I think most of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s, British or American, understand all too well the brutalist playground with its right angles, ugly architecture, and hard, hard surfaces. These examples are more extreme than our average playground but in the same universe as what we knew.
[Updated]
So in other news, Rachel Dolezal of Spokane Washington has been living a lie. She attended a HBCU, she has worked in a hair salon that caters to black women, she teaches part time at Eastern Washington university in the Africana studies program, she is the head of local chapter of the NAACP, and she is not actually black, although she has been dying her skin and living as a black woman for years.
Credibility of local NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal questioned
This deception has provoked quite an uproar on twitter, and many people are shocked and disappointed. And many people find it hilarious, that a white woman had for years essentially lived as a cariacature of a professional educated black person.
It provides fodder for strange conjectures, like how common is this? How many activists are in disguise? How much of identity politics is driven by people with little or no claim to the identity? Was David Duke really a tree frog?
But here’s where a bizarre case is going to get stupid. The story is getting national coverage, and before you know it, some asshole is going to ask why its OK for Caitlyn Jenner to live as a woman but not ok for Rachel Dolezal to live as a black woman? So, my question for you dear readers, is who is the highest profile person that makes that comparison? is it going to stay in the fever swamps of the wingnut blogosphere or is someone like George Will going to ask it on national TV?
[Provider Checking in.]
Didn’t catch the Sunday Funnies, but if not today the question will be begged within a week or two. Anyhoo, I only caught up with this story yesterday and had mixed feelings at least until I encountered the following:
One Saturday morning, my kids burst into my bedroom. “Mom, there’s a rope hanging in the backyard; it looks like a noose!” I raced outside as my mind instantly tracked back to the parting words of a colleague at Howard University when we left Washington, D.C., en route to Idaho. “Don’t go there; you’ll get lynched!” I remember brushing off her comment with some theoretical statement about not living in a culture of fear. But that day my sons found the noose really broke my heart in a certain kind of way. I hadn’t told them about all the other incidents of harassment toward us before that day; I wanted to be their shield against the wave of terror that kept me awake at night. And now they were faced with a symbol of death when picking garden strawberries for breakfast. The police came. They interviewed all three of us, mumbled something about us getting security cameras and logged the incident as a hate crime. Our house was burglarized not once, but several times. There were nooses, swastikas and death threats.
I am having difficulty parsing the angle of grift here, but the appropriation of the black experience in such a stereotypical manner is disturbing. It is a narrative, but smells inauthentic to me. I guess I am a bit jealous, as the only way I could possibly pass as a white person would require me wearing a white robe and a pointed hood…
…
Part of a new series where I write a cover letter based on job listings that catch my eye.
Dear hiring manager at “Visit Vancouver USA” (presumably Ms. Dierdre Vancouver herself):
I am writing to apply for the position of “Communications Specialist,” a position I was notified of in one of the three emails I received from LinkedIn today (despite the fact that I, like all Americans, tried to unsubscribe from LinkedIn emails about two years ago). I am intrigued by this position, and I’m looking for money and a way to
validate my minimal skill setutilize my talents, so I would like to offer myself up to this role.Let me start by telling you about myself. I was a journalist for about three years (seven if you count college, which I do, because college newspaper was SERIOUS BUSINESS the way I did it). I therefore know how to write, how to be paid very little, how to use a telephone, and how to fill up sentences with lots of words so they look right on a page, whether than be in a magazine, newspaper, brochure or website. I have the skills that you are looking for, including “a four-year degree” and “computer proficiency.” I notice you are also looking for someone who can handle multiple projects at a time, so I feel like I should tell you that, in addition to writing this cover letter, I am currently watching Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson being interviewed on the E! television network. I’m great at multi-tasking, and I’m also not quite sure whether The Rock would rather be called Dwayne or The Rock. I mean, I can totally understand not wanting to be called “The Rock” all the time if you’re trying to be taken “seriously” as an “actor.” On the other hand, though, his other option is “Dwayne,” which feels like a name fitting only for scandalized politicians or cartoon ducks. That’s a serious dilemma. Poor The Rock.
Anyway, I think I would be a great addition to your team. Here are some examples of marketing ideas I have for Vancouver USA that could help you get more visitors and residents.
- I notice that on LinkedIn you have listed your job’s location as “Portland, Oregon Area.” This is a clear sign of the city’s inferiority complex. If you want to establish your own identity, maybe start with an attitude adjustment in your own office. You also have a clear “No Telecommuting” line in job description, which is a transparent caveat screaming “PEOPLE TRY TO DO THIS JOB AND LIVE IN PORTLAND AND THEN THEY REALIZE THE COMMUTE IS TERRIBLE.” Just calm down. Be Vancouver. Don’t be “Portland, Oregon Area.”
- A subset of the above: please stop trying to tell people you are part of Portland. I have friends I love very dearly who live in Vancouver, but they are just too far away to be considered “in Portland.” Think about what’s more pleasant: “I’m going up to Vancouver as a day trip to visit Doug & Betsy” versus “God I don’t want to drive all the way to Vancouver just for dinner, I like Doug & Betsy but they aren’t worth THAT…” See? You are CLOSE to Portland, but you aren’t IN Portland. Set realistic expectations and everyone is happy.
- Emphasize Your Selling Points, Not Your Weaknesses. Your current motto: “Discover the Original,” seems to display that you think you’re in competition with Vancouver, BC, an enormous city with Poutine, Olympic Stadiums, Neighborhoods, a SKY TRAIN, and 600,000 delightful Canadians. You aren’t in the same league with Vancouver, BC, but you do have a lot to offer, including a nearby Wal*Mart (great for black Friday deals!), houses with great yards for owning dogs, and shops where anyone over the age of 21 can legally buy marijuana (I’m told.) Don’t worry so much about trying to do well what other places do better. Stick to your unique qualities! You truly are a great city, and when people stop comparing you to Portland and Vancouver BC they will notice this. Perhaps instead of “Discover the Original,” your motto should be “The Perfect Place For Some People,” or “A Great Place To Live Without The Rent Markup That Comes From Being The Subject Of An IFC Show.”
- This is a personal pet peeve, but please don’t ever ever ever use the word “Marcom” (this is in the first sentence of the job description). I get it, it’s “Marketing/Communications.” But “Marketing/Communications” doesn’t take that long to say. This is like abbreviating “Social Media” to “Somed” or “Microsoft Office” to “Mycroft [Holmes, brother of Sherlock, first of his name].” It’s strange and off-putting.
I have many more great marketing ideas, but of course I don’t want to give you all of them—you’ll have no reason to hire me! Best of luck being Vancouver! You can find my resume, salary requirements, and a headshot I drew with crayons at: linkedin.com/files/88/aw5560/thecouv-version2-finalREALfinal.pdf
-Angela Webber
The ‘couv is not Portland, Oregon area! The 'couv is the 'couv.
If lemonade is outlawed, only outlaws will sell lemonade.
From USA Today:
Little Andria Green and her sister Zoey were breaking Texas law by operating a lemonade stand outside of their home without a permit. After cops shut them down, Andria said, "We were doing just fine until the cops came."
[via DEVOUR]
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SophianotlorenAt least it's not a racoon. those things are creepy fuckers.
A California Spotted Owl (Strix o. occidentalis) chick watches visitors from its perch at Yosemite National Park in California, USA.
photograph: National Park Service
(via: Yosemite National Park)
In response to a recent scuffle between a Goodreads reviewer and an author, BookRiot offers this advice to authors:
But it’s not just the one-or-two-star reviews. I also don’t think authors should respond to positive reviews, even to say thanks — the dynamic is too weird. Perhaps not all reviewers feel as I do, but I think the reviewing space needs to be its own thing, unadulterated by the feeling of the author’s hot breath on the reviewer’s neck as they try to make an honest assessment of the work in front of them.
A statue of Vladimir the Great in Kiev (photo by Andrew Butko)
A towering statue of Vladimir the Great is causing a great deal of anger in Moscow and beyond. The 78-foot-tall bronze likeness of the Slav prince who in 988 CE became the first Christian ruler of Rus — a nation considered to be a precursor to modern Russia — is still in sculptor Salavat Scherbakov’s studio, but its intended location atop a pedestal in front of Moscow State University (MSU) has locals up in arms over fears that the enormous monument will ruin the city’s skyline, the Guardian reports.
Some 60,000 local residents signed a petition demanding a new site be chosen for the statue, which is scheduled to be installed in November as part of celebrations marking 1,000 years since Vladimir’s death. No public input was sought before the Russian Military-Historical Society (RMHS), which is organizing the construction of the memorial, announced the intended site overlooking Moskva River. Another petition demanding the statue be relocated was signed by 2,000 students and faculty at Moscow State University. Meanwhile, activists affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church gathered 52,000 signatures in support of the project.
Renderings of the Vladimir the Great statue (image courtesy the Russian Military Historical Society, via histrf.ru) (click to enlarge)
“It’s OK to put up busts of scientists and small statues in front of the university buildings because that goes with the creator’s idea of what the whole area is about,” Rustam Rakhmatullin, the founder and coordinator of Russia’s Archnadzor architectural conservation movement, told the Moscow Times. “But a gigantic object like this monument is just alien to it … The law on cultural heritage sites says very clearly that any major construction on the territory of such sites is not allowed.”
While New York City just introduced legislation that would require public review for public art projects, Moscow has no such laws, hence the lack of input from citizens and preservationists or consideration for their preferences. Nevertheless, on Monday the RMHS submitted a proposal to consider other sites for the statue of Vladimir the Great, the Moscow Times reports, citing “geological risks” rather than aesthetic concerns or public feedback as the reason. “They can be dealt with, I guess,” said RMHS deputy director Vladislav Kononov, “but if it costs too much, alternative places for the monument should be considered.”
Beyond its implications for one of the city’s most iconic vistas, the Moscow statue is seen by many as a massive bronze pawn in Russian president Vladimir Putin’s ideological game to justify the annexation of Crimea, where Vladimir the Great was baptized. Putin has made honoring his Slavic namesake a patriotic duty, one that dovetails with both his support for the Orthodox Church and the Crimean annexation.
Renderings of the Vladimir the Great statue (image courtesy the Russian Military Historical Society, via histrf.ru)
“It was here, in Crimea, in ancient Chersonesus, or Korsun as the Russian chroniclers called it, that Prince Vladimir took baptism, before he baptized all of Rus,” Putin said in a speech in December. He added: “Christianity was a powerful spiritual unifying force for the state. It was on this spiritual soil that our ancestors first, and for all time, became aware of themselves as a single people.”
Crucially, however, the administrative center of Vladimir the Great’s Rus state was Kiev, where a large monument to the prince stands watch over the city. Some see in Scherbakov’s monument an attempt by Moscow to claim the 10th century prince as its own. “It’s obvious that this isn’t an aesthetic or cultural decision, but a political one,” said Alexei Venediktov of Radio Echo Moscow. “It’s a message to the Ukrainian capital to say: ‘St Vladimir is ours, not yours.’” For now at least, that towering message’s final resting place remains unknown.
Sophianotlorenvia Tadeu
Kaspersky says the attackers became entrenched in its networks some time last year.
The post Kaspersky Finds New Nation-State Attack—In Its Own Network appeared first on WIRED.
SophianotlorenYup. Pretty much.
Warning: some language
Sophianotloren~headdesk~
via Rosalind
(image via Instagram/darlenechab)
Francophiles were heartbroken last week when French authorities removed the iconic padlocks that lovers have been attaching to the Pont des Arts bridge for decades. Now there’s a small consolation: in place of the locks, the city has installed a temporary art exhibition around the theme of love.
The installation was curated by Mehdi Ben Cheikh, who has spent the past 10 years nurturing street art through his organization Galerie Itinerrance. Cheikh has spearheaded a number of visionary projects, including the painting of a 10-story apartment building slated for demolition, a small Tunisian village, and a drab Paris highway. He once told the New York Times, “Street art is the biggest and most unique art movement in history because of its global impact and its lack of dependence on conventional institutions, and my role is to help it develop and reach across borders.”
Thanks to Cheikh, the bridge now features more than 200 decorated wooden panels by four urban artists. From Lyon, Brusk patterned his trademark multi-colored streaks over an iron grid pattern reminiscent of the old railing; the panel is punctuated with giant pink words that announce “Love is the Key.” Jace painted his “Gouzous” characters to act out typical and comic tourist scenarios, while the Portuguese artist Pantonio painted an abstraction of tense strings breaking at the center, evocative of a break-up. Perhaps most fascinating of all, the Tunisian-born artist eL Seed quoted Balzac’s line, “Paris is a veritable ocean, probe it but you will never know its depth,” in Arabic script — a nod to the city’s large but often marginalized Arab minority. “I thought it was brave … to put up an Arabic sentence in Paris,” Cheikh told Reuters.
(image courtesy Galerie Itinerrance)
Not all are impressed. Shortly after the artwork went up, someone spray painted the conspiratorial question, “Où sont les cadenas?” (“Where are the padlocks?”) in angry black letters over Brusk’s work. For many, artwork just won’t be able to replace the historic locks, though the decision to remove them was probably a good one. In the past eight years alone, over 700,000 of them had been attached to the bridge, so that by the end it was holding 45 tons of extra weight it was never designed for. Sections of the 19th-century railing had even begun to collapse.
Hopefully Paris considers staging more art exhibitions on the bridge in lieu of its current plan. It has announced that later this year it will install permanent lock-proof plexiglass panels, but these are likely to only get plastered with graffiti — and not the kind French officials would likely appreciate. At the very least, they should consider scrapping the plastic design for a metal one proposed by British architect Colin Kovacs. It features balusters that alternatively start and stop just short of the top and bottom railings, making it impossible to attach locks to them. “It maintains the motif that’s all over — that is balustrades with a cross on them — but with an original twist,” he told The Local. “It’s not modern, but it’s a little modern. I don’t think a 19th-century designer would have come up with it.”
“Where are the padlocks?” (image via Instagram/in_your_opinion)
A proposed design for the bridge railing by architect Colin Kovaks (image courtesy Colin Kovaks)
(image courtesy Galerie Itinerrance)
(image courtesy Galerie Itinerrance)
(image courtesy Galerie Itinerrance)
(image courtesy Galerie Itinerrance)
(image courtesy Galerie Itinerrance)
(image courtesy Galerie Itinerrance)
(image courtesy Galerie Itinerrance)
(image via Instagram/madimado75)
(image courtesy Galerie Itinerrance)
this is mad intense im not even kidding
so my roommate pranked me today:
but i got her back:
fun fact: I told her there were 29
but there were only 25
Sophianotlorenand if there was any chance of having the money to buy instead of download, I just might.
sometimes i feel bad downloading stuff illegally but then i remember i don’t care
armageddonnn“Ok dost thou finger thyself?(;”
hamlet was the original fuck boy
what if’t be true i was there with thee?
ha, ha, and thence what?
Fixed it
what the fuck is english english
Sean Connery is Scottish so he clearly isn’t “English English”.
Pierce Brosnan is Irish so he clearly isn’t “English English”.
Timothy Dalton is Welsh so he clearly isn’t “English English”.
George Lazenby is Australian so he clearly isn’t “English English”.
There have been more non-English Bond stars than English ones so Roger Moore can shove his racist views up his racist arse. He was a shit Bond anyway.
IT GOT BETTER.
SophianotlorenEspecially since they weren't, not for 90% of my lifetime... but I'm a woman, now, and though my nipples are exactly the same as they always were, they've become illegal to display and censored in many places where they're not "illegal."
TL;DR -- shit's fucked up.
I can’t believe my nipples are illegal
Sophianotlorenvia Rosalind
Almost half of these don't apply, and the rest I'm a fairly even mix of left and right!
alex-v-hernandezyou can tell a lot about a person by what conversation options they pick during video games
