More authors ought to read the Tough Guide to Fantasyland before they quit their day jobs.

[conuly]

I'm just saying.

On that note, in addition to not mentioning the deceased heir to whatever who is obviously a (living, breathing) member of your gang more than once, you also shouldn't mention your mysterious unknown stranger who saved your life that time (and who is obviously the same not-so-deceased heir to whatever and one of your boyfriend's BFFs) more than once unless you're willing to embrace the increasingly farcical nature of the plot. Similarly, there should be a law: ONE weird coincidence per book, MAX. If one of your new buddies happens to be the long lost friend/father/uncle of your neighbor/friend/cat, your OTHER new buddy shouldn't also have a bizarrely random connection to the hero of the story.

And don't split the party!

~~~~~~~~~~

‘Saluton!’: the surprise return of Esperanto

The good, the bad and the ugly of living in a schoolbus full-time

How Toyota Helped Create A Thriving Japanese Food Culture In Kentucky

Around the World in 14,000 ‘Do Not Disturb’ Signs

Decoding favorite sayings from around the world (I don't know how accurate this is, but I love the pictures)

The Incredibly Cheap Street Fix That Saves Lives

The Crazy Story Of How "Clue" Went From Forgotten Flop To Cult Triumph

Worst “Bring Your Kid To Work Day” Ever Minifigure Set (OMG it's a whole unlicensed collection.)

The Short-Lived Normalization of Breastfeeding on Television

“What? Like, a disabled protagonist? How would that even work? How could someone with a disability be the hero in an action show?” local anime trash boy wonders while sitting next to his box sets of Full Metal Alchemist, showing no hint of irony or self awareness.

Organized Labor’s Growing Class Divide

The Schmaltzy Reality Radio Dramas That Heralded Courtroom Television

The Beekeeper Who Makes Synth Music With His Bee Colonies

Think of honeybees as 'livestock,' not wildlife, argue experts

The Startling Link Between Sugar and Alzheimer's

Searching for an Alzheimer’s cure while my father slips away

A brief overview of the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiʻi's Queen Liliʻuokalani

The Troubling Origins of the Skeletons in a New York Museum

Is There A Ticking Time Bomb Under The Arctic?

The Dirty War Over Diversity Inside Google

Understanding the fake historian behind America’s religious right

Comments

[flexagon]

Yeah, the 2nd to last link made my workday a living hell on Friday. Augh, so much stuff, so many feels.

[greghousesgf]

I liked the article about the different metaphors, especially the graphics. (hell, there are some expressions in my own language, American English, that don't make any sense to me)
I am not only a disabled person, I am a disabled rights activist and I'm sure you can tell by my username that I have no problem with any sort of show or movie having a disabled protagonist. I think this guy is a world class hypocrite, particularly considering that anime characters look really freaky anyway.

[mercybuckets]

Sesame Street coming through again! Seriously, it's easy to get bogged down in the Elmo of it all but that show is great and has some incredible history going on.

[conuly]

Part of the problem with Elmo is that in the pre-Elmo era, the show was geared towards five year olds. Now it's geared more towards two year olds.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

Because five year olds can do chores but 2 year olds get into everything.

[sovay]

More authors ought to read the Tough Guide to Fantasyland before they quit their day jobs.

Okay, what is this?

[conuly]

You've never read the Tough Guide? It's a DWJ book sending up common fantasy tropes (especially of that time period, naturally). She later set Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin in the same "universe".

[sovay]

You've never read the Tough Guide?

I have read the Tough Guide (and Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin). I wanted to know who the author was who shouldn't have quit their day job. My comment was badly worded.

[fred_mouse]

Diana Wynne Jones deconstructs the tropes of fantasy. Partner describes it as 'fantasy presented as a tour guide'. It is a fabulous book, and well recommended.

[sovay]

It is a fabulous book, and well recommended.

I've read it. I was unclear about the question I was asking.

[conuly]

Several of them, but I don't want to spell out who it is this time because I don't want to hurt the feelings of the person who recommended them to me :)

[sovay]

Several of them, but I don't want to spell out who it is this time because I don't want to hurt the feelings of the person who recommended them to me

Legit!

[conuly]

And to be fair, the series was enjoyable, and I'll no doubt read the next ones... but hoo-boy, the author could stand to read the Tough Guide.

[fred_mouse]

Oh!

that makes sense.

[heron61]

Even so, during the decade that Boas worked as an A.M.N.H. curator and, ultimately, the head of the anthropology department, he asked an explorer to bring living Eskimos to New York for research, then had their bodies dissected and studied when they died of tuberculosis.

I have an MA (and almost a PhD) in cultural anthro, and I was taught how wonderful and enlightened Franz Boas was from many books and professors - this sentence puts rather a different light on him and his work. Ugh.

[conuly]

All our idols have clay feet.

[calimac]

Brief history of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai'i could have used more context, that would have explained how this was able to happen, and in particular emphasize that haole (mostly American) infiltration of the kingdom's governance had been going on for half a century already. This did have the advantage of making the government efficiently run along European lines, and was a major factor in getting the kingdom to be internationally recognized, but it also meant that institutional power had been handed over to those determined only on waiting for the right moment to seize it in entire.

Like Texas, which had a rather similar story, it was seized by American immigrants intending to hand it over to the US at a moment when the US didn't want it, so they had to set up their own government and wait for US political conditions to change.

[conuly]

Thanks :)

[chomiji]

Re Google and the fact that a certain disturbed dog is involved: he's so much making eyes at the big boys — "Now sempai will notice me!"

[larryhammer]

Amen on the Tough Guide. Not to mention, should read it as a guide to what not to do, not what TO do.

I'm good with multiple weird coincidences, as long as they generally work against the protagonist.

[conuly]

I'm okay with weird coincidences if that's the whole point, like in the book Holes.