Thank you for tearing me open

[sovay]

I am in between doctor's appointments of the day. Have some links.

1. On the phenomenon of comparisons that disappear up their own context-flattening pop-culture references: Rosa Lyster, "This essay is just Harry Potter for people who think comparing things to Harry Potter is stupid." "What does describing Machiavelli as an incel do other than indicate that you know what an incel is, vaguely, and you have read something somewhere about Machiavelli not being too keen on women?"

2. I am feeling bitten by this comic because in second grade my Halloween costume was Gene Kelly's umbrella from Singin' in the Rain (1952). I was very proud of it.

3. I had never heard of Cosmic Wimpout until spatch mentioned it last night. I don't even normally play dice games. The FAQ are delightful. "Generally, we follow the direction of the path of the scoreboard. If you are not using a scoreboard, it's up to you, as we can't remember how we used to do it."

4. I still haven't managed to see The Lighthouse (2019), but I am already here for this female-forward maritime neo-noir. I would put that poster on my wall. I might still if I can get it.

5. I legitimately thought this was fanart for Machineries of Empire until I counted the number of eyes.

P.S. Any necklace with a spider motif and uranium glass really belongs in modern-day Paradys.

Comments

[rosefox]

I played Cosmic Wimpout at summer camp! I still have my Cosmic dice. There wasn't enough room inside the cabin to run around yelling "WHOO WHOO HERE COMES THE TRAIN" after Train Wrecks, so you had to run around the outside of the cabin, which was very entertaining for the people who weren't doing it.

[cynthia1960]

I wish I lived in a timeline where I didn't have to be aware of incels and their violence.

[landofnowhere]

Isaac Newton the original incel? Really? Anyone who claims that either knows something about Newton that I was totally unaware of, or thinks it's okay to make fun of male virgins if you call them "incels".

[isis]

I vaguely remember playing Cosmic Wimpout ages ago, when I was involved in Markland (like the SCA, only local to my area) in college.

[nineweaving]

...in second grade my Halloween costume was Gene Kelly's umbrella from Singin' in the Rain (1952).

Awwwwww.


I was very proud of it.

And rightly so.

Nine

[redbird]

I think my Wimpout dice are in the storage unit (which is a subset of "in a box somewhere" at this stage of our slow move/unpacking). It's been a long time since I used them.

A lot of our Cosmic Wimpout games were played with most of the players stoned, which may have been the origin of the "Yale 2-point rule," that once per game you could have an extra--and completely useless--two points if you really really wanted them.

That this fit well with the game as a whole may ay a lot about the game, or the players, for those of you who haven't played it.

[gwynnega]

I love that Halloween costume comic. I hope you have a photo of yourself in your second grade Halloween costume. That is a wonderful costume idea.

[alexxkay]

One of the greatest friendships of my life is due, in part, to Cosmic Wimpout. He and I passed each other on the Brandeis campus. I noticed his Cosmic Wimpout t-shirt. He noticed my SCA t-shirt. We went about 5 more paces, then, with perfect comic unison, each stopped, turned, and said, "I should know you!"

(We spent much more time playing Cosmic Encounter than CW in the long run :-)

[asakiyume]

That *does* look like fanart for Machineries of Empire~

[thisbluespirit]

That would be a very cool poster to have! (I hope the film lives up to it.)

And I don't think I'd be quite ready to wear uranium glass, lol.

[osprey_archer]

Blow the Man Down looks AMAZING.

[coraline]

I'm totally charmed by being a very specific umbrella from a movie.... how did you decide that that's what you wanted to be??

[moon_custafer]

I get especially annoyed by things like “The Countess of Castiglione was basically the Paris Hilton of her day,” as I think it both inaccurate (to the best of my knowledge Paris Hilton was never sent as an unofficial diplomat to represent US interests abroad) and tends to be said in a tone that implicitly dismisses the capacities of both women.

[brigdh]

I've been excited for "Blow the Man Down" since I first heard about it a month or two ago, but I hadn't seen that poster before and now I'm even more excited! (Also, "The Lighthouse" was stranger than I expected, and I'll be very interested to see what you think of it.)

I love the not-fanart too!

I found the article about "x is just y" interesting, but I'm not sure it's as new a phenomenon as the author argues. I was just reading a 1986 novel earlier today, and one character told another (a private detective): "Back east you must be considered the David Susskind of your profession." 30ish years isn't a hugely long historical timeline, but I suspect people understanding concepts by comparing them to other concepts is a fairly fundamental part of human nature, even if it flattens the distinctions.