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Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
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I'm starting a new research study and I'm looking for video clips for one of my manipulations. Specifically, I'm looking for one video clip of a hockey match and another one of a snowboarder.
Preferably, the clips need to be:
1) 5 to 10 minutes long
2) continuous footage, *not* edited or montages (and preferably with no music or announcer, but I might have to use them muted anyway)
3) exciting! For the hockey, maybe with a goal or a really intense sequence? For the snowboarder, maybe cool half-pipe tricks?
4) for the hockey one, preferably Canadian teams only
5) for the snowboarder, preferably only one snowboarder, but if more than one, no obvious competition between them (i.e., not one-upping with tricks or something)
The point is to have one clip that will evoke competitiveness in the viewer and one that will be competitively neutral, but otherwise that the two are fairly similar (hence winter sports!) and engaging to watch.
I've been trying YouTube, but it's mostly short edited montages with crappy music. I am also going to see what's available at video stores and the library, but I'm going to need a computer file of some kind in the end, so something that's already in a computer-playable digital format is preferable. I am looking for any kind of suggestions, from "Oh, I have exactly what you need!" to "Well, have you tried looking here..."
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Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
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THE LIST THUS FAR: Women of Colour as the Central Protagonist in Mainstream White (but Actually Multicultural) Television**
1. Betty Suarez in Ugly Betty (played by America Ferrera)
2. Precious Ramotswe in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (played by Jill Scott)
3. Dora in Dora the Explorer (voiced by Kathleen Herles and Caitlin Sanchez)
4. Moesha Mitchell in Moesha (played by Brandy Norwood)
5. Raven Baxter in That's So Raven (played by Raven-Symoné)
6. Denise Huxtable in A Different World (played by Lisa Bonet) (notice the Cosby theme!)
7. Margaret Kim in All-American Girl (played by Margaret Cho)
8. Lilo in Lilo & Stitch: The Series (voiced by Daveigh Chase, who is not a woman of colour herself)
9. Sydney Fox in Relic Hunter (played by Tia Carrere)
10. Shelby Woo in The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo (played by Irene Ng)
11. Heaven in Samurai Girl (played by Jamie Chung)
12. Christina Hawthorne in Hawthorne (played by Jada Pinkett-Smith)
13. ??
Gina Torres' Hel from Cleopatra 2525 is pending me re-watching the series to see if, appearances and my memories aside, she is clearly the (or a) central protagonist, rather than Cleo herself. Given how long it's been since I last watched this show, this is possible...
I am also torn on whether or not to include Elisa Maza from the Gargoyles TV series. She is the main *human* protagonist and extremely important, but if they were all human (and obviously the series was *not* about gargoyles at that point) then Goliath would definitely win out for central protagonist. I can rewatch this one too (thank you, Jen!!), but if memory serves, while Elisa's super important, there are quite a number of episodes where she does not figure that highly... I'm torn!!
Thank you to everyone for your suggestions and helpful comments! I'm still looking... Any TV show, primetime or sitcom or kid's show or web series or whatever, on or off the air, where a female character of colour is the driving force behind the show's narrative (either on her own, or in conjunction with other equally but not *more* central characters).
** e.g., Canadian, USian, British, Australian, New Zealand -- these are my anglo-centric suggestions, but there are more.
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Whoops, this was supposed to go up yesterday (the actual day), but all the info is still good!
Every day trans people are subject to violence, stigma, and individual and structural disadvantage because of their gender identity. Their lives are frequently devalued and misrepresented, and their rights overlooked and violated, even within other stigmatized and progressive communities.
An appeal for the rights of trans people internationally /// Sign the appeal yourself here /// More info here, on the Questioning Transphobia blog.
Awesome blogs for and by trans people:
Transgriot /// Questioning Transphobia /// Taking Up Too Much Space /// Bird of Paradox /// Stop Transphobia /// Taking Steps
On the home front, the Albertan provincial government recently delisted funding for sex-reassignment/gender-reassignment surgery. I've mentioned this here before, but this surgery is NOT frivolous or unnecessary. The decision to cut it from funding was economic (dubiously so) and political. Facebook group with more info and updates here.
UPDATE: Manitoba has *also* decided not to fund for GRS/SRS (it never has, and just rejected a proposal to), despite having and NDP government and a relatively positive economic condition. Ontario tried to pull this shit a few years ago and got pushed back, but the fight never ends.
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Early sociological theory: rich white guys defending... other rich white guys.
Karl Marx FTW.
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Sunday, January 25th, 2009
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LOOKIT ME POST. Amazing. But also angry right now.
PSA: ( Child Abuse Masquerading as Legitimate Therapy. )
Warning: child abuse triggers abound. There are links on these websites that lead to graphic (verbal and pictoral) depictions of child abuse.
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Friday, December 12th, 2008
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And I quote:
May your Christmas be as peaceful as the new fallen snow.
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Friday, November 7th, 2008
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Wow, database fail wtf.
Anyway, my insane little pets may or may not be in trouble what with all the recent site downtime... Little help? I swear this is the last batch!! Stupid undead egg sucking me back in...
( Well, yeah. )
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Thursday, November 6th, 2008
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Calling all undergrad students! (Or those who were undergrads recently enough that those memories haven't been completely eradicated by real life...)
Research Query:
If you were to participate in a competition with other undergradute students, for what kind of events or activities would you (or would you not) behave competitively in order to win prizes?
Basically, what's worth competing over for you? For example, high scores on a test, cash prizes, etc. Can be events, activities, or outcomes. Anything you can think of is appreciated.
Thanks!
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Saturday, November 1st, 2008
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Friday, October 31st, 2008
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Saturday, October 25th, 2008
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Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
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( Need clicks! T__T )
Yes, yes, problems of the brain, I know. Indulge me!
EDIT: SUCCESS! Now, to mature them...
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Sunday, October 12th, 2008
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My last egg died. I'm a bad momma. Trying again.
 
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Saturday, October 11th, 2008
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Every time I check the news, polls are reporting something different. This morning the Tories were in arm's reach of their majority, but now that's uncertain again. Except all the polls are also showing a great deal of potential for change, so a Harper majority isn't off the table by any means. This election outcome is not a foregone conclusion. There's incredible potential for change based on every single vote that comes in.
So everyone should be voting! If you're not sure what's what, then Canada's election website gives the skinny on the technical details of how to register and vote. The Globe & Mail has a Coles Notes version of the various party platforms. And this handy site will break down for you the strategic voting options in your riding (if you plan on going ABC).
Every vote counts for something. Even if the person you vote for doesn't win their riding, your vote still helps their popular support numbers (the thought does count!) and gains them funding. Heck, vote for the Canada Heritage Party, if that's what twists your widget. Spoil or refuse your ballot if you are so fed up with the whole system that you could scream. But vote!
Voters are registering in record numbers down south, but what's going on in the US is not any more important and impactful to our lives than what's going on up here. We may not have the excitement of Palin or Obama, but what's happening this Tuesday, especially in this climate of global turmoil, will impact how Canada develops as a country against this backdrop. We're electing history-makers!
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Sunday, October 5th, 2008
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Okay, apparently I did this and I don't know why.
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Monday, September 15th, 2008
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George Takei just got married. Awwwww.
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In case anyone's missed this:
Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Final installment goes online tomorrow. Only available for free until July 20th. Funny as all hell. Nathan Fillion can have my babies. For breakfast.
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| Subject: | your time has come to shine / all your dreams are on their way |
| Time: | 7:26 pm. |
| Mood: | SPINACH. | | Music: | Bridge Over Trouble Water - Simon and Garfunkel. |
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Can we say I win at dinner? Yes, we can.
\o/
SUPPLEMENTAL: California has allowed gay marriage: Little old lesbians!
Whee!
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| Subject: | an abbrieviated essay on a profound sense of being |
| Time: | 8:33 pm. |
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The fact is, living is about moving. Some part of me believes that man invented time-keeping as a monument to this very fact. So when I encounter a moment of the absolute sensation of life, I struggle to think of a way to memorialize it myself.
The dilemma is Heisenberg's -- to measure and record the facts of something so small as a moment is to irrevocably alter its action and essence, thereby rendering the true measure impossible. To take a picture or write a description, however poetic or well-framed, is to necessitate the stepping out of a moment in order to observe it through a mechanical object, rather than experience it with immediacy, and to later visit its altered form in order to verify an experience one did not truly have. Thus, human memory is not reproductive, but constructive, such that we never have the same memory twice, and even the cherished ones are new moments, experienced again for the first time, and new moments are uncapturable, like trying to draw the same cup of water twice from the same stream.
Yet these moments define us, enrich us, make us awestruck, and bring us unfathomable joy, and I wish to keep them, somehow, because the totality of the human endeavour is our struggle with the finite nature of things we wish would last forever. I find myself at odds with these moments, these awed encounters, and I rush to open every sense, every thought, every pore, efficient as a desert plant in the midst of an unpredictable rain shower, while at the same time attempt to devise a trap, a permanent store of this love and awe and life. Inevitably, the only sufficient homage I can invent for these moments are tears, themselves a mystery, a boon, a sacrifice, uniquely and universally human, and transient.
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