Ferguson. New York. Cleveland.
And literally everywhere else in this country.
I'm white. Born and raised in the Detroit area. And I'd like to think I understand. But I pay enough attention to know that I never really will. No matter how outraged I am by this, all of this, every possible aspect of this, I have never and will never actually have to live it. My entire life will always be totally free of this fear, this terrifying aspect of reality. This entire thing is a level of insanity and injustice I can't truly imagine, even right now while looking directly at it. Because the entire system of this country is built for me, starting from a place where I'm above the rest. All of it benefits me; even those laws and policies that put certain other whites above me still put people of color below me.
To paraphrase one of the many statements being made on social media these last weeks, white privilege is me being outraged, being angered, by the Ferguson decision, by the Eric Garner decision, by the Tamir Rice shooting, without having to be utterly terrified.
I don't have to feel any of this at all, not the way so many others do. I never, ever have to feel this, and I will not pretend I do. What I do understand is that everything about this is wrong. And changing the fact that racism and white supremacy are built in to our entire culture may be something that's difficult, something that will take time, and something that's going to make white people uncomfortable in a lot of ways. But it needs to start happening and it needs to start happening now. We shouldn't need more examples, we shouldn't need one of the many protests to turn violent.* This entire country was founded on a violent and destructive revolution. We're supposed to be a more civilized sort of human race now, aren't we? So why can't these changes start because white people recognize such a clear case of right and wrong?
*I want to be clear that I don't mean this as one of the many "hey now don't get violent no need for that you protestors" statements. The people out there protesting are being forced to fight for their right to live, for their right to simply be recognized as human. And they are being met with force, and threats, and unjust arrests at every turn. They are being antagonized in every possible way by police forces that, it seems, want them to respond with violence. And not that my approval is necessary, but if any of these people find themselves in a position where they feel a violent response has become necessary? Well, we all do what we have to do for our own fights. God bless them. But it shouldn't fucking take that, should it
Anyway. I don't want to spend too much time spouting my view. I saw quite a few signs tonight reading "White silence = White consent" and in that case, I felt I absolutely should not be silent-hence my 2 a.m. ramblings. But I won't be writing a bunch of posts from my point of view on this either. I will be listening to the people this affects, signal boosting the words and works of the people who belong in the driver's seat on this, and I will spend my time doing what I'm told I can do to help. Thanks for reading, I'd encourage you to do the same.
For whatever little it may be worth, I'm sorry.
---
Edited to add The Daily Show intro from 12/3/14 after seeing it and thinking it kind of fit a bit of what I was saying/feeling.
December 4, 2014
October 25, 2014
Here are some words about a thing
"Aspiring journalist" Vandon Gene, approaching Anderson Cooper during live reports from Ottawa: Hey Anderson can I get a photo?
AC: No, I will not take a photo with you on a day where someone was killed! It seems wildly inappropriate!
VG: Oh alright, thanks a lot Anderson! (with exactly the tone you're imagining, yes) *loses goddamn mind on Twitter*
He says Anderson Cooper is "an ass" and "went on a rant." (I will point out that he posted a video of the conversation, and everything I typed above is the entire thing. I will also point out that in order to criticize Cooper's "rant," he spent 20 minutes ranting on Twitter about it.) Then he flips his shit about Cooper "exploiting Ottawa" because obviously a professional journalist doesn't cover these sort of events because it's, you know, their job. My favorite part of the "EXPLOITER!" whining is where he criticizes Cooper for having to fly to Ottawa whereas HE was "on the streets covering." "I was here during a lockdown while YOU flew here on a jet." Man, what an ass that Anderson Cooper guy is, not already living in Ottawa and having to travel to get there and not just using his DBZ Instant Transmission move, how dare he. The gall of going to where something happened instead of sitting in a comfy studio and doing everything by satellite, the sheer nerve of that.
Cooper took about two minutes to reply with every he needed to say about the stupid situation: "Dude, you were rude and asking for a selfie near where a soldier was killed. It was completely inappropriate. Think about it. I can't believe any station employs you, and if you want to be a journalist, learn how to behave when covering a story."
Kinda exactly what I'd have said.
I should note, obviously there are plenty of people on cable news, ESPECIALLY in the U.S., who I would absolutely believe were just out to exploit a tragedy for ratings. And I would love to see them called on it every damn time. And to an extent, any journalist covering any story could be seen as exploiting it. But maybe let's refrain from taking that position just for the sake of a temper tantrum against the few people we have who still try to be class act professionals and do the job the right way?
I dunno, just my two cents on a dumb thing I was thinking about today.
AC: No, I will not take a photo with you on a day where someone was killed! It seems wildly inappropriate!
VG: Oh alright, thanks a lot Anderson! (with exactly the tone you're imagining, yes) *loses goddamn mind on Twitter*
He says Anderson Cooper is "an ass" and "went on a rant." (I will point out that he posted a video of the conversation, and everything I typed above is the entire thing. I will also point out that in order to criticize Cooper's "rant," he spent 20 minutes ranting on Twitter about it.) Then he flips his shit about Cooper "exploiting Ottawa" because obviously a professional journalist doesn't cover these sort of events because it's, you know, their job. My favorite part of the "EXPLOITER!" whining is where he criticizes Cooper for having to fly to Ottawa whereas HE was "on the streets covering." "I was here during a lockdown while YOU flew here on a jet." Man, what an ass that Anderson Cooper guy is, not already living in Ottawa and having to travel to get there and not just using his DBZ Instant Transmission move, how dare he. The gall of going to where something happened instead of sitting in a comfy studio and doing everything by satellite, the sheer nerve of that.
Cooper took about two minutes to reply with every he needed to say about the stupid situation: "Dude, you were rude and asking for a selfie near where a soldier was killed. It was completely inappropriate. Think about it. I can't believe any station employs you, and if you want to be a journalist, learn how to behave when covering a story."
Kinda exactly what I'd have said.
I should note, obviously there are plenty of people on cable news, ESPECIALLY in the U.S., who I would absolutely believe were just out to exploit a tragedy for ratings. And I would love to see them called on it every damn time. And to an extent, any journalist covering any story could be seen as exploiting it. But maybe let's refrain from taking that position just for the sake of a temper tantrum against the few people we have who still try to be class act professionals and do the job the right way?
I dunno, just my two cents on a dumb thing I was thinking about today.
July 15, 2014
I wish I was not a nerd
So first, the cool part of the Thor news:
Coming off of Original Sin, Thor is going to be found unworthy of wielding Mjolnir. He's still gonna be around, and he's gonna do what I assume will be hero-y things with a big-ass ax, but someone new is going to be found worthy of picking up the hammer.
Note the clearly not-non-lethal big fucking ax. Also, please don't make his new name "Unworthy Thor," I hope to God that's just the description for the image. Maybe just drop the "Thor" part and address him only as "Odinson" until he regains his honor or makes his own name or whatever?
Anyway, since Marvel is riding on a ridiculous wave of "LOOK AT ALL THE AWESOME, INTERESTING SHIT WE ARE DOING," that new owner is going to be a woman. (All of my money is on Thor's sister, Angela. I mean, it kinda really looks like her, and she's another child of Odin, sooooo I'm gonna ignore the fact the press release says it's a brand new character.)
(edit: They've now released a promo that clearly show Angela standing right next to Thor, so I was totally wrong. But I didn't want to delete the line and act like I never said it, haha)
"The inscription on Thor's hammer reads 'Whosoever holds this hammer, if HE be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.' Well it's time to update that inscription," said Marvel editor Wil Moss. "...this new Thor isn't a temporary female substitute - she's now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy!"
The same point - that this will be THE Thor now - was driven further home by Jason Aaron, who will be writing the new series. "This is not She-Thor...Lady Thor...Thorita. This is THOR. This is the Thor of the Marvel Universe."
Quotes taken from this article: CLICK HERE
And look, yeah, maybe making a female version of a character isn't a new thing. But Marvel, according to their own press release, considers Thor to one of their BIG 3 characters, alongside Captain America and Iron Man. So, yeah, it does mean something pretty great that their going to have one of those characters be female - especially since, as they've made clear, she's the NEW THOR and not THOR'S LADY SIDEKICK/ALTERNATE.
(Kind of unrelated, but we also have something else pretty great and I want to point it out: with Steve Rogers currently unable to fill the role of Captain America in any active way, we're also going to have a new Cap, at least for a while. And if the cover for Avengers #35 is any indication, it looks to be Sam Wilson, which you may notice means the Marvel Big 3 would also feature an African-American character.)
(edit: CALLED IT. FUCK YEAH CAPTAIN FALCON.)
And now, surprise surprise, onto the not cool part:
"SUBSCRIPTION CANCELED."
"This is a sad day........gonna go puke now, thanks Marvel"
"I want to find the dumb-ass, pencil pushing, administrative, completely uncreative person who forced this idea on every one in some lame and obvious, commercial and banal attempt to get more female readers and fire them."
"Um...Not to be sexist at all or anything...but I cannot believe this. I'm extremely disgusted with them......WTF ARE DOING DOING, MARVEL?!"
"Thor receiving a vaginoplasty... what's next?"
"She name its now WHOR,God of trans-sexual"
Coming off of Original Sin, Thor is going to be found unworthy of wielding Mjolnir. He's still gonna be around, and he's gonna do what I assume will be hero-y things with a big-ass ax, but someone new is going to be found worthy of picking up the hammer.
 |
| Unworthy Thor drawn by Esad Ribic |
Anyway, since Marvel is riding on a ridiculous wave of "LOOK AT ALL THE AWESOME, INTERESTING SHIT WE ARE DOING," that new owner is going to be a woman. (All of my money is on Thor's sister, Angela. I mean, it kinda really looks like her, and she's another child of Odin, sooooo I'm gonna ignore the fact the press release says it's a brand new character.)
(edit: They've now released a promo that clearly show Angela standing right next to Thor, so I was totally wrong. But I didn't want to delete the line and act like I never said it, haha)
 |
| Thor #1 cover drawn by Esad Ribic |
The same point - that this will be THE Thor now - was driven further home by Jason Aaron, who will be writing the new series. "This is not She-Thor...Lady Thor...Thorita. This is THOR. This is the Thor of the Marvel Universe."
Quotes taken from this article: CLICK HERE
And look, yeah, maybe making a female version of a character isn't a new thing. But Marvel, according to their own press release, considers Thor to one of their BIG 3 characters, alongside Captain America and Iron Man. So, yeah, it does mean something pretty great that their going to have one of those characters be female - especially since, as they've made clear, she's the NEW THOR and not THOR'S LADY SIDEKICK/ALTERNATE.
(Kind of unrelated, but we also have something else pretty great and I want to point it out: with Steve Rogers currently unable to fill the role of Captain America in any active way, we're also going to have a new Cap, at least for a while. And if the cover for Avengers #35 is any indication, it looks to be Sam Wilson, which you may notice means the Marvel Big 3 would also feature an African-American character.)
(edit: CALLED IT. FUCK YEAH CAPTAIN FALCON.)
 |
| Try and tell me that Cap suit doesn't SCREAM Falcon. |
"SUBSCRIPTION CANCELED."
"This is a sad day........gonna go puke now, thanks Marvel"
"I want to find the dumb-ass, pencil pushing, administrative, completely uncreative person who forced this idea on every one in some lame and obvious, commercial and banal attempt to get more female readers and fire them."
"Um...Not to be sexist at all or anything...but I cannot believe this. I'm extremely disgusted with them......WTF ARE DOING DOING, MARVEL?!"
"Thor receiving a vaginoplasty... what's next?"
"She name its now WHOR,God of trans-sexual"
There's worse, big shock, but I don't really wanna throw any of the worst shit right into anyone's face.
So.
Thanks, shitty idiot comic fans making everyone look bad. Christ.
One of you morons used Mjolnir as the character's name and cited Amazing Spider-Man 2, Days of Future Past, and the upcoming Sinister Six/Fantastic Four films as proof that Marvel Studios is putting out too many movies, and then said that AS A COMICS PURIST you couldn't accept a female Thor. I don't think I even believe you read comics, motherfucker.
Look damn it, in the Marvel universe, if you can pick up the fuckin' hammer, you're Thor now. That's just how it works. I mean, okay, previously you just got the powers, you didn't take up the name. But if the current Thor is going to fall so far that he's no longer worthy of Mjolnir, or even his own name? WELL THEN I GUESS THERE'D BE A NEW THOR AT THAT POINT ASSHOLES.
Look.
We had a frog Thor.
We had a weird-ass alien horse Thor.
But you draw the line at "woman?" It's that unbelievable that a woman would be worthy of the power of Thor?
Fuck you guys.
Thanks, shitty idiot comic fans making everyone look bad. Christ.
One of you morons used Mjolnir as the character's name and cited Amazing Spider-Man 2, Days of Future Past, and the upcoming Sinister Six/Fantastic Four films as proof that Marvel Studios is putting out too many movies, and then said that AS A COMICS PURIST you couldn't accept a female Thor. I don't think I even believe you read comics, motherfucker.
 |
| I didn't screengrab at the time, and I'm not about to go wading back through the shit now. |
Look.
We had a frog Thor.
 |
| 100% NOT MAKING THIS UP |
 |
| AND PEOPLE FUCKING LOVE THIS GUY |
 |
| This is clearly the least realistic of the last three images. |
June 11, 2014
Squid just got himself a One
Okay. Goddamn it here we go. Starting over, again, and I swear if I don't keep on myself to actually write things this time I am giving up. So I'm Ryan/Squid/UncleKrakken, I'm a big giant dork and I will write here about big giant dork things. I hope I can entertain, and if I'm lucky have some fun discussions in the comments if people actually read my assorted rantings.
Anyway. Got myself one of them there Xbox Ones now. Gotta say, overall I am very much enjoying my XO already. And I am eager to try out some stuff I see coming up for the Hugs & Kisses. But I have one problem so far:
Whoever designed and approved the awful digital storefront should be fucking fired. This is shit.
I don't mean the Windows 8-ish tiles thing. The most recent 360 dash got me used to that. Besides, they work nice with Kinect's voice and gesture controls, and fuck me if the voice commands aren't convenient as hell for menu browsing and controlling Netflix and shit.
But when I get a new system after it's been out for a while, I like to browse through the game list, see what's been released that I don't know about. And you can't browse by title on the One.
After you go to "Store" and select "Games," your options are "New Releases" (sorted by release date obviously), "Top Games Right Now" & "Recommended For You" (sorted by who the hell knows), "New Game Demos," "Top Selling," and "Top Rated." And because apparently this is helpful, Top Games Right Now, Top Selling, and Top Rated show pretty much all the same games, in a barely different order. Alternately, I can search for a game manually if I'm looking for a specific title.
Maybe you noticed the 360 option missing from that list: the ability to choose from 0-9 or A thru Z and be shown an alphabetical list of every available game that starts with a number or the chosen letter. What the fuck? How the fuck is browsing games by title not a goddamn option? Not only can you not browse by title on the console itself, but with the latest changes to the Xbox Web site, you can't even do it there and add games to your console download queue. Yes. They removed the unnecessary extra steps inconvenient way to do it, even. Fucking. Stupid.
You know how I found some of my favorite 360 games, like Bastion or ilomilo or Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime? By randomly looking through the B, I, and G game lists! I would have never found them otherwise! Currently, I am sitting in front of my system with vague memories of seeing some demos of interesting looking downloadable titles for the One with names I can't remember but would remember if I saw them, but I can't see them because damn it, Microsoft. Meanwhile, I had my PS4 turned on for 20 minutes and picked up like 7 fucking games.
MICROSOFT. THIS IS THE CONSOLE WHERE YOU WANTED EVERYONE TO BUY DIGITAL. WHAT. THE. FUCK.
WHAT THE FUCK?
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