EY Commonplace Book

Announcing the release of Rated R for Rapist

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 14:01:00 -0400

The Irregular Gentlewomen are proud to announce the 1.0 release of Rated R for Rapist! This is an open-source app created to provide information about whether a movie has been made in part by people who have chosen to collaborate with or otherwise support Roman Polanski.

Collaboration, for the purposes of this project, is defined as credited in a production in which Roman Polanski is also credited. Other support can include being a signatory on a petition, making comments on the record in a public forum such as an interview or press conference, or writing an editorial.

A Vague Disclaimer Is Nobody’s Friend

We make no claim to complete accuracy in the results provided by this tool. The information used in determining if a movie has been made in part by Roman Polanski collaborators or supporters is drawn from the following sources:

It is possible, indeed probable, indeed certain, that there are further collaborators and supporters of Polanski’s career and decisions. (We have not gone looking for any of the many op-eds written in 2009 to include the authors thereof, for example.)

In short: Roman Polanski has been working in the film industry, American and European, for decades. He is undeniably a talented filmmaker and therefore enjoys the support of many of his fellow filmmakers. Because we live in a society which excuses, minimizes, and avoids thinking about rape, he has been able to retain that support even though he is an admitted rapist.

We are not interested in debating, discussing, or engaging with the question of whether Polanski’s life, history, and/or talent provide mitigating circumstances; this project operates on the assumptions that (a) drugging and raping a thirteen-year-old is not an excusable action, (b) to attempt to excuse such an action allies one with the rapist rather than the survivor, and (c) to choose not to support, financially or otherwise, the work of a rapist or those who support a rapist is an ethical action. Many people — including both the authors of this project — have independently made such a choice; this tool is meant only to provide information to make it easier to follow through on that choice.

These are our premises; we do not intend to defend or explain them beyond this statement.

"“It’s said it takes seven years to grow completely new skin cells. To think, this year I will..."

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:01:14 -0400

“

“It’s said it takes seven years
to grow completely new skin cells.

To think, this year I will grow
into a body you never will

have touched.”

”

- Brett Elizabeth Jenkins (via writingsforwinter)

dduane: (via Linguists identify 15,000-year-old ‘ultraconserved...

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:01:05 -0400

dduane:

(via Linguists identify 15,000-year-old ‘ultraconserved words’ - The Washington Post)

ungemmed: hummeline: indefenseofart: I’ve posted earlier...

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:01:16 -0400

ungemmed:

hummeline:

indefenseofart:

I’ve posted earlier about Art inspired desserts at the Blue Bottle Coffee Bar at SF MOMA. But now the full cookbook by Caitlin Freeman is out, featuring a series of modern art inspired deliciousness!!

SCREAMING!

Reblogging for E.

Hey why don’t you move back to DC so that we can bake all of these in sequence? :D

Because you should move to New York so we can bake all of these in sequence. :D:D:D

dimisfit: thestarlighthotel: Kelp Forest by Lee Root Isn’t it...

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:39:32 -0400

Kelp Forest by Lee Root

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lar3/

dimisfit:

thestarlighthotel:

Kelp Forest by Lee Root

Isn’t it amazing that places like this exist? I would have never even imagined it. Truth is always stranger than fiction.

My New Englander is showing.

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 22:30:00 -0400

elizabethyalkut: I have Opinions on maple syrup, okay
ungemmed: haha
elizabethyalkut: Maple syrup is IMPORTANT it is the LIFE FORCE OF TREES AND TASTY TO BOOT

edgarsaitjones: finofilipinold: Engranajes de caracol. El de...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:01:24 -0400

edgarsaitjones:

finofilipinold:

Engranajes de caracol.

El de abajo gira a velocidad constante.

Oh god, Fibonacci gears!!

Dear Diane and Peter,

Please stop giving me frontispieces for novels I haven’t written yet.

Love,
Elizabeth

Day 3: sea shanty. The Singing County Sandstone, flushed as though the wind whispers compliments,...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:36:00 -0400

Day 3: sea shanty.

The Singing County

Sandstone, flushed as though the wind whispers compliments, carves them into the rock.
Step wrong in the graveyard, and the cliff drops straight into the open throat of waves.
Follow the curved tongue of the causeway, behind the teeth of the Mount, try to hear the secrets.
This is a speaking country, a singing county
where the language is dying,
where the voice of the sea
drowns mine.

Those who know me will be able to pinpoint the source of much of this poem — my first trip to Cornwall, England, in 2009. One of the most gorgeous, extraordinary, inspiring places I’ve ever been, one of the places I am drawn back to.

I have a really hard time writing poetry with a regular meter or rhyme scheme, so today’s NaPoWriMo prompt sea shanty was not going to work for me in a literal form. Instead I chose to write about a place where the sea itself, the industries of it, shapes everything.

(The Cornish language is one of the Brythonic Celtic languages; it was declared no longer extinct by UNESCO in 2010, and you can hear Cornish poet Pol Hodge read one of his works on YouTube.)

dduane: halcyoneblue: shalombayitdebbie: thislilblogofmine: I...

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:29:14 -0400

dduane:

halcyoneblue:

shalombayitdebbie:

thislilblogofmine:

I have 2 words for this spider:

ceruleancynic:

teratocybernetics:

natural-magics:

lexreon:

Oh my god look at this beauty. It’s a fucking purple and gold spider.

Purple and gold spider.

Source: Reddit.com

this… is a spider that is both pretty and adorable *brain explodes*

!!

LOOK HOW BEAUTIFUL

OH WOW. IS THAT FOR REAL. I love spiders. Even if that were a toy, it’s like—oh something I would buy for a gift.

Then again, some people really like my gifts. Some don’t.

I think these guys outshine scarab beetles….

Oh wow, the cuteness. How pretty they are!

Has this been identified yet? Because FRONTISPIECE. If it’s Photoshop, I am going to be so disappointed. (If it’s not Photoshop, why was this not in every biology textbook I ever had?)

Species and genus, people.

jeffreymann: White Blue Peacock This bird is a crossbreed...

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:54:00 -0500

jeffreymann:

White Blue Peacock

This bird is a crossbreed between blue and white peacocks. The result is one spectacular creature.

Suzanne says this photoset gave her a new life goal: become a peacock. Mine is comparatively more modest: write a peacock novel and have this as the frontispiece. (No, I don’t know what that novel would be about. As if that is going to stop me.)

Midnight Suns - Plunge Magazine

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:45:00 -0500

Midnight Suns - Plunge Magazine:

ungemmed:

She kept resurrecting me so I kept dying. I know I seem naive in the story but stop for a minute, think. If Set is so transparent to you, could he possibly have been so opaque to me, his own brother Osiris?

I sold a story. It has lots of queer women in it. You should go read it.

Betsy wrote an awesome story and you should absolutely read it.

Dowry

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:17:00 -0500

Dowry:

DOWRY

The world is wily and doesn’t want to be caught. Susan Mitchell

I tell you
I am searching for poetry
for you. That I have not found it.
That I am horribly, horribly afraid that I will have to write it.
I say it casually, teasingly—

oh, my goodness, what an awful fate, writing poetry for you.

Somehow, this feels like the most profound explanation of the...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 11:25:37 -0500

Somehow, this feels like the most profound explanation of the concept that no one is noticing your awkwardness because they’re too busy worrying about their own that I have ever encountered.

jcalanthe: stickingupforsammy: “If I were to create a ratings...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 11:20:00 -0500

jcalanthe:

stickingupforsammy:

“If I were to create a ratings system, I wouldn’t even put murder right at the top of the chief offenses. I would put rape right at the top of the chief offenses, and the assault against women. Because it’s so insanely overused and insulting how much it’s overused in movies as a plot device: a woman in peril. That, to me, is offensive. Yet that shit skates.”

—Kevin Smith, This Film is Not Yet Rated

I have complicated feelings about Kevin Smith, but I adore him because he’ll stand up & say stuff like this.

Betsy, we gotta whitelist Keven Smith.

Colin: [on Mamma Mia] I think it’s one of the best things I...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 11:18:36 -0500

Colin: [on Mamma Mia] I think it’s one of the best things I have ever done. People expect me to apologize for it and I am completely unapologetic. Right now I would say, if you asked me the three things for which I am most proud I would say it is A Single Man, The King’s Speech and Mamma Mia.
Interviewer: How hard was it to get you to do the scene that’s used for the closing credits?
Colin: You know what, that may be the reason I did the movie.
Interviewer: You have no shame.
Colin: Yes. I’m sorry, if one thing has come out of 60 Minutes is that we have discovered, we’ve unveiled the fact that Colin Firth has no shame. I am such a drag queen. It’s one of my primary driving forces in life. You cannot dangle a spandex suit and a little bit of mascara in front of me and not just have me go weak at the knees.

I can only aspire to be this badass.

"[Painters and poets] looked at people and saw angels; [Galileo] looked at the heavens, and didn’t."

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 11:38:03 -0500

“[Painters and poets] looked at people and saw angels; [Galileo] looked at the heavens, and didn’t.”

- Adam Gopnik, Moon Man, The New Yorker

kawrage: A Mosque Among The Stars was the first anthology that...

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:25:54 -0500

kawrage:

A Mosque Among The Stars was the first anthology that dealt with the subject of Muslim characters and/or Islamic themes and Science Fiction. It was edited by me (Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad) and the Canadian Muslim author Ahmad Khan. It came out in 2007. Now that it has been years since it was released in printed form, we have decided to release A Mosque Among The Stars to the public as a Creative Commons Licensed (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs) book. This means that you can download it for free and share with others as long as you dont make any changes to it and also do it for free. So without much further ado here is where you can download the book.

Download the Book (PDF)

DOWNLOADING.

Willow: Remember, if you hurt her, I will beat you to death with...

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:22:31 -0500

Willow: Remember, if you hurt her, I will beat you to death with a shovel.
(Riley looks blank. Scared? Constipated? We’ll never know.)
Willow: A vague disclaimer is nobody’s friend. Have fun! (She smiles brightly and pats Riley on the shoulder.)

Polly Guo: allofmystupids: “Thompson adds, “When I ask people what basis there is...

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 12:03:20 -0500

Polly Guo: allofmystupids: “Thompson adds, “When I ask people what basis there is...:

allofmystupids:

“Thompson adds, “When I ask people what basis there is for Gatsby being white, I get silence. I have asked students, colleagues. They don’t know. They cannot give me any evidence to back up the speculation. And why haven’t people made this argument so far?” Fitzgerald…

There’s also an interesting reading of Daisy as black, or of black ancestry (for example), which I’ve never seen get much attention.

Sony Issues Dylan CDs to Extend Copyright

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 15:04:45 -0500

Sony Issues Dylan CDs to Extend Copyright:

Two spokesmen for Sony confirmed that the set was legitimate, its bootleglike appearance notwithstanding. They explained that the point of the release was to keep the recordings under copyright protection in Europe, where the laws are in flux. Currently, recordings can be copyrighted in Europe for 50 years, a much shorter term than in the United States, where recordings made since 1978 will remain copyrighted until 70 years after the death of the last surviving author.

Fuck everything.