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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) gwynn_aaron | |
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This is a post for those of you who are interested in history. I'd like to travel down a path of speculation, for a little bit, so bear with me. First, some background. From the fall of the [western] Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance was approximately 1,200 years, and the early part of that period is now known as the Dark Ages. There is a great tendency to think of this as a period in which man fell into utter barbarism—practically back to the bronze age—and then came back to form a much greater society... when that really isn't what happened. First of all, what we're talking about here is societal upheaval. The sun wasn't blotted out, crops didn't stop growing, and for the the poor and rural folk living in countryside things didn't change immediately and catastrophically. Every Roman on the face of the world did not suddenly drop dead, so there was quite a bit knowledge remaining in the short term, and an active effort to preserve whatever could be preserved in the longer term. On top of that, the "barbarian hordes" who invaded southern Europe were not as intent on the destruction of Rome as they were on taking it over and being a part of it (look at how long a Holy Roman Empire of one sort or another persisted in Europe). Secondly, the fall of the Roman Empire was essentially a Mediterranean event. Quite a large portion of the world had never heard of Rome, and even many who knew of it certainly were not a part of it. At it's furthest flung outpost in the British Isles it was only about 1,500 km away from the Mediterranean, and the vast majority of the empire was a lot closer to that body of water ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RomanEmpire_117.svg). Nothing that effected the Roman Empire—from its rise to its height to its fall—effected people throughout the majority of Asia and Africa. With all of that being taken into account it's easy to see that Europe had not fallen as low as we tend to think. On top of that the continent's rise from the ashes was in large part helped by the presence and influence of surrounding cultures, most notably the Germanic tribes to the north and northeast, and the later Islamic states to the east, southeast and south. Now, the speculation. Let's take a step back to the late 2nd century of the common era. Rome is at its height, before the first tremors of the coming fall are felt. What if something truly cataclysmic was to occur? Something like an asteroid strike or a mini ice age? What I'm thinking of is something that causes, over the span of no more than five years (but likely much quicker), a total collapse of global society. Total dislocation of populations. Outright destruction of cities and towns. Famine. Disease. Death. After 100 or 150 or 200 years, when environmental conditions had begun to improve, no one remained of the generations who actually lived in the better world that came before this one. With all of that being true, how long do you think it would take societies to rebuild and claw their way back up to the life they had known before? Assume that they still knew that there was a time when things had been better. Perhaps even how things had been better. But with physical records destroyed and with no unaffected culture to help them. How long? Now take the same ideas and move them up by about 1,400 years. It's now the 16th century. Europe is in the middle of the Renaissance. The Age of Exploration is upon us. And the same disaster befalls. How long? Would it take longer or shorter than had it happened to the Romans? Would it be harder or easier? Populations would have been larger. Cities greater. Early ideas of mechanics would not have been far off. Gunpowder was known. How long? And finally, what if it happened today?
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valarltd | |
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A breakdown of what I've read this year: YA 5 Western 3 Horror 11 Nonfiction 6 (bio, autobio, gardenening and paganism) Classic 2 Mystery 4 (All of these are Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad series) Literary fiction 4 Gay romance 9 (includes mystery, horror, anthologies, contemporary) Straight Romance 6 (All paranormal, except the anthology) This is cut for length. The * designate a book I read for the m/m romance challenge. Be aware, not all my books are safe for work or children. The stuff that you can't get at Amazon has links. ( 1-48 under here )49) ARC of Yellow Roses by Elizabeth Donald. I read 350 pages and I'm counting it. It's not out yet, but it will be. And when it is, you want this terrific story! 50) Inland Empire. James Buchanan. Sequel to Cheating Chance, Brandon and Nicky are back. When Nicky comes for a visit to reclaim his hearse, he gets tangled up in an investigation, and Brandon's closeted life threatens to burst wide open. Excellent sequel to an excellent book.
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stephiepenguin | |
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Eurasian Sensation has a post up on the lack of Asians on Australian TV and why it matters. In it he discusses lots of important things, and links to the awesome post at Asians Down Under listing Asian Australians on TV in 2009. Ice Tea at his blog also looks a lot at Asian Australian representation on TV. This matters. No, seriously. When I was a kid it was an odd feeling, knowing that the world I saw in books and on TV wasn't really like the world in which I lived. I remember my favourite picture book when I was little was Digging to China by Donna Rawlins. It was a ridiculous book, about a little (white Australian) girl digging to China; the pictures of China were old school, lanterns and things (and described as exotic maybe?), but the book ends with two Chinese kids crawling out of the hole and coming to check out Australia. And it was my favourite book because - holy crap, people in Australia know that we exist! This is significant, because you know what? People in Australia should already know we (Asian people) exist, because we're here! We exist here! This doesn't even take into account the fact that when Asian people are represented it's often as foreigners (such as, the Chinese kids crawling through from China). This is kind of why I love Lim on East West 101 - when she talks, it's so ocker it grates. But how often do you still feel a frission of surprise when you're sitting on the bus and you hear some person with very Asian features open their mouth and speak with a broad accent? I know I'm still sometimes surprised, and my ability to pass as white aside, I've been living in Asian-Australian communities (mostly Chinese) my whole life. This is part of the reason why media representation is important. Asian-Australians exist, so your representation isn't accurate if we're not there. And if we're only occasionally there, well, this is how stereotypes happen, isn't it? Someone I read recently (Ice Tea maybe?) posted about Chinese-Australian diggers. Did you know we had them? We had Asian Australians fighting in the world wars, for Australia, then coming back to Australia and being told they still didn't qualify for citizenship? MaryAnn Bin-Salik touches on this in a piece she wrote for Speaking from the Heart. Her father was awarded the Pacific Star Medal, the War Medal and the Australian Service Medal for his achievements during World War Two, but still was going to be deported when he could no longer work. How often do these Asian diggers feature in our war stories? Everytime I post about this issue, someone invariably says, well, what does it matter what people think? And I don't know how to answer this! It just matters! Some other people who articulate this a bit better than me (US focused): White Ignorance + RacismAvatar: The Last Airbender (the animated show), has Inuit and Japanese and Chinese and Korean and South Asian (East Indian) culture, big and bold in dress, food, language, martial arts and architecture. But if you're ignorant of those cultures, of that food, of that language of that architecture, if you've only ever seen it depicted as a fantasy land (ghetto) where white characters run around and save the day - then how would you ever know it was REAL?
How would you, theoretical white person, know that armor design, that sword move, that parka (that atiqik) is real? How would you know that hairstyle, that blade, those shoes, are real? How would you know the artwork reflected something real? The art style of the show itself, reflected something real?
If you're the theoretical white person who lives in a town filled with other white people and you've only ever seen People of Colour on tv - how could you begin to understand that Aang doesn't need to be yellow toned, with slanted eyes in order to be read as Asian? How do you know your own ignorance? Your utter and absolute ignorance? The Invisible PeopleIs it any wonder that when given the doll test children of color overwhelming select the white doll over the black doll? Even when it comes to kids books, one must purposefully look for those that contain people of color. If you are looking for a subject matter like Chinese New Year, then the child's book will contain Chinese children but otherwise most characters will be white because they are considered the universal norm. People of color are only represented when our cultures can be consumed.
Racism is not natural, we actively teach it to our children. If they cannot see themselves reflected in normal everyday situations, what else are they to think but that they are of little value? There are various segments that love to blame parents of color for the lack of success of their children however, you will note that whiteness is not asked to overcome or rise above. Regardless of its economic position, whiteness will always be given opportunities and advantages that children of color will not receive, no matter how dedicated their parents are to their success. Tags: isms, media
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vizi | |
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I stayed at home on Saturday, and watched the washing in case of rain.
Then I played computer games until 3am, listening to VNV Nation, and drinking single malt.
I'm finding the Death Knight to be significantly more fun to play in melee combat than a Retribution Paladin. Partly thats because a DK has more options, while a Retadin is always forced to spend time waiting for cooldowns to finish. The extra complexity, however, makes it much harder to figure out what to do as a DK tank (I know the basics, but I need to find ways to front-load threat more efficiently, and to cope with dps who pull aggro - yes lettin them die is an option).
I did not do my Xmas shopping, but thats a 30 minute blitz for Unity books on Tuesday night.
Still thinking about furniture. Couches look expensive, unless I find something cheap at a sale. Beanbags are more portable, but four of them will still cost a few pennies.
Parliament has risen for the year, and MPs and General Managers are fleeing Wellington for their summer holiday homes. I'm expecting the week at work to be a poster exhibit for dullness. Really looking forward to a break away from Wellington, and to the KAOS New Year's Eve Party.
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freakchylde | |
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Scorpio (October 23-November 21)
"It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" is a jazz tune composed in 1931 by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills. In accordance with your long-term astrological omens, I propose that we make that song title your motto in 2010 -- the standard you'll keep referring to as you evaluate which experiences you want to pursue and which you don't. Please proceed on the assumption that you should share your life energy primarily with people and situations that make your soul sing and tingle and swing.
FreeWill AstrologyYeah, I'm late, happens when you have distractions. *eg* That said, I think I'm going to agree with my boy Rob, here. I'm finding that the directions I need to go in, and the universe seems to be pushing me towards, are ones that make me dance. They seem to be the directions that make the most sense to me, and seem to be the ones that end up most profitable. Glad I ditched the baggage and can see the signs as they come. Now, if only I could hit the point where I can start sharing the wealth with those, who also deserve it. Tags: horoscopes
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flamebyrd | |
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Today Alex and I discovered another shopping centre nearby that was, frankly, a lot like being in Singapore - full of stores stocking large varieties of quirky Japanese imports. I had green tea soft serve! But to get to the point, we passed a "hobby" store (which meant it was full of capsule toy machines XD) that had a set of Yu Yu Hakusho figures in the window, including youko Kurama (this is relevant to my interests). Nostalgia~! YYH was one of the first slash fandoms I read in. ( Blurry photo, because I can't hold my phone steady )Has YYH suffered a resurgence of popularity, or did it just never go out of fashion and I haven't noticed? When we were in Tokyo in 2007 I heard some Japanese girls being all natsukashii over some Prince of Tennis merchandise, so I kind of figured things went out of fashion pretty quickly in Japan. At any rate, I didn't buy any of them, because I have self control. ...Although I am contemplating the logistics of acquiring a BJD for Christmas. Oh, hush.
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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) hogwarts_grads
chloekay | |
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So...hey everybody. Sorry if this is awkward, but I've returned to LJ after a long hiatus and decided maybe I should actually do something around here this time. Basically, I'm looking for some HP communities and such that are actually active to get involved in, post my fanfiction, etc. This group looked like it had potential, so I thought I'd introduce myself. :)
If you have any other recommendations on communities to check out, that would be wonderful. I'd like to actually have a reason to log on. I'm currently using my journal as mostly a page for my fanfiction, but I'm hoping to step it up a little to something more interesting. Anyways, thanks for reading, and if you have suggestions for what I should check out, PLEASE leave them! I'd be eternally grateful. :)
-x- Chloe
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retreat!
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif){kind=small}
amused
determined
calm
bored
Dear Santa...
nostalgic
ecstatic
