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Artist Bans Anish Kapoor from Using ‘Most Glittery Glitter’ | artnet Nes

Link ~ ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

{{Title link: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/artist-bans-anish-kapoor-glitter-792458 }}

plantpuppy:

to summarize:

•Anish Kapoor gets exclusive rights to use Vantablack, the world’s “blackest black” pigment, which understandably upsets a lot of artists
•Stuart Semple responds by creating Pink, the world’s “pinkest pink” pigment, which he makes legally available to everyone except for Anish Kapoor
•Kapoor somehow gets ahold of Pink and posts an Instagram photo of his middle finger dunked in the pigment that Semple had banned him from using
•Semple gets ahold of Vantablack and posts an Instagram video of his hand making the peace sign with his fingers coated in Vantablack
•During this time, Semple also releases Diamond Dust, the “most glittery glitter,” again available to everyone EXCEPT Anish Kapoor

The best thing about Diamond Dust is that it’s made from actual shards of glass so Anish can’t just stick his middle finger in it again

This petty art feud is actually starting to look like it could be one of the most important pieces of performance art of the 21st century

Tags:

#oh look an update #(I’m starting to wonder if they’re actually doing this as some sort of joint advertising campaign) #(but it’s fun regardless)

~ Brin ~ 3 Comments

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Talopine Icon

@talopine replied to your post “How can Pokemon Go be so popular if so few phone models can run it?…”

I think that the lower specced phones might not run the VR aspect, but might otherwise work?

Yeah, it’s looking like the answer is “Pokemon Go actually runs fine on 1 GB of RAM”. I asked my brother (who has this model) if he can play it, and he said that while he hasn’t actually tried to play it, Google doesn’t complain about incompatibility if he tries to install it. Plus, one of the Amazon reviews for that phone explicitly mentions playing Pokemon Go on it.

I’m thinking I’ll buy the same model as him once I scrape together some more Amazon credit. Probably throw a new phone pouch into the order too if I can’t find anything suitable lying around; that phone is huge and will definitely not fit in the pouch I have now. (Never going back to Velcro pouches, though, not after several years with a Velcro MP3 player pouch that had an increasing tendency to open by accident. Zipper pouches all the way.)

Tags:

#talopine #Brin owns *two* 2010’s computers now #oh look an update #replies

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Asexual Activities

~ Brin ~ 1 Comment

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asexualactivities:

(This is a bit of a soft launch, because I won’t have time to devote to this for the next week or two, but I want to get it started anyway…)

Last weekend, there was a bit of a conversation about sex toys and asexuality, so I wanted to create a collaborative space to explore those topics and more.  And, well, here it is.

This is a place for aces, graces, and demis to talk about those things that you might feel uncomfortable bringing up in other ace circles.  Masturbation.  Kink.  Sex toys.  Partnered sex as an ace.  Things sex ed didn’t teach you, but you’re curious about.  Sexual activities, non-sexual intimacies, and so on.  If it’s inappropriate somewhere else, it’s probably appropriate here.

This space is for aces, by aces, and about aces.  There are other places on the Internet that talk about these topics, but very few that explore them from an asexual perspective, in language that makes sense to aces.  If you’re not ace, you’re welcome to read what’s here, and may respectfully ask questions or engage in conversations, but always keep in mind that this place is not about you.  If you’re disrespectful, intrusive, invasive, or offensive, we will show you the door.

Leave your shame and embarrassment and judgement at the door.  No question too weird, no topic too icky.  We’ll talk about anything that’s safe and respectful.

That means some of these topics might be outside of your comfort zone.  And that’s okay.  If it’s not your thing, it’s not your thing, but maybe the next topic will be more your speed.  We have a “Don’t yuck my yum” policy around here.  That means that it’s uncool to slam someone else for liking something you don’t like.  If you don’t like it, you don’t have to say anything about it.  You might think some of these things are “weird”, but keep in mind that someone else probably thinks something you like to do is “weird”, too.

We accept submissions and asks (Including anonymous), so if you want to share what you do, how you do it and why you do it, or if you’re just curious about something, please feel free to write in.  I see this space as mostly submission driven.  It’s about what YOU want to talk about and what YOU want to know.  A few ground rules, though:

  • 18+ only for submissions and asks.  If you’re under 18, someplace like Scarleteen would be a much better place to discuss these issues (Scarleteen is ace-friendly, too!).
  • This is not an advice site. We can answer general questions about general things, but I really can’t help with your specific scenario.
  • This is not a doctor’s office.  If you have a genuine, pressing medical concern, talk to someone qualified about it.  I’m not even pretending to play a doctor on the Internet, so what would I know?
  • Be open, be truthful, don’t be embarrassed or ashamed.
  • Assume positive intent.  If someone says something offensive or exclusionary or otherwise troublesome, assume it wasn’t done maliciously.  Correct them gently instead of launching a thermonuclear flame war.
  • No wankfodder.  You can certainly be explicit (In fact, you’re encouraged to be as open and direct as you want), but avoid being deliberately pornographic for prurience sake.   You can talk about porn, but don’t be porn.  This isn’t Letters to Penthouse or the Lemon tag of AO3.
  • Content warnings would be appreciated!  They allow you to get as detailed as you like without worrying about who’s reading, while at the same time, give people who aren’t interested a chance to turn away.

And so, with that, the ask box is ready for your questions and the submission box is ready for your posts!

 

(And one final note, if you are not comfortable with the topics which are being discussed here, I have flagged the entire blog as NSFW and I encourage you to block this so it won’t show up at all (I won’t be offended!).  I will try to put appropriate content tags in the posts, and put potentially objectionable images behind a Read More.)

Tags:

#asexuality #sexuality and lack thereof #oh look an update

~ Brin ~ 4 Comments

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brin-bellway:

redbeardace:

brin-bellway:

redbeardace:

So, I think I might actually start a secondary blog about some of the things that have been getting discussed this weekend.  I think it’s a topic worth being openly talked about, and I think it would be good to have a space specifically for that, so that people can stop worrying if what they’re talking about is appropriate and just say what they have to say.

(I also think it would be good to get the conversation off my main blog, because while I find it interesting, I’m sure it’s making a number of my followers uncomfortable.)

A couple of thoughts:

  • For aces, by aces, about aces.
  • Topics would definitely include masturbation/sex toys, including reviews/how-tos.
  • Additional topics can potentially include BDSM gear, partnered activities, talking about porn/erotic materials, and general sexual health/sex ed/anatomy, etc.  Basically anything ace people are curious about or want to discuss, but don’t feel comfortable doing it in regular ace circles.  Any other topics that should be explicitly called out?
  • Matter of fact and open, with a sense of “Yes, this is normal, yes, it’s okay to feel like that, it’s okay to do this” in most answers.  Non-judgmental and inclusive (at least inclusive of ace-ID’d people).
  • Clinical where it needs to be, fun where it needs to be.
  • Deliberately not wankfodder.  This isn’t Letters to Penthouse.
  • Open to questions from non-ace people about ace people, within limits.  This will attempt to be a safe space for aces (at least as much as it can be on this site), so anyone disrespectful, etc., will be shown the door.
  • Anon submissions/asks would be on.  18+
  • Toy pictures allowed (including anatomically accurate models), but images of toy usage/porn not allowed (including pornographic images on packaging).  Maybe use another toy as a demonstration stand in?
  • Maybe a discussion prompt once in a while?
  • I would probably need co-moderators.  Any volunteers?

A couple of concerns:

  • As I’ve learned from my “An Asexual’s Guide To …” series, any time someone talks about topics like this, you will get a lot of non-ace people wandering by and offering their, um, “thoughts”.
  • I’d like it to be findable by aces who are interested in it, but I don’t want to be intrusive to those who are not.  Are there good ways to do this?

So there it is.  Thoughts?

I’d probably read it. I might participate, depending on which topics and how far the inclusivity goes. (When it comes to conversations about sex, I always feel like I’m being Too Weird and making people uncomfortable, even in places with relatively high Weird levels. The only place I didn’t feel like I was being intrusive was Ace Fet, which vanished off the face of the Internet a couple years ago without a trace.)

I think some sort of “Safe, Legal, Respectful” principle might be a good guideline as to what’s allowed.  (Although, strictly speaking, “Legal” would probably be a bit flexible, as there are some places that outlaw the sale of “any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs”, for instance.  Not to mention the countries that still have enforceable sodomy laws.  Things like that.)  And maybe a “Don’t yuck my yum” principle.  (The big problem is that you can’t control the audience response on Tumblr.  You can encourage and cultivate the first readers to be respectful, but after that, the “Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory” applies.  And I don’t know how to fix that.)

I think, in general, that this place would have to work against the idea that something is “weird” or “icky” or whatever.  I mean, for many people, masturbation itself is too icky to talk about.  Many people think sex toys are weird.  And that’s okay.  What’s not okay is turning that “This is not for me” into “No, you can’t have it either”.  If it’s not your thing, skip to the next post.  If none of the posts are your thing, unfollow or even block.

I think it would be good to have some of those “Too Weird” things talked about in a place that’s a safe environment, presented in a way that says “This is out there.  If you’re interested, great.  If not, maybe the next topic will be more your style.”  Sort of like a sexualized asexual 60 Minutes.  (If that makes any sense.)

@katakacat replied to this thread with:

“good idea, but what part about this is 18+??? if there’s going to be a large piece of sexual health and sex ed happening, i think it would be most effective if it’s safe for minors, the people who would be most in need of sex ed? i think? i’m not sure what you meant by 18+ but that sounds like the worst idea, the rest sounds pretty great”

Okay, so I was angry about this at first, but upon reflection I think it simply demonstrates a rift in people’s understanding of what this project is supposed to do.

See, sex ed is broad. It deals in generalities: it can, say, tell you that pornography is a thing that exists, but it won’t recommend specific pieces of erotica. (And indeed, any sex ed trying to be available to minors wouldn’t dare make such recommendations.)

I know many people who advocate for “inclusive” sex ed, but there is no such thing. Don’t get me wrong, some sex ed is less exclusive than others, but every sex education resource has to draw the line somewhere. They might discuss only the most common form of sexuality, or the top two, or the top several, but people with rare manifestations of sexuality will always be sacrificed on the altar of the greatest good for the greatest number.

I can’t contribute to a sex ed blog. When it comes to sex education, I am not and never will be a participant: I’m collateral damage. And maybe that’s worth it, but that is the price you’d be paying if you go the sex ed route.

I, on the other hand, interpreted this idea as being about a space for asexuals to discuss their sexualities. (I was going to say “the presences, rather than the absences”, but apparently some people conceive of their asexuality as a presence?) Such a space is not inherently exclusive of me. The risk is high, as I mentioned in my previous post on this reblog chain, but it could have a place for me.

@katakacat​, tagging you to make sure you get the whole post. I didn’t want to add this as an edit because then people who have already read the original might miss it.

I swear I’m going back to studying after this, but it occurred to me I didn’t make it all that clear why the non-18+ thing in particular bothered me.

IME, obscenity rules are enforced more strictly the weirder you are. Something can be considered fine when a vanilla person says it, but someone saying the analogous thing about a kink gets smacked down as inappropriate.

At my level of out-there, there is very little I would dare say in an environment trying to be safe for minors. Almost any statement, no matter how innocuous the normal-person analogue would be, risks censure and penalties.

Tags:

#reply via reblog #sexuality and lack thereof #asexuality #oh look an update #I hope I haven’t crossposted

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Image ~ ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

lferion:

erinnightwalker:

erinnightwalker:

geostatonary:

sixpenceee:

“A house I pass on the way to work has this sculpture in its yard. Its about 8 feet tall.”

(Source)

“HELLO NEIGHBOR STEVE, I WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO BARBEQUE ON THE EVE OF THE BLOOD MOON.  I FEEL WE GOT OFF TO A BAD START.”

“NEIGHBOR STEVE, DO YOU NOT WISH TO PARTAKE OF THE UNCLEAN FLESH-MEATS OF PIGS AND THE POLLUTED ESSENCES OF TOMATO?  PERHAPS YOU ARE A CAROLINA STYLE MAN, NEIGHBOR STEVE?”

“PUT THE GUN AWAY NEIGHBOR STEVE, YOU KNOW I SHALL ONLY RISE AGAIN WITH THE DAWNING OF THE MOON.  WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH THIS MANY TIMES.”

“LOOK AT THIS PICTURE MY SON DREW OF YOU AND CHILD TIMMY, YOUR SON.  ARE THEY NOT THE PICTURE OF PACT-MATES?  THIS COULD BE YOU AND ME, NEIGHBOR STEVE.”

“YOU MISSED THE UNHOLY NEXUS OF POWER THAT IS THE KEY TO MY CORPOREAL FORM, NEIGHBOR STEVE.  YOU WILL NEED TO RELOAD NOW, SO I WILL GO INSIDE TO MY HELL-WIFE AND PUT YOU DOWN AS A SOLID ‘MAYBE’.“

I have the feeling that the families get along great except for Steve. Like, the wives are baking (questionable) brownies together, the kids are playing together, Antler Guy occasionally takes Son and Timmy to school (no car, just carries them in huge swinging strides through a nexus of ungoldly sights in a swirling netherworld shortcut. Sometimes they stop for McDonalds). Hell-wife gave them a potted Audrey Jr., Steve’s wife (who I now christen Sharon) gave them a begonia.

One time Steve tries throwing holy water but all Antler Guy does is thank him, saying that no, Antler Guy isn’t Catholic but it’s the thought that counts, he is so kind to water his creeping deathshade vines regardless.

For Christmas Antler Guy gives Steve a case of ammunition. To be funny/sarcastically mean Steve gets Antler Guy the world’s most hideous Christmas sweater, singing light-up reindeer included. He immediately regrets it because not only does Antler Guy love it and wears it for several months, it will never need batteries because Antler Guy powers it with his own eldritch aura.

When they come back from a holiday to Hawaii, Steve is horrified to find out Sharon bought them matching Hawaiian shirts. He is even more horrified that his wife means it that if he doesn’t wear it he will forever sleep on the couch.

I want to expand on this, since I see it’s still passing around and the ideas have grown in my brainmeats.

What drives Steve up the wall and down the other side is how… normal… everyone treats the Abominations. (Yes, that is their last name. No, it is not a joke. Son was asked his last name for the standardized testing at school, had a quick conference with Timmy, and decided that Son Abomination sounded good, “Since my dad calls your dad the Abomination anyway and we can paint it on your mailbox just like the Henderson’s did theirs!”. Antler Guy agreed and did a lovely rendition of it for the mailbox, with only a few glyphs of soul-rending terror added to keep up to snuff.)

The Great Plant Exchange went beautifully, though the Audrey Jr. (named Aubergine for the lovely shade of purple poison that drips from her fangs) is on a diet at the moment. She was in cahoots with the cat and the dog to get into the good people food and ate two frozen turkeys all herself. Now she’s restricted to the hallway table to answer the phone and the door. (Steve actually likes her, and keeps slipping her hotdogs when Sharon isn’t looking. Their door-to-door salesman rates have dropped dramatically since she changed abodes.) Hell-wife has almost gotten the begonia to bloom and say it’s first words.

The homeowner’s association just loves the Abominations. All paperwork stamped and dotted, in on time and in triplicate. Antler Guy likes filing, says it reminds him of his old job. There is a resident who spent 20 years as a lawyer and they have long, animated conversations about all sorts of things that make Steve swear to never need legal counsel.

Hell-wife joined the PTA and spearheaded a committee to fundraise in the fall with a haunted house. It was a county-wide hit, though the claims that a particularly rowdy group had been deliberately lost in a timeslip to the Outer Doors Of Chaos was firmly rebuffed. Most young people nowadays, it was agreed, just couldn’t appreciate flute music.

Antler Guy really does try to connect with Steve. The surprise birthday party was perhaps a bit much, given that most participants do not have the ability to suddenly materialize in front of the guest of honor to give them a hug. Sharon assured them that Steve normally screams on his birthday, and the remains of the cake were heartily enjoyed by all. (A plate was saved for Steve once he came down from the treehouse.)

After the Hawaii trip (which was a present for his birthday) and the Matching Shirt Ultimatum (which was Sharon’s attempt at patching things up with Antler Guy, he really was sad about the birthday screaming), Steve finally grabs his courage in both hands (plus the shotgun, which let’s face it is about as useful as a teddybear at the moment but it does comfort him) and confronts Antler Guy, about why such a group of……Abominations could possibly come to his quiet slice of suburban bliss.

“……BUT NEIGHBOR STEVE, WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE.”

“No no no, I read it in a book! Don’t you have to be invited or something?!”

“WELL YES, TO THE HUMAN WORLD. BUT THIS IS NOT THE HUMAN WORLD AS YOUR THREE-DIMENSIONAL BRAIN PERCEIVES IT.”

“What the hell does that mean?!!”

“DID YOU NOT KNOW, NEIGHBOR STEVE? LEGALLY SPEAKING, ALL OF THE VASTNESS OF HUMAN SUBURBIA IS, IN FACT, A PART OF HELL.”

“……..”

“THE FLAMINGOES ARE THE BOUNDARY MARKERS. IT WAS DECIDED THAT THE FLAMING SKULLS WERE TOO KITSCHY FOR MODERN TIMES.”

Yuletide inspiration, anyone?

Tags:

#Neighbor Steve #long post #story ideas I will never write #oh look an update

~ Brin ~ 1 Comment

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evolution-is-just-a-theorem:

prokopetz:

amalgarn:

radicaltrains:

radicaltrains:

the funniest thing in the entire pirates of the caribbean series is definitely that one scene in At World’s End where they have parlay but davy jones is part of it, and rather than have him stand in the shallows or something they get a big bucket of water and have in stand on it on shore

who thought of that idea? who thought “put davy jones in a bucket of water” and had the guts to suggest it aloud? and then who went “hey that sounds like a great idea!”

at some point someone told davy jones their idea was for him to stand in a bucket of water and he agreed to it

Davy Jones Majestically in a Bucket

*stands majestically in a bucket*

ok but notice the trail of buckets behind him meaning he walked from the ocean through three other buckets of water before he got into the one hes standing in

It’s even funnier when you consider how he must have figured all this out in the first place.

Some folks are asking “well, if he can avoid the no-dry-land curse simply by standing in a bucket, doesn’t that ruin his whole motivation?”, but he’s not on dry land here.

The parley takes place on a sandbar – which, for the unfamiliar, is a temporary “island” of sand deposited by breaking waves, unconnected with the shore, that spends most of its time submerged, being exposed only at low tide.

What Jones is doing here is rules-lawyering his curse. Can you imagine the trial and error he must have gone through in order to determine that this would actually work?

“Okay, do islands count as dry land? How about parts of the shore below the high tide mark? Reefs? Shoals? What if I stand in a pool of water on a shoal? Does it have to be seawater, or will any water do? Does it have to be a natural tidepool, or can it be something artificial, like a bucket?”

What I am saying is that there must have been a process.

++ for experimenting on curses (and everything else). Knowledge is power, kids!

Tags:

#Pirates of the Caribbean #fun with loopholes #a followup to the previous post #(might have actually been *intended* to be related to the previous post) #(the same person is involved in both reblog chains)

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

support:

We hear it too! 

There’s something funny about the way videos are autoplaying. They should be muted.

Thanks to those of you who have so kindly reached out to us already. We appreciate your patience while our engineers get to the bottom of this!

Tags:

#The Great Tumblr Apocalypse #oh look an update