kestrell: (Default)
I had this idea for a fanfic last night right before bedtime, and I need to find the time to write it, but it's pretty self-explanatory: Alligator Loki is the lead guitarist in a rock band, and this is his signature song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV3AziKTBUo
kestrell: (Default)
And for a bonus they all feature actresses and actors over 50. Actually, not all of these shows are British, but I was looking for shows that are smart and relatively low on violence--I've watched Ripper Street and I've read piles of Scandinavian noir, but I just can't handle anything that violent anymore. There's something about the weather getting colder that causes me to crave British mysteries.
https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/television/info-2020/mystery-shows-to-binge.html
kestrell: (Default)
During the Covid-19 quarantine, many schools, offices, and social groups have turned to the Zoom conferencing software for online meetings.

For a visually impaired user, Zoom, with all its buttons and settings, can seem intimidating, but there are many resources to assist visually impaired computer and smartphone users to access Zoom.

First of all, it is recommended that you
download
https://zoom.us/download#client_4meeting
and install
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207373866-Zoom-Installers
the free Zoom app onto whatever device you are going to use, such as your Windows PC, Mac, iPhone, Android, etc. This will not only give you access to additional features, but make joining meetings easier.

If you are comfortable exploring Zoom on your own, you can find the list of
Zoom Hot keys and keyboard shortcuts here
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205683899-Hot-Keys-and-Keyboard-Shortcuts-for-Zoom
Read more... )
kestrell: (Default)
When I think about media's potential to teach children seemingly complicated subjects, I always come back to Schoolhouse Rock. How many other people reading this can recite the preamble to the Constitution? I'll count it even if you have to lalala through a few passages or, like me, sing it in order to remember it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnVmIrAiQB8
kestrell: (Default)
Nnedi Okorafor's new memoir, _Broken Places and Outer Spaces_, is due to be out on June 18, and it is my most anticipated book of this summer. Until a few weeks ago, I had never heard about how Okorafor was an athlete until she became paralyzed after an operation, and it was this disability that changed her course toward becoming a writer.
Read this recent Chicago Tribune article for more
Flossmoor. (Being George R.R. Martin's protege doesn't hurt.)

https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ae-nnedi-okorafor-sci-fi-0526-story.html
kestrell: (Default)
This is a new play which is to be performed in Jan. 2020 by Back to Back Theatre, an Australian troupe which includes members with disabilities.

Here is the description from https://backtobacktheatre.com/projects/shadow/

Five activists with intellectual disabilities hold a public meeting to start a frank and open conversation about a history we would prefer not to know, and a future that is ambivalent.

Weaving a narrative through the ethics of mass food production, human rights, the social impact of automation and the projected dominance of artificial intelligence in the world, The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes is about the changing nature of intelligence in contemporary society.

A theatrical revelation inspired by mistakes, misreadings, misleadings and misunderstanding, SHADOW reminds us that none of us are self-sufficient and all of us are responsible.

The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes will be performed at the Emerson Theatre in January 2020
https://artsemerson.org/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=53A9FE97-3EFF-4FF2-B3C1-1FF60753389A
kestrell: (Default)
The article is in part an opinion piece by Dr. Sajay Gupta, a popular scientist, but it's also a fascinating examination of how scientific research can contain biases which have a really big impact on attitudes not only in the public, but in doctors themselves.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/health/gupta-changed-mind-marijuana/
kestrell: (Default)
Just in case you hadn't heard of this yet:
_William Shakespeare's Star Wars_
by Ian Doescher (2013)

Synopsis:
Return once more to a galaxy far, far away with this sublime retelling of George Lucas's epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare's greatest plays. 'Tis a tale told by fretful droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearstome Stormtroopers, signifying...pretty much everything.Reimagined in glorious iambic pentameter--and complete with twenty gorgeous Elizabethan illustrations--William Shakespeare's Star Wars will astound and edify Rebels and Imperials alike. Zounds! This is the book you're looking for.
kestrell: (Default)
I *love* the first (and, so far, only) book of this series, _Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead_, so this is pretty exciting for me, and I may even try to find the TV. The series is set in New Orleans and, while the blurb for the series makes it sound like the female protagonist is a goofball, the book doesn't portray her like that at all.

Claire DeWitt follows in a long tradition of occult detectives and, in addition (a twist which just tickles my metatextual soul), she often cites a mysterious manual written by a French detective who seems to be fond of dwelling on the metaphysical. I'm hoping that the TV series sticks to this sort of character, because the curmudgeonly Claire is one of my favorite female investigators, and I would rather the character not end up being another Harry Dresden in drag. I realize that this will probably be problematical for TV, which seems to require at least one sexual interlude per episode, because viewers tend to prefer titillation over characterization, sigh.
http://www.omnimysterynews.com/2013/03/telemystery-tnt-developing-crime-drama-based-on-sara-grans-claire-dewitt-mysteries-1303051430.html?utm_source
kestrell: (Default)
whenever I have spent any amount of time listening to people angst as they drive around the Boston area; today I listened to Alexx and his dad compare the differing results they got using GoogleMaps to drive around Arlington.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJnDMq0PxJw

Though my most vivid memory is still the first time I ever heard a Boston driver yell "Where is the road?? It was here yesterday!".
kestrell: (Default)
who hears this song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQFV1FXAU_g
and thnks"He sounds so...subby."

Think there is a fetish version of the costume yet?
kestrell: (Default)
it would be to include a button which the screen reader user can locate and click on, like the buttons labeled "Play" in this article
http://www.flavorwire.com/330988/10-emmy-awards-2012-moments-people-will-be-talking-about?all=1
I think that this is about as much TV as I have watched in the past year, but love those accents! Who is the nice man who reprimands Seth MacFarlane with "That's what happens when you don't come to rehearsals?" I want a sound clip of just that sentence. Also, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is awesome.
kestrell: (Default)
The Boston LGBT Film Festival will be May 3rd - 13th. Check out this year's Highlights and Events. We hope to see you there.

For more details, visit: http://www.bostonlgbtfilmfest.org/special-events

May 9th - Wednesday
Sci-fi Night & Reception
Brattle Theatre

7 - 8:30 Outland, Part I

8:30 - 9:30 CasablancaReception

9:30 - 11 Outland, Part II

Join us for Sci-fi Night with a hilarious Australian comedy tv show that revolves around a gay science fiction club. Following Part I, join us at Casablanca for drinks and free apps. Finish the night off back at the Brattle for Part II.
more special events listed below )
kestrell: (Default)
It turns out that my new HD radio receives a station which is all psychic/paranormal talk, all the time, and tonight's discussion involves paranormal parasites! They're organized and they're social (and not just at SF conventions)!
More at
http://www.behindtheparanormal.com/
kestrell: (Default)
Prompted by the big revelation of the final episode of Lost.

Me: I'm breaking up with you because you never seem interested in what I want.

XBF: What? I am too interested in what you want.

Me: No, you aren't. You say you are, but we always end up doing what you want while I sit around bored watching you do whatever it is you want to do, which is usually the same thing you did last time we spent time together. I don't think you take this relationship seriously.

XBF: I take our relationship seriously.

Me: No, you're just in it for what you can get, like my Neilsen rating. You're boring and predictible and I'm breaking up with you.

XBF: I'll change. Really. I want us to be together years from now.

Me: You said that last time I wanted to break up with you. And the time before that. I'm not falling for that line anymore. I feel like you're just going through the motions and not even trying to keep me interested. The last few times we were together, I found myself staring into space imagining doing something more exciting, like listening to paint dry.

XBF: I'm exciting.

Me: Sure you are, sweetie, and some day you'll find someone who can really appreciate everything you have to offer. I'm sure there are a lot of lonely invertebrates out there. Now this is me reaching for the remote.

XBF: No, wait! Don't leave me! I need you! Who's going to prop up my singking ratings?

Me: *Click*
kestrell: (Default)
It's so nice to see that
the FTC has finally entered the 20th century
http://www.edrants.com/interview-with-the-ftcs-richard-cleland/
and is sparing no effort to catch up with 20th century publishing.

Every time a representative of the United States government speaks on the subject of the state of media I just feel safer ans safer, knowing that my well-being is in the competent hands of a truly knowledgeable and experienced professional.

Thus, I submit for your consideration,

Quote 1
block quote start
Cleland informed me that the FTC’s main criteria is the degree of relationship between the advertiser and the blogger.

“The primary situation is where there’s a link to the sponsoring seller and the blogger,” said Cleland. And if a blogger repeatedly reviewed similar products
(say, books or smartphones), then the FTC would raise an eyebrow if the blogger either held onto the product or there was any link to an advertisement.

What was the best way to dispense with products (including books)?

“You can return it,” said Cleland. “You review it and return it. I’m not sure that type of situation would be compensation.”

If, however, you held onto the unit, then Cleland insisted that it could serve as “compensation.” You could after all sell the product on the streets.
block quote end

Quote 2
block quote start
But what’s the difference between an individual employed at a newspaper assigned to cover a beat and an individual blogger covering a beat of her own volition?

“We are distinguishing between who receives the compensation and who does the review,” said Cleland. “In the case where the newspaper receives the book
and it allows the reviewer to review it, it’s still the property of the newspaper. Most of the newspapers have very strict rules about that and on what
happens to those products.”

In the case of books, Cleland saw no problem with a blogger receiving a book, provided there wasn’t a linked advertisement to buy the book and that the
blogger did not keep the book after he had finished reviewing it. Keeping the book would, from Cleland’s standpoint, count as “compensation” and require a disclosure.

But couldn’t the same thing be said of a newspaper critic?

Cleland insisted that when a publisher sends a book to a blogger, there is the expectation of a good review. I informed him that this was not always the
case and observed that some bloggers often receive 20 to 50 books a week. In such cases, the publisher hopes for a review, good or bad. Cleland didn’t
see it that way.

“If a blogger received enough books,” said Cleland, “he could open up a used bookstore.”

block quote end
My own experience as a blogger and online reviewer completely supports this obviously well-thought out statement--because if there is any business which promises more financial reimbursement for your time and energy spent as an online book reviewer, it is owning a used bookstore. I've known many a young and penniless but hardworking lad who began his existence as a poor book reviewer and then managed to earn his fortune and become one of those gentlemen used bookstore owners who may take their ease. Really, the only thing simpler is finding a rich girl to marry.
kestrell: (Default)
has kestrels.

And steampunk dragons.

But mostly--kestrels!

Alexx and I were playing this on the t last night ont he way home from the Arisia Con Com meeting, which is veeeeeerrrry dangerous, as we are prone to getting caught up in questions such as "Okay, we have gungie cord, what do we attach that to?" (the fire hydrant was not as robust a solution as I had hoped).

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