Posts by Lucy Stewart

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  • OnPoint: Being a dick about Earth Hour,

    The people advertising Earth Hour on my campus were handing out energy-effiicient lightbulbs, which is...better than nothing. I mean, that will cause an *actual* reduction in carbon emissions.

    My partner describes Earth Hour as a way to alleviate guilt, and he's so right. I wouldn't be surprised if it discourages people from doing something to actually reduce their emissions, because, hey, they participated in Earth Hour! They voted for the planet! That counts, right?

    That ad campaign is really, really dumb.

    Librarian state? Anyone?

    I'd be careful saying that. Danielle might hear you.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

  • Hard News: Problems,

    BSG is something a bit different, though. Generally speaking, my sci-fi and comic book days are long behind me. I wouldn't watch any of the various Star Trek spin-offs or similar unless you paid me (not much, I'm fairly cheap...). And generally, my wife will curl her lip at anything that even remotely resembles sci-fi. But she's a fan of BSG. That's how good it is.

    I have to say that I never have much time for the argument that a work of fiction is good in spite of its genre. It's good, or it's not. When you add riders about having outgrown sci-fi and comics, you imply that genre fiction as a whole is generally less legitimate. It's really not.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

  • Hard News: Problems,

    Ridicule is what I live for! But 'you ruined this important discussion with your dumbass pop culture' is a turn in the conversation I dig somewhat less.

    Is it the overtones of "you are not SERIOUS enough!" or the overtones of "I don't understand this conversation so I'm going to complain about it!"?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

  • Up Front: Making a List, Not Bothering…,

    Do they have to give the Christians *actual reason* to feel persecuted? It's tiring enough dealing with the delusions.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

  • Hard News: Problems,

    Babylon 5 too was all about the allegory, and I've been in therapy trying to forget having watched it ever since.

    See, you've just given me another reason to watch this show; allegory is my happy place. I think that's why I like alternate history as a genre so much.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

  • Hard News: Problems,

    I don't think, for example, that you could have a drama set in the Real World (tm) that even played with the idea that suicide bombing might be a legitimate tactic against an overwhelmingly powerful invader.

    Jericho, in its resurrected second season, did some excellent USA-as-Iraq allegory which addressed resistance against a questionably legitimate occupying force. I could have seen them going there if they'd been able to continue the show. OTOH, I suspect that the reason they went as far as they did was because they knew they were living on borrowed time.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

  • Hard News: Problems,

    Craig, I think the point of the matter is that people in DC were not watching Battlestar Galactica; they were watching Fox News

    Please explain how this viewing matter differs in fantastical content?

    I know plenty of right wing readers of such publications (not one myself, Pratchett excepted)

    Yep - they're the ones who think Frank Miller is a good writer, Rorschach is some kind of role model, and the Dark Knight was really about George Bush being right.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

  • Hard News: Problems,

    For instance, Stats should offer an all-you-can-eat XML file of their published datasets, which those better at technology than they are could make usable.

    That is terrifyingly drool-worthy.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

  • Hard News: Problems,

    Obama has about the worst job in the world, although his soaring rhetoric during the election campaign perhaps encouraged people to believe he was the Second Coming.

    That or the Antichrist. It's kind of interesting how there was no middle ground.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

  • Hard News: Problems,

    Elephants! Let's actually learn from the past and do it with elephants!

    Or we can go further back and observe that Darius did it with elephants, and look where it got him - drunk foreigners burning down the capital.

    Besides which, its not like we're discussing Star Trek fantasy furpile orgies, or anything.

    Yeah, we save that for Emma's threads.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

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