Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.

[Auspice]

@tinuviel said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

@auspice Also next time you use the app it should have a list of your past journeys and you can make a mental note of his details to avoid him in the future.

Generally, once you give a driver a poor rating, they never match you with them again.

And you bet your ass I gave a poor rating and a full report. I've got a case open with their team and they are, supposedly, opening a review on him.

[Tinuviel]

@auspice Wouldn't take no for an answer, repeatedly pressured for personal information. Car was clean. 3/5

[Arkandel]

@derp said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

Still, I changed all the passwords to all the things to be safe, and was going to submit a ticket until Blizzard was like 'Lol no take a picture of your ID and send it to us.'

A few years ago someone did steal my Battle.net account briefly. And yes @Misadventure, I was using a Blizzard Authenticator (the physical one at the time ), a nice password, and they never got hold of my e-mail address let alone access to it.

No, this was more fun. Somehow they used my real name (or a version of it, not the formal one that goes on official papers) and contacted Blizzard directly with a photoshopped Quebec driver's license with a random picture on it and my name. I'd never even been to Quebec let alone had a driver's license from there! But the Blizzard rep was like "dur-hur, here you go" and just changed the e-mail address to whatever that person told them to.

I retrieved my account within a couple of days by producing, y'know, actual evidence I'm who I am but it goes to show there's really no technical substitute for good ol' fashioned social engineering when it comes down to circumventing security.

[Sunny]

I hate Kaiser and I hate managed care and I think doctors who basically say 'dunno, not my problem' should be inflicted with the symptoms they're blowing off. This whole thing is a nightmare and I seriously don't know what to do about it or how to manage. I feel like they're going to finally figure out what's wrong with me when they do the autopsy. -.-

[Misadventure]

@sunny Take a little hope. A friend of mine had a constellation of symptoms, most of which were painful. This was complicated by doctors who just thought she was lying. Eventually, a few surgeries later, and a few doctors later (including one doctor confronting another about just how badly they fucked up not checking something when asked) they got a diagnosis, and at least means to control or reduce what was going on from then on.

[Karmageddon]

Back in December 2012, a buddy of mine was incredibly adamant that I open a Coinbase account and buy as much Bitcoin as my finances allowed. It was going for ~$660 and some change per bit. I figured I could afford $2k.

I started the process but then got weirded out they wanted so much personal info. Suffice it to say, I bought no Bitcoin and forgot all about it.

As of typing this, Bitcoin is going for $15,978.46 per pop. If I'd just gone through with the buys, I'd be up $46K and some change. FML.

[Auspice]

@Arkandel

IT'S SNOWING AND I BLAME YOU

[Arkandel]

@auspice You're welcome.

[Ganymede]

I'm irked by the theatre critics that panned Allegiance.

I mean, maybe it resonated with me better because I share the same skin color with most of the cast. Or maybe it's because it's really nice to see a musical about Asian Americans from the perspective of an Asian American.

Or maybe it's because I harbor fears that the same thing that happened to Japanese Americans will eventually happen to Chinese Americans. My family, my children.

George Takei eats up each and every scene. I adore Teddy Leung and Lea Salonga. And Christopheren Nomura's baritone is breath-taking.

The performance I saw last night was through Fathom Events, and the filmography allows you to watch in a way you can't on stage. Still, this shouldn't get mixed reviews. While Broadway seems bent on digesting old, campy material (School of Rock as a musical, really?), it's nice to see something that is darker, sadder, and contemporary.

So, fuck critics. They can kiss my whole asshole. Racist motherfuckers.

[Roz]

@ganymede Allegiance got mixed reviews because it's a middling show at best. I'M SORRY. It was a really important show, and I'm glad I made it to Broadway (which is where I saw it), but I was also sad that it didn't end up a better show, since it was tackling such an important story. That was my biggest disappointment, to be honest. I wanted it to be fantastic, and for me it was, at most, okay. And I love that cast, man. Telly's such a sweetheart to work with! I was rooting for them.

[Ganymede]

@roz said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

Allegiance got mixed reviews because it's a middling show at best. I'M SORRY.

Don't be sorry! That's your opinion. But when I throw Allegiance up against Miss Saigon, there's no comparison -- not for me, anyway. One is an embellished story about Japanese internment camps, and the other is a glorification of white saviors presented in an orientalist, misogynistic way. One has Lea Salonga in a dramatic lead role that holds the plot together, and the other has her as a wilting female stereotype.

I get that there's a lot to be said about THE SPECTACLE in musical theatre, and I agree that Jay Kuo's score is underwhelming. That said, the only reason I can still remember anything I heard in Aladdin is because I've seen the movie many times (and Courtney Reed is just awful as Jasmine, perhaps only because Lea Salonga (did I mention her again?) defined the role).

When Casey Affleck beats out Denzel Washington in Fences for Best Actor, I begin to see how the suspicions arise. When a sexual harasser beats out muthafuckin' Denzel Washington in an iconic role that he DESTROYS and Harvey Weinstein can keep a career, the entertainment biz can kind of shut the fuck up about trying to represent or be fair to minorities. Racism is still alive and well, and, in my opinion, it is up to the critics (the published ones, as opposed to the audience) to frame things in a proper light. Audiences, in the end, write their reviews by showing up or not; however, the critics need to see things with perspective because of their privilege.

Yes, there's some bitterness in me. (I've been turned down three times because I didn't fit into predominantly white shows.)

So, for me, Allegiance isn't just an important story, but also an important stepping stone, if not an iconic one. It is a show, essentially, by Asian Americans about Asian Americans at a time when being Asian American could get you killed. I believe it deserved more than 111 performances, where Miss Saigon got almost 4,100 in London and the best chance for an Asian American in musical theatre to get a role is to hope for a revival of Flower Drum Song. And even if is empirically and musically middling, it deserved better. I mean, Oh! Calcutta! had ten times the number of performances on its initial run.

Anyhow, I can't legitimately argue against your opinion. I respect it. But I want to leave this article for your consideration, and hope that maybe you'll change your mind about it.

[surreality]

OK, holiday season. This was supposed to be the start of my time off to chill officially an' shit, now that show season is over. I realize I'm not going to get those 36-hour days from Santa I keep requesting, or that extra pair of arms, but this is getting ridiculous.

P.S. Never in my life did I think something regarding my business plans may have been interrupted by a volcano, because I live in frickin' Delaware, and we don't do volcanoes here. They tend to not occur to us in these parts very often.

P.P.S. Same thing about the earthquake. Really? Because it's fucking Delaware, come on.

P.P.P.S. I really, really hope the volcano is not the reason I'm not getting a reply on that inquiry yet. I mean, I realize this might indicate a bigger long term problem with the supplier, but still really hoping it's not the volcano, because while somebody being slow to answer email may be annoying, they are not deserving of death or devastation by volcano under any circumstances.

[Roz]

@ganymede That's a great article, and I remember reading it when it came out last year. Trust me, I wasn't arguing for Miss Saigon, which is a wildly racist show, and I wasn't arguing that Broadway doesn't have a serious fucking diversity problem, because it does. All I was saying is that the reason Allegiance didn't get rave reviews is because it wasn't a great show. Broadway has a total habit of being like very very slightly better than Hollywood in some regards and then spends forever patting itself on the back for it. Allegiance opened in one of the most diverse seasons Broadway has had in a long time, and I know and hate that the industry is going to be resting on those laurels for a while.

And let me be clear: when I say that I don't think Allegiance was a particularly great show, I'm not talking about spectacle. It's been a while for me since I saw it, but for me I found the score underwhelming and the book a bit pedestrian. (As far as I remember.)

But the tough thing about Broadway is that it's a business, and going into the arts professionally, that part is a tough lesson to learn. There's very little room for "deserve," because at the end of the day, the shows that make it to Broadway are the shows who can raise the capital, and the shows that continue to run on Broadway are the shows that make enough money to stay open. Broadway is not the hub of artistic progress it likes to think it is.

I'm really glad Allegiance exists and made it to Broadway, though. Whether or not I think it's actually a good show. (I mean, I don't think it's HUGELY TERRIBLE.) Because I think it's an important show for all the reasons you stated. And there's SO MUCH to be said about the racial and gender makeup of the major theatrical critics. That is also a hugely important conversation for Broadway to continue having. (When the New York Times' second string theatre critic was let go rather DRAMATICALLY this year, there was a lot of hope for a bit of diversity with his replacement that didn't pan out.)

I both think Allegiance was an important show to produce and also think that Allegiance wasn't particularly good.

[Ganymede]

@roz

I guess, were I to put my finger on one thing that critics seemed to hook onto, it would be exemplified in this article from the Village Voice.

Allegiance faced a huge struggle in trying to pair its somber historical truths with its essentially cheery escapist form. In the end, that slippage was more visible to audiences than either the history or the good cheer. Onstage, internment camp life often seemed sparklingly clean and jolly, despite dialogue cues to the contrary; dramatic conflicts tended to crop up arbitrarily, in lumpy patches, with a particularly unwieldy lump shoved in all too hurriedly at the end. These were the honest mistakes of honest craftsmen striving to say something that mattered deeply to them. But on Broadway you pay for your mistakes, honest or otherwise, at the box office.

While every word is probably true, what Allegiance's detractors do not highlight is how this "slippage" was more-than-likely not a "mistake" by an honest craftsman but a deliberate demonstration of the confusion faced by Japanese Americans who were, by and large, loyal to American ideas. To me, there were no arbitrary dramatic conflicts: I understood the reasons for every single one. And, in my opinion, it is important for a critic to understand, appreciate, and even, at times, explain what might seem to be inexplicable to the reader.

(I am at once reminded at how my partner and I had to explain the "plot" in Cats to an elderly couple from Pittsburgh sitting behind us this summer seeing that show.)

If there is a problem with the book or story, it is probably that too much is expected of the audience when it comes to understanding the familial context from which the stories arise. Does the audience understand why the grandfather's fighting for Japan in the past is important? Or why the father's moving to the United States is important to know? These are cultural cues which are not explained, but which mean so very much when breaking down the final 10 minutes of the show.

And, damn, if I wasn't openly crying when Takei did so.

So, we are at loggerheads. I saw a fantastic show. I think this is what is so very lovely about musical theatre, personally.

[surreality]

@ganymede said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

Yes, there's some bitterness in me. (I've been turned down three times because I didn't fit into predominantly white shows.)

While not the same, I have a serious pang of empathy here.

"You nailed the audition, and blew everybody else out of the water! <nervous chuckle> We just... <stammering> can't cast you as a teenager with those... <hand waving in circles in the air> uhm... uh... <points directly to my chest> endowments of yours, dear. <nervous chuckle> <sudden perk> Would you like a role in the chorus instead?"

I was 13, and the chorus was composed of crassly portrayed prostitute characters.

( ...and that would be the day I started to focus primarily on technical theater... )

Not for the same reason, or anywhere near the same scale, but in a much smaller way, I grok that wince-and-stifle-the-urge-to-punch vibe.

[Roz]

@ganymede said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

So, we are at loggerheads. I saw a fantastic show. I think this is what is so very lovely about musical theatre, personally.

Seeing yourself in art, and finding that personal connection in a theatrical piece, is really the most important part in the end. I have plenty of plays and musicals that I think "this is not the best show around, but it hit me DEEP and nothing will change that fact."

[Auspice]

Tiny gripe:

My coffee mug is too good at keeping my coffee hot.
It's been an hour. I want to drink my coffee now.

[Ganymede]

@roz said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

Seeing yourself in art, and finding that personal connection in a theatrical piece, is really the most important part in the end.

For me, it was the last scene of the show. It reminded me of what Dent said in The Dark Knight: "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

(The Last of Us Spoiler in the Link!)

I probably need to find the Blu Ray.

[Lithium]

The problem with critics, is the fuck they know what /I/ like. They are presenting an opinion piece, that's it, their opinion is not any more valid than mine or anyone else's.

Was the <insert artistic piece here> entertaining? Was it powerful? Did it convey a message that resonated?

That's not something that the critic can answer for /anyone else but them/.

People need to go out and make their own fucking decisions.

Some people like Led Zeppelin. Others do not.

There's a lot of reasons why one person may like something and another doesn't, but in the end, it all comes down to individual taste.

My Partner cannot stand most Quentin Tarentino movies.

I typically enjoy them.

Who is right? Who is wrong? Both and neither.

It's when people present critiques as /absolutes/ that drives me fucking crazy, because nothing, especially in the art world, is absolute.

[Auspice]

Parents spent the last few days in Dallas. 3 hours away. We had plans for them to pick me up from work (at 8p) and go to dinner. Made a few weeks ago. Even picked out where to go.

I'd tentatively allowed myself to look forward to this. If only for the free dinner, ride home. Trying to be optimistic. My dad's an asshole, but I mean, they're visiting me, right? I mean, they planned this trip to visit his coworkers and Dallas and go to San Antonio, but they fit seeing me in for a few days in the middle too, right?

So in theory, you haven't seen your child for over a year. They're 3 hours away. I mean, I'd probably even leave a bit early, right? If I'm supposed to meet them at 8, I'd probably be leaving at like, 4:30p just to account for traffic and because hey: 'I haven't seen my kid in a year.'

6:15p, they call: 'So, we haven't had dinner and we'll probably decide in a little while where we want to go. We'll probably be in Austin around 11pm or so.'

...oh.