Obsidian Wings

The Superhero Men Don't See: Evidence

by Doctor Science

As I said in my Avengers reaction post, I was surprised and pleased by how the character of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow was treated: she has a major role, not-particularly-exploitive clothing, and lots of action both physical and psychological. This is what my many friends in fandom see, too: I've seen a lot of reaction posts, and they all talk about how impressed they are with Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/Hulk, and also about how much they like Natasha.

But when I started looking at reviews outside my corner of fandom, I found something Ian Grey of PressPlay also noticed:

Two parallel realities! Men who see nobody at all and women who see the next Faith (without the crazy, I mean). Don’t tell Disney, or they’ll be marketing the film as 4-D.

Being me, I decided to gather data, not just examples.

"Rusalka", by Dutch artist Esther Bruggink. Not quite an Invisible Woman, but semi-transparent.

Cut because the rest will be chock-a-block with spoilers.

50 shades of fandom: publishing. Part IIb

by Doctor Science

Our story so far:

Part I: 50 Shades of Publishing
Part IIa: 50 Shades of Fandom: Writing.

The process of taking a piece of fanfic and re-purposing it for professional sale is known as filing off the serial numbers. Obviously you first have to change the names -- unless the source you're working from is something like Arthurian legend (it's fanfic all the way down) or Sherlock Holmes, which is now largely public domain.

Serial Killer, Serial Thriller, Serial Numbers collage by Alan Jordan Lew.

Hatch watch

by Doctor Science

Today in nature, we are waiting for Wood Duck eggs to hatch in North Carolina:

your amazing devices Friday open thread

by liberal japonicus

I'm a bit late with this one. I work at a university that has a 'social welfare' department, which has a strong research emphasis on the problems of barrier free and this was something that a colleague mentioned to me earlier and I've only just now got around to watching it. A simple and brilliant idea. What amazing devices have caught your fancy recently?

 

The Evolution Man

by Doctor Science

liberal japonicus got there first, but I'll just add something about what I think are the political calculations involved in Obama's "coming out" in favor of marriage equality. In particular, I suspect it's a tactic designed to appeal to a subset of big donors, especially in the financial industry.

In the first place, no way were Biden's remarks a "gaffe", that was a trial balloon -- which is part of Biden's job, of course. I'm betting Obama's announcement and its timing have been planned for weeks if not months.

The Balloon, by Maurice Prendergast. The setting is said to be Central Park in New York City.

What the president said thread

by liberal japonicus

Well, the video is here at the Maddow blog. Some suggestions that Obama's hand was forced when Biden put made this gaffe. Some grafs

CNN’s Jessica Yellin asked whether Obama was trying to “have it both ways before an election” and whether he should “stop dancing around the issue.”

ABC’s Jake Tapper said that “it seems cynical to hide this prior to the election” and that “I don’t want to hear the same talking points 15 times in a row.”

NBC’s Chuck Todd said with a grin, “So help me out here. He opposes bans on gay marriage, but he doesn’t yet support gay marriage?”

If this is what happens when folks make gaffes, I say let's have more please. Or is this sniping the way the press is supposed to do its job? 

Links to interesting analysis in the comments will be moved up here. 

My Avengers Reaction Post

by Doctor Science

We finally went this afternoon. Why was it released in Europe a week before it came out in the US? To torment us?

All spoilers, all the time, of course

Your what's in a name Friday open thread

by liberal japonicus

While in the US, there is an apparent cultural taboo about naming sports teams after business concerns (though stadiums connected with the team seem to be fair game, as Network Associates Coliseum, home of the Oakland Raiders and Qualcomm Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers suggests), in Japan, there is no such dividing line. So for most people, it is not the Tokyo Giants, it is the Yomiuri (a major newspaper) Giants, the Seibu (a department store) Lions and the Softbank (a cell phone company) Hawks. Still, I had to take a second look when there was a team called Yokohama DeNA Baystars. The various names of the team are explained in the wikipedia entry and DeNA is a mobile game company.

While this was pretty strange to me, I recently had to explain why US college teams had such a wide cast of characters, from Ducks to Badgers, Irish to Illini (and the infamous Chief Illniwek), as well as Bananaslugs,Tar Heels, and Boilermakers. In the it has to be seen to believed category, a little extra internet research reveals that the Rhode Island School of Design has a mascot called 'Scrotie' (google it yourself) but fortunately, I didn't have to explain that one.

So, take to the comments to explain why this state of affairs obtains, or to share bizarre mascots you know and love. Or talk about whatever you want!

Why, bless their hearts

by Doctor Science

Following links from The Warmth of Other Suns, I'm currently reading Caste and Class in a Southern Town by John Dollard (first published 1937). Dollard was a Yale sociologist with a strong interest in Freudian psychology who did "field work" in Indianola, Mississippi, in the mid-1930s. Dollard was mostly interested in a "study of the Negro mind" by interviewing a variety of black informants of all classes. He also talked to many white people who lived in town, but confessed that he knew very little about the lower-class whites who were mostly rural.

A visit from the old mistress, by Winslow Homer. Note that one of the black women is still seated, which would have been a great mistake in the slavery days -- and would be again, in the Jim Crow era.

Cut for multiple videos.

Signal boost: Cat with broken leg, Brooklyn: UPDATE

by Doctor Science

A black cat with a broken leg is at Patrick and Theresa Nielsen Haydens' back door.

They have no cat carrier, serious cat allergies, and no car to transport the cat to the Brooklyn Animal Control shelter. If any of you can help, contact them. If not, pass it on.

UPDATE:
Patrick reports that "A lovely volunteer from the Mayor's Office for NYC Animals has just come by and TAKEN THE CAT AWAY. ... Thanks to the excellent Steve Gruber at the Mayor's Alliance and his volunteer coordinator Valerie."