Matt Lubchansky is going to be spared.
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RIP, Adrianne Wadewitz:
“It is a huge loss for Wikipedia,” said Sue Gardner, the executive director of the foundation in San Francisco that runs Wikipedia, who has made a priority of getting more women to edit it. “She may have been our single biggest contributor on these topics — female authors, women’s history.
Ms. Wadewitz defied many of the stereotypes of a Wikipedia editor — young, male, tech-obsessed. But she was typical of Wikipedia editors in “being persnickety, fact-obsessed, citation-obsessed,” Ms. Gardner said.
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Do you guys watch Kroll Show? I literally lose the ability to breathe when he does his Degrassi parody, Wheels Ontario.
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Question: so, Michael Huisman, who plays the more emo, fedora-y Liam on Nashville, also plays the decidedly un-fedora’d Daario Naharis on Game of Thrones, which took me a minute to process, because there are so many rando characters on Game of Thrones that I just assumed he’d been around for ages and was a different dude than the Fabio-had-a-baby-with-Jay-from-Clerks dude he replaced in the role. Oh, this was a question? I don’t know, I think, essentially, the show-runners are just quietly culling all the long-haired men from the show and wondering if we’ll notice. I’m fine with that. Here are some pictures:
(Michael Huisman)
(RIP, Fabio-had-a-baby-with-Jay-from-Clerks)
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You may or may not have heard that the ENTIRE British Pathé archives are on YouTube now. The “most popular” videos are mostly footage of deadly disasters, because the internet, but literally everything in the world is here, including this video of a 13 y/o Julie Andrews singing for George VI:
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When things work out nicely. I mean, wow, the idea a food-based charity would err on the side of giving food to people who claimed to be hungry without demanding a ton of documentary was appalling. Surely, the UK is full of middle-class opportunists who would start using it as a free supermarket. Benghazi.
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Can we talk about Veep? You can’t really spoil Veep. Veep is about the human HEART and also Jonah. I was a Thick of It superfan, and it has not been until the current season that Veep is really starting to hit Thick of It levels of good. To be fair, it took Thick of It a few seasons to hit Thick of It levels of good.
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Most of this has been about TV today! But I’m really leaning in to TV right now. You know, my husband and I are both completely obsessed with TV, and as a child, he was a 1970s latchkey kid who came home and watched The Love Boat and seven hours of random leisure-suit-ed programming while drinking TAB unsupervised, or whatever, and I was only allowed to watch Sesame Street and PBS Mystery!, leading me to believe that you can show your kids a bunch of TV or never let your kids watch TV, they’re still going to figure out it’s the best flower of humankind. TV is amazing. I only go to comic book movies now, I have no interest in watching someone try to develop a character over ninety minutes.
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Tags: feminism, link roundup, the internet
It also means that there are TWO Dutch people in Game of Thrones, which the Dutch are proud of.
1. I see that Julie Andrews has pretty much always been perfect.
2. I got the absolute greatest spam in the WORLD in my work inbox today. “The CHED is attached to the Office of the President for administrative purposes. Despite that and other successes in North America in 1757, the situation did not look good for them in 1758. However, they are protected by the Outer Gods, especially Nyarlathotep.”
IT’S A NOVEL ON ITS WAY TO ME
2. YES YES YES
wow. Umberto Eco could do good things with that one!
re: Julie Andrews – are we really surprised? She sings and dances and acts and writes and is generally charming and intelligent and witty and harrumph.
I’m off to do my part to drag down the average of mankind to more manageable levels.
I love that tv has gotten so good and so it has become an “acceptable” form of pop culture, instead of the “you’re wasting away in front of this box” kind of thing. It’s so good! I get so attached!
So yes, let’s please talk about Veep although I didn’t see last night’s yet. Does anybody else love Amy for being such a straight shooter and not ever really losing her shit, even when it seems she might? She’s just a great female character.
TV: so good, and then, in some cases, still SO BAD. I was channel surfing at a hotel last week and horror-watched a few minutes of something called Guy Code and it scarred me for life. FOR LIFE, I TELL YOU.
Oh, absolutely. I don’t have TV at home and was recently channel surfing in a hotel as well, and after 2+ years without TV I’m like whattttt is all this? It’s actually perplexing the sheer number of shows that exist.
I counted about six channels’ worth of CSPAN, several MTV iterations, and finally landed on a channel that I couldn’t identify that was playing Gone With The Wind, without commercials, in its entirety.
The GWTW channel sounds like TCM, the only channel I watch now, besides HBO.
I don’t really have the long-term memory/ consistent week-to-week schedule/ tolerance for all-day netflix sessions to follow anything that has serious character development over long plot arcs, so I only watch really bad TV that I surf to at random. AND YET IT’S STILL SO GOOD. I love staying in hotels because I can just binge on whatever trash is on TLC now.
But TLC elevates trash to another level. On what other network can you enjoy both the corpse bride and the wedding of a couple saving their first kiss for their wedding day? AMERICA!
Amy is actually who I aspire to be in this world. She beats on, a boat against the current of idiocy.
Orphan Black discussion here!
This show is totally nuts: y/y
YESSSSS!
I blazed through the first season a few months ago and I don’t know how I’m going to make it through only one episode per week!
ALISON’S BEDAZZLED RAPE WHISTLE.
That is all.
Also, when did spring/summer TV get so good? There’s barely anything even on in the fall that I want to bother with anymore. Also I was so happy all my favourite shows came back this month, cuz it’s my birthday month. It’s like a month long present for meeeee!
YES Alison fighting those thugs with her rape whistle and pepperspray was amazing and very Alison, and what about Sarah as Cosima! Could have done with less of Whatshisface being his regular bland blondish man-shaped self though.
Also, Michael Huisman/New Daario is going to be on Orphan Black!
How did I reach my fourth decade of life without realizing THAT is the melody to God Save the Queen?
Dear Jaya,
Congratulations on your choice of mate.
Love,
The Dash Toast
I guess I’ll take this BETA MALE for my husband, or whatever.
(Thank you!!)
Glad to see I am not the only 70’s latchkey kid who watched way to much TV and the Love Boat in particular.
The Love Boat was the one show my dad forbade my older bro & sis from watching because he thought it was awful. Same dad no quibbles about letting us all watch Monty Python’s Meaning of Life wayyyy too young for all the sex jokes & nudity.
A couple years ago I dated this English guy for a summer and he tried to get me to watch The Thick of It and I believe I would have loved it, I really do, only most of it was INCOMPREHENSIBLE to me without subtitles. Language barrier 🙁
I will say that with the Catherine Tate Show in particular, the subtitles only amplify the hilarity. I would assume the same principle applies to Malcolm Tucker especially.
I tried watching it during Veep’s hiatus a little while ago and when I understood it, it was hilarious, but that was not often.
I made myself feel better by watching In the Loop, but then my most viewing of the movie was the week before James Gandolfini died, so, not as much as a mood lifter anymore.
People who hate TV are the same people who said novels were a bad influence and should be banned.
Nick Kroll is one of the reasons I marathoned “The League” on Netflix despite hating football and not knowing WHY I COULD NOT STOP WATCHING IT. My crush on him also confuses me. I think maybe I like that it takes place in Chicago and they make fun of the North Shore? The end, i don’t know.
NAHSVILLE THO.
Also, Amy Poehler is dating him, so you’re in good company.
For me, only the knowledge that he is dating Amy Poehler has redeemed him. I find 3/4 of his characters to be extremely grating. He is funny, but only in the context of the number of funny people he brings with him to do things.
I was going to say I loved him from Burning Love, but I just realized I was mixing him up with the “Dance Like Your Parents” character. He is ok on Parks and Rec, though.
ETA: I don’t love anything as much as I love Burning Love.
Toasties, i need your help! I’m sorry to threadjack, but: I’m going to Paris in May (whee!) and I have no idea where to stay. Does anyone have any recommendations for places to stay in the city, or at least what neighborhood we should shoot for? Thanks!
i vote for the Marais!
are you going cheap or expensive? there’s a lovely convent in the marais that was turned into a youth hostel, and it has private double rooms with gothic furniture in them as well as a wonderful courtyard for breakfast. alternately, i have heard good things about the more expensive (but not for Paris) hotel in the old hotel-dieu de paris, that is, a good-price hotel in the old hospital. (my, the false friends between english and french are thick here!). you can’t get more centrally located than either of those two.
cult-favorite: get a hotel in one of the 19th-c. covered passages, like the hotel chopin.
please report back if you pick any of these — i’d love to hear what you think!
Thanks everyone! We’re going cheap-ish, so these suggestions sound excellent. Thanks for the help!
Definitely look into Airbnb. If you’re on a budget, the hostels in Paris aren’t very nice or very centrally located, but you can find great apartments.
p.s. i realized i was being lazy and you might not find the hostel easily on google, should you be interested in it: it’s MIJE-Fourcy Hotel des Jeunes, very close to the banks of the Seine in the Marais, extremely central, extremely pretty, former convent.
Definitely the Marais! We went in late September and stayed at a tiny postage stamped apartment for a week for like $600!
Also, if you stay in the Marais you can gorge yourself on some of the best falafel around at L’As du Fallafel.
that falafel is amazingggggggggg and a serious highlight of my long weekend in Paris a few years go
As a counterpoint – Montmatre is pretty awesome as well. More expensive than Marais I think (?) but there are some reasonably priced accommodation around – like rallisaurus we stayed at an airbnb place, there are lots to choose from.
Hotel Caulaincourt (sp?) has housed a surprising number of people I have run into, myself included.
oops–wanted to reply to all of you. Thanks everyone!
I vote for the 11th or the 10th, as close to the Canal St. Martin as possible. But that’s where I live, so I’m biased.
If you want, I’d be happy to give you some tips (or at least, try to): is there anything in particular you want to do/see/eat/steal?
Thank you–we need all the travel tips we can get. We want to see some of the sights, like museums and such, but me and my travel buddy tend to sightsee in the mornings and then give up and start drinking and people-watching in the afternoon. What are your favorite places to sit for a while? Any restaurants we should try? Any neighborhoods that are particularly nice for just strolling around?
A few random ideas:
– I especially like people-watching along the Canal St-Martin (hipstery, but still lovely) and the cafés around the Parc de Belleville. The park itself is also great: few tourists, a fantastic view, and in a fun neighborhood.
– If you like street art, here are some spots to check out. The article is in French, but there are maps!
– For restaurants, you should definitely try La Pointe du Grouin, a small traditionnal Breton place: it’s pretty cheap (desserts are only 4 €, for instance), and they do amazing kouign-amanns and lobster salads. Or, if you book really early, you could get a table at one of these culinary schools: you get Michelin-level quality for 20-40 euros. Here’s a list (it’s in French, but you’ll at least get the names, prices and hours).
– Since the weather should be right for ice cream, so you could try Berthillon (obviously), and maybe Le Bac à Glaces: they’ve got both traditionnal flavors, and some weirder stuff, like dark chocolate and Grand Marnier, or liquorice.
– A few good boulangeries I’ve tested: Maison Landemaine (cocoa bread!), Bonneau (baguettes!), Du Pain et des Idées (escargots!).
Thanks so much! It’s really helpful to have someone recommend stuff–makes it much less daunting. Thanks again.
The Julie Andrews clip is excellent. There is some enthusiastic clapping and an impromptu conga line!
That was super adorable! I loved the way Baby Julie clapped with such wild abandon. She looked so completely delighted and fun.
I have never seen Kroll Show, but their fake PUPPYLIFT subway ads made me laugh forever and ever. Also Dad Academy. (“You did the deed. Now be the dad.”)
Isn’t his name Michiel Huisman? (It definitely is Michiel.)
I KNEW that Dario was a different Dario! I preferred him in blonde.
I like the new Daario better. Regarding Pathe… basically their whole archive was already on their own website already, for years. Obviously more people use YouTube than britishpathe.com but it is just a sort of publicity drive they’re doing. Sorry if I sound grumpy about it! I’m a film archivist and so the whole digitisation of ‘everything’ thing generally bugs me (really everything? Is it important that we spend the money on digitisation vs preservation of film etc etc).
my boyfriend and I haaaaate the new Daario. he’s so boring and normal beardy guy looking, and has absolutely no chemistry with Dany.
Old Daario was so skeevy, but in a good way? Let’s make a thread collecting our favorite New Daario descriptions/insults. So far I’ve heard “busted Josh Groban” “graphic designer from Austin,” and “budget Eric Bana.”
I was calling old Daario ‘Smarmy Legolas’ but Daario ITB was a proper flamboyant borderline sleaze and I thought they’d toned him down enough for the series-it was always a bit like Dany WTF this is a step down but ok, at least he’s audacious(-ly over-the-top). Without the slight skincrawl he’s just another bro with a breastplate and I can’t see what distinguishes him from any of the rest of the muscle squad.
Aaa, sorry, I didn’t think this posted! Intensedebate didn’t log me in so I reposted this downthread!
I NEED to watch that Julie Andrews clip but boohoo work blocks youtube 🙁
I read her memoir Home last year and she seems like such a lovely person! If I ever met her in person I’m pretty sure I would melt into a puddle.
New Daario is hotter than old Daario. I totally get Dany’s teenage fuck fever now.
But also, re: GoT last night, UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
So much this. so much. I guess we’re all saving our feelings for last night’s episode for the open thread? I went onto the ASOIAF subreddit (I know, I know) after the episode aired just to make sure that majority of people shared my opinion, and thankfully, I think it’s about a majority.
D:
I had my hands up in confusion the whole time. The general consensus on most things I’ve read today (Tumblr and AV Club) is also that it was awful.
The long piece on AV Club on The Dumb Thing That They Did last night was really good. I definitely do not agree with the director that it read the way he thinks it read, and that is not how it was presented in the book. I’m not sure if my reading of it in the book was influenced by my gender?
I just finished reading the piece on the AV Club and I’m still mentally buzzing about how ridiculous that was.
I guess the thing that weirds me out is that how could I have missed how terrible that scene was in the book? ::sigh::
Wow I just read the summary and no it was NOT like that in the book. I’d have to re-read the scene but jesus shitting christ that’s almost jumped the whole thing for me and I love GoT.
Not on board with this either, but you could make a case for the fact that a lot of clearly coercive sex in the books has more space to be developed/complicated in longform, but needs to be spelled out in the show? I’ve read that the comparable scene with Dany and Drogo was changed for the show partly because it’s disingenuous to suggest that a child who is being sold into marriage can really consent, and anything softer would blunt how terrible her situation was initially and how important it was for her to change it. Grasping here, admittedly.
The excerpt of the scene has been reposted a lot recently and it is definitely more coercive/less consensual then I had remembered it. The tone is still significantly different, but.. yeah.
UGHHHH x1000, oh jesus. why would they do that?
I’m afraid I am unable to wait for the open thread to say that I spent today turning my horse into a giant my little pony. (I’ll probably say it again on Friday anyway because I think it’s hilarious.)
That is AMAZING. Maybe needs more glitter?
You can get glitter spray for horses…
Cool! My 8 year old self totally approves. Is s/he a specific breed? Her face reminds me of a donkey.
She’s a New Forest pony – she’s retired from competition now but she was officially the best New Forest Pony in the UK in 2002.
She looked like this back then.
Ooh pretty! My knowledge of horses pretty much begins and end with the Laura Ingalls Wilder books – quarter horses and Morgans.
Let’s list our favorite New Daario descriptions/insults here. So far I’ve seen: “busted Josh Groban” “graphic designer from Austin” “budget Eric Bana”…
My immediate thought was “beardy James McAvoy” but I really love “busted Josh Groban”
Aw, the food bank thing made me cry. People are so good sometimes! Yay people!
Has anyone read this? http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/201…
I appreciate the sentiment but I think it’s a little bit too neat. I love all the complex female characters on OB, but I think the development of the secondary characters has more to do with how mysterious the narrative needs them to be than their gender. Vic the Dick is a more well-rounded, interesting character than Delphine, who is still kind of a cipher to preserve her moral ambiguity. Also I love Paul (‘s beautiful face) and would be very sad if he were killed, but I don’t think he is so much “underdeveloped” as “not really that good an actor, especially compared to Maslany.”
i just barely own a television, and the only time it ever experiences life is when i need to use my appletv to listen to music or watch mad men episodes downloaded through itunes. sometimes i use it to watch minecraft youtubers, because that is my secret and tragic obsession. i could, possibly, doing this whole ‘tv’ thing wrong.
Matt, I saw that comic floating around Tumblr last week and let me just say that I loved it before I saw you were the artist. And then I had a really weird moment of “wait is this The Toast or is this Tumblr.”
Old Dario = Young Lurch