Most of the internet has seen this by now, but if you missed it - or even if you've seen it already but need something to make you smile - please enjoy this video of a desert rain frog.
If you can't view the video, it is of a tiny sand-covered frog making a bizarrely adorable high-pitched squeaking noise. Rumor has it the sound sets dogs to barking; I know it made my cats jump up and hurry over to investigate.
Seriously, this frog is quite possibly the cutest thing I've seen all week, and I have an infant.
Open thread! What have you found lately that is ridiculously cute even by the internet's standards? What videos, images, etc. do you pull up when you're having a bad day to make yourself smile?
Monday Reminder! While I have fun coming up with pretty pictures and/or interesting “prompt” questions for open threads, you aren’t limited to those! These threads are open - go wild, talk about whatever moves you! (Just remember that this is still a safe space, please!)
28 comments:
Thanks for the frog video. Here, have a marmoset video in return.
Ana: I think the cylinder and the red box are Ford's hitchhiking kit: radio for listening out for passing spaceships, and "electronic thumb" for signalling for a lift. (They're only mentioned briefly at the very beginning of the series, so they're not as iconic as some of the other things in the doodle.)
I like how clicking on the Guide gets you little animated guide entries. (And I'm clearly a fan, because I can identify every single one of them, even without the words.)
Thanks for the frog video. Here, have a marmoset video in return.
Ana: I think the cylinder and the red box are Ford's hitchhiking kit: radio for listening out for passing spaceships, and "electronic thumb" for signalling for a lift. (They're only mentioned briefly at the very beginning of the series, so they're not as iconic as some of the other things in the doodle.)
I like how clicking on the Guide gets you little animated guide entries. (And I'm clearly a fan, because I can identify every single one of them, even without the words.)
Oh, you're right! I do remember the thumb. Thank you!
Here's an article that I thought was interesting re: Oz on Jezebel. Hit tip goes to WordAddict at Shakesville.
I also thought this comment from Plums was interesting and horrifying.
Actual quote from a producer of the movie, on why he liked this pitch:
"And the second reason was -- during the years that I spent running Walt Disney Studios -- I learned about how hard it was to find a fairy tale with a good strong male protagonist. You've got your Sleeping Beauties, your Cinderellas and your Alices. But a fairy tale with a male protagonist is very hard to come by. But with the origin story of the Wizard of Oz, here was a fairy tale story with a natural male protagonist. Which is why I knew that this was an idea for a movie that was genuinely worth pursuing."
You're welcome.
So...yeah. >.<
An Oz Open Thread so that people can speak in spoilers without ROT13ing up the place.
Words fail me.
Yes, I can see how that narrative can feel played out and grating.
For myself, I'm willing to accept the premise of the Wizard of Oz as a protagonist, in which case the con man elements being front and centre are acceptable to me (I also appreciate how they're utilised in the climax).
I also liked the spectacle of the film in terms of over-the-top imagery and larger than life characters, in a manner nicely reminiscent of the original.
Plus, I just kept getting a kick out of the digitally created matte paintings.
There's some other stuff to it I found compelling, but it's kind of heavy and I just got done explaining it to somebody else, so I'll save it for later while I recharge.
Except he -wasn't- a con man. He was a stage magician, and they could have had him be that without being a jerkass to absolutely everyone. The only people he conned were women, so he could have sex with them. That was not necessary characterization for Mr. I Wanna Be Edison Let Me Save Your Fantasy Kingdom. And the only quasi-addressed fall out of his jerkassery? Really problematic.
(Trying to be vague enough not to spoiler stuff)
I can see that myself, with the whole "there's three powerful witches in this conflict, but they need to wait for a regular man to come along for resolution", but I can find it softened somewhat with the idea that there are occasions where the witches blatantly use him for their own ends and he's mostly useful because he's got talents for living up to the role of being a big obvious symbol.
There are also elements of in-universe characterisation and setting that can serve as explanations for the status quo at the start, but I'm less certain as to whether they can hold up the story (not that they don't work, I just mean as "do these outweigh what is problematic").
I must have the only cat and dog who are entirely unimpressed by the frog. I, however, loved it.
For some reason, the Youtube embeds on the front page were causing Internet Explorer to crash for some folks, so I've tucked them under a Read More jump, and have offered prayers to the FSM that Microsoft and Google can get along shortly.
I'm afraid I haven't read the books, either, so I can't make any real comparisons there. Aside from the jerkass issue - which isn't a spoiler, since it's clear from the trailers - there are other issues which it would be spoilery to discuss. I'll probably blog about it and/or come back and summon Cthulhu to discuss it here when I've got a bit more time. Though I can say that, while it's nice that they made sure the casting of the extras was racially diverse, the main characters are all white. (Okay, I can give them half a point for having a couple of PoC side characters, but still.)
I haven't seen it, but I've heard several complaints that it gutted the books' feminist messages in favor of white male awesomeness. Which would be sad, if so.
(I've not yet read the books.)
Ugh ugh ugh, all of the feels.
I broke my own rule last night and got into it in the comments section of a YouTube video "rebuttal." (Oddly, the guy who made the video seems, from his other videos, to be perfectly intelligent and enlightened, so I don't know what happened there.)
Of all the people I wound up engaging, I think my favorite was the guy who a) started out by attacking a straw man, b) replied to at least one of my points with a variation on "Oh yeah? Well, well... shut up!", c) tended to change the subject any time I made a logical argument that he couldn't respond to, d) tossed enough logical fallacies at me to fill out a bingo card...
...and then e) told me he wasn't interested in talking to me, because he was only interested in serious, logical discussion, and I was obviously emotional and "childishly sarcastic." *headdesk* (To be fair, he was right about the sarcasm. I regret nothing.)
Happily though, the only pushback I've encountered has been strangers on the internet - I can only imagine how much more frustrating it must be to get it from people you know and love. (Although part of the reason I don't get any pushback in real life is also frustrating in its own way - all but maybe one or two of my real-life friends are cheerfully oblivious to feminist issues, so their take on this whole thing is more of a "Controversy? What controversy? Anita who?" reaction...)
Ugh ugh ugh, all of the feels.
I broke my own rule last night and got into it in the comments section of a YouTube video "rebuttal." (Oddly, the guy who made the video seems, from his other videos, to be perfectly intelligent and enlightened, so I don't know what happened there.)
Of all the people I wound up engaging, I think my favorite was the guy who a) started out by attacking a straw man, b) replied to at least one of my points with a variation on "Oh yeah? Well, well... shut up!", c) tended to change the subject any time I made a logical argument that he couldn't respond to, d) tossed enough logical fallacies at me to fill out a bingo card...
...and then e) told me he wasn't interested in talking to me, because he was only interested in serious, logical discussion, and I was obviously emotional and "childishly sarcastic." *headdesk* (To be fair, he was right about the sarcasm. I regret nothing.)
Happily though, the only pushback I've encountered has been strangers on the internet - I can only imagine how much more frustrating it must be to get it from people you know and love. (Although part of the reason I don't get any pushback in real life is also frustrating in its own way - all but maybe one or two of my real-life friends are cheerfully oblivious to feminist issues, so their take on this whole thing is more of a "Controversy? What controversy? Anita who?" reaction...)
*offers hugs*
It's frustrating and upsetting, but sometimes people (and I include in this statement men whom I dearly love) Just Don't Get It. Melissa has written about the Terrible Bargain and I think it's absolutely relevant:
This, then, is the terrible bargain we have regretfully struck: Men are allowed the easy comfort of their unexamined privilege, but my regard will always be shot through with a steely, anxious bolt of caution.
(And this is true for intersectional issues as well -- my close friends know that no matter how feminist I am and try to be, I will always have white privilege and there's always a chance that I'll say something unintentionally stupid and hurtful and privilegy.)
We keep trying, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt sometimes. Hugs, if you want them.
Kristycat/mods: I'm not sure if this needs a CN or not. If it does please let me know and I'll add one, or feel free to add one yourself.
Sometimes my husband is the most wonderful and sweet person in the world and at other times I have to wonder what world he comes from. He watches a lot of youtube video game series and the Feminist Frequency video has been a very popular topic lately. I think he was expecting me to have the same general view as him ("Does it matter?") and he was very suprised to have me get angry about some of the responses.
He shared a number of the critiques with me and I finally had to point out that not one of them had anything to do with the point that the video was actually trying to make. Not one of the responses he watched engaged in the actual topic of the video. It was a lot of derailing bullshit about the woman's "delivery" and, for whatever reason, the quality of her university thesis was brought up like it was in any way relevant. People complained that she didn't give examples of "good" video game female charactes when that wasn't the point! Other complaints: it was too general, it was too specific, she gets paid too much for doing this, she probably never even played the games she's talking about, she blinks too much. There was a fair bit of "I'm more of a gamer than her, let me prove it with unrelated information she didn't include because it was unrelated!" Let's all take a moment to notice that not one of the complaints actually has anything to do with the topic she was discussing.
Anyway. He had a bit of a kneejerk reaction of finding things to bring me to agree with the critics, but I've been looking into this topic for a hell of a lot longer than he has and he had nothing new to offer. He also realized that he doesn't have any real stake in the topic and clearly I do, so he dropped it for the most part. I think he forgot for a few minutes that I love video games and that I wasn't attacking "his" hobby; I was criticising a hobby that we are both invested in.
I'm still frustrated.
Kristycat/mods: I'm not sure if this needs a CN or not. If it does please let me know and I'll add one, or feel free to add one yourself.
Sometimes my husband is the most wonderful and sweet person in the world and at other times I have to wonder what world he comes from. He watches a lot of youtube video game series and the Feminist Frequency video has been a very popular topic lately. I think he was expecting me to have the same general view as him ("Does it matter?") and he was very suprised to have me get angry about some of the responses.
He shared a number of the critiques with me and I finally had to point out that not one of them had anything to do with the point that the video was actually trying to make. Not one of the responses he watched engaged in the actual topic of the video. It was a lot of derailing bullshit about the woman's "delivery" and, for whatever reason, the quality of her university thesis was brought up like it was in any way relevant. People complained that she didn't give examples of "good" video game female charactes when that wasn't the point! Other complaints: it was too general, it was too specific, she gets paid too much for doing this, she probably never even played the games she's talking about, she blinks too much. There was a fair bit of "I'm more of a gamer than her, let me prove it with unrelated information she didn't include because it was unrelated!" Let's all take a moment to notice that not one of the complaints actually has anything to do with the topic she was discussing.
Anyway. He had a bit of a kneejerk reaction of finding things to bring me to agree with the critics, but I've been looking into this topic for a hell of a lot longer than he has and he had nothing new to offer. He also realized that he doesn't have any real stake in the topic and clearly I do, so he dropped it for the most part. I think he forgot for a few minutes that I love video games and that I wasn't attacking "his" hobby; I was criticising a hobby that we are both invested in.
I'm still frustrated.
Huh. I thought it had many, many problems. (Though I am also thoroughly sick of the jerkass becomes a decent person plot, particularly as the jerkass is generally one just because. Seriously, how does "I want to be a great man not a farmer" translate into "I will be an epic jerkass"?)
Huh. I thought it had many, many problems. (Though I am also thoroughly sick of the jerkass becomes a decent person plot, particularly as the jerkass is generally one just because. Seriously, how does "I want to be a great man not a farmer" translate into "I will be an epic jerkass"?)
Haven't seen Oz yet, but Jack the Giant Slayer was surprisingly good! "Random lurker," you ask, "why did you enjoy it so?" Thanks for asking, hypothetical reader!
I was not expecting to love this movie. It looked like cheesy typical fairytale reboot with overdone CGI. But then this movie had (mild characterization spoilers ahead!):
- a princess who is actively encouraged by her mother to have adventures and unapologetically does so, AS WELL AS straight up calling out her Dad for being sexist by insisting she marry before she becomes queen
- a farmboy hero who digs the princess but is not a Nice Guy AND encourages said princess by praising her ACTIONS when she expresses feeling useless
- a knight who is good humored and does not look down on farmboy or pine for princess (Ewan McGregor was utterly delightful)
- a king who ADMITS HE WAS WRONG to trust villian suitor with his daughter, and (literally) pulls his own weight in battle
- action, jokes, good and not overdone CGI, etc.
This is the first movie I’ve watched in a long time where I legitimately sympathized with and approved of the majority of the motivations for the actions of the “good guy” characters. I also cheered at more than a few of the particularly anti-patriarchal lines. For reals.
Downsides:
- the bad guys were of the “evil because evil” variety, with attendant Unfortunate Implications of racism
- no PoC characters
- some ableism* on display
- I would’ve liked a two second addition to the end** to be more in keeping with Isabelle and Jack’s characters and the otherwise surprisingly feminist themes of the film.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it!
—————-
* The “comic relief second head” of the giant general had a speech impediment, facial tics, and was portrayed as very dim-witted.
—————-
** SPOILER: V rkcrpgrq Vfnoryyr gb jrne gur pebja. Fur zber guna rnearq vg, naq fur jnf Revx’f urve. Vs gurl jnagrq Wnpx gb jrne vg gb hcraq gur eblnyf-bayl ehyr, V jbhyq’ir yvxrq gb FRR ure tvir vg gb uvz gb fubj ure ntrapl va gur qrpvfvba naq nibvq nal “ureb orpnhfr znyr” vzcyvpngvbaf.
Haven't seen Oz yet, but Jack the Giant Slayer was surprisingly good! "Random lurker," you ask, "why did you enjoy it so?" Thanks for asking, hypothetical reader!
I was not expecting to love this movie. It looked like cheesy typical fairytale reboot with overdone CGI. But then this movie had (mild characterization spoilers ahead!):
- a princess who is actively encouraged by her mother to have adventures and unapologetically does so, AS WELL AS straight up calling out her Dad for being sexist by insisting she marry before she becomes queen
- a farmboy hero who digs the princess but is not a Nice Guy AND encourages said princess by praising her ACTIONS when she expresses feeling useless
- a knight who is good humored and does not look down on farmboy or pine for princess (Ewan McGregor was utterly delightful)
- a king who ADMITS HE WAS WRONG to trust villian suitor with his daughter, and (literally) pulls his own weight in battle
- action, jokes, good and not overdone CGI, etc.
This is the first movie I’ve watched in a long time where I legitimately sympathized with and approved of the majority of the motivations for the actions of the “good guy” characters. I also cheered at more than a few of the particularly anti-patriarchal lines. For reals.
Downsides:
- the bad guys were of the “evil because evil” variety, with attendant Unfortunate Implications of racism
- no PoC characters
- some ableism* on display
- I would’ve liked a two second addition to the end** to be more in keeping with Isabelle and Jack’s characters and the otherwise surprisingly feminist themes of the film.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it!
—————-
* The “comic relief second head” of the giant general had a speech impediment, facial tics, and was portrayed as very dim-witted.
—————-
** SPOILER: V rkcrpgrq Vfnoryyr gb jrne gur pebja. Fur zber guna rnearq vg, naq fur jnf Revx’f urve. Vs gurl jnagrq Wnpx gb jrne vg gb hcraq gur eblnyf-bayl ehyr, V jbhyq’ir yvxrq gb FRR ure tvir vg gb uvz gb fubj ure ntrapl va gur qrpvfvba naq nibvq nal “ureb orpnhfr znyr” vzcyvpngvbaf.
Has anybody else seen Oz the Great and Powerful?
I greatly enjoyed it, partially because of what I felt was one particularly interesting piece of characterisation (which might be triggering for some).
Has anybody else seen Oz the Great and Powerful?
I greatly enjoyed it, partially because of what I felt was one particularly interesting piece of characterisation (which might be triggering for some).
I LOVE THAT FROG. I saw it last week and my cats were soooo interested.
I want to point out that today's Google Doodle is an homage to Douglas Adams. (I recognize everything except the cylinder and red box next to it. Are those a reference to something or just sci-fi detritus? I love the satchel, towel, guidebook, whale, petunias, shipboard computer complete with ticker tape, and tea.)
I LOVE THAT FROG. I saw it last week and my cats were soooo interested.
I want to point out that today's Google Doodle is an homage to Douglas Adams. (I recognize everything except the cylinder and red box next to it. Are those a reference to something or just sci-fi detritus? I love the satchel, towel, guidebook, whale, petunias, shipboard computer complete with ticker tape, and tea.)
Infants: less cute when you are around them all the time. In my experience, at least, although I don't find the very small ones particularly cute. Kinda fascinating, but not as cute...something really cute, IDK...a sleeping toddler?
Infants: less cute when you are around them all the time. In my experience, at least, although I don't find the very small ones particularly cute. Kinda fascinating, but not as cute...something really cute, IDK...a sleeping toddler?
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