Alice in popular culture sighting no. 7: Episode 11 of QI ("Endings", shown on BBC4 on Friday, to be repeated on BBC2 this coming Friday), finishes with a quote from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The King of Hearts to the White Rabbit: "Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop."
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
I'm Batman
From Slashdot:
"Online Nicknames Google better than Real?"
I know mine certainly do. Well, obviously other than Alice, as that's rather common. It definitely doesn't help that there's a footballer with my name, as well as a character from family affairs. Hell, there's at least two people with the same name as me in Leicester, alone, according to Facebook...
I'm definitely nowhere near as high as Jess.
"Online Nicknames Google better than Real?"
I know mine certainly do. Well, obviously other than Alice, as that's rather common. It definitely doesn't help that there's a footballer with my name, as well as a character from family affairs. Hell, there's at least two people with the same name as me in Leicester, alone, according to Facebook...
I'm definitely nowhere near as high as Jess.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Another one...
Alice in popular culture sighting no. 6: From a Zendweller post on the Tabcrawler forums, talking about Tom Petty (and The Heartbreakers): "I recall a kind of freaky alice in wonderland theme to "Dont come around here no more" when I was little."
Monday, November 19, 2007
Rule 15
This is rule 15 (though this may change, it was rule 16 last time I checked). A simple statement intended to express the (seemingly) male-dominated nature of the internet. However, the internet is not "male-dominated", not in the slightest. While the majority of internet users may be male (I apologise for the lack of statistics to back this up), female users, being (or at least considered) a rarity, will often be put upon some sort of pedestal (refer to my first link for examples).
Of course, this is most often seen in places that make up a sort of "low" internet. Communities where things like codes of conduct are irrelevant (at its most extreme, somewhere like /b/).
On the internet, everyone is reduced to text. The ultimate in a death of context. While certain signifiers will be available (avatars, signatures, personal profiles, etc), these are subject to the whims of the user and can be manipulated and mis-represented. Also, how you appear on the internet, is largely reliant on how a reader interprets these signifiers. Ergo, your identity on the internet is very different from your "real life" identity (it is also very definitely multiple). This relates back to my look into the different names I use.
This then brings up the question of gender. Of course, gender and sex are different. Sex is binary and a "real life" constraint, while gender can be seen as a nuanced spectrum relating to various things and that can be viewed very differently with regards to context, etc. For an example, take a look at The Gender Genie, which attempts to "guess" the gender of the writer of a certain piece of text. Most of my writing comes out as female.
This means that gender becomes an individual trait on the internet. Something dependent on both writer and reader. It depends on the writer's manipulation of the signifiers they use and the reader's interpretation of the signifiers they encounter. A "male" writer could be interpreted as "female" and vice versa. Writing without signifiers becomes androgynous. If all writing is androgynous and all users are reduced to text, then all users are androgynous. With a lack of signifiers, things other than gender can also be disregarded (age, race, etc).
When there are signifiers, what they are is unimportant. Whether they relate to the sex of the writer or the "culture" of where their writing is encountered (compare /b/ to Harmony Central), it still comes down to the writer and the reader. This is a culture of two. A discourse between individuals and should be treated as such. This creates a culture of individuals, judged on individual attributes.
These individuals can of course be multiple individuals on the internet, while being singular in "real life" (referring once again to "Who am I?"). This multiplicity obviously becomes more complicated when you bring in the different interpretations of readers. The internet is a meritocracy populated with anonymous and androgynous individuals, defined by signifiers as understood by other individuals. How do you be a feminist without females?
Upon reading Luce Irigaray and Rosi Braidotti, the theme that struck me was not the empowerment of women or the de-powering of men, but the definition of identity and the individual. I decided to take these ideas and apply my own experiences with regards to interaction as part of a digital or "cyber" culture. With the internet, we have the opportunity to be whoever we wish to be, male, female, androgyne, or otherwise. This opportunity gives us the ability to really be individuals and to create our own (new) cultures (more on that at a later date). This also gives the chance for equality. Not "true" equality, as individuals are different, but a sort of "pure" equality.
Of course, this is most often seen in places that make up a sort of "low" internet. Communities where things like codes of conduct are irrelevant (at its most extreme, somewhere like /b/).
On the internet, everyone is reduced to text. The ultimate in a death of context. While certain signifiers will be available (avatars, signatures, personal profiles, etc), these are subject to the whims of the user and can be manipulated and mis-represented. Also, how you appear on the internet, is largely reliant on how a reader interprets these signifiers. Ergo, your identity on the internet is very different from your "real life" identity (it is also very definitely multiple). This relates back to my look into the different names I use.
This then brings up the question of gender. Of course, gender and sex are different. Sex is binary and a "real life" constraint, while gender can be seen as a nuanced spectrum relating to various things and that can be viewed very differently with regards to context, etc. For an example, take a look at The Gender Genie, which attempts to "guess" the gender of the writer of a certain piece of text. Most of my writing comes out as female.
This means that gender becomes an individual trait on the internet. Something dependent on both writer and reader. It depends on the writer's manipulation of the signifiers they use and the reader's interpretation of the signifiers they encounter. A "male" writer could be interpreted as "female" and vice versa. Writing without signifiers becomes androgynous. If all writing is androgynous and all users are reduced to text, then all users are androgynous. With a lack of signifiers, things other than gender can also be disregarded (age, race, etc).
When there are signifiers, what they are is unimportant. Whether they relate to the sex of the writer or the "culture" of where their writing is encountered (compare /b/ to Harmony Central), it still comes down to the writer and the reader. This is a culture of two. A discourse between individuals and should be treated as such. This creates a culture of individuals, judged on individual attributes.
These individuals can of course be multiple individuals on the internet, while being singular in "real life" (referring once again to "Who am I?"). This multiplicity obviously becomes more complicated when you bring in the different interpretations of readers. The internet is a meritocracy populated with anonymous and androgynous individuals, defined by signifiers as understood by other individuals. How do you be a feminist without females?
Upon reading Luce Irigaray and Rosi Braidotti, the theme that struck me was not the empowerment of women or the de-powering of men, but the definition of identity and the individual. I decided to take these ideas and apply my own experiences with regards to interaction as part of a digital or "cyber" culture. With the internet, we have the opportunity to be whoever we wish to be, male, female, androgyne, or otherwise. This opportunity gives us the ability to really be individuals and to create our own (new) cultures (more on that at a later date). This also gives the chance for equality. Not "true" equality, as individuals are different, but a sort of "pure" equality.
"I'm sure I can't be Mabel, for I know all sorts of things, and she, oh, she knows such a very little! Besides, she's she, and I'm I"
-Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice in popular culture sighting no. 5: There is one hiding right here in the Blogger software! If you click the little "help" icon next to where you turn comment moderation on or off, one of the example pictures is this:
-Alice
-Alice
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Penguin-wrapper philosophy
4 years ago, while commenting on The Matrix: Reloaded, I made this comment: "Random Bible references and penguin-wrapper philosophy do not a good movie make". I then proceeded to define it on Urban Dictionary as "Philosophical phrases that everyone knows and groans whenever they hear it. Much like the jokes on penguin wrappers".
I was reminded of this phrase earlier when I read a piece called "The Paradox Of Our Time". It was credited to George Carlin. Leaving aside the mis-credit, I want to look at what it says.
These are not paradoxes. Having tall buildings does not contradict people having short tempers and the same goes for wide freeways and narrow minds. Also these are not facts. These are generalisations without frames of reference. I know of many short buildings and patient people and the same goes for narrow roads and open-minds.
Of course, this is all intended as artistic license and metaphor for saying that while we have made progress in things like science, we haven't made progress in being good people. Bullshit. You're trying to say that the foundation of charitable organisations isn't progress? The demolition of the Berlin wall wasn't progress? But then, whether I agree with these statements and generalisations is not the point.
This is what people do. They write some puns and hang them on the frame of their own moral agenda. They send it out in an e-mail and people read it and think for a second and maybe feel bad about themselves enough that they actually do something (though actually most will probably decide they've already "done something", they're a "good person"). This is a manifesto in an "Ironic" style.
This is penguin-wrapper philosophy and I'm aware that calling it such is itself a penguin-wrapper statement.
-Alice
I was reminded of this phrase earlier when I read a piece called "The Paradox Of Our Time". It was credited to George Carlin. Leaving aside the mis-credit, I want to look at what it says.
"The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints."
These are not paradoxes. Having tall buildings does not contradict people having short tempers and the same goes for wide freeways and narrow minds. Also these are not facts. These are generalisations without frames of reference. I know of many short buildings and patient people and the same goes for narrow roads and open-minds.
Of course, this is all intended as artistic license and metaphor for saying that while we have made progress in things like science, we haven't made progress in being good people. Bullshit. You're trying to say that the foundation of charitable organisations isn't progress? The demolition of the Berlin wall wasn't progress? But then, whether I agree with these statements and generalisations is not the point.
This is what people do. They write some puns and hang them on the frame of their own moral agenda. They send it out in an e-mail and people read it and think for a second and maybe feel bad about themselves enough that they actually do something (though actually most will probably decide they've already "done something", they're a "good person"). This is a manifesto in an "Ironic" style.
This is penguin-wrapper philosophy and I'm aware that calling it such is itself a penguin-wrapper statement.
-Alice
Friday, November 16, 2007
A quick note
Alice in popular culture sighting no. 4: I'm watching the "50 greatest comedy sketches" on channel 4. David Walliams just compared Vic and Bob's MasterChef sketch to Alice in Wonderland. He was probably talking about the Disney version as he mentioned it being disturbing and "all going wrong in the end", which doesn't quite happen in the original novel.
Who am I?
So either I don't have any "self," or else I have a multitude of "selves" appropriated by them, for them, according to their needs or desires.
- Luce Irigaray, "The Looking Glass, from the Other Side"
I use a lot of different names on the internet. I expect most people do. I wonder if they all mean something? Or if any lack of meaning they all have may have some (meta-)meaning to it. Looking at my own names, I know the stories behind them and what I use them for and discern the individual personality traits of the members of this family of names that make-up my internet existence.
I use a lot of different names on the internet. I expect most people do. I wonder if they all mean something? Or if any lack of meaning they all have may have some (meta-)meaning to it. Looking at my own names, I know the stories behind them and what I use them for and discern the individual personality traits of the members of this family of names that make-up my internet existence.
Let's begin with what could be considered the head of the family. The name that I use as often as possible and is the oldest that is of any significance. Shen-an-doah. Taken from a Pitchshifter song (the only variation with hyphens), it apparently has several different meanings. Often shortened to "Shen". This is the name that can be added to all the others, my "family" name (literally in some cases, such as Shen Fayray or Shen Alice (Shen is a Chinese name, so it goes first)).
Then came Doll. Originally a character created out of whimsy and a desire to "fuck with people" and see their reactions. An eternally 16 year-old girl, unsure of her sexuality. The reveal spawned Susan Dalle, who has a more concrete existence. Doll is no longer a name for me, but is used to describe an unnamed object of my affection.
Bruitist is an anomaly. Taken from a Refused song, it's a back-up name. Disconnected and without any real usage or derivatives like the others. I'm still the top result on Google though.
Finally, there's Alice. The latest and my current favourite. Given to me by my friend Kienan as "It's a female name that happens to fit you, I'm not really sure why. It's better than Susan, I know that." As with all names, it is subject to changes and derivatives such as Allison or Shen Alice/Shenalice. It has currently taken over from Shen, which may change or it may not...
That's it for now. Maybe I'll make a proper family tree one day and include all the names that have fallen by the wayside (Jerusalem, Clockwork man, and many more than have been transient and possibly forgotten) and all the derivatives of my common names. I could even include non-internet names, as some of these have crossed over and been used in place of my given name in certain situations.
The implied and the actual gender of these names is a subject for a later date.
Alice in popular culture sighting no. 2: In this month's issue of "Marvel comics presents", the story about Hellcat ("The Girl Who Could Be You") features Patsy Walker referring to one of the personalities that has split from her as "Alice in Wonderland". Presumably referring to the fact that she is wearing a blue dress and hairband similar in style to Alice's. Also possibly due to this being the polite and "proper" side of Patsy.
Alice in popular culture sighting no. 3: Today's Diesel Sweeties strip has Indie Rock Pete mentioning "Alice's looking glass" as an example of a strange alternate reality.
-Alice
Then came Doll. Originally a character created out of whimsy and a desire to "fuck with people" and see their reactions. An eternally 16 year-old girl, unsure of her sexuality. The reveal spawned Susan Dalle, who has a more concrete existence. Doll is no longer a name for me, but is used to describe an unnamed object of my affection.
Bruitist is an anomaly. Taken from a Refused song, it's a back-up name. Disconnected and without any real usage or derivatives like the others. I'm still the top result on Google though.
Finally, there's Alice. The latest and my current favourite. Given to me by my friend Kienan as "It's a female name that happens to fit you, I'm not really sure why. It's better than Susan, I know that." As with all names, it is subject to changes and derivatives such as Allison or Shen Alice/Shenalice. It has currently taken over from Shen, which may change or it may not...
That's it for now. Maybe I'll make a proper family tree one day and include all the names that have fallen by the wayside (Jerusalem, Clockwork man, and many more than have been transient and possibly forgotten) and all the derivatives of my common names. I could even include non-internet names, as some of these have crossed over and been used in place of my given name in certain situations.
The implied and the actual gender of these names is a subject for a later date.
Alice in popular culture sighting no. 2: In this month's issue of "Marvel comics presents", the story about Hellcat ("The Girl Who Could Be You") features Patsy Walker referring to one of the personalities that has split from her as "Alice in Wonderland". Presumably referring to the fact that she is wearing a blue dress and hairband similar in style to Alice's. Also possibly due to this being the polite and "proper" side of Patsy.
Alice in popular culture sighting no. 3: Today's Diesel Sweeties strip has Indie Rock Pete mentioning "Alice's looking glass" as an example of a strange alternate reality.
-Alice
Thursday, November 15, 2007
First post!
I had a dream last night. I won't go into the specifics of the dream as that's for somewhere that isn't here. The important part is that I woke up while my brain was in mid-tirade about bits in bread. You know the stuff I'm talking about, like Mighty White (which, according to Yahoo answers, does still exist). It was a tirade on how it's an affront to all the effort that has been put into the development of the milling process that produces fine flour without leftover husks and other assorted bits of crap that would otherwise make the bread unpalatable. Who the hell was having a slice of bread and thought to themselves "This would be so much better if it was full of hamster food that could get stuck in my teeth"?
Alice in popular culture sighting no. 1: In the episode of the Simpsons that was aired on Channel 4 last night (A hunka hunka Burns in love), Mr Burns uses words from the poem "Jabberwocky" twice. Check the Wikipedia link for more details.
-Alice
Alice in popular culture sighting no. 1: In the episode of the Simpsons that was aired on Channel 4 last night (A hunka hunka Burns in love), Mr Burns uses words from the poem "Jabberwocky" twice. Check the Wikipedia link for more details.
-Alice
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