Sundry Stuff for Saturday...

[capri0mni]

• The other day, prompted by ysabetwordsmith, I opened TV Tropes, and clicked on Applied Phlebotinum; upon reading the article therein, two thoughts sprang to mind:
  
  1. "Phlebo & Tinum" sounds like the title of a silly webcomic! and
     
  2. "'Phlebo' sounds familiar... as if it actually means something."
  
  So I looked it up, and indeed, it's a prefix from the Greek for "vein" (a Phlebotomist is a physician that practices bloodletting as a treatment). Since the word got its origins in the writers' room for a vampire show, I don't think it's as much a "nonsense" word as TV Tropes makes it out to be...
  
  But I'd still expect a webcomic titled "Phlebo & Tinum" to be quite nonsensical.
  
  
• From the files of Folktale Hacking:
  
  The other day, I picked up a collection of folktales I had that I'd nearly forgotten about. And the very first story featured a disabled protagonist, Ivan (hunchback, with crooked legs). Although he was both ugly and poor, he was smart (at foraging for food when there was none at home), talented (at drawing pictures of things), and happy. ...Until he falls in love with the blue-eyed, golden-haired daughter of the richest man in the village and she laughs at him (Well, thought I, that's a Truth -- about 97% of our suffering comes from the disdain we're burdened with by the Privileged). So, then, of course, the rest of the story is about Ivan's adventures in search of Beauty and Wealth, so the girl of his crush will marry him. Which he gets (to his credit, by means of his own talent and smarts). And so, handsome and wealthier than her dad, he marries her, and lives happily ever after -- hooray!
  
  ("Oh, Ivan!" I thought, "You're too good for the likes of her.")
  
  I want to hack that story where he finds someone who loves him as he is, and they have an awesome adventure together...
  
  And I was reminded afresh about why I lost heart doing my disability in folklore blog: because it just keeps being more of the same old bigotry, and eventually, there's nothing new to say about it.
  
  
• In honor of NASA's announcement of Kepler-452b, these videos are my favorites about the Fermi Paradox (Especially part two): The Fermi Paradox: Where are all the aliens?
  
  • Part One
    
  • Part Two
  
  
  
• And here's a video that tickled my inner geek. It's a brief introduction to a family interactive science museum, where all the exhibits include native sign language interpretation:
  Awti in Paris: Science + Signs = Power!. My favorite part is where the museum guide describes how complex scientific concepts are translated into natural French Sign Language.
  
  
• A couple of lines from a poem I'm working on:
  
  But Pity is only Hatred
  When it's wearing Mercy's skin

Comments

[spiralsheep]

the same old bigotry

Yep.

[capri0mni]

Other than Tom Thumb, I found just one positive depiction of life within disability in a traditional folktale (from Zaire ?? iirc), about a lame man and a blind man who live as housemates, and pool their dis/abilities to take down a greedy king in a time of famine. But the owner of the website claimed copyright, and when I went back after I'd set up P.N./A.D, to ask permission to blog about it, the website was gone. :-/

Oh, well.

[spiralsheep]

There's a traditional West African belief that the creator deity (who can be either male or female while remaining the same deity) created people, then celebrated by drinking palm wine, then continued creating people, some of whom have the characteristics of being drunk (either mentally or physically), and the people with signs of being permanently drunk (especially if they're born that way) are especially close to and beloved of the creator deity (although, as we know, having the attention of the spiritworld is traditionally not an easy condition to live with, e.g. see also priests/shamans of various sorts &c). I was told this story by a priestess, i.e. "mother of spirits", in the tradition.

[capri0mni]

American stand-up comedian Josh Blue (who has CP) has a bit (or 4) about being mistaken for being drunk... but I couldn't find a clip of it with captions...

Also, Re: being particularly chosen by you deity=HARD: Q.V. the Jewish diaspora.

[spiralsheep]

I had a friend with a spastic disorder who was stopped four times within six months for suspected drink driving. He reckoned the local police used to park a squad car outside one a pub and nick anyone they saw staggering across the car park, heh. The police apologised to my friend, and distributed his photo to all their patrol officers, but he just thought it was lolarious.

[spiralsheep]

And come to think of it, my uncle was once accused by a member of the public of being drunk in charge of a minibus for the disabled that he was driving... when he had Parkinsons (but was fit to drive). He was furious, and rightly so.

[capri0mni]

He was furious, and rightly so.

Indeed so.

ETA: I mean, when it's just yourself and a case of mistaken assumptions (as with your friend), that's a classic case of lolarous comedy of errors. But when someone accuses you of recklessly or deliberately endangering others who are under your protection (as with your uncle), that's defamation.

Though I must admit to a fit of evil giggling at what might've been going through your uncle's accuser's mind: The driver is wobbly and staggering, and so are over half his passengers! Must be some sort of mad orgy van!!! o_O