At The Risk Of Sounding Like The Worst Woman Ever

....allow me to reproduce an extract from an interview with comedian Rob Delaney:

Any advice for a 21-year-old who hates their job and has the possibility of traveling the world? And has a boyfriend that they like. (This is for a friend.)
Go do it. Fuck him. Is he a guy in his 20s? Then he's the least significant type of person on the planet. A male in their 20s? Run in the opposite direction. Nothing he says matters; his fears, his hopes his dreams are garbage. Men in their 20s are the worst thing happening on our planet. Go, go to Uzbekistan, go to South Korea, just go anywhere he isn't because men in their 20s are bad for young women.
 
So what do women in their 20s do?
Masturbate. Date other women for a while. Use men sexually for a while but don't ever invite their opinion or be bound to them in any way.


Men in their 30's however? Yum.

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Link via @daddy_san

Awwww

Guy & Eep from 'The Croods'

Guy
[strained while holding on to Eep]
You're really heavy!

 

Eep
Really?
[lovingly]
Thank you!

Catharsis

A girl walks into a bar.

But before that, a girl walks out of a house at the first break of daylight. She’s spent the night with her eyes scared open, only shutting them to pretend sleep, when he re-enters the room to stand over her. He is silhouetted against the sliver of light that pierces through the half-opened door. He stands over her, no longer breathing heavily, no longer filled with rage but still very much a threat.

When he turns to leave, she allows the air back into her chest. She waits for morning, when she will walk out, never to return but carrying away the memory of his angry body as he pins her down. His palms red-hot with violence, nailing her wrists to the bed as she abandons her body in panic. She hovers above it all, waiting for it to end.

She returns home, scrubs herself clean and retreats under 2 layers of blanket. She does not move for the next three days. When she gets up again, she is frozen. No one will touch her again, is all she knows.

Two years later, a girl walks into a woman’s office. The woman talks little and mostly listens. Sometimes, she makes the girl stand up from her chair and close her eyes. She places her hands, firmly, on the girl’s shoulders. She asks the girl to lean in to her strength. The woman will hold up the girl for as long as it is needed. But who will hold you up? the girl asks. Generations of women before us, says the woman through her warm palms. Every woman you’ve ever known – your mother, her mother and her mother before that, going back as far as you can stretch your memory. Soon the room is filled with the spirit of these women, each holding the other up with warm palms, all leading back to the girl. As they radiate and penetrate through her, she begins to understand what letting go might mean. But it will take time.

Five years on, a girl walks into a bar with her friends. She knows there’s no such thing as complete healing but there’s something about this evening that makes her laugh from her belly and that’s alright for now.

So, even though he’s a complete stranger and she’s inside a Hollywood cliché, something about him makes her smile. After they’ve swapped essential stories, he will ask her out with cautious charm. She will defer her decision until she’s sober. Until her answer comes then, he will place his hand on the small of her back and she will let it remain there. Later, she won’t remember how close he pulled her or how far she leaned in. But she will relive the gentle heat of his palm on her back, staying not leaving. Not propping her up either, because for the first time in a long while, she is strong enough to hold herself up.

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Read Nandita Saikia on What I've Learnt From Violence

'Hysterical Literature' by Clayton Cubitt

This is just one in a series called 'Hysterical Literature'. The buzzwords are 'orgasm' and 'art'.

For the artist's perspective, read this Salon article.

(via @koopamandook)

"Because I Can't!..."

Film: Contact
Year: 1997
Based on the novel 'Contact' by Carl Sagan (1985)

Worth watching a fajillion times because of a brilliant story & screenplay and multitudes of layered meanings that criss-cross science, religion, the tug-of-war between pure scientific enquiry & beaurocratic douchebaggery, the virtues of patience & integrity in the pursuit of truth, daddy issues and the tussle between reason & faith (which may not be an 'either-or' debate at all).

And kickass radioastronomy that includes nerdgasmic scenes from radiotelescopes like Arecibo and the VLA.

Plus cool SETI stuff and brilliantly imagined ET-tech eg: a transportation pod with cool features like doors that become seamless as soon as they shut and...well...the ability to travel through wormholes in the universe at relativistic speeds.

Plus, a strong female character (that could've just as easily been written male), carved to perfection by Carl Sagan, who does cool shit like climb into alien-pods that are likely to kill her - all in the interest of satisfying her scientific curiousity & furthering human knowledge - while her impossibly gorgeous man-friend waits on the sidelines for her to return from her adventures. Full feminist marks.

Plus the hot, hot, HOT Matthew McConaughey, who argues for spiritual faith, while mastering the intricacies of Special Relativity, while managing to look convincingly in love with the biggest girl-geek Hollywood has ever created.

But mostly, it's worth watching because of the most epic movie finale in the history of all films ever made by humans. (What do you mean I haven't seen 'all films ever'? What're you, my mother?):

(Pssst: There are Indian astrophysicists like Jodie Foster's character from Contact, who have dedicated their research lives to the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence. I wonder what their backstory is...)

Parting Shot

Perhaps the most striking thing about the Justice JS Verma Committee's report is that it reminds us we're not helpless in tackling the complex mess that is gender justice in India today.

This report reminds us how effective democratic intitutions like the judiciary, parliament & government-run agencies can be if their functionaries have the will.

When I think about this report, this remarkable parting shot of Justice J.S. Verma, the words 'helpless' or 'defeatist' do not figure even once.

That's saying a lot for a female citizen of India who has witnessed the widespread apathy & disdain for women & children's issues in the past few months. 

On the same day that Justice JS Verma passed away, Delhi Police's commissioner Neeraj Kumar gave a press conference that was a masterclass in defensiveness, showing a complete inability for self-reflection. Watching this leader of the national capital's police force throw up his hands, refuse to take responsibility for a total breakdown within his ranks and belligerently defend his professional failures, has been extremely depressing. This man, whose position gives him such incredible power to effect change claims helplessness & defeat. This man whose job it is to protect citizens is consumed only with protecting himself.

***************

Even as deep sadness descends on the news of Justice Verma's passing, it's important to remember what his leadership has resulted in: A report that addresses a bulk of the excuses that people like Neeraj Kumar make. It does the legwork (even if you disagree, it gives you the framework to debate within) and the tedious brainwork that most of us may not have the time, energy, skill or inclination to do. 

The next time a heinous crime happens on our watch, (and it's happening over and over again as I type), we shouldn't need to guess where our 'moral responsibility' lies. We have a powerful guide to point us in the right direction. It's a great place to start.

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Must read: Legacy of change through justice by Karuna Nundy

New Guy

My all-consuming project at work involves making a TV series on Indian science & technology. (Not on air yet. Don't ask.)

Our funding agency's brief is: "Lyk Discowery, ok? But without money, ok? Ok."

This, coupled with general inexperience in this type of programming has resulted in something that industry insiders term Very Poor Quality. It's not my first experience working in this genre. In fact, one might say I'm an old hand now. I get by only because, in television, it's always the other guy's fault.

Anyway, so the boss has hired a senior chap to come in and salvage the situation. To bring us all back on track, as it were. This man has an enviable resume (eg: he has worked with Rajdeep Sardesai) and he has the beatific smile of your friendly, neighbourhood saviour. He's also vegetarian, which means he can never be an asshole.

We welcomed him in a fairly non-threatening manner and he spent the day with us, vibin' n groovin' n generally chillin'. Towards the end of the day, we began to get serious, describing the challenges we face trying to translate some seriously hard-core science into viewer (read: dumbass) friendly TV. He listened, respectfully, gravely. We were forthcoming about our weaknesses - the biggest being our lack of qualifications. Not one of us making this series has any academic grounding in the sciences.

He expressed solidarity with us and then, in a heartfelt admission of his own shortcomings, told us, "I have a confession: Even I'm doing this kind of work for the first time. I have never before worked in Science Fiction."

http://wightpartyradio.com/are-aliens-among-us