Erratica Reduex

Reading Metafilter today, I found this quote and reply that pretty much explains How Things Work.

Also, when Representative Gwen Moore was asked  to sum up what was going through her mind in the hours before the vote for health care reform, she broke out into a dance, pumped her arms in the air and sang the Michael Jackson song "Thriller."

Man, who could ever get bored with American politics?

Over at the 20 Sided Women's Project, there is An Open Letter to the Gaming Industry, where a group of gamers make some complaints about how their gender is depicted and treated in the hobby. It's made a bit of a stir, here and there.

My thoughts? Things have improved in the last decade or so, but there is still huge room for improvement, especially in the way that women are depicted, both in game, and especially in art. The trope of "sexy useless female armor' for example, is pretty much a cliche, and has been for years.  And the discussions over this letter have revealed that there's still a large mix of misogyny and general cluelessness out there.

But what do you all think?

Arcologies are constantly popping up in the literature of Science Fiction, and there's something about huge, "cities in a building that just seems to appeal to the fannish sensibility.  I've always wondered why.  Well, apart form they're being spectacular, if impractical applications of extreme architecture.




But there's always been something monolithic and extravagant about arcologies that seems to hint at a sort of utopian monomania. In fact, the notion of an entire city in a single, pre-planned building implies a sort of top-down authoritarianism, as opposed to the organic growth that a normal city has.

So oddly enough, it was no surprise to find out that Soleri grew up in fascist Italy.  And multiple critiques  of Arcosanti, Soleri's perpetually-in-construction seed arcology by a former resident, has detailed a structure that denies dissent and critical discussion.  Aside from Dr. Neutopia, sociologist Paul Ray has reported on the lack of workers rights and freedom in Arcosanti.  The needs of the individuals in the community are subjugated to the vision of Soleri, which is odd, considering that Arcologies are supposed to be a better way to live. 

Certainly there seems no element of human scale in Soleri's designs, no scope for individual contributions.  It is also too easy to imagine a place like Hexahedron (above), being divided into the elite in the top half, and the workers in the lower section; the design seems all to  useful for restricting flow of people and items.  Critics like Neutopia have compared the management structure at Arcosanti, to that of China: "based on the age old authoritarian, patriarchal model of command and control of the masses."  Perhaps that's a reason why China seems to be leading the race to build a functioning arcology, and not just their need for low-ecological impact housing.

The larger question here, is whether this is merely a problem with Soleri's particular vision, or whether authoritarian governmental structures go hand-in hand with the idea of arcologies.  And if so, what does it say about the science fiction culture's fascination with the idea?

I won't really go into the latest racefail controversy, AKA "Mammothfail". I just want to point out that it's really a distressing feeling to read the comments of an author you respect, and find yourself muttering "No, No, no! Just, stop. You're NOT helping. I know you're trying to support your friend, but you're making things worse. No see, you're still typing. That's bad. Aw, no, not with the metaphors, just back. Away. Slowly."

A part of my mind is trying to adapt the Tom Leher song "Who's Next" to Racefail, as I wonder who the next author I respect is going to make the mistake of explaining their way deeper into a mess.

Recently on his livejournal, James Nicoll posited an interesting idea:



So, what I'm wondering is, what if we looked at superpowers in terms of "woman's work"? Consider how "women's" jobs such as weaving or knitting or childcare or housekeeping have been largely regarded by male dominated society ( consider how recently it was that archaeologists actually started looking for evidence of things such as weaving). Now, how would a power, say flight, or FTL travel, or whatever be defined, if it was possessed only by women? James Nicoll's argument is that rather than changing the way women are regarded, the way the power would be regarded would conform to patriarchal society; it would be considered "unimportant woman's work", and the usage of it would be limited and confined. You could have women using the power, but the control over it would not be given to them.

So imagine that women started developing super powers oh, a couple hundred years ago, say back in the 18th century. We'll assume that they aren't totally overpowering Justice League level powers, but effective nonetheless.  My thought is that women could use those powers, sure, possibly even be paid to use them, but only in the societal context of male dominance. Use of those would be denigrated, dismissed, and controlled  through use of social opprobrium, the same way traditional work and "unfeminine" activities were.  Possibly the mere possession of those powers would be regarded as garish, unfeminine, and even immoral. Necessary of course, like the need for prostitutes for sailors, and a source for similarly titillating stories.  A stereotype of the perfect wife and mother who either has no powers or gives them up for domesticity would be promoted, and a woman who freely used her powers would be regarded as freakish as a female weightlifter or sharpshooter (yes, you'll notice that this does leave a degree of flexibility for women to use powers, either privately or publicly; historically there's been a gap between what women are told they should do, and what they actually do)

And then we move along, and say, somewhere in the 1930s or 40s, men start developing those powers. How would that change things? Well, men's powers would likely be seen as quantitatively different; stronger, and purer, and a distillate of men's nature. Men would be encouraged to use their powers and push their strength. Unlike women's powers, men's powers would be seen as IMPORTANT.

Now move the timeline up to the 1970s, with NOW, Gloria Steinham, and "I'm Cheryl: fly me".

Have fun.

...must be the New York Post.

A short while ago a pet chimpanzee was shot and killed by police.  This last Wednesday, the New York Post's pet cartoonist published an editorial cartoon that used the chimp's death in a way that suspiciously looks like its comparing the president with the dead chimp.  Which is, as people SHOULD know, a long-time racial slur for black people.  This caused quite a media stir- a worldwide one in fact.

On metafilter, the poster happyroach (who wishes to remain anonymous) posted a summary of the cartoon and the reactions, along with the question: if the cartoonist is comparing the president to the chimp, is he saying Obama needs to be assassinated?

What interests me is not so much the cartoon, but the two vastly different perspectives on it.  There's quite a crowd who seem to be willing to give the cartoonist the benefit of the doubt; and I have to wonder if it's not so much a matter of being generous of spirit as not wanting to acknowledge any cases of racial baiting- especially one where even a minor level of plausible deniability is maintained.  Also, the parallels between the levels of "I don't see the problem" blinkerdom in this controversy and in the recently ended LJ fracas involving Elizabeth Bear are interesting.

Admittedly the concept that Pratchett was satirizing- of fighting over a useless piece of land- is an old one.  But then again, perhaps Pratchett knew about this:


Ferdinandea: the disappearing island that caused an international incident. 

Interestingly, it wasn't just two, but three  countries that got involved in this strategically located rock pile,; fortunately, it disappeared before it caused any fighting to erupt.In any case, it points out the potentially lethal silliness that geopolitical concerns can lead to.

And right now I'm considering how the equivalent could be done in a fantasy or science fiction setting; a resource of some sort that's valuable enough to get people in power racing to claim it, only to disappear.

I'm a ninja!


But people won't believe that, so let's look at what the OKCupid political test is. And I shudder to think that it is probably used for dating purposes.

Bear in mind, my responses may vary up to 10% on either axis, depending on how much of a foul mood I am in that day.

You are a Social Liberal (80% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (26% permissive) You are best described as a: Strong Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Courtesy of fanficrants :


Critiquing the 2008 Election as a fanfic


This actually explains a bit too much abiout the election. And it does go well with the fan art....

Evil Hat had a special offer where in exchange for a paragraph written on our experiences with the election (written in a pulp manner), a special discount on a PDF of the pulp game Spirit of the Century would be provided.  I am now the proud owner of a terminally cheap PDF of Spirit of the Century. 

And here below, is the story of my experiences voting this morning. 

A few details maybe somewhat exaggerated.


I gunned the engine of our Lancer as we took the corner on two wheels, scattering a pack of Rotarians like startled pigeons. "Is he still back there?" My Love hollered, digging under the seat for her bag of tricks "Hardly!" I shot back, “He's right next to us!" And indeed he was; by cutting through the playground, our Neanderthal pursuer had managed to close the gap between us and his outsized pickup (complete with testicular attachments on the trailer hitch and a lynched Cowboy Woody doll dangling from the side mirror). By glancing to my left, I could easily lip-read the words spewing from his nicotine-stained lips: 'MONKEY FOR FETCH AY CHEESEBALLS LOVING'...well, maybe not all that easily, as I was managing the tricky task of keeping at least one wheel on the road, navigate through morning traffic, and keep our pursuer- somehow enraged by the "No on H8" bumper sticker our car sported- from preventing me from voting by the subtle stratagem of using his car like a macroencephallic mace..

“I found it!" My Love hollered triumphantly, extracting what looked like a large tightly wound ball of yarn in an elaborate knot. “Get ahead of him!” And by dint of my naturally miraculous driving ability, honed by years of taking the worst traffic San Francisco could throw at me, I briefly cut him off via a right-left-right sideslip. With perfect timing, My Love flung the knitting ball, which impacted on the windshield of the truck, and exploded out into a six-foot wide knitted poster of ‘Obama for President. Frantically our pursuer tried to slew around to dislodge the curtain, but the special adhesive formula on the backing, kept it securely fastened. It was thus that his efforts caused him to overturn his truck, and we left it tumbling into a handy barranca.
It was at this point, as I slewed into the parking lot of the community center, that I noticed that the last collision had somehow managed to disable the breaks. “Hang on!” I yelled, “This is going to have to be a drive by voting!” as the entrance loomed at us with ferocious speed…