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I think a developer could make beaucoup bucks designing an add-on that would eliminate comment sections on the web. By that I mean it would make any comment section impossible to see. Such a developer could put out versions for all the big comment platforms such as Disqus, Livefyre, etc.

Just lately, I've grown more and more disgusted, dismayed, and disenchanted with the whole idea of letting anyone and everyone comment on articles or blog posts out there. I understand the desire to be "democratic" and "open", but hasn't it been proved enough that comment sections almost invariably descend into stupidity and vileness? Hell, even sites where I actually agree with the commenters political or religious or whatever views are filled with nastiness, backbiting, sneering, and other masturbatory, adolescent trash. Even sites like Metafilter, that provide so many links to interesting or important or just entertaining content, have comment sections stuffed with judgmental bitchery, concern trolling, and leaps to the ugliest possible interpretation of any given thing.

And it bleeds into the content, too. I used to really like Crooks & Liars, for instance. The site publishes to expose on extreme conservatives, mendacious politicians, outrageous court decisions, etc. But what once used to be a well-written, interesting blog has become a screed site, where the writers take the same nasty, dismissive tone towards anything they don't like, instead of presenting reasonable criticism and evidence. In my view, there is no need for such tactics - if the thing you're writing about is bad enough to write about, it doesn't need pumping up with silly buzzwords like "destroy" and "annihilate" when you're talking about a conversation, or flat out insults. I simply can't take a writer seriously when he/she talks like that.

And I truly hate the way reading such stuff makes me feel and react. I find myself joining in because it looks like "fun", but inevitably I feel slimy afterwards. I can't recognize myself sometimes in those comment sections. And when I do try to write in a way that is balanced, trying to point out things that are being missed in the chorus of shrieks and sneers and threats, I get piled on just as others do who try to take a rational tone. (And this is often WORST among those who claim to be the most "rational" in the room. I've been utterly appalled by the reactions of people who claim that science and reason are their guide - they are often the nastiest and most condescending people around.)

So I wish some enterprising soul would invent a widget that would make those comment sections invisible. If site owners are going to be so lazy and irresponsible as to allow such content on their site (or even worse, indulge in it themselves and/or egg the commenters on), I'd rather not see anybody's opinions at all.

(When Huffington Post went to allowing comments for FB users only, I objected at first. But I've come to see it as a godsend. Now I can just read the article and decide for myself what I think, without a mob of assholes hurling invectives and generally being, well, assholes. I think I'd be a lot happier if more sites did the same. Of course, it would be better if sites were redesigned to make such content impossible, but that would mean putting effort into the idea, and money, and time. We can't have that kind of responsibility on the web, oh no. Where would we get our daily dose of hate and bile then?)
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LOL.

I just downloaded an episode of the new season of Hawaii Five-O, just to see how it holds up now. HA. Amazing how much interest I did not have in it. Seriously, it took me maybe six minutes to decide, "Nope. Bored. Good-bye."

Wow, I don't think my fandom interest has ever plummeted that violently. That whole ridiculous kerfuffle just flat out BURNED that guy out of my brain. Pity. He did have his moments. Maybe I'll be able to watch Moonlight again if I give it a couple of years. Long enough to wash the taste of that fish-flavored coffee out of my mouth, at any rate. ;)



Still glad I wrote those ficlets, though. It's too bad I never got to the third in the trilogy, Leechman. It was going to be about a heart surgeon. Oh well, perhaps it'll come through someday

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Picked this up at Crooks&Liars:



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At one of the Youtube videos from the PD Comic Con appearance, I posted this comment in response to someone who said they preferred not seeing the Ethan/Dorian scene continue because SEX EWW and it's-better-implied, yada yada, and then said the Ethan/Brona scene was EWW, and yeah - am I supposed to just listen to that?


( Ah, your perspective on sex scenes is rather different from mine... )


It's rather off-the-cuff and may contain some inaccuracies about exact things that happened on the show, but it's how I see it, basically. Because bitch, you do not throw down on my boy. Ever.

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Watched August last night. Uh...yeah. Seems Josh has been wilding on camera for a while now. Mm, mm, mm. Yummy, yummy man.

I'm getting a little jumpy at the way sex scenes are just THROWN at you these days, though. There doesn't seem to be a lot of buildup anymore. Two characters are having a conversation and then BAM, they're rutting like crazed animals. It's a bit...abrupt. I'm not exactly complaining - the slam of erotic energy I got when the film cut from a sexy look to full-on FUCKING!!! was certainly enjoyable. I'm just glad nobody else was in the room, because I made a pretty bizarre sound when that happened, LOL.

The film itself was surprisingly good. It's one of those Some Guy indie films, like Thumbsucker. Some Guy (or Some Gal) films don't really have plots so much as they have spans. Here's a guy, here's where he works, here are the people he knows. He goes places, he talks to people, things happen, and then it's over, but you haven't necessarily gone any great distance. They don't have plotting in the classic film sense, and they depend on the characters' ability to engage the audience, so the actors are really important.

This one is about a Zuckerberg type who runs a start-up, and right from the get-go I was rooting for him to get a massive bitchslap. Wow, he is a shit. And Josh played it beautifully, all smug manipulation and manic narcissism, spouting off that terminally annoying techie nonsense as if it actually meant something. Gods, the self-stroking horseshit was astounding. I wonder how hard Josh had to work to learn those lines, because there is absolutely NOTHING to hang your understanding on unless you actually do that kind of work. He might as well have been speaking in numbers: "Nine fifty seven eight hundred thousand? ZERO FOURTY NINE AZIMUTH MILLION SQUARE ROOT SKEWEY, ASSHOLE!!!" It really did sound like that - just mouthfuls of hot air, but he rattled it off like every word had import. That's something I really admire in good actors - their ability to inject real meaning into things they might not understand at all. I guess those "recite the alphabet as if you were breaking up with your girlfriend" theater games really do pay off.


( SPOILERS )

Yeah, this is one I'd definitely recommend if you're looking for things he's been in. It's a tour-de-force, too - he's in every single scene. The movie is completely about him, and yet it never really enters him. I mean, it's not terribly hard to figure this guy out, but he never gets explained. Know what I mean? I don't know if the filmmakers actually want to you to sympathize with him or not; it's really hard to say. But I enjoyed it, and I think you will, too.

P.S. The character's name is Tom Sterling. I find that incredibly funny, myself. It's a name seemingly crafted to put across every bit of his egocentrism and superficial charm.

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I don't think I've entered and exited a fandom as quickly as that, like, ever. The combination of "the last thing he did that I liked was half a decade ago" with "don't say a goddamn thing that can be construed to be the tiniest bit critical" just chapped my ass. Not interested in the school-marming, thanks loads, Miss Crabtree.

Especially when you're pretending it's okay to be all randy and naughty. It kinda comes off looking like you're laying a trap, and...no. Just NO.

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David Gerrold takes a dimwit to task for using Star Trek to prop up his bigotry and ignorance.

William Lehman (whoever the fuck he is) claims that ST was all about the STEM TECH GODDAMMIT and not at all about the "SJW". Gerrold very rightly takes the little shit out back to the woodpile and reddens his ass with a 2x4.

I was there. I know what Gene Roddenberry envisioned. He went on at length about it in almost every meeting. He wasn't about technology, he was about envisioning a world that works for everyone, with no one and nothing left out. Gene Roddenberry was one of the great Social Justice Warriors. You don't get to claim him or his show as a shield of virtue for a cause he would have disdained.


Many, MANY thanks, David. I always knew you were cool.

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Well now, wasn't that fun?

Good ol' Joe. About time somebody gave that smug little homonculus the pasting he deserves.

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Mitt Romney doesn't know why windows on jets don't open.


I swear, they must pop champagne corks at the White House every time this guy opens his mouth.

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Will the real Mitt Romney please stand up?


When will it EVER END???