fannish round-up time: the oncoming storm, etc.
Today: The Oncoming Storm
Apparently we're doing this "too !@#$ing cold to go outside" thing again. No snow until tonight, which is at least something. In honor of that, and as today's fannish share:
In other news, and in honor of The Sign of Three, I've decided I'm calling Tom Hiddleston "Hidders" from here on out. Normally I'd keep that thought to myself and be privately amused by the little fannish joke, but I reckon some of you could use a bit of fun to warm your heart today.
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Monday: In honor of my continuing sojourn into the glory that is Eleven
[my caption: "Meanwhile, on Alfava Metraxa..."]
Also in the interest of remembering where he came from:
Pro tip: those first two gentlemen are basically cuddly teddybears who would not hurt a fly, though they might skip offering the obligatory jelly-baby. The third guy, on the other hand, will kill your favorite characters (temporarily, but still) in the most painful way possible. We do not make him angry.
(ETA: Okay, the cuddly teddybears bit may be overdoing it a bit. They're still not as hated or feared as Moffat by DW/Sherlock fans, though I suppose if you're a dalek it might be a different story.)
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Sunday: Hiatus, Our Old Friend
One thing I've really come to love about the Sherlock fandom is that episode bits that don't seem to make sense don't typically drive the fans away - they provide a challenge to write that moment better. Or at least to work out precisely why, through meta-analysis, the scene didn't work or how it could have been made more plausible. I'm currently pottering away at a fanfic story set amongst the events of "His Last Vow" which the muses apparently decided needed to fix the beating heart of "The Empty Hearse."
This is not a bad thing. It's actually a very good thing, IMO, and not just because it gies a creative outlet.
And for the record, this is in no way a comment on the show about to hit US airwaves tonight - if anything, that show requires the least fixing of series three, and is quite enjoyable. If by enjoyable we mean tears your heart out by the aorta, but, you know... Team Moffat. Nor does it mean Sherlock isn't better than at *least* 95% of the programming out there IMO. It just means that, as a person driven to create and engage constructively rather than get burned out from frustration and find something new, Sherlockians are my kind of people.
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Saturday: The Joy of a Good Crossover
By way of fannish share of the day, have two crossover memes. First, Despicable Me minion silliness, on the topic of Harry Potter:
And on a more serious note, Tolkien meets Doctor Who. I'm not crying, obviously; just got something in my eye.
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Friday: Gatiss's Favorite Scene. Be Very Afraid.
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Recent Pinterest Shares (for more fannish fun)
Recent tweets (for more serious reading)
Recent AO3 bookmarks (for fanfic recs)
Recent FaceBook bits and bobs, in roughly reverse chronological order (so most recent first).
Bubble gum machine done hit the jackpot across from the C-Town. I wonder just what's going on, but not enough to go down and try to hear the news.
For those of you who don't get that reference [video] your life is strangely incomplete.
********************
A discussion board I'm on has been discussing a particularly stupefying meme. I made the following comment:
I know no one has been saying this represents all Christianity, but as a Christian I'd just like to add: it's damned embarrassing and insulting, and not at all how I'd respond to someone frustrated over these things. Then again, the modern equivalent of our Socratic interlocutor is as stupid, myopic and simply not worthy of anything beyond ridicule as you'd expect so I don't feel *too* bad on that count. But on the larger points:
This seems like me in a nutshell - that odd combination of comparisons to Platonic dialogues on the one hand and Minions blowing raspberries on the other. What can I say? Normal's a setting on the dryer.
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A very happy birthday to [FB friend I do religion discussions with]. In the best tradition of theological discussions, I offer you three-beings-in-one who are keen to live it up in honor of the day.
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To be brutally honest, I don't think I'll miss prepping lectures on Mill's proof for utilitarianism. For some reason I've never been able to quite account for it *really* irritates me the way he seems to say, simply because a better kind of proof isn't possible that his conclusion is established. I also think he's dead wrong on why we desire things like virtue, but it's that shift in logic that truly drives me up the wall.
*******************
My mantra for the last few days: "Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come along, Marta; we've got work to do."
I only have the barest hints of the context (last words of the Doctor in the hiatus to end all hiatuses... slightly adapted), but even without being familiar with Classic Who, those words are quite a sustaining thought. You'd think it would be a bit of overwhelming pressure, which is the absolutely last thing I need, but the bit about the tea getting cold does lend it all a little perspective. It helps, even if it doesn't make entirely bearable all the time.
[and in a follow-up comment]
Actually, last few days is under-estimating it. I ran across the full quote shortly into the new semester, and it's been popping into my mind off and on at odd intervals. It soothes and encourages me when my mind pulls it up.
******************
"Chrysopoeia was thus essentially a science of understanding and subsequently replicating nature. Even the search for the "philosopher's stone" (not to be confused with the "sorcerer's stone" of the Harry Potter series) aimed only to facilitate the combining of mercury and sulfur in the correct natural way in order to make true gold."
(from a recent ChristianityToday review on Lawrence Principe's "The Secrets of Alchemy")
I'm honestly not sure whether they're trying to be ironic, or if the author simply is that clueless. In any event, this brought on a desire to knock heads together that hasn't entirely left me in the three days since I've read it.
*******************
Without going into specific series three spoilers, on a show that includes among others:
Martin Freeman
Mark Gatiss
Una Stubbs
Benedict Cumberbatch
whoever plays that Gavin Lestrade dude
Even with all that, Andrew Scott stands out. I liked him in the first two series, but when you see the work he does in series three? Impressive, impressive stuff. Given his limited amount of screentime, at least from an acting perspective he's truly the king of the show.
(And honey, you should see him...)
*******************
Bronx cabbies seem particularly inept on finding the area around Fordham University. I give them a street address and a crossroad; they don't know how to find it because Cambreleng is not the best-known street in the area. I tell them over by Fordham University, which they invariably hear as Fordham AND University, a major crossroad about ten minutes in the other direction.
At which point I have to tell them in frustration: No, no, over by the zoo and the botanical gardens. Neither of which is (strictly speaking) true but at least gets them going in the correct direction and I can give proper directions once we get in the neighborhood.
Ah, well. I suppose any cab ride that doesn't end with two identical pills is better than it could have been.
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My $1m idea for the evening: a button you push or switch you flick when you need the waiter, like for flight attendants on airlines. Nothing frustrates me more than waiting for a drink refill while my food gets cold. This is often me being unfairly persnickety, and it's not fair to my waiter who then has to deal with perhaps lower tips from a frustrated customer, and would certainly improve my dining experience.
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From those happening froods over at Unvirtuous Abbey:
For those who would rather be frozen in carbonite than go back outside, Lord have mercy.
********************
I just discovered a World War II era radio dramatization of various Sherlock stories, the one with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce on Spotify. Complete with old timey advertisements. Wonderful.
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Apparently Jared Padacki (Sammy on the TV show Supernatural) said something about the arrest of Justin Bieber's friend for cocaine possession, saying it was really Bieber's, and some Bieber fans went after him on Twitter in a rather public way. I'm not entirely sure *what* they said, but it was enough to get Supernatural fans to "declare war" on the Beliebers. Much internet snarkery ensued, memes were made, witticisms were tweeted, etc.
This would be bad enough, but Supernatural is part of a fandom "family," with Doctor Who and Sherlock. Meaning there's a lot of overlap and kinships between the groups, and when one is attacked the others tend to take it a bit personally. So even though I've never watched Supernatural and have no intention of doing so, I still have a ringside seat at this particular fandom war. And not only are these three groups clever and devoted, two of them are also *bored*. Doctor Who fans tend to be older and comfortable with their nerdiness - many seem to revel in going after younger people who are sure they have the world figured out and think they're too cool to be properly nerdy. Sherlock fans are flat-out insane and tend to defend criminal masterminds so long as they have manners. Both groups are on hiatus at the moment, and we know how well that can go.
So I'm getting treated to memes about the Supernatural fandom being [expletive] protected, or how you've gone after a high-functioning fandom, [expletives], with your number. Among other funny, vaguely threatening volleys. It's hilarious, actually. I do feel a bit guilty, watching them bear down on a bunch of kids, but it's also really, really nice to see these particular groups bring their cleverness to bear.
Bieber fans may just have bitten off more than they can chew, this time...
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Mischief managed not only on the second Mill lecture but also on new black ankle boots. Men's dockers so a little more rugged than I prefer but under slacks you can't really tell. Good mid-calf boots are like lingerie, they just make me feel a little more together. Plus, no chance of wet socks and tread I can rely on. That was $70 I hadn't planned to spend, but worth it I think.
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Occasionally, in my hunts for funny things to help myself unwind, I come across something deep. Case in point, this quote from a t-shirt attributed to G.K. Chesterton: "Theology is simply that part of religion that requires brains."
Lately I've seen an uptick in the number of comments (particularly in prog-Christian circles) that talk down about theology. They point to how fights over Biblical interpretation lead to Bibliolatry as often as not, how the focus on theology drives people into increasingly small factions. To a point they're right, and bad theology is probably one of the leading causes of division in the church today. *Good* theology leads me to differentiate between essentials and non-essentials, good-faith disagreements where we can disagree in mutual respect as opposed to true fighting words. And I do think it can be over-emphasized sometimes, to the exclusion of common sense and basic human reason.
But all that said, I think sometimes some people forget: theology is a way of approaching God, just like prayer and worship and service is for others. Theology is a way of approaching God that I find particularly relevant. Big surprise, given that sometimes I suspect I have too big a brain and too little heart.[#] It just seems to be who I am. So struggling over how to best understand certain passages and tensions and flat-out contradictions should be understood, and also what to make of the Bible and the Christian tradition in light of things like philosophy, history, archeology, science, and the like? That's not just how I perfect religion, it's how I *live* my religion.
That seems worth keeping in mind the next time you hear someone downplay theology. I get why non-theists roll their eyes at it, since it can seem like so much pilpul. But I do wish my fellow religious folks would get that for some of us, theology is just how we roll.
[# This was misinterpreted in the original post, and I still need to go back and reply to some people. I didn't mean to come down hard - just that I can't really experience things as anything other than analyzing them. I don't get angry; I make a judgment about whether this kind of thing deserves to get angry at. Or that's what it seems like, in any event. I actually wasn't trying to beat up on myself.]
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In the aftermath of Stormageddon, I was able to do some errands in the neighborhood, catch a bus, and get around campus today - all in trainers, and still with reasonably dry socks. Really, that should not be possible. So this is just a thankful shout out to my building's wonderful super, the shop merchants and Fordham maintenance people who have done such a fabulous job letting me enjoy the snowy weather without being inconvenienced by it. None of them will see this, of course (and I will thank them in person when I can), but I wanted to express my gratitude publicly as well. Love living in a city where you don't have to shovel snow.
******************
You know, I keep expecting some clever fan of BBC Sherlock to take note of Jim Moriarty's first name. As far as I can recall, in the original stories Moriarty is usually only referred to as Professor Moriarty, but in the beginning of "The Final Problem," Watson does refer to his brother, James.
Granted, Team Moffat has been known to play fast and loose with names. I always get a chuckle over the jokes about Sherlock not being able to remember Lestrade's first name - I don't think he has one in book-canon(?), and Greg seems to be a reference to another Scotland Yarder, Inspector Gregson who turns up with Lestrade in "A Study in Scarlet." Still, given how much turns on Moriarty's identity, this point could be relevant...
******************
Mischief managed on the Greatest Happiness Principle lecture. Putting Hitler in the closet featured prominently in my thoughts, although not in the words actually coming out of my mouth. I'm actually very proud of my restraint on this point.
If you've read through such a long post you deserve a bit of a treat. Have a deleted scene from "Thor" where Hiddleston all but cosplays Captain America.
Apparently we're doing this "too !@#$ing cold to go outside" thing again. No snow until tonight, which is at least something. In honor of that, and as today's fannish share:
In other news, and in honor of The Sign of Three, I've decided I'm calling Tom Hiddleston "Hidders" from here on out. Normally I'd keep that thought to myself and be privately amused by the little fannish joke, but I reckon some of you could use a bit of fun to warm your heart today.
******************************
Monday: In honor of my continuing sojourn into the glory that is Eleven
[my caption: "Meanwhile, on Alfava Metraxa..."]
Also in the interest of remembering where he came from:
Pro tip: those first two gentlemen are basically cuddly teddybears who would not hurt a fly, though they might skip offering the obligatory jelly-baby. The third guy, on the other hand, will kill your favorite characters (temporarily, but still) in the most painful way possible. We do not make him angry.
(ETA: Okay, the cuddly teddybears bit may be overdoing it a bit. They're still not as hated or feared as Moffat by DW/Sherlock fans, though I suppose if you're a dalek it might be a different story.)
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Sunday: Hiatus, Our Old Friend
One thing I've really come to love about the Sherlock fandom is that episode bits that don't seem to make sense don't typically drive the fans away - they provide a challenge to write that moment better. Or at least to work out precisely why, through meta-analysis, the scene didn't work or how it could have been made more plausible. I'm currently pottering away at a fanfic story set amongst the events of "His Last Vow" which the muses apparently decided needed to fix the beating heart of "The Empty Hearse."
This is not a bad thing. It's actually a very good thing, IMO, and not just because it gies a creative outlet.
And for the record, this is in no way a comment on the show about to hit US airwaves tonight - if anything, that show requires the least fixing of series three, and is quite enjoyable. If by enjoyable we mean tears your heart out by the aorta, but, you know... Team Moffat. Nor does it mean Sherlock isn't better than at *least* 95% of the programming out there IMO. It just means that, as a person driven to create and engage constructively rather than get burned out from frustration and find something new, Sherlockians are my kind of people.
*************************
Saturday: The Joy of a Good Crossover
By way of fannish share of the day, have two crossover memes. First, Despicable Me minion silliness, on the topic of Harry Potter:
And on a more serious note, Tolkien meets Doctor Who. I'm not crying, obviously; just got something in my eye.
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Friday: Gatiss's Favorite Scene. Be Very Afraid.
*************************
Recent Pinterest Shares (for more fannish fun)
Recent tweets (for more serious reading)
Recent AO3 bookmarks (for fanfic recs)
Recent FaceBook bits and bobs, in roughly reverse chronological order (so most recent first).
Bubble gum machine done hit the jackpot across from the C-Town. I wonder just what's going on, but not enough to go down and try to hear the news.
For those of you who don't get that reference [video] your life is strangely incomplete.
********************
A discussion board I'm on has been discussing a particularly stupefying meme. I made the following comment:
I know no one has been saying this represents all Christianity, but as a Christian I'd just like to add: it's damned embarrassing and insulting, and not at all how I'd respond to someone frustrated over these things. Then again, the modern equivalent of our Socratic interlocutor is as stupid, myopic and simply not worthy of anything beyond ridicule as you'd expect so I don't feel *too* bad on that count. But on the larger points:
This seems like me in a nutshell - that odd combination of comparisons to Platonic dialogues on the one hand and Minions blowing raspberries on the other. What can I say? Normal's a setting on the dryer.
*******************
A very happy birthday to [FB friend I do religion discussions with]. In the best tradition of theological discussions, I offer you three-beings-in-one who are keen to live it up in honor of the day.
*******************
To be brutally honest, I don't think I'll miss prepping lectures on Mill's proof for utilitarianism. For some reason I've never been able to quite account for it *really* irritates me the way he seems to say, simply because a better kind of proof isn't possible that his conclusion is established. I also think he's dead wrong on why we desire things like virtue, but it's that shift in logic that truly drives me up the wall.
*******************
My mantra for the last few days: "Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come along, Marta; we've got work to do."
I only have the barest hints of the context (last words of the Doctor in the hiatus to end all hiatuses... slightly adapted), but even without being familiar with Classic Who, those words are quite a sustaining thought. You'd think it would be a bit of overwhelming pressure, which is the absolutely last thing I need, but the bit about the tea getting cold does lend it all a little perspective. It helps, even if it doesn't make entirely bearable all the time.
[and in a follow-up comment]
Actually, last few days is under-estimating it. I ran across the full quote shortly into the new semester, and it's been popping into my mind off and on at odd intervals. It soothes and encourages me when my mind pulls it up.
******************
"Chrysopoeia was thus essentially a science of understanding and subsequently replicating nature. Even the search for the "philosopher's stone" (not to be confused with the "sorcerer's stone" of the Harry Potter series) aimed only to facilitate the combining of mercury and sulfur in the correct natural way in order to make true gold."
(from a recent ChristianityToday review on Lawrence Principe's "The Secrets of Alchemy")
I'm honestly not sure whether they're trying to be ironic, or if the author simply is that clueless. In any event, this brought on a desire to knock heads together that hasn't entirely left me in the three days since I've read it.
*******************
Without going into specific series three spoilers, on a show that includes among others:
Martin Freeman
Mark Gatiss
Una Stubbs
Benedict Cumberbatch
whoever plays that Gavin Lestrade dude
Even with all that, Andrew Scott stands out. I liked him in the first two series, but when you see the work he does in series three? Impressive, impressive stuff. Given his limited amount of screentime, at least from an acting perspective he's truly the king of the show.
(And honey, you should see him...)
*******************
Bronx cabbies seem particularly inept on finding the area around Fordham University. I give them a street address and a crossroad; they don't know how to find it because Cambreleng is not the best-known street in the area. I tell them over by Fordham University, which they invariably hear as Fordham AND University, a major crossroad about ten minutes in the other direction.
At which point I have to tell them in frustration: No, no, over by the zoo and the botanical gardens. Neither of which is (strictly speaking) true but at least gets them going in the correct direction and I can give proper directions once we get in the neighborhood.
Ah, well. I suppose any cab ride that doesn't end with two identical pills is better than it could have been.
*******************
My $1m idea for the evening: a button you push or switch you flick when you need the waiter, like for flight attendants on airlines. Nothing frustrates me more than waiting for a drink refill while my food gets cold. This is often me being unfairly persnickety, and it's not fair to my waiter who then has to deal with perhaps lower tips from a frustrated customer, and would certainly improve my dining experience.
********************
From those happening froods over at Unvirtuous Abbey:
For those who would rather be frozen in carbonite than go back outside, Lord have mercy.
********************
I just discovered a World War II era radio dramatization of various Sherlock stories, the one with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce on Spotify. Complete with old timey advertisements. Wonderful.
********************
Apparently Jared Padacki (Sammy on the TV show Supernatural) said something about the arrest of Justin Bieber's friend for cocaine possession, saying it was really Bieber's, and some Bieber fans went after him on Twitter in a rather public way. I'm not entirely sure *what* they said, but it was enough to get Supernatural fans to "declare war" on the Beliebers. Much internet snarkery ensued, memes were made, witticisms were tweeted, etc.
This would be bad enough, but Supernatural is part of a fandom "family," with Doctor Who and Sherlock. Meaning there's a lot of overlap and kinships between the groups, and when one is attacked the others tend to take it a bit personally. So even though I've never watched Supernatural and have no intention of doing so, I still have a ringside seat at this particular fandom war. And not only are these three groups clever and devoted, two of them are also *bored*. Doctor Who fans tend to be older and comfortable with their nerdiness - many seem to revel in going after younger people who are sure they have the world figured out and think they're too cool to be properly nerdy. Sherlock fans are flat-out insane and tend to defend criminal masterminds so long as they have manners. Both groups are on hiatus at the moment, and we know how well that can go.
So I'm getting treated to memes about the Supernatural fandom being [expletive] protected, or how you've gone after a high-functioning fandom, [expletives], with your number. Among other funny, vaguely threatening volleys. It's hilarious, actually. I do feel a bit guilty, watching them bear down on a bunch of kids, but it's also really, really nice to see these particular groups bring their cleverness to bear.
Bieber fans may just have bitten off more than they can chew, this time...
********************
Mischief managed not only on the second Mill lecture but also on new black ankle boots. Men's dockers so a little more rugged than I prefer but under slacks you can't really tell. Good mid-calf boots are like lingerie, they just make me feel a little more together. Plus, no chance of wet socks and tread I can rely on. That was $70 I hadn't planned to spend, but worth it I think.
*******************
Occasionally, in my hunts for funny things to help myself unwind, I come across something deep. Case in point, this quote from a t-shirt attributed to G.K. Chesterton: "Theology is simply that part of religion that requires brains."
Lately I've seen an uptick in the number of comments (particularly in prog-Christian circles) that talk down about theology. They point to how fights over Biblical interpretation lead to Bibliolatry as often as not, how the focus on theology drives people into increasingly small factions. To a point they're right, and bad theology is probably one of the leading causes of division in the church today. *Good* theology leads me to differentiate between essentials and non-essentials, good-faith disagreements where we can disagree in mutual respect as opposed to true fighting words. And I do think it can be over-emphasized sometimes, to the exclusion of common sense and basic human reason.
But all that said, I think sometimes some people forget: theology is a way of approaching God, just like prayer and worship and service is for others. Theology is a way of approaching God that I find particularly relevant. Big surprise, given that sometimes I suspect I have too big a brain and too little heart.[#] It just seems to be who I am. So struggling over how to best understand certain passages and tensions and flat-out contradictions should be understood, and also what to make of the Bible and the Christian tradition in light of things like philosophy, history, archeology, science, and the like? That's not just how I perfect religion, it's how I *live* my religion.
That seems worth keeping in mind the next time you hear someone downplay theology. I get why non-theists roll their eyes at it, since it can seem like so much pilpul. But I do wish my fellow religious folks would get that for some of us, theology is just how we roll.
[# This was misinterpreted in the original post, and I still need to go back and reply to some people. I didn't mean to come down hard - just that I can't really experience things as anything other than analyzing them. I don't get angry; I make a judgment about whether this kind of thing deserves to get angry at. Or that's what it seems like, in any event. I actually wasn't trying to beat up on myself.]
******************
In the aftermath of Stormageddon, I was able to do some errands in the neighborhood, catch a bus, and get around campus today - all in trainers, and still with reasonably dry socks. Really, that should not be possible. So this is just a thankful shout out to my building's wonderful super, the shop merchants and Fordham maintenance people who have done such a fabulous job letting me enjoy the snowy weather without being inconvenienced by it. None of them will see this, of course (and I will thank them in person when I can), but I wanted to express my gratitude publicly as well. Love living in a city where you don't have to shovel snow.
******************
You know, I keep expecting some clever fan of BBC Sherlock to take note of Jim Moriarty's first name. As far as I can recall, in the original stories Moriarty is usually only referred to as Professor Moriarty, but in the beginning of "The Final Problem," Watson does refer to his brother, James.
Granted, Team Moffat has been known to play fast and loose with names. I always get a chuckle over the jokes about Sherlock not being able to remember Lestrade's first name - I don't think he has one in book-canon(?), and Greg seems to be a reference to another Scotland Yarder, Inspector Gregson who turns up with Lestrade in "A Study in Scarlet." Still, given how much turns on Moriarty's identity, this point could be relevant...
******************
Mischief managed on the Greatest Happiness Principle lecture. Putting Hitler in the closet featured prominently in my thoughts, although not in the words actually coming out of my mouth. I'm actually very proud of my restraint on this point.
If you've read through such a long post you deserve a bit of a treat. Have a deleted scene from "Thor" where Hiddleston all but cosplays Captain America.
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