Posts by Danielle
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Taste is the enemy of art, Emma. :)
actually changing people's minds on something they are wrong about
Has this ever actually happened? I imagine it to be something like the internet version of the sasquatch: widely rumoured to exist, but only crazy people have seen it.
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half-baked gobbets of Belich and Orange
Ah, jeez. Do *I* have to have a fight with Craig now? Is it my turn? Or are you saying that their interpretation by teachers is half-baked, rather than their ideas?
And I second Kyle's argument for learning NZ history in high school. I'm thoroughly disturbed by how little I knew about New Zealand before I went to university. It does tend to help with that whole 'becoming a productive member of our society' thing.
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My 5th form history teacher, Mr Bailey, would have had something serious to say about that.
Mr Bailey was an excellent history teacher, but not infallible: he was totally wrong about that whole 'you are going to fail university miserably if you skip seventh form!' rant he gave me. Not that my MA (Hons) - in history! - and I are sitting over here being pathetically bitter about it fifteen years later at the mere mention of his name, or anything like that. Because, you know, that would be immature and lame. ;)
(Coincidentally, Edmund Burke is my great-grand-gobbledy-uncle. No, seriously, he is.)
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Would it be more environmentally sound to spatchcock and/or sear some random children, leaving the tuna to roam the seas at will?*
*with apologies to Jonathan Swift
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how many of the blogs you read are written by women?
I find this question problematic, Julie, because I tend to read blogs in several categories:
- people I know/friends from various places, online and IRL
- issues which interest me (in my case, these subcategories are mostly TV, music, film, US politics, celeb gossip, and feminism. PA is in the 'general interest' category - I usually read all the posts, even if I have no idea what they're talking about. Red letter days, for me, are those with Jolisa/Fiona posts, though.)Now, I'd say that the 'people I know' category is fairly evenly split between men and women, but the other categories are sort of interesting when you break them down. Because the feminist stuff is usually written by women, and everything else is predominantly written by men. FourFour is written by a gay man, so I get a minority voice there - but how important is it that he is a gay blogger? The (hilarious and wonderful) blog is primarily about pop-cultural issues like America's Next Top Model and how much he loves Daft Punk, so... I don't know. In other words, I'm slightly dubious about how much a 'quota' of different voices helps my reading. But on the other hand, I *do* find it disturbing that most political blogs, or musical blogs, are a straight-white-penis-party. (And in fact, another community weblog I read, Metafilter, recently went through a fairly large upheaval about sexism within the ranks of its posters, and whether or not women felt comfortable posting there.)
In other words: I am conflicted. Uh, I suppose that helps not one iota. Sorry. :)
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And when my mastery of the ukulele is complete, we shall never again be intimidated by those other communities of weblogs, with their show-off lesbian midgets or their fancy epileptic vegetarians. Poo to them.
I forgot to say: I think this is simultaneously one of the weirdest out-of-context - and one of the funniest in-context - paragraphs ever written.
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I took up the ukulele a few years back, little realising that I was part of the zeitgeist (the same thing happened with knitting). I am truly dreadful at it, but I do have the chords for Toy Love's 'Rebel', kindly supplied by a real musician friend, and every now and then I have a bash.
I can, however, do a reasonable two-finger-typing-esque uke version of 'Po Atarau / Now is the Hour' (as long as I don't break into a storm of weeping in the middle of it, which is always a possibility).
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I've never watched a single reality TV episode from start to finish.
You're missing out. If there is a more unexpectedly delightful unscripted character than Isaac from the Real World Sydney, I'd like to meet him. And possibly create a religion that worships him.
Also: currently obsessing over the Amazing Race Asia. The contestants *yell* so much less than in the US version. It's almost relaxing.
In 'quality' TV news, I have just finished watching season three of The Wire. I am practically Bubbles-like in my desire for the season four DVDs. It is SO GOOD.
(Obfeminist content: I blame the patriarchy.)
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However, it is really cool when Tze Ming or Jolisa post something that sparks off a feminist-centred discussion. I wouldn't mind more of that, even if it was from a guy.
Word.
Also, not to get all Pollyanna on your asses, but twelve years ago when I first beheld the miracle of the interweb, there were so few women around that merely contributing to online discussion was a feminist act, it seemed like. So there is progress, lots of it. I don't think we should be totally discouraged or anything.
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My own personal nominations would be for Heather, Jo, Robyn or Danielle, leaving aside that whole 'has their own perfectly functional and popular blog'
I am truly honoured to be mentioned, Emma! It must be noted, however, that although I do have a generally unpublicised, barely functional and not at all popular blog, my last three posts were a) a list of dumb names I call my dogs; b) the top ten reasons why I think the Pixies still rule; and c) a fangirl gush about New York from Flavor of Love. Yes, I am thoroughly vapid and inane. 'Not a credit to her sex', as the Progressive reformers used to say of prostitutes and actresses. I assume guest-blogging on PAS is more likely to be all about, you know, actual well-reasoned arguments and stuff...?