Celebreality

If you heard about one celebrity misfortune today, it was probably the death of Ike Turner. Ike Turner was an important fixture of early rock and roll, but in the end much more notable for being a horrid man beast who beat his wife (a much longer-lasting fixture of rock and roll). Ike Turner has not done anything worth mentioning in a number of years.

On the other hand, Terry Pratchett announced today that he has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. Terry Pratchett is a confoundingly brilliant author and by all accounts a wonderful person, and plans to finish writing at least two more books, hopefully more. Hopefully many more. Best wishes to Terry and his family and friends during what must be a fucking horrifying time.

Makes sense to me.

Right wing crazies are hilarious. On the one hand, Shakespeare is not appropriate material for our schools, and would give children nasty ideas. Imagine the weird soups children would try to make if they saw MacBeth! At the same time, if students aren't taught Shakespeare as part of literary studies, they might become murderous communists.

Good to be alive.

Wales, Pt. 2

And we are back.

I had intended here a section about all the great things that increased my love of Wales, and a few things that are cool anyway. But rather than do all that, I will just talk in general about being a Walesophile (or whatever you want to call it).

I have a tattoo on my right arm of Y Draig Goch, the Red Dragon, which is the Welsh emblem, found on their flag, some local beer labels, and assorted other Walesful things. The most common first question regarding this is something along the lines of "What's the deal with the dragon?" The second is usually "So, are you Welsh." It's a natural question, to which my answer is usually "No, I'm just a fan."


Fig. 2a. A dragon on my arm, or an army of my dragon?

No one overtly seems to judge me for this, but then actively criticizing someone's tattoo is rather a faux pas, so they could just be polite. But, reactions in general are usually at least "oh cool," and at most "that's awesome!" The only situation related to the tattoo that has had me at a loss for proper reaction is when I met someone else who wasn't from Wales who had the same tattoo. It was the foreignese/Eurotrash employee of a local cafe; he pointed out my tattoo, said he had the same one, showed me (it was slightly further up his arm than mine, and it also had more friends), and we talked about how Wales is great and we both have visited and loved it. At first I was a little put off just by having the same tattoo as someone else, but once that had sunk in, I enjoyed the encounter quite a bit. Someone else understanding on that level really helped me feel less awkward about my generally Wales-influenced mental state.

I have been trying to teach myself the Welsh language for a couple years now, but it is very slow going. This is not because it is exceptionally hard to learn (the pronunciation is by far the hardest aspect and I've had that down for a while), but because it is hard to learn a language independently and completely removed from other speakers. If anyone wants to learn Welsh with me and speak it to the end of confusing others around us, and essentially having our own secret language in almost any situation, feel free to let me know.


Fig. 2b. Curiously, this is a google image search result for "Welsh language"

I have taken something of a liking as well to Welsh music. Wales' folk music is actually surprisingly different from Irish or Scottish music, bearing some resemblence to mainland northern European folk music in its tonality and flow. The most widely known form of indigenous Welsh music is male vocal choirs. Also popular among people who are me are the Super Furry Animals (who often sing in Welsh) and Tom Jones (who sadly does not). There are two annual festivals in Wales that I positively ache to attend. One is the National Eisteddfod (ay-steth-vod), the largest Welsh cultural event there is. This year it was in Mold; next year it will be in Cardiff. The other is the Fishguard Folk Festival. Fishguard is on the southwest coast of Wales, in Pembrokeshire, and the festival looks to be a sort of Welsh Folklife. Count me in, sirs.

I take interest in Welsh or Wales-themed literature and film. I cheer for Welsh teams when they pop up in sporting events (which is generally just in international rugby, unless I am paying attention to second-tier British football leagues). Sometimes, I bake Welsh cookies and cakes. Basically, two roads diverged in a forest, and I take the one that is Welsh. And that has made all the difference.

NERRRRRDS

This article has come to my attention, presenting examples of real estate developers in Seattle getting considerable tax breaks for making "affordable" apartments available. The catch: "affordable" rent is defined as starting around $900 for a one-bedroom. It makes me question such homesickness I have for my hometown, especially when up in Bellingham I am able to find a four-bedroom house on a 1/2 acre property for $1250 a month.

But much more important than all that, the article mentions one such new building that will include these tax-relief projects, a building that is to be called Lothlorien, and will be on the 4700 block of University Way. This will make two buildings in the University District, in fact within no more than four blocks of each other, named after sites in Fellowship of the Ring. The other has been around I'm not sure how long on 15th Ave NE, and is called Rivendell. It's official then, the Eldar have captured the U-District. The University itself will change its name to Eregion, and the Safeco building will soon be renamed Barad-Dûr, being a den of great evil. Or maybe Mordor is in fact Pullman, in the desert far to the east? That would make all Seattle Eriador, and the Waterfront the Grey Havens on the Gulf of Lune (though I shudder to think that this might make Bremerton Eressëa).

Of course, clearly these developers don't know anything about Middle-Earth, as 15th is east of the Ave, whereas Rivendell is west of Lorien. Fools.