So, I’ve returned from my travels and I have questions. Among them, why is a planet-wide celebration of athleticism and uncommon sporting prowess being introduced with yet another tedious display of cross-dressing, oddly selective sacrilege, and self-satisfied obesity?
The Glamour Of Air Travel
And hey, every passenger wants the pilot to be a bewigged, mentally ill fetishist who bangs on about the super-girly tightness of his uniform, and who takes endless, pouting selfies in the cockpit.
Oddments For The Weekend
Including bellies and vacuums; fit birds; honest hairdressing; a watering hole and its visitors; and Nottingham’s last wash house, circa 1977.
The Problem Of What To Call It
In which, we poke through transgender Reddit and learn many things.
It’s Political Nudity, You See
Come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure what loving one’s body might mean, beyond the obvious off-colour jokes. But apparently, it’s something that one is supposed to proclaim as an accomplishment, a credential of progressivism. I have, however, noted that it tends to be announced by people whose declared triumph in this matter is not altogether convincing, and whose basis for doing so is generally much slimmer than they are.
Oddments For The Weekend
Including an attempt at airbending; the statistics of simultaneous blinking; ninja-level night vision; a notable welding helmet; and some relaxing massage, enhanced with drumming and fire.
Their Teats Were Swollen With Human Kindness
It’s fundraising week over at my place.
If you’d like to help keep a blog afloat, and keep it ad-free, by all means do.
Oddments For The Weekend
Including a history of urology from 3,200 BC to the present day; an archive of Amazing Stories magazine; some dramatic downward motion; and a museum of fossilised dinosaur faeces. With gift shop, obviously.
Between The Thighs
Hush now. I bring news from academia.
Oddments For The Weekend
Including Chesterton’s Cone; some notable vision correction; scenes of smooth jazz noodling; and when walking towards the light isn’t necessarily a good idea.
Don’t Oppress My People With Your White-Ass Folk Music
Obviously, activities that are chiefly indulged in by white people – in this case, folk singing – must be deemed suspect and found problematic with great urgency, and then probed for hidden wrongness. At taxpayer expense.
Oddments For The Weekend
Including a suboptimal day at work; some difficulty with heels; a “decolonisation” dilemma; how the Dutch will take over the world; and a motorised erotic device.
Loud And Proud, You Say?
Atlantic columnist is oppressed by expectations of politeness and basic consideration:
Ms Gonzalez, who repeatedly mentions how “minority” and “of colour” she is, also tells us how she, “just wanted to be around people in places where nobody told us to shush.” Say, when being a late-night annoyance to roommates and neighbours, a thing that by her own account happens repeatedly, or when playing music in a library. Where other people are trying to study:
“One day, when I accidentally sat down to study in the library’s Absolutely Quiet Room, fellow students Shhh-ed me into shame for putting on my Discman… I soon realised that silence was more than the absence of noise; it was an aesthetic to be revered. Yet it was an aesthetic at odds with who I was. Who a lot of us were.”
A bold admission. One, I suspect, that reveals more than intended. Also, the claim that one can sit down in a library accidentally.
Oh, there’s more. And a plot twist of sorts.
Oddments For The Weekend
Including a percolating substance; a manhole, a mishap, and a very small beep; the gruesome death of a shoe; and a situation involving shouting and quite a lot of smoke.
Your Possessions Are Holding You Back
The World Economic Forum’s Ida Auken wants to correct your primitive lifestyle.
Because having strangers, people you don’t know, taking your car, apparently at random, would be terribly progressive and super-convenient, and “fun,” and “not annoying.”
Oh, and forget about owning clothes.
Please Remove Your Shoes Before Using the Crosswalk
On scootering, desecration, and our new sacred symbols:
It occurs to me that the pretentious weeping currently underway could have been avoided by not painting one’s weird religious symbols on the chuffing road at a busy intersection. As if that were a perfectly normal thing to do, and in no way an irritant or an invitation to mischief.
And then, inevitably, the sly conflation:
“The alleged vandalism, which was claimed by many to be motivated by homophobia, resulted in an outpouring of condemnation from Spokane’s LGBT community and those purporting to be LGBT allies.”
At which point, readers may wonder whether the children’s scootering, and the wider disaffection for the increasingly cluttered and kaleidoscopic Pride flag, may have less to do with “homophobia,” as claimed, and rather more to do with a symbol that is now associated with creepy, compelled unrealism, fantasy pronouns, and the steering of children towards experimental drugging and surgical mutilation. The kinds of things that many people, including many gay people, might find a little contentious, or alienating, or morally repugnant.
Much more, including helpful illustrations, at the link.
Oddments For The Weekend
Including how to cope with a telekinetic child; when long-nosed goblins befuddled the Japanese; and a tale of a G.I., his wife, and Hitler’s cloak.
Queerness And Quantum Mechanics, Together At Last
She has “queer temporality,” and is therefore much more special than you.
Oddments For The Weekend
Including an altercation with nude cyclists; a hairy man and his lemon dress; some untimely parking; a level-10 parenting test; and an offer of interspecies intercourse.
