Nisiablog - Bold Already
More Posts from Nisiablog and Others
GERRY VISCO: So, Eddie, you’re going to so many locations on your world tour.
EDDIE IZZARD: It’s about 32 cities in America, but I’m planning on going to all 50 states. This is the 24th country on the world tour.
VISCO: You like to do things in big way.
IZZARD: Well, yes. If you’re trying to get a bit of attention, you can smash up your hotel room or spend all your time going to openings or doing the gossip column thing. I just decided to do gigs in French, German, Spanish, and in America.
VISCO: Did you do the whole Berlin show in German?
IZZARD: Yes. Alles auf Deutsch. That’s what I was just learning.
VISCO: Is it true you’re dyslexic?
IZZARD: Yes.
VISCO: You seem like such a linguist.
IZZARD: Linguistics has nothing to do with reading.
[….]
IZZARD: My heels were high, but how high do they have to be? I wear whatever I want whenever I want. I don’t call it drag; I don’t even call it cross-dressing. It’s just wearing a dress.
VISCO: Do you call it transvestitism?
IZZARD: No, I just call it wearing makeup. No woman would say of another woman, “Oh, she’s wearing pants, what’s up with that?” Drag for me is costume, and what I’m trying to do is, sometimes I’ll go around and wear makeup in the streets, turn up to the gig, take the makeup off, do the show, and then put the makeup back on. It’s the inverse of drag. It’s not about artifice. It’s about me just expressing myself. So when I’m campaigning in London for politics, I campaign with makeup on and the nails. It’s just what I have on, like any woman.
[….]
IZZARD: I have a lot of boy stuff going on in me, and then I have the girly thing, so I’m trying to express that in the most honest way I can.
VISCO: Do you consider it a fetish, something sexual?
IZZARD: No, it’s a genetic gift that people have been given. Everyone gets cards at the beginning of life. I don’t believe in a god, so we just seem to get given these cards, and then some people will hide from them in the LGBT area. I am transgender, I decided to be honest and tell everyone about it, and that’s it.
VISCO: Did you get any feedback about it from the LGBT scene?
IZZARD: People I encounter have been very positive. You’re being yourself, standing your ground.
VISCO: Do you go to gay bars?
IZZARD: No, I just go to bars. I don’t seek out anything. I will just go places. I think when LGBT gets really boring then we’ve made it, because it shouldn’t be, “You’re gay? Oh my god! You’re transgender? Oh my god!” It should just be, “You’re LGBT? Fine. Are you any good at what you do—accounting, photography, playing the banjo? How are you at that?” Our sexuality should be a thing that’s there, but not the front signpost.
(source)
1. Do Diversify your portfolio of token Muslims. Different Muslim superheroes have different superpowers.
2. Do not assume Arabs = Muslims and Muslims = Arabs. Do not use them interchangeably.
3. Do seek out Muslims who are black and/or white and or other colors. They exist, not all are brown.
4. Do not assume bearded men or covered women are religious Muslims.
5. Do not assume clean shaven men or uncovered women are not religious Muslims.
6. Do talk to more women, who are the majority of Muslim populations.
7. Do more stories about Muslim women not involving hijab or the burqa or honor killing or FGM.
8. Do not use the words “unveil” in your title.
9. Do not assume just because a person claims to represent Muslim communities, he/she does.
10. Do not use fringe Muslims as representatives for diverse Muslim communities. For example, Graeme Wood relied on Anjem Choudary for his infamous “What is ISIS” Atlantic article. Anjem is like the Pastor Jones of Muslim communities.
11. Do not assume all Muslims can talk about Islam.
12. Do have some Muslims talking about Islam. Just like you should have African Americans talking about racism and women talking about feminism and South Asians talking about Bollywood. (NOTE: If your panel on Islam has no Muslims, that is a problem.)
13. Do not assume practicing Muslims support ISIS or Al Qaeda. Unlike Don Lemon, do not ask “Do you support ISIS ..or AQAP or… Taliban?”
14. Do not ask or frame a conversation around the question: “Where are Moderate Muslims? Do they exist? Are they bearded unicorns?”
15. Do use “Moderate Muslim” in your title if you’re intentionally disrupting that simplistic narrative and showing the nuances.
Read the full article.
In Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? Susannah Gibson argues that, for millennia, humans have tried to classify and categorise the world around them. One of the oldest, and most enduring, classifications is the simple troika of “animal, vegetable, mineral”. Though scientists are no longer completely reliant on this simple three-part system to divide the natural world into workable groups, it has become an essential part of our pop culture and is referenced everywhere from art to games, comic books to computer programming, literature to hip hop.
For example, it is mentioned in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There:
The Lion had joined …‘What’s this!’ he said, blinking lazily at Alice, and speaking in a deep hollow tone that sounded like the tolling of a great bell.
'Ah, what is it, now?’ the Unicorn cried eagerly. 'You’ll never guess! I couldn’t.’
The Lion looked at Alice wearily. 'Are you animal — or vegetable — or mineral?’ he said, yawning at every other word.
'It’s a fabulous monster!’ the Unicorn cried out, before Alice could reply.
Image: Alice, the Lion, and the Unicorn, by John Tenniel. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkjZQ2NuVyM)
Happy Martian New Year!
For any planet, a year is the time it takes to make one orbit around the sun. Because Mars is farther away from the sun, it has to travel a greater distance than Earth. It takes Mars about twice as long as it does for Earth to make one circle around the sun…therefore, a year on Mars lasts twice as long.
On May 5, Mars passes solar longitude 0 as the sun crosses the equator on Mars. This is the vernal equinox and was chosen by planetary scientists as the start of a new year.
Mars has four seasons, roughly twice as long as those on Earth, but with more variation given Mars’ eccentric orbit and the fact its orbital speed varies more as a result.
Did you know that there’s a U.S. city named Mars? Mars, PA hosts an annual Mars New Year celebration and we’re participating in this two-day science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) event to inspire young people to pursue innovation and exploration.
More info on Mars, PA: http://www.marsnewyear.com/
Get updated images from the events in Mars, PA here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/sets/72157683457751005/
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Star Trek - Chase Scene
The Berlin Celebration Concert - Beethoven, Symphony No 9 Bernstein 1989
