Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:01 PM

6:55 pm. We went out to the library (for a specific book), comic shop and out to dinner. Blogger still hasn't published my earlier post. Appears to be the same FTP problem as on November 11, where blogspot pages are updating, but FTP is just timing out. Of course, since Blogger never bothered to post any status announcements about that problem, neither its existence nor cause nor solution, who knows.*

Anyway, I'm trying to decide whether I'm too drunk to continue writing up my trip report, having drunk most of a bottle of sake with dinner. [187 mL bottle: Ian had 1 glass, I finished the rest in 3.5 glasses. That averages out to about 42 mL per glass, which is something I calculated in the restaurant without paper as we were waiting for the check...]

Boopsie is also being extremely affectionate and demanding right now, further reducing my desire to write. We'll see what happens...

I've got at least one other half-written post on another topic I may post this evening. Ian keeps urging me to blog while drunk, this may be as close as he gets...

* Alternately, the problem could be caused by my FTP server, but because Blogger has had such a poor reputation for reporting their own problems, I assumed that the error was theirs. See guys? That's why it's important to report your own problems promptly. So that way, users will know when not to blame you!

Posted by Lis Riba at 1:20 PM

Since about 11am, I've been writing up my London travel report...

I've now reached about 2pm on the first day...

I knew something like this would happen, which is probably why I've been deferring it.

Ah well, back to writing...

Added 2:40 pm: I've reached 4:45pm my first day and my second blog post from London. I feel like I'm recording at barely better than a 1:1 ratio... It will improve those periods I was asleep, but this may take a while...

Of course, the fact that Blogger doesn't seem to want to publish my posts means you're not actually seeing any of this, anyway, but it does my heart good to write it.

3:30pm: I think I just finished writing up the first day. I'm not actually going to post them until all are complete, so they all display on the same page adjacent, but one down, five more to go, plus a wrapup and hostelling-tips.

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:01 AM

Chris Lydon decided to discuss family drama for Thanksgiving.

So, in a (prerecorded) episode of his Open Source Radio, he's airing an interview with Alvin Epstein on King Lear. [Epstein played Lear in the recent and highly-praised production by my favorites, the Actors' Shakespeare Project.]

Heh.

The show airs locally on WGBH radio at 7pm. I assume the audio will be online sometime later.

BTW, if I haven't mentioned it here before, the Actors' Shakespeare Project has a blog, in which they share rehearsal notes, reviews and pose questions to readers about the plays. Cool stuff, lifting the lid like that. If anyone knows of other Shakespeare companies doing something similar, let me know.

PPS: Tickets are now onsale for ASP's next production, Twelfth Night, opening December 15th. And don't forget to check Bard in Boston for future New England Shakespeare events.

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:34 PM

Firedoglake:

Glenn Greenwald has an exceptional post up about this case, and it ought to be required reading for everyone.

TalkLeft:

Lawyer Glenn Greenwald powerfully explains how the Padilla decision represents the true tyranny of the executive branch.

Two top lawblogs giving their highest recommendations to the same post? What more do you need? Read it.

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:01 PM

Catching up on LJ, these caught my eye:

I can't believe that anyone can say with a straight face that since we invaded Iraq, rape rooms have been eliminated. Under different management, perhaps, and now equal-opportunity offenders, but what kind of rock must someone be living under not to have heard of the abuses at Abu Ghraib?

Second, What the heck?

This is disturbing.

A 50 year old woman rides the bus. A security guard boards the bus, demands ID from all passengers. The woman, having done nothing, refuses. Security guard calls cops, woman to be arraigned in Federal court.

What's wrong with this picture? And where did it happen?

No, not the USSR. No, not China, nor in Germany in the 1940s.

Denver, Colorado.

This disturbing story brought to you by the Soviet Wannabes at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

I don't want to believe it; I hope there's extenuating information not being reported, but it seems sadly plausible under this administration. [Jumping back to the Iraq debate I've gotten myself into, a constitution is nothing more than a piece of paper unless respected and enforced.]

PS: Learn something new every day. Quoting Wikipedia's entry on It Can't Happen Here:

Inspired by the book, director-producer Kenneth Johnson wrote an adaptation titled Storm Warnings, in 1982. The script was presented to NBC, for production as a television mini-series, but the NBC executives rejected the initial version, claiming it was too 'cerebral' for the average American viewer. To make the script more marketable, the American fascists were re-cast as anthropophage aliens, taking the story into the realm of science fiction. The new, re-cast story was the mini-series V, which premiered on May 3, 1983.

I did not know that.

Posted by Lis Riba at 3:36 PM

Saw this and thought a few people I know might benefit from its advice.

Heck, I should probably read this as guidance for dealing with others.

I can't seem to link to the single printable page on about.com, instead being redirected to the article in four ad-laden parts.

So, here's the LJ where I saw it.

Added later: For those who aren't yet familiar with the concept, The Spoon Theory as an insight into invisible ailments.

Posted by Lis Riba at 3:35 PM

Fewer and fewer people have been in the office as the week progressed.

Today, my manager announced a 2pm team meeting for the few of us that remained, after which he excused us to go home early.

Cool!

FYI, my plans for this weekend include writing up comments on a manuscript I've read (which first means finding them in the 11 pounds of paper :D I should've come up with a better marking system earlier) and finally writing up the full account of my London vacation.

Sound like a plan?

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:10 PM

All over the blogosphere, people are talking about the recent ICM opinion poll commissioned by Amnesty International regarding attitudes regarding rape.

Well, I went out and found the actual poll data, just to report a slightly different spin:

• 60% believe a woman is NOT AT ALL RESPONSIBLE for being raped if the woman is drunk.
• 56% believe a woman is NOT AT ALL RESPONSIBLE for being raped if the woman has behaved in a flirtatious manner.
• 54% believe a woman is NOT AT ALL RESPONSIBLE for being raped if the woman has failed to say "no" clearly to the man.
• 66% believe a woman is NOT AT ALL RESPONSIBLE for being raped if a woman is wearing sexy or revealing clothing.
• 68% believe a woman is NOT AT ALL RESPONSIBLE for being raped if it is known that the woman has had many sexual partners.
• 69% believe a woman is NOT AT ALL RESPONSIBLE for being raped if the woman is alone and walking in a dangerous or deserted area.

[For every question, 9-10% refused to answer or said they "don't know."]

Sure, it's not great news. Lots of room for valid criticism of the survey that could undercut any interpretation of results, such as:

• The use of passive voice wholly eliminates any other actors from the equation. A woman isn't raped all on her own, you know. We'd probably get different results if the survey asked about a woman's responsibility if a man rapes her.
• There's no analogous survey of responsibility of rapists. ["Do you believe a man is totally responsible, partially responsible or not at all responsible for committing rape* if he is drunk?" Or, if we want to remind people of subject-object, "for raping a woman..." Alternately, there's also the construction: "Do you believe a man is totally responsible, partially responsible or not at all responsible for raping a woman if the woman has behaved in a flirtatious manner?"]
• There's no analogous surveys of other crimes to compare how much responsibility people assign to victims of other crimes. ["Do you believe a person is totally responsible, partially responsible or not at all responsible for being robbed if the person is alone and walking in a dangerous or deserted area?"]

But for all questions, the majority of respondents concurred that women are not at all responsible for being raped. Under any circumstance. That's the default assumption.

I haven't been able to find analogous earlier statistics, but looking at academic articles on "rape myth acceptance," I definitely get the impression that even a decade ago, rape victims would be held at least somewhat responsible in most instances. [See this sample paper for references.] This week's news demonstrates a massive societal change in the right direction.

So even as we acknowledge there's still work to do, can we at least pause for a moment and recognize that much success?

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:01 PM

I've now twice seen references to

She’s Such a Geek

An Anthology by and for Women Obsessed with Computers, Science, Comic Books, Gaming, Spaceships, and Revolution

Slated for Fall 2006

Geeks are taking over the world. They make the most popular movies and games, pioneer new ways to communicate using technology, and create new ideas that will change the future. But the stereotype is that only men can be geeks. So when are we going to hear from the triumphant female nerds whose stories of outer space battles will inspire generations, and whose inventions will change the future? Right now.

Female geeks are busting out of the labs and into the spotlight. They have the skills and knowledge that can inspire social progress, scientific breakthroughs, and change the world for the better, and they're making their voices heard, some for the first time, in Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders' book She’s Such a Geek. This anthology will celebrate women who have flourished in the male-dominated realms of technical and cultural arcana. We're looking for a wide range of personal essays about the meaning of female nerdhood by women who are in love with genomics, obsessed with blogging, learned about sex from Dungeons and Dragons, and aren't afraid to match wits with men or computers. The essays in She’s Such a Geek will explain what it means to be passionately engaged with technical or obscure topics—and how to deal with it when people tell you that your interests are weird, especially for a girl. This book aims to bust stereotypes of what it means to be a geek, as well as what it means to be female.

More than anything, She’s Such a Geek is a celebration and call to arms: it's a hopeful book which looks forward to a day when women will pilot spaceships, invent molecular motors, design the next ultra-tiny supercomputer, write epics, and run the government.

We want introspective essays that explain what being a geek has meant to you. Describe how you've fought stereotypes to be accepted among nerds. Explore why you are obsessed with topics and ideas that are supposed to be "for boys only." Tell us how you felt the day you realized that you would be devoting the rest of your life to discovering algorithms or collecting comic books. We want strong, personal writing that is also smart and critical. We don't mind if you use the word "fuck," and we don't mind if you use the word "telomerase." Be celebratory, polemical, wistful, angry, and just plain dorky.

Possible topics include:

• what turned you into a geek
• your career in science, technology, or engineering
• growing up geeky
• being a geek in high school today
• battling geek stereotypes (i.e racial stereotypes and geekdom, cultural analysis of geek chic and the truth about nerds, the idea that women have to choose between being sexually desirable and smart, stereotypes about geek professions such as computer programmers)
• sex and dating among geeks
• science fiction fandom
• role-playing game or comic-book subcultures
• the joys of math
• blogging or videogames
• female geek bonding
• geek role models for women
• feminist commentary on geek culture
• women's involvement in DIY science and technology groups
• stories from women involved in geek pop and underground cultures. These might include comic book writers, science fiction writers, electronic music musicians, and women interested in the gaming world.
• women's web networks and web zine grrrl culture
• issues of sexism in any or all of the above themes

Editors: Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders are geeky women writers. Annalee is a contributing editor at Wired magazine and writes the syndicated column Techsploitation. Charlie is the author of Choir Boy (Soft Skull Press) and publisher of other magazine.

Publisher: Seal Press, an imprint of Avalon Publishing Group, publishes groundbreaking books by and for women in a variety of topics.

Deadline: January 15, 2006

Length: 3,000-6,000 words

Format: Essays must be typed, double-spaced, and paginated. Please include your address, phone number, email address, and a short bio on the last page. Essays will not be returned.

Submitting: Send essay electronically as a Document or Rich Text Format file to Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders at sheissuchageek@gmail.com.

Payment: $100 plus two books

Reply: Please allow until February 15 for a response. If you haven't received a response by then, please assume your essay has not been selected. It is not possible to reply to every submission personally.

Disturbingly enough, when confronted with something like this, I have no idea what to write.

I've got anecdotes galore, but is there anything sufficiently worthy as an essay?

Y'all read me. Any suggestions on whether I should write, and if so, what? Any of these topics you'd like to read from me? Any older posts (or comments) of mine that could be expanded to the format? I might use this blog as a testing ground, if you've got ideas.

Posted by Lis Riba at 5:55 PM

Had a dream last month that I've been meaning to share.

Set on Serenity in Joss Whedon's Firefly-verse, it seemed that someone paid Mal for a job by giving him a slave.

Oh yeah, that's a recipe for trouble.

None of the options look good. Mal neither wants nor needs to own a slave. He can't afford to manumit the boy, because (as usual) they needed the money from this job for necessary expenses. And selling him off to a broker at the next stop may be easy, but not comfortable morally.

Further complicating a bad situation, Simon discovers that the standard slave diet is drugged. Not entirely sure what it all does, but it's definitely addictive (making it harder for slaves to run away or escape).

In my dream, the slave was D'Mer from Colleen Doran's A Distant Soil, though if I really did write this up, I would create a character inspired-by rather than adding the complexities of a crossover.

I've been trying to tease the story out further, but doubt I will ever write it given, among other reasons, the extreme difficulties I have with the Firefly dialects.

But the idea has a lot of potential, so I'm sending it forth, out into the world. All I ask is that if somebody writes a story based on this idea, send me a link so I can read it.

Speaking of A Distant Soil, anybody know when the next issue will be released?
It feels like it's been an awfully long time since the last one. [Then again, I've been following this story since college.]
While I know that this storyline will end its publication as monthly comics and move to more manga-like GNs, I somewhat wish she'd consider posting pages regularly to the web like the Foglios are doing with Girl Genius.

Posted by Lis Riba at 5:50 PM

FireflyCostumes.com: Firefly's costume designer auctions off her personal stash, including Mal's browncoat (the high-detail version; starting bid $1500), several of Inara's dresses, and leftover fabric from Kaylee's "Shindig" dress...

Shiny!