goth-punk vampires. Though arguably making romance and eroticism important components of the game was a step forward, today The Masquerade seems outdated when viewed through the lens of today's sex-positive, LGBT-inclusive, and feminist values—as do most RPGs from earlier eras. After all, tabletop games reflect the fantasies of their makers and players, and fantasies can easily become colored by biases and misconceptions.

But more open and equitable representations of sex and gender are finally breaking into RPGs. In the latest edition of D&D, for example, a new " androgynous or hermaphroditic" spin was added to the classic elf god character named Corellon Larethian last August. According to the new rules, you should feel free to play your character as "a female character who presents herself as a man, a man who feels trapped in a female body, or a bearded female dwarf who hates being mistaken for a male."

[body_image width='1800' height='2700' path='images/content-images/2015/04/01/' crop='images/content-images-crops/2015/04/01/' filename='fuck-for-satan-the-new-wave-of-sex-centric-rpgs-456-body-image-1427909112.jpg' id='42189']
Image from Numenera: Love and Sex in the Ninth World. Image courtesy of Shanna Germain.

Another major game that is making strides is Numenera, one of the top-selling RPGs of the 2014 holiday season. The game's makers just released an official supplement called Love And Sex in the Ninth World, created by erotica writer Shanna Germain. "We really wanted to create a guide for love and sex just like you would create a guide for any other aspect of a game," she told me.

The supplement includes background on the roles of gender and sexual orientation in Numenera, ways to incorporate sex into your game, and even special items your characters can come across, like the "blood boiler," which is a pill for your characters that "causes an increase in blood flow to any stimulated body parts."

By diving into sex and fleshing out the rules and ways players can incorporate sex into the game, the Numenera supplement helps establish more equitable relations between players in general. It includes a section on how consent should be handled when engaging in these acts with other players that notes that "such topics should be handled with care and with a solid understanding of what your group can and wants to handle at the table."

"We really wanted to create a guide for love and sex just like you would create a guide for any other aspect of a game." –Shanna Germain

Sex and gender boundaries are really being pushed in the world of experimental, indie RPGs. The small scene these games have emerged from have enabled its creators and the players an opportunity to explore sex in new and exciting ways.

Avery Mcdaldno is among the new generation of game developers who are changing the RPG landscape. She's created sex-and-romance-centric games that she told me are often about "queers, community, and disillusionment." Her game Monsterhearts bases its rules on those of another indie RPG, Apocalypse World, but sets the action in a fictional, monster-filled high school.

"I wanted a game that borrowed from the structure of Apocalypse World (messy relationship triangles, partial successes, leading principles, abrupt power swings) to tell a story about the messy, horny lives of teenage monsters," she said. She added that Monsterhearts and its characters are influenced by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, and The Craft, but her game isn't so "painfully heterosexist" as most teen supernatural romances.

"The game pushes a queer agenda," Avery said. "There's a two-page spread dedicated to talking about the importance of queering your monster stories, but furthermore, queer themes pervade the mechanics of the game. Monsterhearts is about ambiguity, uncertainty, shame about your body, shame about your wants and needs, feeling like you have something to hide, being horny, but especially being horny in ways that surprise you. It's about coming to terms with the way that sex intersects with power."

This is, as you might imagine, an extremely dramatic evolution from the dark ages of the "harlot table" from the first edition of the Dungeon Master's Guide for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, which described female characters as everything from "wanton wenches" to "slovenly trolls":

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While Numenera and Monsterhearts offer players opportunities for romance, there are other RPGs that portray sex in more shocking or grotesque ways. One of the first games to do this was 2002's F.A.T.A.L., which has been called "the date rape RPG, without dating" and one of the worst RPGs ever; among all sorts of other problems, the rules included an extensive rules and mechanics for rape but didn't even mention consensual sex.

[body_image width='728' height='942' path='images/content-images/2015/04/01/' crop='images/content-images-crops/2015/04/01/' filename='fuck-for-satan-the-new-wave-of-sex-centric-rpgs-456-body-image-1427908488.jpg' id='42184']
Cover of F.A.T.A.L.

Though F.A.T.A.L. was universally panned, there are still new games coming out that offer a boundary-testing mix of sex, shock, and humor. Lamentations of the Flame Princess, which was created by James Edward Raggi IV, was widely released in 2011 and involves sacrifice, sex cults, a monster called a Penis Walker, and adventures with titles like "Fuck for Satan."

"I am intentionally trying to get into trouble," Raggi told me. "One of the things I do is try to re-fight the 1980s idea that ' Dungeons & Dragons is satanic, it makes you commit suicide, it's horrible.' From my perspective, back then TSR [the company that owned D&D] totally caved in to that. And if they had said, 'Hell no, you people are crazy,' we might have a much different hobby on our hands now."

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Zombie attack from the pages of Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Image courtesy of James Edward Raggi IV

Lamentations of the Flame Princess has been criticized by some gamers for its depictions of violence against women. When I asked James to comment on those criticisms, he said, "A couple years back, because of such claims, I went through the current Rules & Magic book and counted certain occurrences." According to him, men get messed up at a rate of about 8:1 in the rulebook's art—which he admits can be pretty harsh.

"There is a lot of horrific shit depicted in LotFP books, and sometimes it even involves genitals," James said. "Anybody can cherry-pick examples and make whatever claims you want (and some people do), but absolutely nobody can look at the entirety of LotFP art and tell me with a straight face there's an excess of victimized women."

So what are the most divisive moments in his game? "That core rulebook has got a medusa turning someone to stone while she's fucking him and it's got a Vince Locke illustration of the zombie attack where a zombie's shoving his arm straight up the woman. All the complaints, for any of the artwork, that's the one that gets the most. As far as I'm concerned: mission accomplished."

[body_image width='566' height='533' path='images/content-images/2015/04/01/' crop='images/content-images-crops/2015/04/01/' filename='fuck-for-satan-the-new-wave-of-sex-centric-rpgs-456-body-image-1427909490.jpg' id='42200']
The Penis Walker from the pages of Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Image courtesy of James Edward Raggi IV

Kira Magrann, an avid gamer and blogger for GamingAsWomen.com, isn't too impressed by Raggi's brand of shocking RPG.

"I feel like games that use sex to provoke and shock are like most media that features sex to provoke and shock... a little boring?" she said. "What's considered shocking and provoking varies a whole lot, but when I hear those terms, I think 'rape-y or violent' as opposed to 'dark and kinky.' There's ways to showcase all kinds of perverse stuff while still showcasing consent, gender-queerness, and safe sex."

Which is why she welcomes some of the recent sex-positive developments that have taken place in RPGs. However, she still believes there's much more room to grow. "I think that if you want well-rounded characters in any game," she said, "regardless of the setting or rule set, you need to touch on relationships and sex more than most games do today."

Are we at a point where gamers and creators are, across the board, ready to embrace and experiment with sex and sexuality in a mature and equitable way? No, probably not. And major publishers are still at the very infancy of embracing these subjects in ways that aren't childish or insensitive. However, for the brave, adventurous RPG fans out there, there's never been a better time to be a horny elf.

Follow Giaco on Twitter.

 

1. “Everyone’s always sobbing over the fact that dudes who watch too much porn develop a warped outlook on sex and how women should behave in bed and whatnot. But no one’s worried about the expectations women have about penis size from watching dirty videos featuring 10-inch dicks—and they probably should be. The first time I reached into my ninth grade boyfriend’s pants to give him a handjob, I was shocked by what wasn’t there. I even looked down to check that he was actually erect. He was.”

— Becka, 25

______

2. “My super bohemian parents have always insisted on walking around our house naked. So the first penis I was exposed to was my dad’s. Usually I’d see it when it was flaccid. But one day I walked into my parents’ bedroom when I was about five, and when my dad got up to go to the bathroom, I saw this thing protruding straight out from between his legs. He had a raging boner, but I had no idea about the whole morning wood thing yet. So I screamed, ‘Daddy, there’s a snake eating your penis!’ Haven’t been able to live that one down.”

— Abigail, 23

______

3. “I didn’t perform oral sex on a guy until I was in college, at which point I was embarrassed because I couldn’t participate in conversations about dicks with my girlfriends. So I got wasted one night, determined to give head for the first time. It wasn’t all that (excuse the pun) hard to find a willing partner. But the guy I ended up in bed with had what I now know by comparison to be a giant penis. Twenty seconds into my attempt to deep throat, I vomited all over him. It was so traumatizing, I waited another year before trying again.”

— Brittany, 29

______

4. “I was one of those girls who was ahead of her time, sexually. I developed early, and I had urges, you know. Raging teenage hormones! After I gave my first handy at 11, I became fascinated by penises. I thought they were so cool, the way grew and pulsated and responded to my touch. I wanted to see as many as I could as quickly as possible. As you can imagine, I was very popular for a while.”

— Carly, 28

______

5. “For a long time, I was shy about boys and sex. In high school, I promised my boyfriend of six months that if he officially asked me to prom, we could move on from dry humping to some more exciting stuff. I was terrified of the images of penises I’d seen from Googling, but I figured I’d have to take the leap at some point. Unfortunately, when my boyfriend unzipped his pants and whipped it out for the first time, all my fears were confirmed. I actually covered my eyes and started crying because I wanted nothing to do with that rocket ship shaped thing, but I’d promised him I’d put my mouth on it for at least 30 seconds. He was a nice guy and didn’t make me go through with it. We’re Facebook friends to this day.”

— Maddie, 22

______

6. “When I was a teen, I was pretty embarrassed about my vagina. I mean, they don’t really give young girls any education in the what-your-vagina-might-look like department. Now I know there’s a spectrum of possibilities, but back then I just assumed mine was weird. Well, the first time I got naked with a boy, at 16, I did what anyone who was utterly relieved they weren’t the only one with funny looking genitalia would do: I laughed out loud. Then I watched, with fascination, as his erection died. Whoops.”

— Louisa, 32

______

7. “I was so eager to go down on a guy for the first time—you know, it was just time to cross that sexual to-do off the list. So I approached the quarterback of the football team at the Winter Wonderland dance and whispered in his ear that I wanted to give him head. Obviously, he consented. I pulled his pants down in the backseat of his Jeep Cherokee and watched him lean back and smile as I did my thing (I’d watched a few Jenna Jameson videos online for tips). I was no expert, but I quickly realized that that didn’t really matter. I could tickle it with my tongue and use my hands and I loved feeling like I had so much power over a guy that way.”

— Annie, 30

______

8. “Penises are weird. I’ve felt that way since the day I saw my first boyfriend naked, and I maintain that stance. It’s not the sausage part that bothers me as much as the nuts. Nuts? Why do we even call them that? They’re more like nuts encased in gelatinous sacs of wrinkly, bumpy flesh lined with prickly pubic hair. I’d die happy if I never touched another pair of balls again. Too bad I’m not a lesbian, I guess.”

— Tatiana, 24

______

9. “For years, I never really appreciated the naked male body. I was simultaneously mystified and borderline repulsed by it. But when my current boyfriend first stripped for me in his dorm room and stood there, all vulnerable with his junk hanging out, I didn’t just fall in love with him—I fell for his penis. I seriously think it’s the most beautiful thing. I like seeing it and feeling it in all of its various shapes and sizes. So I’d encourage any girl who’s feels at all put off by cocks to hold on tight, because they’re bound to change their mind as soon as they meet the right guy.”

— Amanda, 34

______

10. “No matter how many tidbits you hear from your sexually experienced girlfriends, nothing prepares you for the first time you get up close and personal with a man’s package. I threw a party in the basement of my parents’ house while they were away one weekend and when it was my turn to get locked in a closet for ‘seven minutes in heaven,’ I was literally shaking with nerves. I remember feeling poked when he approached. His dick was so hard and terrifying unfamiliar. I just wasn’t quite ready yet. Luckily, he was so distracted feeling me up that we didn’t even get past second based before someone knocked on the door.”

— Lacey, 30

______

11. “I have a theory that girls who say penises are ugly are afraid of coming across as overly sexual or slutty or something. I loved penises since I first became acquainted with them IRL, around age 13. I like ‘em circumcised, uncircumcised, big, average, pink, or brown. I mean, is there another human body part that defies gravity? I can understand why a penis might look weird to a girl at first, but all body parts are pretty weird if you isolate them for long enough. Stare at your foot for five minutes and then tell me dicks are anything but awesome.”

— Blaire, 25

______

12. “Okay, so when I saw my first penis, I made a little mistake. I was dating someone semi-seriously and one thing led to another and we started fooling around in my bedroom, where we were supposed to be studying. Since the lights were still on I had a really good look when it made its debut and I just sat there, gawking, paralyzed in awe. It’s startling to be confronted by a brand new body part. So the guy said “Everything okay?” and I said, “Yes! It’s just so cute!” Cute. I called a man’s penis cute. The look of absolute terror on the guy’s face taught me never to do that again.”

— Valerie, 28

Para ser un juego tan simple, Space Invaders ha recibido múltiples interpretaciones, adaptaciones y recreaciones a lo largo de su historia. La última se llama Dual, se juega en dos teléfonos móviles separados por una barrera virtual y aunque cuesta pillarle el punto, el resultado es espectacular.http://es.gizmodo.com/tres-juegos-mo...

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Sure, masturbating in almost all forms has its merits, but you have to admit, pleasuring yourself in your room with the door closed can grow a bit stale. So why not amp things up a little by taking this you-fight outside? We know what you’re thinking: “How do I masturbate in public without getting asked to leave Brookstone?” The answer is simple! Just wisely choose a new hobby that allows you to tickle your buddy out in the open:

 

1. Rock Climbing

Rock climbing is an exhilarating challenge in which you wear a crotch harness that can be adjusted for your comfort. Just a slight “I can’t reach that orange knob” wiggle is enough for 60% of women to achieve orgasm.

 

2. Knitting

How about taking up the hipster hobby of knitting? Once that blanket gets big enough, you can do whatever you want under there.

 

3. Horseback Riding

Join your local stable and have your choice of horse to ride/rub against. If you’re good enough to enter competitions, people will watch and cheer you on while you…participate.

 

4. Interior Decorating

A big part of interior decorating is choosing the right couch. And a big part of choosing the right couch is making sure it’s durable. And a big part of making sure a couch is durable is humping the arm of it.

 

 

5. Surfing

Hey, you’re new to this sport – you’re not used to wearing a wetsuit, so you just have to keep readjusting it, rapidly.

 

6. Tablescaping

Centerpieces, decorations, and pleasing color schemes draw the eye to the table top and away from whatever is happening under the table.

 

7. Dirt Biking

Don’t worry; there are plenty of cool X Games-inspired tricks you can learn where you don’t have to leave your seat.

 

8. Metal Detecting

Head to the beach with a metal detector, pretend you’ve found treasure, and get people to help you dig! Everyone will be so excited, they won’t notice that you’re masturbating.

 

Few things top the thrill of bringing yourself to orgasm, but one thing that definitely does is bringing yourself to orgasm in public. So broaden your horizons with a new hobby that doubles as a way to get off in front of innocent people. Have fun out there!

Getting into Horseback Riding and Other Ways to Masturbate in Public is a post from: Reductress

Some days you just need to get things done.

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Todos somos víctimas, en mayor o menor medida, de la disonancia cognitiva, es decir, de las contradicciones psicológicas que, en aras de evitar que nos resulten incómodas, obviamos alegremente, demostrando que el ser humano no ha nacido para hacer gala de una gran coherencia en sus argumentos.

Por ejemplo, los fumadores que saben que fumar mata pero continúan fumando mantienen al unísono dos elementos cognitivos (ideas, actitudes o creencias) que a menudo son contradictorios. Esta contradicción puede resolverse de muchas formas, por ejemplo, dejando de fumar.

Pero frecuentemente esa contradicción también se resuelve no pensando en el efecto nocivo del tabaco, alegando que de algo hay que morir, o sencillamente racionalizando el consumo: “me ayuda a relajarme, evita que aumente de peso, es debido al estrés del trabajo, etc.”

Lo mismo sucede cuando nos sometemos a un gran sacrificio o dolor: una vez obtenemos la recompensa por ello, podemos exagerarla para justificar lo que hemos hecho, tal y como explica Robert Trivers en el siguiente experimento referido en su libro La insensatez de los necios:

En el experimento, se dividió a los sujetos en dos subconjuntos, uno de los cuales comprendía a individuos que, para formar parte de un grupo, estaban dispuestos a soportar un test doloroso o embarazoso, y el otro, formado por personas que solamente estaban dispuestas a una inversión modesta. Luego se pidió a cada sujeto que evaluara al grupo a partir de una grabación de una discusión grupal armada de manera tal que resultara tan tediosa e incoherente como fuera posible.

Los que estaban dispuestos a invertir más evaluaron el grupo más positivamente que los que solo eran proclives a un esfuerzo menor. Los resultados eran muy netos: los poco dispuestos a esforzarse dijeron que la discusión era aburrida y que no valía la pena, y que los participantes eran desabridos y monótonos. De hecho, se había ideado la grabación para que causara más o menos esa impresión. Por el contrario, los que habían pagado un costo más alto, por así decirlo, leyendo en voz alta material de sexo explícito, sostuvieron que la discusión era interesante y que los participantes les parecieron atractivos y agudos.

Cuando recibimos información nueva de cualquier tipo también solemos ser víctimas de la disonancia cognitiva si la nueva información desdice alguna de nuestras opiniones más arraigadas. Por ejemplo, si se hallan pruebas de lo que creemos es falso, entonces distorsionamos los datos, solo atendemos los detalles que nos benefician y descartamos los que no.

Los hechos que incluso refutan nuestros prejuicios también tienen el poder de despertarlos. Por ejemplo, si se ofrece información política errónea pero afín a una persona, e inmediatamente después se rectifica porque era errónea, la mayoría de personas seguirá creyendo la la primera información vertida.

La racionalización post-hoc también tiene un gran poder, por ejemplo en los productos que compramos: los que no se pueden devolver, por ejemplo, nos suelen gustar más que los que se pueden devolver. Es decir, que este tipo de disonancia es más poderosa en decisiones que ya no es posible cambiar:

Cuando se le pidió a un grupo de mujeres que eligieran entre dos aparatos electrodomésticos que habían catalogado como igualmente atractivos, calificaron después al que habían elegido como más atractivo, basándose aparentemente en el mero hecho de poseerlo.

Imágenes | Pixabay

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La noticia El poder de la disonancia cognitiva o cómo nos convencemos de todo aunque sea mentira fue publicada originalmente en Xataka Ciencia por Sergio Parra .

She's shiny to the elbow and has a snail trail stuck to her leg...  :)


My kind of girl:














boop












































Random Racoon Burst Into The Room...















This right here- oomph!














Gabriel Schama:



















That's no storm...
















I could watch/do this all day....



Sploosh










THE END

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On her Tumblr yesterday, Gail Simone brought up the interesting notion of “Tumblr fans” or people whose only interaction with and appreciation for comics characters comes through stuff they’ve seen reblogged on Tumblr, rather than actually having read a comic book.

It all stemmed from a discussion she had with a fellow comic industry professional at Emerald City Comicon:

I asked what [the professional] meant, and she said that she felt there was a growing group of fans who love the characters and love MOMENTS of stories, but don’t read the actual comics ever. She said that they will buy a CHARACTER X t-shirt in a heartbeat, but don’t own any graphic novels.They will reblog a scene they like from a comic, but never go to an actual comics shop to get that same book.

Simone makes it clear that she doesn’t judge how fans interact with stories:

I’m just curious about the phenomenon. I am not someone who judges people for HOW they like these stories and characters. If you like ARROW or AGENTS OF SHIELD and that’s how you embrace these characters, that’s fine with me, it’s perfectly valid.

But specifically, is there such a thing as a “Tumblr comics fan?” And if so, how does someone like that differ from any other comics fan?

What’s more, Simone wants her fans to let her know if 1) this phenomenon even exists, 2) if they feel it applies to them, and 3) how one type of fandom differs from another.

Personally, while I understand people reblogging and becoming fans of the image of a character or a scene, I think they may be doing themselves a disservice by not following up that initial interest with some reading or watching. I’d equate it to someone like Che Guevarra, who means different things to different people depending on one’s politics – but who has ended up on t-shirts as a generic symbol for revolution, and has become a fashionable commodity (which he probably would’ve hated, given his politics) despite the fact that many people who wear the t-shirts have no real knowledge of the cause for which he was fighting.

The meaning of art changes with context. For example, if an artist draws a flower – it could just be a drawing of a beautiful flower. But then, if you hear that the artist’s dead mother used to request bouquets of that particular flower at her bedside while she was battling cancer – suddenly that drawing of that flower means something else entirely. It’s amazing how profound things can become with context.

Obviously, people become fans of whatever they want however they want. I just hope that when people fall in love with images of comics characters or scenes out of comic books that they do some investigating into the stories themselves. Because sure, an image of a superhero can be a powerful thing – but the experience can only be enhanced by context.

What do you all think? Tell Gail Simone on her Tumblr, or tell us in the comments below!

(image via Loren Javier)

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The Tyranny of the Ill-Fitting, Foul-Smelling, Passion-Deflating, No-Fun Latex Condom
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"I recently spoke with Jon Ronson about his latest book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed. It's about people who've had their lives ruined from online shaming. In the book, Jon spent time with recipients of online shaming, including Jonah Lehrer, The Silence and Respect photo person, the people fired in the dongle joke incident, and Justine Sacco . . ."

"It's not to say anybody can say anything, because it's not true. I am a politically correct person who is completely against jokes about misogyny and homophobia and so on. Again, this isn't a book defending that kind of thing. This is a book very specifically about how our earnest desire to do good is taking a hell of a lot of scalps of people who don't deserve it and it's spiraled out of control. Nobody quite realizes that just yet, but I think people are beginning to realize it."

In response: "Were We Too Hard on Jonah Lehrer? A new book says yes. The facts say no", by Daniel Engber. (previously, previously, previously, previously)

Major Label Debut: Punk's 'Sell Out' Albums Revisited

In the craft beer world, solar panels and ambitious recycling programs have become the norm. Microbreweries from Alaska to Colorado to Massachusetts strive to be sustainable, local, and organic. But there’s an even greener way to drink beer: Make handcrafted ales in the comfort of your own home.

The 1.2 million U.S. homebrewers have some advantages when it comes to sustainability. They brew smaller batches and thus use fewer resources. They almost universally use kegs or reuse bottles, and they have no need for distribution, which is one of the most resource-intensive parts of commercial brewing.

However, many homebrewers still have room for improvement on the sustainability front. Homebrewers tend to be less efficient and more likely to use malt extract and imported ingredients than craft brewers, according to the USDA. But that doesn’t have to be the case. An eco-minded homebrewer can take a number of measures to green their brewing operations.

Never brewed? Check out one of these excellent manuals:

• The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian
• How to Brew: Everything You Need to Know to Brew Beer Right the First Time by John J. Palmer
• Sustainable Homebrewing: An All-Organic Approach to Crafting Great Beer by Amelia Stayton Loftus

1. Transition to Grains

Beer consists of four primary ingredients: water, barley, hops, and yeast. Most homebrewers begin with kits containing tubs of malted barley extract (barley that’s been malted, mashed, and concentrated into a syrup). Malt kits are a great place to start but, as with all food preparation, using less-processed ingredients gives the brewer more control over the finished product and more ability to purchase sustainably grown, minimally packaged ingredients. Moreover, brewing with grains usually produces better tasting beer, and the better the beer, the more dedicated the homebrewer. Transitioning to grains is a great first step toward sustainability. When using a malt recipe, look for an extract that doesn’t contain additives (most commonly corn syrup).

2. Choose Sustainable Equipment

Go for stainless steel and glass equipment over plastic options, which degrade over time and have a limited lifespan. Even small abrasions or scratches on plastic buckets can harbor bacteria and spoil a batch of beer, so many brewers go through a lot of buckets. Be sure to recycle them when they’re no longer usable. Before buying equipment, check Craigslist and other used sites for gently used carboys, kettles, coolers, and chillers.

3. Go Local and Organic

Today homebrewers have the option to brew with ingredients grown all over the world. For sustainability purposes, domestic usually beats imported, and less packaging is always best.

How local can a homebrew be? It depends on the location. Most barley is grown in Montana, Washington, North Dakota, and Idaho. The Pacific Northwest is home to the majority of commercialhops production. But with new local economies sprouting up to keep pace with the craft beer industry, a hops or barley farm could be nearby. Ask at a local brew shop: Brew-shop employees tend to be friendly, helpful, and responsive to customer concerns. Support them and be sure to express your desire for sustainable ingredients.

Choosing organic ingredients supports healthier ecosystems and helps ensure pesticide residues don’t end up in beer. In one study, beer grown with conventionally grown ingredients had detectable levels of five pesticides, including significant levels of Imidacloprid, an insecticide used heavily on conventional hops. Imidacloprid was recently banned in Europe because it is a threat to honeybees and may be dangerous to the developing nervous systems of children.

Until recently, it was difficult to find organic hops because the USDA didn’t require craft brewers to use them to attain organic certification. The USDA changed its rules in 2013, and organic hops production has already increased exponentially. Sustainably grown options will hopefully be even more readily available in the future.

4. Grow Your Own

It doesn’t get more local or sustainable than a brewer’s backyard. For beer with a truly local flavor, consider growing some ingredients on your own. Gardening enables homebrewers to experiment with unusual ingredients. Growing your own is also a way to remind yourself that, at its heart, beer is an agricultural product. Hops, peppers, and mint are three easy crops to try.

· Hops

The cones of this woody vine give beer its slightly bitter, citrusy flavor, plus it’s relatively easy to grow (depending on the climate). Ideally, hops need six to eight hours of full sunshine a day. They grow in most soil conditions, but require fertilization and good drainage. They are heavy nitrogen feeders. A good support system is crucial, because vines grow more than 30 feet high and can weigh up to 20 pounds. A fence, trellis, or the side of a building works well to support the vines.

It takes a couple of years for hops to get established. They won’t produce many cones the first couple of years as they focus energy on their root system. After that, it’s important to keep them from taking over the garden: They wrap their spiky tendrils around everything in sight.

· Peppers

Green chiles, jalapenos, poblanos, and habaneros can add heat, flavor, or both to a pale ale, IPA, or stout. Many brewers add peppers to the secondary fermentation (like a dry hop) or make a pepper extract and add it just before bottling. Peppers are relatively easy to grow in a home garden, but they are sensitive to cold, so should be planted after the danger of frost has passed. They like plenty of direct sun and fertile, well-drained soil.

· Mint

Like hops, mint is easy to grow once it’s established. It tolerates poor drainage and varying amounts of watering, and it does well in partial sunshine. It’s best to contain mint, because it will happily take over an entire yard if allowed (which makes for aromatic mowing, but may not be desired). Once mint is harvested, it can be made into mint extract and added to the secondary fermentation. As with peppers, experiment with small batches: A little mint goes a long way.

Consider incorporating other garden crops into the home brew. Hopped beer is a relatively modern invention. Before that, brewers made gruit using herbs in place of hops, such as yarrow, marsh rosemary, juniper berries, ginger, caraway seed, aniseed, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Pumpkin and berries can also make tasty ale additions.

The most dedicated DIY homebrewers may want to grow barley. It’s relatively easy to grow, but harvesting and malting are labor-intensive.

5. Reuse spent grains

Once the beer is brewed, a homebrewer has pounds of spent grains. Don’t throw it away! It has all sorts of uses. Add spent grains to garden soil or a compost pile. Feed it to chickens. Or, even better, use it in a bread recipe (like this whole grain version) or to whip up a delicious spent-grain treat invented by the geniuses at the Brooklyn Brew Shop. Try their Spent Grain Peanut Butter Cookies,Spent Grain Brownies, or Spent Grain Waffles.

6. Reuse yeast

Rather than purchase new yeast each time, a brewer can reuse the same yeast five to ten times. After the first fermentation, save the yeast that settles on the bottom of the bucket or carboy, wash it, store it, and use it within a few weeks for the next batch. (This practice encourages back-to-back homebrew batches. Since homebrewing is more sustainable, it’s important to keep the inventory stocked.) If stored yeast sits longer than a few months, make a yeast starter to make sure it’s still viable.

7. Chill More Efficiently

Chilling the wort from 160 to 80 degrees is often the most wasteful process in homebrewing. Some brewers put the boiling pot of wort in the sink and run cold water to cool it down, which flushes gallons of clean water down the drain. It’s better to do an ice bath. Or fill recycled soda bottles with water, freeze, and use in place of ice. Afterward, return them to the freezer and reuse.

Try this handy trick when brewing malt kits. Purchase a reusable one-gallon food storage container. Fill it with water and freeze it. Then during the cool down, add the frozen block of ice to the wort in place of a gallon of water. It will help cool the wort quickly. Be careful to lower the ice gently to avoid splashing hot wort.

Immersion wort chillers are popular, because they cool rapidly, but they waste a lot of water. BloggerChris Jensen devised a way to use his without wasting water. He connects it to an aquarium pump and circulates the water through an ice-filled cooler and back into the chiller. Jensen says he’s cut his water waste by three quarters using this method.

8. Reuse water

No matter the chilling method, there is some wasted water. Water conservation is important, because it takes a lot of energy to treat and deliver. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60-watt lightbulb run for 22 hours.” Moreover, the EPA says, “With the U.S. population doubling over the past 50 years, our thirst for water tripling, and at least 36 states facing water shortages by 2013, the need to conserve water is becoming more and more critical.” Don’t flush clean water from the brewing process down the drain. Use it on the garden or house plants, or in the washing machine.

9. Downsize Container Waste

Most homebrewers reuse bottles, which is more sustainable than throwing store-bought containers in the recycle bin. To cut down on even more waste, use swing-top bottles. A kegging system eliminates packaging altogether. (However, kegging requires the energy and expense of running a small fridge, so homebrewers should take that into account when deciding which is more sustainable.)

10. Green the Clean

All equipment used in brewing must be clean and free from soap residue, and all equipment used after the boil must be sanitized. When possible, choose biodegradable, environmentally-friendlycleansers and sanitizers. Seven Bridges Cooperative, an online supplier of organic brewing ingredients, recommends using 5-Star PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) or Straight-A to clean andIodophor to sanitize. Use a refillable spray bottle to save water.

By adopting the above measures, homebrewers can be confident they are good stewards of the environment while making the delicious beverages they love. In the words of Charles Papazian, all that’s left to do is, “Relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew.”

If this article has you interested in brewing sustainably, check out these custom bar ideas.—http://www.custommade.com/gallery/custom-bars/

About our guest contributor:

Abby Quillen is the author of the novel The Garden of Dead Dreams and the editor of two anthologies. Her articles and essays have appeared in YES! Magazine and The Christian Science Monitor and on Common Dreams, Nation of Change, Reader Supported News, The Daily Good, Truthout, and Shareable. She lives in Eugene, Oregon, with her family. When she’s not writing, she grows vegetables and weeds, bikes and walks as much as she can, and jots down cute things her kids say.

 
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