Machismo wankers on rampage in Mexico

The knuckle-draggers among our species continue to disappoint. Emo kids in Mexico are being set upon by testo dickheads.

"Most of all, however, the assailants target the emos for dressing effeminately, still a provocative act for many in a macho Mexico. "At the core of this is the homophobic issue. The other arguments are just window dressing for that," said Victor Mendoza, a youth worker in Mexico City. "This is not a battle between music styles at all. It is the conservative side of Mexican society fighting against something different."

This is just so freaking insane.

Time article here

Also on Wired.

Short vid of the emo scene in Mexico.

Roundup of picks

I've been rather hopeless with posting in here. Hope to remedy that soon with a roundup of favourite picks from March. In the meantime, my feeds (located in the column to the right under 'Scoots' shared items') are more frequently updated.

Hero news! Dean Kamen and his amazing water distiller

Gimme Gimme! This is just what I need for living in Shanghai!!



If you have trouble viewing the vid, try Gizmodo or Comedy Central.

More about Dean Kamen and DEKA R&D.

Strangers in Strange Lands

It was most fitting that Shaun Tan's magical book, The Arrival, was the first thing I pulled out of my boxes once they arrived in Shanghai.

My comfortable reality in Melbourne was certainly challenged after I packed up my life and headed to Shanghai. 'Strangers in Strange Lands' is an apt summary of my experience.

Best if I just lead you to Shaun Tan's words to describe this most amazing work of art, and one of my favourite books in life to date. Bonus that he is such a wonderful guy.

"...Beyond any personal issues, though, I think that the ‘problem’ of belonging is perhaps more of a basic existential question that everybody deals with from time to time, if not on a regular basis. It especially rises to the surface when things ‘go wrong’ with our usual lives, when something challenges our comfortable reality or defies our expectations – which is typically the moment when a good story begins, so good fuel for fiction. We often find ourselves in new realities – a new school, job, relationship or country, any of which demand some reinvention of ‘belonging’...

This was uppermost in my mind during the long period of work on The Arrival, a book which deals with the theme of migrant experience. Given my preoccupation with ‘strangers in strange lands’, this was an obvious subject to tackle, a story about somebody leaving their home to find a new life in an unseen country, where even the most basic details of ordinary life are strange, confronting or confusing – not to mention beyond the grasp of language. It’s a scenario I had been thinking about for a number of years before it crystallised into some kind of narrative form...."

More here (click on The Arrival - and be sure to have a look at Tan's other gems)

China Shenanigans

BRB

Will be back posting soon. Been busy with relocation issues. Should be all settled within the week.

Ciao fer now!