As requested, an open thread. I’ll try to get these up more often in the future. This one will be overseen by Morrissey with a cat on his head.
No trolls, no arguments.
Categories
Open Thread for Personal Stuff: January 2014 Pretty Cats Make Hats Edition
kittehserf: I like “Free Meh”.
Ally: Your description of Whipping Girl (and the focus on femmephobia) sounds a lot like a variation on those hipster doods (almost invariably white, cis- and het) who insist that all society’s inequalities boil down to economic injustice, and so if we could only eradicate that, then everything else would fall into line. Personally, I remain perpetually in awe of humanity’s ability to find completely novel and diverse ways to be shitty to one another.
@freemage
In a way, you’re right. However, having read some stuff on Marxist feminism, I wouldn’t say that an anti-oppression philosophy that reduces all social injustice to economic injustice necessarily precludes intersectional analysis of oppression. Yes, there is a history of Marxists saying shit like “Yeah, women shouldn’t face any disadvantages because of being female, but we can fix that by just abolishing capitalism.” But many Marxist feminist would argue that such reasoning stems from a flawed understanding of oppression. One can argue that the patriarchy is rooted in capitalist power relations without dismissing the unique oppressive effects of the patriarchy on women.
Ally — check under users, or I can just email you both if you two want me to?
Woo, we win again
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/top-countries-on-oecd-better-life-index-2013-5#1-australia-15
“For the second year in a row, Australia is the number one happiest country in the world. And it’s not hard to see why –they rank extremely well in health, civic engagement, and housing.”
I wonder if in this survey they looked at how well marginalised people do. Averages aren’t everything. Can someone who knows how to read survey data see if they looked at anything along those lines?
“Australia also has exceptional voter turnout at 93% during recent elections, which is far above the OECD average of 72%.”
This is actually really low considering it’s compulsory.
Idea for a new money making scheme for the US govt. Make voting compulsory and fine those who don’t show up. Side-benefit – they’d have to make it so everyone was able to vote in the first place. I wonder how much it would effect US elections if voting were compulsory.
Argenti, sure, email me!
Kim: I’d personally support that initiative. As you note, there’d need to be serious changes in terms of access–multi-day voting, at a minimum. But it would definitely ensure greater participation.
Kim – I wonder what universe they live in, talking about our great housing situation? House prices are way out of reach of so many people (especially if you don’t want to be in monstrous debt forever) and there are far too few rental properties available.
Yeeeeeeahhhhhh, knowing our politicians, we’d pass the law that voting was mandatory, close all the polling places, abolish absentee ballots, require 5 forms of ID to register a year in advance, and then tell everyone who couldn’t vote that they’re just lazy.
@cupisnique: I pretty much play whatever I get my hands on (except sports games, those are awful). From obscure indie games like Off to AAA games like Far Cry 3, I pretty much play them all. Actually going through Far Cry 3 right now, it is quite good. Especially love the fire mechanics, they make for some very interesting fights. They are also trying to do some interesting things with the story and characters, which is always nice to see.
@Ally S: I love Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Anthrax, Old Metallica, Queensryche, Entombed, and Electric Wizard as well. I also really like Ulver, Immortal, Emperor, Athiest, Napalm Death (obviously), Death, Trouble, Carcass, Testament, Overkill, Megadeth, Burzum (against my better judgement), In Flames, At The Gates, Mastodon, Lamb of God, and Weakling. Actually found this new band called Vektor, and they are totally awesome. They only have two albums out so far, but both are just jaw-droppingly amazing masterpieces of technical, blackened thrash. Basically, Voivod meets Immortal. I just can’t get over how good they are, blows my mind every time I listen to Outer Isolation or Black Future. 😀
Quick question for everyone — does anyone know any good horror games that aren’t in first person? I burned through Mad Father/Ib/Lost Door/etc. pretty quickly and it’s hard to find Mac-compatible stuff. :'(
Sorry, don’t know any horror games, constellarmaid.
@constellarmaid
When I was at PAX I played a demo of a game that got me REALLY excited (and it was totally creepy), called Neverending Nightmares. I donated to its kickstarter and its still in early stages, but it will be released on Mac.
Pretty sure the demo is currently Windows only, but yeah keep an eye on this one 🙂 It’s a sidescroller.
http://www.neverendingnightmares.com for the trailer
BTW, that trailer linked above is MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING for horror and self-harm.
@kittehserf
technically, it doesn’t have to be great. It just has to be better than the other countries.
I’ve never felt like there were a lack of rental properties, except in the coveted 2Br, close to the city but reasonably priced range. Even when I was a poor student, we could always find something as long as we had enough housemates. I can believe it’s a bit of a nightmare for a non-well-paid single person who isn’t able to house-share.
My main gripe about rentals is how anti-pet people can be. I lied about having a cat for many years. Americans – what’s the situation with cats in rentals over there?
Kim, yeah, the anti-pet stuff is hugely annoying. And close to the city, or at least near public transport, is essential for non-drivers. There’s something like 1% rental available in inner Melbourne (1% of the demand, I presume they mean). And the prices – yeah, well, that’s why I live where the suburban sprawl meets Gippsland, because it’s all I can afford without living in a dive with disintegrating walls. Most flats in the inner suburbs cost more than I earn.
Just being better than other places is a pretty crap definition of “good” with this sort of thing.
@constellarmaid: If you want horror of a more “Eraserhead” vain, try Off. Yume Nikki would be pretty good too. There are also plenty of good horror games for some of the older game consoles as well, like Silent Hill or Fatal Frame.
@deniseeliza: Oooh, that looks marvelously creepy. 😀 That’s exciting, I’ll stay on the lookout for it!
@BreakfastMan: I’ve played some of Off, haven’t yet finished it but really enjoyed it so far. :O And I’m a huge fan of Yume Nikki, hehe.
Quite the selection of black/death metal you have there. =P A good selection, too. I would say my favorites in that list are Immortal, Burzum, and Lamb of God.
I’m more into “milder” metal like Black Sabbath, but I’m slowly starting to like more black metal, death metal, etc. Bolt Thrower is probably my favorite death metal band so far.
I haven’t checked out Vektor, but apparently they have a song called “Tetrastructural Minds” and that sounds awesome, so they’re on my listening list (I’m shallow like that =P).
@constellarmaid
You might be interested in Ao Oni. That game is fucking terrifying, even though it’s a simple 2D game. I haven’t played it but I’ve seen a video walkthrough.
On the plus side, if you ever want a treechange you’ll be amazed at how much more you get for your money.
@constellarmaid: There is also Lone Survivor and I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, if you are okay with buying games.
http://www.gog.com/game/lone_survivor_directors_cut
http://www.gog.com/game/i_have_no_mouth_and_i_must_scream
It can be pretty bad here too. I have some friends who are concealing cats. I once had a landlord refuse to let me keep a single mouse in a cage for fear that the building would somehow become infested.
That was so creepy at the end, but I loved when the clock started “alarming” at them when they started questioning time as a construct, it made me lol.
@Ally S: Yeah, I do admit, I tend to listen to extreme metal more often than not, and black or thrash more than death. I do enjoy basically all forms of metal (even some nu metal, if I am in the mood!), but I generally listen to a lot of extreme metal. Which, as someone on the political left, can sometimes be a bit awkward, especially when it comes to black metal… I do try to avoid the more obviously vile stuff like Absurd or Graveland, but still… It isn’t easy. D:
And yeah, Vektor is just crazy. While many other metal bands go for a horror, fantasy, or dark/horror fantasy vibe, Vektor is definitely in the science-fiction end of things. It is quite refreshing, if I am being honest. 😀
Might want to rephrase that.