Caturday XXXVII- Presented without comment

Somebody Come and Play - 1970

This song is simultaneously bouncily cheerful and doggedly sad. It's one of Sesame Street's more complex treasures. It really does capture the co-existing optimism and loneliness of being a kid on the hunt for a playmate.

This video is of the original appearance of the song on the show, and features a very bummed baby orangutan with nobody his age in his pen. Later incarnations of this song used significantly prettier and cheerier scenarios. But I think the original bleak setting was a really interesting choice - it makes the song seem sadder, and more pressing. Somebody get that monkey a playmate already, I can't stand it! Poor guy.

THAT'S RACIST

 By now you've probably seen this poster campaign encouraging people not to dress up as ethnic stereotypes for Halloween:

I guess I shouldn't be totally surprised at the controversy around these messages, but the turn that the conversation around them took really made me feel obligated to chime in. I get the two sides; "People should get a sense a of humor/ Don't tell me what I can't do" vs.

And I'll admit I'm on the latter team. I don't really think it's funny or appropriate to dress up like an unflattering caricature of a race, regardless of the reasons. It perpetuates stereotypes and deepens the divide that prevents us from understanding and respecting other cultures, while making the wearer look like a clueless inconsiderate asshole.

At the same time I understand the other argument, to a certain extent, especially if you live in a mono-cultural community with no real exposure to actual people of these races (which is why this poster campaign putting a real face to the ethnicity is very well done). Halloween is supposed to be a time to dress up and have fun and act foolish and satirize the world- so I kinda sorta see the other side (even though I don't agree - it's totally racist).

But there was one argument/comment that popped up more than once that really blew my mind:

'If I can't dress like a bandito then nobody can dress like a ghost because I don't have a tan and I find it offensive.'

Are you kidding me? Are you really trying to equate dressing up like an ethnicity to dressing up like a spectral being? My apologies- I didn't realize that your parents were ghosts and that you were born and raised in the ghost culture, with all their rich and celebrated ghost traditions. I'm so embarrassed I reduced your proud undead history to that old stereotype of a sheet with eye holes. I can't believe that guy over there dressed like a ghostbuster! How insensitive to all the spirits they've imprisoned from your culture over the years. Shame on him.

Seriously. Ghosts are not a race. WTF.

Sagan Songs

Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking rock out with their thoughts out.

Pottermore!

Oh hai guys! I've been lucky enough to get in on the beta testing of the new Harry Potter fan site Pottermore. I thought I'd dish a little on what it's like and what I liked.

Basically you get to go through little interactive vignettes from each chapter, finding objects that you can collect (like books, important props from the story, and the golden snitch) and uncovering new content about characters from JK Rowling. I think getting to read the exclusive content is probably my favorite of the site so far. Getting the life stories of Prof. McGonagall and Quirell, and the story of how the Dursley's met was very fun and interesting!

The art style on the site is very rich and beautiful. It really captures the mood of the books well. And I think that's something kind of important to keep in mind about the site: It's meant to serve sort of as an accompaniment to the books. Reading the feedback comments from other people in the Beta, it was clear some people were expecting there to be a lot more to it, for it almost to be a living movie you could act out. It's more like a series of explorable moments. With that said, there were a few things on it that I'd like to see improve.

1. There's no music - I think that would enhance the feeling of the site a lot.

2. The two most exciting interactive pieces, that enable you to earn house points, are not functioning optimally right now. You're supposed to be able to do spells in a wizards duel, but that piece has been "under maintenance" since I first signed in. There's also a place to make potions - but they take a REALLY long time to brew and sometimes the interface is a little clumsy. I wasted a whole bottle of Billywig Stings because I couldn't figure out how to hold the bottle properly. What a waste of Galleons!

3. You can buy pets on Diagon Alley, and they become your avatar. You have to pick really carefully because you can't change it. Not that I hate my choice of the traditional black cat, but now I wish I'd picked the Siamese instead and there's no turning back!

OK though- Here's the cool stuff. You get to go through a series of personality tests to get your wand and sort you into your houses. Here's what I got!

My Wand: 11 1/2 inches, Ash and Unicorn Hair, unyeilding

My House:

Slytherin Bitches! Haters Gonna Hate!

I'm actually really pleased with it. I feel like the test got it right. I'm ambitious and resourceful.Plus, I think I would kinda hate those foolhardy Gryffindor jerks if I was at Hogwarts. F pointless heroics.

Right now we're in second place with in the House Cup - Ravenclaw is winning. Despite having the most members, Gryffindor is in 3rd (BOO LOSERS) and, naturally, Hufflepuff is a losin'.

Anyways, it's a lot of fun, a great way to rediscover the books and learn more about the characters. I can't wait till they put up the rest of the content. Pottermore is pretty sweet.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that they randomly assign you a user name. Mine turned out to be pretty alright: WolfsbaneRose139. Look me up when you can get on!

In love with

All of a sudden, I am all about Cyndi Lauper. She's just so awesome.



I particularly get a girl crush on her around 1:57. I love that she took a song about staying out all night partying and made it seem so innocent and sweet.

It's hard to believe that she's 58! She's still lookin' pretty hot.

She's actually playing on the 23rd in Boston! That would be fun to see!

Caturday XXXVI - Avada - cat - davra

Ever since Roosevelt has become an indoor/outdoor girl, I've been thinking about solutions to give her a little more autonomy in her comings and goings. Frankly, it's a pain to have to constantly by letting her in and out,and she's not a big fan of being out all day long. I think something like this could be a really cool solution. AND OMG IT'S THE BURROW!

Heights Workshop Builds 'Harry Potter' Cat House: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

Now if only there were a spell to keep her from bringing mice inside. Yuck!