Un Automne Précoce

La météo me fait frissonner, on dirait le début de l'automne. C'est pour moi une saison ambivalente.

C'est en automne que j'ai rencontré l'homme de ma vie. À travers nos marches dans les rues mouillées de Montréal, la goutte au nez, nous sommes tombés en amour. L'automne, c'est aussi le début de l'année scolaire, un nouveau début, de nouvelles possibilités.

Évidemment, l'automne c'est aussi la fin de l'été et la promesse d'un hiver long et froid.

En septembre 2004, l'album Set Yourself on Fire par Stars est paru. Je me souviens avoir entendu des chansons de l'album sur CISM. J'ai toujours beaucoup aimé Your Ex-Lover is Dead. Je pense que ça l'a juste assez de mélancolie pour bien accompagner un début d'automne.

Epileptic videos

You need to see the new video for Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. Unless, you are epileptic. Then, you really really shouldn't see it.

natalie portman's shaved head - sophisticated side ponytail from thatgo on Vimeo.

By the same director, That Go, you should check out Jerk It, by Thunderheist. It's in a totally different style, but very cleaver.

thunderheist - jerk it from thatgo on Vimeo.

In other news, I have discovered Daily Lit, a website that will send you by daily emails the book of your choice. You can also add it to your feed. I've started reading "How to Loose Friends and Alienate People" and it's pretty good.

Baby Treeson's Adventures

Oh hey there. How you doing? I'm Baby Treeson. I was brought up by trees, so this is my first visit to the city. It's quite nice, if I may say so. A bit gray, but it's okay.









Oh my, who is this affectionate lady. Guess she wants to adopt me. Awww, how nice.













HOLY FUCKING SHIT THE CRAZY BITCH IS TRYING TO EAT ME. SAVE ME MOTHERFUCKERS.








The Beast is calm for now. She tasted my robust body and is inspecting me for weak spots. I silently weep and pray to the forest gods.







My new owner sure is strange. First she cuddles me, then tries to eat me, and now brings me to this cute café. See, the glass next to me? Oh yeah baby, SUGAR HIGH.





By the time I come down from my trip, I'm in the hands of a lovely lady. Life is good. I think I like this town.





Comme toujours, ces photos sont "copy left"; Paternité - Pas d'utilisation commerciale

Toronto en vitesse

Est-ce que je vous avais dit que j'ai fait une courte visite à Toronto il y a deux semaines? J'y étais pour voir Go Team, CSS, Matt&Kim et Natalie Portman's Shaved Head en concert. Nous en avons profité pour faire les touristes aussi.

Nous sommes allés au Royal Ontario Musuem pour voir une exposition de DINOSAURES. Oui, oui, des DINOSAURES. Je trippais comme un petit garçon de 10 ans. La photo ci-dessous est celle des ossements originaux d'un ancêtre du paresseux, contemporain aux humains. Ça l'avait la grosseur d'un éléphant. Et si vous doutiez de la grosseur d'un albatros je vous fais une démonstration de combien c'est gros, ci-bas.














En chemin pour le musée, nous sommes passés devant le parlement ontarien.








Avant de revenir en autobus, nous avons marché à travers le quartier chinois, qui nous a surpris avec ses plats alléchants et nous avons magasiné sur Queen Street West.









Nous avons ramassé quelques designer toys au Magic Pony. Je suis maintenant la fière propriétaire d'un Bébé Treeson. Je lui ai fait voir un peu de la ville à mon retour et nous avons bien sûr capturé l'événement. Je vous montre les photos bientôt.




Comme toujours, ces photos sont "copy left"; Paternité - Pas d'utilisation commerciale

The hipsters

Jraff and I argued in length about the Adbuster article on hipsters. Yes, we actually argued to the point of evil eye stares and grinding teeth. We are very mature intellectuals like that.

While I wasn't specifically upset that the journalist claims hipsters are the "dead end of Western civilization", nor was I really moved to tears by the last sentence:

We are the lost generation, desperately clinging to anything that feels real, but too afraid to become it ourselves.

I think this applies to every generation in their twenties and the affirmation seems a bit too thin and apocalyptic.

These aren't really the points that I argued over with Jraff. We argued over whether the hipsters were part of a culture or an aesthetic. We can all recognize the hipster by its "skinny jeans, cotton spandex leggings, fixed-gear bikes, vintage flannel, fake eyeglasses and a keffiyeh". They hang out at art parties and go out to "nouveau disco-coke parties". It's undeniable that there is a hipster style, I'm just doubting if there is a culture.

Shouldn't a culture have individuals that share values, political ideas and religious convictions? As the journalist states, the hipsters have "nothing to defend, uphold or even embrace". The only thing that draws them together is their clothing style and their choice of music.

I think one of the reasons people are so uncomfortable with being called a hipster is that it suddenly devoids them of any moral convictions. If you are a hipster, you are empty and shallow.

I see being a hipster much more as a style statement, than a cultural affiliation. I see myself as a leftist, a feminist and a Québécoise, not as a hipster. It's certain that when I'm walking around with my keffiyeh, my tigth jeans and my American Apparel shirt and that I'm humming to myself lyrics of Natalie Portman's Shaved Head my political convictions are not what you'll see. I'm not quite sure how to dress as a leftist feminist Québécoise without falling into horrible clichés.

Perhaps that is the answer. Being a hipster is an aesthetic that you embrace regardless of your political and moral convictions, which doesn't necessaraly mean that you don't have any. If you're 17 year old rich kid and you "live for the scene", perhaps you don't. Chances are however that you're not and that you have a life outside going to hipster party and shows.

This obviously doesn't solve the journalist's concern about the lack of a modern counter-culture. I'm with you buddy on that one.

Dr Horrible

SPOILER WARNING

Not another post about Neil Patrick Harris!
Not quite kiddies. I'm simply coming back to something I said in an earlier post about Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog;

Once the final episode is published, I'll be able to share my thoughts about the perception of women in the series. The subject is always an important one in all of Whedon's work, since he brought us the fearless and tough Buffy Summers and brought the lesbian relationship of Willow and Tarah to the general American public.

I was all set to give you thorough analysis on the subject, but someone else went ahead and explained it far better than I ever could. So did she and so did she. Basically, I am not the only "angry ugly feminist" to think that Penny's character was undevelopped.

One thing that did struck me and that wasn't mentionned in the other analysis is that Penny is perhaps a symbol for Dr Horrible's conscience. Penny is a good hearted although naive idealist, who, if we step back, we cannont imagine falling in love with someone evil. Of course Captain Hammer is a tool, who does good for his sake and not out of genuine concern. But he still does good, while Dr Horrible aims to do evil. I don't think that even if Penny would have lived longer that she would have fallen for Dr Horrible. Dr Horrible would have to become a better person to be loved by Penny (or alternatively drag her down to his level). In this way, Penny could be Dr Horrible's redemption. She is the symbol of his own conscience. It makes sense then that she would have to be taken out of the story for Dr Horrible to become really evil.

It's an interesting way of seeing Penny, but it still doesn't save her from being yet another really boring female character.

Feminists don't have a sense of humour

...or at least that's what a lot of people say.


I saw this on the Feministing site and I thought it was cute. Not funny, not hilarious, but cute. So far, Feministing is not making a good point of showing they have a good funny bone, if all they can come up with is the above and the below video.


This is funny? Really? Once again, it's cute and earns a few chuckles, but it's not laugh out loud funny. (And yes, I totally avoided writing LOL because it drives me batshit crazy when people punctuate everything they say on the tubes with a LOL.)

Feministing did turn me onto Sarah Haskins of the Targeting Women segment on Current, so they aren't totally humourless.