#the first one i've shared several passages from on this blog

[heritageposts]

By Ilan Pappe, published 5th of November 2023.

On October 24, a statement by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres caused a sharp reaction by Israel. While addressing the UN Security Council, the UN chief said that while he condemned in the strongest terms the massacre committed by Hamas on October 7, he wished to remind the world that it did not take place in a vacuum. He explained that one cannot dissociate 56 years of occupation from our engagement with the tragedy that unfolded on that day. The Israeli government was quick to condemn the statement. Israeli officials demanded Guterres’s resignation, claiming that he supported Hamas and justified the massacre it carried out. The Israeli media also jumped on the bandwagon, asserting among other things that the UN chief “has demonstrated a stunning degree of moral bankruptcy”. This reaction suggests that a new type of allegation of anti-Semitism may now be on the table. Until October 7, Israel had pushed for the definition of anti-Semitism to be expanded to include criticism of the Israeli state and questioning the moral basis of Zionism. Now, contextualising and historicising what is going on could also trigger an accusation of anti-Semitism.

. . . article continues on Al Jazeera

[pastedpast]

Since Saturday I've been reading the second part of Viv Albertine's memoirs, the first being 'Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys, Boys' which I read when it was published, say, ten years ago [Fact check: Not a bad guess, it was May 2014]. Albertine was, of course, a member of ace punk band, The Slits, of whom I've been reminded recently as I'm planning to post a lovely photograph I've found online of lead singer, Ari Up, on the 14th anniversary of this blog (Ari was only 14 years old when she formed the band with the Spanish drummer, Palmolive).

Sometime last week, courtesy of a free trial membership to a well-known film & video subscription service, I was able to watch a documentary about the band I had not known about before ('Here to Be Heard: The Story of the Slits', 2017) and have followed it up by watching various YouTube clips of Ari and Viv being interviewed. Ari is (was) such a unique character, humorous, fun, original; a strong, individual female and very good-natured. She had a fantastic vocal ability and a fascinating journey through life, albeit cut far too short. In contrast, Viv, the guitarist, has endured a difficult and emotionally harrowing time of it. Her life started off on the wrong foot through no fault of her own, being trapped in the crossfire of her parents' deeply acrimonious, violent relationship and subsequent divorce, the catastrophic by-product of which was the dire and irreparably damaged relationship with her sister.

I'm about ¾ of the way through the book. I'm at the part where, after the deaths of firstly her father, then later her 95-year old mother, she discovers their diaries secreted away in their individual dwellings (the title of the book is taken from the instructions written on the bag containing her mother's diary). Well, I'm fascinated with diaries [see previous blog post here], (not least my own as I am an avid diarist), so when I read about the diaries mentioned in an article somewhere on the Internet, I ordered a second-hand copy of the book and it arrived in a mere matter of days.

So, hmmm. Although the dissection of a dysfunctional family presented alongside cringe-inducing anecdotes of failed and shoddy romances appear to make for a rather miserable, depressing read, somehow the book remains a page-turner, especially after Albertine shares and discusses various revelatory passages from the diaries. There is a complicated backstory to her parents' relationship which contains several threads, a major one developing from the refusal of Albertine's French father to allow her mother to maintain contact with her son, David, from a previous marriage.

I'm inspired to dig out Viv Albertine's first book which is buried somewhere amongst the debris of the dacha and read it again. I feel like I understand her much more clearly having read these later chapters of her life. As well as reading about her youth and the early days of punk, there was a period when she lived in Hastings with her (now ex) husband and their daughter I'd like to revisit. She went through a tough time with IVF, miscarriage and cervical cancer. The second memoir, published in 2018, sees her moving into an artists' home/work community space in Hackney, north London. [Note to self: Explore Hackney & Shoreditch next time I visit London].

To be continued...

*I have approx. 60 pages left to read. l'm taking a break to enjoy a bowl of Heinz tomato soup for my evening meal. I will probably finish the book tonight.

My interest in the book was piqued shortly after writing the original part of this post, once Albertine began dissecting her mother's diary entries which put flesh on the bones of what she had written earlier and we see just how nasty Lucien, the father, really was. Before that, I had joked to myself, a tad cockily, that the title was good advice on how to deal with this book. My initial thoughts were that it veered too far towards being a man-hating mis-fest soaked in belligerence and grudges, but thankfully I stuck with it because as we learn more about Kathleen's perspective (please note that the mother is a complex and not wholly innocent player) the narrative swept me up and I was carried along like a pebble in a river, flowing forwards. She writes well*, does Viv Albertine.

I've taken the time to look at the snippets of glowing reviews in the introductory pages which I had originally thought were just literati hogwash. Now I understand why she deserves accolades such as: "Her conversational style of writing is lullingly deceptive, allowing the revelations, when they come, to explode like well-placed bombs", and: "Past traumas drop deep anchors, abutting the present-day reality of a life, but Albertine has made compelling art out of what lies beneath".

Pause for soup.

*Her ability to recall details of her surroundings from events that occurred in the past is nothing short of extraordinary. Either she's made them up later for literary effect, or has a superhuman, razor-sharp memory, or maybe makes notes everywhere she goes. About two thirds in, I wondered if it was a trait connected to autism. She has had some sort of diagnosis (can't remember what, will have to check). She's very aware of objects, clothes, material things and her surroundings - it's interesting how she takes stock of everything around her. I can see that I'm not through with this book yet, I'm going to have to have another think about it before it finds a resting place on my bookshelves.

[ellies-cycling-notes]

Day 12: Evitts Creek to Confluence, PA

Distance Covered: 66.56 miles

Total Time (including rests): 7:24 (7:27am-2:51pm)

Time spent riding: 5:29

Average Speed: 12.1 mph

Apples Eaten: 3 (fuji - 7.5/10, gala - 6.5/10, gala - 7.5/10)

Today's ride was a nice one (and rather short, too). Almost the entire ride was spent on the Great Allegheny Passage trail, a mostly flat rail trail that goes all the way to Pittsburgh. The roads are mostly light gravel/crushed limestone, but they're grainy enough that the ride isn't uncomfortable. The first 20 miles or so we're tiring and I felt rather lethargic, because they were slightly uphill. However, starting at around the 25 mile mark, it became a slight downhill, and stayed that way for the rest of the ride.

I stopped twice, once around 20 miles in, and a second time 25 miles later. During the second stop I had to fix a flat, and I grabbed lunch (a slice of pizza & 2 cheeseburgers) from a nearby gas station. Most of the ride was in the shade, making it so I never really got overheated. I arrived at the campsite rather early, but I just relaxed and did some fixes for a while before setting up my tent.

Also, as today is day 12, I have officially passed the halfway mark for this trip!

Notes from the Ride

Sleep issues - I woke up several times during the night, because I forgot to put earplugs in, and there were 2 large causes of noise disturbance. (1) the Evitts Creek campsite was right next to a train load-off station, and (2) the frogs in the nearby pond croaked very loudly.

Lunch was good - there was a small town gas station by my lunch stop, and I got lunch there at the recommendation of the lady at the trail information desk. At first, I bought a cheeseburger and slice of pizza, but the burger was really good and I was still hungry, so I got a second.

Another flat, luckily only a mile away from a bike station

Pavers - on part of the trail, I had to get off my bike and walk because there were trucks and machines paving over the trail. I say "paving", but I don't really know if that's what you call what they were doing: they were pouring down sand/dirt, and then rolling over it to pack it down.

"Morning" - I said the word "morning" today probably more than any other word, cause I said it to almost everyone I saw on the trail from when I started til it became afternoon

Other bikepackers - I was not the only bicyclist on the trail loaded up to be able to camp. I saw at least half-a-dozen other, though I'm pretty sure I was the youngest bikepacker I saw (not the youngest biker in general, though).

Power banks - I'm carrying 2 power banks on me to charge my phone. One is solar-powered, and I use it most of the time, and the other is a back-up. I started using the back-up yesterday, and I just realized it carries such a large amount of charge, I'm not even sure if I needed my solar power bank.

Design Notes

Short design notes today. This is because today's ride was heavily focused on just enjoying the scenery in the moment, so I didn't spend too much time thinking about things. Also, one of the topics I did think a lot about, Covencraft, is not one which I'm going to be discussing on this blog, because it's actually a project in development.

Time loop

I've been thinking about how player communication should work - I can think of several options:

No information sharing

Total information sharing

Only information sharing if in the same room (this would be much easier if the game was fully digital)

Information sharing able to be limited by events? For example, there's usually total information sharing, but there can be events that limit it to players in the same room as each other.

Example Events: I'm going to showcase a few examples of different possible events that can take place to show how the system might work.

Structure of an event: Event Name - Event Type - Event description

Chemical Spill - Round Event - Occurs in 1 or more rooms. In a room that it occurs in, a player may move in or out of that room but not through that room in a single turn. If a player ends their turn in this room, they take 1 damage. Can be cleaned up with janitorial items.

Meteor Warning - Round Event - notifies all players. In a few turns, if no player has done specific notes actions in the Navigation hub or Defense Control Room, an asteroid hits, which is a cause-and-effect event.

Time Lock - Time event - a random item in the current room becomes time-locked. It will not reset its position when a time loop occurs (this may cause more time paradoxes).

Escaped specimen - round event - a creature appears in a certain room. It can see into adjacent rooms. At the end of each room, it moves into an adjacent room, attempting to move away from players if it sees any. When it reaches certain rooms, it causes damage & temporal instability to occur in that room. There are ways to catch or kill it (undetermined as of yet).

That's all for today. Ride was good, food was good, etc. One flat, but that wasn't enough to put me down. Tomorrow's ride is supposed to be almost all downhill until I get to Pittsburgh, so I'm looking forward to that!

I'd like to possibly post more about what I do this evening, but there's no service at the campsite, and I'm currently eating dinner at a restaurant which is one of the only places with WiFi. Later! (I might or might not post pics tonight - I might just end up posting them all tomorrow)

Previous -- Next

[keonmogh]

Grave of the Fireflies Blog Post

I recently finished Grave of the Fireflies and I thought it was pretty good. While first watching the movie, I thought it lacked a bit of substance, particularly at the beginning of the anime, but after reflecting on the anime for a while, I've come to see a lot of the points and themes that I missed that make me appreciate the anime a lot more. The following are my thoughts and analysis on the anime.

Themes:

While I usually start with an analysis of characters, I find it more suiting for this anime to discuss certain themes I found in the anime. I also want to preface that these themes were how I saw the film before the assigned reading; I will address how the reading affected my points of discussion in the section regarding how the anime relates to the reading.

The first theme I want to discuss is the value of working hard. During the period Seita and Setsuko had to live with their aunt, Seita was constantly scolded for not doing their share of work. Seita's aunt and family constantly emphasized how they're working and pitching in for Japan as a country during the war effort. Like Barefoot Gen and Spirited Away, the idea of working hard seems to still be valued by the older generation. One key thing to note here is Seita's opposition to this idea, Seita always ignores or is upset by his aunt mentioning his lack of work and even moves out because of it.

Another theme I want to discuss is patriotism. I feel that patriotism plays a bigger role in this film than in Barefoot Gen. In the film, Seita is shown to be a patriot and supports the imperial cause of Japan during the war. We see this in his imitation of army men shooting planes, his referring to Japan as "The great Japanese empire" when Japan surrenders, and several other instances. This struck me as extremely disturbing as I believed that the anime was trying to portray Seita as a hero or idealistic character. I thought that my original fears for Barefoot Gen (of the anime supporting the immoral goals of Japanese imperialism) were coming to fruition in this anime as the "patriotic hero" was shown to be an imperial patriot, victimized by the allied forces. However, as we will see in the following passage, there were some gaps in understanding in my original analysis.

How the viewings relate to the readings and viewings:

The viewings of the module, specifically the work of Stahl is obviously deeply related to the anime and played an integral role in my understanding of its narrative. The main aspect I would like to point out are the concepts of victimhood and responsibility. While watching this anime, one must understand that the problems the characters face don't all stem from one source (such as the imperial government in Barefoot Gen), but rather is seen to be a result of a series of actions that the characters are victims of and responsible for. The anime does display the tragic realities and the humanity of the common people by showing the struggles for food and the connections between characters like Seita and Setsuko, but it also shows that they are in part responsible for some of their issues on a societal level (such as supporting the imperial regime which is furthering the plight of the people) and on an individual level (such as Seita running off and isolating himself). From this perspective, we get a much more complex narrative of the war as we find these flaws of patriotism in our protagonist. Overall, the anime is a critique of nationalism as we see how misguided Seita is. This is furthered by Seita isolating himself from everyone around him, making his ideals of a strong and united Japan clash with his isolating actions.

How the viewings address issues in Japan and globally:

In this anime, we see issues faced by the Japanese people during the second world war. This anime takes a very calculated stance, placing blame on the imperial government, the allies, and also the characters themselves. The main root of many of these issues (especially the one regarding issues that the characters are responsible for) is nationalism. Misguided nationalism is what got imperial Japan, and in this case Seita as well, into the position they ended up in. It shows how Japan's nationalism worked only to the detriment of its own people and how the people had to face the burden placed on them, not only by the imperial government, but by the people themselves as well. These issues, however, have not only plagued Japan. Nationalism has been used as a tool in many other instances in history such as Nazi Germany, or the English empire, and in both instances it was used immorally. This film is a commentary on nationalism as a whole and applies to other parts of the world outside of Japan as well.

How the viewings relate to my own life

I believe that the viewings here relates to the lives of all people. Everyone has a relationship between them and their nation and community. Everyone lives their lives with varying degrees of nationalism and these views on nationalism affects what they deem as moral or immoral and also influences their actions. We are all to an extent, a product of, or at least influenced by, our relationship with our community and nation. This anime highlights many issues with being to nationalistic and serves as an example to all people, including me.

I chose this image as it shows when Seita learned about the fall of the Japanese empire. Japan's imperialism and nationalism had failed them and they are now at a loss because of the war. It is here that solidifies the anime's stance against nationalism as we also see our protagonist fall deeper into denial about the misguidedness of their nationalism.

[yasmeensh]

I know this is an art blog but my anthropology brain is taking over and I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS.

I was watching Gorilla videos, as I do every morning. Today’s video of the Shabani family in Higashiyama zoo showed an interesting interaction between Kiyomasa (a teenage male gorilla) and his mother, Nene. Here is the clip:

Nene wanted the tomato, but Kiyomasa ate it first. She kept staring at him... and then he patted her back. It's like he's telling her "alright ma. you'll get it next time"

Some people might find that as projecting human emotions, but hear me out...

I used to believe that I always projected human thoughts and emotions when I interpret animal behaviour in a certain way. But I've come to believe it's not the case. In one of my anthropology classes, there was a passage from a "Aesop's Anthropology" by John Hartigan about anthropocentric tendencies we have and that we think only humans are capable of thinking and feeling. So much so that when we see animals acting in a way that feels humanly familiar, it's not that we are projecting our human condition on them, but merely the fact that their behaviour is EXACTLY what we see.

Here is the passage:

It's only one sentence. I don't know if the author ever goes into this topic again, since this is from the introduction, and that's all we've read of it in class (we read several chapters from different books every week to get a variety of views). I'm really interested in reading more about it. I'll get the whole book one day...

Anyways, this sentence left such a profound effect on me. I made it the core of my seminar discussion the next class. Please share any thoughts, reflections, or insights you have on this topic! I'd love to hear!

[sohannabarberaesque]

Postcards from Snagglepuss

What Peter Potamus wouldn't give in tribute

"Snagglepuss ... Huckleberry Hound ... Hair Bear ... Square Bear ... Bubi Bear ..."

It was Peter Potamus, hosting our motley crew at his diver's cabin off the Florida Keys just past Islamorada one evening around sunset, with a wonderful campfire of sorts blazing near the beach. The sort of gatherings he's particularly fond of having evenings--but this time around, it's one tending to the mystical, with elements of the Polynesian even (as witness some tiki carvings in their luscious erotic glory).

"The reason I've called you here," Peter explained in his classic safari jacket-and-pith helmet getup, "is for the sake of some Very Special Recognition."

Huck was quick to whisper in my ear, "What sort of recognition exactly?", prompting moi to respond in like fashion, "You'll see."

"The recognition I speak of," Peter continued, "is in this Polynesian-inspired necklace of mother-of-pearl shell and a string of sharks' teeth. I happened to pick up several of these one time during one of my storied journeys into Polynesia Uncharted, which included the suggestion of the local chieftain that such necklaces should be given to especially close friends of yours who symbolise our most wonderful passion for the water in particular!"

(Whereupon So-So, Peter's trusted simian companion, on signal from Peter presented a collation of five such necklaces as above to Peter, and placed them on his right arm for eventual distribution ritual-like.)

"I certainly hope and trust," Peter remarked in preparing to award said necklaces, "that such will be worn with a sense of pride and wonderment ... and mindful that such are being given to you with a sense of awe and respect in the diving experience, and the fascination expected to be inherent as close friends of yours truly and the diving experiences which I happen to share with close friends, and then some!" After a short pause, and more as an aside: "Not to mention a fascination for the uncharted side of Polynesia!"

Thus, with the setting Florida Keys sun as backdrop and the campfire as reinforcement, Peter would fit these necklaces around our necks, followed by the traditional cheek rub known as the accolade, a show of passage for such an unlikely honour for such sharing his passion for diving in pure and natural way; yours truly was given the first such necklace, then Huckleberry, followed by the Hair Bears, who admittedly were humbled (as Hair Bear explained it later over lime-flavoured seltzer as much as conversation into the night).

"Admittedly, such doesn't quite confer any special privilege or honour," Peter remarked in explaining the necklace's significance, "but at least it looks cool and fascinating!"

"And you wonder if such will win over the girls when we go into the woods for mating season this summer," Square Bear coyly remarked as he fondled the necklace, prompting Hair Bear to suggest that such be left aside until the time comes, as it were.

Meanwhile--

"Heavens to the Polynesian gods of the dive!" remarked I.

Which Peter Potamus seconded by remarking, "Isn't that quite the sentiment?" Followed by quite the session of diving-related fantasies and stories stretching well past one in the morning, if you can believe it.

*************

@warnerbrosentertainment @iheartgod175 @jellystone-enjoyer @xdiver71 @joey-gatorman @archive-archives @thylordshipofbutts @princessgalaxy505 @themineralyoucrave @screamingtoosoftly @thebigdingle @warnerbros-blog1 @tallcharlie @restroom @theweekenddigest @warnerbrosent-blog

[sonderden]

Happy WBW!! Are there any particular Rites of passage people in your world must go through? Where did they come from?

Several Worldbuilding Wednesdays later... on a Friday... I've finally managed to get to this ask. Thank you for asking this, and for patiently waiting for my response!

This is actually a tough question to answer, because several of my worlds have rites of passage that are important to their various cultures. I keep thinking I know which one to talk about, then feeling guilty for leaving the others behind.

That said, I was finally able to narrow it down by deciding that I should stick to the WIPs I've shared snippets of on this blog before. I ultimately chose Ryedenne, since it's been referenced in snippets from my novel WIP "A Place to Return" and is an important part of the overall plot of that story.

Like I usually do, I'll put the explanation itself under a cut just in case it gets too long.

On the main continent of Ryedenne, if not in the lands of its smaller neighbors, the main way to be recognized as an adult is to graduate from apprenticeship.

There is no public schooling system where kids go to learn general knowledge, just teachings from parents and any relevant experts in the towns and cities where kids grow up. They learn by whatever means they can, then travel (sometimes to the building next door, sometimes all the way across the continent) to a relevant Work Hall.

These Halls are sort of like guilds or unions, each one managing the officers, employees, and trainees of a given profession. There are Merchant Halls, Chef Halls, Construction Halls, Mage Halls, Farm Halls, etc and so on for almost any profession you can think of -- within the scope of a medieval-era-ish fantasy world. The main characters of APTR specifically travel and apply to the Mercenary Hall to be the closest thing Ryedenne has to "adventurers" or "heroes" and the plot follows their shared career closely.

The rite of passage itself involves several steps once you've made it to your Hall of choice. The first step is a qualification exam known as an apprenticeship test. It tests whatever basic knowledge you've acquired from your hometown, your intuition for the job itself, and your overall physical/mental capacity. It's generally rough, though some Halls take it easier on their applicants than others.

The second step is undergoing apprenticeship itself. This means living at the apprentice housing for your Hall while having the most vital skills for your job drilled into you during intense training and job shadowing. You do this for two weeks, as a sort of intense boot camp.

Then comes the part that people get sentimental about, the one that officially makes you an adult in the eyes of society. The second exam. This is known as the profession test. You're tested on everything you've learned, then assigned a real shift/gig/task according to your profession. If you pass the test and do well on your supervised/judged first assignment, then you are a full-fledged Hall employee and have passed from childhood to adulthood.

This is often celebrated by new adults getting as much alcohol as they can get their hands on and going out camping until they're so drunk that the letters they send back home are (usually to the pride and amusement of their families) illegible. Some opt out of the drinking part, or are prohibited from drinking if they're Crows*, but the night spent sleeping outdoors with fellow new adults is an important way to bring the rite of passage that is starting your career to a close.

It's closer to a graduation party than anything, and the whole apprenticeship process is less grandiose than other rites of passage on other worlds, but it's an important part of their culture and it affects the way both main characters see the world around them.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Something I've noticed lately seeing Americans claim Greeks and ancient Greeks were black is that... they're not even getting American race theory right. "Black" is the blanket term used to describe African-Americans. Not Africans. African-Americans. Africans aren't Africans, they're Nigerian or Liberian or Ugandan or identify with... the actual place their from. Ancient Greeks cannot be "Black" because... America was still unfucked. I can't speak to the amount of Africans present in Greece, but the fact that a noticeable minority in Greece may have had dark skin does not by any means mean that they were Black, nor does it mean they identified with a nation in Afirca, nor does it mean that just because some marbles that may have been darker originally turned white from chemicals means it's white-washing. If a person in Greek legend was Black, going by these people's own logic, you would be able to tell. Do they think that some nation long forgotton colonized all of Black-Greece and turned them White? Where are the Black-Greek majority now?

Tldr: Americans don't even know the logistics of American racism.

https://modernes-griechenland.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-greek-heracles-was-black-man-and.html?m=1

This was the article linked in the post that sent that rant off, for some context 😅

_____________________ END OF ASK

Ah, yes, the good ol’ Afrocentrists... Using “race” wrong on top of that...

Nobody denies the existence of Africans in ancient Greece, let’s get this out of the way. This is not an argument about people from other nations existing in ancient Greece in general. They existed, we know and it’s totally great.

It’s about Afrocentrists being stupid and misinterpreting ancient Greek art and history to fit a certain agenda. (Much like the Nazis did, but the only difference was to prove we were true “Aryans” or something). They never explain how we got predominantly white xD

(And yes, Black people in Greece call most Greeks “whites”, unless the Greek they are reffering to doesn’t look like a Caucasian - yes, even the “tan” ones xD Even in the US Greeks are not recognized as part of a minority, just “White”. There is no separate box for “north mediterranean” or “Greek”.... Not even in Germany, where this writer is from, I suppose.)

The author of the article claims Herakles was Egyptian (which.... nope), he thinks the people who raised him were his biological parents, and then he writes “The Egyptians, of course were predominantly black people.” Predominantly??? I guess most Egyptians somehow turned Caucasian after a few centuries because of.... reasons. Afrocentrists never have a reason for predominantly Caucasian countries not being Black any more. I don’t know if they assume the Black people left, or were killed, or.... I really don’t know. WHO made Greeks “white” then?? WHO? 😂 and HOW???

He also says “The ancient Greeks' religion was copied from the ancient Ethiopians and Egyptians from whom they learned spiritual and religious teachings.” How was it “copied” if the Greeks were already Black? 😂 Shouldn’t he say something along the lines of “Greeks were African, so of course they shared culture with the Ethiopians and Egyptians” (who, in his mind, are also predominantly Black).

Also, the Aethiopia of the ancient Greeks is not the modern Ethiopia! My tongue will grow hair from the times I’ve said it! This guy really needs to study... I have my tag #Aethiopia, which has sources and explanations from people who don’t half ass their research. It’s like those people who have sources to “prove” the earth is flat, or the anti vaxxers who have their own sources, as well.

If you want to lose MANY braincells, read the following passage from the article:

“The ancient Greeks, ancestors of some of the present Greek peoples readily admitted that they were descendants of Ethiopians (native African black people of Ethiopia) and the Europeans of ancient times. The ancient Greeks, with pride tell the story of how Zeus (Cush, first Ethiopian Ruler ) and the prototype for the king of the Olympian gods, made love to the white-skinned IO, who gave birth to Epaphus, a mulatto male. This story which was one of many reveals the Greeks acknowledging their biracial heritage. In Sex And Race, Vol.1, J.A. Rogers has this to say, "As was said several scientists, among them Sergei, declare that the Europeans, especially those of the Meditteranean, are, strictly speaking, Eur- Africans. Thus we find anthropology supporting mythology". ”

HERE HE QUOTES A RACIST BOOK OF 1940, CALLED “Sex and Race, Volume 1: Negro-Caucasian Mixing in All Ages and All Lands” I easily guessed the time of publication of this book because it reeked of 1940 anti-Greek propaganda (to frame the Greek as the “other” and a threat) and with how it uses terms such as “Negro”.

This books (as well as most the other sources he mentions) doesn’t uplift Black people in any way, trust me! It sees Black people as already inferior and supports that the Greeks are inferior, too, because they have immediate Black/African heritage.

(I won’t comment on using the thrice debunked “source” “Black Athena” 😂)

I can’t debunk the whole article because there is no use and also because there is a fallacy (a historical, mythological AND a logical one) in every other sentence! 😂 This is just τραγελαφικό, I can’t describe it otherwise xD It seems this blog has multiple anti-Greek articles, presenting the worst of our country and how corrupted we are etc. Sooo I won’t give more of my time to this guy.

Browse my tags #afrocentrism and #hercules if you want to read more about this matter.

[jfprk-blog]

Writing w/ world stuff

For a few weeks now I've had the ambition to blog about the weekly writing workshop I facilitate—well here goes.

This morning I emailed my fellow writers:

hi folx, looking forward to seeing you this evening. i don’t have the prompt together yet, but i know [what] i’m bringing for discussion: science fiction; what would [a] scifi poem would be?; a passage from samuel delany’s essay “to read the dispossessed” and a passage from delany’s story “aye and gommorah.” i encourage you, if you have time, to try to read the story before this evening. it’s ~12pages. i’m bringing paper copies. see you tonight, julian ps - thought i sent this this morning…

Later in the day, earlier this evening, after being reminded by one writer—who emailed me that they wouldn't be able to attend—I replied to the thread with the following two messages detailing tonight's prompt:

1.

for those unable to attend—the prompt, pending adjustments by folx in attendance & convo:

read “aye and gommorah.” or at least the first three pages, as we’ll do in group tonight.  then check out pgs 273-276 of the delany essay i linked (those are rough, could read back a lil earlier/continue on a lil further if you wanted). what you’re looking for is delany’s point that what makes science fiction distinct is the technique of “inmixing.” (lemme know if you wanna chat about that, the essay is pretty difficult at moments) look back at a&g and think about how/where delany is using inmixing. this next part may be fun to try with a friend. delany describes, in those essay pages, inmixing at the level of term, sentence, and plot. with a friend (that may just be you), or a group of friends / writing comrades, come up with at least one, possibly several, but probably not many, inmixed terms, sentences, and plots.  using this/these term(s), sentence(s), plot(s): write a piece of science fictional narrative that may or may not be in prose.

2.

oh yeah! note how in delany's story what emerges isn't only a representation of a familiar social structure made strange (eg queer subcultures & their overlap with sex work & other marginalized forms of labor), but through inmixing opens up entirely new social questions (what unique relations do spacers & frelks have?). how can you use scifi inmixing not only to think about questions you may have about our societies, but also to imagine the questions other societies might deal with too?

As nearly always occurs, when we got together, the plan started to shift. Most substantially, one regular group attendee—whom last week facilitated an excellent session drawing readings and prompts from Ronaldo V. Wilson's book Farther Traveller—showed up after a number of us had already started reading the Delany story. One approach to responding to folk's different reading paces that I first tried a few weeks ago came in useful tonight: ask folks to start writing something once they finish reading. This has the additional benefit of knowing when people could be ready to move on to the next planned (lol, planned; extemporized is more like it most of the time) section. Today, I asked folks to begin making a list when they were done reading not just the first several pages of the story, but also the relevant pages of the essay.

Someone asked, "of anything?"

"Yes," I said.

Before we got to talking about Delany's concept of scifi as tied to a particular manner of "inmixing," we shared our lists in a clock-wise circuit. Then we chatted about inmixing, and I emphasized Delany's intervention, that scifi does not simply literarily innovate so as to estrange a given set of social relations (though interesting on this point is his 1994 commentary on "Aye and Gommorah," included at the end of the linked copy above).

Having gotten a little more comfortable with inmixing as a way of conceiving scifi literary practice, thanks to an excellent interpretation offered by the already referred to late-coming attendee, we then each selected two words from our lists. Then, from our new list of words, we inmixed to form two phrases, two sentences, and two plots, from which we would each draw at least one of each, for our own writing in the last half of our session.

This is the whiteboard of our list, phrases, sentences, and plots.

For easier reading, the word list:

fingernails

scrolling

passport

eyemask

horror

seconds

years

iCloud

underwear

plastic bag

disk player

aerated

The phrases:

aerated underwear

horror passport

The sentences:

I use my scrolling eyemask to stay connected at night.

I sponged the iCloud from my fingernails.

The plots:

How do you make "the disk player years" not about time travel or the 90s?

They served seconds of the plastic bag.

With those elements for prompting, I drafted the below beginning of a story.

The Disk Player Years

Lately, I've had a hard time staying up late enough to feel like I'd gotten my media-fill; I use my scrolling eyemask to stay connected at night. Honestly, it's not quite the same to have programmed visions while dreaming as while awake, but it feels something like what USAmericans must have felt in the early 21st Century when the first wave of attempts to substitute nicotine vaporizers for cigarettes were made.

Yesterday, I got hella full before climbing into my bunk, so no eyemask necessary. Blasted through the Toons Top 40—I was working from dorm, so it was easy. I don't often work from dorm, since my Inc takes the stance that media-filling reduces productivity, but I called in sick for the second time this quarter, & they req that after the 1st sickout all subsequent sickouts log a minimum of 10 hours.

I heard back in those first vape days—the ones I mentioned before—that people estimated the trend would continue toward more and more of the population working from dorm. That was before The Great Management Debates of the mid-21st Century led to a restructuring of global societies' class fractures—between those Incs that thought media-fulfillment promoted productivity and those that thought it undercut it. Since this Debates Incs like mine only allow music to be eaten by those in their employ while at the office. So began The Disk Player Years.