Popular Culture

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Post-Post Election Linkage

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Having had very little sleep the night before, I was a bit of a mess yesterday. I was sobbing my way through post-election coverage on the TV and my sobs turned into full-blown chest-wrecking wails when I heard the Obamas were getting a pound puppy. Oh, dear internet, I was a sight to behold. My partner, David, was slightly unsettled at first and then began to bait me with news stories just to see if I'd break into tears again. Cruel man. But here we go with some of the things I unearthed: + George W. Bush in pictures. Okay, I didn't sob over this one, but I really enjoyed the captions courtesy of (UK conservative newspaper) The Daily Telegraph. It's teh funneh. + Condoleezza Rice reacting to Obama's victory was one of the most startling things I was seen in years. Her reaction makes me wonder what who the real Ms Rice may be. + Read this if nothing else: Newsweek spills the beans from inside the campaigns. Hackers, the tension between the Palins and McCain's staff ("Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast"!), McCain not wanting to use negative attacks, Barack Obama swearing etc. Oh, and that Barack Obama knows his Star Trek emerges as well. Hmm.. Trek vs. Wars fans might want to read something into that. + UK rapper Dizzee Rascal reacting to Obama's win with Jeremy Paxman wondering if Rascal might consider running for PM (possibly only available to UK viewers, let me know) + Ralph Nader being taken to task by FOX news over his saying Obama could be an 'Uncle Tom'. Yikes. The next years are going to be very interesting, aren't they? + The continuing saga of what Sarah Palin doesn't know. + From Blueyonderletters, how the past eight years shaped November 4, 2008:

"..then it occurred to me: erasing the last eight years wouldn't automatically improve things. The opposite of hell isn't necessarily paradise, in this case. If we hadn't had the pain and the embarrassment and the disaster of the last two political cycles, where would we be now?"

+ A pre-election love letter to Barack Obama's campaign. It's more of a picture-spam, actually and I laughed hard - and then I choked up at the photos of the supporters. Pictures of happy, ordinary people really got to me. There were plenty of those yesterday. + And, finally, just to dampen the excitement: there are some scary people out there and proposition 8 on banning same-sex marriage was passed in California.

I'm going to put on my winter coat now and go for a brisk walk. I have been a complete news junkie these past few days and I need to clear my head. But the past few days have been really good, haven't they?

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Popscene!

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Tonight's Never Mind The Buzzcocks featured the lead singer of mid-90s Scottish indie band Geneva. Boy, did that make me feel old.. Here's the forgotten(?) gem of "No One Speaks" from their first album:

.. now where did I put my miniskirt, green glitter eyeliner and 70s vintage shirts? Hey, hey come out tonight.. (YT link)

More trips down memory lane; looking back I really liked my music angsty, eyelinered and vaguely androgynous: + Sleeper: Inbetweener + Strangelove: Time For The Rest of Your Life + Suede: The Drowners + Subcircus: 86'd

(Darth Ken, don't you dare leaving a snarky comment containing a picture of me in full indie girl gear)

Doctorin' The Tardis

David Tenannt has quit as Doctor Who. He was my first Doctor and will forever be tied in my mind to the early stages of the epic Ms Bookish/Scottish Guy (now known as Other Half) long-distance relationship. I watched New Earth and Tooth and Claw (Tennant's first proper episodes) during one of my visits and timed my next visit so it coincided with the breath-taking season finale. Aww. Back then I didn't have a big Doctor Who problem, of course.

Anyway. According to Other Half (formerly known as Scottish Guy), the smart money is on Paterson Joseph to replace David Tennant, although other contenders apparently include James Nesbitt (please, no, no) and Robert Carlyle (he'd be another local boy and, well, he likes my knitting). Any preferences?

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Biting Tails

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I recently discussed Alasdair Gray's fiction with someone who had contemplated doing a parody of Lanark for NaNoWriMo. I countered that Gray does such a fine job of parodying and plagiarising himself that it would be a moot exercise. 1982, Janine and Something Leather can be read as the latter parodying the former. Within Lanark itself you get the A-Z Of Plagiarisms which in itself is a parody. Would it be possible to write (fan)fiction about a body of work which is already plagiarising and fictionalising itself? So, to my mind, the solution would be to write an article called "The Resistance of Parody - Alasdair Gray, Bakhtin and the impossibility of Fanfiction" and what a very amusing writing exercise that would be. Not quite a novel, of course, but I might get cracking on that during November.

PS. There's a reason why this blog entry will be filled under "humour"

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As You Wish

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The third and final US presidential debate has been and gone whilst I was soundly asleep. I have looked at various reactions - ranging from Republican blogges to left-wing UK newspapers - but this remains the funniest take I've read:

::30 minutes into the debate, tension has increased as each candidate has perfectly parried each others attacks::

McCain: You are wonderful. Obama: Thank you; I've worked hard to become so. McCain: I admit it, you are better than I am. Obama: Then why are you smiling? McCain: Because I know something you don't know. Obama: And what is that? McCain: I... am not left-handed. [McCain moves his pen to his right hand and gains an advantage] Obama: You are amazing. McCain: I ought to be, after 20 years. Obama: Oh, there's something I ought to tell you. McCain: Tell me. Obama: I'm not left-handed either. [Obama moves his pen to his right hand and regains his advantage]

And if you are less geeky than me (which is very, very likely - yes, I'm embracing my inner geek nowadays), they are referencing this film.