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Tuesday, November 22, 2005

What kind of lesbian are you? 



You're a Granola Dyke!
You're pretty into politics and you've got the vegan (or at least vegetarian) thing going on...maybe. You're often perceived as nerdy, but you don't care: you know all these meat heads will be working for you someday. You're probably an independent culture loving feminist and this shows through what you read, watch, wear, buy, eat, and listen to. You're the new grrrl for the 21st century, baby!

Which Lesbian Stereotype Are You?


Well, that's fairly close. I'd rather be a recruiter though.

Feel free to post your results in the comments box - all the better if you're not actually a lesbian...

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Fake Gay News 

There's a new website out which is devoted to giving us all the fake gay news, all the time - "because real gay news is too damn depressing". And so we learn that Planet Out is hoping to set up the first gay country ; gay actor Shane Simmons has taken a step up from playing Sassy Gay Friend #3 and Sassy Gay Clerk to playing Sassy Gay Waiter; and a book has been published helping celebrities not to come out.

Prompted by that mention of a gay country to searching for news about the Gay Kingdom I blogged about last year, I also found the Lesbian & Gay Country Music Association, based in Seattle. Excellent!

Thursday, November 10, 2005

How to pick up chicks 

If you're into taking advice from magazines or 'scientific studies', then apparently you could do worse than asking for sex directly from a woman. Okay, so you won't exactly do well, but you're more likely to succeed than if you tell her that heaven must be missing an angel. However, it seems the way to go is slightly more subtle:

"...talk your way into their hearts by saying, ‘It's hot today, isn't it? It's the best weather when you're training for a marathon'... Another winner, the researchers found, was to steer the conversation towards music and say: ‘The Moonlight Sonata or, to give it its true name, Sonata quasi una fantasia. A fittingly beautiful piece for a beautiful lady."

Now I find these lines pretty disgusting, and can't imagine any natural situation in which they would be fitting, but I probably would be rather charmed if someone came up to me in the winter snow and said the first, or in a rock club and delivered the latter. Perhaps that's just my taste for twisted humour... (The humour of incongruity, no less...)

The study found that the best lines display some combination of athleticism, education, culture and wit, and an ability to be in control of situations. So maybe the way to pick up women is to quote a bit of Blackadder - "Am I pleased to see you, or did I just a put a canoe in my pocket? Oh hang on, it's a canoe, because I'm on my university water sports team and like to be ready at all times - fancy a shag?"

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Bentham's Forgotten Work 

[Via Lorna] I always said Bentham was great (well, not always, but ever since reading this); and now sci-fi fans will have to agree with his latest work, written from beyond the grave. Yes, it's Doctor Who: The Early Years.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Transgender Warrior 

It looks like Leslie Feinberg may be about to begin a blog. There's nothing posted there yet, but I'll put it on the sidebar anyway, because Feinberg is generally a very interesting and important writer and activist (both queer and socialist). It should be something to look forward to.

Buffy, MA 

I was sitting in a pub this afternoon reading when I spotted a leaflet advertising an MA in "Gothic Studies" at UCE. It's preamble runs as follows:

"Gothic has been one of the most vibrant areas of Anglo-American cultural life during the past fifteen years, and this is beginning to be reflected in university study. An interesting aspect of modern Gothic, which links it to the broader trends of postmodernism, is the critical and historical self-consciousness it demonstrates, so that Buffy The Vampire Slayer, for example, barely conceals its psychoanalytical subtext and references the rise of internet culture."

You'll need a university degree to do this course, but it doesn't matter what degree, apparently. It would certainly be a talking point in job interviews if you had a BA in chemical engineering and an MA in Buffy studies...

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