Entertaining Links!
Life has actually been busy!
Take some entertaining links!
SciFi Debris: Opinionated Star Trek Reviews - these are utterly FANTASTIC and I've been watching them like an addict for the past few days. This guy originally started out snarkily reviewing bad Voyager episodes before moving on to Enterprise. He's since branched out to reviews of all modern Trek, mostly hitting abysmal episodes as well as the incredible ones that are important to the genesis of the series (for example, 'Q Who' which introduces the Borg and 'In The Pale Moonlight' which epitomizes everything that is amazing about DS9 while simultaneously shattering Roddenberry's dream for the Federation). He's also been doing a brilliant overview of all the Trek films including a literary analysis of 'The Wrath of Kahn'.
He's pretty hard on Voyager, but it's all in good fun. His open contempt for Enterprise isn't so fond, but we're all Trekkies here and can get behind that, right?
Emo: A Hip Way to Police Emotion - this is an interesting blog post about how the mockery of the "emo" subculture is heavily linked to the belittling of mood-disorder-like emotions in our society. I admit, I have mocked and deeply resented the emo movement for "cheapening" the reality of mental illness in the eyes of our culture, but this post made me second guess my own feelings on the matter. There is a bizarre impulse in our society for people in the mainstream position of privilege to grasp at any evidence that those who do not possess those same privileges are somehow exaggerating their case. It's not the emo subculture's fault for providing such "evidence"; it's the fault of everyone else for taking a few whiny, annoying pop songs and assuming that it invalidates the vast majority of youth depression.
More interesting was the link between the contempt for "emo" culture and the repression of feelings in young men. The emo culture is probably one of the only places I can think of where it's considered "cool" and "sexy" for men to express feelings of sorrow, despair and vulnerability.
The music is still obnoxious for the most part. :P
One Man String Trio Covers Pop Songs - Uh, what it sounds like. A guildie on WoW linked this dude's cover of 'Bad Romance' and it was awesome. He plays both Violin and Viola and does all the arrangements himself. His YouTube kind of perplexes me, however, since it's full of violin arrangements and... videos of guns being shot?
Annie Lennox: Forwards/Backwards - A haunting and beautiful mash up of Annie Lennox's biggest hits. This DJ also did a breathtaking mashup of the Top 25 Hits of 2009.
I'll be back on LJ soon to talk about my political frustrations and give a review of Dragon Age: Origins!
Take some entertaining links!
SciFi Debris: Opinionated Star Trek Reviews - these are utterly FANTASTIC and I've been watching them like an addict for the past few days. This guy originally started out snarkily reviewing bad Voyager episodes before moving on to Enterprise. He's since branched out to reviews of all modern Trek, mostly hitting abysmal episodes as well as the incredible ones that are important to the genesis of the series (for example, 'Q Who' which introduces the Borg and 'In The Pale Moonlight' which epitomizes everything that is amazing about DS9 while simultaneously shattering Roddenberry's dream for the Federation). He's also been doing a brilliant overview of all the Trek films including a literary analysis of 'The Wrath of Kahn'.
He's pretty hard on Voyager, but it's all in good fun. His open contempt for Enterprise isn't so fond, but we're all Trekkies here and can get behind that, right?
Emo: A Hip Way to Police Emotion - this is an interesting blog post about how the mockery of the "emo" subculture is heavily linked to the belittling of mood-disorder-like emotions in our society. I admit, I have mocked and deeply resented the emo movement for "cheapening" the reality of mental illness in the eyes of our culture, but this post made me second guess my own feelings on the matter. There is a bizarre impulse in our society for people in the mainstream position of privilege to grasp at any evidence that those who do not possess those same privileges are somehow exaggerating their case. It's not the emo subculture's fault for providing such "evidence"; it's the fault of everyone else for taking a few whiny, annoying pop songs and assuming that it invalidates the vast majority of youth depression.
More interesting was the link between the contempt for "emo" culture and the repression of feelings in young men. The emo culture is probably one of the only places I can think of where it's considered "cool" and "sexy" for men to express feelings of sorrow, despair and vulnerability.
The music is still obnoxious for the most part. :P
One Man String Trio Covers Pop Songs - Uh, what it sounds like. A guildie on WoW linked this dude's cover of 'Bad Romance' and it was awesome. He plays both Violin and Viola and does all the arrangements himself. His YouTube kind of perplexes me, however, since it's full of violin arrangements and... videos of guns being shot?
Annie Lennox: Forwards/Backwards - A haunting and beautiful mash up of Annie Lennox's biggest hits. This DJ also did a breathtaking mashup of the Top 25 Hits of 2009.
I'll be back on LJ soon to talk about my political frustrations and give a review of Dragon Age: Origins!