Jake

Idle Thumbs 224: Ms. Petman

Recommended Posts

I will say I like the Billy Bookcase. It's solid and has never steered me wrong. I don't generally take it cross-country, but it's cheap enough that I don't really need to.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sean's t-swift opinions are the best & I genuinely enjoy when they come out.

 

(Also I think the BBHMM video by Rihanna does the violent women thing way better by directing the violence at a man who stole from her. Also it doesn't add a totally dissonant rap verse to it for just the music video???)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I didn't finish the Bad Blood video, because I find that song so disappointing. Such a good hook but such inane lyrics. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

*DEEP BREATH*

 

Here's the thing with ol' Taylor Swift. Sometime over the past six months being ultra-famous in the pop world also started to mean you were friends with Taylor Swift. It means you popped up on her instagram or she invited you on stage for a song. Whatever, that's fine -- the thing that pisses me off is that all of that feels like a cliquey tool to define what's in and what's out, mostly because it began in earnest with the filming of her Bad Blood music video -- a video about a song that is directed at Katy Perry, a public enemy of Taylor Swift. Swift got all of her friends together -- literally a dozen ultra-famous names (Ellie Goulding, Lena Dunham, Cindy Crawford (!!!)) and made a video about a a bunch of badass ladies gearing up with guns to go some unseen war. The video is basically saying "we have bad blood but I have everyone on my side so fuck you." That is pretty much the worst message to send to your fans, most of whom are schoolchildren and have to deal with that shit every day.

 

Miley Cyrus actually summed it up pretty well: 

 

“I don’t get the violence revenge thing,” Miley said of Taylor’s “Bad Blood” music video. “That’s supposed to be a good example? And I’m a bad role model because I’m running around with my titties out? I’m not sure how titties are worse than guns.”

 

I think that's a fair point -- not to clear Miley Cyrus of selling a regressive image of femininity, but I think it's pretty lame for the most famous pop musician on earth to adopt themes of violent revenge with a huge posse because she doesn't like someone. 

 

Anyway, 31 yo male here reporting in on pop music feuds which are totally meaningless at best and a poison to society at worst. <3 

Oh man, I was expecting to hear about the Nicki Minaj thing that happened. Also in which that Taylor Swift was being terrible.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I didn't know the backstory behind Bad Blood, and now that I do it's rather disappointing :/

 

Also to Argobot's point I always wondered why in the heck they spend the whole video gearing up and looking badass, but then the very last is the lead up to just slapping each other in the face. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I didn't finish the Bad Blood video, because I find that song so disappointing. Such a good hook but such inane lyrics. 

 

The video doesn't help, either. It sells itself as an action movie, but it ends up looking terrible to me because the physicality that you expect in an action movie is totally absent. Like Argobot says, it's just a bunch of universally waifish women holding weapons and trying to look tough, like a bunch of children dressed up as soldiers for Halloween. If there's any motion at all, the camera's cutting around to make it happen; most of them just stand there to give the editor a break. Ugh.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't really like any of Swift's videos, to be honest. Blank Space and Shake It Off are both great songs, but their videos are both kind of lame. Blank Space ruins the tension of the song by cutting back and forth between way too many scenes way too fast; Shake It Off just has this weird gimmick that is completely unrelated to what makes the song good. I guess the We Are Never Getting Back Together video is alright.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If we can pause for a moment from all this video game chat to further dissect the Bad Blood video:

 

I can't figure out if that video is meant to be taken seriously re: believing that all the women in it are legitimate badasses. Everyone is so thin and fragile looking - not to knock body types, but there is legitimate criticism to be made about the really unrealistic image of female beauty that Swift and her crew propagate - that it's comical when they wield these big weapons or attempt cool fighting moves. The scene that sticks out the most for me is the boxing ring, where two incredibly small, virtually muscle-free women are delivering punches that resemble stereotypical cat fight motions. I cannot figure out if that's intentional or not, but the result is that in a music video that is meant to have this badass, revenge theme (which as Sean pointed out has its own problems) no one looks particularly badass! 

 

My read on it is that they were trying, but didn't have the best action director or time to do the training required to make it look realistic. I just watched the boxing part again, and it looked to me like the women didn't know how to throw a punch, so they tried to do some stylized slow motion stuff to hide it. There's definitely something off about the whole thing, though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

*DEEP BREATH*

 

Here's the thing with ol' Taylor Swift. Sometime over the past six months being ultra-famous in the pop world also started to mean you were friends with Taylor Swift. It means you popped up on her instagram or she invited you on stage for a song. Whatever, that's fine -- the thing that pisses me off is that all of that feels like a cliquey tool to define what's in and what's out, mostly because it began in earnest with the filming of her Bad Blood music video -- a video about a song that is directed at Katy Perry, a public enemy of Taylor Swift. Swift got all of her friends together -- literally a dozen ultra-famous names (Ellie Goulding, Lena Dunham, Cindy Crawford (!!!)) and made a video about a a bunch of badass ladies gearing up with guns to go some unseen war. The video is basically saying "we have bad blood but I have everyone on my side so fuck you." That is pretty much the worst message to send to your fans, most of whom are schoolchildren and have to deal with that shit every day.

 

Miley Cyrus actually summed it up pretty well: 

 

“I don’t get the violence revenge thing,” Miley said of Taylor’s “Bad Blood” music video. “That’s supposed to be a good example? And I’m a bad role model because I’m running around with my titties out? I’m not sure how titties are worse than guns.”

 

I think that's a fair point -- not to clear Miley Cyrus of selling a regressive image of femininity, but I think it's pretty lame for the most famous pop musician on earth to adopt themes of violent revenge with a huge posse because she doesn't like someone. 

 

Anyway, 31 yo male here reporting in on pop music feuds which are totally meaningless at best and a poison to society at worst. <3 

 

Yeah, it seems like it's playing on a power fantasy that combines "I could kick your ass" with "I'm more popular than you", which I would assume is the opposite of what a awkward teenage girl wants to hear.

 

I suppose from Taylor's perspective it could be more along the lines with "If you don't backstab, you could have all these friends, too", which is also sort of an odd message.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

btw, in Swedish, the word for no is "nej", kinda pronounced like neigh, the sound horses make, but less whinny, or something. Also, whats up with all the detective games? I am so behind on my backlog its not even funny. Third, there was something else i was gonna say and i tried to remember it while listening on the tram, but have since forgotten it. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

oh man, if we're taking a full detour here, I'll throw my nearly 40 year old hat in the ring for Miley, (though I got to thumbs down the twerking business (dubious racial reasons)) based on the strength of this: (sidebar: being in The Roots is the best job in America)

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I struggle with it – I think there needs to be room for people’s dark sides but also we have a responsibility to the bigger culture. I don’t really like r crumb, I think his excuses are a little bit thin to base a whole career on. Sure, it’s stuff straight out of his brain, unfiltered, not deliberately twisted. But that’s exactly how the status quo is perpetuated – people let problematic stuff into their brains then regurgitate it unquestioningly and I find it vapid.

See, I have a problem with this too. Yes, it does allow the status quo to be perpetuated, but I do believe people need an artistic outlet to let out all the nasty shit that's in their head. I'm a fan of R. Crumb and though I find his misogynistic, sexist and racist terrible, I'm glad that it exists and that it's out there.

 

I am of two hearts in this topic: the first is where you're coming from and as I've gotten older the path I've moved more too and agree. But, there's also a small part of me--from my experience with very transgressive, controversial art--that stops me from fully embracing that mindframe.

I think I need to step-away from this and organize my thoughts before I continue...

 

-----

Chris: If you like hacknet, I recommend TIS-100

 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/370360/?snr=1_5_9__300

 

In which you actually have to print out a manual and use it to solve the puzzles. It's hard as shit, but addicting.

 

PS, it's made by Zachtronics who also did SpaceChem and Infinifactory. 

 

-----

 

Sean: Sounds like my Dad. And being like my Dad at times, it kinda sound cool.

 

Damn it, Dad.

EDIT: Oh shit, I'm imaging a drone with a small flamethrower; how frightening yet oddly cool

 

Damn it, Dad.

 

That Midwest gun-toting attitude has sunken into me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

oh man, if we're taking a full detour here, I'll throw my nearly 40 year old hat in the ring for Miley, (though I got to thumbs down the twerking business (dubious racial reasons)) based on the strength of this: (sidebar: being in The Roots is the best job in America)

 

 

One of the best things about living in the greater Philadelphia area is the wildly increased chance of seeing The Roots at municipal events.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

See, I have a problem with this too. Yes, it does allow the status quo to be perpetuated, but I do believe people need an artistic outlet to let out all the nasty shit that's in their head. I'm a fan of R. Crumb and though I find his misogynistic, sexist and racist terrible, I'm glad that it exists and that it's out there.

I am of two hearts in this topic: the first is where you're coming from and as I've gotten older the path I've moved more too and agree. But, there's also a small part of me--from my experience with very transgressive, controversial art--that stops me from fully embracing that mindframe.

I can't say I'm "glad" that it exists, I'd prefer it didn't, but I can tolerate it for the sake that it's probably a very minor bad for individual creators to make one questionable work.

If I had evidence it was harmless I might feel that way, but I find it hard to believe that the culture around us - the movie, tv, books, ads, artworks, poems, letters, tweets - doesn't affect our mindsets or the way people treat each other. I don't think individual works contribute very much - only a tiny tiny bit - but they're each one drop of water in the tsunami of oppressive ideas everybody gets hit with. Tact is the normal name we give the skill of being able to express yourself in ways that don't unnecessarily harm others and I think it's important in art too.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I can't say I'm "glad" that it exists, I'd prefer it didn't, but I can tolerate it for the sake that it's probably a very minor bad for individual creators to make one questionable work.

If I had evidence it was harmless I might feel that way, but I find it hard to believe that the culture around us - the movie, tv, books, ads, artworks, poems, letters, tweets - doesn't affect our mindsets or the way people treat each other. I don't think individual works contribute very much - only a tiny tiny bit - but they're each one drop of water in the tsunami of oppressive ideas everybody gets hit with. Tact is the normal name we give the skill of being able to express yourself in ways that don't unnecessarily harm others and I think it's important in art too.

No, I agree with you almost fully except for the "glad" part.

 

I think what stops me from fully embracing this is how long I was such a field.

 

During my late-teens and early-twenties and to my somewhat mid-twenties, I was heavily into "transgressive" music: noise, industrial, NSBM (National Socialism Black Metal), and racist OI.  This love for this type of music genres pushed me into "transgressive" films, literature, comics and illustrations that pushed sexuality, violence, race and got me to read into a lot of white supremacy work. I was also into and knew a good amount of people who fetishized Nazi aesthetic. All these things are intertwined in many ways and all share artists that moved from field-to-field. 

 

One thing during my time there was that it was an outlet for many who loved such things. I also realized the people I dealt, conversed and hung with --me included--were and are social outcasts and had to deal with a lot of emotion and mental issues that came from various abuses. One way to gain a hold of those issues and feel "empowered" was to fully express what we were feeling and let it all out. 

 

For me I was dealing with severe depression, undiagnosed bipolar, suicide, feelings of wanting to be white and feeling like a complete and utter outcast. These fields allowed me to express and meet people who felt the same. So I got to pull off some Crumbs and McMillen. So I can completely emphasis and sympathize with people who do this.

 

Of course, as I've gotten older, I moved heavily away from this, but it's influence on me I can't shake.

 

I'm sorry, I think was just a huge rambling mess that should end with: I agree with you

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

*DEEP BREATH*

 

Here's the thing with ol' Taylor Swift. Sometime over the past six months being ultra-famous in the pop world also started to mean you were friends with Taylor Swift. It means you popped up on her instagram or she invited you on stage for a song. Whatever, that's fine -- the thing that pisses me off is that all of that feels like a cliquey tool to define what's in and what's out, mostly because it began in earnest with the filming of her Bad Blood music video -- a video about a song that is directed at Katy Perry, a public enemy of Taylor Swift. Swift got all of her friends together -- literally a dozen ultra-famous names (Ellie Goulding, Lena Dunham, Cindy Crawford (!!!)) and made a video about a a bunch of badass ladies gearing up with guns to go some unseen war. The video is basically saying "we have bad blood but I have everyone on my side so fuck you." That is pretty much the worst message to send to your fans, most of whom are schoolchildren and have to deal with that shit every day.

 

Miley Cyrus actually summed it up pretty well: 

 

“I don’t get the violence revenge thing,” Miley said of Taylor’s “Bad Blood” music video. “That’s supposed to be a good example? And I’m a bad role model because I’m running around with my titties out? I’m not sure how titties are worse than guns.”

 

I think that's a fair point -- not to clear Miley Cyrus of selling a regressive image of femininity, but I think it's pretty lame for the most famous pop musician on earth to adopt themes of violent revenge with a huge posse because she doesn't like someone. 

 

Anyway, 31 yo male here reporting in on pop music feuds which are totally meaningless at best and a poison to society at worst. <3 

 

I think that's a legit criticism, and so is Sarah's. I'll just add that not knowing that this song was about Perry, I was initially impressed that the video seemed to be about women getting together to fight a mutual enemy rather than the more predictable "two women fighting over a man" trope. That's probably a very low bar.

 

Both Swift and Perry annoy me how fun their songs are but often have a splash of really terrible values. Perry's lyric "You change your mind like a girl changes clothes. / Yeah, you PMS like a bitch, I would know" is just the worst. I have such mixed feelings about Perry's song Birthday because I love how its video clip's aesthetics imply sex as something upbeat and fun like party decorations (actually kinda rare in our culture), but at the same time it's not about her desire (unlike, say, Beyonce's songs) but rather giving yourself to someone as a gift. 

 

I note though in this thread Swift is getting a lot more policing of her self-expression than R Crumb is.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Idle Thumbs Episode 224
Games discussed: Robert Crumb, Taylor Swift

 

I note though in this thread Swift is getting a lot more policing of her self-expression than R Crumb is.

 

There's definitely a big part of sexism to this, but I think there's the difference between the media intent of a large corporate device and an individual creator. The assumption is that Taylor Swift is not a singular voice dictating her output. At the very least it's massaged through the machine that produces her media, it's absolutely not the unfiltered output that R Crumb is described as producing. Realistically, this should make R Crumb more culpable as he is not being pushed to change or decide things that aren't his intent while Taylor Swift surely is. But people respond differently to the motivations of these things.

 

If TS is doing problematic stuff at the behest of a company it's disingenuous and therefore much more morally reprehensible. However RC is just putting out his honest thoughts and feelings so even if there are problematic elements it's honest. I can see why the dishonesty tastes more sour, but realistically Taylor Swift is probably just one of the faces of the disingenuous company.

 

There is also presumably the feeling that TS talks to a lot of impressionable young people, which is a fair point but still not fair measure to draw against her when presumably RC also has influence over a group with his level of notability. (I'm not at all familiar with RC's work, just familiar with the name as a comic artist)

 

(Also Claire I don't know where/how else to say this, but you're a great addition to these forums especially in discussions like this. Glad you're here!)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The story of Samantha immediately reminded me of a story on the Roosterteeth podcast from May where Burnie received a call from Samantha bot.

 

 

From the start points its about four minutes.

 

Mentioned again here, when Burnie talks about the time magazine article.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Kind of bummed there wasn't a Fallout Shelter segment this week.  I got the Android version last week so I was interested to hear more stories from Chris.  Specifically, I'm wondering if he recreated Vault 69 yet.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Fallout Shelter is a weird game. It has a flow that took some time to get used to. Water seems to be the least used resource, with food the most used. Also not a fan of how easily you just send someone out to die in the wasteland if, say, you send them out, go to work in real life, and check the game when getting home and oh, now that person is dead and costs caps to get back. It would prefer it to be more forgiving. The game is built to be checked every four hours or so, it seems, which isn't a schedule people should be expected to be on.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There's definitely a big part of sexism to this, but I think there's the difference between the media intent of a large corporate device and an individual creator. The assumption is that Taylor Swift is not a singular voice dictating her output. At the very least it's massaged through the machine that produces her media, it's absolutely not the unfiltered output that R Crumb is described as producing. Realistically, this should make R Crumb more culpable as he is not being pushed to change or decide things that aren't his intent while Taylor Swift surely is. But people respond differently to the motivations of these things.

 

I was going to suggest that another reason we're harsher on Swift is that her work is recent and contemporary, while Crumb's very much is not.

But I'm willing to believe that misogyny may have as much or more to do with it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I would not disagree with misogyny informing any beliefs, as it is something we're immersed in, but I think there are worthwhile differences in something like Crumb or GG Allin. While gross they're also intended to be received as a kind of pure unfettered id, and looking into that bleakness/addressing the modern condition, has a value, where your pop stars (or at least Swift as a product of the Nashville machine (more than Cyrus or Rhianna) project a kind of wholesomeness that I think is more sinister. The former is basically screaming "i want to fuck" where the latter pushes the subconscious marketing desire for that, but presents as though it doesn't.

 

edit 1: like the former is the inevitable result of living with the marketing barrage of the latter. 

 

edit 2: no disrespect anybody not interested in consuming that stuff!

 

I definitely talk about this a lot with my music centric pals, and generally come down on the side of not wanting anything to do with even the more historic transgressive stuff (Whitehouse, Brainbombs, etc)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Fallout Shelter is a weird game. It has a flow that took some time to get used to. Water seems to be the least used resource, with food the most used. Also not a fan of how easily you just send someone out to die in the wasteland if, say, you send them out, go to work in real life, and check the game when getting home and oh, now that person is dead and costs caps to get back. It would prefer it to be more forgiving. The game is built to be checked every four hours or so, it seems, which isn't a schedule people should be expected to be on.

 

I dunno, four hour check-ins for a mobile game seems pretty average to me.  If you're just stopping in to gather resources, you can do that in seconds.  Doesn't seem terribly unreasonable considering most people have their phone with them all the time.  Of course your situation may be different.  I remember playing a game of Neptune's Pride a few years ago and waking up at 3 AM to manage my fleet.  Now that was ridiculous.

 

Power is usually my number one consumed resource, at least until I slowed down my expansion rate.  Even then despite having the largest capacity, it's the least filled.

 

I've never had a person die on my while exploring even after days, but I'm flush with stimpacks and radaways so they always leave with the max.  One of my vaults got lucky early on and I had a guided missile launcher drop in a lunchbox.  That made my explorers practically unkillable.  The fact that you can resurrect using a common in-game currency rather than forcing the use of some kind of special currency or real money seems pretty forgiving to me, at least in comparison to the vast majority of F2P games.  It's one of the things that surprised me about Fallout Shelter.  Despite having microtransactions, it's maybe the least obtrusive implementation.  But perhaps I've become used to the shitty practices of other games and it's actually terrible.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now