Jul 17, 2010

Scientific Study of My Writing

There is no scientific basis to this, but I did use, like, four different blog posts to get an average result.


I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Jul 10, 2010

Golliwogs at Highpoint

Speaking of racists...! I was walking around Highpoint Shopping Centre with my girlfriend, as is our wont,  when we happened upon this piece of astounding ignorance that I had to snap on my phone.
That, my friends, is a display of Golliwogs. Notice that you can buy male or female Golliwogs, and the female Golliwog rounds the whole thing off nicely by dressing like a classic American Mammy. This Mammy is sporting a charming lemon headband instead of the traditional red.
Are these dolls available as part of some sort of exhibit? Oh my no. They're for sale, as any other item would be, in a gift shop called Cardiology.
The display shows a terrifying lack of understanding or even awareness of the racist connotations of these dolls, to the point that they seem to have invented an origin story that Googling reveals has no basis in fact whatsoever. (Click for a bigger, only barely legible resolution)
What's so astounding is that whoever OK'd the sale and display of these dolls is so incredibly ignorant of their horrible relationship with slavery and racism against African Americans. They're so ignorant, in fact, that they make probably the most egregious error of judgement by stringing the dolls up from the ceiling.
In my attempt to find justification for the seemingly made up story they've written on the plaque, I found an Australian website that carries the same baffling ignorance about the racist origins of the Golliwog. Read this link and marvel at how unaware the author is, going so far as to posit that Golliwogs disappeared from children's book because they were "allergic to the newer style of ink." I hope, for their sake and for the sake our genetic stock, that this website is tongue-in-cheek.
My god, look at that photo below. Unbelievable!
Can you imagine if a black American walked past that display? Can you imagine the embarrassment this would cause if he alerted the American media? Couple this with the Hey Hey blackface incident (one that could have been explained away as a one off incident), and we'd be propelled so far back into the dark ages in terms of the world's view of us, the only way out would be to donate our country to the U.S.
I intend to inform the store that it'd be in their best interest to remove these dolls post haste. I wonder what they'll say?
The look on our faces in the reflection is shock and amazement that anyone could be so out of touch. I wonder if anyone will post a rant about how this is political correctness gone mad? If so, in the interest of education as the our saving grace, here are some links that may give a little context.

Jul 8, 2010

Welcome Back!

Pop the balloon and see what falls out.

I have time to write! A scooter accident yesterday has left me sore, a little shaken and with a broken rear view mirror. Meaning? I can ride the tram today and get some time alone with ma words.

First order of business: I have an iPad! I'm typing on it right now on the 57 tram. As we pull up to the commission flat, I need to keep one eye on embarking strangers, but aside from that, I've been absolutely loving it. It's a writer's dream. A small screen with excellent Internet connectivity, and a decent sized qwerty keyboard with a lovely suite of writing and number tools. I have instant access to digitised comics from Marvel and DC and a whole host of indies. All I need now is screenwriting software and I'll be right as rain.

I just passed the corner I took the spill. Yuck. It's the potentiality surrounding the incident that freaks me out the most. The what ifs.

When showing my tablet to someone, I typed a phrase absent-mindedly to demonstrate Pages. I didn't even look at what I was typing, just splurged a sentence down on the screen. Today I opened Pages and the sentence greeted me:

'Pop the balloon and see what falls out.'

What an odd sentence.

That's all. Not much. I'm only having a stretch.