istg, there’s a generation of up-and-coming cartoon creators who are gonna draw all their inspiration from White House Xmas decorations anytime they need a supervillain lair.
And I was put in the seat instantly, of course. I said, “your honor, I can’t be a juror on a two week trial, I have opera rehearsal.” And she said, “opera huh, well, sing something for us.”
And I did. In a federal court of law, in front of the judge, 75 jurors, the lawyers and the fucking DEFENDANT, I sang o mio babbino caro.
YO I DIDNT EMBARRASS MYSELF IN FEDERAL COURT SO YALL CAN DOUBT ME.
I know a lot of opera singers, and singing a full-on aria in a court room with only a hint of provocation is EXACTLY what they would do.
I know a lot of judges, and demanding an impromptu opera solo on a whim is also something they would do.
(And also one of the main reasons you can be excused from jury duty is economic hardship–basically, it would cause you unreasonable financial damage. If you’re a professional singer, a two week gap in your rehearsal schedule could do that for sure.)
As a muso, I absolutely believe this. I’ve got my accordion out of my carry-on and played a tune when airport security couldn’t recognise its weird mass of levers. Singers and musicians are just Like That.
Accurate.
My friend got stopped at the Canadian border coming back into the US. Border patrol took one look at his tattoed, ear-gagued, mutton chop wearing, hipster self, and said “I don’t believe you’re an opera singer. Sing something for me.”
His wife immediately put down her knitting and plugged her ears, because Matt’s a contrabasso, and he does NOT sing quietly.
Every other booth along the border stop had a head poking out of it within twenty seconds. And they let them pass without further contest.
One time I had a cole slaw craving at like 10pm so i went to KFC and the girl at the counter was like IT’S CHRISTMAS, SING ME A CAROL AND I’LL GIVE YOU YOUR SLAW, and I was like, oh, I uh—but then her coworker was like GDI STOP DOING THIS. YOU DONT HAVE TO SING. SHES BEEN DOING THIS ALL DAY
so of course I busted out the first few bars of Amarilli (which isn’t actually a christmas carol, but it was what i’d been practicing at the time so shhh), and let me tell you, nearly-empty fast food restaurants have GREAT acoustics
why are some teachers so insistantly aggressive about punishing children for having interests they dont understand?
I remember this shit happening while I was still in school too where anything that was really popular among young boys was instantly labelled a distraction that you could be punished for. pokemon, yu-gi-oh, beyblades, all of them were banned very quickly from my school and I remember on numerous occassions teachers calling them stupid and pointless and going on tangents about how they dont let their children engage in interests like that because it rots your brain. what was the deal? And the main excuse would always be that it was a distraction. Like yeah thats the point pricipal dr.deepshit, children cant be expected to be 100% focussed on their schoolwork for 8 hours a day. they need to have outlets to blow off steam because school is fucking hard. let kids like things you stank asses.
I remember Pokemon getting banned at my first elementary school because it was “unChristian”, and even at that young of an age I knew that was complete hogwash.
You may have heard about the efforts in Europe to reform copyright law. The debate has been ongoing in the European Parliament for months. If approved next week, these new regulations would require us to automatically filter and block content that you upload without meaningful consideration of your right to free expression.
We respect the copyrights and trademarks of others, and we take all reports seriously to ensure that your creative expression is protected. We make this clear in our Community Guidelines. There’s already a legal framework that works and is fair: Todaywe take down posts and media that contain allegedly infringing content when we receive a valid DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown request. We also provide clear-cut ways for people to fight back if they believe their removed content was not a true violation. These instances are monitored and reported and live in our biannual transparency report.
The suggestion to use automated filters for issues of copyright is short-sighted at best and harmful at worst. Automated filters are unable to determine whether a use should be considered “fair use” under the law and are unable to determine whether a use is authorized by a license agreement. They are unable to distinguish legitimate parody, satire, or even your own personal pictures that could be matched with similar photographs that have been protected by someone else. We don’t believe that technology should replace human judgment.
Tumblr is and always has been a place for creative expression, and these new regulations would only make it harder for you to express yourself with the freedom and clarity you do so now.
If you access Tumblr from Europe and want to act, you can find more information on saveyourinternet.eu.
Please reblog this as much as you reblogged the posts about Net Neutrality.
If Article 13 is approved, European People might be basically banned from uploading any fan content.
You won’t get new fanfics from people in Europe.
You won’t get new gifs from people in Europe.
You won’t get new fanart from people in Europe.
Because they’ll be automatically filtered and blocked!
We might leave Tumblr and other fandom pages.
And if we’re getting all our content blocked?
You might lose some of your favourite followers/mutuals.
You might not get to read the rest of that fic you’re dying to read – simply because the writer lives in the wrong country.
So do whatever you can to help us stop this.
Reblog this.
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TO TELL THEM YOU DON’T WANT ARTICLE 13 TO BE APPROVED IF YOU’RE EUROPEAN! DO IT VIA THE HOMEPAGE
Yes call them. I’ve called mine. But also…
Nerds, early adopters, vidders and other fandom pioneers… we are going to have to save fandom again. We’ve done it before; we can do it again. We’re going to need archivists and devOps and every mod and smof you can rustle up from every dark corner and coffee stained IT basement you can think of.
Get reading the dat protocol, the Solid Pod – spread out and cover as much ground as you can. We’re going to need an encrypted, decentralised social network or two, art posting, video streaming, chat and search. All of these things exist right now but we need to put together some viable, accessible options for the community.
Someone has to be the next @astolat – make it you.
@limblogs Thank you for all the information you have posted about these interesting developments in peer-to-peer usage. Sadly, I am basically code-illiterate *and a bit worried about data security*, so are there any sources us non-IT geeks might consult to learn how this works?
I’m trying stuff out – other people who are trying stuff out, report back! When I have something that seems workable I will try to write up some NOT WITHOUT YOU type instructions for people like me (HUMANITIES MAJORS FFS). In the meantime I am reblogging for the technically minded–but FYI I understand and agree with the principle here, and have for some time: the AO3 is centralized, and that’s awesome, but I think the next thing – the social thing, which is also the art and video thing – needs to be DECENTRALIZED but NETWORK-POWERED; a swarm powered by the COLLECTIVE OF US.
Don’t confuse my hatred of the hyperwealthy for jealousy over what they have. I don’t want a six figure sports car, or a 40 room mansion, or a gold leaf truffle wagyu steak dinner. I want redistribution of wealth that allows for infrastructural support of all citizens’ basic survival needs.
valar apologist 