goshorter:

(via .@perryfrance (Katie Perry) ‘s Instagram photos | Webstagram - the best Instagram viewer)

I miss my undercut.

likeafieldmouse:

Typewriters of famous authors

What about Carson McCullers? Flannery O’Connor? Etc, etc. STill rad, though. This guy is based here in Canberra! He put some of his collection on display a while back and it was fantastic!

crossedwires:

This Elementary article has been linked by pretty much everyone. It’s a nice overview of the series, with spoilers. There are two bits in it that I want to discuss disagree with.

1.

 ”That a woman of color on a major network show should have a character this focal and active without any romantic angle is a rare bird.”

Eh. I think here the article is conflating white women not being able to be a lead character without a romance plot and woc in a lead role, period. I don’t think woc have had enough lead roles yet to say there are too many of them that have romance angles. And I would like to see Joan have some love interests that are not Holmes or other white men.

2.

“Beyond Watson, the show holds a modern frame: women and people of color are everywhere, as cops, doctors, groundskeepers, geneticists. It’s not just that Sherlock’s sponsor is a POC security expert; it’s that when he and Joan meet she makes some assumptions, and he calls her out; they become friends. When the show follows Detective Bell’s rocky relationship with his brother, he code-switches between the stationhouse and his brother’s. Joan treats most women as allies, not obstacles, and has a complicated relationship with her mother that still avoids Asian-mom cliches. Ms. Hudson is a trans woman character, played by a trans woman, whose identity is unquestioningly accepted and whose attractiveness is taken for granted while not defining her.

It all matters. And it’s all notable, if for no other reason that so much of it has nothing to do with Holmes. When it does, it illuminates him or teaches him a lesson.”

I don’t agree with this, as I’ve posted about before. I mean, yes, the show is more inclusive than other US shows/other Holmes adaptations in its casting, but overall, the show is still too much about Holmes. He warps the narrative so even Joan’s storylines are about him, never mind any secondary characters. I might even argue that Mary Watson doesn’t have room to be an Asian-mom cliche because everything in her scenes was about Holmes. (I am also a little leery of why Mary’s characterization gets so much praise. There is, to me, kind of an undertone that suggests her being ‘less Asian’/more western = good parenting. Or that any characterization other than being mainly supportive, understanding and ‘wanting her daugher to be happy’ is ‘cliched’.)

Also, “women and people of color”. hmm.

And Bell got ONE episode. This makes it sound like he and his brother got a decent, multi-ep/season’s long story arc, comparable to what Holmes got in terms of character development, when that’s not what happened. I mean, I think the show tried to condense what could’ve been a complex relationship into half an episode, but that’s not the same thing.

And these women Joan treats as allies… Who is the writer talking about? Emily? Well, sure, they’re friends. Though I wouldn’t mind seeing Joan’s bff be a woc (or something that explores being friends with a white person, but not from a white POV). Carrie? That episode concluded with some anti-black undertones. Ms Hudson? Ok.

And Alfredo and Joan’s anti-blackness… was still, I think, designed for a primarily white audience (and possibly anti-black asians). But it’s not like the show (or most viewers) is calling out Sherlock’s part in anti-blackness either. And, Aflredo’s scenes are also still mainly about Holmes.

And I don’t think Ms Hudson’s identity was “unquestioningly accepted” — I’m pretty sure Holmes and Watson have a pretty cissexist conversation about her being a trans woman. Though I guess it’s still better than most other portrayals?

And the part about Holmes having a Learning Moment… I really don’t think that’s something for which the show should be praised.

…IDK, all these examples still feels like giving the show cookies for doing very basic things wrt portraying people as people. And sort of unintentionally highlights how a ‘one of each kind’ type of ‘diversity’ doesn’t work that well.

ITA that good representation matters. I like not having to brace myself for too much fail (though sometimes the show still does), but Elementary could still do so much better.

Thanks for posting this and reminding me that my white ass causes me to swallow too much stuff uncritically.

The Ms Hudson thing bothered me because I was pleased when she was introduced, but if she doesn’t appear more regularly next season it’ll be  kinda hard for me to see her as anything other than a “give us a cookie!” ploy. I mean it’s a huge thing to have a trans character played by a trans actor appear in a mainstream tv show, but it needs to be more than one episode to really be meaningful

fashiongeometry:

Ukrainian designer Irina Dzhus, founder of Kiev-based fashion house DZHUS - Technogenesis collection.

“I make all the constructions myself well as I sample fabrics with the focus on their texture and physical properties. My ethereal ideas take shape, and that enraptures me most about being a designer.”

My flirting skills are the equivalent of a squirrel running back and forth on the road trying to decide if it wants to get hit by that car or not.

amindamazed:

sanguinarysanguinity:

ecouter-bien:

Yo, you really need to listen to Joan more, Sherlock.

…but there’s also the thing where you have to live with yourself after. 

Sometimes you know that something is unlikely to work out, that it is going to be an utter disaster, and you do it anyway because you have to be sure. Because if you don’t prove it, if you don’t make absolutely sure, that last little bit of doubt will eat you alive later. 

Correct/incorrect isn’t the only thing in play: there is also hope and doubt and self-respect. 

And how much eating-him-alive regret about Irene was he living with at that moment? If he sends her off and Moriarty kills her anyway, he might not be able to find a way to survive that. If he is with her, actively opposing Moriarty, he will find it a tinier bit easier to live with himself later. Even if this decision is playing into Moriarty’s hands, it will still be a tinier bit easier to live with himself.

Joan is right, this is a mistake. But some mistakes are easier to live with than others.

I think Holmes agrees with her (that look back before opening the door); he knows it’s a mistake and doesn’t refute it, but duty trumps reason, in his Moriarty-warped view of the situation. and that’s in addition to the hope/regret/doubt dynamic sanguinarysanguinity outlines above. Although I’d quibble slightly on the point of him “actively opposing Moriarty” because at this point he’s still leaving that in Watson’s hands — “If you could dismantle Moriarty’s empire in my absence” — if he were staying behind with Watson, he’d be part of that. But on the run with Irene, everything will be about her, first and only.

And then what Watson proposes at the end, to do what Moriarty wants so that she might make the mistake herself and be caught, is a mirror of this scene.

This is a crucial moment in the episode: Holmes is leaving Watson! And I’m sorry we didn’t get any reaction from Watson in the episode other than this. (At least it didn’t last very long.) Also crucial is that he came to say good bye, to let her know what he was doing and why. I’ve seen a couple of different readings of the finale as a revised Reichenbach Fall: the fake overdose, the falling in love that was their mutual downfall, and this is another one, except that Holmes informs Watson of the plan. She doesn’t get to stop him, but at least she knows.

All of this. I just love how Joan has already sussed that Moriarty wants Sherlock out of the picture. I just still can’t get my head round how much of a gaslight this was, he knows Joan is right but feels bound to Irene’s welfare regardless. In the end though it’s his sense of duty that helps him uncover, at least partially, the truth.

likeafieldmouse:

Daehyun Kim

1. I Always Go Back to Me (2010)

2. Please Take Care of This (2009)

3. Be With and Without Me (2009)

4. Face the Whole (2011)

5. Blow your Mind (2010)

6. Bright Darkness (2010)

7. You are Now (2013)

8. Faces that I Have to Face Before I Sleep (2010)

9. The Inner Inside (2009)

10. Weight of You (2009)

Yo, you really need to listen to Joan more, Sherlock.

clambistro:

bon-bon:

ramblinggirle:

Here’s a fun fact: every time an Australian “larrikin” oversteps the mark in terms of depictions of people of colour, we all have to tweet, write a blog, and engage in a conversation with our white peers about racism. 

If by fun you mean batshit crazy.

Mia Freedman and the rest of ignorant Australia, stop this fucking madness.

I’m serious here you guys, it’s getting old and you’re embarrassing my white friends.

Earlier this week, pop icon Delta Goodrem drew negative attention from those of us with a social conscience by retweeting a photograph which depicted fans dressed up to emulate the judges on the Australian version of trashy reality television show The Voice.

The twitpic that Delta thought was ‘hilarious’ showed four white males: two dressed as Ricky Martin and Joel Madden in fairly normal attire; one in drag representing Delta Goodrem and one with his face and arms blackened to appear black like Seal.

After receiving a small amount of attention from twitter and the Australian media, mummy-blogger Mia Freedman decided to write an article on the fiasco.

Freedman, in her article entitled ‘The Boy Who Cried Racist’, went to Delta’s support stating that Delta had received “social media backlash” after the retweet, which included “accusations that the guy dressed as Seal was in ‘blackface’”. 

Now, I’m not sure about the extent of the so-called social media backlash (because quite frankly the twitterverse was a lot quieter on this issue than they have been on race related topics in the past) but I’m pretty sure you’ve got to be pretty stupid to think that when a white man “blackens up” to depict a character, it’s questionable as to whether or not it’s considered blackface.

In the words of Freedman, she believes that “there is a huge difference between painting your face black to mock an entire race and painting yourself black to respectfully dress up as someone who has black skin”.

Hrmm, now this sounds familiar. Where could I have heard this argument before? Oh that’s right, pretty much every time someone’s ethnicity or culture is appropriated by a white person who get’s called out for being racist.

Freedman, Goodrem, guy who blackened up in the twitpic – it is not 1903 anymore. It is 2013 and we, as informed adults recognise that ignorance is no excuse for offensive behavior.

Whether you like it or not, the practice of painting your face black to depict a person of colour has history and context that covers your ignorance with shame.

And before you step up and say it has no context here, let me re-direct you to this blog which quotes Aboriginal woman Jirra Harvey talking about the history of blackface in Australia.

So Freedman, if you are indeed having one of those “has the world gone mad?’ moments” that you described in your article, I’m having another one of those “I need a strong drink and a lie down moments”.

In the same way that women don’t see it as a man’s place to dictate what constitutes sexism, I argue that members of the white majority, however progressive they think they are, have no right to deem themselves the arbiters on what racism is or is not.

While I don’t personally believe that ditzy Delta is racist or has any prejudices against people of colour, I don’t support brushing the endorsement of a blackface image under the table just because she didn’t think it was offensive.

We do know better and should expect more from those in our community that have a high profile and influence especially those like Delta whose main fan base is made up of children, tweens and teens.

As Freedman challenged her readers to “not be The Boy Who Cried Racist”, I challenge you to not be like Freedman or Goodrem aka “the girls who cried ignorance”.

Blackface is unacceptable and Australia, we can do better.

Mia Freedman is such a fucking nitwit. 

FUCKING HELL, AUSTRALIA

Oh my god though, my country sometimes.

Sherlock Holmes preliminary wardrobe for season 2 of Elementary: I mean business, but I’m no longer doing penance.