Maybe with Joe Rogan having Alex Jones on his podcast again, and spouting transphobic shit again, I can convince my brother to stop listening.

Unlikely.

Name: Sp00ns

Location: Ottawa, ON

Current preoccupations: Music, Baking, Transition.

I don't check in as often as I want to. I think I poke my head in once a week or so. I want to try to do more.

Indeed, Trans people are actively saying "Listen, if you won't cast a trans person in this role, at least cast a cis person of the appropriate gender in the role." We've been saying it for a long time. In the case of this most recent role, We even have a great option - Oliver Platt, a "name brand" actor, is a DEAD RINGER for Tex. The only problem is he's 6'3", but I feel like we can work around that. Platt's got a bunch of award nods, he's been in a bunch of notable films and tv, and he looks like the guy (unlike Johannsen).

In regards to situations like Transamerica, and Boys Don't Cry, and other older films, we need to look at them through the lens of history. At the time, just making a film about a transgender person was groundbreaking. Just being represented, even though it wasn't by a trans person, was huge for the community after decades of being seen as nothing more than sex workers and murder victims on screen (of course, Brandon Teena was a murder victim, but at least we got his story first instead of just his dead body at the beginning of a Law and Order episode).

Transparent had criticism from the trans community right from the very beginning, but it was hushed for the same reason - popular show with a trans main character, we should be grateful. Then it came out that Tambor abused the trans women on the set (as well as women on other sets, such as Arrested Development), and all of that criticism came back like a dam had broken. "We told you so," "why didn't you cast a trans woman in the role in the first place", etc.

Basically, the trans community is sick of being the equivalent of Alec Baldwin playing Harriet Tubman. We get it, you need to make money to make a film, but there are so many better options than what you're choosing and it's like you (by you I mean the industry) are trying to be tone deaf.

I mean, spoiler alert, when you treat anything as simply a profit-creation mechanism, its quality suffers. Quality costs, and profit is all about getting the most revenue you can for the least amount of capital, which leads to a situation where the operator constantly experiments to see how low the quality can be (and thus how cheaply the product can be made), without an excessive loss of revenue from people refusing to buy an inferior product.

This strategy is used in industry after industry because it works - Power tools are an easy example. Especially if it's a known, well-established brand, we'll tolerate a lot of bullshit before we move to another product. This is just venture capitalists using the same strategy they've seen work in other industries, applying it to newspapers.

And so far, it's making them a lot of money right now (even if it won't long term). why do they care if the news sucks? they'll suck the vein dry then move on to something else.

So good luck, Denver Post Editors, but I don't think you'll get far. Maybe try and crowdfund a printing press so you can start your own newspaper? Unfortunately it's sort of the kind of industry where you need a lot of capital to be able to compete.

Welp. I depressed myself.

THE ABSOLUTE MADMAN. HE MAY HAVE ACTUALLY FUCKING DONE IT.

It's funny you bring up Amadeus for a couple of reasons.

1.) It's so grossly inaccurate to the realities of Mozart, Constanze, and Salieri's situation that it's laughable. Mozart sent his kids to Salieri for music lessons because of the level of respect he had for him, and the biggest reason Mozart had so much monetary trouble was he was trying to be an independent contractor in a world of patronage, and he was trying to do it about 10 years too early. He was ahead of his time, in that sense. Beethoven did the same thing later and managed success because the political situation had changed, and people like Mozart had broken down some barriers.

Also it's interesting to note that we probably wouldn't know much of Mozart's music if it wasn't for the efforts of his wife after his death.

2.) As a classical musician, you end up having to face this question of "how do we deal with the art of monsters?" on the daily, whether because of the way life was at the time (in terms of J.S. Bach's likely opinions of jewish people, being a staunch Lutheran), or because they were active in early Nazism and active antisemitism (Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss). Some people like Wagner were just awful people, even in the context of their own time.

But they created beautiful art. So what do we do? For the most part, we play it anyways and do our best to forget the ugly parts of the composers, and we're luck enough to be able to do so because most of the time they weren't writing about their ugly parts. We watch and listen to the Ring Cycle, and enjoy it, and do our best not to think about the fact that Wagner was writing it as a way to push forward and encourage germanic supremacy, and to counter ideas of Classical (Greek and roman mythology) superiority, and to create a "pure" german opera without the antiquated Italian trappings and traditions.

I don't know how to, or if it is possible to bring that mindset to the current situation. For one thing, western classical musicians have the luxury of chronological distance, and we don't have that here.

I was under the impressions microagressions were the verbal equivalent to poking somebody until they want to punch you

That's basically it. a sort of thousand cuts. The guy who wrote this article has a fundamental understanding of what microaggressions are, and their relationship to trauma. They often have more to do with institutionalized issues that affect a multitude of people than they do a single person's individual problems, or a single traumatic experience.

He also misrepresents the black student angry at being touched. Here's more context from the article he links:

- This is the only black male student in his program.

- This is not some kid. He's a Phd candidate.

- The teacher didn't like where a discussion about critical race theory was going, and decided the best way to do that was to shake this guy's arm to get him to stop. That is 100% inappropriate physical contact, full stop.

Like, if you, A teacher in a Phd sociology program, are unable to effectively communicate with a Phd candidate in a conversation in your own field, and feel compelled to physically shake him, then it's you who have a serious problem.

All in all, you know what this article smells like to me? It smells like this comic:

with its associated editorial.

I constantly see blogs and articles about the “veteran divide” in this nation. 1% protecting and serving the 99%. Veterans often feel alienated and alone when they return to the world, taking solace only around other veterans that have shared their struggles. No one understands us, but have we made an effort to understand civilians? Maybe it’s not the 99% with the problem, but the 1% that needs to come back down to earth.

War is an extraordinary thing to go through, but life is relative. Your experiences do not invalidate those of others.

Gord Downie died today. Unless you're Canadian or lived in a border state, you probably didn't know him or his music.

I wrote a poem about it in the "Something Beautiful" prompt that tacocat posted. I'd been turning the prompt around in my head to find something to write about, and I guess i found it.

University's going okay. It's hard being the out-of-towner, other people who've been here for a few years get the opportunities regardless of whether they're more or less skilled than you are. Time to build up my entire reputation from the ground up. Again.

This point was a big one for me:

At this year’s Allied Media Conference, BLM co-founder Alicia Garza gave an explosive speech to a theatre full of brilliant and passionate organizers. She urged us to set aside our distrust and critique of newer activists and accept that they will hurt and disappoint us. Don’t shut them out because their politics are outdated or they don’t wield the same language. If we are interested in building the mass movements needed to destroy mass oppression, our movements must include people not like us, people with whom we will never fully agree, and people with whom we have conflict.

Unfortunately, the MLKs of our generations will never exist withour their counterpart Malcolm Xs. We have to be vigilant to make sure our Malcolm Xs don't become our Robespierres.

As referenced in the article, this reminds me strongly of Marxism, or more specifically, one the steps Marx states is along the road to communism. But instead of a violent social revolution like many expect, it's simply the people of Detroit turning their back on a system that has failed them, and instead working more communally, with a common good in mind. from the wiki:

The eventual long-term outcome of this revolution would be the establishment of socialism – a socioeconomic system based on social ownership of the means of production, distribution based on one's contribution, and production organized directly for use. As the productive forces and technology continued to advance, Marx hypothesized that socialism would eventually give way to a communist stage of social development, which would be a classless, stateless, humane society erected on common ownership and the principle of "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs".

I'm seeing some serious shades of that in this situation, but it's also different, which interests me. I mean, at some level it's still necessary for someone to interact with the system, and most of them do on some small level. But that interaction is reduced. Some people seem to want to "get back" to the system, like the restaurant guy who says he wants to get a license when he can afford it, but other like the people who have set up the " Detroiters Helping Each Other" storefront seem to be in this for the long haul.

Super interesting. thanks for the share.

You don't get it, man. You are attacking a fundamental piece of my identity and expecting me to be "nice" about it, as if parts of myself that I know unequivocally (and that have been backed up by years of scientific studies) are something that you can just debate without consequence.

As to why I think you support it, the title of this post is "Shake it up. Offer up one somewhat unpopular opinion that you hold.", emphasis mine, of course. So if you don't hold the opinion that trans women are not women and that trans men aren't men, then why did you say it? Unless you don't understand that my being a "victim of the patriarchy" is a direct result of you holding that opinion, I can't see why you're surprised that I "misunderstood" your statement.

Keep me posted for when you open up your etsy store. I know a lot of Mascs who would die for some dope ass short sleeve button downs, and if you're up for the challenge I know a few people (myself included) who would be into women's button downs, especially if you can mod a pattern for wider shoulders.

I would spread this ALL OVER the Ontario queer community.

nah, Jenner's had way too much work done for just a publicity stunt. Plus, at the end of the day all you can do is believe someone. HOWEVER she's a really bad example of what being a trans person is like. Most trans people can't just take a year and just have all your surgeries, hair removal, etc done and taken care of. Jenner is rich,and she is an example of what a rich trans woman has access to. Most trans women aren't rich - I'm still working on affording some more laser hair removal, and it'll be years before i can get surgery through government access.

In answer to your first question, it again depends. In my personal experience, when I was investigating getting treatment in Northern Ontario, it was looking like I would have had to get an appointment in Toronto at CAMH to get started on Hormone Replacement Therapy, or HRT. This would have taken 6 months or so from my initial request. Instead, I looked into Ottawa, where i also had a place to live, and getting access to care was as easy as getting a referral to a local free health care clinic. I then had to go through a few months of counselling appointments, but that would have happened at CAMH too, so I ended up about 6 months ahead. If you live in Nunavut, say, you ALSO have to go to CAMH because there are no services there.

Basically, trans health care access is spotty and all over the place, and you need to know how to navigate the system.

As always, it depends where you are. In Canada, it depends on how far away you are from a major centre. If you're near Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, it's gonna be pretty easy. Even places like Winnipeg are okay. However getting into places like northern Ontario even (not even 4 hours away from Toronto) there can be serious problems with access.

The biggest problem is starting trans healthcare. Most doctors don't have a problem continuing your care if you're already on hormones, and will help fill out paperwork for CAMH for surgery stuff if that's the route you want to go, but are sketchy about changing meds and don't want to start new people on meds because they don't have any experience.

Of course, how does one gain experience, right?

The other problem in Canada in particular is that (if you decide to do it), the wait list for surgery is around 2+ years as of last month. so that's... a pain.

It's Latin. It's just the opposite of Trans. An example would be Cisalpine Gaul - The section of Gaul on the same side of the Alps as the Romans.

QUILTBAG is like LGBT, or LGBTQ, or LGBTQ, or LGBTQIAA, etc. It's just an acronym to describe the community of people. I use it mostly because it's funny, but also because it's more inclusive then LGBTQ+. Really, if i'm being serious the one I like the best is GSM, which stands for Gender and Sexual minorities.

I think QUILTBAG is generally accepted as being Queer, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans, Bisexual, Asexual, and Gay, but honestly the letters all get reassigned all the time because sometimes the GSM community just likes making its own life more complicated.

As for lingo, man, there's so much. Some of it is serious, and some of it is the community having a laugh at itself while describing common life experience

Passing is a very common one. It basically means presenting as the gender you wish to be seen as and raising no eyebrows, or not being what one could describe as "visibly" outside of the gender binary.

If you can do this - because not everyone can, or wants to - it is said that you have "passing privilege". Some people desire this because it is safe, or safer to be a trans person if you can pass as cisgender.

Cisgender just means that your gender and the gender the doctor assigned you at birth are the same. I'd say that your Gender and Sex are the same, but the truth is that unless you've actually had it tested, you probably don't know what your chromosomes actually are, and they might be different from what you think they are.

A "Beard" is a term that describes an opposite-sex partner for a same-sex attracted person, usually for the purpose of deceiving unaccepting relatives, but occasionally sometimes when they're lying to themselves, too. In some cases the Beard is complicit (it's usually much better this way), but in other cases the Beard is being strung along and it's a gross situation.

I can add more if people want, and other people who are hanging out and are part of the GSM community can add some too.

I have a very close friend who is like this. She's currently having a few health issues and her reliance on her Naturopath instead of a doctor really makes me afraid for her.

I think that a lot of people have a single negative experience with a doctor, and decide to go to some sort of alt-medicine route and they are greeted by someone with a smiling face and made welcome - it hooks them, even if it may not be good for them.

Not that all alt-medicine folks are bad news. I knew a guy who was a "chiropractor", but really was functionally a physiotherapist who also did low level chiropractic stuff. As opposed to a lot of Chiros who adjust you then let you go (knowing you'll come back because he just fixed the symptom not the issue), He'd give someone an adjustment and say "OK now, let's talk about what you can do in your daily life so that you don't look like a paper clip anymore, and here are some physio exercises to do to help keep you on track."

alt-medicine stuff has its place, but it is not a replacement for a doctor.

Haven't been able to go to the protest march here in Ottawa. I started work at 6:30 this am.

The difficulty is the minute that class got there, it was abundantly clear that I don't belong. Nobody in the birth community says "husband" because it's offensive. We're all "partners." And we're all "supportive" and we're all expected to get out of the way so they can focus on women's mysteries. Except during the birth where the philosophy is basically "thou art thy partner's bitch who is suffering more than you can ever know to bring about the miracle of life you're lucky we let you in the room worm now help your master breathe!"

this attitude blows my mind - Always has. I mean, as feminists aren't we supposed to be encouraging men to be more involved with their children? Doesn't that means bringing men into spaces like these and saying yes, you do in fact belong here?

Fuck man, idunno. People often have blinders on to their own actions, especially when they are in opposition to their purported beliefs. One of the benefits of how my depression manifests is that I can usually see when I'm not practicing what I preach - because I'll flagellate myself about it.

Oh for sure, that's a legit question. Lots of groups use "world renowned", or "international caliber" as a marketing tool. In the case of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, it's legit - they are known around the world and often tour abroad. The Utah Symphony? well, they're good, but not exactly of the caliber of "best in the world"

Cleveland, on the other hand, is another matter.

Cleveland was part of the original "Big Five". Unlike some of its original compatriots - Such as Philiadelphia, which went bankrupt back in 2011 and is currently in a downward economic spiral - the CO actually balances their budget, which in the Orchestra world is a pretty big deal. Most large orchestras operate at a loss of some sort. AND Cleveland does it in Cleveland,in the heart of the Rust Belt, a changing city with not a lot of money.

Not just that, the audience for the orchestra is SUPER young by comparison. 20% of its attendees are under 25.

And to top it all off, they're actually world class. Having seen them live and comparing them with other orchestra's I've seen and heard, they're killer, especially their string section. They're also on Gramophone's list of {20 best orchestras](http://www.gramophone.co.uk/editorial/the-world’s-greatest-orchestras) at number 7.

So all that to say - You're right, a lot of ensembles use that language as a marketing tool. Cleveland deserves it, however.

... that is some of the craziest shit I have ever heard, up there with Black Salve.

I mean, some of these things are already happening. Trans rights are already being restricted in red states, as are the rights of women who have had an abortion - That's right, you just need to have had an abortion and a doctor can refuse service.

But this comment highlights the true problem going in to the next 4-8 years and onward:

Trump's not the problem. The president doesn't have that much clout when it comes to lawmaking. However the US now has -

- A republican senate

- a republican house

- A mildly conservative supreme court that has seats to be filled, making it eventually a very conservative supreme court.

^^^ These are the people who really make the laws in your country, and they're the real worry and fear when it comes to the near future. Trump may be setting the standard for bad behaviour, but the real problems will come when all of these people follow his lead.

All I can say is good luck, and that I have a very comfortable futon for my LGBT friends south of the border should things become so bad that they feel they need to emigrate. If things turn out to be as bad as they look right now, my long term plan is to become familiar with what one needs to gain permanent residency in Canada. We are not a perfect country - in some ways we are terrible - but at least lgbt people don't have to fear for their lives and livelihoods.

in keeping with your vid with the Hidden Fortress, this is a video I've posted before that goes pretty in depth into the film's movie references and almost shot-for-shot recreations that are in the original Star Wars.

edit: I was combining that video with this one:

the whole film "Everything is a Remix" is very interesting to me, and really informed how I look at pop culture works.

You're in the EU, right? Squash can be hard to get there because it's native to North and South America. A similar soup could be made with carrot (like a curried carrot soup) or turnips/rutabagas, occasionally called a "swede".

I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together.

That moment happened, for me, the year before my master's degree.

that school year was the first in six years that hadn't had a teacher. Because I wasn't a performance major - just a general music major - I didn't have any credits of individual lessons left. I knew I wanted to pursue a master's degree, but that meant that I was going to have to prepare on my own.

No teacher, no advice, no net. Just me, alone in the spare bedroom getting myself to a level where I could apply to universities. I developed a deep love of technical exercises. Not "etudes", which are exercises disguised in music, but dry, unapologetically dull technical exercises. I still do them whenever I have time for an extended warm up.

And I got in. All by myself. It was a huge validation for me after 2 and a half years of people beating me down, being at the back of the section. Felt good.

First I tried to change the world. When I realized I couldn't do that, I tried to change my country. When I realized that that too, was impossible, I tried to change my city. When I realized the futility of that, I tried to change my family. This was of no use, so I tried to change myself.

That is when I realized that if i had started to change myself, I could change my family, who could change my community, who could change my city, who could change my country, who could change the world.

---

I've quoted that here a few times before. I truly do believe that small change can lead to big change, and indeed that small change is the only way to create lasting big changes. I think that all of these quotations are evoking that idea - small change leading to big change.

what makes me happy is that you're not the only person to see a flower.

Do you have an outline?

If you do, cover your outline, then expand, then edit, edit edit. rearrange, cut, add, etc.

If you don't have an outline? get an outline, dawg. I have wasted SO MUCH TIME writing articles without outlines and now I am a convert. I find them so much easier to organize my thoughts and get from A to z.