Island Whisper

one of my favorite episodes <3

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“
I want to stress this again: In many, many parts of the country right now, if you want to go to see a movie in the theater and see a current movie about a woman — any story about any woman that isn’t a documentary or a cartoon — you can’t. You cannot. There are not any. You cannot take yourself to one, take your friend to one, take your daughter to one.

There are not any.

By far your best shot, numbers-wise, at finding one that’s at least even-handedly featuring a man and a woman is Before Midnight (on 891 screens) so I hope you like it. Because it’s pretty much that or a solid, impenetrable wall of movies about dudes.

Dudes in capes, dudes in cars, dudes in space, dudes drinking, dudes smoking, dudes doing magic tricks, dudes being funny, dudes being dramatic, dudes flying through the air, dudes blowing up, dudes getting killed, dudes saving and kissing women and children, and dudes glowering at each other.

Somebody asked me this morning what “the women” are going to do about this. I don’t know. I honestly am at the point where I have no idea what to do about it. Stop going to the movies? Boycott everything?

They put up Bridesmaids, we went. They put up Pitch Perfect, we went. They put up The Devil Wears Prada, which was in two-thousand-meryl-streeping-oh-six, and we went (and by “we,” I do not just mean women; I mean we, the humans), and all of it has led right here, right to this place. Right to the land of zippedy-doo-dah. You can apparently make an endless collection of high-priced action flops and everybody says “win some, lose some” and nobody decides that They Are Poison, but it feels like every “surprise success” about women is an anomaly and every failure is an abject lesson about how we really ought to just leave it all to The Rock.
”

—

At The Movies, The Women Are Gone : Monkey See : NPR

The whole article is fantastic, as is pretty much everything Linda Holmes writes.

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ladamania:

Look at these amazing doll repaints by Noel Cruz, look at them!

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John Green's tumblr: NERDFIGHTERIA CENSUS!

edwardspoonhands:

John and I were talking yesterday and we realized that, though we have a somewhat distinct and ever-changing image of what Nerdfighteria is and who it is composed of, we aren’t precisely sure whether or not that image is correct.

Basically, there are a lot of things we…

I dids it :)

marykatewiles:

so good so good so good

(Source: lizziesherlocked)

blusherlock:

“Even when the console’s turned off, users can simply say “Xbox On” to power up — which means the new Kinect will be listening to you in your living room at all times.”

Big Brother is watching…

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flowury:

chawsaoz:

‎”THROUGH A RAPIST’S EYES” (PLS TAKE TIME TO READ THIS. it may save a life.) Reblog this!

It seems that alot of attackers use some tactic to get away with violence. Not many people know how to take care of themselves when faced with such a
situation. Everyone should read this especially each n every girl in this world. THOUGHT THIS WAS GOOD INFO TO PASS ALONG…

FYI - Through a rapist’s eyes! A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interviewed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

1] The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle.
They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun! , braid, or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed. They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets.

2] The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women who’s clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of them carry scissors around to cut clothing.

3] They also look for women using their cell phone, searching through their purse or doing other activities while walking because they are off guard and can be easily overpowered.

4] The number one place women are abducted from / attacked at is grocery store parking lots.

5] Number two is office parking lots/garages.

6] Number three is public restrooms.

7] The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to a second location where they don’t have to worry about getting caught.

8] If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you isn’t worth it because it will be time-consuming.

9] These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas,or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands.

10] Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys you’re not worth it.

———————————————————————————————————————————-

POINTS THAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER:

1] If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like what time is it, or make general small talk:
can’t believe it is so cold out here, we’re in for a bad winter. Now that you’ve seen their faces and could identify them in a line- up, you lose appeal as a target.

2] If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you and yell Stop or Stay back! Most of the rapists this man talked to said they’d leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would
not be afraid to fight back. Again, they are looking for an EASY target.

3] If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes,) yelling I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.

4] If someone grabs you, you can’t beat them with strength but you can do it by outsmarting them. If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the arm between the elbow and
armpit or in the upper inner thigh - HARD. One woman in a class this guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it; it really hurts.

5] After the initial hit, always go for the groin. I know from a particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy’s parts it is extremely painful. You might think that you’ll anger the guy and make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our
instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause him a lot of trouble. Start causing trouble, and he’s out of there.

6] When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible. The instructor did it to me without using
much pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked audibly.

7] Of course the things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don’t dismiss it, go with your instincts. You may feel
little silly at the time, but you’d feel much worse if the guy really was trouble.

——————————————————————————————————————————-

FINALLY, PLEASE REMEMBER THESE AS WELL ….

I know you are smart enough to know these pointers but there will be some, where you will go “hmm I must remember that” After reading forward it to someone you care about, never hurts to be careful in this crazy world we live in.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do it.

2. Learned this from a tourist guide to New Orleans : if a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you…. chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or
purse than you and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car: Kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won’t see you but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping,eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON’T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side,put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU CLOSE the DOORS , LEAVE.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:
a. Be aware: look around your car as someone may be
hiding at the passenger side , peek into your car, inside the passenger side floor, and in the back seat. ( DO THIS TOO BEFORE RIDING A TAXI CAB) .
b. If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.
c. Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot).

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP IT! It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked “for help” into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it and it’s better safe than sorry.

DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT NOT REBLOGGING THIS! IT COULD ACTUALLY SAVE A LIFE.

Reblog this. Only the picture will appear on your blog.

Everyone needs to read this. Better safe than sorry.

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linballina:

edwardspoonhands:

ima90switch:

madwhyyoumad:

stacysbeats:

In case anyone is not having the best of days, remember that this performance of “Halo” exists.

She blows me away every time, omg.

Why couldn’t I have been her

My goddess, my queen.

I don’t understand why we build these people into super stars. It is so much more touching and inspiring to see them as people.

Having had some (very small amount of) experience with people believing I am more than a person, I can also guarantee you that it is also better for the creator to be treated like (and appreciated like) a person. No sane person who is treated like a superstar believes the myth of their own superstardom. So when people confront them with that myth and attempt to engage with it, they feel like they are being forced to act a part in a play…to engage with the lie that defines their lives.

So the question comes back…if it’s worse for the creator and worse for the people who enjoy the creation, why do we go to such lengths to cultivate super stardom? Are we attempting to fill a gap left by the secularization of society? Is there some deep human need to stratify and worship? Are we designed for devotion?

I think we are. It seems likely that, as cultural animals, we are set up to place ourselves in a societal structure, and to identify and idolize personal and cultural leaders. And as we live in what has to be described as an unnaturally populous culture, that many /many/ people would choose some of the same people, and want to see the stature of those people elevated with stages and costumes and fireworks and auto-tune…I guess that’s not surprising.

Or maybe it’s just hard to believe that Beyonce /isn’t/ a demigod. She is pretty freaking spectacular.

I recently read that the human mind is set up to have and keep track of about 150 personal connections. That’s roughly the size that the US Army settled on after a lot of trial and error for an Army unit, and roughly the size of a neolithic farming village. We have more “facebook friends” than that, of course, but we can only really keep track of and care about roughly 150 people.

Nowadays a lot of those select 150 are not people that you actually know. They’re President Obama, and Beyonce, and KevJumba, etc.

So I would be interested in is how people stratify those 150. If that number is relatively constant, maybe so are smaller subsets of it. I’d like to see if people’s 150 breaks down roughly equally into people they idolize, people they deal with, people they’re loyal to, people they look up to, people they provide support to, people who provide support to them, etc.

From what I’ve seen…no one ever sees themselves as at “the top” of their society. They’re always in the middle, always looking up, always looking down, with reward in every direction. It seems likely to me that this social stratification is not a product of reality, but of our brains. And, if that’s the case, that would explain why we never seem to be able to stop creating gods.

OK…this went somewhere I didn’t expect it to go. Sorry.

Right, so since this wouldn’t make much sense without the post from Hank, I’m including it.

Concerning those 150 connections the human mind is able to maintain, and the inclusion of celebrity: are fictional characters included in those connections? It would make sense to me, as I think our interactions with celebrities and fictional characters are in many ways rather similar. Let’s begin with the Kardashians. (To be perfectly honest, I don’t know much about them, but then again that’s true with most celebrities, so disclaimer there.) You’re (probably) never going to meet them, hang out with them, be an actual part of their lives. However, every week you can watch their lives on tv, and when the re-runs are going, read interviews, follow them on twitter, and so forth, thus turning them into people you care about.

And for the fictional character comparison, let’s use Sherlock Holmes. There are dozens of stories chronicling his adventures, not counting the numerous adaptations over the years, and when Doyle killed him at Reichenbach Falls, fans wore black in mourning. Fan demand brought Holmes back from the dead, giving him a whole new set of adventures. In the years since Doyle’s death, some fans continued writing their own adventures for Holmes. Alright, this was more evidence of the fact that people can care a great deal about fictional characters, rather than solely cataloging the ways people can interact with fictional characters, but I think that was illustrated as well, so I’ll let it stand.

To round this up, I think that given our methods of interacting with celebrity and interacting with fictional characters are pretty similar these days, it’s a valid argument to say that fictional characters can be individuals to whom people feel strong connections. I could probably go further in depth about all this, but my computer froze twice while typing this so.

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lifescouts:

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do swords count as animals? because I can do that.

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the little baby ones. for 10 yr olds. that’s it.

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“Tumblr, the font size on your quote posts has suddenly become much too large. This is ridiculous. Something must be done.”

— John Green (via fishingboatproceeds)

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an-incoherent-mess:

Flynn Ryder is probably the most accurate and awesome male character to ever be produced by Disney

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