Ill, DOB and Placeholders

[talktooloose]

I'm Ill which is somewhat annoying, but I'm not really making a big drama of it, so it's not bad. I have a lot of work to do but I will also take Snake's advice and rest.

I'm almost ready to post DOB Chapter 19. This morning I researched the band Anti-Flag who are referenced in the chapter. Heh, I love polemic as much as I find it ludicrous and I <3 having a storyline where different characters can go off at each other about these views. Chapter 20 is two-third finished in draft, btw, so I hope it will be up within three weeks of this one.

I am thoroughly enjoying web design again! I have to play with some javascripting this morning and I'm hoping that DreamWeaver holds my hand through the process. I am rarely lost and clueless, but the javascript class I took a couple of years ago made me feel as lost and clueless as Grade 12 Calculus all those many years ago. That same sickening feeling of: "OMG, I'm supposed to be smart and yet everyone understands except me."

Placeholders for posts:

1. New Gillette DISPOSABLE razors ads take over Bloor-Yonge subway station. I am planning a response poster which I will stick to as many instances of the ad as I can as I pass between platforms.
   
2. Atheism. Fascinating interview two weeks ago on The Sunday Edition with Chris Hedges. Strangely, I found his views more in line with my own than those of the racist atheists he was attacking. Of course, as long as you remove the God part from his arguments...
   
3. Movies It's been a while since I blogged on the cinéma. Recent viewing includes "The Mist" and "Margot at the Wedding". Things to say.
   
4. POLEMIC! Why Lost is actually a better show than Battlestar Galactica.

Comments

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

the one that's driving me crazy right now is the toilet paper ad in Union Stn - WIPE YOUR ASS WITH PUPPIES!!

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

You're probably paraphrasing... I hope. I haven't had the good fortune to see it.

I want my counter poster to read: "We pollute the earth, air and water once when we create this razor and a second time when we dispose of it the next day. We are creating a legacy of trash and illness for our children when we choose a disposable lifestyle."

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

The ones in Union are pictures of fluffy white puppies with mottoes like "pamper your behind" and the like. Really, if you didn't know this stupid genre of advertising it would look like an ad for puppies ... and ass-wiping.

So ... how do people go about stickering these things without getting busted?

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

I just imagine having my flyers pre-taped and walking down the line slapping them up as I move with the crowd. To be honest, the thought of getting busted terrifies me, but I'd like to think I could find the balls.

Unfortunately, I have the conviction that merely resisting is considered an act of loserdom in Toronto. Only the rich may break the rules with impunity and public approval.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

surely the way to go is pregummed avery-type labels?

[danger-aardvark.livejournal.com]

I haven't taken the subway for a while so I haven't seen the station. Regardless, this makes me want to create stickers that look like razor cuts and stick them over the impossibly smooth/airbrushed flesh that is undoubtedly featured in the ads.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

They're actually incredibly banal ads just showing the razor which is as ugly a piece of industrial design as you're likely to see. But the word DISPOSABLE is highlighted throughout, clearly the draw. How can that be? Why is the fact that its disposable so attractive?

I use a razor that may date back to 60s! It's even hard to find blades for it now. But it has a heft to it that makes it moved across my face much more effectively than a nothing piece of molded platic.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

Shaving is just a shill to extract more money from men since they don't buy all the cosmetic crap that advertisers push at women. Think about how much a guy spends on shaving crap over a lifetime (it's in the tens of thousands over the course of 60 years), now contrast that with the cost of a Wahl that would trim the beard without destroying the face, and lasts 50 years, for $100.

[danger-aardvark.livejournal.com]

That's disgusting! Even more so than typical razor ads that promote an unachievable body image. Screw a good shave or a quality product, what people want are things they can throw away?! Infuriating!

Let me know if you want a postering buddy. I am no stranger to culture jamming.

[painglass.livejournal.com]

In regards to #4: I am afraid sir we can no longer be friends!:O

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

Uh-oh, now you got me going.

We've been watching our way through the last parts of Season 3 (last ep tonight) and the writing is so fucking obvious! I call every plot point ten minutes in advance. Yes, yes, Kara's mother is going to get cancer; we know this because she's chain-smoking. YAWWWWWNNNNNNNN!!!! And I am so goddamned sick of everyone whispering their lines meaningfully. You are actors! Use your voices!

My other problem is that I find the whole world unbelievable. The idea that these Americans... I'm sorry, representatives of the whole human race... are still living their same American human culture complete with media circus and new clothes and elections, the same as before while they are running for their lives in these refugee ships makes no sense. When they did the grand union general strike show, the ending was preposterous. Some kind of soft-minded liberal wankathon as the President smiles banally at Chief and invites him to dissent. Adama's threats to execute Callie were more realistic.

It would be more believable to see Roslyn slowly having to give up her ideals one after another, always promising herself that when they get to Earth they will restore democracy. The show has to decide whether its purely allegorical or actual world building.

And it needs a fucking sense of humour already. There has been maybe one laugh in all of seasons 2 and 3. Drama without comedy can only present the human condition in cliche.

[painglass.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I love your answer to the razor ads. I feel like doing that shit all the time to all the stupid ads here. Although here, the ads take up the whole side of a bus, since we aren't sophisticated enough to have a subway system.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

We aren't sophisticated enough to have built any substantial new lines since 1965 even though our roads are clogged and we know how many millions are coming to the area in the next decade.

[lux-apollo.livejournal.com]

I'm interested in hearing 4. I've only watched part of the first season of Lost, but fuck... I can't watch that again until this summer when I have more time or I will ruin my life. :-P

Never seen BG, though.