Harry Potter Vs. Twilight

Today at the Seattle Public Library there is an actual, old fashioned debate about which is better- Harry Potter or Twilight.


As I said at Random Babble a few days ago- Harry Potter may have its issues, but no one ever almost died of a fucking papercut in the Potter series. And papercuts should NEVER be a serious plot point.

Besides, if it wasn't for Harry Potter we wouldn't have this thing of beauty.



(Yes I've posted this before. No I don't care that it annoys you.)

Battlestar morning after blogging

Here be spoilers for the series finale


WTF was that load of tripe? Seriously? A show that has been complex and and never trite winds up with such a fucking cliche of an ending that I am still pissed. I will give the BSG guys some credit though, they managed to make me thoroughly uninterested in anything the characters might have done once the credits rolled. Shit, even Friends made me kinda curious about the lives of the people on the show, but not BSG. I am pretty sure that with the first bout of cholera because they've given up on actual plumbing they will be wiped out.

I'm pissed. I am pissed that a show that took so much care at showing how difficult and complicated choices are took the easy way out. It was like an "ah fuck it" moment. I was jokingly saying that Starbuck was going to disappear in a poof of angel dust, and then she did! I was hoping when they showed Earth II there would be some comment about the difficulties in blending into a pre-verbal, pre-pastoral native society and maybe some allusion from a show that has used historical moments as plot fodder to the fact that a technologically advanced society was descending on a less advanced society and the complications that might involve. Instead they decided that the whole of the Colonial fleet was gonna give up technology and go native as some fucked up way of avoiding repeating past history. We're tired of fighting with our own creations, so now we're all gonna shit in the woods and die of influenza or childbirth or chicken pox.

There was exactly one moment that I liked, well loved. Baltar, divine instrument of "All this has happened before and will happen again" gets stuck being the thing he never wanted. The dude who did everything he could to run away from his roots, and in that running set off the chain of event that destroys the human race (over and over again), gets stuck being a farmer. Just like dear old dad.

RQ Cooks and comments about "man food"

So last night was Birthday, Battlestar and Dips and I made french onion dip from scratch. No soup packets!

French Onion Goat Cheese Dip

4 medium onions, diced
Olive Oil
1 log (11oz) of goat cheese
1 small container plain goat yogurt (6 oz)
Worcestershire sauce
1 cup strong beef broth (I used Better than Bullion No beef flavor. I used about a teaspoon and a half to one cup of water)
Salt & pepper

Cook onions in olive oil. Depending on how patient you are you can carmelize the onions, though the dip is fine if you just sweat them till they are translucent.

Add beef broth and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until the liquid is almost gone. Add yogurt and cheese and continue cooking over low heat to the cheese melts all the way. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerated for at least one hour.

You will never want to eat onion dip made from dried soup again. It's that good.

I also made a gorgeous fruit salad with Raspberry mint dressing. We had raspberries, blackberries, mango, apples and oranges. To dress them I used the juice of 2 lemons, and equal amount of raspberry vinegar, a couple of teaspoons of honey and dried mint. It keeps the fruit from browning and adds a depth of flavor without being too sweet or thick.

We ( well Ruth mostly) also did a ton of fried stuff like fried pickles and zuccini and homemade potato and sweet potato chips. My left hand is now a mangled bloody mess because using the guard on the mandolin takes too much time. I sliced myself 3 separate times and bled all over, but it was worth it. Homemade chips are good and fried pickles are awesome!

Now about man food. I put out a tray of veggies to go with the dips (we also had Ruth's famous spinach tofu dip and some dill dip that I whipped up in about a minute). There were the normal things, carrots, celery, cukes, tomatoes and radishes. Towards the end of the night the radishes were the only left on the tray. I walked past and someone asked me if I ate radishes. I said I do, grabbed one and ate it. I was then told that radishes are man food cause only dudes eat them.

I love radishes. I also love steak and bacon and really good hamburgers. And I make some awesome slow cooked ribs. The Kid likes good greek yogurt with honey and just about any vegetable or fruit and bready things like muffins and toast. I am not a dude, yet I love and cook "man food". The Kid is not a girl, yet he loves and eats "girl food". How seriously fucked up is our society when food is gendered and the act of eating a radish calls someones gender identification into question?

Eh, it's only another trillion

But what does a trillion dollars look like?

Is it bigger than a bread box but smaller than a car?

Turns out it looks a lot like a football field stacked 6 feet high in hundred dollar bills. Who knew?

(H/t to Corrente)

Girl talk! makes 911 operators fail

Cracked.com has this list of 5 horrifying tales of 911 call incompetence.

Now while the average reader may just see stories of incredible failure on the part of the 911 operators to do their jobs, when seen through feminist lenses it looks a lot different.

Every single caller in these stories is female. Two of the women callers were in the middle of being beaten or possibly stabbed to death by their male partners (domestic violence apparently bores 911 operators). One was a teenage girl dropping f-bombs cause her dad was having a seizure (nice girls don't cuss, watch your language ladies). One was a women who was having her window tapped by a stranger (perhaps the police would like to prevent a crime instead of waiting for one to happen) and one the 911 operator made jokes about shooting a woman's out of control child.

Girl talk people. When women talk, we aren't supposed to be taken seriously, even (or especially) in an emergency.

Blogiversary and birthday it is.

Sorry, but I cracked Ouyangdan up with a Yoda pic yesterday and now I can't stop writing in Yoda speak.

It's my birthday and my blogiversary, though i can no longer remember how long I've been blogging (3 years, probably longer but my brain is all melty from the old age, there was a blog here before this one, and another one before that. Oh well)

I'm planning on Thai food with Ruth and the Kid tonight and Battlestar and cocktails tomorrow. There is a channel on cable here of pets that you can adopt. I told Ruth that I want a dog, but only if it's missing an eye and looks and acts like Saul Tigh. Since the Kid is deathly allergic to pets, I think I am safe from having my b-day wish full filled anytime soon.

I have to see this movie

If only because Alison Janey is awesome. And Maya Rudolf is awesome.

Question of the day

Is Timothy Geithner Obama's Michael Brown?

You all remember Brownie right? The guy who let New Orleans drown while he twiddled his thumbs.

So I gotta wonder, if the whole reason we can't void AIG bonus money is because the bonuses were written into their employment contracts, then why is it ok to screw union workers who also have employment contracts (and aren't directly responsible for world wide recession) .

"Girl Talk" is codeword for misogynybag

Kid and I were taking our usual bus ride home tonight. This particular route is known for it's perpetual lateness, being one of the longest routes in the city. Our bus wasn't any later than usual, but it was being driven by a trainee with a trainer sitting close by to give tips, etc.

So Kid and I grab an open seat at the back of the bus and the dude behind me starts screaming about how slow the bus is moving (no slower than normal, mind you).

Screaming dude: Fucking move it! Push it! Push it! Fucking girl talk is for breaks, shut up and drive! Move. Rock it! Push it! This is no time for chit chat!

This tirade goes on for about a mile. I'm tired, grouchy, I already had a headache before I got on the bus. Dude is not just screaming in my ear, but he's being a great big misogynist douchebag while he's at it (can you guess what gender the trainee and trainer are by the "girl talk" comments?)

So me being me, I turned around and asked the douchebag if he could "Just knock off the misogyny?"

So his little tirade turned to me instead "fucking bitch better shut your mouth I wasn't talking to you bitch just be glad I'm getting off this bus or my evil twin would show you what's up"

He gets off the the bus, and I turn to the Kid.

Me: How much you wanna bet me that if the driver were a dude that asshole would have shut up.

Kid: Nothing, I'd lose the bet.

Girl talk. I fucking hate that phrase. It implies that any discussion done between two women (or girls) is frivolous and should be ignored. In the case of the misogynybag, it was meant to convey the idea that his time was wayyyyyyyyy more important than anything these two women could possibly be talking about, even if what they were talking about was their work and how to do it better. If they didn't shut up and pay attention to his needs, then they weren't doing anything worth while.

And people wonder why I hate movies and tv that doesn't pass the Bechtel test. Until we see women talking to other women as being just as important as anything a man might talk to another man about, everything out of our mouths will just be considered "girl talk".

Extremely Progressive

I scored 369 out of 400 on this little "How progressive are you" quiz.

I think that makes me a bleeding heart, pinko commie.

How about you comrades?

Somebody

has a guest post up at Change.org about the depressing realities of our current economic state.

(Thanks to the awesome Redstar/Leigh for letting me guest post)

Just wait......

I have a feeling that these kinds of conversations are just going to get more frequent as the Kid firmly roots himself in teenage angst.

Kid is in a funk today cause I've talked to both his social studies and science teachers about his missing work. Kid is grouchy that this is interrupting his manga reading. When I told him he needed to "do something, anything, for either of these classes" he informed me that he has a book he can read for social studies.He slumped off into another room and returned 15 minutes later.

Kid: I read the first chapter.

Me (I say nothing)

Kid: And even a little bit of the second chapter

Me (Still not relenting)

Kid: Oh come on. So far all this book talks about is a guy trying to bury his dead grandfather's ashes!

Me: Just wait. If you think this is boring, next year I am making you read the dead Russians.

There are 18000 different ways to motivate children

But probably only one way works for your particular kid.

Things that don't work for the Kid are:

bribery (mostly, if it's an immediate reward like "I'll let you have the TV if you sweep the living room", it works. But offering him money for good grades does not).

punishment: grounding doesn't work. It just makes him miserable. And me miserable.

threats to punish: See above

What has worked so far is letting the Kid see how his responsibilities are a part of the whole. He's very good about doing the dishes after dinner (aside from some problems understanding that his level of clean and mine are very different). He also knows that he has the choice to either do the dishes or do the cooking. Anytime he wants to plan and prepare a meal, I will gladly clean the kitchen afterward.

He gets that meal planning is a huge part of my day, and that it is a huge chunk of work for anyone who has a family.

So since the Kid is really good at understanding how his behavior impacts the lives of others, I thought I might use that to get him to finish his homework in a more timely fashion.

Me: Kid, you have to go to college and get a good job, which means you have to get a scholarship because there is no way I can pay for it. Which means that the next 4 years are super important and your grades have to be better. And it's totally unfair, but you have to go to college and get a good job cause there will never be any money for me to retire if you don't. It sucks, it's totally unfair, but you are going to have to take care of your mom when she's old.

Kid: That's cool, but you have to promise to live with me and keep cooking me awesome dinners when you're old.

Me: Oh Kid, I think there will come a time when living with your mom is the last thing you want to do.

Kid: Then I'll find you a really nice retirement home.

Me: With a kitchen so I can still cook for you sometimes.

Kid: Yes.

We'll see if fear of his mother living on canned cat food works to get his grades up.